LRAB Chapter 389 General Ross's Visit
Chapter 389 General Ross's Visit
Chapter 389 General Ross's Visit
After being kicked out of the lab by Dr. Banner, who was busy working overtime to build the Infinity Gauntlet, Joey found that he really seemed to have nowhere to go.
He simply picked up his old bad habit again—why not try eavesdropping and peeking at what people in other rooms inside the building were doing?
Upon inspection, it was discovered that the interior of Stark Tower was as bustling as ever.
"Are they already arguing?"
Aside from the busy working people, one room was particularly noisy.
Inside the meeting room, General Ross, the military representative, was arguing fiercely with Tony, spitting almost onto the Iron Man suit's visor: "You and your comrades, even Fury, have no law enforcement authority in this area, and there's no basis for detaining anyone. Give me that person!"
They want the Winter Soldier.
But the "Tony" who was actually talking to General Ross was just a hollow tin man; the real Tony was still in another universe: "Sorry, I don't know what you're talking about."
"The Winter Soldier, a top assassin from USSR, is now said to be working for Hydra. Our people know you've captured him."
News of problems within S.H.I.E.L.D. had not yet spread, but it could not be kept from General Ross, who had connections everywhere.
They didn't even know where they got the information about the Winter Soldier's capture from.
General Ross's jurisdiction, which includes some supernatural elements, overlaps somewhat with the North American branch of S.H.I.E.L.D., and the animosity between the two has a long history.
S.H.I.E.L.D. is currently releasing parts, and everyone wants to pounce and get a piece of the action, including Ross.
"I'm not trying to make things difficult for you, Tony." General Ross, a potential candidate for Secretary of State, now spoke fluent official jargon. "With the Winter Soldier, we can follow the trail and wipe out all the Hydra agents hiding behind him! This is a matter of national security!"
The Iron Man suit, pre-programmed with its controls, casually crossed its legs. General Ross chatted with it for a while, but all he got were repeating the same old lines: "I understand your concerns, but I know absolutely nothing about what you're saying—"
"Superman and someone dressed like a bat captured him, how could you not know—wait a minute!"
Ross wanted to argue further, but looking at the refined-looking Iron Man suit before him, he suddenly realized something and sat bolt upright from the sofa: "You're not Tony Stark!"
How could someone like Tony possibly speak so politely?
"I knew it! Why did you have to come see me in battle armor!"
General Ross, realizing he'd been fooled by an empty shell of armor for half the day, flew into a rage. He stood up, making a move to remove the visor cover from the steel suit: "If you don't give me any face, I'm really going to lose it!"
This is going to be quite a show!
Joey, who had been watching from the sidelines the whole time, waited for the moment when General Ross removed his face armor. He wanted to see how this guy was going to make trouble for Tony.
At this critical moment, the portal on Dr. Banner's side finally lit up.
Tony is back.
"It seems I've returned just in time."
Tony, who had just landed, quickly saw the situation in the other meeting room through the HUD. He tossed the Ant-Man head he was holding into the pile of clutter, gripped the Space Stone tightly, and used the same trick that had just cost him the best—
Without a sound, he perfectly switched places with the empty steel suit in front of General Ross, even their postures were exactly the same.
"You are showing absolutely no respect for your military predecessors—"
While feigning anger, the enraged General Ross ripped off Tony's visor: "Uh, Tony—"
"Do you really think I'm so bad that you'd send an empty shell of a suit to deal with others?"
The armor wasn't empty; Tony Stark's face emerged from under the visor, and he winked at him: "You know, I respect my elders the most, and I'm not the kind of person who would fool them with an airsuit."
"
He stood up from his armored position on the sofa, picked up the glass of wine he had just poured, and took a sip: "It's really good~"
He hadn't had anything this good in a while.
"As for this Winter Soldier you mentioned, I really have absolutely no idea what's going on," Tony said, downing his drink in one gulp, and promptly dismissed him.
"You said Superman took the Winter Soldier away, then go ask him. I can send you his email address."
After spending half a day making a fuss and getting nowhere, General Ross was prepared to make a big deal out of the fact that Tony had only sent him an empty suit of armor, and to give the kid a good beating.
"snort!"
Unexpectedly, the other party used some method to outmaneuver him. Feeling guilty, Ross just grunted, dusted himself off, and prepared to go home.
"Hey, Superman, where are you? Come and see this—"
As General Ross headed to the rooftop where the helicopter was parked, he ran into Dr. Banner again, who was holding the prototype of the Infinity Gauntlet. He encountered some questions again while he was working on the Infinity Gauntlet, and needed to use Superman's photographic memory.
Unexpectedly, while searching for Superman, he bumped right into his former father-in-law. While Dr. Banner was being hunted by the military, mainly by General Ross's men, because of the Hulk inside him, he maintained a rather ambiguous and complicated relationship with General Ross's daughter, Betty Ross.
However, both General Ross and Dr. Banner realized that due to the Hulk's existence, this relationship could not blossom. So after Banner received protection from S.H.I.E.L.D., the two gradually lost contact.
But this doesn't stop Ross and Banner from being natural enemies. When the two meet now, it's like enemies meeting again, their eyes practically sparking with hatred.
With Superman shouldering everything, Dr. Banner, who hadn't exerted himself much for a considerable period, lived a life of luxury, and his emotional state was far more stable than before.
Seeing his former father-in-law still wearing a sour face, Dr. Banner, who was less than five feet away from him, suddenly had a plan.
He stomped his foot on the floor and yelled at the top of his lungs in Ross's direction, "Aha!"
"Ouch!"
Ross had been eyeing Dr. Banner with ill intent, as if he were eyeing his wealth, but the moment the other man made that zero-frame move, he instantly became alert.
Splash! Splash!
Not only was General Ross startled, but the officers around him also instinctively drew their sidearms, released the safety, and pointed them at Dr. Banner: "Warning: No transformation!"
That's what they said, but everyone present knew that the 9mm gun in their hands was practically a tickle to the Hulk.
"Hahaha!"
Dr. Banner, holding the Infinity Gauntlet, burst into laughter at the sight. He knew Ross couldn't resist his slapstick humor: "Just kidding!"
Ross, having been tricked again, was even more enraged: "Stark, aren't you going to do anything about this! How can you let Dr. Banner run around like this! He's emotionally unstable, what if he goes berserk?!"
"General, considering what you did to him before—"
Tony recounted the grudges and entanglements between Ross and Dr. Banner, including but not limited to the attempt to capture Banner and dissect him for research, which caused enormous damage to the results, and the separation of the couple because his own daughter fell in love with him.
The conclusion was: "I think that the fact that he only made a harmless joke to you when he saw you is already a sign that he is emotionally stable."
"Alright, alright, you just wait!"
Ross, who had been running into all sorts of obstacles since arriving at Stark Tower, was furious. After uttering a harsh remark, he headed towards the elevator around the corner.
Turning a corner, Ross encountered another unremarkable young man with black hair, wearing black-rimmed glasses and an inexpensive suit, in the middle of the corridor. Ross glanced at him and noticed the intern reporter badge hanging around his neck.
Already in a bad mood, he didn't even say hello and walked straight ahead. The officers surrounding him roughly shoved the young reporter blocking their way aside: "Get out of the way, little reporter. If you want juicy gossip, go find Stark. We don't give interviews!"
Upon hearing the commotion and peeking out, Doctor Doom, even disguised as Tony, was speechless when he saw Joey pushed to the corner of the corridor.
General Ross is used to being arrogant and domineering. It's really lucky that he's lived this long. Every time he offends someone, they're a truly heavyweight.
This little reporter in front of me is like the Hulk; I could crush them into mincemeat in less than a second.
If it weren't for the fact that both Superman and Dr. Banner are known for their good tempers, I'm afraid I would have had to take time out of my schedule to attend their funerals these past few days.
Surrounded by a crowd, General Ross stepped into the elevator and pressed the button for the rooftop.
General Ross, who was pondering how to continue putting pressure on Tony through military channels after returning home, soon arrived at the top floor, ready to take off by helicopter.
Then he received another piece of bad news that annoyed him: "General, the ignition coil has been melted and damaged by the high temperature. The engine cannot start, and takeoff is temporarily impossible!"
"What are the people in the logistics department doing?!"
General Ross, whose life had been anything but smooth ever since he entered Stark Tower, flew into a rage: "Fix it now!"
"General, we—"
After a shoving and jostling, a member of the accompanying maintenance team stepped forward with the resignation of someone going to a funeral, and reluctantly reported to Ross: "We have no spare parts."
If there are no spare parts, the quickest way is definitely to find them.
"What the hell!" Ross spat angrily and turned back, preparing to send someone downstairs to find Tony, the professional arms dealer, to get some spare parts.
"General," the officer, after pressing the elevator buttons for a while, turned to Ross, "the elevator seems to be broken!"
"It must be Tony who's behind this!"
Ross pulled out his phone and aggressively dialed Tony Stark's number.
But after a busy signal, all he got in response was an AI voice—
"The call is temporarily unanswered. EDITH, the intelligent assistant, is at your service. Please leave a message after three beeps, and your call log will be transferred to your voicemail."
"Is it okay for us to do this to him?" Dr. Banner asked somewhat guiltily from the other end of the line.