Marvel: The Imposter Inventor

Chapter 167 Luca's Activities, the Busy Avengers

"Some people call me a terrorist. But I consider myself a mentor."

On television, a menacing-looking, bearded man is introducing himself, surrounded by a group of terrorists.

The surrounding area was filled with people dressed in distinctly Middle Eastern style, noisy voices, occasional gunshots, and shaky camera work.

A terrifying and oppressive atmosphere seemed to overflow from the screen.

Even Sherry, a fellow veteran employee of the terrorist organization's brewery, suddenly became serious upon seeing the images on the television screen.

The television broadcast continued. The man who claimed to be the Mandarin hijacked the television signal for only a short time. After he took responsibility for the previous explosions, the screen immediately switched back to the morning news.

The news anchor was indeed very dedicated, abandoning the previous topic and starting to analyze the impact of the Mandarin's appearance based on the available information.

"Haha~"

Luca's slightly amused chuckle drew the attention of Sherry, who was still immersed in the heavy atmosphere of the television broadcast.

"The acting was actually quite convincing."

Upon hearing Luca's words, Sherry, who had initially only expressed some confusion, immediately became stunned.

"You mean, that video was fake?"

"Well, how should I put it? The attack was real, but the actors and the reasons were fake. The actors they found were quite convincing."

Luca simply smiled, shrugged, offered a casual explanation, and then turned off the TV.

"Alright, don't worry about these things. I have some things to take care of. Enjoy your meal."

After saying that, Luca shoveled down a few mouthfuls of rice, then got up and ran to the basement, leaving Sherry alone and bewildered at the dining table.

In the underground laboratory, as soon as Luca sat down, he kicked the orange Haro into the charging base, and then called out to the ceiling.

"Hakimi, get me in touch with Tony."

When the communication was established, the virtual screen did not display Tony Stark's face, but instead showed a completely black screen.

However, the occasional noise coming through the dark screen seemed to indicate that the call had indeed been connected.

"Tony, what are you up to over there?"

As soon as Luca uttered those words, a series of clanging and banging sounds came from the other end, interspersed with what seemed to be gasps from the crowd, and the dark virtual screen began to shake violently.

"Captain! Get some water! What does this kid want with your Uncle Tony?"

The previous sentence was clearly not directed at Luca, but Luca roughly realized that Tony was probably engaged in a battle.

"It's nothing. You can continue with the battle for now, we'll talk later."

Luca hung up the phone immediately after saying that, so as not to affect Tony's battle.

'Sure enough, Tony's been so busy lately he probably doesn't have time to worry about the Ten Rings or terrorist attacks.'

'That's good. Now that Killian's plan has begun, the vice president should already be caught in the trap. It's actually easier for me to handle things if Tony doesn't interfere.'

Thinking this through, Luca nodded in satisfaction, but out of curiosity, he still asked Hakimi.

"Hakimi, check the latest news and social media posts. Keywords: Iron Man, Captain America."

"Yes, sir." Upon receiving the order, Hakimi immediately retrieved a large amount of data from the network, and video images flashed rapidly across the virtual screen.

The final image focused on a video that was clearly taken by a passerby with their phone.

In the video footage, a vast expanse of yellow sand covers the city, through which Iron Man's flamboyant gold and red armor can be vaguely seen rapidly traversing the sand.

"Wow, what a grand scene!"

"Hakimi, where is this battle taking place?"

Jacksonville, in northeastern Florida, USA.

"Tony, who are you talking to?"

Amidst the swirling sandstorm, Tony was struck again by a gigantic fist that appeared out of nowhere, sending him spinning as he crashed into the exterior wall of a building.

I vaguely heard Steve's question and answered it instinctively.

"Remote Control Toy Knight".

"That's not important, Captain. We need to get some water, a fire truck or something will do!"

Steve, on the ground, was taken aback when he heard Tony say "Remote Knight," but he immediately realized that Tony meant "Metal Knight."

However, just as Tony said, that's not important right now; what's more important is Tony's request for 'some water'.
Steve looked around at himself helplessly.

In this overwhelming expanse of yellow sand, visibility was limited to only a dozen meters around the perimeter, making it impossible to see where the water tower was.

Not to mention the latest news he had just received from the firefighters who were evacuating people from the vicinity.
"Tony, the local fire department is in arrears on their utility bills, so all they have in their fire trucks are fire foam and dry powder extinguishers. Hang in there a little longer and try to lead that monster toward the sea!"

Tony, who had just pulled himself out of the concrete wall on the outside of the building, felt a wave of dizziness upon hearing Steve's words, as if he had encountered the biggest blow of his life.

"Are you crazy?! The fire department is behind on their water bill?!"

"Jarvis!! Pay all the water bills they owe! And the electricity bills too!"

That being said, the water and electricity fees that have just been paid off obviously cannot be replenished immediately, not to mention that it will also take time to load the truck and get it here.

Tony had no choice but to get up again and rush toward the center of the sandstorm.

At the eye of the sandstorm, between several buildings, a strange figure nearly a hundred meters tall, composed entirely of countless grains of yellow sand, was roaring angrily.

Every roar of this terrifying sand giant could cause violent tremors in the surrounding sandstorm.

With each swing of his arm, large sections of the walls of the nearby buildings, which were not even as tall as him, would be blasted away.

Although the body of this sand giant did not seem to be very sturdy, its clenched fist would explode every time it bombarded the surrounding buildings.

But in just a moment, the surrounding yellow sand would immediately gather around him, quickly repairing and reshaping the previously 'injured' parts.

The shattered building fragments, under the intense impact of the surrounding sandstorm, are corroded and broken down into fine sand, which then merges into the body of the sand monster.

In fact, the original Yellow Sand Monster was not nearly as huge as it is now.

However, because Tony and his group did not understand the characteristics of the Sand Monster, the battle had continued until now, and instead of defeating him, the Sand Monster's size had increased several times over.

At that moment, beneath the giant sandman, Hulk, his mouth full of sand, was angrily tearing at his enemy's toes.

(End of this chapter)