Chapter 67: The Warlord's Debut

From Luke’s perspective, what the Black Widow called a promise was more of a collaborative deal. It was simply a mutually beneficial exchange between him and the Egghead. The Egghead needed his strength, and he needed adamantium alloy. The two parties quickly reached an understanding, both gaining what they wanted.

Still, the Egghead seemed a bit uneasy and personally called Luke for a follow-up conversation.

“I heard that big guy is already finished,” Egghead asked.

“I can deploy it, but you know, taking it out for a spin is expensive. Are you covering the fuel costs?” Luke replied.

“What do you want?” Egghead didn’t bother with small talk.

“Another fifty kilos of secondary adamantium alloy!”

Egghead was clearly used to Luke’s bold demands and immediately cut the offer down. “Twenty kilos.”

“Deal!” Luke knew when to stop, accepting without hesitation.

“Keep the situation under control for me. Civilian casualties must be kept to a minimum,” Egghead instructed sternly.

“Understood. Huh, it looks cold on your end—there’s snow falling.” Luke noticed, via video call, the icy landscape behind Egghead.

“I’m at the North Pole.”

“The North Pole? What are you doing way over there?”

“Just do your job.” Clearly unwilling to elaborate, Egghead ended the call.

“Tsk. As if I wouldn’t figure it out? He must have found Captain America,” Luke muttered indifferently.

He considered the timeline. By his count, Thor should be arriving on Earth soon. He remembered that Thor’s first film and Iron Man 2 occurred simultaneously. Not long after Thor’s story concluded, the first Avengers film would unfold, and New York would face an alien invasion. Time was running short; he needed to work harder.

A pleased smile suddenly appeared on Luke’s young face.

“What’s making you smile?” Lotus asked from the aquarium behind him, recalling the human on screen from a previous encounter.

“Egghead has given me the perfect excuse to stir up some action. He doesn’t know I’m already on site. Tonight, I’ll take the glory, and he’ll take the blame. Afterward, I’ll even get a reward. Wouldn’t you say Egghead is a decent guy?”

“Hearing you say that, I’m starting to like this human,” Lotus answered earnestly.

A colossal mech, six meters tall, suddenly appeared in the night sky outside the chaotic venue.

The first to spot this giant was a group of reporters. Such an enormous machine, hovering midair, left them all dumbfounded.

“It’s the Apostle!” someone recognized it quickly.

Though much larger than before, its distinctive design was unmistakable—there was no chance of confusion! In the entire world, only the Apostle had that blocky appearance that somehow managed to look incredibly cool.

Camera operators hoisted their equipment, immediately focusing on the G-0 Warlord.

In the darkness, the black, white, and gold mech stood with a crimson cloak billowing heroically behind it, like a grandmaster standing against the wind, waiting silently for something.

Breaking news coverage of the venue incident now showed the Apostle’s imposing figure.

After a month’s absence, the mysterious Apostle entered the world’s view for a second time. This was also the G-0 Warlord’s debut in this world!

Though many cameras were aimed at Luke, most still followed Tony in the sky. The Apostle’s popularity still lagged behind Iron Man’s.

At that moment, Luke’s onboard radar indicated several small targets rapidly approaching.

From above, he saw a squad of Hammer Iron Soldiers—painted sea blue—suddenly burst from the venue.

The place was packed tonight, and crowds were still scattering in panic. Yet these Iron Soldiers, without hesitation, opened the missile launchers on their shoulders right at the venue entrance.

Luke remembered this scene from the movie.

Under Ivan Vanko’s control, these Iron Soldiers fired missiles into the fleeing crowds, causing chaos and casualties.

Luke felt it was his duty to intervene—not only to keep the civilians safe as promised, but also because, to his eyes, those Hammer Iron Soldiers weren’t just enemies; they were walking bags of cash…

Each was loaded with “Ex-Wife” missiles—something he’d coveted for a while. Just one was worth tens of thousands!

“Christina! Quickly analyze the attack points. I want to cut in and take their weapons and equipment.”

“Yes, Master!”

All eyes watched as the Apostle’s mech, its eyes suddenly glowing, dove from the sky like a meteor.

Boom—

The massive machine landed with such force that the ground trembled.

Without pausing, the Apostle charged at the Hammer Iron Soldiers with astonishing speed!

No one had ever seen, nor even imagined, a robot so massive could move with such blinding swiftness.

In a flash, it reached the entrance. Before the squad of Iron Soldiers, the Apostle’s mech eyes glowed again.

A giant sword, 6.5 meters long and a meter wide, materialized out of thin air.

With agility defying its size, the mech half-crouched, swinging its huge sword in a wide arc.

“Blade Draw!”

The cameras couldn’t even capture the swing—only the shrill whistle as the sword sliced through air. The next thing they saw, the six-meter-tall mech was frozen in a dramatic post-swing stance.

Half a second later—

Boom!

The Iron Soldier before Luke was sliced clean in two at the waist! Sparks crackled at the cut, but there was no explosion. The Iron Soldier toppled to the ground, instantly out of commission.

Then—

Boom. Boom…

Several more Iron Soldiers split in two and collapsed, rendered useless.

The remaining ones reacted quickly.

The rest of the Iron Soldiers whirled around, raising their steel arms to take aim at Luke. The machine guns on their arms roared to life.

With the crowd screaming and the relentless “rat-tat-tat” of gunfire, the entire venue was engulfed in noise and chaos.

Yet the Apostle stood its ground, utterly unmoved.

This level of firepower, against the G-0 Warlord’s secondary adamantium-plated surface, was nothing more than a tickle.

The contrast in size was even more dramatic.

The Warlord, six meters tall and wide, stood like a steel wall—taller than a two-story building. The two-meter-tall Hammer Iron Soldiers looked like mere toys at its feet.

Inside the cockpit, Luke grabbed the joystick, raising the giant sword. With a powerful step, the mech surged forward.

In the next instant, Luke closed in on the Iron Soldiers.

“Phantom Sword Dance!”

Twenty-four slashes, each at a different angle and direction, blurred the Warlord’s form into a ghostly mirage; onlookers could swear it made several moves at once!

Slash!

Slash!!

Slash!!!

One Iron Soldier’s arm was severed at the base.

Another was decapitated.

Yet another was cleaved in two…

Each Iron Soldier was dispatched with a single blow.

When the battle timer stopped, it read thirteen seconds.

From the moment Luke landed to the last Iron Soldier falling, only thirteen seconds had passed.

The live broadcast swept across America, and viewers sat frozen in front of their TVs. Women turned pale, while men felt a tumultuous surge of indescribable emotion swelling in their chests.

But then, everyone watched in bewilderment as the Apostle performed an incomprehensible act.

The mighty mech planted its enormous sword in the ground, burying it deep. Then, the Apostle approached the fallen Iron Soldiers, stuck out its unprecedentedly prominent rear, and bent over to rummage through the wreckage…