CIATB Chapter 327 The Attack on Iron Man
Chapter 327 The Attack on Iron Man
Chapter 327 The Attack on Iron Man
"Tony, Tony!"
Captain America gently patted Iron Man's shoulder, whose pupils had involuntarily contracted, bringing him back from his daze: "Are you alright?"
"I'm fine, I'm having fun. Captain, you sacrificed your life for the country, which has cost us many years. It's time to enjoy yourself."
Regaining his composure from the past, Tony politely brushed off the captain's pleas and quickly left, pushing aside the guests who were trying to strike him up, and found a secluded corner to catch his breath.
Whether it was the Sorcerer Supreme Strange's complete annihilation, the cyborg Iron Man being repeatedly split in two by the Destroyer, or even the eventual collapse of the universe, all of this came a little too soon for Tony.
Not to mention the terrifying future scenarios depicted by the other Iron Man and his future self, which still haunt Tony every time he recalls them.
Many things don't seem so scary when you're actually in them because of the body's adaptive stress response. But once it's all over, the fear that was temporarily suppressed by the survival instinct comes back.
While uncertainty about the future is frightening, a future destined to be terrible is even more unsettling.
All of this was observed by Black Widow, who, unlike Captain America who had been frozen for decades and was out of touch with the times and not good with words, always handled everything with ease, thanks to her background in the "Red Room".
After quickly dismissing the various admirers and military and political figures who were pestering her, Black Widow pressed on the shield that Captain America was carrying on his back:
"Iron Man isn't quite right."
Examining Tony Stark from a professional intelligence agent's perspective, Black Widow could easily draw a conclusion in her profile, but she chooses to pose that question to Captain America:
"If you ask me, it seems he's been through something pretty bad, don't you think?"
Captain America looked exhausted at the party; this boring party wasn't the only thing wearing him down physically and mentally lately.
The information Superman had given him about Hydra made him feel like everyone around him was an enemy. Everyone in S.H.I.E.L.D. could be a hidden foe. Even a super soldier was struggling to cope with this mindset.
"In my opinion, Tony is hiding a lot from us. I don't know what he's been through lately, but I'm sure he went through some absolutely unpleasant events recently, even life-or-death situations—he's starting to have some PTSD now."
Yes.
At this moment, Black Widow's questions required him to carefully consider his answers, weighing whether they would reveal his daily whereabouts or expose any possible flaws.
"Don't ask me how I know. Besides going for a run in Central Park every morning, the place I've been going to most lately is the Department of Veterans Affairs—I've met so many people with the same problems who need help."
This answer was absolutely flawless—theoretically speaking, Captain America himself is a veteran and needs to go there to handle business, so it's perfectly normal for him to know this.
"Post-traumatic stress disorder," Black Widow continued, picking up where Captain America left off. "And how did all this happen? Everything's been so calm lately, where did this trauma come from?"
Maybe it's something like Galactus?
But this happened a long time ago, and even if the symptoms were delayed, it was still too late.
"have no idea."
After saying that, Captain America turned his head and only showed Black Widow the back of his head.
There's a reason he doesn't communicate much with Black Widow; who knows if Hydra has noticed that he's been investigating them lately?
If Black Widow is an enemy, then her expertise in infiltration and intelligence gathering makes her an extremely dangerous foe. The more you interact with her, the easier it is to expose your true nature.
Sensing Captain America's indifference, Black Widow tactfully took a drink from the waiter and sauntered off to another spot.
Such indifference usually hides some unspeakable secrets, but she doesn't care. Her boss, Nick Fury, completely trusts Captain America, so she'd better not cause any more trouble.
"Hi, Dr. Banner."
"Hello, Ms. Romanov."
Soon, Black Widow was chatting with the other side of the Hulk, and poor Dr. Banner was about to spill everything that had happened to him before he was eight years old in just a few minutes.
Just as Tony was taking a deep breath, trying to shake off the memories of what had happened not long ago, his bodyguard Happy Hogan greeted him.
Despite Tony's repeated signals, Happy, with his broad, burly frame large enough to block a doorway, obliviously pushed through the crowd and pressed his face against the wall.
"Boss, it's an emergency!"
"How urgent is it?" The familiar sidekick's close proximity subtly improved Tony's mental state, which had been flaring up with PTSD, to the point that he could start making witty remarks again:
"Is it as urgent as me sleeping with Jessica Alba tonight?"
Happy, who had been by Tony's side for many years, was already used to his boss's vulgar and violent jokes. He simply let them go in one ear and out the other, handing him a tablet with a YouTube playback interface on it:
"See for yourself!"
Tony, trying to maintain his composure, glanced at the screen impatiently, but his attention was immediately drawn to the video playing on the tablet: "wtf"
This is an interview video. If Tony remembers correctly, it should be from when the Avengers were being formed. It was a pointless interview that he and Superman conducted after accidentally wandering into an area full of reporters.
The problem is that the interview playing on the screen is different from what Tony remembers: "Superman, in the Battle of New York, was that silver giant you?"
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Joey didn't answer, but Iron Man spoke for him: "That's right."
Media: "You destroyed the entire island of Manhattan during the battle. Shouldn't you be held responsible for that?"
"Of course," Superman replied affirmatively.
Having read this far, Tony no longer needed to read on:
"Are all the SHIELD agents, whose members are just a bunch of useless idiots?"
He remembered that Fury had clearly said that S.H.I.E.L.D. would handle the aftermath, and this was their "aftermath"?
The original interview video being uploaded online is actually irrelevant, because the reporters asked some really tricky questions that were impossible to answer, but he and Superman managed to evade them perfectly.
But how did this maliciously edited content end up online?
Seeing his and Superman's answers maliciously distorted after editing, with all the blame for the destruction Galactus had caused in New York being placed on Superman, Tony immediately forgot about his PTSD. The screen of his tablet was practically scrambling to display glitches.
"Which newspaper and which editor-in-chief did it?"
This is no longer an ordinary media outlet; we must take strong action!
The media person who uploaded the video was able to pin the blame on Superman simply because he felt that the Kryptonians' iron fist couldn't strike them, these "kind and law-abiding" ordinary citizens.
But Stark is no ordinary man. He has only been out of the arms market for a short time. Do these media people really think that Stark Industries is selling solar energy?
"That's the biggest problem, boss. The other party is completely anonymous."
Happy's response didn't bother Tony much: "It's nothing, nobody can stay anonymous on the internet!"
Happy awkwardly scratched his forehead, then swiped his hand to reveal another video. It showed a fire near the sea, with forests on the mountains behind it burning fiercely.
"There's one more thing."
"This place looks familiar," Tony was about to say when Jarvis's voice message popped up on his watch—
"Sir, do you remember the villa in the forest on Long Island that you bought before?"
Tony certainly remembered that the villa was in an excellent location, surrounded by mountains on three sides and facing the sea on the other. Ever since he bought it, it had been plagued by misfortune.
The internal structure was frequently smashed up because of Joey, and after multiple repairs, it was completely razed to the ground again.
If Tony remembers correctly, he recently spent over a hundred million dollars to rebuild the building with technical support from Stark Industries, and also added various high-tech structures for subsequent experiments.
If the final inspection goes smoothly, Tony should move in soon and use it as a visible activity base.
Hearing that Tony's memory was fine, Jarvis's understanding and reliable voice rose eight octaves: "It's good that you still remember that villa!"
Tony, who was just preparing to unleash the iron fist of capitalism to re-educate these unscrupulous media outlets, heard a second thing from Jarvis that made his blood pressure soar:
"Now it's gone again!"