In the Sahara Desert, at a Ten Rings camp.
Tony and Phil Coulson, wearing the Iron Suit, stood frozen at the cave entrance.
Though freedom was only one step away, neither of them moved.
In the trenches with more than twenty intersecting passages, hundreds of soldiers' corpses lay scattered everywhere. Each body had several bloody holes, as though they had been gunned down by enemies several times their number.
The soldiers wore clothing unique to the Middle East, with white headscarves wrapped around their heads. At that moment, the scarves happened to cover their hollow eyes.
Bullet holes covered the entire trench, and the ground had been blasted full of craters, as though it had been ravaged by countless storms of bullets.
Amid the sand-filled trenches, scarlet blood stood out everywhere. In the corners, blood had even pooled into small streams.
Across the kilometer-wide trenches, corpses were everywhere. There was not a single living person in sight. It resembled an ancient battlefield, filled with an aura of deathly silence, as if wronged souls were silently howling in the air!
Tony stared blankly. "Wh... what happened here?"
He had always been a playboy. It was only after being kidnapped two months ago that he had come to this godforsaken place.
Although he had prepared himself to kill, he had not even killed a single person yet.
How could he not be shocked by so many corpses?
Ethan was equally stunned and bewildered, with a hint of fear in his eyes. He stammered,
"I... I don't know either!"
He was just a scholar. Although he knew a little medicine, that did not mean doctors could remain unafraid when they reached a battlefield.
In fact, he had known from the beginning that Tony's Iron Suit needed time to charge.
During that time, they could very well be discovered by the kidnappers.
He had already prepared to use his own life to buy time for the Iron Suit to charge.
But given the current situation, it seemed he did not need to delay them anymore.
Because all the enemies were already dead!
Tony removed his helmet, a thoughtful look in his eyes. "Something's wrong."
"They were killed by the military!"
"But where is the military?"
"There are hundreds of soldiers here. It would take at least a hundred fully armed soldiers to wipe them out."
"Where did those soldiers go?"
Ethan suddenly came to a realization. "That's right! Look around. They're all Ten Rings corpses. There isn't a single soldier among them."
Tony took a closer look and found that it was indeed the case.
That was impossible.
The military had eliminated hundreds of kidnappers without losing a single person?
Since when had the United States military become so powerful?
A faint sound came from the trenches to the northwest.
Someone walked out of the trenches.
Su Zheng scratched his head. There were so many crossroads in these trenches that they had nearly made him dizzy.
If the chunks of iron he had used in the battle had not disappeared, he would have flown up long ago and would not have gotten lost.
As for why he did not fly on top of a gun, he was afraid of falling to his death. His body was still that of an ordinary person.
When Su Zheng turned around, he saw Tony in the Iron Suit and the bald Ethan.
The corners of his mouth rose. He had finally found them.
Su Zheng strode toward them.
Tony saw a living young man walking over.
This guy was exceptionally handsome. His straight brows were like sharp swords, while his friendly eyes carried a hint of delight. His bright gaze gleamed with light.
His refined features looked as though they had been sculpted with knives and axes, full of sharp lines.
His slightly thick lips did not look out of place. Instead, they complemented his features, making people feel at ease and instinctively want to get closer to him.
His overall appearance made him seem like a good person, radiating friendliness.
At that moment, he walked over with a sunny smile.
Su Zheng wore a white shirt and light-colored jeans, standing in stark contrast to his surroundings.
Everything around him was dark and oppressive, filled with the aura of death. Eye-catching blood was everywhere.
Yet Su Zheng seemed completely unaware of it, walking as though he were strolling along a path during an outing. His striking white clothes drew everyone's attention.
"Don't move! Stay right there."
Tony shouted without hesitation, then raised both arms and aimed them at Su Zheng.
The armor on each arm automatically extended three pitch-black gun barrels, their sinister muzzles glinting with a dark sheen.
In an environment like this, how could a young man who looked so friendly possibly not be suspicious?
Did he think Tony Stark was an idiot?
Besides, not a single part of his clothes was dirty.
That was far too strange.
I have not showered in over a month. My whole body practically reeks.
Su Zheng snapped his fingers.
Snap!
The various parts of Tony's Iron Suit detached and swiftly flew onto Su Zheng's body.
They formed a new Iron Suit.
Tony stumbled and fell to the ground, his mouth forming an O as he stared at the scene in shock.
What was going on? How had his Iron Suit gone over to that man?
Ethan cried out, "Holy shit!!"
He had truly never seen anything like this before.
Su Zheng's entire body was encased in the Iron Suit. The scorching sunlight shone on the metal plates, reflecting a cold metallic gleam. At that moment, he looked like a mech warrior from the future.
He then raised both hands, and three pitch-black gun barrels extended from each arm, aiming at Tony and Ethan.
Tony obediently raised both hands, a hint of nervousness on his face as he said,
"I surrender!"
However, he still had doubts. The Arc Reactor on his chest was still glowing blue, so how was the man in front of him activating the Iron Suit?
Logically speaking, there should not be enough kinetic energy to support an Iron Suit weighing more than a ton.
Ethan also raised his hands, panic written across his face.
Su Zheng walked over, opened his faceplate, and said kindly, "I'm here to save you."
"Don't be nervous."
Tony let out a breath, feeling as though he had just returned from death's door.
Tony looked at him gratefully. "Thank you."
"Were you sent by the military?"
Su Zheng said, "No. I came voluntarily, alone."
Tony's eyes filled with shock.
"You came alone?"
"Aren't you afraid of dying?"
He then looked at the hundreds of corpses around them.
Oh, no.
The kidnappers were the ones who should have been afraid.
Tony continued, "Did you kill all these people by yourself?"
"How did you get my Iron Suit onto your own body?"
"And where did the energy to power the Iron Suit come from?"
He simply had too many questions.
This man had seemed mysterious from beginning to end.
Su Zheng snapped his fingers.
Snap!
The Iron Suit transferred from Su Zheng's body onto the still-bewildered Ethan beside him.
One component after another seemed to have navigation, assembling into a complete Iron Suit around Ethan.
Su Zheng said, "I can control magnetic fields."
Tony's eyes widened. There were people with superpowers like that?
This world was completely different from what he had previously understood.
As a scientist, he understood magnetic fields all too well.
That was nearly infinite power, an important component of the entire universe.
After taking a moment to recover, Tony finally shook off his stunned expression.
He gave Su Zheng a meaningful look.
Su Zheng asked, "Are you two all right?"
His mission should have been completed, right?
After hearing that, Tony wore a bitter smile.
All right?
There was a seven-centimeter-deep, three-centimeter-radius hole in his chest. All the flesh inside was gone, leaving only a crude mechanical Arc Reactor.
Inside it were not only magnets, but also palladium that he had made himself.
The magnets were there because some shrapnel was lodged near his heart.
Without the magnets, the shrapnel would move closer to his heart and kill him.
Although he had escaped, the shrapnel was too close to his heart. Sooner or later, he would die.
And with current medical technology, it would be difficult to remove those pieces of shrapnel.
Tony said dejectedly, "Not very well."
"There are bomb fragments in my heart."
At that moment, a system voice sounded in Su Zheng's mind.
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