Tony Joined the Fight, Teaming Up Against the Enemy

Just as the pulsating green tissue in the lab exploded, its slime still floating in the air, Ye Mo heard a familiar buzzing sound overhead. It wasn't an alarm, nor the electrical noise before an explosion, but rather—the sound of an armored thruster igniting.

"Tony! If you don't come soon, I'm going to solo the boss!" he roared, raising his hand and unleashing an arc of electricity, forcing Killian to take a half-step to the left.

Before the words were even finished, a red and gold shadow shot straight down from the ceiling opening. The Mark 42 armor flipped in mid-air and hovered steadily, its palm cannons aimed at Killian's chest, while the twin energy cannons on its shoulders charged simultaneously, flashing red light in an instant.

"Sorry, there was traffic." Tony's voice came through the armor's built-in speaker, with his usual smug tone. "You know how Manhattan is, the moment there's breaking news, drones swarm like flies."

Ye Mo rolled his eyes. "You call this a traffic jam? This is a battlefield! Not your backyard test flight field!"

"Stop arguing." Tony's tone turned serious. "I'll count to three, then you step back."

"I'm not backing down, I'm quite comfortable standing here." Ye Mo grinned, crossing his arms over his chest, arcs of electricity dancing on his fingertips. "You keep hitting him, I'll just scare him."

"Fine, then don't blame me for not warning you when you die."

Before he could finish speaking, Tony's armor swooped down, and his shoulder cannons unleashed two high-energy beams that hurtled straight for Killian's upper body. The airflow was torn apart, the temperature instantly rose, and even the ground rippled with a distorted heat wave.

Killian reacted extremely quickly, slamming his right foot into the ground and sliding his body to the right. At the same time, a burst of scorching white heat energy erupted from his palm, forming a deflection shield. The beam grazed his left arm, instantly carbonizing his clothes and charring his flesh, but he did not fall. The moment he landed, he used the momentum to spin around and blasted his heated right fist toward the airborne armor.

Tony was prepared; he slammed the thrusters up, pulling the fuselage upwards to dodge the attack. But Killian's punch wasn't meant to land; it was to create an opening—he had barely regained his footing when he was about to retreat towards the ventilation ducts.

"Trying to run?" This was the moment Ye Mo had been waiting for.

He slammed his feet into the ground, launching himself forward like a spring, half a beat faster than Killian had predicted. The instant he landed, he slammed his palms down, unleashing two blue-white arcs of electricity that swept out like whips, exploding along the ground with a crackling sound, directly blocking Killian's path to the right.

"Wow, you're pretty quick." Ye Mo caught his breath, the soreness in his muscles becoming more and more pronounced. The Strength Enhancement from before had long since passed, and now he was only holding on by sheer willpower. "But let me tell you, these days, if you want to be a villain, just knowing how to teleport isn't enough; you need to know how to move around."

Killian was forced to stop. His eyes turned cold. He glanced down at the floor, scorched by the electric arc, then looked up at Ye Mo: "You think you can win by cooperating?"

"We didn't want to win," Ye Mo shrugged. "We just wanted to beat you up and teach you what teamwork is all about."

Tony adjusted his angle in mid-air, his armor automatically switched to lock-on mode, and his palm cannon recharged. "Ye Mo, don't waste your breath on him. This guy's brain has been fried by the virus. If you keep talking to him, he could finish telling you the whole book of 'Evolution'."

"Then you go ahead and do it." Ye Mo took a half step back, but didn't lower his hands; arcs of electricity still danced on his fingertips. "I'll handle the crowd control, and you handle the damage output. Our combination is much better than you teaming up with JARVIS."

"At least JARVIS won't talk back," Tony grumbled. "And can you be a little more precise with your lightning control? Last time you almost burned my antenna in the test range."

"That was a system bug," Ye Mo argued. "Besides, your armor design is flawed. What kind of armor puts its energy core on its rear end?"

"That's an aesthetic consideration," Tony said matter-of-factly.

"Fine, fine, you're beautiful, so you're right." Ye Mo rolled his eyes. "Can we fight now?"

"Yes." Tony's palm cannon glowed red. "Three, two, one—"

Before he could finish speaking, he made his move.

The palm cannon unleashed a high-intensity beam of light, striking Killian directly in the face. At the same time, Ye Mo's hands shot upwards, and two arcs of electricity rose into the air in a crisscross pattern, forming a pincer attack with the energy cannon.

Killian gritted his teeth, clasped his hands together, and felt a surge of heat coursing through his body, causing his skin to glow with a molten red light. He suddenly spread his arms wide, and a shockwave of intense heat exploded outwards in a ring around his body, shattering the ground and causing glass equipment to explode with a crash.

The electric arc was distorted by the heat wave, its trajectory deflected, grazing his shoulder and leaving two scorch marks on the wall. The energy cannon was also mostly blocked by the deflection shield, leaving only a burn on his chest.

"Damn!" Ye Mo was thrown back two steps by the blast wave, his shoes leaving two long marks on the ground. "Did this guy install an anti-missile system? How can he defend against everything?"

"It's not anti-missile defense." Tony pulled into the air, his armor automatically deploying energy shields. "He's raised his body temperature to a critical point; his entire body is like a pressure cooker—the slightest touch will burn him."

"Then let's cool him down." Ye Mo flexed his wrist, and the electric arc condensed again. "I remember your armor has a cooling module, right?"

"Yes, there is," Tony said, pulling up the control panel, "But you want me to fight a boss with the air conditioning on? That's too embarrassing."

"You're already flying around in a tin can, what's there to be ashamed of?" Ye Mo sneered. "Besides, your outfit already looks like a takeout insulated box, adding a cooling system won't make a difference."

"Shut up." Tony's tone turned stern. "I'll count to three. You find an opportunity to get close and disrupt them, and I'll clear the area with my pulse cannon."

"Okay." Ye Mo nodded, "But if you miss again, don't blame me for not warning you—I recorded it."

"Where did you get the recording function?" Tony frowned.

"It comes with the system." Ye Mo grinned, "The X-Gene Resonance System, which includes tactical replays and AI analysis of your positioning mistakes."

"... Could you sell me a copy of this system?"

"Not for sale, not for sale." Ye Mo took a step forward. "Come on, don't back down this time."

Tony didn't waste any more words. He activated the armor thrusters at full power, and the fuselage dove at high speed. The palm cannons, shoulder cannons, and wrist-mounted micro-missiles fired simultaneously, forming a network of red light that blocked all of Killian's evasive paths.

Killian roared and slammed his palms into the ground. Heat spread along the ground, instantly turning a five-meter radius into a high-temperature zone. The metal floor began to soften, the outer casing of the instruments melted and dripped, and a pungent burning smell filled the air.

Ye Mo gritted his teeth, forcibly activated his Steel Bone Body, channeled power into his legs, and charged forward, stomping on the scorching ground. He raised his hands high, arcs of electricity coalescing into a ball, and slammed it down on Killian's head.

"Boom!"

The arc ball exploded, sparks flying everywhere. Killian was forced to look up to block, his movements momentarily slowed. In that instant, Tony's pulse cannon struck him in the back, the explosion sending him flying through the air, crashing into a lab table and scattering debris everywhere.

"Got it!" Ye Mo gasped for breath, kneeling on one knee and supporting himself with his hands on the ground. "Did I miss this time?"

"No deviation." Tony hovered in mid-air, his armor slightly overheating and warning lights blaring, "But it didn't kill him either."

Ye Mo looked up and his heart sank.

Killian slowly rose from the ruins, his left arm charred and his chest caved in, but his eyes—inhumanly crimson. He spread his arms, and his skin began to crack, from which crimson flames shot out, as if something within him was operating at an overclocked frequency.

"You... can't interrupt it..." His voice was hoarse, yet carried an eerie calm. "Extremis aren't healing methods, they're evolutionary rituals. And I am the first to complete them."

The laboratory lights began to flicker, instrument alarms went off one after another, and the thermometer readings soared until they finally exploded with a "pop." The air distorted like a steam oven, and even the thermal imaging of the armor showed noise.

"Tony!" Ye Mo abruptly took a step back, the electric arc retracting from his protective shield. "He's going to fight to the death!"

"I know." Tony's armor automatically switched to defensive mode, energy shield fully activated. "Ready to take this."

Before he could finish speaking, Killian suddenly spread his arms wide, and the viral energy within his body went completely berserk. A violent, high-temperature shockwave exploded outwards in a ring around him, shattering all the remaining glass, overturning entire rows of equipment, and even cracking the ground with spiderweb-like fissures.

Ye Mo was violently thrown back by the blast wave, his back slamming against the wall. He felt a sweet taste in his throat and almost vomited. He barely managed to sit up, his hands trembling, the electric arc so weak it was almost extinguished.

Tony was also forced back several meters, and fine cracks appeared on the surface of his armor, causing his shield value to plummet.

Killian stood still, flames erupting from his body, like a demon crawling out of a furnace. He looked down at his hands and slowly clenched them.

"This is... true power."