A moment later.
Maki Matsumoto noticed the man's eyes filled with fascination, and she couldn't help but feel pleased.
'Enjoy it... This is the last bit of happiness you'll have... From now on, everything of yours will belong to me!'
In the next second, she exerted force with her jaw, attempting to pierce Ye Li's fingertip with her canine teeth!
"Hmm...."
'Why can't I bite through?'
The sharpshooter lady refused to believe it and bit down a few more times—
"Hmm...! Hmm...!"
But it was all in vain...
"Is that all?"
Ye Li shook his hand disdainfully and withdrew his finger— 'Huh... I thought you were impressive, but it feels like you're even weaker than Cindy, whom I just trained...'
But then again...
The agility of a Spider Totem bearer is beyond that of an ordinary human.
"You can stay here as a test subject."
Ye Li left those words with contempt and turned away, leaving the stunned Japanese woman behind.
Zzzzzzz—
Zzzzzzz...
Inside a dark chamber.
The Iron Patriot was suspended in midair by iron chains, while several technicians used rotary saws to cut around it.
They wanted to open it up, but since Rhodey was still inside operating the Iron Patriot, they had no choice but to use this crude method.
"Good afternoon, gentlemen."
Killian strode in quickly, handing his coat to his subordinate: "We need to hurry. Stark and his little friends are already causing havoc."
"Hello, Colonel."
He greeted Rhodey, then placed his hand on the Iron Patriot's armor. His palm glowed with intense heat as he began heating the suit—
Wuuuuennnn—
[Warning!]
As the outer armor of the Iron Patriot turned increasingly red.
Rhodey could hear the incessant alarms ringing inside, sweat forming on his forehead...
Peng!!——!
Bang!!—!
The armor couldn't withstand it anymore and ejected its occupant—Rhodey—automatically.
Killian laughed heartily: "Listen, what a beautiful sound!"
A few dozen seconds later.
Tap, tap, tap...
Figures in silver and black tactical suits streamed in.
But the chamber was already empty, leaving only Rhodey standing there helplessly.
Clearly, Killian and his men had left in a hurry, not even bothering with him.
"Hey, Rhodey."
Tony removed the faceplate of the Mark 42 and greeted him: "You look pretty rough."
"Tony, now's not the time to joke about me."
Rhodey said irritably: "That guy just took my suit and left. If you go now, you might still catch him. Oh, and I overheard them talking—Pepper has been captured too..."
"Oh! Shit! Why didn't you say that sooner!"
Tony didn't even bother putting his mask back on and rushed outside.
Hwu—Bang!
Just as he arrived outside the factory, he saw a red, blue, and white-colored Iron Patriot suit streak across the sky overhead—
There was no need to say who was inside.
"Killian!"
Stark shouted and immediately attempted to activate the Mark 42's flight function: [Jarvis! Get moving, you useless dog!]
Sss... Ssss—
Ssss! Whoosh—
The suit's thrusters released a few puffs of air, and then... nothing happened.
Jarvis: [Sir, the flight module has failed to activate.]
"Oh... Useless..."
Tony stood there, frustrated and powerless, watching helplessly as Killian was about to fly away.
Whoosh—!!
At that moment.
An arrow suddenly tore through the air, hitting the Iron Patriot's thruster with pinpoint accuracy!
Bang!!
A burst of sparks exploded from the back of the Iron Patriot, causing it to wobble and descend.
Clang!
Once it landed firmly on the ground.
Killian turned the suit's head to look to his right—
And saw a man carrying a bow and a graceful woman with straight brown hair.
"Avengers? S.H.I.E.L.D.?"
Just as Killian finished speaking.
Ta! Ta! Ta! (Gunfire and footsteps)
Rumlow led a S.H.I.E.L.D. tactical team, surrounding him from all directions with their guns aimed squarely at him.
"Natasha? Barton?"
Seeing the scene, Tony was both surprised and delighted. "Oh~ What brings you guys here? Did Fury finally grow a conscience and decide to send help?"
Hawkeye simply nodded slightly in greeting: "Stark."
Black Widow stepped forward, glanced at the Iron Patriot, and explained, "There's a lot of pressure from above. Director Fury needs someone to take responsibility for the casualties caused by the {Manhattan Midtown Explosion}."
"Tsk~"
Killian let out a disdainful chuckle, his voice echoing from inside the armor.
"So, that person is supposed to be me? I don't even know where that bomber got the Extremis virus from... Typical S.H.I.E.L.D., this is exactly your style~"