Witnessing this, Tony Stark swallowed reflexively.
The report's images weren't AI synthesis or fabricated journalism.
The recorded information was genuine!
And compared to reality, it was actually understated.
At minimum, the report hadn't mentioned the White Devil possessed strength to send Iron Monger flying with a single punch!
As the armor's designer, Tony could naturally judge Iron Monger's weight from its dimensions. Launching it with one strike—even Mark III couldn't accomplish that. This wasn't power humans could possess!
Looking at the White Devil's seemingly slender arms, Tony Stark felt ignorance for the first time...
After launching Iron Monger with one punch, Leon flexed his palm, unexpectedly achieving Black Flash on his first attempt.
This confirmed his hypothesis. With Energy Absorption surpassing Gojo Satoru's capabilities, he possessed superior energy control. He'd very likely achieve 100% Black Flash consistency in the future!
Meaning his attacks would always deal 2.5 times normal damage!
An extraordinarily terrifying improvement.
Ignoring the dazed Tony Stark, Leon walked slowly toward the road, passed through the wall gap, followed the path carved by Iron Monger's body, and emerged onto the street.
As he approached, Iron Monger clearly sensed him—unleashing dense ammunition and missiles. All were blocked by Limitless, unable to advance an inch.
When he reached the roadside, passersby had already reacted and stopped approaching. The street was now deserted except for Leon walking slowly and Iron Monger firing continuously.
Fearless onlookers hid at a distance, watching curiously. Some even filmed with phones.
Seeing Leon appear, someone immediately recognized him.
"The White Devil—why's he here?"
"Is he fighting that steel giant?"
"The steel monster just got launched by him. How'd he do that?"
Passersby erupted in noisy questions.
Coincidentally, in a distant Chevrolet, a middle-aged man's face overflowed with excitement. He immediately produced professional camera equipment and filmed toward Leon.
Yes—none other than future Venom host Eddie Brock.
He was ecstatic, continuously praising the goddess of luck. He'd encountered the White Devil again!
Previous news had made him a sensation at the Daily Globe. Filming the White Devil in combat again would likely earn promotion, raises—reaching life's peak!
Through his camera, the White Devil slowly approached the steel giant. The show finally began!
Obadiah stared at his screen in shock. The system kept alerting:
"Warning! Warning! Hull damage at 36%... hull damage at 36%!"
That single punch nearly destroyed Iron Monger's chest armor completely. Impossible!
Iron Monger's metal was ten-centimeter-thick titanium alloy. Such thickness could withstand high-yield missiles without penetration. Yet now nearly destroyed by a human's punch. Was he truly human?
Obadiah regretted everything. The Daily Globe report was accurate!
Had he known, he'd never have conflicted with the White Devil—even for one or two billion dollars.
But too late. Now he could only try killing the White Devil.
The White Devil absolutely couldn't possess that strange defense permanently. Maintaining distance and continuously depleting ammunition would definitely kill him!
As Obadiah prepared implementing his plan, he suddenly discovered the White Devil had vanished!
When the system alerted again, he saw the White Devil before him, staring with cold eyes, clenching his right hand—azure energy escaping.
The attack that had just launched him!
He tried dodging desperately, but the distance was too close, Iron Monger too bulky to avoid the next strike!
If hit by this attack, Iron Monger's chest armor would shatter immediately. He in the cockpit would never survive!
No!
No!
Don't!
He watched the fist approach in despair, as if witnessing his own death.
Under his horrified gaze, the fist bursting with azure energy contacted Iron Monger, launching it again.
However, unlike before, no black lightning erupted this time. Iron Monger was only knocked back several meters before stopping.
Obadiah immediately controlled Iron Monger to stand, checking damage.
"Warning! Warning! Hull damage at 38%... hull damage at 38%!"
That punch caused only 2% additional damage.
Obadiah immediately understood and burst into laughter.
"Hahaha! You can't just release that terrifying black lightning, can you?
Did the initial attack consume your strength drastically—unable to use it a second time?"
Realizing the White Devil wasn't as powerful as thought, Obadiah's fear vanished instantly. He continued firing frantically at Leon.
"Come on! Let's see how long you last in this bullet storm!"
Roadside, Tony Stark also approached through the gap, witnessing everything.
"Not good—the black lightning attack isn't repeatable. If Obadiah keeps draining the White Devil, he might actually win!"
Tony immediately felt foreboding. His Arc Reactor energy was only 2%—couldn't support Mark III continuing combat. If Obadiah won, he'd have no defensive power—could only die in despair.
"Damn it!"
Distant onlookers also saw this scene—the White Devil only knocked the iron giant away once, the giant seemingly unharmed, immediately standing and firing wildly.
They immediately speculated:
"The White Devil's strength works against humans, but can't match technological power!"
"Right! That iron giant must be military work. The military attacked the White Devil—he'll be killed soon!"
In the crowd, very few mutants hiding their identities saw this scene and couldn't help showing despair:
"Are mutants really no match for the government? Can mutants only suffer oppression without standing up?"
Everyone thought the White Devil was losing. But then something unexpected occurred...
Chapter 17: Maximum Power
Leon, watched by everyone, didn't care about others' thoughts.
He shook his palm, flexed his fingers, and said with some regret:
"As expected, skill level's too low for 100% Black Flash. Even the probability of successfully releasing it is extremely low..."
However, he'd anticipated this. Leon didn't dwell on it. He shifted his gaze from his palm to Iron Monger before him, picked his ear casually, and said:
"It's been long enough. Time to end this fight—wouldn't want Tony Stark dissatisfied with my service."
Then Leon extended his hand forward with an expression of pleasure and cruelty.
"Cursed Technique Lapse: Blue, maximum power!"
Obadiah immediately sensed something wrong when Leon extended his hand, firing all weapons instantly.
The explosions these weapons produced could destroy an entire street, but were absorbed by an azure sphere without reaction.
The missiles Obadiah had pinned hopes on were neutralized so easily!
"No! Impossible!"
Under Obadiah's disbelieving gaze, Leon grinned and pushed the azure sphere before him toward him.
After missiles failed, Obadiah immediately fled rearward. Jet devices across his body operated at full capacity, arriving ten meters away instantly.
Just as he breathed relief, he suddenly found Iron Monger had stopped. Even adjusting propulsion to maximum power, he was slowly flying backward.
Behind him was that terrifying azure sphere seemingly capable of devouring everything!
"No!"
Obadiah forcibly overclocked the jet devices, pushing beyond limits. However, even with propulsion devices exceeding limits—beginning to glow red and melt—he still couldn't stop moving toward the azure sphere. The movement speed even accelerated!
Finally, under Tony Stark's complicated gaze, Agent Coulson's solemn observation—also arrived—and crowds of other civilians, Iron Monger—arrogant one moment—was horrifyingly devoured by the azure sphere the next.
The ten-centimeter-thick titanium alloy completely failed resisting the terrifying gravitational force. First feet, then chest and abdomen, finally head—twisting in sequence, submerging into the azure sphere, disappearing!
And the creator of everything—the person they'd initially underestimated—just yawned and walked from explosion-raised dust. The white hoodie he wore wasn't even stained by dust, though his hairstyle looked slightly messy.
The White Devil once again used his terrifying presence and absolute dominance to tell the world: he was strongest!
After dealing with Iron Monger, Leon slowly walked toward Tony Stark, palm slightly cupped behind him. A strange luminous object emitting white light was attracted by gravity, flying into his hand—Iron Monger's energy source, an Arc Reactor!
When Leon held the reactor, he immediately felt tremendous energy contained within. Six Eyes for precise manipulation and Energy Absorption operated at full capacity.
After replenishing his energy reserves to storage capacity limits, remaining energy was absorbed by the system and invested into the 'Gojo Satoru' template.
Even after template fusion increased to 30%, difficulty of further improvement also increased. Fusion still progressed orderly—not much slower than before.
According to previous patterns, reaching 40% fusion would grant a new skill.
He anticipated this greatly. What would the new skill be?
Could it be Red?
Its minimum power was twice Blue's maximum output!
When Leon reached Tony Stark's side, the system simultaneously prompted:
Template Fusion: 31%
Tony Stark was disheveled—steel helmet long gone, even a gauntlet missing.
The Arc Reactor kept flashing on his chest—obviously energy nearly exhausted.
Seeing Leon approaching, Coulson instinctively stepped back—humans' subconscious reaction facing powerful predators.
Moreover, Leon was more terrifying than powerful predators.
But Tony Stark showed no fear. He approached Leon, looking at him curiously, eyes full of curiosity.
"How'd you do that? Some kind of mysterious future technology? Is that strange defense some spatial technology?"
Coulson also looked curious, hoping to obtain more White Devil information.
Hearing Tony's question, Leon smiled and explained:
"This is my ability."
After hearing Leon's answer, Tony murmured, "You're a mutant? Incredible..."
Leon remained noncommittal. Except Energy Absorption, all other abilities came from the system—nothing to do with mutants.
However, Leon didn't deny it. Many anti-mutant abilities existed in Marvel. If someone tried using such abilities against him in the future, he'd definitely give that person a surprise!
Tony suddenly felt chest pain, seeing his Arc Reactor completely exhausted.
He immediately looked at the reactor in Leon's hand:
"Can you return the Arc Reactor? I need it to attract scattered shrapnel in my chest."
Leon naturally didn't want his favorite hero from his previous life dying like this, so he tossed the Arc Reactor to Tony.
"You owe me two Arc Reactors now."
"What? This Arc Reactor was originally mine!"
"But it belongs to me now!"
"Well... okay..."
Thinking the man before him had saved his life, giving one more Arc Reactor was nothing.
Definitely not because the White Devil was too strong. Right, definitely not!
Seeing this, Agent Coulson silently noted the White Devil needed Arc Reactors—possibly related to his abilities.
Then he produced his ID:
"Hello, sir. I'm Agent Coulson of the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division. I have some questions to discuss with you."
Looking at Agent Coulson's thinning hair, Coulson felt deeply offended, then retracted his gaze.
"Well, seems your work is very taxing."
"Oh, yes..." Coulson answered instinctively, then immediately remembered his primary purpose:
"I wonder if you'd join us and become an Avenger?"
Facing Coulson's invitation, Leon wasn't surprised. Nick Fury was currently preparing the Avengers Initiative. Seeing his strength, wanting to recruit him was normal.
Leon was about to refuse, then thought of the Space Stone at S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters and the Mind Stone that would soon arrive, and immediately smiled:
"Of course, I'm willing!"
Looking at the unremarkable yet frivolous smile of the white-haired man before him, Coulson didn't know why, but felt an ominous premonition...