Inside the Iron Man Armor. Arthur took the initiative to speak, "Ma'am, I do not recommend you travel to Sokovia; it is currently unsafe there."
"Why?"
Mei asked, startled and uncertain, but she quickly regained her composure and asked in a worried tone, "Is someone targeting him?"
"Yes."
"Who is it?"
"It is a terrorist organization called HYDRA."
"Where is he?"
"He is in the middle of an operation."
"Is there danger?"
"According to assessment, the danger level of this operation is extremely high; a nuke could explode at any moment."
"Wait, a nuke?"
"Yes, ma'am. HYDRA has placed nukes in more than ten cities around the world, intending to use them to threaten Sir."
"My god, have they gone mad? This would cause the extinction of the entire human race."
"That is why they are a terrorist organization. However, you need not worry; Sir is very confident in resolving these troubles. Nevertheless, I still suggest you do not go to the manor or Sokovia for the time being."
"Then where should we go?"
"China!"
Hearing this, Mei's expression immediately relaxed, and she let out a long sigh of relief.
"You're right, it's very safe there. It was the same last time. Let's go to China immediately!"
"Very well, ma'am. I will contact Sir's friends immediately to ensure you can enter the country smoothly."
As they flew over the manor, Mei glanced down and her brow furrowed instantly. On the vast lawn inside the manor, various vehicle fragments were piled haphazardly.
Fire and smoke rose into the sky, and dozens, nearly a hundred men in black lay on the ground. Blood had almost dyed the emerald green lawn a bright red. Within this ruin-like scene, a black-haired woman in silver armor stood in the center. She reached out and pulled a longsword from an enemy's skull, flicking the blade to shake off the filth while performing a flourish.
The moment Mei turned to look, Sif also felt something and raised her head. Looking at each other from a distance, both women frowned at the same time.
Sokovia. After the attack on Dr. Helen Cho, the entire castle was immediately placed under martial law. All armed personnel and anti-air combat facilities were activated simultaneously. Beneath her black iron armor, Dr. Helen Cho said with lingering fear, "Arthur, where is he?"
"I'm here." The one who answered her was not Arthur, but Hong Fei himself. Turning around, Dr. Helen Cho retracted her faceplate and was about to speak when Hong Fei asked with a smile, "Well, are you scared?"
What greeted him was, naturally, a massive eye-roll.
"Of course I'm scared. My heart is still pounding even now."
"Is that so?"
Hong Fei reached out directly. Dr. Helen Cho was startled, then quickly reached out to swat away Hong Fei's hand, saying in embarrassed annoyance, "You actually dare!"
"You're my woman, what wouldn't I dare?"
"Hmph, go touch your other women then!"
Seeing that she was about to settle old scores, Hong Fei timely changed the subject.
"It's right to be afraid. Such an experience can help you stay more alert. You should have an idea of how this assassin managed to sneak in. Conduct an internal investigation yourself. For now, stay home and rest easy; I still have things to do."
The assassin was from HYDRA. Disguising himself as a researcher meant he indeed possessed the necessary qualifications for the role; otherwise, he wouldn't have passed the interview with Dr. Cho. Thus, it could be said that Dr. Helen Cho had been careless. Hearing this, Dr. Helen Cho immediately donned her iron armor again and nodded.
"Then you be careful."
"Mhm. You can send people now to take over our neighbor's inheritance."
As he spoke, Hong Fei leaped into the sky, transforming into a dragon. With a flick of his dragon body, he moved rapidly and plunged into the lake in the blink of an eye. At the bottom of the lake, the White dragon opened its mouth and swallowed a nuke into the Dragon Dimension.
This was the nuke Pierce had mentioned would be the first to explode. His target was Hong Fei's overt base. Most bizarrely, he had been able to hide a nuke right under their noses near the castle; such methods and capabilities were undeniably formidable.
A security breach—it was impossible for it to be from within the team, or the castle personnel, and the construction of Superpower Park was handled by the Chinese, so there couldn't be a problem there. The only remaining issue was the government of this bird-poop-sized country, Sokovia. This debt would be paid with their lives.
The next second, a Portal opened up ahead, and the White dragon rushed into it and vanished. In another castle not far away, Strucker was pacing back and forth in an underground space, anxious and restless. Seeing this, his confidant spoke up to comfort him, "Sir, please rest assured, nothing will go wrong."
"I know nothing will go wrong. The yield of the nuke in the lake isn't large, and our energy shield can block all Impacts and even nuclear radiation."
"Then what are you worried about?"
"I'm worried about Pierce. If he truly succeeds, I'm afraid we'll all have to work under him from now on."
The confidant was quite puzzled by this.
"Sir, since you don't want to work under him, why did you agree to him before?"
Strucker's brow furrowed.
"You don't understand. Since he told me about that insane plan of his, if I hadn't agreed, I would already be dead. Now, I'm thinking if there's any way I can still maintain independent operations under Pierce. You know, I don't like following other people's orders."
Suddenly, a third voice rang out in the secret room.
"Don't worry. From now on, you will never need to listen to anyone's orders again."
The two instantly looked toward the sound, only to see two golden lights flying out from a space portal. In the instant before they could react, their bodies were blasted into fragments.
Saint Petersburg, Russia. The ice and snow could not stop the Russians' enthusiasm for going out; the entire city remained bustling and prosperous. The Winter Palace is one of the city's landmark buildings and was the private residence of Catherine II, the only woman in Russian history to be titled 'the Great'.
Today, it has become one of the six palace complexes of the State Hermitage Museum, which, along with the British Museum in London, the Louvre Museum in France, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, is known as one of the world's four greatest museums.
The number and variety of collections in the four major museums are indeed vast, but their fame is also inseparable from their history of looting and plundering everywhere. Nothing unusual about it. Above the Winter Palace, a massive Portal suddenly opened amidst the falling snowflakes. The White dragon emerged.
As soon as the dragon's head appeared, it immediately opened its mouth and let out a world-shaking dragon roar. In an instant, the surrounding snowflakes were jolted away by the violent sound waves. Countless people on the ground looked up, their faces filled with shock. Hong Fei looked down at the complex of buildings below.
Without a second thought, he swung his dragon head and charged directly toward the tallest building in the center. Amidst the rumbling sounds, the building instantly collapsed, and rubble tumbled down. The dragon's body swayed as it rushed inside. Within the building, people suddenly turned to look at the collapsing walls and the massive dragon head, letting out a continuous stream of screams.
Hong Fei's target was very clear. He opened his mouth and aimed at the clean, reflective floor. Light gathered in his throat, and in the next instant, a beam of light shot straight out, blasting a large hole in the ground in an instant. Reaching out with his claw from a distance, the deep pit below rumbled, and the sound of metal twisting or snapping was enough to make one's teeth ache.
Seeing this, the screaming tourists suddenly paused. They followed the White dragon's gaze and claws toward the bottom of the pit, waiting with great confusion for the answer to be revealed. A moment later, the people closest to it suddenly erupted in cries full of dread and then beat a hasty retreat.
Before long, when the nuke emerged in its entirety, the crowd, regardless of age or gender, covered their mouths and backed away in utter astonishment and fear. They might not have known it was a nuke, but they could clearly distinguish it as one of the most common and powerful weapons in human military force.
Its size, longer and thicker than an adult's body, was enough to make them imagine catastrophic consequences. The White dragon opened its mouth and swallowed the nuke, though it was actually sent into the Dragon Dimension. In the next instant, the White dragon's eyelids flickered, and it transformed into human form, revealing the iconic red-based armor with white eyes and a yellow dragon pattern.
After exchanging a look with the crowd and nodding slightly, Hong Fei soared into the sky once more, disappearing through the Portal. Looking up at the falling snow once again, countless people who had witnessed the scene just now had the same question arise in their minds: This is the Winter Palace, why was there such a weapon of mass destruction here?
Kathmandu. After Hong Fei appeared and swallowed a nuke from a river, he turned around and looked into the void, saying, "You just had to make me come here. Did you miss me?"
In an instant, space vibrated violently, and a transparent, sharp blade thrust out from the Mirror Dimension, stabbing toward him with straight and rapid precision. Hong Fei quickly turned and left.
Tehran. The iron armor streaked through the sky, quickly drawing much attention. Before the opponent's anti-air weapons could fire, Hong Fei revealed his dragon form again. The agile White dragon body appeared like lustrous white jade under the dazzling sunlight, covered in brilliance. A moment later, he found a nuke in a mosque and swallowed it right in front of the worshippers.
By the time the armed forces arrived, Hong Fei had already passed through the Portal to another area, and the locals could only learn about everything that had happened through that terrified worshipper.
The reason he was so flamboyant and even somewhat deliberate in letting people know his whereabouts was, on one hand, to build momentum for The Foundation, and on the other, to let everyone remember the good deeds of My Lord Dragon King.
In the future, even if he wasn't around, The Foundation could continue to operate, and even if problems arose within The Foundation, people would grant it corresponding leniency. Sometimes, doing good without leaving a name is correct. But sometimes, doing good must be made known to as many people as possible.
The Foundation's positioning conflicts with the interests and represented demands of many Western governments. In such times, whoever can gain more public support will have more weight in the silent and invisible political balancing act of the future. He who wins the hearts of the people wins the world. The Foundation and national political entities cannot directly compete through force.
In a natural and pure political struggle, whoever can garner more support from the people can exist for the long term. Next stop: Egypt!