"Be careful, Mike. Those people have been injected with the Extremis…"
Seeing Mike swaggering over like Colonel Rhodes before him, Tony quickly called out a warning.
He was afraid that Mike would also suffer the same fate as Colonel Rhodes.
After all, the Extremis was indeed very powerful in terms of self-preservation.
"Be careful of what?" Mike asked, puzzled.
At the same time, he waved his magic, causing the ropes on Tony and Colonel Rhodes to loosen automatically like spiritual snakes.
Now free, Tony also saw the rows of thugs behind Mike, all fallen.
Their faces were distorted, blood flowed from their seven orifices, and their bodies were similarly twisted, already showing no signs of life.
Clearly, while the Extremis was strong, it depended on who it was compared to.
And the damage Mike inflicted with a casual strike undoubtedly exceeded the Extremis's tolerance limit.
"Uh, nothing. I mean, you came just in time. I owe you one this time…" Tony's embarrassment flashed across his face as he continued, "Of course, even if you didn't come, I'd still have a way to deal with these thugs."
Beside him, Colonel Rhodes, who had also been rescued, was annoyed by Tony's usual arrogant demeanor and couldn't help but want to retort a few more times.
Just then, a whistling sound came from outside the window.
The armor Tony had left at Harry's house was flying from a distance at supersonic speed.
"You really had a backup plan, why didn't you say so sooner!?" Colonel Rhodes, who had been scared for so long, again strongly complained.
However, Tony was now too busy to pay attention to his friend's complaints. He went to the window and spread his arms, greeting the arrival of the armor with a triumphant gesture.
Having been ambushed many times, he had long discovered the armor's weakness.
That is, every time an emergency occurred, if the armor wasn't nearby, he would be very passive.
Therefore, when developing new armor, Tony designed a wristband specifically to address this weakness.
When necessary, he could summon the distant armor via the wristband.
And as a backup measure, earlier, when Colonel Rhodes 'touched' his hand, Tony had already quietly used the wristband to summon a new generation of Mark series armor.
In terms of effect, although it was a little late, it was still timely.
As the new armor pieces were successively assembled onto his body, Tony once again felt a full sense of security.
This sense of security came from his hard work, sweat, and intelligent mind.
Therefore, it felt especially unique.
"Fifty percent energy, barely enough." After checking the armor's status, Tony exuded confidence from within.
"Look what I found, a little mouse trying to sneak away…"
Tony, who had activated his armor and flown high into the sky, unexpectedly saw Mandarin escaping down the stairs through a window below.
It was truly a case of 'a pillow appearing when one is sleepy.'
Already seething with an unnamed anger, he immediately fired a palm repulsor blast without a word, blowing Mandarin off the stairs.
Then he swooped down and entered through the window below to reach the other party's side.
"Don't you love to perform as a terrorist? Perform another one for me…" Tony, who had been frustrated by Mandarin earlier, went to his side and threw two heavy iron-fisted punches at his face.
Then he realized that after his large fist struck, the other party didn't even make a sound.
And a large pool of blood appeared on the ground.
It turned out that when Mandarin rolled down the stairs, the back of his head happened to hit a protruding part of the staircase, and he was already as dead as can be.
"Consider yourself lucky, you got off easy this time!"
Tony, who also noticed this, stood up uninterestingly, seemingly not intending to desecrate the corpse further.
But as he prepared to leave, the more he thought about it, the more annoyed he became.
Finally, he fired another hand cannon, blasting Mandarin into a pile of minced flesh.
Only then did he take off feeling relieved, to rendezvous with Mike and the other person upstairs.
"Oh, right, I forgot to ask earlier. Weren't you in Asgard? How did you end up here?" Tony, having resolved a troubling matter, started thinking again.
"It's a long story, I won't go into detail," Mike said playfully, then continued, "You just need to know that when I returned to the villa, I happened to encounter Daredevil and the others setting off to rescue Pepper. Then, they asked me to come here to save you."
It could only be said that the street Heroes' Mutual Aid Society truly stepped up when needed.
Tony's money as a benefactor was not spent in vain.
"Damn it, Pepper is still waiting for me to rescue her, and now there's probably the President as well…" Tony's expression turned serious.
Just then, the phone in the room rang again.
When he answered, Killian's annoying face appeared on the screen.
And behind him, the President was hanging from the Statue of Liberty.
"Jarvis, connect the video to the armor." Tony gave the command.
Then the signal was loaded onto the armor, and the armor projected a 3D holographic image.
This also made Killian's situation clearer.
Even Pepper, tied up in the corner, and Maya nearby, were displayed.
"Where are Thompson and the others?" Killian, having clearly seen Tony in his armor and freed through the video, was surprised for a moment, then continued, "Never mind, none of that matters. Now I have two hostages, how have you considered my offer?"
More hostages meant more options.
Killian, holding a significant advantage, wasn't afraid that Tony wouldn't comply.
"Don't rush, I'll discuss the cooperation with you face to face. You just need to clean your neck and wait for me." Tony said, suppressing his anger.
"Really, are you threatening me? I'm so scared…" Killian shrugged, then laughed, "Remember, you only have half an hour. Don't make me wait too long."
With a crackling sound of static, the video call disconnected.
"Mike, I need to ask you a favor." Tony, having ended the video call, looked exceptionally serious.
"Tell me."
"I want to deal with Killian myself. Please don't make a move for a while."
"No problem."
"…"
This incident had been Killian unilaterally targeting Tony.
Now that he had the chance, Tony naturally wanted to personally exact revenge on the other party.
Otherwise, he would find it very difficult to overcome the hurdle in his heart.
Afterward, at Tony's request, Mike opened a spatial gate leading to Stark Tower.
Since it was a "decisive battle," full preparations had to be made.
Over the past two months, Tony, feeling extremely insecure, had not only been researching various anti-force armors but also manufacturing a large batch of new-generation Mark series armors.
"You actually secretly built so many Mark armors…" In the same laboratory, Colonel Rhodes looked at the densely packed Mark armors displayed in the showcase, so surprised that his jaw almost dropped to the floor.
At a glance, there were no less than fifty of those armors, full of technological flair and abundant deterrence.
A large portion of them hadn't even been painted yet.
Even so, the cost of each unit would not be less than one hundred million us dollar.
It could only be said that the poor do not understand the world of the rich.
Tony was clearly that wealthy big shot, and Rhodes was the other type of person corresponding to him.
Therefore, after the initial surprise, Colonel Rhodes couldn't help but feel a bit sour. "Tony, honestly, do you consider me a friend?"
"Of course!"
"Then when are you going to help me upgrade my War Machine?"
Compared to the bulky and single-purpose War Machine, these new generation Mark series in the laboratory were clearly more appealing.
With a comparison, Colonel Rhodes naturally wanted to choose the better option.
"We'll see!"
Tony, busy adjusting the armor's control system, had no time to pay attention to his friend's little thoughts.
Even with the control wristband, controlling over fifty new armors for combat at once was not an easy task for Tony.
Meanwhile, a large group of street heroes were also hiding in the shadows on the back of the Statue of Liberty, where Killian was located.
Daredevil and the others had arrived here some time ago based on clues.
However, unlike their previous simple goal of rescuing Pepper, there were now some minor disagreements in the street heroes' plan.
The orderly faction, such as Daredevil and Spider-Man, wanted to rescue the President, who was hanging high in the air, while also saving Pepper.
On the other hand, anti-heroes like Deadpool and The Punisher, who lived difficult lives, did not have a high degree of identification with the government.
Therefore, they had little interest in protecting the President or anything similar.
They came this time purely because Tony had paid them.
"How about this? I'll go with Peter to rescue the President, and the rest of you go rescue Miss Pepper, how does that sound?" Daredevil deliberated for a moment before offering a compromise.
"I have no objections," Ant-Man spoke up, asserting his presence.
"I have no objections either. Of course, if the President is willing to pay an employment fee, I wouldn't mind saving his life…" Deadpool said with an indifferent expression.
His words were very consistent with his mercenary identity.
The remaining Punisher, Big Daddy, and others naturally had no objections.
Quicksilver, on the other hand, looked as if he wanted to speak but hesitated. He originally wanted to say that with his superpowers, he could easily save both Miss Pepper and the President simultaneously.
However, because he was too young and didn't have much presence, no one noticed him at all.
Naturally, he had no chance to express his opinion.
"Excellent!" Seeing that everyone had no objections, Daredevil continued, "According to the phone call just now, Mr. Stark seems to have escaped and will be here soon."
"So I've decided that our timing for the rescue operation will be when Mr. Stark arrives, and we'll coordinate our actions with him."
There is strength in numbers, and Tony's arrival might also mean the Guardians would come at the same time.
This would undoubtedly provide a great guarantee for the rescue operation.
"Understood!" xN
The other street heroes had obviously also considered this point, so no one raised any objections.
Everything awaited Tony's arrival.
Back at Stark Tower, after more than ten minutes of adjustments, Tony finally managed to coordinate over fifty new armors using his control wristband.
"Done, we can depart now!"
After signaling Mike, Tony entered one of the new armors with sufficient energy, activated it, and flew into the sky.
The remaining fifty-plus armors behind him then also activated and flew to Tony's side.
The sky full of iron armors, each one representing a massive amount of money.
Making the scene look indescribably magnificent.
Then, Mike also took to the air, rising to join the iron army.
Stark Tower is very close to the Statue of Liberty, so flying would only take a few minutes at most.
And this journey would also give Tony time to adapt to controlling multiple armors in action.
Therefore, Mike did not bother to suggest using a spatial gate to travel.
Below, Colonel Rhodes gazed at the magnificent scene in the sky, almost drooling with envy.
It was only when he saw the iron armor swarm forming a torrent and flying away one by one that Colonel Rhodes realized he hadn't 'gotten on board' yet.
He excitedly shouted, "Wait, Tony!!! Take me with you—"
Perhaps his call had an effect, or perhaps Tony had already planned it.
As the torrent of steel was about to disappear into the horizon, an original armor, gleaming with silver metallic luster, detached from the formation and returned to Rhodes's front.
The hatch opened, welcoming its passenger.
Colonel Rhodes, wearing the latest Mark armor, adapted to the new armor with a smug expression, exclaiming, "Tony is really unreliable; he has good stuff but doesn't share it with his friends."
Compared to the bulky War Machine, the experience of the new generation Mark armor was simply perfect.
Rhodes instantly had thoughts of abandoning the old for the new.
But before he could continue to show off, the armor he was wearing flew uncontrollably into the sky, rapidly chasing after the torrent of steel.
And Colonel Rhodes became a dispensable 'observer.'
A good thing right before his eyes, yet beyond his control.
This feeling was more unbearable than killing Colonel Rhodes.
"Tony, authorization… authorization…"
Thus, in the iron armor's internal communication channel, Colonel Rhodes loudly called out to Tony.
He wanted to secure a bit more authority for himself.
"Sorry, Rhodes. We're in a hurry right now. You'll have plenty of opportunities to experience the new armor's performance later." Tony, whose mind was on Pepper, brushed off his friend.
Even for Tony, the creator, it would take some time to fully master the new armor once it was released.
Rhodes would need even more time.
However, Tony was now in a hurry to rescue Pepper and was unwilling to waste the combat power of any armor, so he naturally didn't have any extra time for Rhodes to waste.
Therefore, he could only make the other party suffer a bit.
Besides, who said an observer couldn't experience the new armor?
Colonel Rhodes was currently experiencing the automatic driving function of the new generation Mark armor, wasn't he?
As the friendly exchange between the two ended, the swarm of armors, accompanied by the afterglow of the setting sun, flew over the Big Apple and arrived above the Statue of Liberty.
Enemies meeting, eyes red with fury!!!
With old and new grudges, Tony had no desire to communicate with Killian. He controlled over fifty armors and charged towards the enemy.
For a moment, laser blasts flew wildly, almost forming a sky net that illuminated the entire night sky as if it were daytime.
Then, those laser nets converged, forming a huge laser beam that blasted towards Killian below.
"Move out!"
At the same time, the street heroes hidden in the shadows instantly sprang into action.
Spider-Man, who was already prepared, shot out a web that stuck to the torch high on the statue. With a pull and a swing, he reached the President's side.
Then, he fumbled to untie him and used his web to support the man, slowly lowering him to Daredevil, who was waiting below.
The whole process was quite smooth.
And the President, being a man who had seen much, was very cooperative during the process, even taking time to praise Spider-Man a couple of times.
Which made Spider-Man incredibly touched.
On the other side, as the rescue operation began, Quicksilver, relying on his superhuman speed, rescued Pepper, who was surrounded, before the terrorists could react.
As a result, Deadpool, who arrived later, had nothing to do but casually slit the throat of Maya, who was standing by in a daze, still not understanding the situation.
This genius in genetic research had disbelief in her eyes even in death.
Further on, Big Daddy, The Punisher, and others engaged in battle with the elite terrorists there.