Chapter 169: Mandarian
"We must find those bastards as soon as possible!" Tony slammed his fist onto the table with a bang.
He couldn't bear the thought of Pepper being unable to withstand the Extremis virus, leading to her eventual explosion.
"Are you okay?"
Agent Hill looked at Tony and asked.
"He's fine, Hill. He's just overly worried about Pepper," Blake said, stepping forward and gently placing a comforting hand on Tony's shoulder.
"I'm not worried about him now; I'm more concerned if he can handle watching this video," Hill said, her eyes fixed on the computer screen.
The footage showed Natasha and Pepper tied to a metallic single bed. The two appeared semi-conscious, but faint orange-red glows were visible moving under their skin.
At the same time, a voiceover began:
"This is phase one. In three days, I'll inject them with phase two. By the way, the success rate for phase two is only 15%. If you don't want these two lovely ladies to go boom and turn to ash, you have three days, Tony Stark!"
"I know you have Maya Hansen. She has all the data on the Extremis virus—everything you need to calculate the most stable solution. Remember, you only have three days, Tony Stark!"
Without saying a word, Tony turned and stormed off. He had to find Maya Hansen immediately and start working.
Blake felt uneasy and was about to follow, but Captain America appeared out of nowhere.
"They need you here. If we locate those scumbags, you'll need to be ready to act immediately. I'll keep an eye on Tony. Don't worry!"
The Captain turned and left, leaving Blake staring at the video of Natasha, silent and motionless.
"Are you... okay?"
After a long pause, Hill asked softly from the side.
Since Natasha had been captured, Blake's first thought was whether she'd be injected with the Extremis virus. If she was, in a way, it might not be entirely bad for her.
If Natasha died because she couldn't handle the virus, Blake was determined to reverse time again and save her.
This was why he had been calmly tracking Killian's whereabouts without showing much urgency.
But now, seeing the video, Blake was starting to feel anxious.
In the movie, the scene of Pepper being injected with the virus was just a brief shot.
But having read the data from those human experiments, Blake knew the process was anything but pleasant.
Seeing Natasha in the footage made Blake's heart ache—and it also enraged him.
Ever since crossing paths with the Eternals, Blake's journey in this world had been smooth. His strength had always overwhelmed his enemies, giving him a slight sense of arrogance and a "game-like" mindset.
But that footage was like a needle stabbing into his heart, reminding him that this wasn't a game or a movie. This was a real, living world.
A thousand thoughts flashed through Blake's mind, but he lifted his head and replied to Hill with a blank expression.
"I'm fine. Can you trace the signal's source?"
"Of course, but the sender was careful. This video was uploaded through a mall's computer kiosk. It's worthless for tracking."
Hill's hands danced across the keyboard, pulling up her tracking results for Blake to see.
"Earlier, Maya Hansen mentioned that the so-called terrorist Mandarin is nothing more than a smokescreen set up by Killian. Any thoughts on that?"
"Oh?"
Hill's eyes lit up, and she quickly pulled up a video of the Mandarin. Pointing to the screen, she explained to Blake:
"If it's a video like the one we just received, they could put it on a USB drive and upload it from anywhere. Even if we traced it, it wouldn't matter."
"But for something like this," she continued, pointing to a live satellite-hacked TV broadcast, "it's different. Unlike internet signals, satellite hacks leave traces. We can reverse-engineer the signal to pinpoint the broadcast location."
"However, there are two conditions: I'll need J.A.R.V.I.S. to dedicate all of its computational power during the signal transmission, and we don't know when—or if—they'll broadcast again."
Blake didn't respond immediately. Instead, he stood and spoke directly into the air.
"J.A.R.V.I.S., ask Tony to grant Hill full access. Also, send Dr. Banner over to help Tony."
"Understood, sir. However, Dr. Banner is already in Mr. Stark's lab," J.A.R.V.I.S. replied.
Once J.A.R.V.I.S. confirmed, Blake turned back to Hill.
"Keep your eyes on the TV. Trust me, the Mandarin will appear on screen again soon."
Blake was right. Killian, just like in the movie, wasn't simply using the Vice President's daughter's condition to gain leverage for convenience. He had a larger plan: assassinate the U.S. President, elevate the Vice President to power, and manipulate everything from the shadows.
Afterward, he'd make the "Mandarin" appear on television more often and orchestrate more bombings worldwide.
Once the Extremis virus was perfected, Killian planned to unleash an army of Extremis-enhanced soldiers, seize control of politics from behind the scenes, and position himself as the successor to the Avengers—a new, ultimate superhero.
That was his true ambition: to stand high above, like the floating base hovering over Los Angeles right now. He believed that was where he belonged.
"Eric, inject the second stage of the virus into those two women immediately," Killian ordered, snapping out of his fantasy.
"But didn't you say to wait three days? Are you really willing to risk their lives? I thought you said you liked these two trophies—especially Stark's woman."
"Anyone who can't survive the virus isn't worthy of my admiration. Stark will perfect the virus anyway. Even if these two die, we can grab random people off the street for experiments. Heroes like them—Avengers—will always come running to save the day, won't they?"
Killian's eyes gleamed with madness.
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