Chapter 30. Chaos at the Expo

In Noah's home, a pillar of light flashed, and he appeared in the living room. Taking in the familiar surroundings, a wave of nostalgia washed over him, as he had spent many years there. Approaching the Protective Ward, he infused it with magical energy, then headed to the exhibition center for his meeting.

"Hey, Noah, over here!"

Just as Noah was about to move forward, he heard someone call out to him. Turning around, he saw Peter and Ned. Waving back, he walked over to his friends.

"Have you been waiting long? I hope not too much," Noah asked.

"No, we just got here," Peter replied, holding a camera, clearly intending to take pictures of Iron Man.

"Cool belt, Noah," Ned remarked, and Peter noticed the belt too.

"New purchase. I liked the style, so I got it," Noah said. He had adjusted the belt to give it a sleek technological look, drawing attention but without arousing suspicion that it was capable of much more.

"Let's head inside. Even though the main event isn't until the evening, we should look around," Noah suggested.

"Yeah, let's go," his friends agreed.

Together, they entered the exhibition center and started exploring and having fun. By evening, they reached the central zone of the expo to watch the show at Stark Expo. As regular students, they could only observe from the periphery, but they still had a clear view of everything happening on stage.

To the sound of music, a man in a suit came on stage and started tap dancing, which looked comical. Peter and Ned burst into laughter.

"Does this guy think he's a good dancer?" Peter snarked.

"Yeah, a real self-absorbed narcissist," Ned agreed.

Noah silently watched Justin Hammer's performance. After the dance, Hammer began criticizing Iron Man for not handing over his technology to the U.S. government to protect its citizens. Pepper Potts, sitting in the audience, sighed heavily, clearly uninterested in listening to his pointless speech.

Then, the main part of the show began. Hammer introduced his unmanned drones.

"Ladies and gentlemen, today I present to you the latest weaponry of the U.S. Armed Forces—Hammer Drones!"

The stage floor split open, and several tall robots emerged, lining up in formation. Hammer enthusiastically introduced each drone model. After that, he announced his "secret weapon."

"Now, I'll show you the new prototype battle armor and its pilot—Air Force Colonel James Rhodes!"

To the sound of triumphant music, Rhodey walked onto the stage in a modified Iron Man suit. The armor, previously silver, was now black and silver, with cannons mounted on its back and arms. Rhodey saluted the audience, and the drones mimicked his motion. The crowd erupted in applause.

"What?! He looks so much like Iron Man! Hammer totally stole the idea!" Peter exclaimed, outraged at the new prototype. As a dedicated fan of Tony Stark, he was furious.

"That's not just stealing; that's an actual Iron Man suit," Ned added.

At that moment, a roar echoed through the sky. All eyes turned upward, and Ned tugged on Peter's arm, pointing up.

In the night sky, flames flashed, and Iron Man, in his latest suit, soared toward the stage. Landing gracefully in front of Rhodey, Tony Stark stood tall.

The crowd rose and exploded with applause, Peter and Ned among them, cheering enthusiastically. Noah watched in awe—this was his first real encounter with Iron Man.

"We've got a problem," Tony said, walking up to Rhodey and throwing an arm around his shoulder, greeting the audience.

Rhodey thought Tony had come to cause trouble and tried to convince him not to start a fight, saying he was here under orders and didn't want to be part of Hammer's show.

Tony ignored his words and told him he suspected Hammer was working with Ivan Vanko. Rhodey was shocked, thinking Ivan was dead. The prison where he had been held reported an explosion in his cell, and Ivan's body had been found.

"Where's Ivan?!"

Tony approached Hammer and demanded an explanation about Ivan Vanko's whereabouts. Hammer, of course, pretended he had no idea what Tony was talking about.

"Tony?!"

At that moment, Rhodey noticed red lines of code flash across his suit's display, and the armor stopped responding to his commands. On stage, the black-and-silver armor raised its arm and aimed its machine gun at Tony. Behind it, dozens of drones followed, aiming their weapons at Iron Man.

"Rhodey? What are you doing?"

"No, Tony, it's not me! Run! The whole system's been hacked!"

Tony immediately realized Ivan was behind it and took off, trying to lead the drones outside to avoid civilian casualties. War Machine and all the drones opened fire on Iron Man. Bullets shattered the glass ceiling, and panic swept through the crowd below.

Rhodes chased Tony, with an entire army of drones flying behind them, keeping up with their target.

"What is going on?!" Peter shouted, barely dodging the falling glass.

"It doesn't matter what's happening; the important thing is to find a safe place," Noah said, realizing that a major storyline event had begun. He wanted to check his quest updates, but first, he needed to get his friends to safety.

"Let's head over there," he said, leading them to the nearest building, where it was safer. Inside, people were already taking cover, and Noah finally had a chance to check his quest panel.

As expected, the quests had updated.

[B-Level Quest: Destroy the drones and capture Ivan Vanko. Note: Destroying drones will increase the reward.]

"Oh, the reward can increase now? Interesting," Noah muttered, accepting the quest. Silently, he slipped out of the shelter, careful not to draw attention from Peter and Ned.

"Where's Noah?" Peter asked.

"No idea, maybe he went to the bathroom?" Ned guessed.

Noah had indeed hidden in an empty restroom. He pressed the transformation button on his belt, shifting into his PROJECT suit and arming himself with Yasuo's plasma sword. Then, he vanished.

The expo was in chaos. Ivan had activated the drones' automatic attack mode. Those that hadn't taken off yet were now moving off the stage, causing panic among the crowd. As the fleet of Sea Drones left the expo, Iron Man flew above them, chased by aerial drones. The sea drones launched rockets aimed at Tony, while civilians were still trying to find cover.

One of the ground drones aimed its machine gun at the crowd. People screamed, realizing they were in danger.

Suddenly, an orange light flashed, and the drone was sliced in half, like a knife through butter. The top half of the drone crashed to the ground.

Standing where the drone had been was a figure wielding a sword—Noah in his PROJECT armor.

"Is that Iron Man?"

"No, doesn't look like it."

"Wow, that's cool!"

"I think I've seen him on the internet. Isn't he something like the Swordsman?"

"Storm Swordsman!"

"Yeah, yeah, that's it."

The crowd, seemingly forgetting the danger, stopped and stared at the new hero. Some recognized Noah—an old classmate had once caught him on video when Noah saved him, and the video had made its way online. Though the footage didn't go viral, some people had seen it, assuming he was just a cosplayer doing Iron Man stunts with special effects.

Noah glanced around at the people. Human instinct was to watch a spectacle, especially in America. Even in such a dangerous situation, they couldn't resist gawking.

He rushed toward another drone, slashing it with his sword. The machine fell apart like paper, sparking with the remains of electricity. The crowd around him cheered loudly.

"Quick, get out of here! Move forward!" Noah shouted, urging them toward evacuation. As he did, he raised his arm, and the armor transformed, releasing a volley of Hextech Micro-Missiles. The drones ahead were hit and exploded.

Before launching the missiles, Noah had asked Lissandra to reduce their power so the explosions wouldn't harm the civilians.

Hearing his call, people realized they were still in a danger zone and hurried toward the exits.

Once the crowd had cleared the area, Noah began eliminating the drones one by one. The drones' materials were far less durable compared to Iron Man's armor, and Noah tore through them like paper figures.

As people fled the expo, they caught glimpses of a figure in high-tech armor destroying the drones.

Inside the building where Peter and Ned had taken shelter, the two were still searching for Noah but couldn't find him, despite a thorough search.

"Where did Noah go?" Peter wondered aloud.

At that moment, a noise came from behind the closed door—first, the sound of heavy impacts, then a burst of machine gun fire that sent the people in the room into a panic.

One of the drones had found the shelter and started shooting at the door, tearing it apart. The people inside, including Peter and Ned, were terrified.

With a loud crash, the door fell, and the drone aimed its machine gun at the crowd. But before it could fire, a sword slashed down from above, turning the drone into a pile of scrap.

At first, the people inside thought the drone had started its attack, screaming in terror. But when nothing happened, they dared to open their eyes and saw that the drone had already been destroyed.

"What just happened?"

Many rushed toward the exit to figure out what had occurred. Peter and Ned were the first to cautiously peek outside.

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