Lucas approached Bruce, patted his shoulder, and a silver light flashed and disappeared.
"Banner, go have fun if you want. Hulk won't be coming out tonight."
Bruce's expression shifted. He felt as if his connection with Hulk had been severed. He looked at Lucas's retreating figure, his eyes flickering.
During this time, he had been researching how to eliminate or control Hulk but there had been no progress.
He never expected that the problem that had troubled him for so long would be solved with a casual pat from Lucas.
On the other side, Lucas walked to a relatively quiet corner and found a woman who seemed out of place.
"I thought Tony's bachelor party, besides us few, would only have young and pretty girls."
The woman raised an eyebrow, her tone unfriendly. "What? Am I not pretty?"
Lucas replied without hesitation, "You're not young."
"Sir, you are truly impolite."
Lucas asked with an innocent expression, "Hm? Is it impolite to compliment your beauty?"
"I don't have time to babble with you. I'm not like those groupies, go find someone else."
After saying this, the woman got up and walked towards Tony, trying to push through the crowd.
Lucas smiled indifferently, picked up a coconut juice he had seemingly acquired from nowhere, and started drinking it.
He recognized the woman—Maya Hansen.
A botanist who had a one-night stand with Tony at a tech conference more than a decade ago.
Of course, that wasn't the point.
The point was, she was one of the main researchers of Extremis.
The other was Killian.
He was also at that tech conference.
Like Maya Hansen, he also had his sights on Tony. However, he was stood up, waiting all night on the rooftop.
"Stark, I have something important to discuss with you!"
Maya couldn't push past the young girls. Helpless, she could only keep shouting from the periphery, trying to attract Tony's attention.
Unfortunately, the music was loud, and countless girls were shouting Tony's name.
A moment later, Maya returned to Lucas's side, anxiously saying, "I have something important to tell Stark. Help me get him out here."
Lucas looked up, glanced at Maya, and ignored her.
Maya took a deep breath and said seriously, "I'm serious. I received news that someone is going to attack here. We must inform Stark and evacuate the crowd as soon as possible."
"I know, but so what?"
"Everyone here will die, including you."
Lucas smiled.
Seeing Lucas still unmoved, Maya stamped her foot in frustration, unable to help but curse.
"Fuck! I'm not lying to you!"
Lucas shrugged indifferently and suggested, "I believe you. However, I don't care. If I were you, I'd go to that person for help."
Lucas pointed in Steve's direction.
Even though Steve had also picked a secluded corner to sit in, a group of girls still gathered around him.
"Who is he?"
"Steve Rogers."
"Captain America? Didn't he disappear seventy years ago?"
Lucas retorted, "He disappeared, he didn't die, did he? Anyway, it's up to you whether to believe it or not."
Maya was skeptical but walked towards Steve. This time, she finally managed to push through and strike up a conversation with Steve.
But it was too late.
Somewhere, a man with a slicked-back hairstyle, tall and dressed in a suit, was looking down at a stopwatch in his hand, counting down.
The curve of his lips grew wider and wider.
More than a decade ago, Tony made him wait all night in the cold wind.
Tonight, he would make him die in a fiery explosion.
"Five, four, three, two, one, boom!"
The countdown ended, and a blinding flash of fire suddenly erupted.
Extremis, after injection, can comprehensively enhance a person's body, with self-healing ability being particularly prominent.
But there is a major side effect: instability.
It can easily turn the injectee into a living bomb.
And among the girls in the villa, several were human bombs injected with Extremis by Killian.
The moment the fire erupted, time seemed to stand still in the eyes of three people.
Loki first looked at Lucas, saw Lucas smile at him, and then did nothing.
Shifting his gaze, Loki looked towards the source of the fire, only to see a pile of minced meat gathering together, slowly shooting outwards.
At the same time, a person wanted to grab this pile of minced meat and run towards the open space outside the villa.
That person noticed Loki looking at him, turned back, and smiled at Loki.
It was Pietro!
Loki formed hand seals, and a burst of cold air sprayed onto the minced meat, temporarily freezing it into an ice block, making it easier for Pietro to grab.
Pietro nodded gratefully at Loki.
The next instant, time resumed its normal flow.
Boom! Boom! Boom...
A roar sounded outside the villa.
The impact hit the wall, sending debris flying.
After the roar, there was a brief silence.
Then, screams rose one after another, and the crowd instantly became chaotic.
Bruce, with a woman in his arms, stiffened.
Oh no, Hulk can't come out now.
"Quiet! Everyone get down!"
Steve and Rhodes tried to calm the crowd and restore order, but with little effect.
"Jarvis!"
Tony opened a portal, and from the other side, a suit of armor flew in, quickly completing its donning.
"There's more than one human bomb, Pietro. I'll point them out to you, and you take them away."
After putting on the armor, Tony regained his composure.
Through infrared scanning, he pointed out the several individuals with abnormal body temperatures to Pietro one by one.
Pietro cooperated well, taking the individuals away from the party and away from the Villa.
Boom! Boom! Boom...
Boom! Boom! Boom..
Boom! Boom! Boom...
Three more roars, the crisis was resolved, and the party was declared over.
"Jarvis, alert mode."
Tony stepped out of his armor, looking at the chaotic scene, his face grim.
His bachelor party being ruined was a minor issue, the main thing was to catch the mastermind.
Tony considered himself to have some self-preservation abilities, but Pepper did not.
Soon, he would be a man with a family.
"Tony, this Dr. says she has a lead." Steve led Maya to Tony and said.
This time, no one was jostling with Maya.
Looking at Maya, whom Steve had brought over, Tony said coolly, "Hello, madam. What lead do you have?"
Maya looked at Tony with a pained expression. She hadn't expected him to have forgotten her.
"Don't you remember me, Stark?"
Tony frowned.
"Sir. Her name is Maya Hansen. On New Year's Eve in 1999, at the Bern Technology Conference in Switzerland, you had a one-night stand with her." Jarvis's voice sounded in his earpiece, reminding Tony.
"I remember now, you're Dr. Hansen. Dr. Hansen, please tell me what leads you have regarding this attack."