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With energy resources extremely limited, Viktor had no intention of engaging Jess head-on. Activating a singularity to create a chaotic storm would deplete his reserves, while Jess, judging by his appearance, could probably still unleash several more thunderous strikes.

Viktor is gone, but the drone array he left behind continues to function.

Unable to confront them directly, the drones began to disperse and wage guerrilla warfare, and their beams changed from long bursts of fire to short, high-frequency bursts.

Jess swung his warhammer and smashed the drone in front of him to pieces in no time.

Then Mercury's Hammer switched to cannon mode, aimed at the sky, and fired shots one by one.

Jess didn't dare to chase Viktor until he had dealt with all the drones.

As Viktor said, sometimes the flesh is indeed a weakness when facing machinery.

It doesn't take long; just a few seconds of continuous laser irradiation is enough to accumulate enough energy to penetrate Jess's physical defenses.

Of course, given his speed and reaction time, a single laser emitter wouldn't be enough, but Jess wasn't sure if there were other drones lurking around, or if gravity generators had been installed somewhere along the pursuit route.

As Jess cleared out the remaining drones, in the dilapidated research room, Stan stared intently at the empty charging crystals and some strange parts left behind by Viktor on the table.

Having witnessed the battle between Jess and Viktor, Stan had a better understanding of the situation. He figured he couldn't possibly keep either of them alive, so he might as well just collect the interest he was getting.

Energy is difficult to generate, and it is difficult to store. As long as he can crack these charging crystals and reduce the price to an acceptable level, he can at least gain a place in Stark Industries.

Even if Tony wanted to get rid of him, he couldn't, just like he couldn't get rid of Tony before.

"Boss! That guy's almost done fighting!"

Stan's secretary kept an eye on the situation outside while whispering a reminder.

"Got it, you go stand at the gap! Hold him off!" Stan commanded while speeding up the cleanup.

His current worry is that after Jess finishes off the enemy, he'll come back and clean up all the mess left behind.

"Boss! Boss! Don't worry, it seems that after that guy dealt with the drone, he went after Viktor!"

The secretary looked outside and said with a hint of excitement.

Stan, who was behind him, breathed a sigh of relief. His tense mood relaxed, and his taut hand loosened, causing a crystal to hit the screwdriver.

The anti-piracy device left by Victor was accidentally triggered, and the crystal began to self-destruct, exploding into pieces with a snap.

Stan was startled by the unexpected turn of events and took two steps back while clutching the box in his arms.

However, when designing the anti-theft device, Victor also included a feature: once the anti-theft mechanism of one crystal is triggered, other crystals within a certain distance will also begin to self-destruct.

A series of crackling explosions rang out in Stan's arms.

The damage from the crystal's self-destruction wasn't high, but Stan had more than a dozen of them in his possession.

In an instant, a piece of skin and muscle on Stan's chest exploded open, and he fell headfirst to the ground with a thud.

Chapter Sixty-Six: Tony's Stimulation (Seeking Recommendations)

After chasing Viktor along his escape route for a long time, Jess had to admit that he had lost him.

His tracking methods relied primarily on the various devices he carried. However, Viktor, as Jess's former friend, knew him quite well and had already taken targeted precautions to conceal his identity.

With a thud, Jess slammed the Mercury Hammer in his hand onto the ground and looked around dejectedly.

He didn't know what to do now. He had violated the rules by openly displaying magical power in the surface world without permission. If this had happened before, he would have been arrested by the Clock Tower's law enforcement officers long ago. It was only because the Clock Tower decided to resume contact with the surface world that Jess could stand here safely.

But he also knew that if he went back to find Genomi now, he would definitely be sent back to Hextech Research Institute to await further action. In other words, he now had to hide himself, just like Victor.

After thinking for a moment, Jess took out his remaining ammunition from his pocket. He had less than two boxes of concentrated ammunition left, the rest of which were at Genomi's house. He also only had three of his custom-made crystal batteries left, so he would have to use them sparingly from now on.

Jess sighed deeply, shrunk the Mercury Hammer back to the size of his palm, and walked into the nearby grove. He was still unwilling to give up. He guessed that Viktor had not given up on obtaining the miniature reactor, and that if he stayed in this area, he could definitely wait for Viktor.

Meanwhile, outside the ravaged research room, after everything had calmed down, Pepper lifted her head from Tony's embrace.

Pepper glanced around, still shaken. "Tony, what's going on?"

“I don’t know, Jax couldn’t find any information about these people online either.” Tony’s tone was heavy. The amount of information he had received during this period was so overwhelming that he had almost forgotten about the shrapnel in his body.

After Tony returned from the desert, he looked up the name Kim Bradley, but couldn't find anything. He only found some encrypted information in a Russian database, but unfortunately, the information inside wasn't very valuable. It's estimated that all the truly useful information was in paper form, just to guard against people like Tony.

As for Ivan Vanko, Tony did find similar information, but the data showed that Ivan Vanko was just an ordinary person who was slightly smarter, while his father had a rather bad reputation. In short, the data showed that Ivan Vanko was a completely different person from the one Tony had met.

The Hextech researchers and Jess that have now appeared have kept Jarvis constantly searching, but to no avail. According to Jarvis, it seems that some force has simply erased all their information from the network.

"So what do we do? Can we leave now? Or should we call the police first?" Pepper asked instinctively.

"Call the police?" Tony chuckled. "Just you wait, those special agencies that contacted you before will definitely come back again."

Just as the two were talking, a crackling sound came from behind them.

Looking back, Tony saw a figure surrounded by electric currents rapidly approaching.

This person was none other than Genomi, who had lost contact with Jess. After Jess destroyed the communicator, he immediately rushed over, but the distance was indeed too far, and even using electrical stimulation to accelerate his cells, he still couldn't get there in time.

Genomi looked at the dilapidated new energy research lab and felt a heavy weight in his heart.

Could that arrogant guy have done something he shouldn't have?

"Let me ask you something. Do you know where the person who turned this place upside down went?" Genomi asked, stopping a short distance in front of Tony.

Pepper shook her head, and Tony pointed into the research lab, "The people inside might know."

Genomi nodded and leaped directly into the research lab.

The remaining people in the lab were giving Stan first aid when he collapsed. As soon as Genome entered, the group scattered and hid.

Before Genomi could even ask a question, he saw the gap that had been completely melted by the death ray, immediately crawled out of the gap, and then saw the huge crater.

Genomi gestured with his hands, unsure of what to say. The crater was deep enough to bury the entire population of a small town. At this point, he could no longer hide the truth from his superiors.

He photographed the crater and then uploaded the information using the Ouroboros marker. As for the personnel who would come to handle it, he couldn't care less. Were these scientists out of their minds? Making such a big fuss over such a small task!

After reporting it, Genomi followed the trail left by Jess and Victor on the road and began to track them down. He figured he had to find at least one of them so that he would have something to say when it came time to hold them accountable.

A dozen minutes later, several ambulances that sped up arrived at the scene.

After the doctor came down, he immediately began examining Pepper. As for Tony, he knew his own condition; he had retreated quickly enough to avoid any injury, so he didn't bother examining these people.

Tony slowly walked to an ambulance that was providing emergency care. Lying on the emergency bed was Obadiah-Stan, who had been unconscious for a long time.

Seeing Stan, whom he had been fighting against for so long, lying there like this, Tony felt utterly disillusioned. What had he been doing all this time? It had all been a complete waste!

I, Tony Stark, am a scientist, not a capitalist.

Tony said something to himself and then walked towards the back of the research lab, where the wreckage of drones was everywhere.

Using a small stick, Tony pried open the wreckage and squatted down to observe its structure.

This structure shares similarities with the items in those two videos, which may be one of the general technologies used by that Hextech researcher.

How exactly did they do it?

Tony was a little frustrated. His current mood was exactly the same as that of some ordinary researchers when they saw his invention: a bit of existential doubt.

After squatting for a while, until his head started to spin, Tony stood up, glanced down at the miniature reactor on his chest, and steadied himself. He couldn't understand the other party's technology, and the other party couldn't understand his either. This was at most a 50/50 chance.

However, they are evenly matched in terms of skill, but far apart in terms of combat strength.

Tony imagined himself fighting Jess and Victor while wearing the Mark II that was still under construction; it would be such a one-sided battle.

No! We need to create specialized armor specifically for these two individuals!

As Tony pondered, the anti-Jesus armor and the anti-Victor armor were slowly taking shape in his mind.

Chapter Sixty-Seven: The Tragic Jace

A month has passed since the battle between Jayce and Viktor.

The official explanation given is that it was a gas explosion; a kitchen chef at Stark New Energy Research Laboratory caused a gas leak due to improper operation, which ultimately led to an explosion caused by an open flame.

Regardless of whether the reasons are a bit too outrageous, having a publicly available explanation is enough, because the actual investigative agencies are all making a fortune in silence.

The drone fragments and compressed shell casings shot down by Jess, the blank charging crystals left by Viktor, and all sorts of miscellaneous equipment ended up in the pockets of various organizations. Even that large piece of land was scraped away more than once.

Tony's side also had a decent haul; as the primary party involved in the incident, Stark Industries obtained a small portion of the relevant materials.

This was one of Tony's gains; the second gain was control of the Stark Industries.

Obadiah-Stan was taken to the hospital and was saved, but he has not yet regained consciousness.

The leaders of the opposition have all been hospitalized. While Tony's orders are not yet completely unimpeded, they are now carrying some weight.

These people benefited, but Jess suffered a lot.

Without a suitable place to stay, he had to change locations every day to avoid being discovered. Over the course of a month, he looked ten years older, his hair was matted, his beard was messy, and he had a strange smell about him.

The public restrooms' washing facilities are really poor; they can only wash away some basic dust and grime, and the grime that remains accumulates makes for a rather pungent smell.

In addition, Jess had conflicts with many homeless people during this period.

He didn't understand the rules among homeless people and dared to go anywhere. He often intruded into the territory that the other party had allocated according to unspoken rules. Fortunately, Jess's physical strength was enough to overwhelm those homeless people, so each time the conflict ended without causing any trouble.

After living such a miserable life for so long, Jess only had one question to ask: how did Viktor survive before he found Stan?

For people like them, this is much more difficult than some scientific research.

Moreover, Jess discovered that a professional was secretly tracking him. At first, Jess thought it was a law enforcement officer from the Clock Tower, but then he realized that something was wrong because the person tracking him was too incompetent.

There's a high probability that the assassin will be discovered by this knight. He doesn't even know how to complain. After observing in the dark for a while, Jess discovered that the person was just an assassin apprentice, which is far too low a level.

After realizing the pursuer's level was too low, Jess was certain this person wasn't a Clock Tower enforcer. He was a mid-level knight, and with the Mercury Hammer, he figured the pursuer should be a high-level professional.

Because a typical intermediate-level professional might not be able to defeat him, even though he hasn't had a real fight or risked his life for a long time.

Having confirmed this, Jess began to worry about another matter: why hadn't the law enforcement officers arrived yet? Did their long absence mean something, or did they already arrive but he just hadn't noticed?

This is one of the punishments for lawbreakers: they will be under constant psychological pressure until they are caught.

Late at night, in a small alley where Jess had temporarily stopped, Natasha was groping her way inch by inch, searching for any possible traces she might have left behind.

That's right, she's the assassin apprentice that Jess discovered.

After obtaining the testing agent through Fina's connections, Natasha chose the assassin path as her future research route, since it was somewhat related to what she had done before.

However, after truly joining the ranks of professionals, Natasha realized that she was genuinely poor. In the past, S.H.I.E.L.D. took care of her food, clothing, shelter, weapons, and equipment, so she didn't feel it much. But now that she had to solve all the related problems herself, she realized this.

Therefore, during this period, Natasha has been actively taking on apprentice-level missions from the Ouroboros Mark. There aren't any particularly rewarding missions; they're just about going to various places to investigate things and then writing down the investigation reports.

She was already in charge of these kinds of things under Nick Fury's arrangement, doing one thing and getting paid twice, so why not?