Marvel: I Trade Devil Fruits for Power

Qin Xiao glanced over the Devil Fruits compatible with Natasha. There really were several that could potentially help in this situation.

First was the Love-Love Fruit.

As long as Natasha learned how to use it properly, the moment Ivan felt even the slightest attraction toward her, he would be instantly petrified.

And Natasha naturally knew exactly how to make a man interested in her at first sight.

If she obtained this fruit, then most men would be doomed.

Once Ivan was petrified, he would no longer pose any threat, and all that would remain would be for Natasha to deal with the unmanned armor units.

The Clear-Clear Fruit, Door-Door Fruit, and Calm-Calm Fruit could also allow Natasha to silently infiltrate Ivan's location.

And afterward, with Natasha's assassination skills, killing him directly would be easy.

However, all of those scenarios were based on ideal conditions.

The problem was that Qin Xiao knew Ivan had probably already entered his own armor suit.

Even if Natasha ate those Devil Fruits, it might still be useless.

She would only be able to watch helplessly.

"Although some of the fruits compatible with you could potentially solve the current problem, none of them guarantee success.

So you can forget about that idea for now.

Besides, if you want to eat a Devil Fruit, what are you offering in return?

I came here to help Tony because he's a Devil Fruit user—one of my apostles.

And he's also the owner of Stark Industries.

As for me, I'm the second-largest shareholder of Stark Industries.

Pepper, someone Tony cares deeply about, is trapped inside. Saving her will naturally bring me benefits from Tony.

But you?

What can you offer me?"

Qin Xiao never forgot his role as a Devil's Envoy.

Even in a situation that others considered incredibly dangerous, he remained completely calm.

Because he had already figured out how to solve this crisis.

"You! At a time like this, you're still thinking about making deals? People's lives are at stake! Don't you think that's excessive?"

Natasha was furious.

"People's lives are at stake? For me, the main target this time is only one person—Tony's assistant, Pepper.

So saving a single person is actually very simple for me.

Besides, since you care so much about human lives, why don't you show some sincerity yourselves?

Go ahead. If you want a Devil Fruit, what price are you willing to pay?"

Qin Xiao kicked the ball right back at her.

This time, Natasha's expression twitched uncontrollably.

Her earlier anger nearly slipped out of control.

Because just now, she had clearly been trying to get a Devil Fruit for free.

Yet not only had Qin Xiao refused to fall for it—

He had even turned the situation against her.

Were all devils this stubborn?

At that moment, Qin Xiao's phone rang again.

The timing perfectly relieved Natasha's awkwardness.

"Qin! Haven't you made your move yet? My armor can't hold much longer!"

Tony's anxious voice came through.

Not only had his armor been damaged during the battle—

Or more accurately, during his desperate retreat—

One of his propulsion systems had already been destroyed.

Fortunately, it wasn't the primary thruster.

"You can start fighting back now. Things here are simple."

Qin Xiao gave Tony an answer that stunned him.

"I can fight back now? If I really do that, the drones below will start attacking! Won't Pepper be in danger?"

Tony hesitated.

"Then just wait for them to shoot you down instead. Once you crash, let's see whether you'll still have the ability to save anyone."

Qin Xiao had no intention of comforting Tony.

Aside from beings like Odin and the Ancient One, Qin Xiao now felt that even if he couldn't beat someone, he could at least escape.

His confidence had grown enormously.

"Fine! I'm fighting back!"

Tony had no choice.

If he kept holding back, he really would get shot down.

And at that point, forget saving others—even he would need rescuing.

"Ivan! You bastard! Just wait until I get my hands on you!"

BOOM!

BOOM!

BOOM!

The armor units chasing Tony never expected him to counterattack so suddenly.

Several of the closest drones were instantly blasted apart.

"Tony… very good. Excellent. Looks like you really don't care whether those people live or die."

Ivan's voice echoed through the comm system.

He sounded surprised—

And excited.

The sound of rapid keyboard typing could even be heard in the background.

"Whether they live or die isn't up to you."

Qin Xiao's voice traveled directly through Tony's phone.

Ivan heard it loud and clear.

"Who's that? Tony… who did you contact?"

A bad feeling suddenly rose in Ivan's heart.

His hand hovered over the firing command.

As long as the answer dissatisfied him, he would immediately issue the order to open fire.

BZZZZT—

BZZZZT—

BZZZZT—

At that moment, Ivan heard strange electrical interference.

It sounded as though some kind of signal disruption was occurring.

The piercing static forced him to rip off his headset.

"What the hell?!"

Rubbing his ringing ears, he cursed angrily.

But when he focused on the monitors again, he saw an unbelievable scene.

"How is this possible?! All the ground armor units have lost connection!

Did someone cut off my network from the backend?!"

Panicking slightly, Ivan immediately checked the network systems.

Everything was completely normal.

"What's going on? Why are all the drones offline? Did they deploy signal jammers over there?

Impossible!

I programmed the drones to automatically open fire if the signal was cut off!

If the network had truly been severed, they should already be shooting!

There's no way they wouldn't know that!"

For the first time, Ivan truly had no idea what was happening.

"Tony, you can come down now. The people below have been saved."

That same voice once again echoed through the private communication channel between him and Tony.

"They've been saved? How?!"

Tony's voice was filled with shock.

And obvious disbelief.

This had only taken a few seconds!

How had it already been resolved?!

"Fine. I'll let Pepper explain it to you herself."

"Tony! I was terrified! How could Hammer Industries' drones do something like this?!

If I don't sue Hammer Industries into bankruptcy after this, I'm quitting Stark Industries!"

Pepper's voice carried both shock and fury.

Sue Hammer Industries into bankruptcy.

That was now her goal.

And it would accomplish multiple things at once.

With Stark Industries' legal team and the scale of this incident, Hammer Industries really might collapse completely.

And it wouldn't just be Justin Hammer suffering.

The entire corporation would go down with him.

That was the style of a true businesswoman.

If you provoke me, I won't just make you miserable—

I'll ruin you financially too.

"Pepper, Pepper! Calm down for now and get somewhere safe. My fight with Ivan isn't over yet.

Now that I don't have to worry anymore, it's time to teach Ivan that his armor is garbage!"

Tony had finally become ruthless.

Now that Pepper was safe, he could fully unleash his firepower against the drones that had been chasing him nonstop.

"No! Impossible!"

Ivan still couldn't believe it.

"Who's that?"

Pepper had heard another voice through the communicator.

"That's the bastard behind all this. Don't worry—I'll get revenge for you."

Tony's voice mixed with the roaring sound of his propulsion systems.

Clearly, he was going all out now.

Tony had no idea how Qin Xiao accomplished any of this.

But Pepper was safe.

And that alone was enough.

Compared to Tony's ignorance, Natasha stood completely frozen in place.

What had she just witnessed?

She had seen Qin Xiao vanish the moment he answered the phone.

Then only a few seconds later—Every drone holding the hostages disappeared.

The entire process had taken mere seconds.

She had even seen Qin Xiao locate Pepper and hand her the phone!

What exactly had happened?

What had Qin Xiao done in those few seconds?

Why had all the drones vanished?

How did he do it?

Was this also the power of Devil Fruits?

If such terrifying power existed—Why had they been rejecting it all this time?

Had Director Fury made the wrong decision?

If SHIELD possessed this kind of power, could they handle crises like this themselves in the future?

Question after question flooded Natasha's mind.

She quickly walked up to Qin Xiao.

"How did you do it?

Why did those drones disappear instantly?

Is this another power your devils possess?

Such incredible power… why haven't I ever seen you use it before?"

At this point, she looked like an endlessly curious child.

Qin Xiao grinned.

"Unfortunately, that's a secret exclusive to Devil Fruit users. I can't tell you."

He directly refused to answer.

What a joke.

Trying to get information for free again?

Dream on.

In reality, Qin Xiao had used the powers of two Devil Fruits simultaneously.

The speed of the Rumble-Rumble Fruit.

And the ability of the Return-Return Fruit.

The moment he answered Tony's call, he transformed directly into lightning.

That was why Ivan had heard the buzzing electrical sounds.

With the incredible speed of the Rumble-Rumble Fruit, Qin Xiao could accomplish countless actions in a single second.

He touched every activated drone one by one.

And on each armor unit—He used the Return-Return Fruit.

Frigga's powers could rewind even a God King by several years.

These lifeless machines stood no chance.

Under the fruit's power, the drones reverted back to their state from years earlier.

But these drones had only been manufactured a few months ago.

After all, Tony had only become Iron Man a few months prior.

How could they possibly withstand being rewound by several years all at once?

According to the Return-Return Fruit's laws, anything that didn't exist that far back would disappear entirely.

Although this violated conservation of mass—Devil Fruits themselves already existed outside conventional rules.

During those few seconds, Qin Xiao continuously switched between elemental form and physical form—Transforming into lightning, touching the armor, transforming again—Over and over until all the hostages had been rescued.

Only afterward did he find Pepper and hand her the phone.

In fact, during the process, Qin Xiao had also performed another experiment.

He initially tried relying solely on the Rumble-Rumble Fruit's lightning to destroy the drones' electronic systems.

But the results were disappointing.

Arc Reactors possessed a unique resistance to electrical energy.

Some of the lightning had actually been absorbed by the reactors—Even strengthening the drones.

Just like when Thor blasted Iron Man with lightning, causing his suit to reach four hundred percent power output.

While only a few seconds had passed for everyone else—Qin Xiao had accomplished countless things.

Seeing she couldn't get any answers from Qin Xiao, Natasha immediately turned toward Logan.

"Logan, do you know what ability Qin used?"

Logan glanced at her.

Then replied flatly with a single word.

"Fuck off."