Escape to Freedom

Omar's bomb exploded above their heads. Shattered stones rained down, and large rocks struck Tony's iron armor with an ear-splitting clang.

Lin Ze reacted quickly, shoving the people behind him out of the falling rocks' path. Otherwise, Paimon and Yinsen, who had trouble getting around, would have been injured, if not killed.

This was-unforgivable!!

Furious, Lin Ze swung his sword at Omar. The blade traced an arc through the air and slashed viciously toward him.

Startled, Omar hurried to dodge, but he was nowhere near as fast as Lin Ze. With a wet slicing sound, the sharp blade swept across his chest, leaving a bloody gash.

The searing pain made Omar drop his weapon and clutch his steadily bleeding chest.

He couldn't believe this man had actually dared to hurt him right under his nose.

Lin Ze withdrew his sword and gave Omar a cold stare, then held out his hand. Anemo rushed eagerly into his palm, specks of light dancing through the dark cave like fireflies, beautiful and dangerous.

Only then did Omar become afraid. He realized that this young man possessed an extraordinary power. The wind grew brighter and stronger, almost seeming to warp the space around it.

Not a trace of Omar's earlier arrogance remained. He was scared shitless. He knew he had crossed someone he should never have provoked, but he refused to die like this.

"Stark, you still don't know who put you in this position, do you? That person paid me to kill you. It was me! I'm the one who kept you alive this long!"

"Hahaha! If I die, you'll never learn that secret!"

Omar laughed wildly, his face twisted into a vicious expression.

Hearing this, Lin Ze couldn't help hesitating. His mission was only to keep his teammates safe. In his opinion, terrorists like this deserved to die, and villains should always be finished off properly.

But this concerned what had happened to his teammate. Killing this minor villain and cutting off their lead to the mastermind behind the whole conspiracy really wouldn't be a good idea.

As he hesitated, Tony spoke from behind him.

"Hey, little prince. Come back here."

Lin Ze froze for a moment. Little prince? That nickname...

It actually suits my noble, aloof elegance pretty well.

Although a little surprised, Lin Ze knew Tony had a right to the truth. The man had been a perfectly respectable billionaire, only to end up doing forced labor with a huge hole inexplicably carved into his chest, at risk of dropping dead every day. Thinking of that, Lin Ze obediently stepped back and stood behind Stark.

As it turned out, he had still underestimated Tony's resolve.

"Ahahaha, Stark, I knew you would-!!!"

Omar's triumphant expression froze, because he realized Tony Stark hadn't taken a word of his speech seriously.

Tony opened the outer casing of his left arm, exposing the red button inside. Then he aimed the firing port in his hand at the helpless man on the ground and pressed it.

Yinsen covered little Paimon's eyes as he held her. What came next wasn't suitable for children. She was better off not seeing it, or she would have nightmares that night.

Boom!!!

When the smoke cleared...

What Omar? What villain? Neither existed anymore.

Lin Ze grinned. This teammate had guts. He liked that.

It might not fit certain aspects of the Traveler's personality, but players had never shown any mercy when killing Hilichurls and Abyss Mages.

Even when facing their beloved Tartaglia or La Signora, whom they kept clamoring for miHoYo to add to the wish banners, Travelers fought as ruthlessly as could be.

Aether's a little angel. What does that have to do with me, Lin Ze?

With the minor boss dealt with, things became easier. There were still plenty of people outside, and their firepower was fierce, but Tony had fitted high-temperature flamethrowers into both arms of his iron armor. Besides, this was a terrorist base. These terrorists had stolen weapons, explosives, and other supplies from Stark, and much of it was piled on the ground outside.

Once those things caught fire, the spectacle was every bit as impressive as a fireworks show.

Still, they were outnumbered. If the enemy had other accomplices, all this commotion might bring them running. A human-wave assault could genuinely wear the group down and kill them.

Tony's armor also had a limited power supply, so getting out of there was their top priority.

"Get close to me!"

Tony shouted to them amid the chaos.

When designing the armor, he had installed thrusters in the soles of its feet, allowing it to reach speeds and heights of several kilometers per hour. Beyond this area lay soft desert sand, which would cushion their landing. Even if they fell from high up, they shouldn't be badly hurt.

There was just one thing he hadn't told everyone. He had designed it around the weight of himself and Yinsen, two adult men. With the Traveler and Paimon added in, he wasn't sure the armor could handle it.

Paimon could fly, but there was no way the little girl could keep up with the armor's speed, so Tony still felt he should take everyone with him.

"Got a good grip?"

Tony held Yinsen with one arm and wrapped the other around Lin Ze's waist as he asked.

"Wait."

Paimon clutched Aether's scarf, curled up in his arms. She looked up in confusion, unsure what the Traveler intended to do.

Lin Ze said nothing more. He simply gathered the wind again.

"Go with the wind!!!"

The moment he spoke, Anemo answered his call, forming a constantly spinning wind current. Upon touching the flames on the ground, it grew into a massive tornado of fire in the blink of an eye.

Lin Ze: Ehe, I even triggered Swirl~

Everywhere the fiery dragon swept through instantly became a sea of flames, burning everything within it, blood and screams included.

There was no time to hesitate. If they waited any longer, they would be roasted too. Tony tightened his grip on them and crouched slightly.

Ignition!

Takeoff!

The fuel beneath his feet rapidly turned into thrust, propelling the armor into the sky.

But it didn't last long. The hastily cobbled-together armor had never worked perfectly to begin with, and now it was carrying two extra passengers. Once they reached a high altitude, strange crackling noises began coming from beneath Tony's feet.

The same word sprang into everyone's minds at once:

"Crap."

"Aaaaaah!"

"Aaaaaah!"

Their screams blended together in perfect unison. Each of them clung tight as they swayed wildly from side to side with Tony in midair.

They had already passed the highest point and were about to plummet toward the desert below. Tony alone might have been fine, but with all of them together, the weight was far beyond what he had originally anticipated.

Seeing that things were going badly, Lin Ze made a snap decision and shouted at Paimon:

"Paimon, hold on tight to me!!"

Once he felt Paimon's grip tighten, Lin Ze decisively pushed away Tony's arm around him.

"Wait! Hold on!"

Tony let out a brief, startled cry, only to see beautiful wings suddenly emerge from the retreating boy's back. The instant they opened, they carried him and Paimon into a glide.

???

But Lin Ze wasn't someone who only looked out for himself. He maneuvered the Wind Glider, folding and spreading it intermittently, and quickly closed the distance between himself and Tony and Yinsen.

At last, a thousand meters above the ground, he caught Tony's outstretched hand, slowing their descent somewhat. But the armor was a hunk of iron, after all. A single Wind Glider couldn't support that much weight.

"Aaaaaah!"

"Wait!"

Thud!!

"Owww!!!"

All four of them plunged into the sand in a miserable heap.

Dizzy and dazed, Lin Ze crawled out of the sand and immediately began searching.

"Paimon! Paimon!"

He frantically scraped at the sand beneath him. He distinctly remembered shielding Paimon against his chest. Had that nosedive crushed her?

Lin Ze put both hands to work, digging furiously despite sand so scorching hot that it could have been used to practice Iron Palm.

After digging for quite a while, he finally found something.

"Ptooey, ptooey, ptooey! Good heavens."

Yinsen exclaimed as his head emerged.

Lin Ze: ???

Not this one. Next!

He moved to another spot and started digging again. This time, Yinsen helped. Working together, they swiftly unearthed-

One Stark.

Lin Ze: !!!

Wrong again! Where's Paimon? Where's my whole, great big Paimon?

He began to panic, his expression changing so much that it startled Yinsen.

Tony had intended to lie in the sand and give up on life for a little longer, but upon hearing that the little girl was missing, he climbed out and joined the digging crew.

"Paimon! Paimon! Emergency Food! Divine Mouthpiece! Flying Dwarf Lavender Melon!"

The three of them dug away for ages, only for a noise to come from behind their backs.

With a pop, Paimon burst out of a little mound of sand. Her mouth hung open and her tongue stuck out as she kept brushing herself off.

"Ptooey, ptooey, ptooey! Waaaah... Traveler, how did you all manage to dig in the wrong direction? Paimon's stuffed full of sand!!!"

"I'm so mad! It tastes awful! It tastes awful!"

"Paimon doesn't like eating sand anymore!!"