Chapter 1727: Emotionless, Not Doing It, and Abduction

Killian’s hand was fiery red at first, before it turned a bright orange. The heat was quickly transmitted from his hand to the armor.

Inside the armor, an emotionless Colonel Rhodes instantly felt his lower abdomen burn, and an irrepressible thought popped into his head.

“No, do not open, do not open,” he mumbled through gritted teeth. However, beads of sweat gradually appeared on his face, and he was filled with helplessness.

The armor had a self-defense function.

If some systems were severely damaged, it would automatically open to prevent the wearer from suffocating to death.

Killian long knew about this function since it was AIM who provided maintenance for this armor.

Colonel Rhodes really wanted to curse some people in the Department of Defense. Damn it, could these villains not touch his precious armor every time?! Where was the law?

But endurance was useless.

Less than a minute later, Colonel Rhodes, who felt his crotch burning, was “thrown out” of the armor.

In a last ditch attempt, Colonel Rhodes jumped out and kicked away the criminal in front of him.

On the side, Killian, who had already seen it coming, opened his mouth, and fire shot out to burn a table in front of Rhodes to ash.

Unmoved, Colonel Rhodes decisively raised one hand and frantically tugged at his pants with the other to let his crotch cool down.

At the same time, he smiled awkwardly. “Wow, you can breathe fire. Awesome.”

With a disdainful smile, Killian gestured at his subordinates. “Lock him up first.”

Colonel Rhodes, whose bird had almost been roasted, had no choice but to let himself be taken away.

Only then did Killian clap his hands. “Okay, the Master is here. It’s time for him to finish his last act.” He then walked toward the hall.

A dozen people followed him into the hall, dragging a middle-aged man in with them. An old man walked in and sat down. It was none other than Trevor Slattery, the acting enthusiast whom Luke had investigated.

The guy glanced at Killian before he continued sitting in a daze.

Killian frowned. “Is he high?”

One of his men stepped forward and said in a low voice, “No, the Master was up all night playing gunfights with two girls, and also drank several cans of beer.”

Speechless for a moment, Killian waved his hand. “Let’s begin.”

With that, Trevor’s expression changed.

At that moment, his eyes were deep and his face solemn. He pursed his lips and sat straight in his chair as he stepped on the middle-aged man who had been dragged in.

After they got into position, the camera opposite them started recording.

Trevor said in a low and magnetic voice, “…Do you know about fortune cookies? They’re not Chinese. They were created by the Americans based on a Japanese recipe, and they taste terrible. They are complete lies. Now, I’m going to tell you another American lie…”

At the same time, the new tenant of the White House, Ellis, was also looking at the screen.

“Do you see this? Thomas Richards, accountant for Roxxon Corporation.” Trevor pointed his gun at the middle-aged man. “Mr. President, if you call the phone I am holding in 30 seconds, he can live.”

Not long after, a gunshot rang out, and Trevor continued. “You’ve made your choice, Mr. President. This is the last lesson. You’ll lose a lot of things. America will lose a lot of things. Even your lackey Iron Man won’t be able to salvage everything. We’ll meet again soon.”

The image disappeared, and Ellis put down his phone with a heavy expression.

Of course, that was just for show.

The United States never negotiated with terrorists, which was the same for all major countries in the world, since this would only lead to more kidnappings.

Even if the person being held hostage was an accountant from Roxxon Corporation who was part of the upper class, it was useless.

The truth was that except for the several hundred super bigshots who controlled the lifeline of American society, the outcome would be the same even if this person was a military general or a state councilor.

The country just needed to act like they would save the person; whether or not the hostage lived wasn’t important.

Anyone who was involved in something like this had better pray that they ran into a superhero who saved people for fun, or they would have to rely on luck to survive.

Luke and Tony had also watched the live broadcast, which was why Luke had urged Tony to give Dr. Hansen an inducer.

It was a pity that the tycoon was too principled and wouldn’t do it.

…

At the same time, far away in New York, after Pepper confirmed that Tony was “unharmed,” she immediately helped him deal with questions.

Whether Tony was seriously injured or dead, this was a huge shock for Stark Industries.

She had to placate their partners so that they wouldn’t kick a man when he was down.

For a moment, Pepper had no choice but to run around New York.

It just so happened that the Soderbergs were having a private charity function tonight, and a large number of celebrities and bigshots were gathered there, so Pepper dropped by.

She had already gotten her assistant to make the donation; all she needed to do was make the rounds before the function started.

So, Pepper arrived early.

While she was talking to her partners, a small team snuck onto the second floor from a side door and entered an empty room on the first floor.

After changing into their waiter outfits, the eight of them filed out and quickly entered the function hall with drinks and food.

A few minutes later, a short-haired woman listened to the information she had just gotten through her earpiece. She quickly stepped forward and whispered to Pepper, who had just finished speaking, “Director Michael from Carson Della Corporation is waiting for you in Reception Room 2, Miss Potts.”

Pepper nodded and looked at the door of Reception Room 2. Director Michael was waiting for her at the door with a fake smile on his face.

However, most capitalists didn’t smile for real to begin with, so Pepper didn’t dwell on it. She walked over with the two bodyguards.

When she and the two bodyguards entered the room and the door closed behind them, something happened.

Two waiters who had followed them in from outside grabbed the bodyguards by the necks and broke them, instantly killing them.

Pepper said, “You… ugh.”

One of the waiters covered her mouth, and the other took out restraining belts to tie her hands and feet.

Michael was also tied up. Pepper immediately understood: No wonder this person’s smile when he waited at the door had been so fake. He had been held hostage to trick her.

Then, the team quickly picked Pepper up and opened a side door. Together, they burned through the wall and slipped out.

Pepper could only cry out in protest behind her gag and watch helplessly as two assailants picked her up and she was smuggled out of the charity function.