Gold-red and deep-blue lights flickered with difficulty in the boundless ink-black abyss, like two stars swaying in a storm.
The thruster nozzles of Tony's Mark armor had already burned to nearly incandescent white. Particle streams violently vaporized the seawater, forming a milky-white cloud of bubbles that continuously churned and expanded, rumbling like muffled thunder.
Inside the armor, the warning buzz was nearly drowned out by the engine's roar.
"Sir, thruster Core Temperature critical! Continued overload may cause permanent damage or Meltdown!"
J.A.R.V.I.S.'s warning rang out inside Tony's helmet, calm but carrying a barely perceptible urgency.
"Then let it be damaged! As long as it can still breathe fire right now! Keep going!"
Tony gritted his teeth. Sweat slid down his temples before being swiftly absorbed by the internal circulation system.
He could clearly feel the chilling creaks coming from the armor's shell—the groans of top-grade alloy being ravaged by both terrifying water pressure and its own maximum output.
The life-support system had been reduced to its bare minimum. Cold began to seep inward from his limbs, but all his will was focused on the thrust vector ahead, on that cold capsule carrying his comrade's life.
On the other side, the "Deep Sea Titan" that Steve Rogers had become was bearing an unimaginable physical burden.
Every forceful kick against the seabed's rock strata came with a muffled explosive boom and the pulverizing collapse of stone.
His mutated legs, thick as stone pillars, had Muscle Fibers trembling at high frequency like superconducting coils. Every contraction unleashed terrifying force comparable to the propeller of a small nuclear submarine, stirring massive whirlpools and driving the heavy escape pod upward.
However, this strength did not come without a price.
"Urgh—hah!"
Every time he exerted force, Steve squeezed out a pained grunt from the depths of