Intimidation

Li Qi walked out of the house with steady strides, accompanied by his two female bodyguards.

In the courtyards outside, the fighting had largely ended, with the Ten Rings winning a resounding victory.

Xu Wenwu wore a black, ancient-style combat outfit. Its material looked tough and lustrous, as though it could withstand an army of thousands.

With every step he took, the ten rings on his arms gave off crisp, pleasing chimes, as if playing a melody of victory.

He exuded an extraordinary martial bearing, like an ancient god of war who had fought far and wide.

After falling under Li Qi's mind control, Xu Wenwu seemed to have regained the invincible bearing he had possessed while sweeping across Asia's battlefields years ago. The confidence and resolve in his eyes inspired awe.

Li Qi looked at Xu Wenwu, his eyes filled with approval and satisfaction, then turned serious as he instructed everyone

: "Clear out this stronghold thoroughly. Leave no hidden threats." Then he turned to Xu Wenwu and said, "You, a few puppet mechs, and I will head to Air Defense Command to rescue the people trapped there and make them owe us a favor."

Upon hearing this, Xu Wenwu nodded without hesitation, accepting the order with a crisp movement that fully displayed his loyalty.

With time running short and helicopters too slow, Li Qi briefly considered his options and realized that the only viable approach was to fly there separately in mechs.

Li Qi had Xu Wenwu enter one of the mechs, while the two bodyguards and the other Ten Rings members stayed behind to handle the aftermath.

Eight mechs slowly rose into the air, then raced like eight steel eagles toward the air force base that Killian was about to overrun.

Li Qi pushed his mech to maximum speed. An earth-shattering sonic boom instantly erupted behind him, as though tearing the sky apart.

The artificial intelligence JARVIS precisely controlled the other puppet mechs, one of which carried Xu Wenwu securely as they hurtled northwest at lightning speed.

Fortunately, the distance was not too great. After fifteen minutes of high-speed flight, they spotted the air force base in the distance, where the battle was raging.

The squad of ability users led by Killian currently held the upper hand and was frantically storming the missile depot like a pack of ravenous wolves.

Upon reaching the air above the battlefield, Li Qi decisively ordered JARVIS to launch an all-out saturation attack.

Xu Wenwu also swiftly emerged from the puppet mech like a tiger descending from the mountains and plunged into battle without hesitation.

The power of the ten rings held a clear advantage against these artificially created ability users. Combined with Li Qi's superb skill at controlling his mech, it took less than two minutes to inflict devastating losses on the artificial ability users Killian had brought.

The base's military personnel, who had been on the verge of collapse, immediately rallied at the sight of eight giant humanoid weapons of war descending like divine soldiers, as though they had glimpsed the light of dawn in the darkness.

The sounds of rockets and submachine-gun fire came from scattered facilities around the base, intertwining like a stirring bugle call for a counterattack.

Li Qi led the charge. After swiftly dispatching an ability user with his mech's powerful firepower, he confronted Killian head-on.

Killian was the artificial ability user most extensively modified by the Extremis Virus, and the strongest. His hands and most of his arms glowed red like burning flames, his eyes shone with an eerie red light, and his long hair flew wildly. His face was as savage as a demon from hell.

Seeing the humanoid mechs' enormous potential for warfare, he wanted to bring one back to his base for research and strengthen his forces, never expecting that his stronghold had already been destroyed.

Killian roared and charged like a frenzied beast, relying on his body's artificial abilities to fight Li Qi's steel mech barehanded.

In their head-on clash, Li Qi keenly felt Killian's ferocity and the marked improvement in his physical capabilities. His scorching hands damaged some components of the mech Li Qi wore.

Another marvel of the Extremis Virus was that it allowed Killian to regenerate rapidly. As long as an injury was not fatal, even severed limbs could swiftly recover and regrow, like the immortal bodies of myth.

Seeing the Extremis Virus's immense potential for development, Li Qi gained a deeper understanding of Dr. Maya's capabilities.

Not far away, Major Rhodes rushed out of a facility with a rocket launcher over his shoulder, shouting loudly, his voice filled with excitement and exhilaration.

Watching the mechs fight heroically like gods within the base, he finally witnessed the capability Li Qi had spoken of-the power to challenge the higher-ups. He gained a deeper understanding of Li Qi, and admiration involuntarily welled up within him.

After exchanging blows with Killian for a while, Li Qi gradually got a clear sense of his strength.

Compared with powers and special abilities acquired later in life, Killian's mutated body, modified by the Extremis Virus, was indeed not to be underestimated.

But although the Extremis Virus had immense room for development, Killian was far too greedy and ambitious. Li Qi felt there would be little benefit in subjugating him as a slave or turning him into a puppet, so he decisively chose to eliminate him outright.

Li Qi immediately activated his mind-control ability. A powerful psychic force instantly enveloped Killian, bringing his thoughts to an abrupt halt and crashing his mind.

Within an extremely short time, he swiftly used his golden finger system to render Killian brain-dead. Unwilling to keep fighting him, he had chosen the fastest method.

Killian instantly collapsed limply to the ground. The red-hot heat in his hands and arms gradually faded, returning them to their normal flesh color. The signs of mutation throughout his body also slowly disappeared, leaving shriveled skin and scrawny limbs.

Li Qi scanned him again with his psychic ability to confirm that Killian was completely dead, then activated the miniature missiles hidden in his mech. Without hesitation, he fired three, obliterating Killian's body in the explosions and eliminating any possibility of his regenerating or reviving through the Extremis Virus.

Meanwhile, artillery fire thundered across the nearby base, and rockets streaked out like meteors.

The six mechs and Xu Wenwu, who fought as fiercely as a god, swept through Killian's remaining Extremis Virus mutants like an autumn wind scattering fallen leaves, wiping out nearly all of them.

Li Qi withdrew from the battlefield and slowly approached Major Rhodes, who held an empty shoulder-fired rocket launcher.

Watching the humanoid weapon of war approach step by step, Major Rhodes's mind filled with thoughts. If only he could have a humanoid machine like this himself, he could give his superiors a perfect account.

Li Qi opened his mech's faceplate, revealing his gentle, warm Eastern face. After greeting Major Rhodes, he said, "Rhodey, I'm going inside to say hello to your superiors and tell them not to bother me again."

Rhodey first nodded blankly. Only two seconds later did he seem to awaken from a dream and point behind him, telling Li Qi that the base's Joint Chiefs of Staff office was right there at this air defense base.

Li Qi had scanned the entire base through JARVIS and knew that several senior commanders from the Joint Chiefs of Staff were inside. He had come both to rescue the base from its predicament and to speak with these high-ranking officials so they would stop causing trouble.

Li Qi headed straight toward the end of the base, passing through several layers of security facilities. Traces of the enhanced ability users' attack remained here, with bullet holes and cracks covering the walls.

Finally, he reached the central conference room.

He pushed the door open and entered in his towering red-and-white mech. With a crash, the mech knocked a large chunk off the doorway as it passed through, making the senior officials standing before the surveillance footage on the wall shudder in fright.

They had seen the power of these highly mobile, heavily armed humanoid weapons. Now, seeing Li Qi's inscrutable Eastern face inside the mech, the senior officials were all dumbstruck with fear, their faces filled with terror and dread.

Li Qi gave them a slight smile. It appeared mild, yet carried a faint chill as he warned, "Gentlemen, perhaps you've already witnessed the power of my Iron Legion. If you keep pestering me in the future, I'll raze this base to the ground."

Li Qi did not beat around the bush and delivered his threat directly. After speaking, he smiled slightly again, showing his innocent and kindly side, yet that smile made the senior Joint Chiefs of Staff officials feel a chilling killing intent.

As he smiled, Li Qi released a little psychic pressure. He did not directly control these senior officials, feeling there was little point, and could not be bothered to control these physically frail ordinary people.

After issuing his warning, he turned resolutely and walked straight out through the broken doorway.

He left behind a roomful of base officials, who slowly recovered from their shock before whispering among themselves in a flurry of discussion.

Leaving the building, Li Qi returned to ground level at the base. Only scattered fighting remained around him, and Killian's plot to seize the air defense base had been utterly crushed.

Li Qi looked at Major Rhodes as he approached and waved to him, then had Xu Wenwu enter a mech again.

Then the eight mechs rose into the air, tracing graceful arcs above the battered base before accelerating toward the suburban stronghold from which they had departed.

Before long, the mechs landed one after another.

The Ten Rings members, Daisy Johnson, Xu Xialing, and Ying Li were waiting outside. Everything here had already been dealt with.

Li Qi had Xu Wenwu take the others back to the villa in Los Angeles, California, aboard the armed helicopters, while he flew ahead to the villa with only Daisy Johnson.

He had a mech encase Daisy Johnson. During the high-speed flight, she initially turned pale with fear and struggled to adjust, but gradually grew accustomed to it.

In the villa's basement, several mechs slowly landed under the artificial intelligence's control, and Li Qi and Daisy Johnson stepped out of their mechs.