"Get lost!"
Logan cursed bluntly.
His temper had never been good to begin with.
Disagree with him once, and he'd pop his claws. Push him further, and he'd go straight for a fight.
You hit a wall with Qin Xiao, and now you co looking for ?
Do you really think I'm your backup option?
Natasha's expression stiffened.
These Devil Fruit users really were impossible to deal with.
In just this short amount of ti, the intelligence expert who had always been able to pry information out of anyone had suffered two consecutive failures.
"You people don't have even a little gentlemanly behavior?"
Still unwilling to give up, she tried provoking Logan.
Shing—Logan directly raised a tal claw toward her.
The middle one.
Natasha imdiately felt like she was humiliating herself.
This baby isn't happy anymore.
Below them, people were evacuating in an orderly manner. Even though the ground armors had disappeared, the constant roaring sounds from the sky reminded everyone…
This place was still dangerous.
Qin Xiao simply stood on the ground, quietly watching the battle above.
An armor suit trailing brilliant exhaust flas darted through the sky.
Behind it, a swarm of armored suits chased relentlessly, all blazing with engine trails.
The leading armor occasionally found opportunities to counterattack.
Whenever it succeeded, one of the pursuing armors would explode like fireworks in the sky.
"Do any of your Devil Fruit users have the ability to fly? Can your fruit users participate in battles like this?"
Natasha quietly moved beside Qin Xiao again.
She asked two questions in a row.
For soone like her, embarrassnt only lasted an instant.
Her ntal adjustnt ability was exceptionally strong.
Sotis, even her embarrassnt was an act.
"Stop trying to get information for free. If you want answers, have Nick Fury trade sothing for them.
Or you can trade sothing yourself. Like your beauty.
Even though I'm not particularly attracted to you, I wouldn't mind relaxing once in a while."
Qin Xiao glanced at Natasha before looking back toward the sky.
That nearly made Natasha explode with anger.
Although she occasionally used her beauty during missions, she had always protected herself from crossing the line.
But Qin Xiao openly saying he'd "relax once in a while"—What exactly was he treating her as?
What a damn scumbag.
Just like Tony Stark.
Natasha imdiately labeled Qin Xiao as one.
But what she couldn't understand was—Why didn't this scumbag fall for her usual tricks?
She couldn't figure it out at all.
anwhile, the aerial battle grew more intense.
Tony's armor was lightweight and agile.
Its firepower clearly couldn't compare to the heavily ard suits chasing him.
However, with his flexible maneuvering, he gradually destroyed all the pursuers one by one.
After eliminating the airborne armors, Tony descended from the sky.
Clang!
A heavily damaged armor landed in front of Pepper.
The faceplate opened, revealing Tony's tense expression.
"Pepper, thank god you're okay."
He tightly pulled her into his arms.
Normally he never really noticed it, but at this critical mont, he finally realized just how important Pepper was to him.
"I'm fine! Ease up—your armor's too hard!"
Pepper clearly wasn't used to Tony suddenly becoming so passionate.
And with the armor covered in battle damage, the embrace felt extrely uncomfortable.
Tony quickly let her go.
"Have you found Ivan yet?"
At that mont, Natasha interrupted.
Tony's expression darkened as he looked at her impatiently.
"Go stand sowhere else. Your SHIELD organization couldn't even handle sothing this serious.
I seriously doubt whether you people are even capable of forming the Avengers.
And even if you do form them, what kind of people could you possibly gather?
Tell Nick Fury this—I'm extrely disappointed in SHIELD's response this ti."
Tony had been under imnse pressure the whole ti.
Now that Natasha interrupted him, he directly vented at her.
SHIELD bragged endlessly about how powerful they were, yet they couldn't even resolve a hostage crisis like this.
Completely disappointing.
Natasha once again felt the darkness of society.
What was wrong today?
Every man here was more irritable than the last.
Had she beco less attractive?
Or had n suddenly changed?
"Tony, she's just a woman. Don't bully her."
Pepper quickly tried to smooth things over.
"Alright, alright. I won't argue with her."
Tony imdiately followed Pepper's words obediently.
Just a woman?
Not comparable to n?
Don't bully her?
Won't stoop to her level?
As a top agent, Natasha felt deeply insulted.
Why did won bullying won hurt even more?
Even though Pepper probably ant well.
That sohow made it even worse.
"Have you found Ivan yet? If you don't stop him, both you and Pepper will remain in danger."
This ti Qin Xiao asked the sa question.
"No. I'm trying to trace his location in reverse. While the system is tracking him, I ca down to check on Pepper first."
Tony actually gave Qin Xiao a detailed explanation.
Trying to trace him in reverse!
Natasha's expression beca colorful yet again.
She had asked the exact sa thing earlier.
Tony not only refused to answer her, he even snapped at her.
But when the Devil Envoy asked, he obediently explained everything.
That double standard was outrageous.
"Hurry up and finish him. The guy's talented, but he's way too dangerous."
Qin Xiao reminded him.
"I know. The mont I locate him, I'll move.
Oh right, Qin, I want to ask you sothing.
Can you see whether Pepper is compatible with a Devil Fruit too?
She's in too much danger. What if sothing like today happens again while I'm not around?
If you need another 5% of Stark Industries shares, I'll have Pepper transfer them to you afterward."
Tony directly made his request.
"What do you an? Tony, what Devil Fruit? What are you talking about?"
Pepper looked completely confused.
Qin Xiao felt sowhat helpless.
If Pepper had been compatible, he would've checked her long ago.
She didn't seem special at all, so normally she shouldn't qualify.
"This matter actually…"
Qin Xiao was just about to explain the truth to Tony—that Pepper wasn't qualified—when suddenly an unexpected voice sounded in his mind.
"Ding! Special condition triggered. Compatible Devil Fruit user detected."
"Compatible Fruits: Flutter-Flutter Fruit, Cage-Cage Fruit, Snip-Snip Fruit, Hollow-Hollow Fruit, Love-Love Fruit…"
Pepper, who previously had no compatibility with Devil Fruits, suddenly beca compatible.
And the system specifically noted:
Special condition triggered.
Clearly, Pepper only beca compatible because of Tony's request.
The only uncertainty was whether it was because of Tony's request itself…
or because of the additional 5% shares.
But none of that mattered.
Business delivered to his doorstep naturally had to be accepted.
"This matter actually… is possible."
Qin Xiao finally finished his sentence.
"It's possible? Then hurry and give Pepper one! Sothing that can protect her!"
Tony instantly beca excited.
Being a Devil Fruit user wasn't necessarily bad.
Just look at Frank.
Look at Logan.
The important thing was that Devil Fruit users possessed combat ability.
When danger ca, they had more choices.
Fight?
Run?
At least they had options.
"Alright then. Pepper is compatible with five fruits…"
Ripples spread across Qin Xiao's body.
Five Devil Fruits appeared before everyone.
Tony suddenly felt a bit depressed.
Why did everyone else get more options than him?
"This one is the Flutter-Flutter Fruit. It allows anything it touches to beco like cloth fluttering in the wind.
Anything at all.
Even your steel armor can instantly beco as soft and flowing as fabric.
It can also restore the object back to its original material afterward.
For example, turning steel into cloth-like clothing.
Then, in dangerous monts, turning it back into steel again."
Tony's eyes lit up with excitent.
"This one sounds great! What about the others?"
If the first fruit was already this good, who knew what the remaining ones could do?
"This one is the Cage-Cage Fruit. It can create sturdy steel bars that directly bind targets."
"Binding? Against enemies like today's armored swarm, that doesn't seem useful. Next."
"This one is the Snip-Snip Fruit. It can cut through anything.
Anything cut apart becos soft like cloth or paper."
"Cutting things and turning them soft? Doesn't seem useful unless she fights directly. Next."
"This one is the Hollow-Hollow Fruit. It creates ghosts.
These ghosts possess the ability to make people extrely negative and depressed.
Very few can resist once touched by them."
"Only works on people? No good. There are too many robots and automated weapons nowadays. Next."
"This one is the Love-Love Fruit. It can petrify anyone lusting after the user's beauty."
"Petrification? So it only works on people too? This fruit doesn't sound very useful either."
As Tony said this, cold sweat actually ford on his forehead.
Heh.
Anyone attracted to her beauty gets petrified?
The other fruits were fine, but if Pepper got this one…what the hell would happen to him?
As Qin Xiao introduced Pepper's compatible fruits, Tony kept nitpicking.
anwhile, Qin Xiao himself was full of confusion.
These fruits felt incredibly chaotic.
Usually, the system's matching logic always followed so kind of pattern.
For example, Wolverine's fruits were all selected based on his physical condition.
His regeneration matched fruits that damaged the body, like the Tremor-Tremor Fruit.
His tal skeleton matched fruits that amplified lethality.
Nick Fury's fruits all leaned heavily toward defense.
Perhaps because of his position as Director of SHIELD.
Natasha's fruits leaned toward infiltration and intelligence gathering.
Even Frigga's fruits revolved around her family.
In other words, everyone's compatible fruits shared a common trait.
But Pepper's fruits seed completely random.
Qin Xiao glanced at Pepper, then at Iron Man standing beside her.
Suddenly, inspiration struck him.
These fruits weren't ant for Pepper.
They were all ant to counter Tony.
The Flutter-Flutter Fruit could instantly turn all of Tony's armor into fluttering cloth.
Trying to hide inside armor?
No chance.
The Cage-Cage Fruit could bind Tony together with his armor.
Trying to fly away? Not unless you never co back.
The Snip-Snip Fruit could effortlessly cut open Tony's armor.
No matter how advanced the suit was, it would still kneel before her.
The Hollow-Hollow Fruit could completely destroy Tony's fighting spirit.
And the Love-Love Fruit could petrify the womanizing Tony instantly.
Every single fruit was designed specifically to restrain Tony.
Tony had personally requested a Devil Fruit for Pepper…
and accidentally created his own worst nightmare.
"Ahem… Qin, which fruit do you think suits Pepper the best?"
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