socalfunplaces Page 18
Page 18
"Is this your armor? It's ugly, just like you—fat and ugly." Zhuge Cong said, looking at Zhuge Stan's armor. He no longer felt the same way about Zhuge Stan as before. If Zhuge Stan were in front of him, he would definitely show him how hard the iron fist of steel could be.
[Then, Zhuge Cong opened a video file. The moment the video opened, Zhuge Cong's face darkened.]
"Jarvis, prepare the armor and keep an eye on Zhuge Stan's location." Zhuge Cong said as he walked towards the armory.
The video file contained footage of him being filmed by the terrorists, and Jarvis translated the language he couldn't understand at the time.
"You never said we were to kidnap and kill Zhuge Cong, the heir to the renowned Zhuge Group. You must pay more for your lies, Zhuge Stan."
[Zhuge Cong's last glimmer of hope regarding Zhuge Stan was shattered. He had initially thought that Zhuge Stan wasn't the one who exposed his location, but this video destroyed that hope.]
Now he needs to go and kill Zhugestan directly to get revenge for the suffering he endured at the hands of the terrorists.
"Sir, your current mental state is very unstable. If you kill Zhuge Stan in public, it would be a very unwise choice for both the Zhuge Group and yourself," Jarvis said to the enraged Zhuge Cong.
"Hmph, so what do you suggest I do? Just watch him, the one who almost killed me, the one who's constantly trying to take over my Zhuge Group, and let him go? Zhuge Cong tried to calm himself down, but the anger surging within him was simply uncontrollable."
"This is a decision you'll need to make yourself, sir. Perhaps you could do this: have Zhugestan finish manufacturing the armor first. Based on the analysis, he'll definitely come looking for you then."
"And he won't know that you've already seen the blueprints for his armor and know its weaknesses."
"So when the time comes, all you need to do is add other Iron Alliance members who can fight, and you can easily defeat Zhugestan by outnumbering them."
"Then, by leveraging the Zhuge Group's public relations efforts, we can portray Zhuge Stan as a villain. Combined with a paid online army, this should prevent the Zhuge Group from getting caught in a media storm," Jarvis suggested to Zhuge Cong.
"Phew, fine, then let that son of a bitch like Zhuge Stan live a few more days. If Zhuge Stan comes these few days, just tell him I'm busy and can't see him." Zhuge Cong barely managed to suppress his anger after hearing Jarvis's suggestion.
"This artificial intelligence is amazing; it can even offer such suggestions and solutions."
Watching Jarvis's advice and proposed solutions to Zhuge Cong on the screen, it was clear that Jarvis's excellence was perfectly demonstrated.
Meanwhile, Zhugestan was unaware that his Siqi had already been arranged; he was currently venting his anger on a group of people he had hired to analyze the Ark Reactor.
"You bunch of useless idiots! I paid so much to hire you, and this is what you've given me!" Zhugestan said, slamming something that looked almost exactly like the Arc Reactor onto the table.
"Zhuge Cong is in the cave; he can scavenge for equipment and materials to build something like this. And you guys have excellent equipment and all the necessary materials."
26: Three against one and still get killed? Do you even know how to play?
"Zhuge Cong is in the cave; he can scavenge for equipment and materials to build something like this. And you guys have excellent equipment and all the necessary materials."
"After all that time, all you've produced is this piece of junk. Ten minutes? What am I supposed to do in ten minutes? Fuck you?"
Zhugestan didn't bother with etiquette and just started hurling insults.
"Um, Mr. Zhuge, unfortunately, I'll need more time to create something that meets your requirements," a man in a white lab coat said as he approached.
"What's your name?" Zhugestan asked, looking at the person he was speaking to. He recognized this person; he had paid a considerable sum to hire him.
"My name is Akizuki Kozo, you can also call me Modor," Modor replied.
"Eh?!"
Akizuki Kozo looked at himself on the screen with some surprise, wondering how he had managed to infiltrate such a behemoth as the Zhuge Group.
And it seems like I'm quite knowledgeable about this kind of thing, but I'm not a biology major, so does that mean I'm going to change my focus in the future?
Why not study science instead of biology and then go and make some kind of realistic sex robots?
"I don't care if it's Modoku, Pizza Hut, or anything else, I'm just asking you, how long do you want it to take?" Zhugestan asked Modoku, hands on his hips.
"At most five years," said Akizuki Kozo, holding up his five fingers.
"Why didn't you say fifty years, five hundred years, or even five years?" Zhugestan couldn't help but say to Akizuki Kozo when he heard the answer of five years.
"Do you think you're worthy of the money I paid you, Akizuki Kozo? One day, I'll give you a maximum of one more day. If you can't build Zhuge Cong's kind of arc reactor, at least extend the time by one hour, understand?" Zhuge Stan pointed a finger at Mordor's chest, each tap causing Akizuki Kozo to take a step back.
"But, sir, I..."
[Before Akizuki Kozo could finish speaking, he was interrupted by Zhugestan.]
"Either work or you leave, understand?" Zhuge Stan said, stroking his bald head.
"I'll do it," said Akizuki Kozo, head bowed.
"Fuck you, if only you had even a tenth of Zhuge Cong's intelligence," Zhuge Stan said as he walked.
Watching Zhuge Stan's departing figure, Akizuki Kozo clenched his fists, filled not only with hatred for Zhuge Stan's belittling of him but also with jealousy of Zhuge Cong.
"This guy seems to have the makings of a villain."
"My beloved disciple, Yuuki, looked at Akizuki Kozo, who was clenching his fists and whose face looked somewhat gloomy in the light screen, and thought to himself."
As a cartoonist, he had seen this kind of routine quite a few times.
The villain develops hostility towards the protagonist due to intentional or unintentional provocation from the protagonist.
"What do you want us to do here?" Zhuge Cong asked Jarvis to summon Sasori and Deidara.
"I have a plan that requires your help. Your armor should be tested and working properly by now," Zhuge Cong asked Sasori and Deidara.
"Heh heh heh, my armor has been improved and is now incredibly powerful," Deidara said, patting his chest.
[These days, he's been constantly modifying and testing his armor, as well as developing the corresponding C-series bombs. Currently, in addition to the C1 bombs for combat against personnel and the C2 bombs for combat against vehicles, he has added two more C-series bombs.]
After listening to Deidara's words, Zhuge Cong nodded and then looked at Sasori, indicating, "What about you?"
"Mine is still a little short," Sasori said. His time was tight; he needed to both fine-tune and modify his armor while also conducting experiments with Orochimaru.
"How long will it take?" Zhuge Cong asked, as outnumbering the enemy was a crucial element.
"One day will be enough," Scorpion said after a moment's thought. His armor was already modified and only needed a few final adjustments.
"Alright, boss, it's time to tell us why you called us here. Are you inquiring about the armor? Is this our first move as the Iron Alliance?" Deidara said excitedly.
"Pretty much. The Iron Alliance's first operation, Jarvis." Zhuge Cong summoned Jarvis and showed him the plan.
"Our target is this damned mole," Zhuge Cong said, pointing to Zhuge Stan's photo.
"Eh, Zhuge Stan?" Deidara was clearly surprised, after all, Zhuge Stan was the second-in-command of the Zhuge Group.
"I've already confirmed that this is accurate. Once Scorpion's armor is ready, I'll tell you when to take down Zhugestan."
"Do we really need three people and three sets of armor to deal with one Zhugestan? Couldn't we just use one weapon and shoot him down?" Deidara felt that sending out three sets of armor to deal with a Zhugestan who essentially had nothing was overkill, and this wasn't what he had planned.
"You'll understand once you read it. Jarvis, next page." Zhuge Cong gestured for the page to turn.
"This is... Zhuge Stan's armor?" Scorpion exclaimed in surprise, looking at the massive steel suit on the screen. After all, how could a guy like Zhuge Stan, whose mind was only focused on making money, possibly build armor? As for commissioning someone to develop it, Scorpion estimated that only Zhuge Cong in the world could do that, but Zhuge Cong would never build steel armor for Zhuge Stan.
"Where did he get that armor? It looks like it suits him perfectly, all baggy and bulky," Deidara remarked, looking at the Iron Man armor and recalling Zhuge Stan's attire.
"His origins are a bit hard to pinpoint. He got my Mark 1 armor from the terrorists who kidnapped me, and then used that to work backwards."
"I see." Deidara's initial disappointment turned into excitement and exhilaration.
The thought of a battle between four Iron Man suits is incredibly exciting. Deidara can't wait to fight Giuseppe Castan, as for defeat...
[Deidara said he could only borrow a phrase from a certain Roaring Heavenly Lord to put it.]
"Three against one and you still got killed? Do you even know how to play?"
Therefore, by the same token, Deidara doesn't believe the three of them can't defeat Zhuge Stan alone. If they couldn't, Deidara would eat the Iron Man armor on the spot.
"By the way, do you two know that Spider-Man known as the Friendly Neighbor?"
"I don't know Spider-Man, I only know my Spider-Thunder," Deidara shook his head, indicating he didn't know.
27: Spider-Man's Number One Black Mamba, The Daily Bugle
"If you're talking about that Spider-Man who's known as the friendly neighbor, I know quite a bit about him." Upon hearing Spider-Man's name, Sasori recalled something Orochimaru had said to him not long ago.
"Really? Then tell me," Zhuge Cong said to Scorpion, wanting to hear what Scorpion had to say.
"Perfect timing. There's something else I wanted to tell you about Spider-Man that might be useful. Orochimaru contacted me a few days ago, and we discussed this matter," Sasori said, beginning his explanation.
"Scorpion, come take a look at this." Inside the laboratory, Orochimaru beckoned to Sasori, who was conducting an experiment.
"Is there something you need?" Sasori put down what he was doing and walked towards Orochimaru. Sasori knew that Orochimaru wouldn't interrupt his experiments unless there was something very important.
"Take a look at this," Orochimaru said, handing a news article to Sasori.
"What is that? Look at you, so excited." Sasori looked at Orochimaru's somewhat excited expression and also started looking at him.
[“The Daily Bugle: The mysterious masked man who righted wrongs, lifted a car with his bare hands to avert a crash, saved a bus full of students from nearly plunging into the sea, saving the happiness of 40 families, the righteous hero of a bank robbery, the friendly neighbor Spider-Man.” Sasori looked at these reports and then at Orochimaru. He roughly knew what this guy was up to.]
"You...you're not thinking of capturing Spider-Man, are you?" Sasori asked Orochimaru. He felt capturing Spider-Man was unrealistic; he imagined the two of them being hung upside down from a lamppost like bank robbers.
"Heh, how could that be? I don't think we could catch someone who could pull a school bus with thirty-nine students and a driver by hand."
"He could kill us with just two punches without breaking a sweat."
"Really? What are you trying to say by showing me this report? Are you going to start idolizing this Spider-Man?" Sasori didn't understand Orochimaru's purpose in showing him this.
"I'm wondering what the difference is between the bodies of these superhumans and ours. For example, Yujiro Hanma, who was previously known as the strongest man on Earth, has a physical strength that is incomparable to that of normal people."
"In other words, he is no longer an Earthling; he can be called a Fanma alien."
"I know that. I remember you once tried to get some of his DNA to study, but it ended in failure." Sasori also knew that Orochimaru had once been very eager to study Yujiro Hanma, but it was no use; the man was just too awesome.
"That's right, I originally wanted to go to his house and ask for a little bit of hair, just in case he didn't refuse."
"I guess you didn't get it."
"Yes, I didn't get it, and you should know why," Orochimaru said, pulling up another news article.