Gunshots echoed through the abandoned warehouse.
One by one, Sloan's men fell—each bullet fired from their own trembling hands.
Sloan stood frozen, the barrel pressed against his forehead, eyes bloodshot.
"You think killing me changes anything?" he hissed. "The Loom chooses fate."
Li Jie stepped forward calmly, the faint hum of telekinetic force vibrating in the air.
"Fate?" he repeated. "No. You hide behind threads because you're afraid to make choices yourself."
With a flick of his fingers—
Bang.
Sloan's body dropped.
Silence returned to the warehouse.
Firefox remained standing, her expression complicated. She had served Sloan for years. Feared him. Believed in him. And now he lay dead at her feet.
"You followed me," she said quietly.
Li Jie shrugged. "Trust is expensive."
Firefox gave a faint laugh. "So is survival."
The remaining assassins trembled, unable to move, their weapons still held hostage by Li Jie's telekinesis.
"I'm not interested in your organization," Li Jie said flatly. "Disband. Survive the apocalypse however you can. But if any of you come after me again…"
He tightened his grip in the air. Several guns bent like soft clay.
"…there won't be a second warning."
He released them.
The assassins scattered immediately.
Only Firefox stayed.
"What now?" she asked.
Li Jie studied her carefully. Firefox was capable, intelligent, ruthless—but not blindly loyal anymore. In this world, talent was more valuable than gold.
"Come with me," he said.
"To do what?"
"Build something bigger."
Two days later.
Underground desert base.
The White Queen stood before a holographic projection of the Black Dragon Mech. Construction frameworks floated in midair—new designs based on the materials stolen from Tony Stark.
"Boss," the White Queen reported, "with the acquired alloys and arc-reactor derivatives, I can begin manufacturing three simplified combat mechs. Production time: seventy-two hours."
"Good," Li Jie replied.
Firefox observed from the side, arms folded.
"You robbed Tony Stark," she said casually.
"Borrowed," Li Jie corrected.
She smirked. "He won't see it that way."
"He won't find me."
But even as he said it, Li Jie knew that was unlikely.
Tony Stark wasn't someone who let things go.
And S.H.I.E.L.D. was already watching.
Triskelion Headquarters.
Inside S.H.I.E.L.D..
Phil Coulson placed a tablet on the conference table.
"The theft at Stark's Long Island residence," he said calmly. "Jarvis confirmed advanced infiltration. No physical trace. No digital signature."
Across from him, Nick Fury's remaining tactical advisors exchanged grim looks.
"The same individual who has been targeting enhanced assets?" someone asked.
Coulson nodded.
"And he's hunting the Infinity Gauntlet rumor you fed him?" another agent added.
Coulson's expression stiffened slightly. "That was… strategic bait."
In truth, Coulson had hoped to test Li Jie. Instead, Li Jie had escalated.
"We need to move remaining superheroes to Level Seven containment," Coulson ordered. "And track any unusual mech activity."
Meanwhile, Long Island.
Inside his armored laboratory, Tony Stark stared at holographic projections.
His skin carried faint gray undertones—the early stages of infection suppressed but not cured.
"Jarvis," Tony said coldly, "whoever stole my toys… is very smart."
"Yes, sir."
"They used the Mark 20 as a Trojan horse?"
"Yes, sir."
Tony's eyes sharpened.
"I like them already."
A new armor prototype rotated in the air—sleeker, deadlier.
"Prepare the Hunter-Killer drones. And trace every unusual energy signature within five hundred miles."
"Yes, sir."
Tony smiled faintly.
"Let's see who's copying my homework."
Back at the desert base.
Firefox watched the first production line activate. Mechanical arms assembled alloy plating with surgical precision.
"You're planning an army," she said.
"Yes."
"For what? Survival?"
Li Jie paused.
On a nearby screen were files: Bruce Wayne, Stark, S.H.I.E.L.D., infected heroes, global zombie spread rates.
"Control," he answered.
Firefox tilted her head. "Of the world?"
"Of chaos."
The apocalypse had erased governments, twisted heroes into monsters, and turned order into dust.
But with intelligence harvested from geniuses like Bruce Wayne and others he had killed… with advanced AI like the White Queen… with Stark-level materials…
He could rebuild.
Not as a hero.
Not as a villain.
Something else.
An apex.
Alarms suddenly blared.
"Warning," the White Queen announced. "Multiple high-speed objects approaching airspace. Design signatures match Iron Legion units."
Firefox exhaled slowly.
"So much for not finding you."
Li Jie's lips curved into a faint smile.
"Perfect timing."
He walked toward the launch platform where the Black Dragon Mech stood fully armed.
Behind him, three newly constructed combat mechs powered up, eyes glowing white.
In the distant sky, dozens of red lights streaked forward.
Tony Stark had come personally.
Li Jie stepped into the cockpit.
"White Queen," he said calmly, "activate Legion Protocol."
"Yes, boss."
The hangar doors split open.
Sandstorms howled as the Black Dragon launched into the sky, accompanied by his newborn mech squad.
Above the desert, red and black forces collided.
Tony's voice crackled across open comms.
"Whoever you are," Stark said coolly, "you owe me a warehouse."
Li Jie laughed softly.
"Put it on my tab."
And the battle began.
....
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