A Marine Admiral in the Marvel Universe

"Forget it, let's go." Beth said speechlessly. This guy was clearly out of his mind.

Cao Gui shrugged, pulled Beth into the car, and drove off.

"What an enviable couple..." Tony Stark muttered, watching the two walk away.

"But then again, I don't think I've ever been in a relationship before..."

Well, I never dated when I was a man, and I haven't dated since I became a woman.

Before she became a woman, there were already some hints of something between her and Pepper, if she hadn't become a woman...

“That damn Homeland Strategic Defense Bureau…” Tony muttered, and then slowly began to snore.

After trying the elements on the periodic table again, Tony had to give up; she simply couldn't find a suitable substitute.

Palladium had already begun to seep into her lungs and would soon reach her heart, but it was impossible for her to abandon her Iron Man armor and hand this stuff over to those insects at the Department of Defense.

Tony shut down the weapons department because he didn't want his weapons to kill people anymore. Now that he wants her to hand over these weapons... what was the point of him shutting down the weapons department in the first place?

Besides, the Iron Man suit is hers; she is Iron Man, always has been, and always will be!

Toni plans to do something she always wanted to do in the last moments of her life.

Snore snore...

The beautiful woman is snoring.

late at night.

In her sleep, Toni Stark seemed to hear a soft thud, as if someone's head had hit the ground.

Beside him, Cao Gui's lips twitched slightly. He wasn't awake yet; how could he be sleeping like a pig?

"Never mind, this isn't a good place to chat. Let me take you away."

Cao Gui muttered something, grabbed Tony's ankle, and dragged her along, sparks flying, until they reached a roadside motel.

Snore snore~

As the night drew to a close, Toni, still half asleep, felt unwell all over and couldn't find a comfortable position no matter how she lay down.

Feeling uncomfortable, I instinctively turned over.

With a crack, the chairs in the motel could no longer support the weight of the humanoid steel figure and collapsed.

Clang!

"who!?"

Tony jumped up from the ground with a start, only to find a black man sitting not far away. He had curly hair, chocolate-colored skin, a full beard, and a small mustache.

But... that face looked familiar, like my own.

Tony's face darkened instantly. "It's one thing for me to become a woman, but can I really become a Black person?"

"Uh...who are you?" After briefly confirming that she had lost her virginity...no, that the other party was not in danger, Tony Stark asked cautiously.

“Kirk Lazarus,” the Black man said.

"Why did you bring me here?" Seeing that Cao Gui meant no harm, Tony continued to ask. However, based on the name Cao Gui had given her, she had Jarvis search for it.

It turned out that the person with the name was not Black, but a white person who was an actor, and that he was a white person living in Australia.

Toni's lips twitched; it was the first time she'd realized she had an average face.

"How about we make a deal?" Cao Gui said slowly, crossing his legs.

"No." Tony Stark immediately refused. This guy's face wasn't even real, so what kind of deal could they be making? Besides... Tony Stark had everything she needed, why would she need to do business with anyone?

With that, he turned and left.

"Oh?" Cao Gui wasn't offended and said quietly, "You don't even want something that can replace palladium?"

Tony suddenly turned her head, her blue-white eyes fixed on Cao Gui. She hadn't told anyone about the palladium poisoning; only Yin Wan had guessed it from a technical perspective.

"Why should I believe you?" Tony said in a deep voice. She was very interested, but even she couldn't solve the problem, yet some random person could solve it.

Is this a disrespect towards her as a genius?

Cao Gui chuckled, not directly answering her question, but instead saying:

"I need an upgraded arc reactor. How about that?"

Upon hearing this, Tony Stark's face darkened. She realized that this thing didn't exist; instead, she was to create it, and not only create it, but also turn it into a reactor and give it to the person in front of her.

Damn it, it's such a waste that this mud dog isn't a capitalist.

This person is even better at exploiting loopholes than the real capitalist, and he's doing it while using other people's money.

Cao Gui smiled without saying a word. He wasn't in a hurry; after all, it was Tony who was on the verge of death, not him.

“How do I know your method will work?” Toni continued to express her lack of trust; she didn’t want to waste time on something uncertain.

"Do you have any other choice?" Cao Gui asked with a half-smile, swinging his legs as he crossed them. "Based on the palladium concentration in your blood right now, how much longer do you think you can live?"

The Indestructible Chieftain

Toni fell silent for a moment. He was right; he had no other choice.

“Okay, I agree.” Tony nodded. “However, as a partner, I need to know who you are, right? Otherwise, how can I give you the stuff?”

Tony shrugged and said, feigning helplessness.

“I will come to you myself,” Cao Gui said calmly, then tossed out a cassette tape: “The thing is here. Look carefully, and you will find it.”

Tony Stark hurriedly took it, but upon closer inspection, her lips twitched. Wasn't this her father's speech at the Stark Expo opening ceremony?

"Damn it, are you trying to make fun of me like this?" Tony said angrily.

"Believe it or not, it's up to you." Cao Gui curled his lip and turned to leave.

"Oh, by the way, Natalie from the Ministry of Justice next to you is a spy from the Ministry of Homeland Security. Be careful."

“Shit…” Toni Stark’s face darkened instantly.

------------

Chapter 255 The Devil Fruit is Just Around the Corner

Breaking news!

"My God, the bear who attacked Tony Stark has escaped from prison!"

“Just three days ago, the escaped convict named Yin Wan knocked out the guards, set off the bomb, blew up the prison, and escaped.”

"This is really strange. Why would there be a bomb in the prison? And why was it only discovered three days later?"

"Damn it, has our judicial system really become like this?"

"This must be a problem with the judicial system!"

On the television screen, a presenter was gesticulating wildly, making exaggerated expressions, and shouting incessantly.

"Sure enough, someone rescued him." Beth shrugged, looking as if she hadn't expected it.

“That’s normal,” Cao Gui said. That’s just how the US is. Cao Gui remembered that in his previous life, there was something called the Clinton Death List circulating on the internet.

All of the above cases involved offending someone's family or relatives, and then inexplicably getting killed.

However, those holding the hearing are unlikely to openly use such a dangerous individual, especially given that he also assaulted a beautiful woman.

"It seems the Ministry of National Defense will likely find a middleman to handle this," Cao Gui said.

“Of course, those fat, bloated old men wouldn’t let themselves get into a passive situation,” Beth said, then picked up her phone from the bedside table and placed an invitation in front of Cao Gui:

"Look, these are the white gloves that group of people were looking for."

"Oh? The Hammer Industries Steel Warriors Exhibition? And it's in Flushing, New York?" Cao Gui exclaimed in surprise. That's where Stark Industries is holding its expo. Hammer is really going to crush your spirit this time.

“Yes, it’s in five days.” Beth shrugged, then said excitedly, “How about I go with you?”

"No way." Cao Gui rolled his eyes and refused outright.

"Why?" Beth asked angrily, her almond-shaped eyes wide open.

"Because that Russian is restless, he'll definitely cause a disturbance, and I won't be able to protect you during the fight," Cao Gui lied through his teeth.

With his combat prowess, he was more than capable of dealing with these pieces of scrap metal, but Cao Gui did not intend to fight them head-on. Instead, he planned to take the opportunity to steal a few pieces back.

This situation will take some time, and I won't be able to take care of the girl. Just in case, I'd better let her stay put.

"hateful!"

Beth straddled Cao Gui, grinding her teeth, and said fiercely, "Then you're not leaving for the next few days. I want to see where you'll get the energy to cause trouble in five days!"

"Hmm?" Cao Gui snorted. I'd like to see just how capable you are.

……

The basement of a villa by the sea on Long Island, New York.

"Welcome to the Stark Industrial Exposition. Technology is the key to the future. This city of the future... Hey Tony, what are you doing here? Maria, take him away..."

The video was playing on the projector again and again. Tony endured her intense discomfort and forced herself to watch it.

He had watched this video countless times, even this unedited "behind-the-scenes" version.

"Damn bastard, how did he manage to get into my house and find this video?" Toni rubbed her temples, feeling extremely wary of the guy in black skin.

"Jarvis, did that black guy figure anything out?" Toni asked.

"I'm sorry, sir, but that person didn't have a single piece of real human skin from head to toe. Even their height, build, and voice were fake."

"All the information we received was false."

"Okay." Toni waved her hand. She didn't really expect Jarvis to make any progress; she just wanted to hear some good news when she was feeling frustrated.

Unfortunately, she still couldn't cheer herself up.

"Damn it, this is so damn annoying..."

“Tony, you’re too young to understand, so I’ll record it for you…” A different voice came from the videotape.

Toni was taken aback; she had never seen this passage before… Oh, right, it was too wordy, she had been too lazy to read it before.

"This city of the future, I built it all for you. It's the culmination of my life's work, the true key to the future," Howard Stark said earnestly in the video.