Shattered Armor and New Blades

S.C.U. underground base, tactical conference room.

The holographic projector gave off a cold blue glow, slicing the dim room into countless bizarre fragments of light. The bitterness of espresso and the clean scent of gun oil hung in the air-the distinctive smell before a major battle.

Zhao Fan sat at the head of the table, tapping his fingers rhythmically against its surface. His gaze pierced the overlapping streams of data and locked onto the red dot on the map, on Africa's west coast.

"Ulysses Klaue," Zhao Fan said softly, his voice utterly cold. "The man we're looking for."

"This guy is completely insane." Benjamin Lee pushed his slipping glasses back up his nose and typed rapidly, bringing up a highly encrypted file. "According to what's left of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s database-and I mean the parts Hydra hasn't completely erased-Klaue isn't just an arms dealer. He's also a physicist. Wakanda put him on its wanted list years ago for stealing Vibranium. He's even got the Wakandan word for 'thief' branded on his neck."

"A physicist?" Old Dog Jose sat nearby, wiping his beloved modified shotgun with a greasy rag. He snorted. "I thought he was some warlord. How much trouble can a scholar be?"

"Don't underestimate scholars, Old Dog," the newly recruited Yelena Belova cut in coldly. She leaned in the shadows of a corner, playing with the two high-frequency vibrating short blades Zhao Fan had given her. The blades danced between her fingers as though alive. "Sometimes they're far more efficient at killing than people like you, spraying bullets everywhere."

Old Dog choked on his words. He was about to argue when Zhao Fan raised a hand to stop him.

"Ben, continue."

"Yes, boss." Benjamin swallowed and pointed to a blurry satellite photograph on the screen. "Klaue's base is an abandoned shipbreaking yard in the Gulf of Guinea. They call it the Salvage Coast. On the surface, it's a recycling facility for scrapped ships. In reality, it's a massive black-market fortress. Millions of tons of scrap steel are piled up there, making the terrain as complicated as a maze. And..."

Benjamin paused and brought up an audio waveform.

"And what?" Zhao Fan asked.

"And my sonar scans show large numbers of sonic jammers deployed around the shipbreaking yard." Benjamin looked a little pale. "They're not there to prevent eavesdropping. They look more like... some kind of weapons system. The frequency is extremely high, enough to shatter human organs in an instant."

"Sonic weapons." Zhao Fan narrowed his eyes. He remembered Klaue's mechanical prosthetic hand in the original story. Apparently, in this universe, the arms dealer's tech tree had taken an even stranger direction than he had imagined.

"Not just weapons." Dr. Evelyn Reed, who had remained silent until now, walked in through the doorway. She held a paper document containing the latest intelligence she had just obtained through Stark Industries' channels.

"Klaue doesn't just have Vibranium. He also seems to be researching something called 'solidified sound.'" Evelyn tossed the document onto the table. "A shipment of experimental sonic mining equipment from Stark Industries went missing in an 'accident' during transport. Its last recorded coordinates were near that shipbreaking yard."

"So we're facing a lunatic warlord with Vibranium reserves, high-tech sonic weapons, and the home-field advantage." Yelena put away her short blades and stepped out of the shadows, a combative gleam in her cold eyes. "Sounds like a suicide mission."

"This isn't a suicide mission. It's a supply run." Zhao Fan stood, and the holographic projection behind him instantly switched to a tactical deployment map. "We have to get the Vibranium Klaue's holding."

He looked at them, his gaze as sharp as a blade.

"Old Dog, you're on suppressive fire. Bring every heavy weapon, including those man-portable thermobaric launchers we hauled out of the warehouse. I want that shipbreaking yard turned into a sea of fire. Draw their attention."

"Leave it to me." Old Dog grinned, showing yellow teeth. "Setting fires is my specialty."

"Yelena, you're handling infiltration and assassination." Zhao Fan pointed to a concealed waterway on the map. "Go in through the water. It's the only surveillance blind spot, but be careful. Klaue knows that too, so there are probably plenty of guards along that route. Your job is to cripple their command system. If you get the chance, take out the leader of Klaue's mercenaries."

"What if Klaue gets in my way?" Yelena asked.

"Leave him to me." Zhao Fan's voice was low. "That man and his Vibranium are mine."

"Ben, stay aboard and provide intelligence support." Zhao Fan finally turned to the fat man. "I want you to block all external communications in the area. Once the fighting starts, I don't want a single distress signal getting out."

"Understood, boss." Benjamin nodded firmly. Though still a little nervous, he was gradually getting used to the team's rhythm.

"Evelyn." Zhao Fan turned to their technical director.

"I'm here." Evelyn folded her arms, watching him with a complicated expression.

"You need to stay in New York and hold down the fort. If we make a big enough splash over there, the S.H.I.E.L.D. remnants or the military will notice. I need you to keep those prying eyes off us."

"I'll say it's a routine D.O.D.C. hazardous materials recovery operation in Africa." Evelyn sighed. "But you'd better move fast. Once this turns into an international incident, I won't be able to cover for you for long."

"Four hours." Zhao Fan held up four fingers. "We strike after midnight and pull out before sunrise. Whether it's Vibranium or Klaue's head, we only take what we need."

"Dismissed."

Half an hour later, in the S.C.U. underground armory.

Zhao Fan stood alone at a workbench. Before him lay the experimental lightweight exoskeleton, dismantled into scattered pieces. The once-gleaming titanium alloy plates now resembled candles warped by intense heat, their charred black surfaces unsettling to behold.

That was the consequence of forcibly connecting the Next-Generation Repulsor Engine Core last time. Conventional metals simply couldn't withstand that level of energy output, let alone work alongside the violent energy of the Extremis Virus inside him.

"Still mourning it?"

Yelena's voice came from behind him. She had learned the reason for this trip from the others as well. She had changed into a skintight black stealth suit Evelyn had custom-made for her using the latest nanofiber materials. It was not only bulletproof but could also shield her from thermal imaging to a degree.

"I'm not mourning it." Zhao Fan picked up a twisted metal fragment. His palm warmed slightly, and he kneaded the metal into a ball as though it were mud. "I'm feeling... hungry."

"Hungry?" Yelena frowned. She couldn't understand that feeling.

"When you have a power source capable of destroying everything, but don't dare use it because its container is too fragile, it feels like sitting in front of an imperial feast on an empty stomach." Zhao Fan tossed away the scrap metal and turned to face Yelena.

This woman was dangerous, like a sharpened blade. But Zhao Fan wasn't worried about cutting his hand, because he was harder than the blade.

"Is that why you're so determined to steal the Vibranium?" Yelena surveyed the rudimentary laboratory. "To build a tougher shell?"

"Vibranium isn't just hard," Zhao Fan explained. "It has unique energy absorption and conduction properties. It can absorb kinetic energy, sound waves, even the excess heat inside my body, then convert, store, and release it. With it, I can build a perfect internal energy circulation system. Then..."

Zhao Fan paused, a glint of golden-red light flashing through his eyes. "Then I won't be a human who could overload at any moment anymore. I'll be a true... superhuman."

"A superhuman? A god?" Yelena scoffed. "I've met plenty of people who thought they were gods. They all died horribly."

"Maybe." Zhao Fan wasn't angry. Instead, he smiled.

He walked over to the weapons rack, picked up a specially modified tactical harness, and handed it to Yelena.

"What's this?"

"Prototype Widow's Bite bracers made by D.O.O.C. engineers," Zhao Fan said. "I had Benjamin make some modifications. The original electric shock function has been strengthened, but I added a small repulsor generator. It isn't very powerful, but in close combat, it's enough to deflect a dagger aimed at a vital spot or give you the strength to punch through a steel plate."

Yelena took the bracers and tried them on. Light and snug, they felt like part of her body.

"Why give me this?" She looked up at Zhao Fan with a trace of wariness in her eyes. "As I recall, this is strictly an employment arrangement."

"I told you, this is a long-term business deal," Zhao Fan said calmly. "I don't want my business partner dying in some African mudhole because her equipment wasn't good enough. Besides, it has a tracking function. If you try to run off with the advance, I'll know immediately."

"Hmph. Control freak." Despite her words, the corners of Yelena's mouth curved upward almost imperceptibly. She stroked the metal patterns on the bracers. Their cold touch reassured her.

"Get ready to leave." Zhao Fan put on a heavy tactical trench coat to conceal the slowly healing scars on his body, as well as the high-energy batteries he carried close against him. "Tonight, we're turning that scrapyard upside down."

Meanwhile, in the lounge on the base's upper level.

Old Dog Jose was stuffing the last bottle of whiskey into his tactical backpack.

"Old Dog, are you sure you need that much booze?" Benjamin was calibrating a drone nearby. Looking at Old Dog's bulging backpack, he couldn't help complaining. "We're going to a battlefield, not a picnic."

"You don't understand, fatty." Old Dog patted the backpack, producing a crisp clinking of glass. "This is pain medicine and liquid courage. If we die over there, it'll make the best farewell drink. Besides, there are plenty of mosquitoes there. Alcohol works as a disinfectant too."

"You're just a drunk." Benjamin rolled his eyes, but his hands kept working. He handed Old Dog several miniature signal repeaters. "Take these. Once you're there, drop one every hundred meters. That place has signal jammers. I need these repeaters to maintain our communications network."

"Yeah, yeah, got it." Old Dog took the repeaters and casually stuffed them into his pockets. "You tech types are such a pain. Back when we worked, all we had to do was shout."

"How is that the same? Back then, we were shoveling garbage out of ruins. Now we're conducting advanced, precision tactical operations," Benjamin corrected him.

"Sure, sure. Advanced and precise." Old Dog watched the data on the screen running through its final self-checks, a barely perceptible trace of worry passing through his eyes. "Seriously, Ben. Think we'll make it back alive this time? That Klaue... I heard his name back when I was working the streets. They say he once turned an entire village into minced meat just to test a new weapon."

Benjamin's fingers paused.

"I don't know, Old Dog." Benjamin looked out the window, where a black-painted Quinjet waited quietly on the landing pad. "But I know the boss won't let it go if he doesn't get the Vibranium. Sooner or later, he'll burn himself to death because of that core. But we're all in the same boat. We don't have a choice."

Old Dog fell silent for a moment, then gave Benjamin a hard pat on the shoulder.

"Then what are we waiting for? Let's go. Worst case, we end up as minced meat. Eighteen years later, we'll be fine men again."

Ten minutes later, the Quinjet's engines began warming up with a deep roar.

Zhao Fan sat in the shadows of the cabin, watching the lights gradually recede outside the window. Dr. Evelyn Reed stood at the edge of the landing pad. The fierce wind whipped her hair into disarray, but she remained perfectly straight, watching the aircraft carrying her ambitions and hopes rise into the sky.

System, confirm current status, Zhao Fan said silently.

[Host status: good.]

[Extremis Virus activity: stable.]

As the aircraft climbed sharply, powerful g-forces pressed him into his seat. Zhao Fan closed his eyes, picturing Ulysses Klaue's mad face and the mountains of Vibranium.

"Africa..." he murmured.

It was the edge of civilization, a lawless land, and a paradise for the strong.

"Yelena," Zhao Fan said suddenly.

Sitting opposite him, Yelena was wiping her twin blades. She looked up. "What?"

"Once we're there, don't hold back." A trace of red flashed through Zhao Fan's eyes. "Most of Klaue's men are enhanced mercenaries or desperate outlaws."

"Don't worry." Yelena slid both blades into the sheaths on her back with a crisp metallic click. "'Hold back' isn't in my vocabulary."

"Good."

Zhao Fan turned toward Old Dog and Benjamin.

"Old Dog, blow up their power station as soon as we arrive. Ben, disable their alarm system. I want them to greet our arrival in darkness and fear."

"Understood!"

The aircraft pierced the clouds and entered the stratosphere. Moonlight spilled over its black wings, giving them a cold sheen.

Like predators from the night, they were crossing half the globe to embark on a hunt of their own.

Meanwhile, in the Gulf of Guinea, Ulysses Klaue sat in his office, converted from the bridge of a decommissioned aircraft carrier. He toyed with a piece of metal no larger than a fingernail, which emitted an enchanting purple glow.

"Vibranium..." Klaue gazed at the metal in his hand with fascination, lightly tapping the table with his sonic-cannon prosthesis, producing crisp knocks. "The most wonderful thing in this world."

The surveillance screens before him showed the calm waters beyond the shipbreaking yard. What he didn't know was that, more than ten thousand meters overhead, death had already locked onto his position.

"Boss, the radar seems to have picked up an anomalous signal," one of his men reported. "It might be a passing civilian aircraft, or something caused by the weather."

"Leave it." Klaue waved impatiently. "As long as it isn't those high-tech primitives from Wakanda, I'm not afraid of anyone. By the way, have you finished calibrating that new shipment of sonic bombs? A major buyer is coming to inspect the goods tomorrow."

"Everything's ready, boss."

"Good." Klaue flashed a smile studded with gold teeth. "Let them come. Whether they're buyers or idiots trying to steal my treasures, I'll show them the meaning of... deafening."

Inside the Quinjet, high above the Atlantic Ocean.

Zhao Fan watched the simulated projection of the Next-Generation Repulsor Engine Core pulsing faintly over his wrist, a cruel smile curling his lips.

"Deafening?" he said softly. "Let's hope your sonic cannon can stop me."

[Ding! Side mission triggered: seize the Vibranium reserves.]

[Mission objective: seize all raw Vibranium in Ulysses Klaue's possession.]

[Optional objectives: defeat/kill Ulysses Klaue; destroy the illegal sonic weapons arsenal.]

[Mission rewards: unlock the advanced form of Hard Carapace; expand System Space.]

The system notification sounded at just the right moment, placing the final "stamp of approval" on the operation.

"Get some rest, everyone." Zhao Fan closed his eyes and regulated his breathing. "Once we get there, we go to work."

The aircraft traced a white contrail across the high sky, racing toward that golden coast steeped in greed and bloodshed.