American Comics: Tales of Cultivator

Chapter 165: Iron Man VS Ghost Rider: Golden Cicada Sheds Its Shell

A battle motorcycle burning with hellfire carried Ghost Rider as he sped across this wilderness.

"J.A.R.V.I.S., target him and launch two shoulder missiles. Record the target's reaction to the missiles!"

High above the wilderness, a gold and red figure hovered, relying on repulsor thrust, with light blue flames spewing from beneath his feet.

Tony Stark looked down at that speeding fiery streak on the wilderness.

Through the artificial intelligence J.A.R.V.I.S., he controlled the Iron Suit and launched an attack against Ghost Rider.

With two clicks, the left and right armor plates on his Iron Suit's shoulder simultaneously opened, revealing two miniature missile launcher tubes.

Two missiles, trailing a wisp of white smoke, shot out from inside the launcher tubes and streaked down towards Ghost Rider on the ground.

Boom! Boom!

Amidst two intense booms.

The miniature missiles produced by Stark Industries quickly and accurately hit the target.

"J.A.R.V.I.S., constantly observe Ghost Rider's physical condition!"

Hovering high in the sky, watching the missiles accurately hit the target, Tony Stark instructed J.A.R.V.I.S. to record the data from below.

Although Johnny Blaze had told him that once he transforms into Ghost Rider, ordinary firearms simply cannot harm him.

Tony Stark still couldn't help but feel a little worried.

The firelight and shockwave generated by the missile explosion stirred up swirls of smoke and dust.

In the smoke and dust, a Hellfire Motorcycle burning with hellfire was directly blasted and sent flying.

Flying in mid-air, Ghost Rider gave the handlebars a tug, and the Hellfire Motorcycle that had been blasted away flipped twice in the air before landing steadily back on the ground.

"Sir, firearms seem to have no effect against the target!"

The Iron Suit's remote camera projected Ghost Rider's unfazed appearance before Tony Stark's eyes.

Tony Stark looked at the fiery skeleton riding on the motorcycle, his body burning with raging flames.

Two missiles that could easily destroy military armored vehicles couldn't even make Ghost Rider's motorcycle chip the paint.

"Increase attack strength, four missiles!"

Tony Stark extended his arm and aimed below. At the wrist of his Iron Suit, two dark missile launch holes opened up.

Whoosh whoosh whoosh whoosh—

From the Iron Suit's shoulder and wrist, launchers in four locations simultaneously launched missiles, shooting towards Ghost Rider below.

Facing the missiles shooting towards him, Ghost Rider, with a backhand motion, drew out a chain from behind the Hellfire Motorcycle. A chain that was wrapped around the back seat and similarly covered in hellfire appeared in his hand.

The steel chain, as thick as an egg, burned with glowing red hellfire. From time to time, scorching hot molten iron dripped onto the ground, igniting swirls of blue smoke.

Crack! Ghost Rider swung the chain in his hand, using it as a long whip. A crisp whip crack rang out as the fine steel chain, over ten meters long, swung in a semicircle above him.

Boom boom boom boom—

The four missiles were instantly all detonated by the chain burning with hellfire.

The mid-air missile explosion generated an intense shockwave. The flying shrapnel spread over a dozen meters away, and many fragments shot towards Ghost Rider.

Before these shrapnel even reached in front of him, they were immediately incinerated into droplets of glowing red molten iron by the fiercely burning hellfire.

...

Whirr whirr whirr! A green military drone hovered in mid-air, observing Ghost Rider's actions.

On one side of the Interstate Highway, a black Chevrolet sedan was parked on the roadside.

Nick Fury and Phil Coulson stood side by side. Phil Coulson was holding a piece of equipment for controlling the drone.

Through the drone's surveillance camera, they watched the real-time footage of Iron Man's battle with Ghost Rider.

"Phil, who do you think will win?"

Nick Fury, watching the scene in the drone's surveillance video where Ghost Rider was swinging his chain and intercepting Tony Stark's Iron Suit's missiles, asked Phil Coulson beside him.

"Officer, according to the records in our database, neither generation of Ghost Rider has the ability to fly. However, Tony Stark's Iron Suit's speed exceeds Mach 3."

"Are you betting on Tony!?" Nick Fury asked.

Phil Coulson shook his head: "Mr. Stark's Iron Suit can fly, that's true, but clearly the weapons equipped on his suit cannot inflict damage against Ghost Rider!"

"A stalemate!"

Nick Fury clearly also recognized the stalemate between Tony Stark and Johnny Blaze.

Johnny Blaze, transformed into Ghost Rider, cannot attack Tony Stark high in the sky.

Although Tony Stark seems to have the advantage, the weapons he has equipped are ineffective against the supernatural Ghost Rider.

"What is he doing?"

Phil Coulson watched through the drone as Ghost Rider whipped the fine steel chain in his hand onto the ground.

The fiery chain coiled around a head-sized rock.

This rock instantly burst into raging flames.

With a flick of the chain in his hand, Ghost Rider directly threw the rock, now burning crimson red, high into the sky.

Like a glowing red artillery shell, it shot towards Tony Stark high in the sky.

"Beep beep beep..."

Tony Stark, hovering at a height of two thousand meters, was currently unleashing firepower towards Ghost Rider below.

Missiles, pulse energy cannons...

Besides close combat, he had used all the weapons equipped on the Iron Suit, but all the weapons seemed to be ineffective against Ghost Rider.

At this moment, Tony Stark only then realized that what Johnny Blaze had said to him about being immune to firearms seemed not to be empty words.

"J.A.R.V.I.S., how is the compilation of Ghost Rider's data coming along?"

"Strength compilation 70%, energy compilation 40%, energy analysis 5%!"

J.A.R.V.I.S.'s voice sounded in Tony Stark's ear.

"How come the energy analysis reading is so low?"

Tony Stark was a little surprised.

"Sir, the flames enveloping Ghost Rider's entire body were not found in the database under similar categories, and no similar instances were found for the energy fluctuation either!"

"Hellfire," Tony Stark thought, recalling the story Johnny Blaze had told him about the source of Ghost Rider's strength when they were at the bar.

However, for him, the so-called Hell was nothing more than another dimension.

The reason why he couldn't find a method to deal with Ghost Rider was simply that he was not familiar with this kind of strength.

As long as he was given time, he would definitely be able to come up with a method to counter hellfire.

This was the confidence of a top-tier scientist.

Tony Stark, somewhat lost in thought, suddenly saw a red exclamation warning light illuminate on the retina panel before his eyes.

At the same time, a piercing danger alarm sound rang out inside the entire Iron Suit.

The piercing alarm sound instantly jolted Tony Stark awake.

Tony Stark looked out through the Iron Suit. A fireball was hurtling towards him from below at an extremely fast speed.

By the time Tony Stark snapped out of his daze, this rock burning with crimson red flames had already arrived right in front of him.

At the moment of crisis, J.A.R.V.I.S., as the artificial intelligence, immediately took over the Iron Suit. The energy of the four repulsor thrusters was maxed out! The Iron Suit's palm and sole thrusters simultaneously spewed out blue flames, performing a rapid sideways dodge high in the sky, narrowly avoiding this fiery rock that was like an artillery shell.

"J.A.R.V.I.S., if I'm not mistaken, the height here is two thousand meters!"

Tony Stark looked at the surrounding clouds, then looked at the height beneath his feet...

If it weren't for the Iron Suit's remote camera, he could barely even see Ghost Rider's shadow.

At this height, Ghost Rider could actually throw a rock comparable to an artillery shell.

The Iron Suit that Tony Stark personally built used various types of composite alloy materials. In terms of bulletproof effect, he did not fear even ordinary artillery shells.

But Tony Stark had heard Johnny Blaze talk about hellfire's force in advance.

Being two thousand meters high in the sky, he really didn't want his suit to get contaminated with this troublesome hellfire.

In case the suit had some kind of malfunction, at two thousand meters, even if his suit's shock absorption effect was even better, he would still inevitably be smashed into a pile of ketchup.

At this moment on the wilderness plain, Ghost Rider seemed to think he had found a method to counter this steel bird-man in the sky.

The steel chain long whip in his hand swung, and one after another, the rocks transformed into fiery meteors, hurled towards Tony Stark in the sky.

For a moment, it seemed as if a meteor shower going against the flow was falling above the wilderness.

Whoosh whoosh whoosh whoosh...

Tony Stark, piloting the Iron Suit, rapidly darted through the air like a streak of gold and red light.

He simultaneously dodged these crimson red rocks burning with hellfire, fired energy cannons from his hand, and launched missiles from his shoulder and wrist, detonating these crimson red meteors one by one!

Boom boom boom...

In the distance on the interstate highway, cars parked on the roadside one after another. Many travelers successively rolled down their car windows, enjoying the crimson red fireworks in this daytime.

Nick Fury and Phil Coulson, each holding a pair of binoculars, squeezed into the crowd, completely inconspicuous.

As for that drone, it had long since been destroyed by the first batch of fiery meteors when they reached the sky.

"Is it over?"

The crimson red fireworks in the sky were getting fewer and fewer. Phil Coulson subconsciously put down the binoculars in his hand and looked towards the officer beside him.

"Should I go over and take a look!"

Nick Fury, looking at the scorched black tire tracks extending into the wilderness, and some SUVs driving off the highway, preparing to go explore the actual fireworks site, he frowned. "No need to go over. First, call Tony and clarify the situation!"

Just as Phil Coulson took out his mobile phone and prepared to call Tony Stark,

A gold and red steel figure descended from the sky and landed in front of the two of them.

"Whoa"

Looking at Tony Stark, who descended from the sky maintaining a posture of kneeling on one knee.

The crowd of onlookers gathered around on the interstate highway successively picked up their mobile phones and cameras, and started taking pictures of this Iron Man, famous throughout the Federation.

Tony Stark's Iron Suit's faceplate automatically opened, revealing Tony Stark's face with a sexy mustache.

Tony Stark looked at the dense crowd of people. He did not step forward and talk with Nick Fury, but just said to the crowd:

"He refused! His situation is not suitable for joining any organization! We'll talk about the rest back in New York. I still have some matters, I'll be going now!"

After speaking, Tony Stark closed his Iron Suit's faceplate. Disregarding the onlooker travelers taking pictures, two streaks of light blue flames rose up beneath the Iron Suit's feet, taking him soaring into the sky and flying towards the bar's direction.

Nick Fury gave Phil Coulson a look. The two of them also got into the car and left here.

Leaving behind a group of chattering onlooker travelers.

A group of road trippers heatedly discussed Iron Man's purpose.

As well as the recent crimson red fireworks.

In the crowd, an elder wearing a black brass buttoned leather jacket quietly leaned against the car door of a vintage antique car.

His hands, wearing black leather gloves, were propped on a silver cane as he quietly gazed towards the wilderness's direction.

His eyes' pupils shifted erratically. In an instant, his entire eyes turned completely black, pitch black like ink, gleaming with an eerie sheen.

...…

Inside the Chevrolet bulletproof sedan, Nick Fury was sitting in the front passenger seat.

He took out a small manual from inside his trench coat pocket, flipped to a page, and drew a large X on Johnny Blaze's name.

Phil Coulson sat up straight, driving his own car, looking straight ahead.

Having removed Ghost Rider from his list of candidates, Nick Fury then stuffed the small manual back inside his trench coat pocket.

"Phil, you have been assisting Agent Hill during this period of time. How is your mission coming along?"

In order to interrogate Crossbones, Nick Fury wanted to utilize a mutant criminal captured by S.H.I.E.L.D., a telepath.

But he was worried that there were also Hydra agents inside the aircraft carrier prison, so the mission Nick Fury issued to Hill was to stealthily extract the telepath from inside the prison without alerting the prison.

However, for several consecutive days, he couldn't contact Hill. This inevitably made Nick Fury a little worried about Hill's safety.

After all, the agents in S.H.I.E.L.D. currently that he could completely trust could truly be counted on ten fingers.

"Officer, we contacted Ray Breslin. He is the designer of that prison of ours, and also a prison security management expert for the National Security Agency! Agent Hill, under the guise of testing prison security, checked into the prison together with this security expert. I believe it won't take long before they can bring that telepath out from inside the prison!"

Phil Coulson was driving the car while answering Nick Fury's questions.

...

Ray Breslin, the Federation's greatest escape expert, had once successfully escaped from fourteen of the most heavily guarded maximum security prisons within eight years.

His true identity is the Federation's National Security Agency's prison security management expert. Every time a successful escape occurred, it meant that he could find that particular prison's security management loopholes.

Only by finding loopholes can one better patch the loopholes!

"Hiss"

Ray Breslin touched his faintly aching back of the neck, waking up from his grogginess.

Looking at this cramped space before him that only had one bed, Ray Breslin raised his head, looking at the Iron Gate in front of him that had a small food slot.

This was the prison's solitary confinement cell!

What happened?

Didn't he sneak into the prison to assess this prison's security level? How could he be here?

Ray Breslin tried hard recalling the scene before it happened. It was that female agent named Nancy who knocked him out from behind.

Ray Breslin touched his still aching back of the neck, somewhat unable to figure out what exactly was going on.

"Telepath, this is your dinner. This is the solitary confinement cell. You stay put inside for three days, no tricks!"

At this moment, the small window at the bottom of the solitary confinement cell's Iron Gate opened, and a tray was pushed in.

Accompanying the tray, there was also the prison guard's warning sound.

"Telepath?"

Ray Breslin subconsciously touched his own face. Listening to the prison guard's leaving footsteps, he directly rushed to the entrance and picked up the tray.

He casually threw the plain boiled potato and bread slices inside the tray to the side.

Using the reflection of the stainless steel tray, Ray Breslin clearly saw his own face.

The face of an unfamiliar Caucasian young man!

"Shit!"

Ray Breslin cursed angrily, fiercely threw the tray onto the ground, and started banging on the Iron Gate.

It was obvious he had been tricked by that female agent named Nancy!

(end of chapter)