Tony drank quite a bit during dinner. The beautiful red liquid had been produced in Germany, from a brand he had never heard of.
His future mother-in-law kept praising him and toasting him. Tony had never heard a single word of praise from his father, yet Ms. Jasper, also a scientist, was completely unstinting with hers.
She said his high intelligence was humanity's future, that the entire scientific community needed him in order to keep advancing, and that the future was destined to belong to Tony and Cassandra.
As it happened, Tony thought so too.
So he was a little drunk. Even when he heard the screech of tires as vehicles turned at the street corner, it was hard for him to react.
Fortunately, the Jaspers had quite a few bodyguards. These bald men Cassandra called mercenaries had decent tactical training. They immediately drew their weapons and went on alert, telling the family, who had been about to get into the car, to take cover at once.
But the incoming enemy was clearly more elite. They fired from the windows while their cars were still moving. Their weapons were obviously only submachine guns, yet they sounded like tearing machines. The bodyguards' firepower was significantly inferior.
Two black Jeeps flanked them from both sides, smashing straight through the defensive line and into the restaurant wall. Masked men in dark green uniforms poured out of the vehicles, firing continuously and cutting down the bodyguards one after another.
"Hail Hydra!"
The crossfire did not even last twenty seconds.
With bullets flying everywhere, the group had no choice but to flee with their heads down. The head bodyguard beside Dr. Jasper—the very man who had asked Tony to persuade Howard not to kill him—had just been hit several times and collapsed.
The doctor herself