Chapter 150. Uninvited Guests

"And you are?"

Looking at Natasha, who appeared in full view with her voluptuous dress, Pepper subconsciously looked at Tony, who was beside her.

Apparently, Natasha was considered to be the object of this Iron Man's past flings.

Such people weren't unheard of. In fact, Pepper had helped Tony with a few of these similar issues in the past when she was still working as his personal secretary.

Sensing Pepper's gaze, Tony shrugged and replied, "Natasha. She works with Agent Coulson."

"Phil's colleague?"

"So you're an Agent from that special branch too?"

Hearing Tony's explanation, Pepper instantly understood Natasha's role. The expression on her face slightly changed, but her voice maintained the same tone as before, and she asked in a feigned sense of calmness, "Where's Phil?"

"I heard he's been working in New Mexico." In response, Tony, obviously lacking much of the so-called secrecy, revealed Phil's situation in a nutshell.

"New Mexico?"

In the antique shop, Ryan heard Tony's answer and raised an eyebrow.

He remembered that Thor's hammer had fallen somewhere in New Mexico.

'So Thor's hammer has arrived on Earth? So, uh, Thor must be on his way, right?'

'Once Thor arrives, so would his troublemaking brother ...'

The emergence of information relating to Thor didn't give Ryan much joy but rather a sense of apprehension. Once Thor's hammer was identified, it meant that the Battle of New York would soon follow.

...

Inside the antique shop, Ryan was slightly troubled by the news about New Mexico that Tony had mentioned.

He thought about the next layout of the plan.

On the other side, at the party, Natasha looked at Pepper. She slightly smiled, "Hello, Ms Pepper, I know about you from Phil, you were very brave during the Obadiah incident."

"Thank you."

Natasha's initial compliment and smile made it difficult for Pepper to say anything rude. She could only smile and nod while asking, "Natasha, why are you with Tony... if it's okay to ask?"

"Due to Mr Stark's health problems, S.H.I.E.L.D. had arranged for me to stay with him, to help him when he was dying. However, Mr Stark's health has improved, so my mission is over now..." With that, Natasha's gaze turned to Master Roshi at the other side of the room. With a smile on her face, she added, "I'm on another mission right now."

"Health problems? What do you mean? Is Tony sick?"

Noticing the implication of Natasha's words, Pepper's face showed a look of surprise while turning her head to Tony, who was beside her. She continued to ask, "You were dying?"

"No, of course not." Glancing at Natasha in front of him, Tony could clearly sense that the other party had said that on purpose. But at the moment, he didn't have the time to pursue the S.H.I.E.L.D. agent's petty gesture, as he needed to placate the incessantly questioning Pepper first, "How could I be dying? To be honest, I was going to tell you about it later."

"Tell me what? Tell me you were going to die?!" Pepper got emotional, "Why didn't you tell me before?!"

"I was going to tell you this morning, but I... I forgot."

"How could you forget something that important!"

Pepper was clearly angry at Tony for not telling her.

At that moment, Master Roshi, who had been sitting among the models, suddenly stopped smiling and said, "I don't want to interrupt your discussion, but there seems to be a large group of uninvited guests flying this way right now."

"Uninvited guests?"

At Master Roshi's warning, Pepper's expression was somewhat bewildered.

On the other side, Tony and Natasha both tensed up.

"Jarvis."

"Yes, Sir."

"Assemble my armour."

"Alright, everyone! Party's over!" Natasha ripped off her dress, revealing her secret agent outfit, and clapped her hands together with a serious face as she evacuated the crowd from the party.

"Tony, what's going on?"

Looking at the solemn appearance of Tony and Natasha, Pepper forgot about the previous argument, and a worried expression appeared on her face as she asked with unease.

"Something dangerous might happen."

With Jarvis's help, Tony changed into his armour. Looking at Pepper's worried expression, he subconsciously softened his tone, "Pepper, I'm going to tell you about that health problem and everything else later. But for now, I need you to find somewhere safe to hide."

"You have to be careful, Tony."

Pepper knew that if a dangerous situation did arise, she would become a liability to Tony, so even though she was reluctant, she made her way through the crowd and reluctantly withdrew from the venue.

"You have to remember to call me later."

Master Roshi, also reluctant to part, spoke up on the other side.

He waved goodbye to the long-legged model, who had left the scene in a panic. Then he turned his head and complained, "Ah, it's a rare chance to meet beautiful women; why do they have to bother me...."

"Mr Roshi, who's the uninvited guest?"

After evacuating the party venue, Natasha frowned and asked Roshi, who had a sullen expression on his face.

"They're so far away, I can't see very clearly. Judging by their way of approaching, they certainly aren't coming for the party." Although the 'Multi-Form' clone only had a quarter of [Ten Shinhan]'s powers, he shouldn't be underestimated.

Through his control of Ki, it was easy for him to spot an enemy coming from afar.

"Jarvis."

"Sir. A large number of unidentified objects are flying towards your location."

Inside the armour, Jarvis's warning also validated Master Roshi's claim.

Boom --

With a loud roar, a large number of steel armours of various shapes and sizes descended from the sky and appeared in front of them. They surrounded the trio, flashing a piercing red glow from their eyes.

"Tony Stark!"

Immediately afterwards, shooting huge flames from its legs, a very unusual-looking steel battle armour landed heavily on the ground, leaving spider web-like cracks on the ground. Its helmet opened up and revealed a familiar face. He shouted at Tony, "Good to be back."

"Vanko!"