Tony Stark's highly sarcastic remarks on television about the Association's Equipment Research Department stirred up a storm, continuously fermenting in public opinion.
Supporters believed he hit the nail on the head, exposing the Association's "makeshift team" nature, while opponents criticized him as arrogant and conceited, detached from practical needs.
However, just as this war of words was heating up, a real crisis, in an unexpected way, validated the pragmatic power hidden behind the Association's "unconventional" style.
In the New York port area, a private pier belonging to "Vanguard Tech," a company that competes with Stark Industries, alarms blared late at night!
It wasn't a robbery, but a serious accident within the company—their secretly developed "Mammoth" prototype power armor, which heavily "borrowed" early design concepts from the Mark I, was unauthorizedly activated by an enthusiastic senior engineer without sufficient testing, and completely lost control due to system instability!
This "Mammoth" armor was about 3.5 meters tall, with a rugged and clunky appearance, covered in exposed hydraulic tubes and rough welds, a far cry from Stark Industries' sleek and elegant design style, looking more like a cobbled-together industrial robot.
But it inherited the core characteristic of the Mark I—immense strength—and was equipped with the company's self-developed, highly unstable high-energy arc generator as a weapon.
The out-of-control "Mammoth" armor rampaged through the pier's warehouse area, swinging its massive metal arms, easily overturning containers, and shooting thick electrical arcs everywhere, causing a series of explosions and fires that turned the entire pier into a hell of thunder and fire.
NYPD patrol cars and SWAT teams arrived at the scene, but their light weapons were like tickles against the armor, while the arcs it casually unleashed could short-circuit and paralyze police cars, making it impossible for SWAT officers to get close.
New York Port Area, Vanguard Tech Pier · High-intensity energy reaction and large-scale physical destruction detected! Threat Level: ghost-level!
Incident Type: Heavy Power Armor Out of Control ("Mammoth" Prototype), possessing extremely high physical defense and area-of-effect energy attacks, extremely high threat level!
Mission Issued: Immediately intervene, subdue or paralyze the "Mammoth" armor, control the fire, prioritize personnel safety.
Mission Level: ghost-level.
Reward Points: 550.
Warning: Target's energy attacks are area-of-effect, handle with caution!
A piercing ghost-level alarm sounded in the Association's command center.
"Mammoth? Vanguard Tech?" Wesley looked at the footage sent back by the drone.
Although the armor looked crude, its destructive power was not to be underestimated, especially the indiscriminate arcs, which posed a huge obstacle to both rescue and subduing.
"Sandman!"
"I have reached the perimeter, Mr. Wesley," Sandman Flint's voice came through.
He stood on a crane, watching the steel behemoth wreaking havoc in the inferno below, his brows tightly furrowed.
His sandification ability was immune to physical attacks, but he was quite wary of those high-voltage arcs; the assessment report clearly stated that his sand particle structure was prone to failure under high temperatures and strong energy Impact.
"The target's energy attack is your weakness; do not directly confront it.
Focus on containment and area control to create opportunities for police evacuation and subsequent measures," Wesley's instructions were clear.
"Understood!"
Sandman immediately took action.
He didn't directly rush towards the "Mammoth," but instead manipulated a large amount of sand to build thick sand barriers between the armor and nearby flammable warehouses and oil tanks, preventing the fire from spreading.
At the same time, he continuously stirred up sandstorms to interfere with the "Mammoth's" sensor vision and attempted to wrap sand currents around its leg joints to slow its movement speed.
However, the out-of-control system within the "Mammoth" armor seemed to interpret Sandman's interference as an attack.
It furiously changed direction, and the arc generators on its arms suddenly glowed with dazzling blue-white light!
"Zzzzzzzzz—!!"
Two thick arcs shot towards Sandman like lightning snakes!
Sandman instantly disintegrated into sand, and the spot where he had stood was hit by the arcs, scorching the ground black, with some of the airborne sand particles instantly vitrified by the intense heat.
Flint reformed elsewhere, his expression grave; this energy attack was indeed troublesome.
Tony Stark also received a notification from S.H.I.E.L.D. (Fury believed this involved the severe Impact of Stark Expo-related technology) and arrived at the scene in his Mark VII.
Seeing the crude, ugly "Mammoth" wantonly destroying everything, especially the arc generators on its arms, which were clearly knock-offs of his early technology, a surge of anger welled up within him.
"These damn copycats again! And causing such a huge mess!"
He immediately joined the fray, using the Mark VII's flexibility and stronger firepower to harass and attack the "Mammoth" from the air.
But the "Mammoth's" armor was surprisingly thick and heavy; Tony's repulsor rays and micro-missiles could only leave dents and scorch Marks on it, unable to inflict fatal damage.
Meanwhile, the "Mammoth's" erratically swinging arcs forced Tony to frequently dodge, and the battle quickly became a stalemate.
"Jarvis, analyze its weaknesses!"
"Sir, the target armor has extremely high physical defense; the main threat comes from its unstable energy core and arc weapons.
It is recommended to prioritize destroying its energy system."
He understood the theory, but how to penetrate that thick armor and directly attack the internal, precise energy system?
Tony's weapons were more adept at external demolition than internal destruction.
Just as Tony was contemplating tactics, Sandman was diligently trying to restrain it, and the "Mammoth" grew increasingly berserk, Wesley in the Association's command center received a characteristic, excited communication from Dr. Leo of the Equipment Research Department:
"Mr. Wesley! 'That thing'!
The first batch of prototypes just passed final safety testing!
Perhaps it's just what we need to deal with this big, sparking metal block!"
Wesley's eyes flashed, and he made an immediate decision: "Arrange transport to the battlefield at once!
Authorize Sandman to receive and use it!"
A small Association drone silently infiltrated the battlefield airspace, precisely air-dropping a matte black metal box near Sandman.
Flint opened the box; inside were three simple-looking, even somewhat crude devices resembling oversized grenades, with "EMPD-1" scrawled on the side in white paint.
Item Name: Electromagnetic Pulse Disabler Grenade (Prototype I)
Effect: Upon detonation, generates a high-intensity, short-duration, directional electromagnetic pulse, causing overload, interference, or temporary paralysis to precise electronic equipment and unprotected energy transmission systems within its range.
Note: Limited effect on purely mechanical structures and living organisms.
Use with caution; be mindful of friendly fire.
"Electromagnetic pulse..." Sandman instantly understood.
No matter how crude this "Mammoth" armor was, its control system, energy transmission, and weapon activation would inevitably rely on electronic equipment!
This was practically a tailor-made counter!
At this moment, the "Mammoth" was attracted by Tony's aerial firepower, wildly shooting arcs into the sky, its crude heat dissipation structure on its back and what appeared to be energy transmission pipes exposed.
"Stark! Distract it!" Sandman shouted through the comms.
Though Tony didn't understand why, he increased his firepower as instructed.
Sandman grabbed an EMP grenade, concealed it with sand, and hurled it like a sling!
The sand dissipated mid-flight, and the black grenade arced precisely, heading straight for the area on the "Mammoth" armor's back most likely filled with circuits and sensors!
"Thwack!"
A faint, crisp sound, like a short circuit.
The grenade detonated, with no fire or Impact wave, only a barely visible pale blue electromagnetic ripple instantly spreading out, covering the "Mammoth's" torso!
"Whirrr—Zzzzz—Crack! Pop!"
The "Mammoth" armor's forward motion abruptly froze, its lights flickering wildly with garbled codes, the arc generators instantly dying out like a deflated balloon, and a series of teeth-gritting electrical sparks and component burnout sounds erupted from within!
The massive body lost power, crashing to the ground with a "boom" like a collapsing mountain of gold and jade, with only occasional electrical sparks escaping from the armor's seams to confirm the electronic catastrophe within.
The noisy battlefield fell silent in an instant.
Tony Stark hovered in mid-air, looking at the armor that had been so ferocious moments before, now a pile of scrap metal, his expression beneath the faceplate full of bewilderment.
It was... solved just like that?
That seemingly inconspicuous black box?
Sandman Flint also breathed a sigh of relief, looking at the two remaining EMP grenades in his hand, gaining a new appreciation for Dr. Leo's "pragmatism."
In the command center, Wesley's face was calm.
Meanwhile, Dr. Leo of the Equipment Research Department was already excitedly cheering with his multi-functional shield: "Long live pragmatism!
Stark's showmanship is no match for targeted solutions!"
In the S.H.I.E.L.D. command center, Fury stared at the paralyzed "Mammoth" on the screen and the EMP grenades in Sandman's hand, his expression grim.
"Immediately analyze that pulse weapon!
I want details!"
Online, related news and discussions exploded again.
"Association's Mysterious Weapon Instantly Kills Out-of-Control Armor!"
"Technological crushing? Association's 'Crude Gear' Achieves Another Feat!"
"On the Pros and Cons of Targeted Solutions vs.
General-Purpose Technology..."
Tony slowly descended beside the "Mammoth" wreckage, looking at the traces left by the crude EMP grenade, then looked up at Sandman in the distance.
His previous mockery about "children's toys" now sounded so harsh.
The Association, in the most direct way, demonstrated the terrifying effectiveness that simple, cheap, yet absolutely lethal targeted technology could achieve in specific scenarios.
This accidental crisis, triggered by a knock-off armor, unexpectedly became a battle to legitimize the Association's "unconventional" tech tree.
Kingpin's Association once again proved to the world that what they possessed was far more than just a few capable heroes.