A tall figure stood before Fu Qinghai, staring at him coldly.
A massive and ferocious metal mask helmet, surrounded by dense, thick, braid-like strips, iron-black pauldrons, chest armor, arm armor, leg armor, and a codpiece with bizarre alien styling; exposed outside the armor was skin as rough and ugly as crocodile hide.
A Predator!
Fu Qinghai finally understood what that blurry shadow he saw earlier was: a Predator that had infiltrated Stark Tower using its cloaking ability!
Two long, sharp wrist blades extended from a compartment on the arm armor of this terrifying alien warrior, the tips of the blades still dripping blood.
Fu Qinghai's eyes were wide open, and before he could react, a massive force yanked him up by his collar, and then he felt himself become airborne, the world spinning violently.
Then, with a "thud," he smashed heavily onto the floor, his gun flying to the side.
Fu Qinghai was grabbed by this Predator with one hand and violently flung toward the center of the living room.
That "thud" also alerted the people confronting each other inside the room, and everyone looked toward Fu Qinghai lying on the living room floor.
Ignoring the pain in his back, Fu Qinghai quickly surveyed the situation inside the room.
At this moment, Tony Stark, clad in Iron Man Battle Armor, sat dejectedly on the ground, leaning against a shattered liquor cabinet. His gold and red armor already had cracks as thick as a finger, with electric arcs flickering within the fissures. His helmet was completely shattered, exposing his entire face.
Not far from Tony Stark sat Colonel James Rhodes of War Machine, wearing silver and black armor; his condition was similar to Tony Stark's.
However, a bizarrely shaped metal spear was piercing through the seam in Colonel Rhodes' shoulder armor, pinning him against the wall behind him; he was barely clinging to life.
I was wondering why the Predator wasn't carrying its signature collapsible spear; turns out it was used to pin poor Colonel Rhodes.
Fu Qinghai looked to the other side.
Nearby, a black-haired woman in a black vest and camouflage pants held a classic silver-white Desert Eagle, holding Little Pepper, Pepper Potts, hostage, who looked terrified.
In the middle, a white-haired young man floated in mid-air. He was exceptionally handsome, looking like a mixed-race person, wearing white dress pants on his lower body, his strong upper body bare, with strange black markings flickering on his chest; he was not tall.
He was currently frowning, scrutinizing Fu Qinghai lying on the ground before him. The area around his eye sockets was an unusual shade of flushed red, making him look somewhat frenzied.
On the other side was a bald, burly white man holding a massive American M32 Grenade Launcher. Seeing the grenade launcher in his hand, Fu Qinghai understood how the previous explosions and the breached stairwell fire door had occurred.
Excluding the other corpses on the floor and Fu Qinghai himself, there were currently four villains and three heroes present.
"What's going on?" the white-haired young man frowned and looked at the Predator. "Musa, who is this?" He, who had just been delivering a long speech, was clearly displeased by an unknown interloper.
"An eavesdropper," a muffled, standard English came from the Predator's disproportionately large helmet.
Then, a red light shot out from a circular aperture on the side of his helmet, scanning Fu Qinghai completely.
"Normal person," the Predator concluded after the Scan.
"A normal person? Did he come here to die?" The white-haired young man glanced at Fu Qinghai with some confusion.
The three heroes also looked bewildered.
This... this is a bit awkward... What should I do? Facing such a dead end, Fu Qinghai's mind raced, frantically recalling how the weak protagonists in movies, anime, and novels managed to turn the tables against the odds.
Rhetoric! Right, they all relied on talking their way out of it.
"Ahem!" Although he didn't know what to say, Fu Qinghai, lying on the ground, coughed lightly. "Gentlemen, might I have a word first?"
"No listening," the white-haired young man, who had just been pontificating, replied with unusual directness.
"Slap!"
"Ah—" Fu Qinghai cried out in agony as a mist of blood erupted from his thigh.
A wisp of white smoke rose from the black-haired woman's gun muzzle. She repositioned the gun barrel toward Little Pepper's head and said lightly, "When Lord Murakami is speaking, no one should interrupt him. This is the first lesson you need to learn upon entering the Reincarnation World, newcomer."
The Reincarnators present had already categorized Fu Qinghai as one of their own; otherwise, his inexplicable behavior was hard to explain.
Ahhh... Damn it... He said he wouldn't listen, so why hit me! Are you a female simp! Fu Qinghai wailed in excruciating pain, feeling like his thigh had been shattered. Bright red blood gushed out, quickly forming a pool on the living room floor.
After silencing the presumptuous interloper for the time being, the attention of everyone in the room returned to the confrontation that had been ongoing.
At this moment, no one noticed a black bird flashing across the azure sky outside the glass wall.
"Hurry up and do it... Stop the damn nonsense. I've seen countless deaths in Vietnam; I won't be afraid of you damn mutant sissy... Ptooey!" Colonel Rhodes, barely alive, raised his head and spat a mouthful of bloody phlegm at the white-haired young man.
After Fu Qinghai's interruption, the white-haired young man seemed to lose his patience for Negotiation. His reddened eyes stared fixedly at Tony Stark's eyes, and Iron Man returned an equally cold and fearless gaze.
"Good, very good..." The white-haired young man grinned and nodded. "Such backbone!"
As soon as the words fell, he suddenly took a deep breath, swept his hand forward, and a pitch-black ripple materialized out of thin air, spreading toward Iron Man on the floor.
Unexpectedly, just then, Fu Qinghai, who was groaning softly in the pool of blood on the floor, curled up like a Grot, suddenly sprang up, using the last of his strength to prop himself up with one hand and one foot to block the black ripple.
"Crack!" Fu Qinghai was hit with a stun effect mid-air and fell like a rag doll in front of Iron Man. He felt his chest cavity had shattered, his Internal Organs minced into paste, and a massive amount of pain washed over his nerves, leaving him unable to even scream.
Tony Stark, who had been bracing for death, stared blankly at the scene before him.
Everyone present was also stunned.
"Damn it, you self-righteous ant... your life is truly cheap!"
Seeing that some ridiculous thing dared to block his Attack, the white-haired young man was furious. Perhaps the preceding battle where he dismantled two suits of Battle Armor had exhausted him; he took a breath, unable to unleash another similar blow.
【You saved the life of Iron Man Tony Stark, achieving a Stage Milestone Event!】
That cold voice suddenly appeared.
【Calculating Assimilation Points... 7136 points】
【Reincarnator detected on the verge of death, preparing for retrieval. Please quickly select an item within your control range or an already acquired Special Ability to begin Assimilation】
"Control... item..."
Fu Qinghai's consciousness was scattered by the pain of his broken body, his vision blurred, but the voice in his mind remained cold and clear, unaffected by any pain, presenting itself in his thoughts. He made "huk huk" gasping sounds from his throat, accompanied by the outflow of blood foam and flesh chunks, slowly extending his right hand, using all his remaining strength to Grab at everything around him he could reach.
Iron Man stared blankly at the blood-soaked figure spraying blood all over in front of him, reaching out and grabbing a large hard drive plugged into a nearby electronic instrument.
【Selection confirmed. This Assimilation will consume 7012 Assimilation Points. Beginning Assimilation... 1%, 15%, 30%...】
Suddenly, the hard drive that Fu Qinghai was gripping tightly was gently pulled away by a fair hand.
【Assimilation aborted】
"So..." The white-haired young man floating in the air played with the hard drive in his hand. "You risked your life for this thing?"
He chuckled lightly. "Then I'll give it to you." With that, he forcefully jammed the interface end of the entire hard drive into Fu Qinghai's Head.
"Pfft—" The entire hard drive, cast from hard alloy, was driven into the back of Fu Qinghai's skull. The metal interface deeply entangled with his brain stem. Fu Qinghai stopped twitching and was completely dead.
The white-haired young man slowly stood up, wiped the splashed gore from his hand, and smoothed his sweaty white hair.
"The minor interlude is over. Now... it's time to send you on your way, Mr. Stark."
Before his words finished, the floor-to-ceiling glass beside them shattered with a "ping," and a Black Shadow with retracted wings of steel burst through the glass curtain wall, slamming into the white-haired young man, violently knocking him down from the air. The two figures tumbled together.
Without waiting to roll up, Falcon Sam Wilson shouted into his comms: "Captain, now!"
A blue-clad muscular man burst out from behind the door, spinning his Vibranium shield with all his might. The sharp edge of the shield fiercely struck the Predator. Caught off guard, the Predator quickly raised its arm to defend, but having lost the initiative, it was forced into a continuous retreat by Captain America's follow-up combination punches.
Witnessing this, the black-haired woman's eyes widened in fury. Just as she was about to pull the Trigger, there was a "swish," and an arrow, shot from an unknown source, was lodged in her temple.
The hand holding the Desert Eagle dropped limply. Little Pepper quickly broke free from control and scrambled toward Tony Stark.
The bald strong man holding the Grenade Launcher hurriedly dove behind the bar to evade the ghostly arrow shot from an unknown direction. He crawled among the wreckage of the furniture, ripped off the miniature microphone from his earpiece, and roared into it: "Banks! Didn't you already tie up Captain America?"
There was a moment of silence from the microphone, then a sneer came through: "Sorry, Grant. Actually... I wasn't on the same Faction as you from the start."
"Damn it... Traitor! You son of a..."
"Swish!" Another arrow lodged itself into the bald white man's smooth Head.
"Enough!"
"Boom—" A thick pillar of sky-blue and white light erupted from the floor. The Shockwave pushed the Falcon, who was about to grapple with the white-haired young man, Captain America, who was in the thick of battle, and the Predator all flying to the side.
As the light pillar dissipated, the white-haired young man, his face contorted and eyes blood-red, floated in mid-air. His previously bulging muscles had now withered and collapsed, and black markings had spread to his Neck, as if he were draining his Vitality.
Captain America Steve Rogers silently got up. Without any nonsense, he threw his Vibranium shield. The shield spun as it flew toward the white-haired young man. The moment it made contact, the white-haired young man's figure vanished and reappeared instantly, having just dodged the incoming shield, only to be met by a fist the size of a sandbag.
"Bang! Bang! Bang!" Captain America landed blow after blow, punch after punch, giving the white-haired young man no chance to retaliate.
The white-haired young man pushed forcefully with both palms, causing a honeycomb-patterned light shield made of blue-white illusory light to appear before him, barely blocking Captain America's combo.
However, he failed to notice that the shield he had just thrown, after smashing through the floor-to-ceiling glass and flying outside the building, was spinning back.
"Thud!" The Vibranium shield slammed hard into the white-haired young man's waist. The power of Orochi, gained by draining his Vitality, could no longer be maintained. He spat out a mouthful of black blood and crashed to the ground.
Seeing this, the Predator, which had hidden near the door at some point, took a deep look at the people inside the room, its figure slowly becoming Transparent until it vanished.
Yet, no one noticed that on Fu Qinghai's Corpse, between the hard drive lodged in his Skull and his brain stem, a faint Electric Arc was flickering.
【Control regained. Beginning Assimilation... 78%... 99%... Assimilation complete. Retrieving Reincarnator Soul】
【Reincarnation Life -1】
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