Chapitre 26: Trouble Still Finds Its Way
The president of the Umbrella branch in Japan was named Masanobu Tanigawa, a middle-aged man in his forties.
According to the documents, it was evident that in recent days, Masanobu Tanigawa had been frequently meeting in secret with Shingen Yashida of the Yashida Corporation.
Moreover, Masanobu had recently been involved in eliminating dissent within the company, dismissing many individuals who were strategically placed by others.
"Japanese... they are not the most reliable bunch..."Adam muttered.
But it wasn't like they had much choice when it came to appointing a Japanese as the branch president. After all, the policies of Japan were stringent; without a local as the head, opening a branch would have been nearly impossible.
After pondering for a moment, Adam quickly devised a plan—a plan that would certainly bring a big surprise to some people.
......
The next morning, in Tony's villa, Tony was quickly putting on his Mark IV suit with the help of his mechanical arms. Just as he was almost done, the door suddenly opened, and Pepper walked in, her face filled with worry.
"Tony, can't you reconsider going to the Middle East? I'm really worried about you. Those dark forces have weapons—they could kill you."
"Darling, there are some things I must do. It's not just about those dark forces; there's someone conducting terrifying experiments over there. I need to find out who's behind it all and stop them."
Tony deliberately left out the part about the insect-men, not wanting to worry Pepper even more.
"But there was that mass grave incident over there... I'm so scared of losing you..."
"Don't worry, darling. My suit will protect me. I'll be fine, I promise."
A short while later, after Tony had fully donned the Mark IV suit, he turned to Pepper, who was still looking worried.
"Rest assured, once I find out who's behind all of this, I won't go back there again."
With those words, Tony flew out of the villa, disappearing into the clouds.
.......
Meanwhile, at Edwards Air Force Base in California, a group of people was frantically staring at the radar display.
"What is that thing?"
"That's not one of our Air Force planes!"
"This isn't the first time it's shown up, and it doesn't even seem to care about us."
"Is the CIA online?"
"Could it be one of our aircraft?"
"The CIA is online, but they say it's not one of theirs."
"The Navy says it's not theirs either."
"And the Army says it's not theirs!"
"Somebody get me Colonel Rhodes from the Weapons Development Division, now!"
Shortly afterward, James Rhodes arrived at the radar station. James Rhodes, also known as Rhodey, was destined to become the War Machine and was one of Tony's good friends.
"We've compared and checked all databases, but we haven't found any matching aircraft," someone reported to Rhodes as he arrived.
"Are there any high-altitude reconnaissance methods in the area?" Rhodes asked.
"We have alarm systems and the Global Hawk drone."
"Could this thing have appeared out of nowhere? Why don't we have any data on it, and why does the radar say what it says?"
"It has an extremely small radar cross-section, Colonel Rhodes."
"A stealth drone, then?"
"No, based on the radar cross-section, it should be something like a drone."
"What do we do, Colonel?" someone asked.
Rhodes thought for a moment before thinking of his friend, Tony. "I'll make a call," he said.
He stepped aside to a quieter area and dialed Tony's number.
"Ring... ring..."
"Hello?"
"Tony, it's James."
"Who?"
"I said it's James—what's with all the noise?"
"Oh, right, I'm driving a convertible."
"Alright, I could use your help with something."
"Oh, didn't expect you to need help from me."
"Yeah, I've got a bit of a problem here."
"What is it?"
"We've detected something strange—based on the radar cross-section, it should be a drone."
"You should probably contact Justin Hammer. Isn't Hammer Industries working on drones recently?"
"You're sure there's no new technology you haven't told me about?"
"No, I've been pretty quiet lately."
At that moment, a soldier ran up to Rhodes. "Sir, our aircraft has locked onto the target. Ready to intercept at any time."
Rhodes nodded and spoke into the phone, "Good, our aircraft is about to take it down."
......
High above the Pacific Ocean, Tony suddenly noticed the F-22 fighter jets tailing him. He quickly ended the call and dove downward, trying to avoid being locked onto by the aircraft. He then accelerated into supersonic flight.
But evading the F-22's lock was no easy task. After a brief chase, two missiles were soon launched at him.
Inside the Mark IV, Tony immediately heard Jarvis's alert.
"Rattlesnake missiles are locked onto us."
"Deploy countermeasures!"
As the small decoy flares were released, the Rattlesnake missiles quickly exploded harmlessly behind him. However, Tony soon found himself being overtaken by the F-22s, now in supersonic pursuit.
The fighter jets fired a burst of machine gun rounds, forcing Tony to make an abrupt stop, defying the laws of physics.
It's worth noting how powerful Tony's anti-G system is—coming to an immediate stop from supersonic speed would likely cause a human to suffer a brain hemorrhage, yet Tony only felt slightly uncomfortable before quickly calling his friend.
"Ring... ring..."
"Hello."
"Hey, James, it's me."
"Who is this?"
"Sorry, it's me, you know, the guy you just called."
"Oh, Tony. You can't just fly your little toys around without filing a flight plan. What if you hit a passenger plane or something?"
Every country has strict regulations about high-altitude flights, and any aircraft flying above a certain height must file a flight plan to ensure no collisions occur. These regulations were established after numerous tragic incidents.
"This isn't some little toy. It's me—I'm inside it."
Upon hearing this, James, back at the Air Force base, instantly understood what was going on. He ordered the jets to stand down.
The pilots, having received the orders, prepared to return. But soon, one of them noticed Tony clinging to the underside of another plane. The F-22 immediately started to roll, trying to shake him off.
Unfortunately, Tony lost his grip and collided with the F-22's tail, sending the jet spiraling out of control towards the ground. The pilot inside quickly ejected.
......
By noon, back at his villa, Tony lay on the couch, looking utterly defeated, his wounds bandaged.
After being caught that morning and sustaining damage to the Mark IV, he was forced to abandon his plans to go to the Middle East. His plans had fallen apart.
Bored, he turned on the news to pass the time. But soon, a particular report caught his attention.
"This morning, Senator Robert Kelly once again proposed the Mutant Control Act, which received significant support in the vote. It seems likely that within the next few months, the Mutant Control Act may become a reality."
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