Watching one steel soldier after another being converted into mechanical lifeforms, Ivan Vanko's crimson eyes blazed with a fervent glow.
That botched pursuit of Tony Stark had etched into him the pain of being alone and outnumbered.
Back then, if Stark hadn't thrown wave after wave of bodyguards in his way, he would've had no chance to escape.
Worse yet, Stark even found a terrifying ally to help him.
Just thinking about that youthful-looking guy with his bizarre powers filled Ivan's eyes with murderous rage.
If not for that guy's interference—
Tony Stark would've been dead.
And if not for him, Ivan wouldn't have died, either.
Remembering what it took to claw his way back from hell—
Even now, after surviving that ordeal, Ivan still shuddered, the gears in his mechanical body grinding as he trembled.
He was fortunate to have become a follower of that being—
But the horrors he'd endured? He'd never want to go through that again.
"Hmph."
"Just wait."
"Soon… I won't be the one standing alone anymore."
Looking at the steel soldiers and heavy machinery around him, all brought to life—
Ivan's mechanical eyes gleamed with excitement.
Though he'd suffered unspeakable torment in hell, his rebirth had gifted him terrifying new abilities.
The Mechanical Heart was one of them—able to awaken machines, granting them life.
With it—
He could rapidly amass an army of machines.
Of course—
The Mechanical Heart wasn't infinite.
Upon returning from hell, Ivan had only enough power stored for one activation.
That was why he had remained silent and dormant when locked in the engineer's warehouse.
It wasn't until he was brought to this arms factory, surrounded by weapons and steel soldiers, that he finally activated the heart's power.
"Tony Stark… and that damn bastard…"
"I'll be coming for you both soon."
Ever since climbing back from the abyss—
Eren, who had once killed him, was marked alongside Stark as Ivan's must-kill targets.
This time—
He would not fail again.
Click… click…
Just as the number of awakened mechanical lives hit one hundred—
The Mechanical Heart within Ivan suddenly stopped beating, and disassembled itself into countless disordered parts.
The sound ceased.
And all the still-transforming machines around him halted their evolution—
Some reverting back before their metamorphosis could complete.
"Out of energy already…?"
Once everything had settled—
Forty steel soldiers stood in perfect formation around Ivan.
Behind them were towering shadows—massive machines turned mechanical lifeforms.
Looking at this small mechanical army encircling him—
A sense of security Ivan had never felt before surged through his chest.
These soldiers, awakened by the Mechanical Heart—
Would be his most loyal subordinates. His bravest warriors.
But even so—
A fire of ambition lit up inside him.
"Not enough."
"I need more soldiers… stronger warriors."
A hundred steel soldiers was nothing.
They might crush a 10,000-man army head-on—
But compared to the billions that made up humanity's forces? A drop in the ocean.
Not to mention the terrifying weapons humans still held.
If he truly wanted to spread the glory of machines to every corner of Earth—
He needed more forces, more firepower.
And to awaken more machines—
He needed resources and energy.
"For the glory of the machines… I must gather more."
His eyes flicked toward the corpse of the bald engineer lying nearby.
A bold thought surged into his mind.
Once it emerged, he couldn't hold it back.
After some thought—
Ivan reached down and pulled the engineer's phone from his pocket.
A data line extended from his finger, cracking the phone in seconds.
When he saw the contact list, one name made his metallic lips curl:
Justin Hammer.
He called over a steel soldier and gave it a few quick instructions.
Then he used the phone to record a video—
And sent it straight to Hammer.
"The bait's been dropped. Time to wait for the big fish to bite."
Having made his decision—
Ivan didn't seem to notice that the revenge he once held so dear…
Had already begun to shift into something else—
A dream of spreading the radiance of machines.
...
As the moon fell and the sun rose—
It was soon 8 a.m.
Because of the accident at last night's Midtown High prom, the school had given all 12th graders a three-day break to ease tensions and avoid rumors.
With the unexpected break—
Eren drove his Aston Martin straight into the heart of Hell's Kitchen, toward Miracle Tower.
The engine's roar instantly turned heads.
In this poor, rundown part of the city—
A luxury car like that was a rare sight.
The sleek body and thunderous purr of the engine attracted plenty of admiring—and greedy—eyes.
In Hell's Kitchen, someone driving an Aston Martin was prime prey.
But when Eren parked it right outside Miracle Tower—
All those would-be thieves and joyriders immediately froze, fear written across their faces.
"Damn it…"
Muttering curses, they all turned away and vanished into the crowd.
After Kingpin's death—
Hell's Kitchen went through a brief period of chaos.
But soon, the territories were redrawn, and order returned.
Leading the charge—
The Miracle Group, which had swiftly absorbed Kingpin's elite forces and carved out a huge piece of his empire.
They became the new overlords of Hell's Kitchen.
Plenty of people had tried to test them—
But all of them ended up as corpses beneath Miracle's feet.
After enough bloodshed—
Miracle's name was etched into the streets.
Not yet as infamous as Kingpin's old empire—
But already untouchable in Hell's Kitchen.
Even the other two rising gangs avoided crossing them.
So—
When that Aston Martin stopped at Miracle Tower, not even the boldest thief dared make a move.
Sure, they wanted to score big.
But not at the cost of their lives.
...
Ten minutes later—
Eren was being respectfully escorted into Miracle Tower's B3 floor by Bucky himself.
As they disappeared into a private elevator—
People inside the building couldn't help but wonder who Eren really was.
In Miracle Group—
Most of the recent turf wars had been led by Bucky's team, tasked with helping him digest the power of the Instigator potion.
As such, Bucky's authority was second only to the boss himself.
Yet they'd never seen the "Instructor" so respectful to anyone else.
...
As the elevator descended—
Bucky instinctively straightened his posture after pressing the button.
Odd, really.
His boss was clearly the one with the unstable temper—
But this calm and refined Eren behind him gave Bucky far more pressure.
He could joke with Joker Eren.
But this Eren? He didn't even dare speak much.
Eren, standing silently behind him, seemed to sense it—and chuckled.
"Nervous? Come on, we've met before. In fact, I'm the one who left your first mind seal."
At those words—
Bucky's nerves visibly relaxed, even his muscles softened.
"I don't know why… I just tense up around you."
He had barely finished speaking when—
Ding!
The elevator doors slid open.
Outside stood a man in a white lab coat—
Dr. Banner, who had hurried out of his lab the moment he heard the "real boss" had arrived.
Unlike Bucky—
Dr. Banner didn't know about Eren and the Joker being the same person.
He only knew that this man—rumored to have summoned a six-winged angel and nearly traumatized the Hulk—was the true power behind Miracle.
Which made him very curious.
Before this meeting—
Banner had imagined all kinds of images for this mysterious figure.
Given his past attempts at emotional control, he'd read a lot of Christian and Catholic texts.
He thought the summoner of a six-winged angel might be some silver-haired saint or reclusive ascetic.
He never imagined—
The man standing before him would look so… young.
If it weren't for Bucky's respectful stance behind him, and the instinctual fear the Hulk inside him felt—
Banner would've never believed this was the same mysterious powerhouse from Harlem.
"Hello, Dr. Banner."
Eren offered a handshake and smiled. "What's wrong? Don't match your expectations?"
The moment he spoke, Banner snapped out of his daze.
He quickly reached out to shake hands, replying:
"Honestly, I never imagined you'd be this young. But I can feel it—Hulk inside me fears you."
"Oh?"
That surprised Eren.
Hulk feared him?
He hadn't expected that.
Could it be from the Harlem battle? Did it leave a psychological scar on the newborn Hulk?
Thinking of how Thanos once scared Hulk into hiding in the movies—
Eren shook his head, amused.
"So, Dr. Banner, how's the healing serum coming along?"
At that—
Banner's whole demeanor shifted. Confident and energized, he replied:
"Thanks to recent studies, I've found several material substitutes in the formula. After numerous tests, I've narrowed it down to three optimal versions."
Then he added, "But rather than explain—if you have time, Boss, I'd love to show you the results in the lab."
"A demonstration, huh?" Eren nodded. "Then I'll trouble you, Dr. Banner."
(End of Chapter)
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