Chapter 50: Expo
[Defending Peace——From Hammer Industries]

[The Hammer Industrial Expo will officially start tonight...]

As night falls, the vast expo area is crowded with vehicles and people.

Like sharks smelling blood, reporters with cameras swarmed in.

"Justin Hammer, his show is coming up in the main hall..."

——Main Hall of the Expo Park

The giant screen on the platform lit up, and the huge logo of Hammer Industries slowly appeared, accompanied by applause and the beginning of the background music.

Light drum music, flashing lights,

Justin Hammer, in a suit and tie, comically imitated Michael Jackson's dance steps and walked to the glass speech column on the stage.

Adjusting his gold-rimmed glasses, Justin Hammer confidently began his speech.

"Ladies and gentlemen, for a long time, we have sent our brave soldiers to risk their lives to fight..."

"But the appearance of Iron Man doesn't seem to change anything..."

Looking at Justin Hammer who was speaking eloquently on the stage, Pepper Potts, the "Little Pepper" in the audience, and Natasha, the secretary assistant beside them, looked at each other.
"?"

After understanding each other's eyes, they both had doubts in their hearts.

Hammer Industries, which is notorious for producing "backward weapons", can now confidently comment on Stark Industries, which has always been superior to it, and Tony Stark, who currently possesses the latest technology.

Who gave him the confidence?

A bad premonition spread in the hearts of the two.

Then, Justin Hammer ordered his subordinates to move the podium out of the way, straightened his chest, and raised his voice.
"Ladies and gentlemen, today, I will introduce to you——"

"The new face of the American military!"

Along with the passionate symphony, the floor of the platform gradually cracked, revealing a deep passage.

A row of fully armed, tall humanoid mechanical warriors slowly rose up, with a cold and tough appearance.
"Navy—Army—Air Force!"

When Justin Hammer's excited shouting gradually faded away,

At this moment, there are three rows of "Iron Soldiers" standing on the platform with different colors and slightly different weapon configurations due to their designs for different environments.

"Wow, revolutionary technology isn't it!?"

Pepper and Natasha in the audience looked solemn and confused.

No one noticed that Ivan Vanko, who was hiding in Hammer Industries, had been completely controlled by these Iron Soldiers and was observing everything in the venue through the Iron Soldiers' perspective.
Likewise, no one noticed that there was a tall, smiling figure in a suit and black-framed glasses sitting in the audience.

To others, this seemed to be just a young reporter who looked green and unnoticeable.

[Ordinary black-frame glasses (blue (excellent))],
Link looked at the iron soldier standing on the stage in boredom.
I was thinking about how much force I would need to use to dismantle these toys, and how I would need to adjust the power of my thermal vision to just melt through the armor, so as not to waste my energy in vain...

At the same time, he took out a golden and crispy French fry from the paper bag with the McDonald's logo printed on it, dipped it in ketchup, and stuffed it into his mouth.
He grumbled incoherently.

"This broken mecha is really ugly. It doesn't look as good as the Zaku..."

"Fuck, why haven't you come yet? I'm so bored waiting... and mainly because I'm almost done with my fries." Satisfied with the applause from the audience, Justin Hammer continued to speak.
"And next, I will introduce to you our first prototype - the Comprehensive Threat Response Combat Armor Suit, and its pilot: James Rhodes!"

Then, Pepper saw in disbelief that Tony's good brother, Rhodes, appeared on the platform wearing a heavy iron armor.

Just as Justin Hammer was about to continue his speech,
There was a whistling sound from the sky, and everyone in the audience raised their heads and looked towards the sky.
I saw a flash of red and gold, accompanied by a bright tail flame.
Iron Man Tony Stark landed on the platform.

"Tony Stark!"

The audience saw Tony Stark suddenly appear at the Expo, and they shouted in surprise, and there was dense applause like a tide.
Justin Hammer had a look on his face that looked as if he had eaten shit.

Seeing his good brother coming suddenly, Rhode felt a little guilty and spoke quickly.
"I'm sorry, Tony. I..."

"Don't say so much, listen! Rod, Justin Hammer has colluded with Ivan Vanko!"

"Ivan Vanko? Isn't he dead!?"

"I……"

Before Tony Stark could finish his words, Rhodes in the armor found that a large number of data windows suddenly popped up on the operation interface in front of him.
The crosshairs were firmly locked on Tony Stark's head and other vital parts.

Rhodes spoke quickly.
"Hey! Tony, I seem to be controlled!"

"what!"

But what responded to Tony Stark was the minigun mounted on the shoulder of Rhodes' armor.
"Da da da da da-"

Flames danced from the muzzles, and a large number of bullets poured out.

Tony Stark dodged sideways, and only a few bullets successfully hit him, but they were also blocked by the gold-titanium alloy armor of the [MK-6 Iron Man Suit].
However, some of the "lucky audience members" who were accidentally injured by ricochets were not protected by armor, so the bullets really hit them...

But then, the head of the "Iron Soldier" that had been standing quietly on the platform lit up, was activated, and strode forward.

Realizing that this place was not suitable for a war, in order to avoid greater casualties, Tony Stark thought for a moment and immediately flew into the sky.

The controlled Rhodes naturally followed quickly and chased Tony Stark.

The Iron Soldier, designed as an "air force", followed closely behind.

"boom--"

There was a continuous roar in the exhibition hall.
The sudden change made the audience scream, and the chaotic crowd scattered and trampled on each other.

The originally neat and clean venue was now disrupted by blood stains and messy facilities.

The crowd, in panic, fled in all directions, completely losing their original elegant and dignified appearance.

Looking at the figures running around, Link stood still with the McDonald's paper bag in his hand.

I walked slowly to the trash can and was about to throw the trash in.

"bang"

The trash can was knocked to the ground by a metal arm that suddenly appeared.
Lifting his head, Link stared with a pair of dead fish eyes, his gaze was dim.
(●—●)
Looking at the mechanical and dull steel soldier, Link reached out and took off the prop glasses on his nose, and put the prop card back into the panel.
He pulled open the collar of his suit, revealing the tight combat suit underneath, and slowly spoke:
"You already have a way to die!"

　I'd like to recommend a book written by a friend of the author. He can earn tens of thousands of copies a day.
　　
　
(End of this chapter)