Gradually, Tony was getting closer to the truth and finding the whole situation increasingly absurd.
It all traced back to one act of arrogance and a one-night stand.
He had dismissed Aldrich Killian, who was actually quite talented, and had a fling with Maya Hansen. In the process, he casually solved a "small problem" for her, which Maya saw as the key to overcoming the limitations of the Extremis virus.
Thus, the two geniuses Tony had wronged teamed up and formed a miniature version of the "Avengers" aimed solely at him.
Aldrich swore to destroy everything Tony held dear.
Just as Tony began to fight back and discovered that the Mandarin was just a hired actor and that Aldrich was his true enemy, things spiraled out of control.
Aldrich used AIM to plant a Trojan horse in the Iron Patriot armor, which allowed him to trick its pilot—Tony's old friend James Rhodes—and seize control of the armor. He used it to infiltrate Air Force One and kidnap the President of the United States.
Meanwhile, a showdown ensued, and Aldrich also kidnapped Pepper Potts.
Up until this point, history seemed to be following its usual course.
Except...
On Atreus 's private island, a team of Aldrich's men was swiftly advancing through the dense forest, heading towards the villa.
But they weren't ordinary soldiers.
At one time, they had been elite veterans of the U.S. military, only to be forced into retirement due to injuries.
Aldrich had tempted them with the Extremis virus, telling them they could restore their permanently lost limbs through this experiment.
Under the control of the Extremis virus, these veterans not only regained their lost arms and legs but also gained superhuman strength.
Suddenly, fully armed, they heard some strange noises.
"Do you hear that?"
"Hoofbeats?"
"No! It's more than that... it sounds like a carriage?"
"Who the hell rides a carriage these days?"
But the sound of horses neighing and wagon wheels rolling grew louder.
With their vast combat experience, they immediately spread out, taking advantageous positions and aiming their M4 assault rifles with large drum magazines in the direction of the sound.
The grass was only about 10 centimeters high, offering little cover, and the few large boulders scattered around became the best cover they could find.
When something strange appeared about 100 meters away on the hillside, it finally entered their sight.
It really was a carriage, but not just any carriage. It was a Greek-style chariot that should only exist in museums or historical legends.
The biggest difference from history was that the three horses pulling the chariot were not only magnificent and adorned with lavish golden decorations, but their bodies were also semi-transparent.
One sharp-eyed invader spotted that standing in the chariot was none other than their target, Atreus Wayne.
Orders were clear—capture or kill him. Without hesitation, they opened fire on Atreus .
"Rat-tat-tat-tat!" The rapid bursts of the assault rifles echoed through the air like popcorn popping.
By all accounts, a normal person would have been riddled with bullets by now.
The chariot was fast, but the 100 to 50-meter range was ideal for their assault rifles.
However, the expected scene of the horses and driver being gunned down never materialized.
Instead, the bullets striking the horses' heads produced a bizarre shower of sparks.
The bullets... were ricocheting!
"This is impossible!" The less experienced members of the group were collectively stunned.
They may have had other ideas, but the speed of the chariot left no time for them to act.
In that instant, some tried to dodge, others reloaded with grenade launchers, and a few pulled the pins on their hand grenades. But all their actions were rendered futile when the chariot driver cracked a whip, doubling the speed of the horses in a split second!
It was absurd!
Like an electric vehicle launching from a standstill, the three magnificent immortal horses surged forward and, in the blink of an eye, closed the 50-meter gap.
The first three invaders were struck by the immortal horses, their bodies twisted grotesquely, as though all their bones had shattered into a thousand pieces.
It was clear they wouldn't survive.
"Ahhhh!" One invader, seeing no chance of escape, turned a strange shade of red, stretched out his arms, and braced himself against the chest of the lead horse, attempting to stop its advance with his superhuman strength.
To be honest, his strength was nothing to scoff at. When man and horse collided, the ground beneath him sank half a meter.
But despite his power, three times that of a normal person, he was no more than a large insect to the immortal horse blessed by Poseidon.
The horse trampled over him without even slowing down.
In the next instant, he was caught under the wagon wheels, unable even to self-destruct.
It was as if a mysterious black hole in the chariot absorbed the final burst of red energy from his body.
Not even a sound of explosion, not a peep.
All that echoed through the area was the gruesome crunch of bones being crushed beneath the wheels.
"Run!"
The remaining invaders fled for their lives, but they weren't twice as fast as ordinary humans! And now, golden blades had suddenly emerged from both sides of the wagon wheels, extending the killing range to ten meters on either side.
"Ahhhh!" Even if they turned semi-transparent and summoned all the power the Extremis virus gave them, they couldn't withstand the chariot's deadly onslaught.
One survivor, thinking he'd narrowly escaped death by lying flat, was struck down by a single spear to the head.
Perhaps this was fate's way of saying that surviving disaster meant getting a finishing blow.
In an instant, all the invaders were dead.
At that moment, Atreus was riding the fourth horse, a rare crimson steed from the Amazon, cracking its 20 cm whip non-stop.
He glanced around the now empty area and casually asked, "Did we hit something just now?"
Panting heavily, Penthesilea tugged at the reins, "Probably... just some bugs under the wheels. It's fine, let's continue our ride."
"Alright!"
Not long after, Tony, having just learned that both the President and Pepper had been kidnapped, suddenly received an anonymous email on his Iron Man interface.
Attached to the email was a photo of the dead Extremis soldiers.
The message read: "Some idiots messed with me."
James Rhodes, standing next to Tony, noticed his hesitation and asked, "What is it?"
"Good news."
"Huh?"
"Aldrich's men seem to have pissed off some folks from Gotham they shouldn't have."
Soon enough, this loyal U.S. Army Colonel would find out exactly who Aldrich had messed with.
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