Behind the thick faceplate, Yinsen had not heard that last sentence clearly at all.
Instead, that strange voice made him realize something else. The reason he had only seen one or two men just now had to be because everyone else was lying in wait outside the cave entrance.
The moment he showed himself, he would definitely be met with a concentrated barrage of gunfire.
The instant that thought clicked into place, Yinsen opened the armor on his right arm without hesitation, triggering the second missile.
Whoosh!
The missile shot through the smoke. Just as Yinsen shifted into a guarded stance and quietly switched on the flamethrower, the expected explosion never came.
A figure so fast it was almost impossible to see suddenly burst out of the smoke. Before Yinsen could react at all, a huge web had appeared out of nowhere and wrapped itself tightly around the towering steel beast.
"What is this?!"
Yinsen was horrified. He instinctively tried to struggle free. The armor let out a shrill grinding noise as tremendous force erupted from it, but that giant web pinned him firmly to the ground. The power he released vanished into it like mud sinking into the sea, completely bled away.
In the next instant, a man appeared directly in front of Yinsen as if from nowhere. He casually kicked twice, and the supposedly indestructible suit let out a miserable groan before losing all powered response entirely.
No matter how hard Yinsen struggled, the armor gave him nothing back.
The steel beast that had been tearing through everything just moments earlier had become a prison trapping him inside.
"No!"
Seeing this, Yinsen struggled desperately for a moment, then all the fury drained from his face in an instant.
Thinking of Tony's final words to him, an enormous despair rose in his chest. "Tony... I don't think I can avenge you after all..."
Despair filled Yinsen's face. Tears slipped down uncontrollably as he lay helpless inside the iron shell, murmuring through quiet sobs.
What kind of humanoid monster had he just run into?
Not only was he unharmed by a Stark missile, he could spit webs and casually wreck a multi-ton suit of armor?
"Who are you?"
The newcomer casually flipped up the iron faceplate. Squinting into the backlight, Yinsen finally got a clear look at his face, and the fair, clean-cut features made him freeze.
With a face like that, what kind of terrorist would this guy be?
"Yinsen, I get that you probably really wanted to avenge me. Cough, cough..."
A weary voice sounded from not far away.
It sounded as though the speaker wanted to laugh, but the laughter turned into coughing instead. A smile suddenly appeared on his pale face. "But that crying was way too mushy. Need Elizabeth's personal handkerchief to wipe your tears? Maybe when we get back, I can actually get one for you."
"Tony?"
The moment he heard that voice, Yinsen's eyes flew wide open. Shock and overwhelming joy flooded through him all at once.
He had never imagined he would hear his friend's voice again in this lifetime. "But weren't you just..."
"It was this guy, who barely qualifies as worthy backup for me. He popped out of a mirror out of nowhere and saved me. Cough. Cough!"
After forcing out that whole sentence in one breath, Tony lost control again and broke into another coughing fit.
"Right, and he also emptied a magazine at me while he was at it, even though he missed every single shot."
Seeing Yinsen still struggling around inside the suit, Fenris took pity on him and gave him a hand, pulling him free.
"Your aim is really terrible, Stark. No wonder you've made it to this age without having a kid."
The moment Fenris remembered Tony charging at him earlier with red eyes and a rifle, ready to die fighting, he could not help taking a jab.
"Fuck! What's your name?"
Fenris's words instantly set Tony off. It was like someone had stepped on his tail. If he had not already been completely drained, he probably really would have jumped up on the spot.
"Tony, calm down. Calm down."
The instant he got out of the suit, Yinsen rushed over to check Tony's injuries. Only after confirming that nothing else seemed seriously wrong did he finally let out a breath of relief.
Tony's condition was still dangerous, so bad that he could no longer withstand the strain of wearing the armor, but as long as he got proper treatment once they made it out, he would most likely survive.
"Thank you."
Yinsen bowed deeply to Fenris and apologized as well. "I'm very sorry about launching those missiles at you. I thought you were with them."
"He's probably some kind of superhuman, or a mutant like Magneto. What do two missiles matter?"
Tony lay on the ground with a deathly pale face, but his mouth still refused to lose. "Tell me your name and tell me what you want. Cars, money, fame. Whatever you want, I can make it happen."
"One of your father's old associates had people searching all over the world for you. I made a deal with him. Weapons-grade nuclear fuel in exchange for getting you home alive."
Looking at Tony lying there but still holding his chin high, Fenris turned around unhurriedly and walked back toward the cave entrance.
"That price is enough already. I don't need anything extra from you."
"My father?"
Fenris's words made Tony go still for a moment.
He fell silent first, then his brow furrowed, and then his mouth twisted to the side, his whole face turning openly dismissive. "I could've gotten both of us out alive on my own. I didn't need you to save me."
"What does a little nuclear fuel even amount to? You think that's enough to buy my life?"
"Let me tell you something. My life is worth a fortune. I'm giving you one more chance to name your price, and you should know I usually never give anyone a second option."
Tony kept talking, words spilling out one after another. When Fenris did not respond, Tony's voice rose slightly without him even noticing.
"Hey. Did you hear me?"
"You said you could've made it out on your own. Like this?"
Fenris turned a little to the side, revealing the scene outside.
Amid a rustle of movement, several dozen more terrorists with cloth wrapped around their heads closed in from all directions, carrying rifles, rocket launchers, and every other kind of weapon.
Tony stopped talking.
"The armor's destroyed. We..."
Yinsen instinctively panicked. He turned toward the suit, now reduced to a pile of broken parts, and opened his mouth to say something, but after glancing at Fenris beside him, he abruptly shut it again.
He did not know what a superhuman was, but he was not stupid either. The scattered severed limbs and thick smell of blood around them already explained enough.
"Hey. Can you handle this?"
Seeing Fenris standing in the entrance barehanded, Tony still could not stop himself from asking.
"Heh."
Fenris let out a cold laugh. The naked contempt in it instantly darkened Tony's face.
As the crowd closed in, Fenris suddenly shut his eyes and slowly spread his arms.
"What's he doing?" Yinsen asked, confused.
"No idea."
Tony shook his head too. He had not seen this move before.
Bzzzz.
In the next second, under their suddenly widened eyes, a brilliant seven-colored radiance lit up from Fenris's body.
At that moment, he seemed to become a second sun between heaven and earth. The light grew brighter and brighter, from gentle at first to blinding the next moment, all within only a few breaths.
The rainbow glow gradually turned white, and even the air itself seemed to ripple.
Screee!
A sharp cry rang out without warning. In the next instant, the light, condensed to its absolute limit, suddenly expanded, swallowing a vast area in front of the cave in an instant.
The ripples in the air swelled rapidly, turning into a silent force with invisible substance that surged outward.
It was as if dozens of terrorists had all been smashed at once by some massive unseen power. In the blink of an eye, their bodies were blasted into clouds of blood by that seemingly gentle force.
Over the dry desert, a real artificial rainfall arrived at last.
"Hah."
"As expected of the radiant beams that can casually send Godzilla flying. Mothra's power really is a lot more elegant."
Fenris let out a breath and slowly drew the light back into himself. The cave returned to its former darkness.
Then he turned and looked at Tony and Yinsen, both of whom were now completely dumbstruck.
"What are you staring at? Let's move."
(End of Chapter)
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