Sun Xiaoxiao took back the phone Tony handed her and whipped around. "Hey! Still trying to run?!" She changed her hand seal and pointed at the half-cooked wizard. He immediately froze in place.
"Need interrogation? I'm not great at it, but I brought a detailed guide to the Ten Great Tortures of the Qing Dynasty that the elders gave me. Want to take a look?" Sun Xiaoxiao looked at Tony eagerly.
Tony shivered. After his contact with China, he'd learned about some Chinese things. He'd seen what Sun Xiaoxiao mentioned online. "No thanks. Keep what your elders gave you safe!"
"By the way, how's your lightning different from Thor's? You both play with thunder—should have common ground, right?" Tony awkwardly changed the subject.
Sun Xiaoxiao pulled Tony onto her flying sword and explained. "It's different. Thor's is innate talent—like divine authority. Our thunder magic is different. We cultivate unity between heaven and man. Whether it's thunder magic or anything else, we complete it by borrowing the power of heaven and earth through methods. If it wasn't an emergency just now and I didn't have time to gather storm clouds, he would've been ash on the spot instead of running around."
The two stopped on a container next to the dark wizard. Tony said, "Release him. I need to ask some questions. Don't know where Killian and the President are."
Sun Xiaoxiao pouted. "I'll lock down the space so he can't run!" She began changing hand seals, striking at the surrounding space. Tony tested it himself—Apparition was indeed blocked. He nodded at Sun Xiaoxiao, and she released her control over the dark wizard.
"Filthy half-breed! And sick man of East Asia! You give me..." The dark wizard started cursing the moment he was freed.
Tony couldn't help stepping back two paces.
"What did you say?" Sun Xiaoxiao's expression was calm. "Bastard! This lady will show you what 'sick man of East Asia' means!"
She waved her hand. A gale appeared around the dark wizard, carrying invisible blades that spun around him like he was in a meat grinder. Instantly, he had barely any good flesh left. But Sun Xiaoxiao controlled it perfectly—all surface wounds that just looked scary with all the blood.
Tony couldn't help swallowing. In his time dealing with Chinese people, he'd discovered you could say anything about them personally, but once it involved their country and people, any Chinese person would explode with surprising energy. That dark wizard would've been better off calling Sun Xiaoxiao a half-breed—probably wouldn't have made her this angry.
The gale stopped. The dark wizard floated in the air, screaming.
"East Asia, huh!" Sun Xiaoxiao expressionlessly waved her hand. A slap appeared out of nowhere on the dark wizard's face, sending him flying left. "Sick man, huh?" Another slap appeared, sending him back to his original position. "Ever seen a lady like this?" "Today I'll show you!" "What 'sick man of East Asia' means!" One sentence, one slap. The dark wizard tumbled through the air but couldn't escape Sun Xiaoxiao's control.
Tony stepped back two more paces and looked up. "Stop hitting him! My armor's here! Can you find Killian and the others?"
Sun Xiaoxiao's face was dark. She made a grasping motion at the dark wizard, raised him high, and slammed him down hard. He rose with her hand and crashed to the ground, immediately unconscious. "I can try with a tracking compass. Oh, George and the others arrived too. Let's ask if they found anything."
Tony fell backward on the container. An opened Mark suit fell behind him, wrapping around him. The next moment he shot into the air. "I think you're right. I see them. Is that dark wizard still alive? If not, we'll have to get information from his brain."
Sun Xiaoxiao's expression improved slightly. "You should've said so earlier! We have soul-searching methods. Just big side effects—people easily become idiots. He's useless now, right? Perfect for me to practice on!"
Tony laughed dryly. "Let's see what George and the others say. If there's no news, then we'll..."
Before Tony could finish, a flame suddenly shot from nearby, heading straight for the seemingly unprotected Sun Xiaoxiao.
Tony rushed toward Sun Xiaoxiao without thinking, but it was too late—he couldn't match the speed of light.
Bang!
The flame hit Sun Xiaoxiao. Tony desperately shouted, "Sun Xiaoxiao!"
"Ptui ptui ptui!" The flame scattered. Sun Xiaoxiao spat something out while waving her arms to disperse the smoke.
"This fire's pretty fierce, huh?" Sun Xiaoxiao looked in surprise at the finger-sized hole in her sleeve.
Tony's anguished voice cracked completely. "How are you unhurt? No, I mean... huh?"
Sun Xiaoxiao looked at her sleeve sadly. "This is the Daoist robe my great-uncle personally enchanted with formations before I left home!"
"Stupefy!"
"Protean Charm!"
"Expelliarmus!"
Chaotic spell voices rang out. Colorful spells rained from the sky. Tony followed their target and saw Killian had arrived with his men and the bound President.
Just as fighting was about to break out, Killian grabbed the President behind him and laughed maniacally. "Come on! Fight! Shoot at me! Let's see who..."
Whoosh!
Killian froze for two seconds before letting out a piercing scream. His hand and half his shoulder were cleanly severed. Everyone looked to see a gleaming flying sword flying toward Sun Xiaoxiao with the bound President hanging from its hilt.
The President carefully maintained his position, not daring to move. Above him was just a thin sword—if he accidentally cut the rope, he looked at the void below and tried to stay calm. It's fine! I'm rescued! the President thought.
The President felt an eternity had passed before Iron Man caught him. With a gentle tug, the ropes fell away. He fumbled for the tape on his mouth, looked at the people around him, steeled himself and ripped it off. The pain nearly brought tears to his eyes. Looking at the clean tape, the President was grateful he didn't have a beard!
"Wow, are No-Maj presidents this brave? That looked painful!" a young American Auror whispered to his friend.
His black friend looked embarrassed at everyone's stares. "Stop talking!"
"What? Can't I say it? I was going to help him remove it, but he just ripped it off. Hiss! Looked so painful!" the young Auror continued.
The President nearly couldn't hold back tears. Why did he have to hear that? Couldn't these wizards speak quieter?!
"Wow! That No-Maj's arm grew back! Does he have Flobberworm blood? Growing so fast?!" the young Auror shouted in surprise.
Only then did everyone pay attention to Killian. His severed shoulder and arm had regrown. If not for the blood on his clothes, everyone would think the earlier events were illusion.
"Stark! I'll never let you go!" Killian shouted angrily, glaring venomously at Tony floating in the air, then turned to run.
"Want to run in front of all of us? Who gave you that confidence?" George sneered. On his broom, too lazy to land, he held an arm-thick Beater's bat and swung hard at Killian.
A black sphere shot toward Killian at invisible speed. Everyone heard the crisp sound of breaking bones.
Killian screamed and collapsed again.
"New product! Beater's bat!" George said proudly. "Experience a Beater's joy anytime, anywhere! The downside is it easily causes injury, but that's also an advantage! Perfect for hidden self-defense!"
Tony looked speechlessly at George's bat. This thing wasn't exactly hidden, was it?
Killian stood up again. "My turn next!" Liz Kowalski urged her broom forward. "My grandmother taught me a fun spell!"
Without using her wand, she just pointed a finger at Killian. The shouting Killian immediately quieted, looking blankly at the sky, then showing a blissful smile. Step by step, he walked to the platform's edge, spread his arms, and jumped off in a bungee-jumping pose.
"Imperius Curse?" An Auror glared at Liz. The No-Maj President was still here—exposing this kind of mind-control magic now would be compromising!
"Not Imperius, just illusion." Liz stuck out her tongue and quietly stepped back.
Tony was even more speechless. What kind of people were these?! His suits under JARVIS's control were intercepting Killian's men, self-destructing to blow them to pieces, while this group was taking turns playing with Killian?!
"Look! He recovered! Who's next?" Everyone shouted excitedly at the awakening Killian on the ground, arguing over turn order.
"By the way, Congressman Stark, do you still need this person?" The Auror Director looked at Tony with shining eyes. "If not, could you give him to us? This person's so useful! Recovers instantly—this kind of unbreakable target, ah no, research material. What do we need to pay to take him?"
Tony pretended not to hear the Director's slip. "You'll have to discuss that with the President. After all, the President is the victim."
The Director quickly dismounted his broom, straightened his clothes, and approached the President. The two began quiet discussions, completely ignoring the group of wizards having fun. After all, one No-Maj couldn't escape under a group of wizards' noses, right?
Soon they reached an agreement. The President was satisfied as he pocketed a handful of protective charms and additional permanent Auror bodyguards. Tony felt those charms looked familiar—like Gemini's practice items. The Auror Director began examining Killian's condition, no longer considering the President's opinion, directly using the Imperius Curse to control Killian and Apparating away with him.
Seeing the officials leave and the human target taken away, everyone said goodbye to Tony and Apparated directly, leaving Tony standing there stunned. JARVIS had blown up all his suits! Only Tony was left injured.
Everyone else was gone, but Tony couldn't leave yet. He still had to send the President back and bring Rhodes, who he'd left nearby.
Tony removed his armor, let JARVIS control it to fly back, grabbed one person in each hand, and Apparated away from the battle-scarred dock.
After depositing the violently sick President at the White House and sending the now-numb Rhodes back to the military with a promise to make another War Machine, Tony wearily returned to the All-Purpose Shop.
Pepper and the discharged Happy were pacing anxiously in the reception room. When they saw Tony appear, Pepper threw herself at him and gave him a fierce kiss.
"Ahem, watch it. There are people here." Gemini coughed expressionlessly.
Pepper blushed and pushed Tony away, sitting on the sofa.
The two began telling Gemini about their experiences, hoping to extract useful information. After all, the dark wizards they'd encountered didn't seem to be acting alone—there was definitely an organization behind them.
"You're sure? They said Muggle?!" Gemini frowned.
Tony looked confused. "Is something wrong?"
Gemini sighed helplessly. Tony never wanted to focus on common knowledge—so frustrating. "In America, non-magical people are called No-Majs. China originally called them mortals, Japan calls them civilians. Only Britain, Germany, and France—these three nearby countries—call non-magical ordinary people Muggles."
"This means those dark wizards came from Europe?!" Tony's expression grew serious.
"Can't rule out their base being elsewhere." Gemini nodded. "I'll notify Harry's side. They need to know the situation here—a new dark wizard organization."
Tony collapsed on the sofa. "Why do I always encounter these things? Where's the big guy? Haven't seen him lately."
Gemini paused. "He said he saw a supposedly dead friend a few days ago and went to investigate. I can't contact him casually—wouldn't want to expose him. The bald guy activated a safe house yesterday. Seems their HYDRA cleanup isn't going smoothly."
Tony pinched his nose bridge. "Alright. When convenient, tell him if he needs help, just shout. I don't like the bald guy, but the big guy's my friend."
Gemini smiled. "I'll let him know. Go back—you're tired enough."
Tony got up from the sofa, drained the coffee Coby poured him in one gulp, and left with Pepper. Happy's car waited outside—finally finding his chance to resume his driver position.
After seeing Tony off, Gemini took out a mirror, tidied herself up a bit, and used the two-way mirror to contact Harry. Recently, both Astoria and Ginny were approaching their due dates, making Harry and Draco incredibly nervous.
She told Harry about the dark wizard organization, urging them to be extra careful with two pregnant women at home. Harry seriously acknowledged understanding. Gemini asked about both women's conditions and promised to return to Britain before their due dates before ending the call.
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