MUP: Chapter 138. Erosion

[Blood Toxicity: 53%]

At the F1 Grand Prix in Monaco, Tony looked at the data displayed in the blood analysis machine with a solemn expression.

As Shell had said, his situation wasn't so good. The palladium metal that kept him alive in the tiny arc reactor was now his undoing. The black lines running from the tiny reactor on his chest were a sign of the increasing erosion of the palladium metal on his body.

"..."

Glancing at his chest in the bathroom mirror, Tony silently buttoned his shirt.

If he could, he wouldn't want to die quietly from palladium poisoning, but through Jarvis, he had simulated every known element on the planet, and the answer was that none of them could replace the palladium's effect. In short, Tony had to continue using palladium, knowing that frequent use would kill him.

It seemed like a vicious circle with no solution.

"You don't look so good, Mr Stark."

"If I remember correctly, this is the men's room, right?"

Looking up at the redhead who appeared in the mirror, Tony couldn't help but raise an eyebrow in question. He remembered the identity of the S.H.I.E.L.D. agent who had been in the field during the previous battle between the two green giants.

"Where's Agent Coulson?"

Tony wasn't a big fan of S.H.I.E.L.D., having previously been turned off by Nick Fury's unsolicited invitation before. The only person in S.H.I.E.L.D. who could talk to was Phil, who had been in contact with him.

"He has other commitments and is currently in New Mexico," Natasha answered casually, looking at Tony's haggard face.

"Nice place."

Tony straightened his collar and was about to leave when Natasha stopped him.

"What's the matter? Need something?" Tony asked as he stopped his steps and looked sideways at Natasha.

"Mr Stark, are you just going to let your health get worse?" Natasha asked, frowning as she glanced at the black lines appearing around Tony's neck. S.H.I.E.L.D. expected something to happen to him, but not to this extent.

"Do you think I haven't considered a solution?" Faced with Natasha's question, Tony was silent for a moment before asking rhetorically. "Unfortunately, I can't find any way out of this. Perhaps this is my fate. In fact, I have lived much longer than I thought I would."

Although he considered himself a genius, palladium poisoning was clearly not a problem he could solve by relying on his own ingenuity.

"Sorry, I have an even more important race waiting for me later. If S.H.I.E.L.D. needs something, make an appointment."

With those words, Tony walked away and was about to leave. Natasha suddenly locked her hands around his shoulders and injected the prepared drug into his neck.

"What did you just do to me?!"

Without the armour, Tony was obviously no match for Natasha. Covering his neck, he couldn't help but frown and question.

"Lithium dioxide, it's gonna take the edge off." Natasha looked at the condition of Tony's neck. The dark line that had surfaced on his neck visibly faded downwards after the drug was injected.

Taking a deep breath, he felt much more relaxed than before. Tony rubbed his neck, which was still a bit painful, and said, "Right. Give me a couple of boxes of that, I'll be right as rain..."

"It's not a cure, it just abates the symptoms of palladium poisoning." Natasha's face was expressionless as she told the truth.

"Trust me I know, I'm good at this stuff."

With a bitter smile, Tony didn't really show any regret. He already knew the outcome.

"I gave him the injection. It's worse than we thought." In the bathroom, Natasha watched Tony leave and then reported through her earpiece.

"How bad is it?"

On the other side, Fury's deep voice rang out.

"Bad. He might die soon."

Natasha reported the news with an expressionless face.

"..."

On the other side, there was a moment of silence before Fury spoke up.

"Don't worry, we haven't tried everything."

...

"Another gang was overthrown in Hell's Kitchen."

In Chinatown, inside the martial arts school, Danny shared the information he had obtained.

A large number of charred bodies in the pictures made the crowd involuntarily furrow their brows.

"It looks like the situation is worse than we thought." Kingpin's reckless behaviour worried Luke Cage, who was even more worried about Harlem.

"Wait a minute, there's something strange about the way these people died." Detecting something unusual, Jessica, a private detective, pointed to one of the charred bodies cut in half, "It doesn't look like they died in a gunfight. Looks like something decapitated them."

"The Hand?" Matt subconsciously associated any blade fights with the Defenders' previous opponent, the Hand.

"But the Hand was destroyed by Jiu You." Rubbing his own arm, Danny whispered a rebuttal.

"Cutting a man in half with a sword isn't as easy as it looks." Staring at the scene in the picture, Frank couldn't help but frown. The human body, stronger than expected, had a large number of bones. Some of them were capable of stopping a bullet. How could a blade easily slice through it?

"Perhaps, it was someone from Jiu You?"

Hearing the opinions of the group, Matt made his own call.

When they heard Jiu You's, the Defenders' eyes subconsciously turned to Danny, who was the only one in the room who had been in contact with Jiu You.

Although, the result of this contact wasn't very pretty.

"The Lord Godless I encountered earlier didn't use any weapons."

Subconsciously clenching his fist, Danny shook his head as he recalled the moment his arm was broken.

"Jiu You doesn't only have Lord Godless." At the right time, Ip Man spoke up and added, "Although I don't know much about Jiu You, according to Master Roshi, Jiu You's existence is almost as old as Peng Lai."

"So it's possible that Jiu You's other member might have killed that gang?"

After listening to Ip Man's explanation, Jessica looked back at the pictures and concluded, "An unbelievably vicious person."