"What… what are you talking about?"
Natasha collapsed onto the floor like a puddle of mud. Her eyes widened as she looked up at Ultimate Tony in shock and anger.
Even now, she still hadn't fully reacted.
She had only just begun to reveal her fangs and hadn't even truly made a move yet.
But Tony had already struck first.
Natasha wasn't stupid. She immediately realized that Ultimate Tony had known about her scheme all along.
He had been guarding against her from the very beginning.
But how had she been exposed?
Natasha was certain she hadn't made any mistakes.
That playboy shouldn't have known anything.
And yet… he did.
Judging from how decisively Tony had acted, he clearly had been suspicious for a long time and was already highly confident.
Where had she slipped up?
What exactly had gone wrong?
Her mind raced, trying desperately to figure it out.
But no answer came.
"Come on, Natasha. Still pretending now? Do you really think that's useful?"
Ultimate Tony stood up, looking proud and confident as he stared down at her.
"What exactly did the Liberators give you that made you betray us?"
"The Liberators!"
Natasha was shocked again.
This playboy had even uncovered the Liberators?
That truly surprised her.
It seemed she had seriously underestimated Stark.
She had always assumed he was just an arrogant rich brat. Sure, he was gifted scientifically, but when it came to conspiracies and manipulation, she believed she could control him easily.
Especially since he was such a womanizer.
But now Natasha realized how wrong she had been.
This playboy was far more dangerous and capable than she had imagined.
The Black Widow had spent her entire life as a spy, yet from beginning to end, she had been completely played by Stark.
Until the moment she was taken down, she hadn't noticed a thing.
That had never happened in her entire career.
Still, since Stark already knew about the Liberators, Natasha understood there was no point pretending anymore.
"I want to know," Natasha asked unwillingly, "where exactly did I expose myself? When did you start suspecting me?"
If she didn't get an answer, it would haunt her forever.
"You really thought a spy could fool me that easily?"
Ultimate Tony gave a dismissive snort.
"You're underestimating me too much."
While acting cool, Tony secretly felt lucky.
Thankfully, he had accidentally obtained that mysterious diary.
Otherwise, he really would have been fooled by her.
"What did you do to me?"
Seeing that Tony had no intention of answering, Natasha changed the question.
What exactly had Stark done to her?
Why had all her strength vanished instantly?
Why was she lying here like a dead dog?
"It was the nanobots!"
Before Tony could answer, Natasha figured it out herself.
No wonder Stark had gifted her that Iron Man suit.
On the surface, it looked like a proposal gift.
But the real purpose had been hidden inside it all along.
So from that moment, he had already planned how to deal with her.
And here she thought she had everything under control.
How ridiculous.
A bitter smile appeared on Natasha's face.
She had truly become the clown.
"That was only one precaution."
Tony spread his hands honestly.
Besides the nanobots, he had prepared other backup plans as well.
Just in case the nanobots failed.
Fortunately, the nanobots had worked perfectly, and none of the other plans were needed.
"But I still don't understand," Tony continued, asking the question he had held back for so long.
"Why did you do this? How much did they pay you?"
"What if I told you they didn't pay me a single cent?"
Natasha gave an answer that sounded absurd.
Yet Tony believed her.
He didn't want to think that this woman—who had once caught his interest—would betray others merely for money.
"Then why?"
Tony demanded.
"Because this was an opportunity," Natasha answered firmly.
"An opportunity to bring your country down."
"My country has become a land filled with drunks and criminals."
"And your country is responsible for that."
"Because your country destroyed mine first."
So that was the reason.
Hatred between nations.
Tony truly hadn't expected that answer.
He never imagined Natasha would remain so loyal to her homeland, even after it had already collapsed.
Shouldn't someone like Natasha—a spy with no bottom line—value profit above all else?
It seemed he had never truly understood her.
But if this was ideological…
Then there was no saving her.
If it had been about money, there might still have been room for negotiation.
But once belief and conviction were involved, things became much more troublesome.
"Guards!"
Tony stopped wasting words.
With one command, his bodyguards rushed in.
"Take her away. Hand her over to S.H.I.E.L.D."
Boom! Boom! Boom!
At that moment, distant explosions echoed outside.
Tony's expression changed instantly.
As a member of the Ultimates who had participated in many battles, he recognized the sound immediately.
The explosions were nearby.
What was happening?
Tony quickly walked toward the massive balcony and looked outside through the giant windows.
His expression immediately turned serious.
A gigantic helicarrier hovered over the city.
Its hangar doors were wide open.
Countless soldiers in special combat suits jumped out continuously like raindrops falling from the sky.
At the same time, the helicarrier bombarded different areas of the city.
The explosions Tony heard earlier had come from those attacks.
"It's started!"
"The Liberators have begun their operation!"
Tony's face darkened immediately.
No wonder Natasha chose this moment to reveal herself.
The Liberators were finally stepping into the open.
There was no longer any point hiding.
But their attack had come far too quickly.
It completely caught Tony off guard.
He had only recently informed Nick Fury about the situation, and before Fury could uncover anything, the Liberators had already launched their attack.
"My God… what's happening?"
Happy looked outside through the window and was completely stunned.
This was New York.
Why was there chaos on this scale?
"Quick, take her away!"
Tony immediately ordered Happy before pulling out his phone to contact Nick Fury.
After a long delay, Fury finally answered.
Gunfire, explosions, and sounds of battle echoed loudly on Fury's side.
Clearly, things there were already terrible.
"Stark, S.H.I.E.L.D. has fallen!"
"The situation is critical. We need Iron Man immediately!"
Tony's heart sank.
How long had it even been?
And S.H.I.E.L.D. had already fallen?
Even though Tony knew from the diary that Loki was preparing something huge and that the Liberators would be dangerous, he never imagined things would escalate this badly.
Without hesitation, Tony began issuing orders rapidly.
Staff members hurried over to help him put on the Iron Man armor.
At this stage, the armor still wasn't advanced enough for instant deployment, so suiting up remained troublesome.
Even with many people helping, it still took fifteen minutes.
During that time, Tony checked the news.
Only then did he realize he had underestimated the situation.
S.H.I.E.L.D. falling was nothing.
The entire city of New York had fallen into chaos.
Nearly every official institution in the city was under attack and rapidly being occupied by the Liberators.
To put it bluntly, New York's entire system of authority had collapsed.
Things were that bad.
"Loki!"
"What the hell are you trying to do?"
"Whatever problems you have with Thor, settle them yourselves!"
Tony was furious.
Even someone as arrogant and self-centered as Ultimate Tony couldn't ignore this level of destruction.
Now Natasha's earlier claim—that this was a chance to bring down America—no longer sounded exaggerated.
Whoosh!
The moment the armor was fully equipped, Tony blasted into the sky without hesitation.
"Everything's gone to hell."
"New York is completely broken."
Zhou Cheng, meanwhile, knew nothing about what was happening with the Ultimates.
He wandered through the chaotic streets filled with looting, destruction, and indiscriminate attacks, sighing softly.
Seeing the familiar green uniforms worn by the rioters, Zhou Cheng instantly recognized who they were.
The Liberators.
Loki had finally made his move.
And honestly speaking, compared to the Chitauri invasion, the Liberators caused even greater destruction.
At least during the Chitauri invasion, the President of the United States hadn't needed emergency evacuation aboard Air Force One.
Still, none of that had anything to do with Zhou Cheng.
He had no interest in playing hero or saving the world.
Since this world had become chaotic, he could simply travel to another one.
But sometimes, trouble comes looking for you.
Just as those thoughts crossed his mind, several Liberator super soldiers targeted Zhou Cheng.
Whoosh!
One soldier in green combat gear rushed forward and threw a vicious punch at him.
"Courting death."
Zhou Cheng's eyes turned cold.
He casually waved one hand.
An invisible force erupted instantly and slammed into the super soldier.
Crack!
The sound of bones shattering echoed out.
The soldier's body flew backward like a cannonball, smashing a huge crater into the ground before going completely still.
Dead beyond doubt.
"A superhuman!"
"An American superhuman!"
"Kill him!"
"Kill all these bastards!"
Seeing this, the nearby Liberator soldiers weren't frightened at all.
Instead, their bloodlust intensified as they charged at Zhou Cheng together.
Zhou Cheng merely shook his head.
These people clearly had a death wish.
He waved his hand once more.
The soldiers were instantly blown away like scattered leaves and killed on the spot.
"Who is that guy?"
At that moment, Ultimate Iron Man had just arrived above the city and begun scanning the battlefield.
He immediately noticed the overwhelmingly dominant Zhou Cheng.
A flood of questions appeared in Tony's mind.
Since the man was fighting the Liberators, he was obviously an ally.
That was good news.
But since when did New York have someone this powerful?
Why had Tony never heard of him before?
"Colonel Al-Rahman, we've encountered a troublesome enemy!"
The remaining Liberator soldiers quickly contacted their commander.
"A powerful superhuman. Ordinary soldiers can't handle him."
"We need people like you."
The soldiers in green combat suits were ultimately still ordinary humans with only limited enhancements.
The true superpowered fighters belonged to the special superhuman unit led by Colonel Al-Rahman.
"A superhuman?"
"The Crimson Mech is nearby."
"I'll send him over."
After ending the call, Colonel Al-Rahman immediately issued an order.
"Leave it to me."
Without wasting words, the Crimson Mech received Zhou Cheng's coordinates and charged toward him in a massive, intimidating mechanized suit even more imposing than Iron Man's armor.
Boom!
The giant mech slammed down violently in front of Zhou Cheng.
-----------------------
Completed English PDF of this fan-fic on my Patreon shop if you want to support and own the full fan-fic in one go. Just grab the PDF and binge the entire story from start to finish!
Guys, I've uploaded some High Quality english translated fanfic on my Patreon shop! Feel free to check it out-if you're interested, you can grab a copy and support me there.
Here are a few titles of recently uploaded fanfics:
New Addition
" Marvel: Invincible Talismans "
" Marvel: Awakening Abstract Abilities at the Beginning "
" Marvel: Fused with Broly at the Start "
" Marvel: Starting as the God of Destruction "
" Superman in Marvel—Will I Get a Copyright Warning? "
" Marvel: Starting by Loading the Homelander Template "
" Marvel: Becoming an Emperor Through Lottery Draws "
" Marvel: Awakening the Power of a Million Stars at the Start "
" Marvel: I Am the Leader of the Mutant Race "
many more are available 140+
Your support means a lot-thanks in advance, legends!
patreon.com/SuperTL
(End of Chapter)