The plan for their next move was quickly settled.
Lucas and Tony, with Ho Yinsen in tow, walked toward the hidden base inside the mountain.
By now, the energy of Tony’s suit was nearly exhausted.
The mini Arc Reactor on his chest glowed dimmer and dimmer.
With every step Tony took, the suit’s joints clanked noisily.
Not only was he moving sluggishly, but the gears around his thighs were starting to jam.
“Tony, is this pile of junk really an epoch-making weapon?
I think even old men in nursing homes walk faster than you.” Lucas mocked mercilessly, seeing Tony stumble along step by step.
Tony rolled his eyes and grunted back, out of breath.
“Shut up!
This is the presence of heavy armor!
I’m doing this to conserve energy, get it?
It’s a genius tactical choice.” Lucas shook his head with a helpless laugh.
He really couldn’t stand it anymore.
Walking at this snail’s pace, night would fall before they reached the base.
Stepping straight up, he grabbed an armor plate on the back of the suit’s neck.
“What are you doing?
Let go of me!
I’m warning you, don’t touch my work of art!” Tony yelled.
Lucas ignored his protests and exerted a bit of force in his arm.
In the next instant, they rose off the ground, hovering midair.
Then, he carried Tony, flying rapidly toward the depths of the tunnel.
Ho Yinsen stared jaw-dropped from behind and hurried to trot after them.
Midair, Tony’s limbs dangled helplessly as his heavy suit swayed back and forth.
“Damn it, Lucas!
Put me down!
You’re making me look like a turtle!” Tony protested loudly, feeling his pride hurt.
Lucas laughed heartily.
“Bro, you should be thanking me.
I’m saving your pitiful remaining energy.” Tony gritted his teeth, stubborn to the end.
“Nonsense!
I don’t need your help at all.
I’m just helping you test your flight weight limit!
This is valuable data, you should pay me a testing fee!” “Sure, I’ll buy you a cup of coffee back in New York as your testing fee.” Lucas replied with a smile as he rounded a corner in the tunnel, officially entering the inner base deep within the cavern.
The moment they stepped inside, both Tony and Ho Yinsen were stunned.
They had originally thought these terrorists would at most set up a few makeshift rooms and beat-up tables inside the cave.
But the scene before them was completely beyond their expectations.
Those damn bastards had hollowed out the entire interior of the mountain!
Inside was a massive circular facility with leveled flooring, extensive ventilation ducts, and independent generator units.
There were even several sterile laboratories packed with precision instruments.
Numerous screens flickered with deep blue light across the walls.
“A bunch of idiots eating sand in the Middle Eastern desert actually built a high-tech base this size?” Settled back on the ground, Tony marveled at the surrounding equipment.
Ho Yinsen was equally astonished.
“No wonder they managed to obtain so many advanced weapons.
This place is practically a mini underground munitions factory.” Lucas stood beside them with a relaxed look.
“Welcome to my nightmare, big bro.
Now you know how I spent the last two months.” “Not only did these bastards have full gear, but their leader was a germaphobe with severe OCD.
And I had to research this and that for them every single day.” Lucas pointed to a lit lab in the distance, his voice full of irritation.
“What pisses me off most is that the food here was absolute trash!
Awful food every day, not even a decent steak.
It was an utter insult to me.” Tony listened quietly to Lucas’s complaints.
Though he knew Lucas was using humor to mask his past suffering, the anger in Tony’s heart flared up nonetheless.
“Don’t worry, Lucas.
After today, nothing of this place will be left behind,” Tony said coldly, snapping his faceplate shut once more.
The three continued toward the command center deep within the base.
Along the way, sirens blared throughout the facility.
Remaining terrorist soldiers kept rushing out from various tunnels to stop them.
But against Lucas and Tony, these soldiers posed zero threat.
Tony took the lead.
Even with little energy left in his suit, he relied on its tough shell to charge through everything in his path.
Whenever soldiers shot at him, he raised a fist, sending both the man and his gun flying with a single punch.
Lucas’s side was much more casual and fluid.
With a wave of his hand, beams of blue and white energy shot from his palm, vaporizing the enemies hiding behind cover.
Throughout this process, Lucas continuously felt out the changes in his body.
He found that channeling energy projection was becoming increasingly second nature.
It was a miraculous sensation.
An instinct that came naturally upon awakening his abilities.
No incantations, no charging up—it was as simple as breathing.
As long as the thought formed in his mind, he could feel the energy surging through his blood vessels, converging at his eyes or palms.
Thinking the energy should burst out from there, he made it happen.
Everything flowed naturally like water finding its course.
Very quickly, all the soldiers charging at them along the way were cut down like weeds by the brothers.
The smell of scorching hung heavy throughout the base.
Moving without impediment, they arrived right in front of the commander-in-chief’s office at the deepest part of the base.
Tony raised his foot and kicked the door off its hinges.
Inside the office, a bald man in a suit stood sweating profusely before a safe.
Clutching a stack of hard drives, he was preparing to flee through a secret escape tunnel behind his desk.
This man was the base’s supreme leader—the germaphobic bald head.
Terrified by the loud crash of the kicked-in door, the bald leader shuddered violently, dropping hard drives all over the floor.
He turned his head and looked at the three blocking the doorway.
Damn it!
How are these guys so fast?!
“Yo, if it isn’t the great commander!
Where are you headed?
Carrying so many hard drives, are you opening an internet cafe in the desert?” Lucas couldn’t help laughing when he saw the bald man.
Walking casually into the office, he found a sofa, sat down, and crossed his legs.
The bald leader glared at Lucas, his eyes filled with resentment and malice.
“Damn you, Stark!
We spent two months experimenting without success!
When on earth did you inject the perfect serum?
You cunning bastard, you used the lab!” Hearing the bald man’s words, Lucas scoffed with utter disdain.
“Let me correct you on one point, idiot.
All of this happened because your scientists were too stupid.” “They couldn’t even read the blueprints.
They wouldn’t have developed a damn thing even in another hundred years.
And I was merciful enough to rewrite the core formulas for you guys.” Lucas spread his hands, acting completely naturally.
“Since I’m the one who derived the formulas, of course I get to enjoy them first.
That’s not taking advantage—that’s intellectual property protection.”