Chapter 720: Luke Switches Disguises and the Tyc.o.o.n’s Fall
He had just entered the alley when he saw that Luke had already opened a manhole cover. Luke turned his head and said to him, “You can follow me or you can wait for the people on the helicopters to arrest and interrogate you, baby Iron Man!”
With that, he stuck his hand out of the hole to wave farewell, then pulled the manhole cover back over him.
Tony was flabbergasted. “What the f*ck! You’re actually going through the sewers? You’re asking me to do the same?”
Unfortunately, Luke had already run off into the sewers.
So what if it was the sewers? He had already been through them many times! This was the iron will of a real man!
Selina’s message had arrived.
A ma.s.sive firefight had broken out at the Los Angeles County Jail.
The criminals had broken through the defensive perimeter, and Dustin and Harrison had called Luke for help.
Initially, Luke should be going over in his Batman persona to increase the police’s favorable impression of him.
While it wasn’t to the point of being on friendly terms, he had to maintain a neutral status quo with the police at the very least.
In the end, a certain tyc.o.o.n suddenly appeared out of nowhere and started fooling around on a grand scale in his big metal toy. Luke didn’t dare go along and act crazy with him.
He wasn’t that valuable himself, but by throwing the Iron Man armor into the mix, it was enough for various forces to take the risk and make a move.
If the two showed up at the prison together, more people would be mobilized by those forces to use the opportunity to set up an ambush.
Thus, Luke decisively switched disguises and went over with his detective ID.
He could openly use his gun and earn experience and credit points.
Moreover, this was the best time for Batman to escape by tossing out the baby Iron Man to distract the helicopters.
Luke’s smart program wasn’t half-bad; it had of course noticed the small problem with Tony’s mecha suit.
It wouldn’t be a problem for the tyc.o.o.n to escape, but it definitely wouldn’t be as easy as when he had first come.
Selling out his teammate? As if – the tyc.o.o.n wouldn’t admit that they were teammates.
What could Luke do? He could only fulfill the man’s wishes.
Coming out of the sewers a few blocks away, Luke changed his gear in a safe house and then rode his bike to the prison on the east side.
In the air, Flegg, who had been monitoring the two men, sighed. “Lost him again?”
The team member said, “Captain, Batman has entered the sewers. There’s nothing we can do.”
Flegg: “Follow this new Iron Man first. His armor is a lot more functional.”
The team member said, “Iron Man is also leaving the city. He’s speeding up… Uh, we lost him.”
Flegg: “…Fine, anyone who can hang around with Batman isn’t that simple.”
A while later, Tony pulled his head out of the sand from where he was lying flat on the beach. “Jarvis, check for system failure.”
“The propulsion system overloaded and the damage is 40%. It’s impossible to continue flying steadily,” said Jarvis.
“Just great. Any other good news?” Tony sat up on the beach helplessly.
He wasn’t as cowardly as Batman.
Even if the Iron Man Armor was exposed, he was confident he could fool the other party.
It was just that Batman had slipped away without a hitch, while he had crashed in the middle of the flight. That was too annoying.
Once again, he was certain he knew why that d.a.m.n Charcoal Head used an antique suit.
Batman was clearly far stronger than a regular person, so he trusted his physique more than a machine that could malfunction.
Tony snorted.
Human beings were also highly sophisticated machines that could be damaged or malfunction more easily than a regular machine.
However, he could take his time thinking about that when he got home. It was better for him to slip away now.
“Another piece of good news is that Supervisor Happy is about to arrive in your car with security team A, and you can leave everything to them.” Tony relaxed when he heard Jarvis’s words.
It was Happy’s responsibility to clean up the tyc.o.o.n’s mess.
Sitting on the beach, Tony looked at the dark sea and mumbled to himself, That guy has some brains.
Just now, Luke had warned him that someone wanted to reap the benefits of his armor, and the tyc.o.o.n didn’t want to reveal his Iron Man suit for now.
It was Tony’s personal treasure.
He didn’t want it to be filched by anyone, nor did he want a bunch of Iron Man-lookalikes to steal his thunder.
He was Iron Man, not some energy-generating tin man!
Thinking this, Tony suddenly slapped himself. His iron palm hit the helmet with a clang. “d.a.m.n it, what tin man? I’m Iron Man!”
Luke sped through downtown traffic on his bike. After flas.h.i.+ng his badge, he hitched a ride on an SUV on the road outside the city and headed straight for the eastern prison.
The driver glanced at Luke in the pa.s.senger seat as he drove. “G.o.d, what’s wrong with Los Angeles? Even a kid like you is a police officer? Are they going to make you kids face armed criminals? That’s so irresponsible.”
Luke’s smile didn’t waver. “Mr. Adrian, I’m a formal, trained police officer. You’re wrong about LAPD.”
The driver, Adrian, sighed. “What about your family? They don’t object?”
Luke shrugged. “They’re either retired soldiers or police officers, so…”
Lost for words, Adrian nodded. “Fine, then you’re quite suitable for this job.”
Luke was amused. “Are you going east?”
Adrian nodded. “Didn’t the professor say that the earthquake is going to get worse in the west? I just called a friend in San Francisco, but I couldn’t get through, so we want to hide out in the east for a few days.”
Luke said, “There was an earthquake in San Francisco. It happened just a few minutes after ours, and was a magnitude 7.8.”
Adrian asked, “Really?”
“From the police department.” Luke chuckled. “Consider it a small benefit.”
Adrian asked, “What else?”
“San Francisco is a lot more chaotic. Heading east is the right choice. Stay in one of the surrounding towns for a few days and keep an eye on the news. Professor Lawrence Hayes from Caltech will probably make another prediction in the next few days,” Luke added.
Adrian was suspicious. “Is this also another police benefit?”
Luke wasn’t angry. Since this concerned the safety of the man’s entire family, questioning it repeatedly wasn’t a surprise. “It’s not hard for us to dig up some internal information. I also have to consider my friends in California.”
After a brief silence, Adrian said, “Luke, can you give me your number? There’s no other reason, I just want to confirm the matter of the earthquake after a few days.”
Luke took out his official police card with a smile and put it on the dashboard. “If you run into any trouble and I can lend a hand, you can call me, Mr. Adrian.”