Waves—these were no longer ordinary waves.
They were no longer water, but living mountains, carrying hundreds of millions of tons of fury from the abyss as they dashed toward the surface with the will to destroy everything.
Between the crests, the outlines of colossal, soul-chilling backs occasionally surfaced, along with jagged dorsal fins like giant mineral veins. Every collision sent columns of water soaring into the sky, accompanied by ancient, primordial roars powerful enough to shatter steel.
The viscous seawater, emitting a faint ghostly glow, churned like boiling ink, completely staining this stretch of sea into a chaotic mire that devoured all light.
Above this boiling abyss, a speck of gold-red light tore through the rolling giant waves with near-suicidal resolve.
"J.A.R.V.I.S., lock onto Rumlow's coordinates! Calculate the optimal dive path! Squeeze the last bit of thrust out of the boosters! Chang Wei... I hope you can make it in time!"
Tony Stark's voice came through the Iron Man suit's internal comms, only to be instantly drowned out by the engines' deafening roar.
The Mark armor turned into a blazing meteor and crashed without hesitation into the darkness below, its trailing wake instantly swallowed by the raging waves.
Higher in the sky, almost hidden within the thick lead-gray clouds, Chang Wei hovered there.
The Sea of Clouds beneath his feet resembled enormous, filthy clumps of cotton, blocking out the hellish scene below and leaving only the faint sounds of thunderous roars and shrieking engines.
He looked down at the fading gold-red streak plunging into the rolling wall of inky waves, as though watching a pebble fall into boiling water.
There was not the slightest ripple on his face, and his gaze was calm to the point of indifference.
"Captain, you're still too weak."
Chang Wei's voice was low, as though