The terrorists gathered together. After discussing things for a while, they began shouting loudly for their other comrades at the base.
At the same time, they aimed their rifles at Tony. They had clearly noticed that something was wrong with him. In this situation, an ordinary person would not need to distinguish anything to know that the newcomer meant trouble and was an enemy, not a friend.
It was worth noting that all the light and heavy weapons carried by the terrorists were current US Military equipment, manufactured by Hammer Industries, Stark Industries' longtime rival... So who exactly was supporting the terrorists?
Seeing that the terrorists had more or less gathered, and knowing that he might be in trouble if he waited any longer, Tony immediately launched his attack.
A miniature missile shot out from Tony's shoulder and flew straight into the crowd of terrorists with a sharp whistle.
In an instant, the violent explosion blasted the gathered terrorists into oblivion. The others who had not been caught in the blast immediately returned fire, and countless bullets poured into the Iron Man Armor flying through the air.
But when those bullets struck the Iron Man Armor, they merely made sounds like mosquitoes scratching an itch. Clanging noises rang out, yet they did not break through its defenses in the slightest. At most, they only scraped some paint off Tony's armor.
However, the dense barrage still made Tony break into a cold sweat. If the terrorists accidentally damaged the Arc Reactor on his chest or damaged the Rocket Jetpack beneath his feet, he could end up surrounded and attacked.
Tony therefore immediately flew toward the ground, preparing to quickly eliminate all the terrorists within sight in close combat.
After landing, Tony continuously fired the repulsors in his palms, knocking one terrorist after another to the ground and rendering them incapable of fighting back.
Looking at the utterly helpless terrorists, Tony Stark felt completely calm. In fact, his calm mind even had room to recall his battle with Chen Changsheng. At that moment, Tony once again realized just how tough Chen Changsheng had been in his Lizard People state.
However, judging from the results of this battle, his Iron Man Armor seemed to be stronger after all. Tony felt that he had cut through these terrorists as easily as chopping vegetables. If Chen Changsheng had transformed into Lizard People and come here, he might have been exhausted to who knew what extent.
Getting distracted on a battlefield was never a good thing. In that brief moment when Tony lost focus, he was locked onto by a missile. It was none other than the Jericho Missile he had once been so proud of—the kind that could level an entire mountain...
The missile flew toward Tony, and a warning from Jarvis sounded in his helmet from far away. Tony did not dare to linger and immediately took off. No matter how strong the Iron Man Armor's defenses were, it could not withstand something this massive. One shot could flatten a whole mountainside.
As Tony Stark flew away at top speed, new thoughts began forming in his mind. His Iron Man Armor was very strong defensively, but its offensive power was not far removed from the weapons already available on Earth. The best way to deal with high-tech weapons was stealth, making sure they could not find him. Therefore, once he returned to his company, Tony planned to upgrade his Iron Man Armor as quickly as possible. Otherwise, he would be far too passive when facing weapons like these.
Of course, the more important thing was to find out who had sold these weapons of mass destruction to the terrorists. These things were lethal.
Tony flew rapidly into the high sky and performed several high-mobility maneuvers in an attempt to shake off the pursuing Jericho Missile, but it remained firmly locked onto him.
With no other choice, Tony had to use his trump card. The shoulder plates of the Iron Man Armor opened, and dozens of miniature decoy missiles rapidly shot out from the ammunition compartments at his shoulders.
The instant they separated from the armor, the decoys radiated intense heat and light, immediately interfering with the Jericho Missile. Tony took advantage of the brief opening and flew far away.
Tony did not dare look back as he fled the explosion site. While flying, he felt the violent shock wave produced by the Jericho Missile exploding behind him.
The enormous shock wave sent Tony spinning out of control like a fallen leaf. Fortunately, he was high in the sky, giving him enough time to react.
With Jarvis's assistance, Tony quickly twisted his body and regained stable flight. After drawing a huge arc through the air, Tony flew back toward the terrorists' base. This time, his target was the weapons produced by Stark Industries.
Looking at the various weapons piled on the ground like a mountain, Tony directly unleashed his latest trump card.
He gathered the energy of the Arc Reactor in his chest. A massive laser burst from his chest and swept across the sky and earth.
Everything touched by the laser turned into a pile of dust, while the areas it missed were ignited by the ensuing violent explosions.
After dealing with all the trouble before him, Tony saw the group of children who had been frightened senseless. He called the US Military command in Afghanistan and asked them to come clean up the site.
Jarvis had already scanned all the children's identities through the faceplate, and he had not found Dr. Ethan's child. Tony was somewhat disappointed by the result. Having dealt with this group of terrorists, he prepared to leave.
Just as Tony was about to rise into the sky, he saw a Tank approaching from the distance. It was also US Military equipment, but there was no way the US Military was driving it now.
As for who was driving it and who would come here at a time like this, Tony knew without thinking. He had long since grown hard-hearted toward terrorists. He raised his arm and fired a miniature missile from his wrist at the approaching Tank.
It hit, then exploded.
From the moment Tony spotted the Tank to the moment it was destroyed, only a few seconds passed. Amid the sound of the explosion, Tony also flew into the sky, preparing to return to New York.
Tony did not know that after he left, his red-and-gold Iron Man Armor had been etched into the memories of everyone present.
He knew even less that the Tank he had destroyed in three seconds contained the second-in-command of the Ten Rings. From that point on, this distinctive Iron Man Armor officially entered the sights of the Ten Rings.
Not long after Tony Stark flew away from Afghanistan, news that the second-in-command of the Ten Rings had been killed reached the organization.
The Ten Rings wielded tremendous influence in the Middle East. As the local power, they had not suffered such a major loss in a long time. After a thorough investigation, they quickly learned that someone wearing red-and-gold Iron Man Armor had killed their second-in-command and wiped out an elite terrorist squad in the region.
The terrorists led by the second-in-command were all elite members of the Ten Rings. More or less, all of them had countless connections with one another.
The entire Ten Rings was enraged. They swore to find the person wearing the Iron Man Armor, kill him in revenge, and uphold the Ten Rings' reputation.
Because the Ten Rings' losses this time were too great, they immediately launched a thorough investigation. During the investigation, someone discovered that another one of their groups had recently suffered enormous losses as well.
That group was the terrorist squad whose base Tony Stark had first destroyed, and whose leader had later been killed in an ambush by Obadiah.
With nowhere to vent their anger, the Ten Rings immediately found an outlet and made Obadiah their target. They intended to show those who dared offend the dignity of the Ten Rings why one should never provoke a tiger.
Obadiah had been sitting at home when trouble fell from the sky. He had recently been busy stabilizing Stark Industries' stock price and had long since forgotten about the terrorist he had killed. Now, however, the mastermind behind them had begun seeking revenge.
As Obadiah sat in his office, busy with work, his computer suddenly sounded with a video call request. His brows furrowed slightly, because nothing like this was on today's schedule.
Even so, Obadiah answered the video call. Very few people knew this contact method, and those people were all fairly important.
When the call connected, he saw a Middle Eastern man with a full beard. Obadiah frowned at the unfamiliar face. He truly could not remember ever knowing such a person.
After the call connected, the bearded man calmly began reading from several documents. He was speaking English, and Obadiah could clearly understand that he was reciting the details of Obadiah's cooperation with the terrorists in Afghanistan, including the time and place of their dealings.
Listening to the man's endless narration, Obadiah's expression immediately darkened. In his view, he had already dealt with the culprit, so the matter should have been over. He had never imagined that someone would still dare threaten him with this information.
Obadiah's face was gloomy as he asked in a low voice, "Who are you? What do you want?"
Seeing that Obadiah had responded, the bearded man stopped speaking in his emotionless, recital-like manner and turned his gaze toward Obadiah on the screen.
The bearded man's tone remained flat as he delivered his threat in the calmest voice possible. "No one has ever offended the Ten Rings and walked away unscathed. And you, Obadiah—even if you were as secretive as possible, it would not be enough. You must pay the price you deserve. Wait for the Ten Rings' revenge."
After saying his piece, the bearded Middle Eastern man ended the video without caring how Obadiah reacted, leaving only a bewildered Obadiah behind.
Obadiah felt that he had heard the name Ten Rings somewhere before, but he could not remember where. He did not have Tony Stark's photographic memory. Still, the man's calm manner of speaking made Obadiah sense a certain danger.
Sensing the danger, Obadiah spent a sum of money to obtain information about the Ten Rings from an intelligence organization. As a cautious capitalist, Obadiah was never stingy when his life and fortune were at stake.
One never knew how frightening something was until one investigated it. Obadiah paid a huge price to obtain information about the Ten Rings from the intelligence organization. Judging from the price of the information alone, he realized he had encountered enormous trouble.
From the information he purchased, Obadiah saw a massive terrorist organization spanning Asia and Europe. It was manipulating the situation in the Middle East from behind the scenes and influencing the development of the Central Asian countries. The hidden hand behind it all was the Ten Rings, which had just threatened him.
At last, Obadiah was certain that the threat was not empty. His life was truly in danger.
Sensing this crisis, Obadiah could no longer sit still. He anxiously paced back and forth in his office, trying to find a way to break out of the predicament.
Before you continue