Bab 111: Chapter 111 A Bit of Extortion?
Arthur glanced at the crater on the ground but noticed that neither of the two combatants was there.
Meanwhile, gunfire, explosions, and the roar of engines echoed from a nearby street. In a few quick moves, Arthur appeared beside the highway, just in time to see Tony fighting the Iron Monger.
Okay, technically the guy's name was Iron Monger, but Arthur felt that "Iron Monger" didn't sound as imposing as "Little Overlord," and even "Little Overlord" wasn't as impressive as "Iron Man, the Bald Strongman."
With his arms crossed, Arthur watched the two metal giants go at it for a while. Their fight consisted mostly of shooting at each other, grabbing whatever was around and hurling it at the other.
The highway had become their playground, especially for "Iron Man, the Bald Strongman", who was clearly having a good time.
He grabbed cars and motorcycles like they were toys and swung them at Tony.
'This is where superheroes get the short end of the stick,' Arthur siletly thought.
If the vehicles were empty, then everrthing would be fine, but if there were people inside, Tony couldn't just destroy them. He'd have to catch the cars, and if they ran him over, he'd take it without complaining.
Arthur watched for a while, sensing that Tony was holding back. It was clear that he couldn't fully unleash his power in this environment. So Arthur called out, "Need some help, kid?"
"No!!!" Tony snapped back angrily.
There was no way he was going to ask for help! And who was he calling "kid" anyway?
Arthur, feeling a bit annoyed, continued to watch without moving a muscle…
Tony suddenly took off into the sky, followed by the "Iron Man, the Bald Strongman".
This was getting a little ridiculous for Arthur. Tony's takeoff was fine, if a little unconventional, but at least it looked cool.
But the way "Iron Man, the Bald Strongman", took off was something else. It was like a storm erupted from his feet, with smoke and flames billowing out as he rumbled into the sky!
And the worst part was that his ascent was not only bizarre but also slow. Arthur, with a flash of thought, vanished from his place and reappeared in the air five meters above the ground!
'Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star!'
Arthur hummed the nursery rhyme to himself as he floated upward, eventually landing on the back of "Iron Man, the Bald Strongman."
Despite his slow start, "Iron Man, the Bald Strongman" gradually picked up speed, moving faster and faster.
Arthur thought for a moment. Even though Tony said he didn't need any help, why should he listen to him? Tony wasn't even willing to lend him money!
Arthur placed his hand on the "Bald Strongman's" back, intending to store a piece of his armor in his Disassembler. In an instant, however, the "Iron Man, the Bald Strongman" vanished into thin air, leaving a bewildered middle-aged bald man floating helplessly in mid-air!
In that brief moment, the man's forehead might as well have had the words "Life's Big Questions" written on it.
But before he could find any answers, gravity grabbed him and he began to plummet to the ground without hesitation.
Arthur looked at the Iron Monger stored in his Disassembler and, with a thoughtful expression on his face, began his own descent.
The process of collecting the Iron Monger went so smoothly that even Arthur was a bit surprised.
And once he had the Iron Monger, he hadn't expected the bald man to be so easily exposed.
Why did they separate?
As Arthur pondered this, Iron Man found himself in a rather awkward situation.
He had intended to take the enemy into the sky, but as he flew higher, he looked down and saw that his back was completely empty – the enemy had disappeared!
Weren't they supposed to soar together, be each other's guardian angels?
Frustrated, Tony immediately activated his scanners, only to find Arthur and the middle-aged man descending.
Without hesitation, Tony turned around and charged toward them.
With incredible speed, Tony quickly reached Arthur's side and instructed, "Grab onto my back!"
"Such a good nephew!" Arthur couldn't resist taking a verbal jab.
Tony ignored him and immediately moved to the bald man's side, telling Arthur, "Grab him.
"What if I don't want to?" Arthur hesitated.
"I'll lend you the money!"
"Deal!" Arthur, showing no resistance, immediately grabbed the middle-aged man. "With money, you can do whatever you want!"
The middle-aged man, clearly shaken, calmed down only after Arthur secured one of his arms.
He looked up at Arthur and did not recognize him. The darkness of Arthur's appearance gave the impression that he was someone who preferred to remain unseen.
With determination, the bald man began climbing up Arthur's arm, inching his way toward Iron Man. When he managed to grab Iron Man's suit with one hand, he kicked Arthur viciously. "Get off!"
His kick missed.
He tried again, "Get off!"
Another miss.
After three futile attempts, the middle-aged man was stunned. "You…"
Arthur grinned. "Had enough kicks? My turn! Come here!"
"What?" The man's voice was filled with confusion and bewilderment, and before he could process what was happening, he suddenly disappeared from Iron Man's back.
"What just happened?" Tony asked in shock. "What did you do to him?"
"Nothing much. I'll give him back to you when we're on the ground."
…
…
When they landed, Tony's Arc Reactor was almost completely drained of power.
Arthur approached him and casually let go of the stunned bald man.
The man still wore a puzzled expression, probably wondering why he was told to "come here" instead of "get off". As he was about to ask another question, his head spun in confusion, as if his thoughts had turned to mush. Feeling dizzy, he spun around twice before collapsing to the ground.
"That's an amazing ability! What exactly is this? Some kind of spatial device? An alternate dimension?" Tony looked at Arthur in astonishment, then at the suddenly reappearing bald man. "Wait, where's that ugly armor of his?"
"The weather is quite nice today!" Arthur said, looking up at the sky. "I think I should go home and get some sleep."
"So I can just buy anything from you with money, huh?" Tony's face darkened.
"How much?" Arthur asked Tony.
Tony's helmet had opened, revealing his frustrated face. "You're the one making the offer, so you should set the price!"
Arthur thought for a moment and said, "Hmm, then we need to have a good discussion about this.
After counting on his fingers for a while, Arthur realized that he wasn't good at this kind of thing. He wasn't one of those all-knowing social elites. Besides his mastery of killing techniques, his best skill was playing video games.
So, after much thought, all he could say was, "Probably… a lot, a lot of money."
Tony was almost driven to curse out loud!
This blackmail and extortion was so amateurish!
What does "a lot, a lot of money" even mean?
How much do you really want?
No specific number— are you testing my patience?
Status Power Mingguan
-- Peringkat
Power 
-- Power
stone