Urgency (18)

Chapter 655: Chapters 1226–1227: Urgency (18)

Tony Stark stood before the enormous holographic display, both hands braced against the cold console, his knuckles an unhealthy white from the force he was using.

He raised a hand and tugged down his tie, opening the collar of the expensive handmade Italian shirt he had just changed into so his increasingly labored breathing could come a little easier.

His eyes were locked on several smaller screens isolated on the right side of the display.

One of them showed the situation at the Mexico border.

The town that had once been full of exotic charm had now become a living hell of steel and fire.

The terrifying creations known as Demon Engines swarmed through the ruins like locusts. The military's resistance was negligible, and their defensive lines were torn apart as easily as paper.

The second screen displayed The Daily Bugle's special news channel. It was playing footage—whether real or recreated with 3D technology was unclear—of the instant Mexico City was struck by a nuclear missile.

The scene did not feel like a mere war. It looked more like divine punishment descending from the heavens!

First, a blinding point of white light, bright enough to scorch the retina, flashed high in the sky. Then the destructive shockwave expanded outward in a perfect sphere. Everything in its path—whether exquisite colonial-era historical buildings or glass-walled skyscrapers soaring into the clouds—was vaporized, ripped apart, and crushed into dust within a thousandth of a second!

A massive mushroom cloud, carrying the flesh and blood, dreams, and fragments of civilization of millions of people, slowly yet inexorably rose into the stratosphere, casting a shadow dozens of kilometers long—the symbol of absolute death—amid its blazing light.

Below the footage, cold data continuously scrolled across the screen, displaying estimated casualty figures.