Bab 24: Discovering the Mass Grave
Tony's continuous grumbling made it clear that although he had been sent flying, he wasn't seriously hurt. After all, the Mark IV armor had double the protection, and even the paint wasn't scratched.
Just as he steadied himself and prepared to counterattack, the man with the insect head charged at him like a rhino.
"Bang!"
Tony was sent flying again.
This time, he flew directly toward the man with insect claws protruding from his abdomen.
The clawed man grabbed Tony in an instant, and the claws around his abdomen began to tighten.
"Crack... Crack..."
The sound of the armor struggling under pressure echoed, causing Tony's expression to shift slightly.
"Jarvis, report the situation."
"Mr. Stark, you are under immense pressure. The armor has already bent by one centimeter."
"Activate all countermeasures!"
The next second, mini-rocket launchers popped out from Mark IV's shoulders.
"Boom!"
The clawed man was instantly blown away by the rockets.
"Hiss... hiss..."
After a series of hissing noises, the clawed man quickly got back up.
Seeing that the opponent only had minor injuries that were already healing rapidly, Tony realized he was in trouble.
It seemed that even the non-mutated parts of these creatures had become incredibly strong.
These mini-rockets might not destroy a heavy tank, but they were more than sufficient against a light tank. This indicated that the skin of these insect-humans was as tough as medium tanks.
After a while, Tony noticed that the other two insect-humans were charging at him again. He quickly took to the sky, rising over fifty meters high.
He planned to use the same tactic, exploiting the fact that these insect-humans couldn't fly. If they evolved wings, he could simply fire armor-piercing rounds.
But this time, the insect-humans' reaction disappointed him.
After roaring for a while, the three creatures realized that their enemy wouldn't come down, so they turned and fled.
Seeing this, Tony immediately followed.
He suspected they were retreating to their base, so he planned to follow them and see if he could locate their stronghold and identify which organization was experimenting on these creatures.
After about ten minutes of pursuit, he had to engage them.
There was a small town not far ahead, and the road was filled with civilians, including children.
These insect-humans seemed to have lost all reason, killing any person they encountered. Even if this town was connected to the insect-humans, they had to be dealt with first, then investigated later.
"Whoosh... Whoosh..."
As two missiles launched, the three insect-humans were immediately blown away by the powerful blast.
Instead of running toward the town, the injured creatures started hissing at Tony in the air. Clearly, these insect-humans had intelligence issues.
But how to deal with them?
The only weapon capable of killing them was the armor-piercing rounds, but those couldn't be guided.
"It seems I have to restrict their movement space first."
After thinking for a moment, Tony's eyes lit up. He spotted a huge pit nearby.
He lowered his altitude slightly and began attacking the insect-humans with his repulsor beams, while flying toward the large pit.
But as he approached the pit, he almost threw up, his face turning pale.
The pit, though partially covered with dirt, revealed countless corpses and dismembered bodies.
There were at least thousands of bodies, making it a massacre.
Clearly, someone had slaughtered civilians and hastily buried them in this pit. But because the burial was shallow, animals had dug them up.
"Oh my God! Could these all be civilians massacred by the Ten Rings? This is demonic!"
After having Jarvis take photos and record the scene, Tony quickly remembered his mission.
Looking back, he found that the three insect-humans had jumped into the pit and were feasting on the bodies.
"Animals will always be animals!"
The next second, three armor-piercing rounds fired, instantly hitting the three feasting insect-humans.
"Boom..."
With a series of explosions, the three troublesome insect-humans were reduced to fragments.
After collecting some of the remains for research, Tony took to the sky again and headed back.
He was determined to make the atrocities that had occurred here known to the world.
...............
"One hour later"
In a secret base of the Ten Rings:
A man wearing a face cover, revealing only his eyes, walked into an office.
Inside, a Middle Eastern man in his sixties with a long beard was seated. He was the current leader of the Ten Rings, known as "The Holy One."
After the Mandarin abandoned the Ten Rings and vanished more than twenty years ago, the organization's Middle Eastern branch had been taken over by The Holy One.
Hearing the door open, The Holy One looked up at the newcomer.
"Muhaad, what's the urgency?"
Muhaad, still catching his breath, hurriedly said, "Holy One, our forces in Gomira have suffered heavy losses. Three of the God-Gifted have been killed."
Hearing such a significant loss, The Holy One frowned deeply.
"Who did this?"
"We don't know yet," Muhaad shook his head, then hesitantly asked, "Could it be the U.S. military?"
In 2008, the U.S. military still held its title as the world's police force, meddling in various conflicts. Muhaad, knowing full well what they were involved in, feared it might be the U.S. military interfering.
But The Holy One immediately shook his head.
"It couldn't be the U.S. military."
Seeing Muhaad's puzzled expression, he didn't elaborate, simply saying, "It might have been that Iron Man, or as he's now called, Tony."
"Send people to the nearby villages and ask if any robots have been spotted."
"Yes."
Muhaad nodded and left the room.
Watching his subordinate leave, The Holy One rubbed his temples in frustration, then retrieved a hidden phone from a secret compartment and dialed a mysterious number.
"An hour ago, our base in Gomira was attacked."
"By whom?"
"We still don't know who the enemy is, but they are incredibly powerful. I've already lost four enhanced individuals."
"You know we can't intervene directly."
"I need three hundred million U.S. dollars to purchase thirty vials of the enhancement serum."
"Impossible."
"How much can you give?"
There was a moment of silence on the other end.
"How is your plan progressing?"
"We're at a critical stage. They've agreed to cooperate with us once we take control of the Gomira region, to support our southern offensive."
"One hundred million. When you take Gomira, I'll transfer the funds."
"Beep... beep..."
As the call ended, The Holy One, expressionless, set down the phone and lowered his head, lost in thought.
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