Chapter 84: Subduing the Father and Son of Vanke

Six hours later, they finally arrived in Moscow. Nearly half of that time had been spent recharging the battle armor. As night had already fallen, Wang Jing landed directly outside the apartment building where Ivan Vanko lived.

Inside, Alice immediately stood up when she heard the noise. Through the grimy window, she saw Wang Jing’s silhouette.

“Wang Jing is here!” Alice called to Wang Lei, who was feeding the parrot.

“So soon?” Wang Lei replied, turning to walk toward the door.

Ivan Vanko, hearing that the person who was to take his father for treatment had arrived, stood up as well, his gaze fixed on the dark entryway.

Soon, accompanied by approaching footsteps, Ivan Vanko saw Wang Jing slowly coming toward him.

“Hello, Wang Jing!” Wang Jing nodded in greeting as he walked over and introduced himself.

“Ivan Vanko.”

“I’m going to take your father to my world for treatment now. Would you like to come with us?” Wang Jing asked, glancing at Anton Vanko, who was already fast asleep on the bed.

Ivan Vanko nodded his assent.

Seeing his agreement, Wang Jing didn’t waste any time. He teleported Anton, bed and all, along with Ivan, straight to the primary dimension.

As the world around him changed in an instant, Ivan Vanko’s mouth fell open in astonishment at his first experience of crossing worlds. He looked around in fascination, particularly at the medical pod set on the open ground nearby, the imposing black suit of armor beside it, and the soldiers clad head-to-toe in black powered exoskeletons.

“Don’t just stand there—come and give me a hand!” Wang Jing said, bending to lift the still-sleeping Anton Vanko.

Snapping back to his senses at Wang Jing’s words, Ivan quickly pulled the blanket off his father and, under Wang Jing’s guidance, stripped his father down to nothing but a pair of black shorts.

Once Anton was placed in the medical pod, the system began a full-body scan. Ivan watched with a mixture of nervousness and fascination. If not for the inappropriateness of the moment, he would have been tempted to dismantle the pod on the spot to study its principles and construction.

The scan ended quickly, and a long list of ailments appeared on the display.

“How is it?” Ivan asked anxiously.

“The situation is dire: multiple organ failure, severe muscle atrophy, malnutrition, and more. It’s a miracle your father has held on this long,” Wang Jing said with a sigh.

“Can he be cured?” Ivan asked carefully, frowning.

Wang Jing looked at him, then smiled with confidence. “Of course. There’s no problem.” As he spoke, he pressed the activation button on the display.

A moment later, a beam of yellow light swept over Anton Vanko’s body. Ivan’s eyes widened in disbelief as every part touched by the light seemed to be completely renewed. The sagging wrinkles vanished, dry and sallow skin became fair and elastic—his legs looked like those of a young man.

When the light finally passed over Anton’s face, Ivan’s jaw nearly dropped. The once aged features transformed instantly to a youthful visage, so much so that he now looked several years younger than his own son.

The medical pod stopped and the glass cover opened. Anton Vanko, like a drowning man suddenly breathing fresh air, took a deep breath and sat up abruptly.

For several seconds, Ivan could do nothing but slowly raise his hand to his face, eyes wide with disbelief.

He stepped forward and grasped Anton’s now-younger hand.

“Ivan, am I dead?” Anton asked calmly, after regaining his composure.

“No, Father, you’re alive—and you’re younger now, younger than me!” Ivan replied with a laugh.

Anton looked around at the unfamiliar surroundings and the medical pod beneath him. “Where am I? Who are you?” he asked Wang Jing, who stood to the side.

“Hello, Anton Vanko! My name is Wang Jing—I’m the one who saved your life. You were close to death, but I brought you back,” Wang Jing said, stepping forward with a gentle smile.

“Is that so? Thank you so much,” Anton said sincerely.

“No need to thank me. As payment, you and your son will be working for us from now on,” Wang Jing replied with a smile.

Anton paused, then looked at him. “What kind of organization are you?”

“The United Government.”

“The United Nations?” Anton asked, puzzled.

“No, this is a special organization composed of all the nations of the world,” Wang Jing explained.

“I don’t recall any such organization existing!”

“That’s because you’re no longer in your original world.”

“What the—?” Anton was momentarily at a loss, overwhelmed by the sheer volume of information.

As Wang Jing fetched a set of clothes from a nearby cabinet, he explained, “We can travel between different worlds. Including your own, we now have seven dimensions under our control.”

“The machine you were just on is unique to what we call the Bliss Space dimension.” With that, Wang Jing handed the still-dazed Anton a fresh set of clothes.

“Put these on first. Someone will explain everything in detail to you later,” Wang Jing said, then turned to Ivan. “Would you like a check-up yourself? Don’t worry—it’s free. In fact, it’s a benefit of joining our staff.”

As Wang Jing expected, Ivan couldn’t resist the lure of youth. He stripped down and climbed into the pod. Though he had no major illnesses, years spent in cold, grim, and cramped conditions had left him with minor ailments.

After the treatment, Ivan felt his body grow dramatically lighter.

Once Ivan had put on his new clothes, Song Guohua entered the room. After a round of introductions, Wang Jing entrusted the two to Song Guohua and returned alone to the Marvel world.

No sooner had he arrived than Wang Lei approached, curiosity shining in his eyes. “Well? Did they agree?”

Wang Jing nodded. “Yes, everything went smoothly.”

“We’ve got a lot to do, so let’s not waste time!” With that, Wang Jing sent Alice and Wang Lei back to the primary dimension. Donning his armor, he then traveled to the Sino-Russian border, dropped off the negotiation team, and flew straight back to the United States.

By the time he returned to his hotel, night had fallen. What Wang Jing didn’t know was that his armored arrival on the hotel balcony had been captured in full by cameras atop Stark Tower, the footage immediately relayed to Tony Stark himself.

“Haha! I knew it! JARVIS, where did he fly to?” Tony Stark asked, excitement in his voice.

“Landing site: the Catherine Five-Star Hotel, right beside Stark Tower,” JARVIS replied, pulling up the surveillance footage.

“What the—!” Tony Stark was stunned to discover that the person he’d spent days searching for was staying right next to his own company.