Chapter 175: Rescue Plane
"Be careful, Tony, those rings on his fingers are suspicious!" Rhodes aimed his gun at the rings on the Mandarin's fingers.
"Rings?" Tony frowned. He knew Rhodes wasn't joking, but the man in front of him didn't look that formidable.
"If you like them, the rings are yours." With that, the Mandarin hastily took off the rings, holding them in both hands and offering them to Tony.
Tony didn't take the rings; instead, he kicked them away.
Clang! The rings instantly flew off and fell into a corner. Although this Mandarin seemed like a weakling, Rhodes' continuous warnings had put Tony on guard.
"See, Rhodes, no problem." Tony stood up, turned, and prepared to leave. "He's all yours."
Rhodes nodded, still finding the Mandarin very dangerous.
Tony was about to take off when he suddenly spun around sharply. Bang! A repulsor blast struck right next to the Mandarin.
"Ah!" The Mandarin was startled like a frightened mouse. He covered his head with his hands and his body trembled continuously; he looked terrified.
"Gotta go." After doing all that, Tony rushed off to save Pepper.
Everything he had just done was a test. If this Mandarin was truly capable, he would have dodged. But for now, he seemed to be a complete amateur.
"Alright, now that you're in my hands, I know you've been putting on an act. You might fool that idiot Stark, but you certainly won't fool me, a military officer." Rhodes pointed his gun at the Mandarin's head and said, "Now, if you hand over that Vanishing Spell to me, I'll make sure you have a pleasant death."
"..." The Mandarin stared blankly at Rhodes.
Whoosh!
The Mark 42, controlled by Jarvis, flew through the sky, leaving a long white contrail.
"Infiltrate confidential files, check the President's itinerary, access aircraft surveillance..." Jarvis located the plane the President was currently on. Through the surveillance, he saw the President inside. At this moment, the terrorist wearing the Iron Patriot armor was standing next to the President, who was smiling and patting his shoulder.
Inside the Plane
"If it weren't for Colonel Rhodes, I'd feel like something bad was definitely going to happen on this trip," the President chuckled.
The Iron Patriot beside him completely ignored him.
"Colonel Rhodes?" The President sensed something was wrong. Usually, Rhodes would lift his faceplate and talk to him cheerfully. Why was he so cold today?
The President slowly moved to the left and was about to stand up when the Iron Patriot's hand pressed down on his shoulder, preventing him from rising.
Click! Click! The surrounding bodyguards all drew their firearms and aimed them at the Iron Patriot.
"Mr. President, come with me," the Iron Patriot said.
Hearing this, the President knew that the person inside the Iron Patriot was indeed not Colonel Rhodes. Damn it! He had been fooled.
"Release the President!" the bodyguard shouted.
"Mmhmm~" The Iron Patriot shrugged its shoulder and said, "My metal shell can withstand your bullets, but can your President?"
For a moment, the plane fell silent. No one could guarantee they wouldn't accidentally hit the President if they opened fire.
"Let's go." The Iron Patriot grabbed the President by the collar, dragging him toward the cabin door. The bodyguards followed closely, keeping their guns aimed at the Iron Patriot.
"Oh, right." The Iron Patriot suddenly turned around, startling everyone around him. "Before I leave, let me give you a gift." The Iron Patriot raised its left arm, and missiles immediately deployed.
"No!" the people around shouted. They had already guessed what this guy was going to do.
"Goodbye!" The Iron Patriot fired the missiles without hesitation.
Boom! Bang! Boom! The tail section of the plane was instantly blown open, and a powerful rush of air immediately flooded in. Everyone was sucked towards the opening. Fortunately, they quickly grabbed the nearest seatbacks, preventing themselves from being sucked out. However, the plane was rapidly plummeting, and they still couldn't escape death.
"Time to go!" The Iron Patriot was about to fly out with the President when suddenly! A golden fist appeared in front of him.
Bang! The Iron Patriot was punched away, and the President was released. He quickly grabbed the door handle, preventing himself from being sucked out.
"Stark?!" The President saw the Mark 42 and immediately thought of Iron Man, Tony Stark.
"Sir, the situation is not looking very optimistic right now. Should I activate the other suits?" Jarvis said, seeing the large hole in the back of the plane. There were twenty people on board, and he couldn't save that many people by himself.
Meanwhile, Tony had just entered the room where the Mandarin said Pepper was being held, and he heard Jarvis's words.
"Permission granted. After the rescue, proceed at full speed here," Tony said, looking at the snarling praying mantis men in front of him.
"Do you guys like eating bugs?" Tony asked.
Hiss! Hiss!
A total of ten praying mantis men rushed forward!
Back on the Plane
After receiving Tony's command, Jarvis immediately called upon the suits lying inert at home.
"Ah!" Suddenly, one person lost their grip on the seatback and was sucked out.
Jarvis was about to go to the rescue, but the Iron Patriot, which had fallen back, stood up and punched Jarvis in the back.
Clang! The Mark 42 instantly broke apart, and its scattered components fell onto the floor.
"What the heck?" The terrorist inside the Iron Patriot was completely confused. Where was Stark? He had thought Stark was inside the armor, but there was no one in the suit.
Everyone's minds were in a whirl, clearly stunned by this scene.
Whoosh! Suddenly, the armor's right hand unit shot out, flying towards the ground below. The other parts immediately assembled into a human shape and turned around, punching the still-confused Iron Patriot.
Bang!
The Iron Patriot was knocked back against the plane wall again. Shaking its head, it said, "What is this thing?"
"Prodigal Son," Jarvis replied.
"Prodigal Son?" The Iron Patriot scoffed, "Watch me smash you into a fool!"
The Iron Patriot abruptly charged at Jarvis. Jarvis showed no weakness, charging at the Iron Patriot in turn. Both sides raised their fists simultaneously, and then... Bang! The Prodigal Son once again turned into a pile of parts on the ground.
"Again?!" The Iron Patriot was no longer inexperienced. He vowed to kick this pile of scrap metal into pieces!
The Iron Patriot raised its right leg, about to stomp on the Prodigal Son's head, but the Prodigal Son's head quickly flew up and attached itself to the Iron Patriot's face.
"Ugh!" The Iron Patriot tried to peel off the Prodigal Son's faceplate attached to his face.
Seeing this, the other Prodigal Son components followed suit, attaching themselves one by one to the Iron Patriot's various parts, except for the right arm. The Iron Patriot was now wearing the Prodigal Son.
The terrorist controlling the Iron Patriot tried to access the armor's weapon system, but Jarvis had hacked into the system, preventing normal operation.
"Enjoy the flight tour." Jarvis took the Iron Patriot and flew out the window.
The people on the plane sighed in relief when the Iron Patriot was taken away, but they immediately screamed again—the plane was still falling!
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