As soon as he entered the cave, Russell saw Baron Mordo hanging from the vines.
The portal was still open.
His corpse swung in the strong wind, blood dripping from his toes, and his eyes wide open in death—a look of shock frozen on his face.
Thanks to the magical knowledge he had just acquired, Russell quickly identified the protrusion on the rock wall near the back door—it was the portal's control switch.
Mordo had lured him here on purpose!
Otherwise, with the triple-speed boost from [Spell - Frenzy], there was no way he would have caught up to him so easily.
Unfortunately for Mordo, after all his scheming, he never expected his opponent to play completely out of line.
Russell once again thanked the Snake Squad for their selfless "contributions," then found an empty bottle and accurately hit the switch.
The portal shut down instantly, and the gale that had filled the room vanished.
Next came cleanup time.
Russell searched Mordo's body and found a broken defensive magic item. The ruby was shattered—it must have been a one-time-use artifact.
But he didn't care.
The thing was too weak, and with his current abilities, he could probably make a better one himself.
The most important find was the Sling Ring.
After rummaging for a while, Russell finally located it tucked inside the lining of Mordo's robes.
He couldn't rely entirely on the Time Pad. With the Sling Ring and the Reality Stone, he now had a chance to escape the Void.
Whether he could or not—he had to try.
Then Russell changed clothes and began packing up everything worth taking—armor components, three mini Arc Reactors, and a laptop (loaded with all sorts of junk from the Void).
He also grabbed batteries, light bulbs, some canned food, two boxes of wine, and other daily necessities.
He didn't plan to carry everything out on foot. That was unrealistic.
He just took them out first to avoid damage during the next phase.
Because now, he had a gift prepared for his two dear teammates.
Specifically... two high-energy bombs.
That is, to detonate the Arc Reactor!
Thanks to the [Knowledge Curse] ability he had looted from Iron Man, he couldn't build a reactor from scratch, but he could detonate one.
The remote detonation components? Tony Stark had brought plenty, and Mordo's base had even more.
As for whether the explosion would actually kill them—that depended on fate.
After all, in Iron Man 3, even an Arc Reactor explosion didn't kill Aldrich Killian.
After moving and hiding all the important items, Russell began assembling a remote bomb.
It was a simple job as long as the parts were available.
Twenty minutes later, he had finished. He placed the bomb in a cardboard box and shoved it under the sofa.
Then, he moved Mordo's body onto the couch, sat it upright, and hid the corpse's arms inside its robe.
Finally, he pulled out a piece of paper and scribbled a sarcastic note, thanking "his dear teammates" for providing so many useful supplies.
With everything in place, Russell left the cave and took position in a high spot nearby.
He didn't dare stay too close, in case Spider-Man's Spider-Sense picked him up.
Time passed slowly. The artificial sunlight in the Void gradually dimmed before vanishing altogether.
Night fell.
Russell remained motionless, lying on a thick tree branch, full of patience.
Two hours later, the sound of a car engine broke the silence, growing louder as it approached.
"They're back!"
Russell didn't look directly at the vehicle, in case Peter's Spider-Sense detected him.
He watched the headlights from the corner of his eye.
When the car stopped near the shore and the engine was turned off, he pressed the detonator without hesitation.
He didn't need to see them walk in. He had already practiced the timing it would take to reach the cave interior. The bomb's timer on the Arc Reactor was now ticking down.
BOOM!
Tony Stark slammed the car door shut and cursed, "Damn it! Damn that Fireman!"
"I'm going to turn him into ashes one day!"
He hadn't been able to win Pepper back in the auction. She was bought by that mutant pyro freak—Fireman.
Of course, the real reason wasn't just that. He simply hadn't dared to start a fight.
Even though the black market boss prohibited fighting in the mines, Tony knew full well how terrifying the woman behind Fireman was.
Peter Parker grumbled beside him, "Alright, alright, enough already."
"Just grab your scrap metal. I want to go to sleep."
He, too, was pissed that he didn't get to "taste" Iron Man's wife.
Tony didn't argue. Though he didn't get what he came for, he had managed to trade an Arc Reactor for some higher-model armor pieces—armor that was supposedly more advanced than his current suits.
Rumor had it these pieces had fallen along with "that woman."
So, in a way, he still gained something.
The two walked quickly back toward the cave.
Just before entering, Spider-Man halted abruptly, sniffed the air, and said, "There's blood."
"And... no breathing inside."
"Something's wrong."
His heightened senses picked up the details in an instant.
Tony's expression changed. His helmet snapped on, mask clamped down.
"My gear!!"
Without a second thought, he charged in.
Spider-Man wanted to stop him, worried there might be a trap, but when he saw that nothing happened, he followed.
The reactor in Tony's chest lit up the dark cave.
He had just opened his mouth to say "Damn," but then froze.
Aside from the sofa and a few scattered scraps, the place had been completely cleaned out.
Even a rat would cry at this level of looting.
Oh wait, no.
There was one thing left—Mordo's corpse.
He'd been shot dead, body slumped awkwardly, a bloody mess.
What a waste of meat.
Then Spider-Man spotted the letter propped on Mordo's chest.
He picked it up and handed it to Tony, who was now fuming with rage.
The note read:
"Dear Mr. Tony Stark,
Mr. Steve Rogers asked me to send you his regards.
He said he couldn't get along with the group anymore, so he chose to part ways.
He left everything behind for you as compensation.
Oh, and Mr. Mordo also agreed. We left him in a conspicuous spot—ask him yourself if you don't believe me.
Lastly, thank you, Mr. Stark, for your generous contribution. We'll put the reactor to very good use."
Spider-Man glanced at the gory bullet wound on Mordo's body and said:
"Yep, Glock shot. That's Steve's gun."
Tony was furious.
"I can't believe that bastard with the boy scout face betrayed me!"
"Damn it! I should've known something was off when he didn't return last night!"
"And Mordo—what a disgrace! A Sorcerer, shot to death like a rookie!"
"Ugh!"
He kicked both the sofa and the corpse in frustration.
Then, both of them caught sight of something underneath—the Arc Reactor bomb.
The timer read: 00:01.
They froze.
Every hair on their bodies stood up.
"F**K!"
"F**K!"
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