Stark: Who Is This Guy?
22: Chapter 22: XLR8 Is About to Unlock!
Stark: Who Is This Guy?
Wanda held off Ultron while Quicksilver rushed Heatblast.
Heatblast transformed his ten fingers into machine guns, firing a rapid barrage at Quicksilver.
Moving at high speed, Quicksilver naturally dodged every single shot.
As the gunfire ceased, Quicksilver skidded to a sudden halt, smirking with supreme confidence.
“Did you forget what I just said?
No matter how many times you attack, you won’t hit me once.” Lowering his hands to reveal his head, Heatblast had transformed into Arctiguana at some point without anyone noticing.
Surprised by this change, Quicksilver’s heart sank.
He hadn’t expected this at all.
However, he regained his confidence almost instantly.
Whether it was ice or fire, it was all the same to him!
The guy couldn’t even touch him.
Arctiguana raised an eyebrow meaningfully.
“What if I was never aiming for you in the first place?” A sudden chill rose from beneath his feet.
Quicksilver looked down, alarm flashing through his mind!
As far as the eye could see, a thick layer of ice had coated the ground!
Only now did he realize his feet were planted squarely on the frozen surface.
Arctiguana switched back to Heatblast, resuming his fire-machine-gun barrage at Quicksilver.
Of course, he didn’t forget to blast a few Ultron drones pouncing toward him along the way.
Quicksilver kicked into high gear again, but the confidence on his face had been replaced by sheer panic.
The fire machine gun sprayed across the frozen ground, leaving behind clusters of burning sparks.
The extreme heat melted the surrounding frost, turning the icy ground slick and wet.
Combined with the lingering water, Quicksilver nearly lost his balance and wiped out several times!
Indeed, who could have guessed that the mighty Quicksilver would nearly slip and fall while running on ice?
Hydra certainly hadn’t trained him for this.
Quicksilver’s speed visibly slowed down.
Every now and then, he had to stop, navigate around the slippery ground, and change direction.
And those brief stops were precisely when Heatblast unleashed his heaviest machine-gun barrages.
Trapped in this endless cycle, watching Quicksilver flee in utter disgrace, Owen shook his head with the weary feeling that this kid was beyond saving.
Didn’t this guy understand that combat wasn’t just about relying on mutant abilities, but also required using one’s brain?
Feeling no pressure whatsoever, Heatblast freed up one hand to shoot at the Ultron drones.
As the drones blew up one after another, Upgrade slowly began to unlock.
[Combat EXP +1%] [Combat EXP +0.5%] [Combat EXP +1.1%] …
Like a frightened little rabbit, Quicksilver darted left and right.
Every time he paused, he cast a worried glance toward Wanda.
Honestly, if Quicksilver made up his mind to run away at full speed, he could easily escape.
But he couldn’t!
His sister was right here.
If he ran, the fight would turn into a two-on-one, and Wanda would be in grave danger!
It was precisely because Owen knew this that he could comfortably stand in place and spray bullets at him.
Quicksilver felt nothing but panic and unease.
Extremely deep unease!
He realized something strange: though Heatblast possessed terrifying firepower, he didn’t seem to have any intention of killing him!
Under the dense cover fire, flaming bullets grazed Quicksilver’s cheeks, leaving red, stinging burns.
He already had several such injuries across his body, with a few on his legs contributing to his reduced speed, burning like crazy.
If one were to attribute all this to Heatblast simply having terrible aim, Quicksilver knew better!
During the few times he had been forced to stop, Heatblast could have easily put a blast straight through his forehead before he could even react!
But he hadn’t.
This left Quicksilver utterly baffled!
Heatblast was clearly Ultron’s subordinate, and following Ultron’s orders, he should have executed him.
So why hadn’t he?
Frowning as he pondered the question, Quicksilver also realized how naive he had been.
He had thought this would be his moment to shine, to show off his abilities and taunt his opponent mercilessly.
Who could have guessed he would end up being chased around like a dog, fleeing in absolute disgrace?
And Heatblast hadn’t even used the high-speed flight capability he had shown earlier—he was literally just standing in place firing his fire machine gun!
If he went all out to kill him…
Just imagining it sent a shiver down Quicksilver’s spine, instilling a wave of dread.
The icy ground beneath his feet felt like a swamp of terror, pulling him down and causing a rare expression of fear to wash over his face.
The first time he had felt this fear was when Stark’s bomb landed in his living room.
The second was when Hydra captured them.
And the third time…
was right now!
As for Owen’s actual motive, it was quite simple: it was all for XLR8.
If it were any other mutant—like Doctor Octopus, Human Torch, or even the Lizard…
Owen could gather combat experience through a straightforward, hard-hitting one-on-one duel.
But Quicksilver was different.
Owen was genuinely worried that a single slip-up would accidentally blast Quicksilver to death!
The guy was a walking glass cannon!
Ordinary bullets could kill him, so fire bullets required extra caution.
Owen figured that if the guy died, who would compensate him for the missing XLR8 template?
Therefore, Owen could only scrape for combat experience by firing near-misses and relying on collateral shockwaves.
The efficiency was far lower than face-to-face melee combat, but it had the virtue of being safe and steady.
Of course, when it came to Ultron, Owen showed no such restraint, firing full volleys the moment he locked on.
Blowing up Ultron duplicates accumulated combat experience for Upgrade while simultaneously relieving pressure on Wanda.
Without her brother dying to unlock her full potential yet, her magic was far from omnipotent at this stage.
…
High above the Atlantic Ocean, a private jet bearing the Stark Industries logo flew at supersonic speed.
Outside the windows, Vision, Thor, War Machine, and Stark flew in formation alongside the aircraft.
Glancing inside the cabin at Captain America, Black Widow, Hawkeye, and Bruce Banner, War Machine desperately wanted to joke, *Who would’ve thought?
These superheroes actually need to take a plane to a mission.
That’s not cool at all~* However, he managed to hold it in.
Over the comms, FRIDAY’s voice echoed: “Distance to Sokovia is 1,030 kilometers.
Estimated time of arrival is approximately thirty minutes.” The reminder caused everyone to tense up.
They had already figured out Ultron’s objective.
Right there in Sokovia, that brainless robot intended to lift a town into the sky, dropping it to trigger a human extinction event on par with the dinosaurs!
Once again, they were about to save all of humanity.
Inside the cabin, Captain America couldn’t help but pinch his brow, chuckling bitterly.
“Last time it was an alien invasion.
This time it’s a robot trying to destroy humanity.
I really should’ve taken a nap before coming.” Stark raised an eyebrow and smirked.
“Totally understandable.
Old folks do need their rest.” Filtering out the joke at his expense, Cap looked at FRIDAY’s display screen and murmured softly, “The world is changing too fast.” The next second, the display shifted abruptly.
FRIDAY’s voice chimed in with a warning: “Sir, satellite imagery indicates someone has already arrived in Sokovia ahead of us.” The feed was synchronized directly to Stark’s helmet, making his heart drop.
On the screen, destroyed Ultron droids littered the ground.
Among them, two figures caused Stark’s nerves to instantly snap taut!
Ultron’s accomplices—Scarlet Witch, Wanda, and Quicksilver, Pietro!
Stark squinted at the screen, only then realizing that Wanda was standing in place while Pietro engaged in combat with…
a fiery figure?
Stark frowned in confusion.
“Does anyone know who this guy covered in fire is?” The moment he asked, Stark realized the question was redundant.
Anyone fighting against Ultron’s accomplices—who else could it be?
A hero, obviously!
At the battle site.
Having gradually blown all the Ultron duplicates to scrap, Owen was still far from maxing out Upgrade’s experience bar.
However, after several critical hits, XLR8 was nearly complete.
Heatblast revved up his hands, gradually increasing his firing rate as he flashed a wicked smile at Quicksilver.
“Time’s almost up~”