Tony watched as Parado disappeared before his eyes and let out a small breath of relief.
"Jarvis, were you able to scan how this guy named Parado moved?"
"I'm sorry, sir. That Mr. Parado, just like the Bugster monsters, is beyond the scope I can currently analyze."
Jarvis responded, and his tone even carried a faint sense of frustration.
"Forget it, we'll deal with that later.
Things have already gone far beyond what we expected beforehand. The number of Bugster monsters is far higher than projected. Looks like the outbreak of the Bugster Virus must have something to do with this Parado.
And he even seems to know Dan.
I should go discuss with Dan what we should do next."
Tony looked at the American troops on the ground, being pushed back bit by bit by the Bugster monsters, and sighed softly.
He still didn't have the real ability to deal with Bugster monsters.After this, he must thoroughly study the game cartridge Dan had given him.
He must develop an armor that can truly defeat Bugster monsters.
"Dan, what's the deal with this Parado?"
When Tony returned to Dan and the others, he briefly summarized his experience.
Then he immediately asked Dan.
"Parado?!"Gwen let out a small gasp. She had felt the name was familiar earlier, and after thinking for a moment, she remembered:
The Bugster monster who appeared that night at Midtown High riding a motorcycle had mentioned this name.
She immediately turned to look at Li Hua.
"You all know this Parado?" Tony's eyes flickered slightly.
Li Hua glanced at Dan, and after seeing Dan nod,he relayed Parado's origin settings exactly as Dan had explained to him and Elena earlier.
"So that means Parado was created by you. Dan, I guess that makes you Parado's father?The 'son' you created seems pretty disobedient."
Tony said in a teasing tone.
Once you create Ultron and he decides to wipe out humanity, let's see if you can still joke like that. Of course, Dan kept his expression serious on the surface:
"This is not the time for jokes. We must think about how to deal with these Bugster monsters that far exceed expectations."
Tony straightened up and nodded."The U.S. military did make preparations in advance, and the troops stationed in this base are fully armed with advanced equipment.
But they still underestimated the Bugsters' power. They won't last long."
"Should we take action now?" Gwen asked.
"Although the number of Bugsters is far beyond what was planned, the overall 'script' is still correct.
If anything, we should follow the original steps even more closely."
Dan said:"We need to wait for the Bugsters to break out of the base, then take them down one by one.
Our current power is not enough to fight that many Bugsters simultaneously.We need the U.S. military to draw their attention.
Then we concentrate on the isolated Bugsters that break out.
Let's hope the American troops can hold on long enough."
"But if we do that, with so many Bugsters, the soldiers in the base will suffer heavy casualties." Tony couldn't help saying.
"That can't be helped. We must make a choice.
The Rider System deals special damage to Bugster monsters. To the monsters, we are special targets that draw aggro by default."Dan spoke with natural helplessness.
"If we don't let the troops hold back the Bugsters,with the number currently appearing, it's almost impossible for us to handle them all. If we rush in recklessly, we might get surrounded. Without the Rider System's power, we can't deal with Bugsters at all.
And ultimately, these soldiers lumped together every potentially infected person without distinction, causing this mess. So they should bear the consequences."
"Besides, the military seems to have extra forces."
Dan pointed toward the base.
At that moment, armored units suddenly appeared around the base perimeter, advancing toward the battlefield.
Under immense pressure, the base forces could no longer hold the Bugsters at bay.The military had no choice but to deploy the hidden armored units that were originally meant to capture Kamen Riders.
"…Fine. We act according to plan."Tony took a long breath as he watched the hidden armored division appear, then nodded lightly.
Meanwhile…
"Director, the military base has indeed produced monsters of the same type as before."
A hidden S.H.I.E.L.D. agent projected the live footage to Nick Fury and reported.
A second copy was also passed through secret channels into former director Alexander Pierce's office.
"Eight monsters appeared at once?!"
Fury's expression grew slightly heavier — though his face couldn't get visibly darker anyway.
"It seems those military idiots have really created a disaster this time.
If these eight monsters reach the city…"
"Should we deploy support?" Coulson suggested.
"Not yet. Have the armored individuals who dealt with the previous monsters shown up?" Fury narrowed his eyes.
The situation was severe, yes — but this was still the military's mess.If anyone should panic, it was the generals.
S.H.I.E.L.D. could step in, but only after a formal request.
And more importantly: even with all their tech, they still didn't know if any of it could actually hurt these strange monsters.
"No signs yet," the field agent replied.
"Then keep watching. And put the special ops unit on standby."
Fury ordered after thinking for a moment.
Let the military test the monsters' true capabilities first.
Inside the base…
Private Redel saluted the base commander and threw his last grenade.
"Damn it, what are these monsters? Even worse than bio-zombies!"
Even if an actual zombie virus from movies or games broke out, Redel believed his heavy firepower could take them down.
But these Bugsters were completely bulletproof.Machine guns, grenades, rockets…
Even advanced Stark Industries weapons did nothing.
"All personnel, armored units are arriving soon. Fall back to safe distance to avoid friendly fire."
Sergeant Will's voice came through the earpiece.
Redel exhaled in relief."Those high-and-mighty idiots finally did something right.
Should've done this earlier!
Monsters immune to bullets should be handled by tanks and armor."
He quickly retreated from the monsters. After surviving the attack, he had no desire to be killed by friendly fire.
Unfortunately, even bringing in the armored division didn't help — the Bugsters destroyed several armored vehicles and tanks.
Now the military was stuck.They had exhausted all conventional weapons with no effect.
The only option left was strategic-level weapons…but using those inside their own base?!
That decision wasn't something a mere brigadier general like Bob Dylan could make.
"It seems you're in trouble."
Parado's playful voice appeared again.
"Damn it—what do you want?!"
Bob Dylan was terrified and furious. He had already retreated to the most secure secret room, yet Parad oappeared without a sound.
Earlier, Parado had suddenly appeared, said some cryptic things, ignored all gunfire, proved bullets did nothing to him, then vanished.
Then he showed up among the quarantined 'patients,' triggered the monster outbreak, and disappeared again.
After that, the Bugsters appeared, and Bob Dylan had no time to question Parado — he fled to the secret room and coordinated defense.
"Relax, I'm not going to do anything to you.I just have a better view from here, so I came to watch."
Parado casually sat on the table, smiling."Look, one of the Bugsters just broke out of your base."
"There's a Bugster breaking through the encirclement."
Tony, who had been monitoring, turned to Dan immediately.
"I'll take that one."Li Hua summoned his sword and shield.
"You handle the others."
"Dan, by the way — how does this fat-looking, round armor move so fast? And so agile?"
Tony asked subconsciously as he watched the Hero leap forward, perform a double jump into midair, and kick the Bugster in the head.
(End of Chapter)