"Oh my god! What have you built?!"
Ho Yinsen stared in shock at the now fully formed 'armored warrior'—more accurately, the Mark I, the first Iron Man suit.
A full mechanical structure covered in steel, it looked crude in places due to limitations in craftsmanship, especially at the joints and transmission shafts. The whole thing resembled a human-shaped iron lump.
"Yinsen, this is our plan—our only way out. Hurry and help me put it on, I need your assistance!" Tony Stark said firmly.
"Alright, I guess I have no other choice."
With a sigh, Yinsen began helping Tony assemble and secure the armor, making sure they stood with their backs to the surveillance camera so Tony stayed in the blind spot.
Inside the mountain's monitoring room—
Raza stared intently at the screen where Tony had disappeared, a growing sense of unease gnawing at him. "What are they doing? Where is Tony Stark?"
"Boss, he was just there. Oh, and Boss—Martin hasn't returned yet. I don't know if something's happened."
"A bunch of idiots! Go down there and check on Stark right now. If anyone screws up my Jericho missile assembly, I'll kill them myself! As for Martin—"
Before he could finish, a violent explosion cut him off.
Inside the terrorist base, a military jeep roared forward, smashing through the temporary checkpoint and barricades.
"Stop right now! Damn it! Is that Martin's crew? Why's there only one vehicle?"
"Bastard! Stop your car now or I'll shoot!"
"Fire! Fire!!"
Rat-a-tat-tat—
The heavy machine gun mounted on the checkpoint spewed flames, riddling the speeding jeep with bullets in seconds before it exploded into flaming wreckage.
"Idiots! Are they drunk? Charging a checkpoint like that? And why only one vehicle?"
The squad leader in charge of security cursed, but then noticed the men next to the watchtower staring blankly ahead.
A faint yellow blur shot out from the explosion's smoke cloud at an astonishing speed.
"Am I seeing things? Captain, I think something just sped past us?"
"You're crazy. Maybe the blast deafened you!"
It was too fast. They hadn't even seen what it was—just felt a blast of wind.
Inside the prisoner's cavern, the steel support structures were solid enough to withstand missile strikes without collapse. This was, after all, the organization's main stronghold.
Every so often, thick steel gates had been installed—capable of withstanding direct hits from small-caliber howitzers.
"Always making us do the hard work! These white pigs should all just die already!"
One of the armed men sent by Raza to check on Tony grumbled.
"Shut it. If the boss hears you, you're dead. At least wait until they finish the missile—he's a golden goose!"
"Damn it, let's just check on the guy. If he's up to anything suspicious, I'll cut off his ear first!"
"Come on, hurry up. Yesterday Charles caught a few nice prizes—once we're done, I'm going to enjoy myself!"
The armed men rushed to the steel door where Tony and Yinsen were working, pounding it hard with their rifle butts while shouting in a language neither prisoner understood.
"Talk! Say something back!"
Sweat beaded Tony's forehead—he had most of the armor on, but without its weapons systems loaded, it was nothing more than a medieval suit of armor.
Yinsen was also drenched in sweat. If their ruse was discovered, they'd be killed for sure. The only question would be what cruel method Raza would use.
He wracked his brain, trying to decide which language to respond in. Even knowing nearly ten foreign languages wasn't enough—finally, he prepared to try a couple of lines in Hungarian.
BOOM—
The deafening blast shook the entire mountain, like a missile had detonated inside.
Yinsen froze in shock.
At the door, the armed men also stood dumbfounded, their rifle butts halted mid-swing.
They stared at the sight before them—
A man-shaped hole had been blasted through the steel door thick enough to withstand artillery fire. The metal around it was bent inward and torn apart.
Looking through the opening into the cavern, they saw a bald man in a yellow jumpsuit, red gloves, and a white cape standing before Yinsen.
Behind him, the rocky ground was gouged out into deep furrows from the sheer force of his arrival.
(End of Chapter)
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