"Are you all right?"
Wenwu hurried over, his face full of concern.
"My lord, my internal organs were only shaken up a little. It's nothing serious!" Razor Fist gritted his teeth and forced himself to speak through the intense pain.
Wenwu used his Chi to examine the state of Razor Fist's body, then breathed a sigh of relief. His injuries weren't serious, just a mild shock. He immediately circulated his Chi to treat him.
Next up was Ching-Lin.
Before long, the medium-built Ching-Lin had also completely transformed into a burly, muscular man.
Razor Fist volunteered to help Ching-Lin test his defense, but Ching-Lin wasn't stupid.
The results of Razor Fist's earlier test were enough. He had no desire to be beaten until he spat blood too.
That left Razor Fist rather frustrated. He had thought he could give the aloof, tight-lipped man a taste of spitting blood too.
Finally, it was Becky's turn.
Becky had already been deeply grateful that Wenwu valued him so highly. Now he was receiving the same treatment as the two Ten Rings lieutenants, which showed that Wenwu truly considered him one of his own.
In twenty years of wandering and fleeing, this was the first time anyone had valued him so highly. He silently vowed to remain loyal to Wenwu unto death for the rest of his life.
As the enhancement serum was injected, Becky sank into the pool of medicine and began to undergo a violent transformation.
"This is bad! His X-Gene is mutating! Mr. Wenwu, quick, help stabilize him!"
Dr. Burstein stared at the wildly fluctuating data on the computer screen, his expression changing drastically. He had never expected an enhancement that should have been foolproof to go wrong like this.
Wenwu's brow furrowed deeply. Without hesitation, he sent a vast amount of Chi surging into Becky's body, forcibly stabilizing his rampaging cells.
A minute later, the mutation finally subsided.
Fortunately, the enhancement had succeeded.
However, Becky's bat wings had grown broader, and the curved, hook-shaped claws at the ends of their membranes had grown longer, gleaming with an icy light.
At the same time, his hands and feet had completely lost their human appearance, transforming into batlike claws.
Together with his original skin color, he now looked like a giant pitch-black bat.
Becky looked down at his mutated hands and feet, a complex expression of fear, distaste, and revulsion on his face.
Wenwu stepped forward, patted him on the shoulder, and comforted him. "There's no need to worry about it. If you really can't accept them, you can try changing them back when the technology is advanced enough someday."
Becky nodded silently. For now, that was all he could do. Still, the mutation had indeed brought him enormous benefits.
Tests showed that his bat wings were as tough as the skin and muscles on his body. Even a Barrett couldn't penetrate them.
The bone hooks on his leathery wings and his claws were incomparably sharp, capable of easily scratching even titanium alloy.
Besides the leap in his physical abilities, the power of his sonic ability had also risen to another level.
He could emit ultrasonic waves more powerful than a bat's, and the physical destructive force of his sonic pulses was enough to shatter a five- or six-story building.
Although he had not reached the level of a class-four mutant, his overall abilities were definitely among the best of class three.
The unexpected gain delighted Wenwu. After all, the stronger Becky was, the more he could help the Ten Rings.
Finally, it was Dr. Burstein's own turn. Wenwu personally stood guard for him as well.
Soon, Dr. Burstein completed his enhancement as he had hoped.
He excitedly said that with this powerful body, even his brain's reaction speed had increased.
Wenwu, meanwhile, held off on enhancing himself for the time being.
He was still waiting for Dr. Sterns to extract Peter Parker's genetic serum. He planned to wait until the two had been combined before undergoing a perfect enhancement.
After all, the original Spider had enormous potential and came with powerful agility and Spider-Sense. That was what Wenwu wanted most!
Afghanistan.
Deep inside the cave.
After Tony had spent days and nights working on it, the Mark I armor, forged entirely by hand from scrap iron, shell casings, and military waste, was finally complete.
It had no smooth baked finish, no streamlined body, and no precision servo mechanisms.
The entire suit was rugged and bulky, with menacing angles and welding scars and rivets covering its surface.
The original Arc Reactor in the center of its chest glowed a brilliant blue.
Tony stood in the shadows and raised a heavy mechanical arm, flexing it as its metal joints clacked.
Yinsen stood beside him, looking at the armor with delight. This was the weapon that would let them break out of their cage!
"Stay here. I'm going to wipe those pieces of shit out!"
Tony's face was full of confidence.
"All right, but something's strange. It feels too quiet today!" Yinsen said, frowning deeply.
"Maybe they're still sound asleep!"
Tony didn't care.
"Stay hidden!"
With that, Tony approached the iron door, the armor's footsteps heavy. He punched a dent into it, then gave it a hard yank and tore the heavy door off.
"Die, you scum!"
Tony charged through the doorway, but the passage was eerily quiet. There was nothing there.
He froze for a moment, then rushed out of the cave. Yet outside, where there should have been armed men everywhere, there wasn't a soul in sight. Only trash from daily life littered the ground.
"Bastards, get out here! Where are you?? Get out here!"
Tony couldn't see any of the terrorists who had kidnapped him. Feeling humiliated, he flew into a rage!
He rushed past the dunes and looked around. There was no one, only desert stretching as far as the eye could see.
"Ah, you'd better hope I don't find you!"
Tony roared at the sky.
He had been ready to kill them all and get his revenge, only to charge out and find not a single person!
Then what had he spent the past two months painstakingly building the armor for?
In the end, there wasn't even a chance to use it!
By then, Yinsen had heard no commotion outside for a long while and cautiously left the cave as well. Faced with the bizarre scene, he too was somewhat dumbfounded.
"Mr. Tony, do you think we were played? Or perhaps they never intended to make a missile at all!"
Yinsen came over to Tony and spoke uncertainly.
His words brought something to Tony's mind, and he hurried back into the cave to look for some trace.
In the end, he found none of the hidden cameras or anything else he had imagined.
"Was I wrong?"
Tony's expression shifted.
"I don't understand either. Why did they let us go and leave in such a hurry overnight?" Yinsen was just as puzzled.
"Let's stop thinking about it and get out of here. I'm really craving a cheeseburger right now!"
Although a shadow hung over Tony's heart, he also wanted to get out of this dump as quickly as possible!
Soon, he and Yinsen left the place and headed into the vast Gobi Desert!
They had no idea how long they had walked. Just as they felt they were being dried out by the sun,
a US military helicopter found them!
"Thank you all for coming."
"A lot of people want to know what happened to me over there."
"I never got to say goodbye to my father properly. There are a lot of questions I would have asked him. I would have asked him whether he felt conflicted, whether he ever had doubts, when he saw weapons manufactured by Stark Industries fall into the hands of people who shouldn't have had them and take the lives of young soldiers."
I saw with my own eyes the weapons I had made with my own hands being pointed at the people protecting us. That was when I woke up. What I can offer this world shouldn't just be things that explode.
Tony's voice suddenly grew emphatic: "So, Stark Industries is permanently shutting down its weapons manufacturing division, effective immediately-"
Boom!
The whole room erupted!