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73.16% Marvel : Super Soldier at the Start / Chapter 169: Mandarian

Chapitre 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. 

*******************************************

You can get access to early chapters on patr*on.

If you like my work and you want to support me then you can become my patron on patre*n.

My patr*on account is S_Pandey_0170


Chapitre 170: Wet

A mansion on the outskirts of Miami. 

A spatial wormhole silently appeared on the road beside the mansion. 

Blake, Tony, and Thor stepped out of the wormhole. 

As soon as they arrived, Tony instructed Jarvis to scan the mansion. 

The scanning results showed that there wasn't a single heat source exceeding the standard within the mansion. 

This indicated that there was no sign of an Extremis-enhanced warrior present. 

"If the tracking results weren't wrong, it seems like we're a step too late again!" 

"We'll know for sure once we go in and take a look!" 

Blake took the lead, kicking the door open and stepping inside. 

The mansion was heavily guarded, with numerous black-clad men patrolling armed with handguns. 

However, against three Avengers capable of flying, teleporting, and being impervious to bullets, their resistance was no more effective than wielding foam shields against firearms. 

The trio headed straight for the inner house, taking down any resisters with ease, walking as if they owned the place until they reached a room on the top floor. 

Pushing the door open, they found the so-called Mandarin lying on a bed, sound asleep, with two women in his arms. 

Blake casually picked up the two women—models that Killian had somehow recruited—and tossed them to the floor. Ignoring their screams, he frowned as he looked at the Mandarin, still sleeping soundly on the bed. 

"Thor, give him a wake-up call he won't forget. Not too much power—just enough to wake him up!" 

Hearing Blake's words, Thor nodded, stepped onto the bed, placed Mjölnir above the Mandarin's groin, and lightly tapped the hammer with his hand. 

A small bolt of electricity, no thicker than a cotton swab, zapped directly onto the Mandarin's groin. 

"OOOWWW!" 

The Mandarin jerked awake with a howl, sitting up in a panic. 

"Oh! Who was that? Damn, that felt amazing! Which little sweetheart woke me up this way? What did you use, some new kind of toy?" 

Still groggy, the so-called Mandarin hadn't fully opened his eyes and was wearing an expression of enjoyment. 

This left Thor utterly speechless. If he could, he would've smashed the man's face with Mjölnir right then and there. 

But since they couldn't kill him, Thor could only helplessly look at Blake. 

Blake shrugged. "He says he enjoys it, so give him another round!" 

This time, the lightning was at least twice as strong as before. As the current surged into the Mandarin's groin, Blake could even hear the crackling sparks as the electricity hit flesh. 

"AAARRRGH!" 

The Mandarin's eyes flew wide open this time, his expression shifting from fear to emptiness, then to bewilderment, and finally to bliss. 

To put it simply, it was the kind of expression you'd make after holding in your pee for forty minutes and finally finding a restroom, releasing it in a moment of utter relief. 

Sure enough… 

"Damn! That was a bit too much this time… I think I wet myself!" 

As he spoke, the Mandarin reached into his pants, touched around, then brought his hand to his nose for a sniff. 

"Damn! I really did wet myself. Haha! I should've taken a photo to commemorate this!" 

*BANG!* 

This so-called Mandarin was such a character… 

His comment startled Thor so much that he jumped off the bed, but he didn't control his footing, and the entire bed collapsed with a crash! 

Thor landed on the floor, tangled in the mattress. 

It was only then that the Mandarin perked up and looked around. 

"Huh? I don't think I've seen you guys before. Where are my girls? Are you actors too?" 

*THUD!* 

Tony fired a repulsor blast at a spot less than ten centimeters below the Mandarin's groin. 

The mattress was instantly blasted, leaving a small pit that exposed the scorched springs underneath. 

"If you don't want me to aim directly at your little friend down there…" 

"I surrender! I surrender! I'm just an actor! Whatever you want to know, I'll tell you! I was hired to act—I haven't done anything wrong. They forced me into this!" 

Before Tony could even finish his sentence, the Mandarin raised both his hands in surrender. 

At that moment, footsteps echoed from the doorway. The three turned around to see it was Rhodey. 

"They stole my suit—right now the President might be in danger, and I need to—wait, is that *the Mandarin*?" 

Rhodey stopped mid-sentence when he noticed the Mandarin lying on the bed. He didn't know yet that this was just a puppet. 

Worried about the President's safety, Colonel Rhodes immediately demonstrated his military instincts. He rushed forward and delivered a powerful kick, sending the Mandarin sprawling face-first onto the floor. 

Rhodey pinned him down with a knee to his back, yanked his arms behind him, and tore off a strip of the bedsheet using his teeth. 

With swift efficiency, he tied the Mandarin's hands behind his back and pressed the barrel of his handgun to the back of the Mandarin's head, coldly saying, "Tell me your plan!" 

The whole process took less than two seconds. As Rhodey finished speaking, Blake, Tony, and Thor all took two synchronized steps back, leaving at least a two-meter distance between themselves and Rhodey. 

"What are you guys doing?" 

Instead of answering Rhodey's question, the Mandarin kept wailing in pain. Rhodey noticed the trio's odd behavior and asked in confusion. 

"Well… I gave him a couple of light electric shocks earlier, and, uh, I think he wet himself!" 

"Yep, right on that bed!" 

"He even touched it himself. Oh, by the way, did you grab his hand earlier? You might also want to check that bedsheet you tore—does it feel a bit damp?" 

The three spoke one after another, and after hearing their words, Rhodey's expression froze. 

His eyes widened in disbelief as he looked down at his hands, then cautiously pinched the strip of fabric used to tie the Mandarin's hands. 

"AAAAHHHHH! I'LL KILL YOU, YOU BASTARD!" 

"Calm down, Rhodey, calm down! He can't die just yet. Take it easy. Also, if you're going to talk, please keep your hands away from me. I don't care if we're friends—I'll draw the line there!" 

After this little interlude—and thanks to the Mandarin's disorganized ramblings, likely due to the large amount of drugs he'd consumed before sleeping—it took the group over 20 minutes to piece everything together. 

They learned that the stolen War Machine suit had been taken aboard Air Force One, where the President was held hostage. 

Rhodey had already confirmed through his contacts that Air Force One had indeed been compromised a few hours earlier, and the President's whereabouts were now unknown. 

The group also discovered that the villains planned to execute the President publicly, under the Mandarin's name, during a live broadcast that night. The execution was set to take place on a ship called the *Nork*, an old oil tanker belonging to the now-defunct Roxxon Oil Company. 

Two years ago, the ship had spilled a massive amount of crude oil into the ocean. It had since been abandoned at a derelict dock in South Florida, making it an excellent secret base. 

Natasha and Pepper were also being held on the ship, so everyone was now united in their goal. 

"The only problem is, they've got a large number of Extremis-enhanced soldiers. They're practically unkillable and can breathe fire! And I've lost my suit—we're outnumbered!" 

As Rhodey spoke, he furiously sprayed disinfectant on his hands, as if trying to cleanse his soul. 

"That's true. Even someone like Cap would struggle against them. But we have two literal gods on our side!" 

Tony gestured toward Blake and Thor. 

"Plus, who said we're outnumbered? Jarvis, prep everything—we're throwing a family reunion!" 

*******************************************

You can get access to early chapters on patr*on.

If you like my work and you want to support me then you can become my patron on patre*n.

My patr*on account is S_Pandey_0170


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