“Duang, duang, duang.”
Tony stood before the anvil, hammering away at a piece of iron, sending sparks flying in all directions.
“Aidan, are you alright?” Ethan asked as he wiped the blood from Aidan’s forehead with a damp towel.
In reality, Aidan’s wound had already healed, but with all that thick hair covering his head, Ethan hadn’t noticed.
“I’m fine. I’m fine. Go help Tony. We don’t have much time.”
Aidan urged Ethan on.
Ethan looked at Aidan and slowly nodded before walking over to Tony to help.
Aidan watched the two of them standing beside the furnace, then covered his head with his hands.
Goddamn, this really hurts!
He didn’t know whether it was because of his emotional deficiency or because the temporal-spatial turbulence caused by the Infinity Stone had done something to him.
Either way, whenever Aidan used mind magic, the price was extraordinarily high.
One of the reasons he had taken so long to get up and rescue Ethan earlier was that Aidan had been constantly using the pain to stimulate the energy within his body.
Otherwise, he wouldn’t have been able to use mind magic at all.
There was another reason, too.
Aidan wanted to see whether the bald man would stop because of Tony’s words.
Although he didn’t remember much of the plot anymore, at least at that particular moment in time, Ethan definitely wasn’t supposed to die in the movie.
But judging from what had just happened, if Aidan hadn’t intervened, Ethan would have died.
He definitely would have died.
That proved one thing.
This world wasn’t the world of a movie.
It wasn’t a dead world bound by predetermined rules.
This was a living world.
A world that could be changed.
A world where even the protagonist… could die.
Thinking of this, Aidan gave Tony a deep look.
At first, Aidan had suspected that this was a world whose entire course had already been planned.
Just like the world of The Elder Scrolls he had played.
The protagonist would go through all kinds of hardships and grow stronger, but everything would always proceed according to the plot.
The protagonist would never die.
In such a world, no one could change the outcome.
Everything had already been predetermined.
But now, Aidan had received his answer.
This world was like the Elder Scrolls world he had transmigrated into.
Although the overall direction of events would still follow the original plot, it was filled with death.
No one was truly the protagonist.
Anyone could die.
And everything could be changed.
…
“Cii~”
Tony put a red-hot piece of metal into a bucket of water to cool it, then took it out and placed it on the table in front of Ethan.
It was a mask.
An iron mask.
Ethan raised his head and looked at Tony.
The two nodded at each other.
In front of the metal frame, the three of them hung up all the various components of the armor and assembled them according to their positions.
“Aidan, take the explosives and hang them on the door.”
Tony handed the explosives to Aidan.
Aidan looked at the crudely constructed but seemingly badass explosive device and shrugged at Tony.
“You sure you want me to hang it?”
Tony and Aidan exchanged glances…
“Ethan, you do it.”
Tony tilted his head toward Ethan.
…
Inside the cave where Tony and the others were being monitored, the bald man walked over to the monitors.
Yet no matter which camera he looked at, he couldn’t find any sign of Tony Stark.
He asked the subordinate responsible for surveillance,
“Where’s Stark?”
The subordinate looked across the screens.
“He was there just a moment ago.”
“Find him immediately!”
The bald man stared grimly at the monitors.
Meanwhile, inside the cave, Aidan and Ethan were helping Tony put on the armor.
“How does it feel?” Ethan asked Tony.
“Pretty good.”
“Can you move?”
“Yes.”
“Say your plan again.” This chapter was copied from g.com without permission.
“Forty-one steps straight ahead. Sixteen steps left after leaving the door, then four steps right, followed by thirty-three steps before turning right…”
Following Tony’s instructions, Ethan adjusted the armor.
All of these calculations had been made by Tony…
Before meeting Aidan, he had never gotten them wrong.
“Knock, knock, knock.”
A guard outside the iron door knocked and shouted a string of words in a language none of them could understand.
Aidan looked at the explosives on the door and asked Ethan,
“What did he say?”
“He’s speaking Hungarian. I don’t speak Hungarian.”
Ethan turned his head toward Aidan.
“Fine. Whatever language you know, just say something.”
Tony’s voice came from inside the armor.
Ethan casually responded to the guard in another language.
When the guard realized that he couldn’t communicate with Ethan and that Stark wasn’t visible, he nodded to his companion.
The two men pushed the door open and entered…
After all, it was their own door.
They didn’t need to break it down.
“Bang.”
Aidan supplied the sound effect in advance.
“Bang!”
Sure enough, the moment the two guards pushed the door open, they were blown away.
For a moment, the narrow tunnel was filled with a massive wave of flames mixed with dust that surged outward from the explosion.
Aidan hurriedly jumped behind the metal frame, narrowly avoiding being swallowed by the flames.
“Damn, these explosives really pack a punch.”
Aidan looked at the iron door that had been completely blown apart, then turned back toward Tony and Ethan.
“Looks like we’d better hurry.”
Inside the monitoring room, the explosion shook the entire cave.
The images on the monitors turned into static.
The bald man immediately felt that things were slipping out of his control.
He hurriedly shouted at his men,
“Go catch them! Now!”
He then used his radio to contact the men outside the cave and ordered them to come in and provide backup.
…
“What do I need to do next?”
Ethan glanced at the doorway before asking Tony, who was inside the armor.
“Complete the final power transmission.”
“Okay. Now tell me, tell me! What do I do?”
Ethan turned toward the computer.
“Press F11. Tell me when you see the progress bar.”
Tony spoke from behind him.
“It should have popped up, right? Say something! Tell me when you see it!”
“I see it.”
Ethan immediately responded.
“Press Ctrl+I.”
“Okay.”
“Enter. Press I. Then Enter again. Aidan, come help me fasten this.”
“Coming.”
Seeing that he had something to do, Aidan hurried over to help.
“What next? What else do I need to do?”
Ethan asked anxiously.
“Wait…”
Tony shook his head toward Aidan.
“Wait until Aidan finishes fastening all the components… and wait for them to come in.”
Outside the door, dense footsteps echoed through the narrow tunnel, gradually making their way toward the cave where Tony and the others were.
“No, no, we’re out of time. They’re already here.”
Ethan looked toward the passage outside the cave and spoke to Tony and Aidan.
“Aidan, hurry! It doesn’t matter if it looks ugly. Just get it done!”
Tony urged him anxiously.
“They’re already here!”
Ethan looked around, searching for something he could use to defend himself.
After finding nothing, he hurried back to look at the progress bar on the computer.
It wasn’t even halfway done.
“You two listen carefully.”
Tony looked at Aidan, who was concentrating on fastening his armor, and Ethan, who was anxiously watching the progress bar.
“When I clear the checkpoint, you two must wait until then before following me out. Understand?”
“No.”
His expression was calm, yet somewhat dazed.
“We still need time…”
“Listen, Aidan!”
Ethan walked over, firmly grabbed Aidan by the shoulders, and looked at both Aidan and Tony.
“Finish fastening Tony’s armor. I’ll go out and buy you some time…”
“You have to stay alive… understand?”
“No, Ethan. Follow the original plan!”
Tony spoke nervously.
But Ethan ignored him.
He turned around and ran toward the doorway.
“Pa.”
Suddenly, a hand firmly grabbed Ethan’s arm.
Ethan turned his head.
It was Aidan.
“Aidan, what are you doing?!”
Ethan spoke in panic.
“Quick, finish Tony’s armor!”
“No, Ethan.”
Aidan lowered his head and spoke in a deep voice.
“Helping Tony put on his armor… that’s not my mission.”
“That should be yours.”
“And my mission!”
Aidan suddenly raised his head and looked at Ethan.
“Is to kill every last one of them for you!”
Tiny sparks and arcs of electricity burst through the air, dancing excitedly around Aidan’s body.
The thick hair on Aidan’s head began to stand on end.
A powerful current of air erupted from within his body and swirled around him.
In his pitch-black pupils, flames symbolizing death danced wildly.
“OMG!”
Tony and Ethan exclaimed simultaneously.
They were completely at a loss.
As scientists who stood at the forefront of technological advancement in the world, they were actually unable to explain this phenomenon through science.
At that moment, the only way they could express what they were feeling was with two words—
Holy shit!
But obviously, this wasn’t the time to care about any of that.
The most important thing now was to escape!
“Hic~”
Aidan suddenly hiccupped.
Instantly, all the sparks, electric arcs, and swirling air disappeared.
It was as if nothing had happened.
“Uh, sorry. I got a little carried away.”
Aidan gave the two of them a deliberately relaxed smile.
“I was just joking. I’ll go out and stall them for a while.”
“Tony, make sure you come rescue me as soon as possible. If you get here quickly, maybe I’ll even be able to leave a complete corpse~”
With that, Aidan turned around and walked toward the passage.
How could Aidan possibly defeat all those people by himself?
At least not now.
He was still too weak…
But he had no choice but to go.
He had plenty of reasons to do so.
…
Ethan stared at Aidan’s departing back.
It took him a long while to recover.
He hurriedly went back and continued helping Tony install the armor.
“Fus Ro Dah!”
Not long after Aidan left, a deep roar echoed through the cave.
It was an ancient language.
Yet when it reached mortal ears, it transformed into rolling thunder.
This was the roar of a god!
This was power derived from the very laws of existence!
The entire cave trembled beneath its might.
Watching chunks of rock fall from the ceiling, Tony lowered his head and spoke very seriously to Ethan.
“We really need to hurry.”
“Otherwise… well, we might not even get the chance to walk out of this cave.”
(End of Chapter)