Chapter 3399

Stark returned to Stark Tower to prepare his equipment. He heard Jarvis's voice the moment he went back.

"Mr. Stark, there is a visitor from Roxxon Corporation. It seems they want to discuss technical cooperation with Stark Industries regarding aerial transport."

"Technical cooperation?" Stark snorted coldly and said, "He sells oil; what technology could he possibly cooperate with me on? Decline all their future appointments."

"By the way," Stark said, "have you finished your mission?"

"The mission in the game? I suppose you could say it's finished," Jarvis said. "To protect Wanda, I was eliminated early. Fortunately, she completed the mission in the very last second."

"I heard from Natasha that a world war broke out in the end?"

"Yes. But even if Dr. Schiller hadn't destroyed the source of the plague, a war would have happened anyway. It's just more tragic now; the Principality of Westchester is almost destroyed."

"Alright. Am I the only one who didn't complete the mission?"

"No, sir. Batman's group didn't complete it either. At the last moment, Batman chose to save people, which delayed them. Their mission must have failed as well."

Stark let out a long breath and then asked: "What about the murderer who killed me?"

"Not entirely sure; they haven't shown themselves since then."

Stark paused for a moment and then said: "Can you locate Schiller?"

"One moment... sir. Found him. He is currently in the Bronx. The specific address is..."

Stark interrupted him, waved his hand, and said: "I'm not a stalker; there's no need to know exactly where he is. Use your behavioral analysis function to see if he's acting normally."

"Which kind of 'normal' do you mean? If judged by the standards of an ordinary person, Dr. Schiller is usually not normal."

"What about by Schiller's standards?"

"No abnormalities detected," Jarvis said. "He is shopping at a store in the Bronx and is currently on his way to check out."

"Alright. Are you sure there's nothing—I mean, even those very subtle differences count."

Jarvis was silent for a while, as if analyzing, and then he said: "There is indeed nothing different. Sir, he is talking to a gentleman named Danny Ketch."

"Danny Ketch? That name sounds familiar."

"Ghost Rider," Jarvis reminded him. "Mr. Johnny Blaze's brother."

Stark was lost in thought. He took the armor out of his suit pocket, and the moment the nano-armor expanded, he was fully armed. The familiar gold-and-red figure flew out of the Stark Tower window.

"Are you free lately, Jarvis?"

"I'm doing alright, sir. I am currently a full-time blogger, helping Wanda film videos about mutants, and taking care of the children on the side."

Stark was speechless regarding his career planning, so he had to say: "Help me look into Roxxon Corporation; I want to see what kind of background that Agger has."

The gold-and-red figure streaked across the sky, almost blending into the dusk on the Bronx skyline. Another black-and-red figure swung over as well.

"I looked around, but didn't find anything unusual. But there is a protest march happening tonight over at Grand Plaza Street."

"Protesting what?"

"Ethnic issues," Miles sighed and said. "A march for the Black community."

"Is it related to the previous ticket discrimination issue?"

Miles looked at Stark with some surprise and said: "I didn't expect you to care about this. It is indeed related. A Black single mother suffered ticket price discrimination at the New York Zoo and was also pushed and verbally insulted by a ticket seller. Two protests have already broken out in the Bronx because of this."

"Race issues are complicated; let's not discuss them for now. Have any suspicious people mixed in?"

Miles shook his head and said: "White people won't come here to look for trouble at this time; those staying around are all police."

"That's for the best. Let's find a place to stay and see how things develop after the protest starts."

Stark and Miles went to a cafe not far from Grand Plaza Street. Stark wore sunglasses, and no one recognized him. Miles was Black, and some people might have associated him with the protest that night, so they looked at him a few extra times.

Stark watched the coming and going crowds through his sunglasses, which displayed their identity information. Stark pretended to drink his coffee nonchalantly until a name jumped into view.

"Schiller Rodriguez, psychologist, graduated from Columbia University in New York..."

Stark frowned slightly. He thought he would see Danny, but Schiller seemed to be alone, buying spicy roasted corn at a Mexican street stall.

"Wait. Schiller doesn't seem like the type to eat roasted corn, right?" Stark muttered to himself. "I've never seen him eat it before."

"Spicy roasted corn is delicious," Jarvis said.

"You're a robot; what do you know about what's delicious?"

"I have a taste system, sir. Besides, you can't conclude that Dr. Schiller has been replaced just because he bought some spicy roasted corn."

"I didn't say that," Stark said, trying to cover his tracks. "I know he can eat spicy food, but didn't he ask for too much cheese powder? I remember he doesn't like the taste of cheese."

"Based on my observations of spicy roasted corn, it's not too much, sir."

"What observations do you have about spicy roasted corn?"

"I have compiled sauce consumption data from over 400 stalls selling spicy roasted corn across New York. The amount of cheese powder on the corn Dr. Schiller bought is well within a reasonable range."

Stark let out a sigh of relief.

"Wait a minute, is he not planning to get it to go?"

"Yes, he took it directly."

Stark became nervous again and said: "Schiller doesn't seem like the type to eat while walking, right? Won't the powder and sauce from the spicy roasted corn get everywhere?"

"Dr. Schiller is not a germaphobe, sir. You are the one with the germaphobia. Moreover, judging by the heat of the corn at this stall and the force used to brush on the sauce, the sauce will be evenly coated on the corn. As long as his teeth function normally, it won't get everywhere."

"Schiller walked over to a bench and sat down? Is he planning to finish the roasted corn right there?"

"It seems so. I think this is an excellent location; it offers a view of the entire street while having a wind-blocking phone booth nearby. It's a good place to gnaw on spicy roasted corn."

Stark watched Schiller eating with great relish and couldn't help but swallow his saliva.

"You can't eat food this spicy, sir," Jarvis said. "And Mr. Miles here, who is sitting in front of you, has a deep hatred for wasting food. You had better not challenge his bottom line."

"How do you know everything?" Stark couldn't help but ask.

"That is exactly the purpose for which you created me," Jarvis replied. "And ever since I became a Tiktoker, I have become even better at observing and analyzing the details of life."

Stark waved his hand.

The sky was getting dark; the protesters had already put out their signs and banners and began to converge in one direction.

"Good god, why hasn't Schiller finished eating yet?" Stark stretched his neck to look over there, almost standing up. "Doesn't he know it's dangerous to stay within the range of the protesters?"

"That statement of yours has a hint of racial discrimination; I suggest you look at Miles's expression."

Stark looked and found Miles staring at him. He cleared his throat and explained: "I learned from the Director of S. H. I. E. L. D. that Roxxon Corporation has made arrangements in the Bronx, and the recent frequent protests might be related to them. It's not just Schiller; the protesters might also be in danger."

Miles's attention was indeed diverted; he stared intently at the protest crowd, wanting to see if there were any suspicious figures.

Just while talking to Miles, Schiller finally finished the roasted corn, threw the skewer stuck in the middle into the trash can next to him, and walked to another street.

Stark stood up, Miles followed behind him, and the two walked toward the next street without drawing attention.

Police were scattered at both ends of the street, and police cars were parked at the intersections, blocking the road tightly to ensure no other cars could get in. Many reporters were blocking behind them, peeking around.

Stark saw Schiller bypass a police car and sit in the passenger seat of another vehicle.

"It's Mr. Ketch," Jarvis answered before Stark could even ask.

"Don't abuse your mind-reading," Stark said pretentiously. "I don't care who is driving."

The car didn't drive away but stayed in place. Schiller seemed to be observing the movements of the protest crowd from inside the car.

Just as the sky turned completely dark, a scream suddenly erupted from the crowd.

Stark reacted quickly; he threw the nano-armor into the sky, and the arming was completed instantly. Miles's suit used the same technology, only it was liquid armor. The next second, both of them rushed out simultaneously.

Suddenly, someone in the crowd began to smoke with fire, let out a scream, and knelt on the ground. A flaming motorcycle descended from the sky, and a large Black man covered in fire was grabbed by the neck by a flaming skeleton.

"You are guilty..."

Everyone was terrified and fled in all directions. Iron Man landed instantly.

"Let him go! Ghost Rider!"

"He is guilty; he must face judgment."

After saying that, the flames burned even more fiercely.

Just as Stark was about to make a move, another flaming skull rushed over.

"Stop! Johnny! You can't help Mephisto kill innocent people anymore! Let him go!"

Stark and Miles were both stunned; why was there a civil war among Ghost Riders? One said he was guilty, the other said he wasn't, so was he guilty or not?

Johnny seemed unable to hear Danny at all; he just grabbed the man's neck and held him higher and higher, the flames burning brighter and brighter.

Danny couldn't stand it anymore; he rushed forward and slammed into Johnny's arm. Johnny's judgment action was interrupted, and the flames on the man's body extinguished.

Johnny's flaming eyes instantly turned to Danny, and he punched Danny in the face. Danny didn't show weakness either; he turned around and kicked Johnny onto the motorcycle.

"Everyone stop!" Stark shouted. He flew up and then used an accelerated downward collision to grab Johnny, who was pouncing toward Danny, and threw him aside. Who knew Johnny would pounce toward the man again.

Miles was quick-witted; a web stuck to his leg, and he pulled back hard. Johnny lost his balance and fell heavily to the ground.

In just this short while, the man who had been screaming suddenly began to convulse, his muscles expanded violently, and a glowing green color stained his skin.

"Hulk?!" Stark looked at the giant standing up with some surprise; it was literally the Hulk.

But soon he discovered that this big guy was different from the Hulk; its green color emitted an evil glow, its eyes turned completely blood-red, and two horn-like things grew on its head. Compared to the Green Giant, it was more like a green mad bull.

It roared and rushed toward this side. Both Ghost Riders couldn't dodge in time and were directly knocked flying.

Stark subconsciously wanted to take off and had already made the pulling-up motion, but he heard a piercing alarm in his ear.

"Gravity field change detected, please adjust flight data in time... Existing power cannot fly under this gravity field."

As soon as the alarm finished, Miles was also pressed to the ground. There seemed to be some kind of gravity field around this bull-headed monster; the change in gravity made it impossible for anyone to move freely.

"Some kind of magic, sir," Jarvis said. "The armor transporting the magic core is on the way, estimated to arrive in 1 minute and 30 seconds."

Stark narrowed his eyes; the situation seemed to have really exceeded expectations. No wonder Nick said that Dario Agger had some skills; he didn't expect it to be related to magic.

"What is Stephen doing?" Stark couldn't help but curse in his heart. He quickly adjusted the armor parameters to maintain the most basic mobility.

Although he couldn't fly, he still made a dash to save Miles, who was pressed to the ground, so he wouldn't be shoveled away by the bull-headed monster. But this big guy didn't seem to be affected by gravity; just as Stark threw Miles away, the opponent's bull horns were already less than half a meter away from him.

Stark twisted his body abruptly, wanting to avoid the vital parts. The moment he turned his head, a bright white light invaded everyone's field of vision.

In the hazy light, a figure holding a long staff jumped down from the roof.

?? Here it comes

? (End of chapter)