"If... you died, I would consider that my responsibility..."
After saying this, perhaps sensing Luca's stiffness and discomfort, Tony stepped forward again.
He shook Luca's shoulder and changed the subject.
"Alright, tell me. How did you get the plane down?"
"Uh..."
Just as Luca was about to recite his prepared lie, Tony seemed to think of something. He leaned in closer and whispered.
"Wait, I remember you telling me that the compression technology couldn't be miniaturized yet?"
"Uh, I just succeeded recently. Like, two days ago."
Hearing Luca's explanation, Tony rolled his eyes. He checked their surroundings before whispering again.
"Later, I'll find a big enough place. You let that thing out, and we'll study it together~"
"I didn't expect you to have a cross-dressing hobby?"
"Don't talk nonsense! That was for the mission!"
No need to think about it; Tony had guessed that the person who stole the Dark Elf spaceship wreckage was Luca.
Fortunately, since Tony knew, Luca could accept it.
And judging by his attitude, Tony was going to keep it a secret.
Luca just hadn't expected Tony to figure out the truth in such a short time.
It had only been a minute or two since Tony was released from the energy cube, and he had gone through a whole emotional rollercoaster in between.
Does this guy's super-brain only work for science?!
Aside from these details, the other people on the plane had also disembarked. Compared to the terrified flight crew, Green Bull and the other bodyguards were in much better shape.
Green Bull hurried to Luca.
"Young Master, what do we do now?"
Luca straightened his suit, glanced at Tony, and spoke up.
"It's confirmed. The attackers were Hydra. I contacted Hakimi earlier. New York is in chaos, and we've lost contact with Captain America and the others."
"SHIELD has been infiltrated by Hydra all along. Now that they've chosen to expose themselves, SHIELD branches all over the world will be in turmoil!"
"Also, those Hydra guys seem to have launched something called Project Insight. I'm afraid SHIELD headquarters has already fallen."
Luca briefly explained the chaos in New York and the escape of the otherworld invaders.
Of course, Luca wasn't lying about this.
Being a mere mortal, he couldn't divebomb from the sky. During the slow descent with the mechs, he used the time to contact Hakimi and get an update on New York.
However, the mention of "Project Insight" made Tony pause.
"Project Insight? That's a Hydra plan? How do you know?"
A while ago, Tony had helped Nick Fury design upgrades for the Helicarriers. During the process...
Tony naturally hacked into the SHIELD system to see what Fury was planning to do with those ships.
But Project Insight was highly classified. Tony didn't want to alert them, so he only found the name.
Hearing Tony's question, Luca frowned, feigning a pained expression.
"Remember I told you about a partner in Sokovia wanting to collaborate on the Arbiter pistol project?"
"Those guys just launched an attack on my assets in Sokovia... Luckily, I had some countermeasures and support from local families, so they didn't succeed."
"The intel on Project Insight came from them."
This was half-true.
Luca did arrange for the Hydra faction in Sokovia to stage a fake attack. This allowed him to draw a line between them and cleanse the local environment, ostensibly driving out the Hydra controlling Sokovia.
However, Luca had originally planned to milk Hydra for more benefits.
Now that those bastards had flipped the table, future "cooperation" would have to go underground or be abandoned entirely.
Luca was going to lose a lot of profit.
These bastards went from gray to black. How are they supposed to funnel money to me now?!!
So, Luca's pain was real.
Then, he vaguely explained the purpose of Project Insight.
Hearing this, Tony's face turned grim.
Leaving aside the chaos in SHIELD branches, which was an internal matter...
The otherworld invaders running amok in New York, and the Helicarriers in D.C. ready to launch a massacre...
Which one should they prioritize?
And more importantly...
"How do we leave here??"
Yes, that was the key problem.
Tony's private jet had "crashed" (been cubed), and he didn't bring his Iron Man suit.
Luca had two flying units here: Erha and Fifth Haro. (Third Haro had a broken arm and wasn't repaired yet; Fourth Haro was guarding the house.)
But even if it were just Luca and Tony, they couldn't just have the Haro Mechs carry them like princesses, right?
How fast could they fly like that?
"Back to the plane! I need to contact JARVIS!"
Tony knew the situation was urgent. Whether he deployed his armor or checked the situation, he needed his AI butler. He ran back into the cabin through the hole.
Thanks to Luca's timely action, the plane wasn't badly damaged. The cabin was messy, but the equipment was intact.
However, once Tony connected...
New York was in chaos. Steve Rogers: unresponsive. Nick Fury: unresponsive. Maria Hill: unresponsive.
Tony's seaside villa near D.C. had been destroyed by missiles.
Luca also received a notification from Hakimi: his villa had just intercepted two missiles, but the surface structure was partially destroyed.
Fortunately, Luca had ordered Hakimi to activate full defenses earlier, and the underground lab had been reinforced repeatedly by Haro "engineers."
It might not withstand a nuke, but regular missiles were no problem.
Luca gritted his teeth but wasn't too worried about his family's safety.
What mattered more was the image on the cabin screen: the three Helicarriers at the Triskelion were about to take off.
"Those bastards!"
"We have to stop them! Luca, help me!"
"JARVIS! Connect to Stark Industries satellites. I need access to all high-power base stations near Washington!"