Bet, a Fighter Jet, Operation Start

The attack helicopter's rotors had stopped spinning at some point, a row of blue energy jets firing from its base.

Supported by the auxiliary atomic engine, the Annihilator glided like a hawk stalking through the darkness, flickering with faint points of light, silently lurking in the night sky.

Natasha and the others were clearly well-versed in this routine. After donning night vision goggles and opening the hatch, they leaped down into the howling wind, plunging headfirst into the pitch-black night.

Erica and the others followed in succession. John was last, a bit slower because he had to bring his beloved dog along.

Once everyone had jumped, Merlin in the pilot's seat opened his laptop.

"Buddy, can you read me?" He called out through his headset.

"Reading you!"

"Reading you!"

Amid the sharp whistling wind, Natasha and the others' steady voices rang out one after another through the headset.

"Good. First thing, remember to stick the electromagnetic signal device on their computer."

"So let Erica take point and infiltrate first. Once I've taken control of all the surveillance, you guys can make your move."

"Of course, if anyone wants to spice things up for themselves, I won't mind."

"As for any grudges between you, settle them after the mission's done—it'll make for good entertainment too." Merlin reminded them.

Among them, the most unstable was obviously Bullseye, that somewhat unhinged guy.

In their usual conversations, Merlin and he got along well enough—both liked to have some fun—but Bullseye enjoyed killing people, while Merlin preferred seeking thrills.

But with Bullseye's erratic mind, running into unfamiliar people, trading a few barbs, and getting itchy fingers, he might just chuck something at them without thinking.

"How about we see who kills the most people?" Bullseye's voice suddenly crackled through the headset.

"Old game..." Natasha muttered a faint complaint.

"I think it's not bad, but we need a bet to make it interesting." Merlin suddenly chimed in with interest.

Before they could answer, he continued, "I can record your kills in real time here. The final winner gets..."

Merlin paused for a moment. Hearing there was a bet, everyone perked up, so no one interrupted.

"A... Buckingham Fury."

The Buckingham Fury was a fighter jet modeled after the A28B fighter, equipped with onboard machine guns and continuous-fire guided missiles, and could be fitted with anti-lock countermeasure chaff and flares.

Its biggest feature was one word—speed.

With superb piloting skills, even Hydra would be outclassed.

The headset went silent for a moment, as if no one expected Merlin to have such boldness, offering a fighter jet right off the bat.

"Oh, buddy, I'm already tempted." Natasha's voice rang through the headset, voicing everyone's thoughts.

A fighter jet as a bet—no doubt about it, this mission just got a lot more interesting.

Who could say no to a toy that big?

Still, some wondered where Merlin would get a fighter jet, but since he could get his hands on an attack helicopter with stealth tech, the Fury was no problem either.

"Of course, one more thing—rescuing Tony Stark counts as ten kills."

The Ten Commandments Gang had nearly a hundred members in the base, so Stark alone was worth more than a tenth of that.

With everyone's abilities roughly equal, this could really widen the gap.

"Who's in? Drop a one."

"1!"

"1!"

Each voice chimed in through the headset in succession.

"OK, buddy, good luck to you all."

As they talked, Natasha and the others had already neared the ground and deployed their parachutes.

After cutting away their parachutes, they quickly made their way to a hillock near the Ten Commandments Gang's camp. Gazing at the patrolling guards and lights within the camp, they were already itching to move.

Erica had vanished from her spot at some point.

Natasha and the others didn't rush; they waited quietly.

The Ten Commandments Gang's leader, Natal, sat in the surveillance room, munching on dry rations while watching the feed on the monitors.

Tony Stark had only dozed off for a bit in the evening, but now he was already swinging a hammer at the forge, with Yinsen constantly assisting on the side.

The deputy, who had just come off shift, couldn't help but praise the man's diligence.

But as Natal watched the various parts being forged on the screen, a sense of unease gradually crept in.

"These... seem to be a pile of armor parts?" He stood up, leaned in to get a closer look at the surveillance footage, and said uncertainly.

Soon, a conspicuous helmet caught his eye. As Tony Stark assembled the parts one by one, a crude silver suit of armor abruptly appeared inside the cave.

Natal finally understood that he had been played.

"Fuck!" He cursed, immediately springing up, and even kicked his Deputy, who had just fallen asleep beside him.

"Follow me! We've been tricked!"

The Deputy was still groggy from being suddenly woken, but seeing the boss leave, he instinctively hurried after him.

Not long after the two left, Erica, clad in red, quietly appeared in the Surveillance Room.

"Lucky break." She walked up to the Computer console, quickly took out a magnetic circular electromagnetic device, and casually placed it on the Computer. A detection wave spread rapidly as the signal amplified.

"Zzzzzt..." The current signal crackled in the headset, followed by Merlin's voice.

"Move out! Tony Stark's in serious danger, speed it up." Merlin watched the surveillance feed on his computer screen. The Leader of the Ten Commandments Gang's camp was leading a group of men toward Stark's location. He spoke in a low voice.

"Finally, it's time to start!" Bullseye grinned excitedly and was the first to charge down from the hill.

"Click!"

"Click!"

John and the Punisher both pulled back the bolts to check their rifles.

"Woof!!! Grrrr!!!" Bick let out a low growl, the green fur on his body growing even thicker.

"Go! Duke!" John gave the order, and Bick shot off like a wild beast unleashed.

The Punisher and the others quickly followed.

"What's that?" A Guard on patrol suddenly heard a noise and instinctively turned his head.

"Whoosh!"

But the next moment, a sharp whistling sound rang in his ears, and a Bat Shuriken had already sliced into his throat.

"Bang! Bang! Bang!!!" The two men beside him holding AKs fell to the ground, lifeless.

"Rat-a-tat-tat..." Suddenly, a dense burst of gunfire erupted, and the entire camp exploded like a powder keg.

"Enemy attack!!!"

"There's ene—"

The alert Guard's voice cut off abruptly, but the camp was already in chaos.

The Punisher and his team had slipped into the camp like ghosts.

"One, three o'clock direction."

"Two, six o'clock, ammo crate."

There were a few issues with the last chapter, so I've made some edits.