Extremis Virus

Luo Xia's guess was correct; the terrorists arrived faster than the U.S. military, and their numbers were far greater than he had imagined.

Five days after capturing this terrorist stronghold, a total of fifteen desert off-road vehicles, carrying over sixty terrorists, were appearing on the edge of the horizon.

Luo Xia lay in a newly constructed bunker, observing everything through binoculars. Beside him lay Tony Stark, his chest glowing, and the battle-hardened Dr. Yinsen.

After Luo Fei was repaired, this powerful robot had helped Tony significantly, allowing him to replace the magnet in his chest with the first-generation Arc Reactor in a short amount of time. At the very least, the reactor's casing had been molded by Luo Fei's bare hands, saving Tony the trouble of hammering it out himself.

These three were the only living souls left near the cave. The other captives had driven away on their own several days prior; whether they would survive was a matter of luck.

Only Luo Xia and his two companions remained near the cave.

One reason was that Tony had finished building the Locator Communicator to notify the U.S. military of their position. The other was that Luo Xia was certain the terrorists would continue to hunt for Tony; rather than trekking through a desert where they knew neither the terrain nor the routes, it was better to wait for the hare to hit the tree stump and wipe out the incoming terrorists in one fell swoop.

Once this wave of attackers was dealt with, even if the U.S. military's response was sluggish, they should be able to arrive in time.

"Tony, is that minefield you rigged actually going to work?" Luo Xia asked, feeling a bit uneasy.

"Who do you think I am? I am Tony Stark, and not a single weapon I've designed has ever been a failure," Tony said, brimming with confidence. "You should be worried about that guy Luo Fei; I'm afraid he won't be able to hold back and will jump out on his own..."

Before Tony could finish his sentence, an explosion rang out. One of the fifteen desert vehicles vanished, turned into a sky-high fireball by a rocket.

A sand dune on the road erupted, and a five-meter-tall robot emerged from within—it was Luo Fei. After Tony's meticulous repairs, Luo Fei no longer looked like the crippled wreck he once was; his arms were fully functional, each gripping a rocket launcher.

At this moment, the rocket launcher in his right hand was empty, wisps of blue smoke curling from it.

"Commander, I didn't mean to do that. A scorpion crawled into my intake valve just now," Luo Fei shouted while firing the rocket launcher in his left hand at another off-road vehicle.

With a deafening blast, another desert vehicle was blown into the sky.

The terrorists decisively returned fire, but their small-caliber firearms were little more than a tickle to Luo Fei.

Discarding the two rocket launchers, a ring of gun barrels emerged from Luo Fei's hands, spinning at high speed like Gatling guns. Bullets poured out in a frenzy, shredding several off-road vehicles into scrap metal.

Luo Xia had found these in the cave's weapon depot and had Luo Fei equip them.

Assault-type Luo Fei—what kind of assault unit would he be without fierce fire suppression?

A Cybertronian Robot armed with weapons was absolutely devastating to a conventional army; as long as he was careful not to be overwhelmed by heavy fire, he could basically eliminate the opposition without taking any damage.

"We are all sharpshooters, every bullet eliminates an enemy..." A heroic and majestic song began to play as Luo Fei sang this old revolutionary anthem in Chinese while firing his weapons.

"What song is that? It's actually quite catchy," Tony asked Luo Xia.

Luo Xia could only reply, "You don't want to know."

In just one exchange, more than half of the vehicles had been destroyed. The remaining seven immediately turned around, intending to split up and surround Luo Fei from different directions. But before they could complete the encirclement, several metal discs popped out of the sand, firmly attaching themselves to the sides of the vehicles.

These were the magnetic bombs Tony had designed, capable of clinging tightly to the vehicle bodies. While these bombs were easy to detect, the terrorists lacked the time and means to perform mine clearance.

However, Luo Fei's chaotic interference had diminished the effectiveness of the minefield.

"How exactly was this robot's artificial intelligence programmed? Did you just download the personality settings from a children's cartoon?" Tony quipped.

"I suspect... it's innate," Luo Xia could only answer.

The situation was completely one-sided; Luo Fei was no mere lumbering fire platform. Despite wielding two Gatling guns, his agility rivaled that of Leng Feng from Wolf Warrior.

Luo Xia had expected the battle to end in this lopsided fashion, but to his surprise, after Luo Fei blew up the final vehicle, a man wreathed in flames stepped out from the firelight.

The man was like a walking mass of magma; every step he took on the desert sand left behind vitrified footprints, the result of extreme heat melting the sand. His entire body was covered in cracks, with a dark red glow emanating from within.

When Luo Fei's Gatling guns swept toward him, the man pushed off with his feet and leaped dozens of meters away, dodging most of the bullets. Luo Xia also noticed that even when a few bullets struck his body, the wounds healed rapidly, not hindering his movements in the slightest.

Within seconds, the flame monster reached Luo Fei and slashed at his leg with fingers shaped like blades. Luo Fei hadn't initially taken the palm of this "thing" seriously, but Luo Xia used his Commander ability to issue a direct order: "Dodge!"

As the wielder of the AllSpark, Luo Xia had absolute control over every Cybertronian Robot he created. In this situation, Luo Fei had no choice but to follow the order and take a large step back.

Yet, Luo Fei still felt a bit puzzled; why dodge a mere carbon-based lifeform attacking him with a palm?

Only Luo Xia understood just how terrifying the palm of this flame monster truly was.

"What kind of monster is that?" Tony's face was full of shock. This kidnapping had shown him another side of the world—a truly staggering side.

This was the Extremis Virus!

Originally a biological modification technology intended to regenerate lost limbs for the disabled, it had gone wrong, transforming those injected with it into superhumans who radiated extreme heat.

In the movie Iron Man, the main villain Killian, who had injected himself with the Extremis Virus, had sliced Iron Man's armor in half with his bare hands; the lethality of that heat was evident.

Given the current durability of Luo Fei's armor, Luo Xia didn't think it was much stronger than the Iron Man suit. If they fought head-on, his leg would likely be sliced right off.

Luo Fei was massive, but once closed in upon, his huge Gatling barrels became useless. Because of his wariness of the Extremis Virus, Luo Xia ordered him not to engage in a hard clash, so he was immediately suppressed by the flame monster, forced to dodge in a sorry state.

It seems I can't save my trump card after all, Luo Xia thought to himself, then ordered Luo Fei to retreat.

Luo Fei used his Gatling guns to force the flame monster back a distance, then transformed into his off-road vehicle mode and began to flee. In this state, Luo Fei's speed rivaled that of a Chinese high-speed train, and he was moving at his maximum capacity.

As his wheels kicked up a cloud of dust, Luo Fei was already hundreds of meters away. Although the flame monster was agile, it could not match Luo Fei's straight-line speed.

But the monster clearly wasn't going to give up so easily, following Luo Fei all the way back to the front of the cave.

Luo Xia was currently lying in ambush at a hidden vantage point; seeing the flame monster arrive at the cave entrance, he drew the pulse pistol from his waist.