Ares Squad

After carefully confirming Ta Lo Village's defensive deployments, Li Qi had already outlined a complete plan in his mind.

And now, his next target was the mysterious Paradise Island.

Over the past two days, through his exceptional computing power and pervasive network infiltration, JARVIS had successfully gained access to the vast majority of Blue Star's military reconnaissance satellites in orbit.

The resources on Blue Star he could now mobilize had increased dozens of times over compared with half a month ago.

His tireless search for Paradise Island had finally yielded a few leads as well.

JARVIS reported to Li Qi, "Based on the current clues, Paradise Island is most likely located in the waters of the North Sea in the North Atlantic."

The plan drawn up yesterday, to depart from New York aboard a North American cruise ship, now clearly seemed unsuitable.

It would take too long for a cruise ship to reach the North Sea.

So he decisively chose to take a private jet directly from New York to Amsterdam, the capital of the Netherlands.

Stark had an important branch office in the Netherlands.

In Amsterdam, a yacht would be waiting quietly for Li Qi's arrival.

As for companions, he did not intend to bring any bodyguards or staff, setting out on this journey alone.

The armored legion, however, was indispensable.

That night, Li Qi brought Gwen Stacy to the luxurious bedroom occupying the top three floors of Stark Tower, where they spent a warm and wonderful night together.

Gwen Stacy had now officially joined the biological and scientific research department at Stark Industries as the leader of a project team, beginning her journey of striving in a new field.

After Li Qi finished breakfast that morning, Happy drove him smoothly to the private airport in the CEO's dedicated car.

Indeed, Happy had come over from the Malibu villa to Stark Tower, and now also served as the head of Stark Industries' security department.

Flying directly from New York to Amsterdam by private jet took approximately seven hours.

By the time he arrived, it was already afternoon.

After spending the night at a luxury hotel, Li Qi went to the seaside early the next morning.

A fully fueled luxury yacht was already waiting, ready to set sail.

Li Qi boarded the yacht and inspected it carefully. Purchased in Stark Industries' name, the vessel was over ten meters long and equipped with the most advanced satellite communications and maritime search-and-rescue capabilities, making it thoroughly high-tech and exceptionally safe.

Once he was aboard, JARVIS swiftly took control of the yacht's navigation and automated equipment.

With a loud blast of its horn, the yacht slowly pulled away from the coast and reached international waters a little over half an hour later.

At this point, few other freighters or ships were passing nearby.

Li Qi summoned the eight suits of armor that had been circling high overhead on protection and early-warning duty, having them land steadily on the yacht's deck and in its cabin to establish tight security and defensive positions.

Although Li Qi possessed a godlike physique and strength comparable to a deity's, routine security remained indispensable to him. Only caution could ensure that nothing went wrong.

Following the precise route JARVIS had preset, the yacht cut through the waves toward the southwestern part of the North Sea.

After the yacht had traveled for a day and a half, thick white mist suddenly appeared over the vast international waters without warning.

In an instant, everything between heaven and earth was a sea of white.

After traveling through the white mist for a long time, Li Qi heard a shrill "beep, beep, beep" alarm in the wheelhouse.

Several points of light were rapidly approaching from the side at an extremely high speed.

Li Qi immediately and decisively ordered JARVIS to conduct all-around surveillance and defense.

Two suits of armor shot up from the deck with a whoosh.

The other suits concealed themselves throughout the yacht, holding their positions for the moment and awaiting an opportunity without revealing their strength yet.

The surrounding mist gradually began to disperse. It was afternoon.

Before long, the two sides could clearly see each other from several dozen meters away.

Li Qi looked closely and discovered a combat squad of roughly thirty people ahead, spread across four or five speedboats.

Each member carried firearms such as pistols and rifles, and they exuded a fierce air.

Their expressions were vicious, their eyes revealing greed and cruelty, like a pack of hungry wolves staring at the prey before them.

When the group saw that Li Qi was the only person aboard such a large yacht, greedy, wicked expressions immediately appeared on their faces.

Two speedboats rapidly closed in on Li Qi's yacht from the left and right. On a speedboat in the middle, a man who appeared to be the captain gradually accelerated toward the yacht, holding an AK. Without another word, he attempted to rob Li Qi.

The squad captain wore a savage expression, shouting incomprehensible obscenities as though he already had Li Qi in the bag.

With tensions running high and a clash imminent, Li Qi no longer concealed his strength.

Seven suits of armor attacked from different directions with lightning speed, some descending like meteors from above, others streaking in like lightning from either side.

At the same time, a suit of red-and-white armor instantly covered Li Qi's body, and the battle between the two sides was over within a single minute.

Against the powerful assault of eight suits of armor, the twenty or thirty armed squad members had no way to fight back. Li Qi all but wiped them out, leaving only the man who looked like their captain.

After personally interrogating him, Li Qi learned that this small combat squad was a rapid-response squad under the War God Security Company. They were rushing to reinforce the company's main force attacking Paradise Island up ahead.

When the key pieces of information, "War God Security Company" and "Paradise Island," reached Li Qi's ears, he could already guess a few things.

Paradise Island was presumably the Amazon Paradise Island he had been searching so hard for, while the War God Security Company was very likely a private armed force controlled by Ares.

From the squad captain's words, it seemed that more than just this one rapid-response squad was coming from elsewhere to reinforce the assault on Paradise Island.

I've come at just the right time, Li Qi thought. Paradise Island is under attack by a powerful outside force, and Ares and the Amazon Tribe are natural enemies to begin with.

After learning the rendezvous point of this rapid-response squad, Li Qi had JARVIS throw the squad captain straight into the North Sea.

Then he took to the air in his armor and sped toward the coordinates where something major was about to happen, with the other seven suits following closely behind.