*BOOM—* A thunderous roar shattered the night sky.
The resulting shockwave sent the muddy water on the street flying several meters into the air.
Tony closed his eyes, expecting Linus to be smashed into a bloody pulp.
Instead, a sheet of water splashed all over him, but the expected sight of mangled flesh did not appear.
Tony’s mouth hung open, completely oblivious to the muddy water pouring inside.
He stared at the scene before him, which utterly defied the laws of physics, his brain short-circuiting.
Linus stood firmly in place, one hand raised high.
That clean, well-defined hand was actually holding up the Iron Monger’s massive metal fist, which was larger than a water barrel.
The pitch-black Vibranium suit he wore didn’t even have a single extra crease, and his leather shoes, planted on the cracked asphalt, had sunk in by a mere half-inch.
His golden-ratio muscles were hidden beneath his white shirt.
He looked refined and gentle, but in truth, he possessed a wild, earth-shattering strength.
Obadiah’s eyes nearly popped out of his skull in the cockpit.
“This is impossible!
What kind of monster are you?!”
He frantically pushed and pulled the control sticks, forcing the engine into overload.
It let out a shrill, protesting wail.
The mechanical arm threw sparks in all directions, but under the blockade of Linus’s hand, it couldn’t press down even a millimeter.
“Is that all?”
Linus’s tone was filled with malicious mockery.
He even had the leisure to raise his left hand, tapping the miniature communicator by his ear.
His deep voice carried over the channel.
“Baby, is the feed synced up?
Sit back in your chair and watch closely.
Your hubby is going to tear this scrap metal apart with his bare hands.”
***
Inside the top-floor office of the Star Umbrella Corporation.
Potts slumped back into the wide leather chair, her eyes glued to the hovering holographic screen.
On the screen, the tall, imposing man held up the sky with one hand, effortlessly blocking the lethal strike of the steel beast.
This visual impact of extreme violence, combined with the incredibly dominant voice coming through her earpiece, completely disrupted Potts’s breathing.
She pressed her thighs together.
That intense feeling of being protected, carrying an unspeakable pressure, left her body so weak she could barely summon any strength.
“I…
I can see it.
Linus, be careful.”
Linus’s voice held a laugh, his warm breath seeming to brush against Potts’s sensitive ear through the communication network.
“This little scene is nothing.
Watch closely how I clean up this trash for you.”
“As for what you promised me just now, you’d better start preparing yourself mentally.”
“Once we get back to the hotel tonight, I have plenty of ways to punish you properly.”
“You’ve been drooling over my body for so long, so don’t cry and beg for mercy when the time comes.”
Potts’s cheeks burned crimson, the scorching heat spreading all the way down to her collarbone.
The clear bite mark on her neck was still throbbing with heat.
She bit her lower lip, letting out a whimper as soft as a mosquito’s buzz.
“I’ll do whatever you want…
You can do whatever you like.
Just finish this quickly, I’m…
I’m scared.”
“Good girl.”
Cutting off the private line, the smile faded from Linus’s lips, and his fingers suddenly clenched.
With the buff of his system-rewarded [Hulk-level physique], a wild torrent of power exploded from his perfect abs and obliques.
*Screeech—*
The piercing sound of metal twisting echoed through the night.
The Iron Monger’s fist, forged from an ultra-strong alloy, was crushed flat by Linus’s bare hand.
The thick internal wiring snapped on the spot, sparks shooting out as short-circuits ran wild.
Terrified out of his wits, Obadiah frantically hit the launch button for the micro-missiles on his shoulder.
Linus didn’t even bother to dodge.
Grabbing the Iron Monger’s mechanical wrist, he bent his right leg slightly, his core tensing.
“Up you go.”
The three-meter-tall, multi-ton mechanical giant was actually swung into the air by a single arm!
The missiles lost their target, slamming into a nearby abandoned warehouse and exploding into a ball of fire.
Meanwhile, the Iron Monger drew a heavy arc in the air before Linus smashed it violently into a remaining load-bearing wall.
The wall collapsed, bricks shattered, and dust billowed.
Linus shook his hand, loosened the tight tie around his neck with his long fingers, and stepped forward.
“My grandmother could run a sewing machine with more force than this broken junk.
Old-timer, your craftsmanship is too sloppy.”
Tony lay in the mud pit, his faceplate mostly shattered.
He gasped heavily, his eyes locked onto Linus.
This was not strength a human should possess!
This was a pure monster!
“Linus…
what on earth are you?!”
Linus stopped, tilting his head to look down at him.
His highly oppressive dark eyes were filled with mockery.
“Tony, my boy, you can’t even keep your own woman, and you’re asking me what I am?”
A sweet taste rose in Tony’s throat, and he almost coughed up blood.
These words stabbed harder than any physical blow, dragging his remaining pride into the dirt and grinding it to pieces.
A short distance away, the Iron Monger struggled to stand, its mechanical legs clanking as they whirred to life.
Without even looking, Linus raised his long right leg and kicked the Iron Monger’s chest plate.
The massive kinetic energy pierced straight through the composite armor.
The outer protective plate, which was over ten centimeters thick, caved in deeply, jamming the internal drive shafts and locking the core gears.
Obadiah was left bloodied and battered inside the cockpit, unable to utter a single coherent word.
Linus walked over, grabbing the joint at the base of the Iron Monger’s right arm with both hands.
His ten fingers sank into the armor gaps like high-pressure hydraulic clamps.
*Crack, crack.*
The muscles in Linus’s arms bulged, stretching the fabric of his white shirt to its limit, outlining the terrifying power of his physique.
He tore through several rows of core wiring and high-strength hydraulic rods.
Accompanied by the agonizing screech of tearing metal, the Iron Monger’s massive right mechanical arm was ripped clean off by Linus.
He casually tossed the heavy severed arm right next to Tony’s face.
Engine oil splattered from the tear, spraying across Tony’s battered Mark armor.
“Look at your technology.
It’s nothing but a joke in the face of absolute violence.”
Linus leaned down, patting Tony’s mud-stained metal helmet, dealing the ultimate blow.
“Potts suffered ten years of neglect under you.
From now on, her entire being, down to a single strand of her hair, belongs exclusively to me.
You don’t even deserve to look at her.”
Tony’s chest heaved violently.
The light of his old arc reactor flickered twice before dying completely.
His hands clawed desperately into the dirt, but he lacked even the strength to stand up.
Linus turned around, walking toward the completely crippled Iron Monger once more.
He gripped the edges of the cockpit’s armor plating with both hands and pulled outward.
*Riiip—*
The canopy, which was supposed to be indestructible, was ripped in half like a sheet of paper, exposing the cockpit inside.
Obadiah, his face covered in blood, looked at the man who resembled a descending demon god and hurriedly raised both hands in surrender.
“Don’t kill me!
Major shareholder!
Mr.
Vance!
Stark Industries is half yours!
We’re in the same boat!
I can give you all of the technology!”
Linus let out a wicked smile.
“Trash like you only pollutes the air by breathing.”
He grabbed Obadiah’s fat neck with one hand and hoisted the old man out of the cockpit.
Ignoring Obadiah’s kicking legs as the man choked, Linus tossed him aside like a bag of garbage, throwing him over ten meters away onto the empty ground.
Obadiah broke several ribs upon landing, rolling on the ground and howling in pain.
With that, the Iron Monger—a nightmare Tony had deemed unstoppable—had failed to last even three minutes against Linus.
It was now a pile of scrap metal.
Linus stood tall and pulled a clean white handkerchief from his suit pocket, leisurely wiping away the small amount of engine oil on his knuckles.
He tapped the communicator by his ear again, his tone returning to that dominant, intoxicating blend of intensity and intimacy.
“Baby, did you finish watching?
Are you satisfied with your hubby’s performance?”
On the other end of the line, Potts’s voice was so soft it seemed ready to melt, carrying a slight tremble.
“Yes…
Linus, you’re amazing.”
“Just saying it isn’t enough.
I’ll give you ten minutes to get down here and pick me up.”
Linus tossed the soiled handkerchief into the muddy water.
“Change into that outfit I had custom-made for you in the closet.
You should know my rules.
Don’t make me wait too long.”
Sitting in front of the holographic screen, Potts unconsciously squeezed her legs together, her blush spreading down to her collarbone.
She knew exactly what Linus meant by his “rules.” It was a ritual of completely severing her past and surrendering to him.
The price she would pay tonight would definitely involve adult things that would break through all her boundaries.
“I understand…
I’ll be right there.
Hubby, wait for me.”