Myriad thoughts swirled in his mind before finally dissipating.
Coming back to his senses, murder flashed in the Mandarin’s eyes.
“And then?” “They were locked up for two months, but escaped yesterday.
And this base was destroyed by them along the way, wasn’t it?” The officer lowered his head hastily and continued his report.
“Yes, sir.
According to our hidden recording technology, Tony Stark constructed a heavy suit of armor out of scrap parts inside the cave and used a flamethrower to burn most of the supplies.
But the most anomalous one was Luca Stark.” A trace of fear appeared on the officer’s face, as if visualizing the scene.
“Perimeter lookouts reported seeing Luca Stark transform into a completely different person.
He possessed superhuman strength, capable of flipping a fully armed pickup truck with his bare hands.” “He could also fire energy beams from his hands.
The base’s outer defenses were almost entirely flattened by him alone.” Hearing this, the Mandarin’s brow furrowed even deeper.
Flipping trucks with bare hands?
Firing energy beams?
That sounded almost identical to the superpowered monsters SHIELD had deployed back then.
These obviously non-human beings were always so insufferable.
As expected, how could Howard Stark’s sons be ordinary rich playboys?
They clearly possessed some unknown, mysterious power.
The Mandarin took a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down.
Now that it had happened, anger was useless.
As a leader, he had to make the right call.
“Sir, it was our oversight for failing to detect Benjamin’s unauthorized actions in time.
We are deeply sorry, sir.
Please punish us.” Seeing the Mandarin remain silent, the officer dropped to one knee on the sand and took the blame.
The Mandarin didn’t bother saying anything more and waved his hand dismissively.
“Forget it.
Get up.” “Benjamin brought this on himself.
He had salad dressing for brains to go and provoke the Stark family.” “He was asking for death!” “Even if he hadn’t been blown to pieces yesterday, I would have snapped his neck with my own hands.” The Mandarin glanced at the smoking ruins, his gaze returning to cold calm.
“It’s just a branch base.
Once destroyed, it’s destroyed.
As long as our core strength remains, I can rebuild ten more like this anytime.” “However, don’t think I’m easy to push around.
I’ll remember this debt.
But now is not the time for an all-out war with SHIELD.” The Mandarin raised his right hand and pointed toward the distance.
“All units, hear my command!
Return to headquarters immediately.
Once back, accelerate our progress in the laboratory!
Focus all our energy on those stones!” At this, a fanatical gleam appeared in the Mandarin’s eyes.
“Those stones are our real trump cards.
Once we unlock their secrets and harness their energy, the Stark family, SHIELD—all of them will be reduced to ash under our feet!” “Our plan must be completed before SHIELD realizes what’s happening!
Understood?!” “Understood, sir!” The twenty-plus subordinates shouted in unison.
The team immediately turned around and boarded several off-road vehicles parked behind the sand dune.
The Mandarin cast one final look at the ruins.
Then he pulled open a car door and sat in the lead vehicle.
The engines roared, kicking up clouds of yellow sand, and the convoy quickly vanished beyond the desert horizon.
…
Silence returned to the area once more, broken only by the howling wind blowing through the ruins.
About ten minutes after the Mandarin and his men left, an anomaly suddenly occurred in the cloudless sky.
A dazzling meteor abruptly appeared on the horizon.
Trailing a long tail, the meteor plummeted rapidly toward the ruins.
Normally, a meteor falling to Earth would create a massive sonic boom and cause a violent explosion upon impact.
Curiously, however, this meteor was eerily quiet.
There was no deafening roar, nor any blinding burst of flame.
Instead, it landed soundlessly inside a deep crater at the very center of the base’s ruins.
At the bottom of the crater hit by the meteor lay what appeared to be a charred meteorite.
Suddenly, the meteorite’s surface began to transform.
It turned into a liquid-like substance.
Inside the deep crater of the ruins, a spot on the meteorite writhed continuously.
The next second, a viscous, black tar-like substance oozed out from the meteorite.
This mass of black tar seemed alive as it spread and gathered rapidly on the ground.
It devoured the surrounding sand and absorbed moisture from the air.
Soon, the black tar condensed into the outline of a human figure.
Standing at the bottom of the crater, the figure continued to writhe and morph.
It rapidly constructed bones, muscles, blood vessels, and finally skin and hair.
The process of building the body looked unsettlingly strange, like clay being quickly molded into a living person.
In less than a minute, the black shadow had transformed into a complete human being.
A naked, muscular man stood quietly amid the ruins.
If the Mandarin were still here, he would have been utterly shocked.
Because in every aspect, this man looked identical to Benjamin, the former head of the base!
However, while this bald man was him, he was also not him.
The bald man’s eyes were cold and mechanical, devoid of human emotion.
His gaze swept his surroundings like a scanning machine.
Then, he slowly raised his right hand.
A slit split open in the center of his palm, squeezing out a sci-fi communicator from beneath his flesh.
Holding the communicator, the bald man pressed a few buttons.
A faint blue light glowed on the device.
Soon, a voice came through from the other side.
“Aruru, what is the situation?
Was the landing successful?” It turned out this fellow’s name was Aruru.
Aruru opened his mouth and reported into the communicator in stiff language.
“Sir, I have arrived safely on Earth.
Body reassembly complete; no resistance encountered.
Surrounding environment safe.” “Very good,” the voice on the communicator continued.
“This secret operation must proceed.” “Do not draw the attention of those superheroes or specialized organizations.
Act according to plan—lie low, find suitable targets, and do not delay our objective!” “Go, the Goddess will protect you!” “Understood, sir,” Aruru replied expressionlessly.
The blue light on the communicator went out, and the call disconnected.
Aruru pressed the communicator back into his palm, and the skin on his hand healed instantly.
Then, he turned his head toward a nearby pile of charred remains.
There lay the scorched corpse of the real base leader, Benjamin.
Though burned beyond recognition, some brain tissue and cellular material remained.
Aruru walked over to the remains and squatted down.
His right hand turned into a mass of black substance once more, covering the remains directly.
As the substance wriggled, Aruru began to absorb the biological information and lingering memories from the corpse.
This was an innate ability of his species.
As long as even a tiny trace of brain cells remained, they could read the deceased’s memories.
As the absorption progressed, countless images flashed through Aruru’s cold, mechanical eyes.
Memories belonging to Benjamin.
Aruru saw how Benjamin built the base here, how he traded arms, and how he kidnapped the Stark brothers.
Finally, the images froze on the massive explosion that had occurred yesterday.
In the memory, he clearly saw the faces of Luca and Tony.
Memory extraction complete.
Aruru retracted his right hand, the black substance turning back into a human arm.
He slowly stood up and stretched his body.
The corners of his mouth twisted into a stiff, unnatural smile.
He had found a perfect prey—a target possessing vast, unknown energy.
If he could devour that person, his mission on Earth might be completed rapidly.
“Stark, is it?” Aruru looked up at the distant sky and murmured in a strange cadence.
The next second, he bent his knees slightly and kicked off the ground.
*BOOM!* A massive crater was instantly stomped into the sand below.
Aruru launched into the sky, creating a powerful gust of wind.
He adjusted his trajectory in midair, turning into a black stream of light.
He flew off across the ocean toward the other side of the world.
Sunlight shone upon the ruins once more, as though nothing had ever happened.