Tennessee, an estate on the outskirts.
Under the pitch-black night sky, this vacation villa standing in the suburban wilderness appeared empty and quiet, but it was actually heavily guarded, like a dragon's lair or tiger's den, filled with terrifying danger.
Lean, muscular guards carried submachine guns and led fierce wolfdogs, patrolling the perimeter in groups of three and rotating shifts every hour. Infrared cameras covered every corner, making the security system exceptionally tight. It would not be easy for anyone to sneak inside.
"We turned Stark Mansion upside down, but we didn't find a body. Maybe he was buried at the bottom of the sea along with those Iron Armors."
In the retro-decorated study, Killian listened to the report from the other end of the line. His brows gradually furrowed into a small mountain, clearly dissatisfied with that vague answer.
The reason he had cooperated with those people in the first place was because of their secretive and extensive channels, as well as their ability to mobilize powerful forces within the government. Otherwise, where would he have found so many professional soldiers to serve as test subjects during the research into the Extremis Virus?
To hide a terrorist organization within America's borders while evading repeated investigations by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the CIA, and S.H.I.E.L.D.; to infiltrate television networks at any time, hijack aircraft, and stage numerous bombing attacks... those were far beyond Killian's capabilities.
Ever since 9/11, America had attached particular importance to homeland security. It had even launched the PRISM program, conducting broad surveillance and retrieving top-secret information from any region within the country, directly accessing internet companies' central servers to mine data and gather intelligence.
Without protection and assistance from internal forces, the Mandarin and the Ten Rings would have been discovered long ago. How could