Fang Bie hefted the weightless Lightsaber in his hand and sighed. "I never thought I'd get to use something this futuristic in my lifetime!"
"The things from your world are way more futuristic than anything I've made!" Tony said with a laugh. He had sent Pepper down to the basement lab. Now the battle would be led by the four men.
Upstairs, a group of mercenaries was still advancing aggressively through the entrance. But they all knew how many dangerous weapons the arms dealer and genius inventor had hidden in his mansion, so they proceeded with extreme caution.
Obadiah continued his long-winded speech. "Tony, when I ordered you killed, I thought I'd slaughtered a golden goose. But it seems you've brought me another one!"
"You shut down Stark Industries' arms trade, ushered in a new age of energy, and even released this thing called a smartphone! I'm almost sorry to kill you!"
Obadiah wouldn't stop talking. He pulled out a voice-activated paralysis device and gently set it on the table. As far as he knew, the others were still hiding behind the sofa, only a few meters away.
He was practically certain of victory, so he had time for a few final words. "After laying an egg like that, you two can go on your way, too! Don't worry. I'll make sure the world remembers your deaths!"
"Remember this sonic paralysis device you invented? Too bad it never passed inspection, so it couldn't be mass-produced. But it'll be more than enough for you!"
Obadiah wasn't just gloating while he had the upper hand. He was buying time for his device to power up.
They were all smart enough not to let him activate it without a fight. Besides, this was Tony's home, one of the three best-protected places in the world.
"Bzzzt!" A piercing electronic shriek rang out. The mercenaries all put on earmuffs to block the sound.
Obadiah had already put in smart earplugs that recognized his voice, easily shielding him from the noise. He waved to the mercenaries, and they quickly closed in.
"Haha! Let's see Tony and his genius little friend, our lovely Miss Potts, and, of course, the agent who just won't quit..." Obadiah crowed, brandishing the sonic paralysis device.
"Report, Mr. Stane! They're gone!" A mercenary promptly informed him. Several men violently overturned the sofa, but the people who had been hiding behind it had vanished.
All that remained was an upright steel plate, with a hole behind it large enough for one person to pass through.
The atmosphere turned awkward. A strange flush crept across Obadiah's rugged face. Everyone fell silent, and the air grew still.
They failed to notice that the hole had no sign of having been industrially cut. It looked as if someone had just knocked it through, and the smooth surface still bore the marks of friction.
"Search! Find them! I want the smartphone's real core technology and the reactor in his chest! Dead or alive!" Obadiah roared like a porcupine with its quills raised, shoving the soldiers around him in a frenzy.
His radio crackled. "Seal off every route around the area. Don't let a single fly in or out! Hold your ground even if the sky falls!"
He'd completely dropped his friendly smile and genial demeanor. His eyes were bloodshot, his expression vicious.
"Put in these earplugs. Those sound waves will destroy your nervous system's ability to respond and cause varicose veins, leaving you unable to move for at least fifteen minutes. If he gets the better of us, we'll be sitting ducks!" Tony took several mechanical earplugs from a cabinet and handed them around. "Now it's our turn to fight back!"
"I'll give them a little surprise!" Fang Bie turned and left without looking back. The hole upstairs was still there, but he had sealed it shut with several stones. Now it was time to give those people a taste of their own medicine!
"Leave the mercenaries to me. Just give me a gun and enough ammunition!" Coulson's usual kind expression had vanished, replaced by a chilling look.
No matter how calm and affable Coulson seemed, he was a Level Eight agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. Few in the entire organization had made it as far as he had.
He was, in fact, one of the direct successors to the Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. His skills as an agent hadn't come from negotiating with people; he'd earned them in one battle after another.
"Jarvis, report these people's positions to them," Tony said casually to the air. He swung the Lightsaber in his hand and headed down to the basement lab.
"Tony? What are you going to do now?" Fang Bie asked, puzzled. He had just sealed the hole with those stones and was about to join Coulson in taking out the mercenaries upstairs.
"The whole mountain is surrounded. We need reinforcements!" Tony pointed to a screen that had appeared on the wall. Cameras hidden somewhere showed the imposing security forces spread across the mountain.
"No need. Just stay here. If I haven't sent word within ten minutes, someone will come looking for me," Coulson said with a slight smile. "As long as we stay safe, someone else will take care of the people outside."
"All right!" Fang Bie activated the Lightsaber in his hand. Silver-blue light spilled into the air. "It's been a long time since I've fought. I wonder if I'm rusty!"
His physique was nothing like an ordinary person's. Back in his own world, he could easily leap down from stones several meters high and face down the immensely powerful Zombies. He didn't even know where his limits were.
Fang Bie had been in this world for so long, but if he hadn't wanted to experience real high technology and witness the birth of Iron Man with his own eyes, he probably would have found an excuse to go back long ago.
Now that the threat was upon them, there was no point sitting around waiting. Better to snuff it out before it could grow!
"We can't let Obadiah get his hands on this technology! He's already been selling weapons to terrorist organizations. If he gets hold of this, he'll plunge the whole world into panic!"
Tony was the one who truly understood the stakes. He knew exactly how much destruction a new energy source could cause if someone used it as a weapon.
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