"Hello there, gentlemen. Mr. Vegeta, we meet again..." Seeing the gaze of Robert and Jackie Chan, Tony Stark quickly spread his hands to show he had no ill intentions and said with a smile, "We can have a good talk about whatever it is you want to discuss!"
"Last time, you revealed my previous appearance. Do you plan to continue exposing my new look?" Robert asked Tony Stark with a deep gaze.
"I'll take it down right away, retracting the previous bounty!" Tony Stark replied amiably, then his eyes twinkled as he added, "By the way, seeing you this time counts as fulfilling the bounty. How about I transfer the ten million dollars to you?"
Before meeting Mera, Tony Stark had thought Robert might be a bionic being with biotechnology, but after encountering Mera and Mark Fuchen, and getting his chest wound completely healed, even Tony Stark, a warrior of the science camp, started to believe in the existence of supernatural powers.
Especially a phrase Robert said to Tony Stark before made him realize. He thought someone who was created or had undergone biological modifications wouldn't be able to say something like that...
Therefore, Tony Stark wanted to see if Robert would accept the money. If he did, it might give Tony an opportunity to figure out Robert's identity.
After these two encounters, Tony Stark felt that Robert's appearance right now must also not be his real one. Although Jarvis didn't detect any anomalies, Tony Stark himself was completely unfamiliar with the extraordinary domain. It was normal for Jarvis not to find anything odd.
"Give it to me? No need for that, you can give it to Uncle Long..." Robert said with a smile, guessing Tony Stark's intention. But as long as he could avoid exposing his identity, Robert would try his best to hide it. That's the purpose of having an alias.
As for Jackie Chan, it didn't matter much since he was already an external staff member of District 13 and didn't need to worry about his identity being exposed.
"Me? No, no, no, how could that be right?" Jackie Chan instinctively waved his hands, but quickly understood Robert's meaning, "Alright then, give it to me..."
"Jackie Chan, an external collaborator of District 13, I already know your account. The money has been transferred to you..." Indeed, for Tony Stark, finding Jackie Chan's identity information was a piece of cake. After Jarvis completed the transfer, Tony Stark looked at Robert tentatively.
"Mr. Vegeta, the things you mentioned before, could you elaborate on how I can truly utilize my powers for growth?"
"Can you help me assemble this mech?" Robert didn't answer Tony Stark's question directly but instead pointed to the vibranium mech on the ground.
Yes, after Robert disassembled the vibranium mech, he realized he didn't know how to reassemble it, just like the clock he had disassembled before...
And with so many mech parts, Robert couldn't possibly carry them all back, unless he chose to leave Jackie Chan behind...
Thus, when Tony Stark spoke, Robert saw an opportunity for free labor.
Tony Stark was capable of building mechs, so reassembling one shouldn't be a problem, right?
Tony Stark fell silent for a moment upon seeing the mech parts scattered all over the ground, "Jarvis, is this vibranium?"
"Yes, sir. However, it seems to contradict your previous assumption that vibranium is not suitable for mech construction. Someone has done it and succeeded," Jarvis quickly responded.
"Hmph! As if it was that easy. It's just a poor imitation!" Tony Stark scoffed disdainfully after examining the vibranium mech parts, judging them to be inferior. "The power system is outdated, the battery life is terrible, this mech doesn't have any long-range combat capabilities, and even flying seems strenuous. It's not really a mech, just an old medieval suit of armor!"
Tony Stark saw his ideas plagiarized in the vibranium mech, knowing that the cost of this vibranium mech far exceeded his own. Yet, Tony Stark did not hide his disdain for it.
Tony Stark still maintained the idea that vibranium wasn't suitable for mech construction. In his view, unless a vibranium mech could achieve free flight and have both melee and long-range combat capabilities, it was nothing more than a toy, incapable of hitting or chasing anyone.
However, Tony Stark spoke his mind but didn't stop working. Although there were no robotic arms to assist him here, his own suit of armor was perfectly capable of helping him reassemble the vibranium mech.
"By the way, why didn't those Hydra guys show up this time? What about the Black Shadow Ninjas? How come they've all disappeared?" Jackie Chan mumbled doubtfully while Tony Stark was assembling the vibranium mech, glancing around.
There were quite a few factions looking for Mark Fuchen this time, but Jackie Chan's old friends didn't show up, which made him feel a bit uncomfortable.
"Wait! Hydra is still alive?" Tony Stark suddenly remembered the previous incident where Robert mistook him for Hydra, his expression turning serious as he asked, "They haven't been eradicated? And they've gained strong technological capabilities?"
Tony Stark was quite concerned about Hydra since his father, Howard Stark, had fought against Hydra, and Tony had heard plenty of his father's boastful stories.
"They haven't been eradicated, and their strength is quite decent," Robert nodded and said softly, "At least, their technology in weapons is a bit better than yours, except for your energy device. They have all kinds of weapons like laser weapons and flamethrowers, and I even encountered some animal warriors last time, probably their people..."
"Animal... warriors?" Tony Stark was puzzled by the term.
"It's when a person suddenly transforms into a half-beast or even a beast, with very strong abilities. At least much stronger than the high-quality fake Captain America we just encountered!" Jackie Chan, who had fought against them, provided a comparison of their strengths, "And there's more than one animal warrior..."
"Shit! How come there are so many things in this world I don't know about? All this information needs to be thoroughly investigated by Jarvis when we get back!" Tony Stark felt the world was more dangerous than he had imagined and silently resolved to prepare a contingency plan.
The kidnapping incident and Robert's monstrous appearance had already made Tony Stark aware of the dangers. Now, hearing about Hydra from Robert, Tony Stark couldn't help but prepare for the worst, especially since his father had always been archenemies with Hydra, if his old man wasn't just boasting...
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