Chapter 23

"Retreat! Immediate retreat!" the Raptor pilots shouted in unison.

For some unknown reason, the six Raptors soaring in the sky experienced simultaneous engine failures, crashing to the ground. The event happened so abruptly that three pilots failed to eject in time. Even those who did eject and were floating down with parachutes didn't meet a better fate.

"Ah!!!"

Those slow-floating targets were immediately gripped by a powerful telekinetic force, like an invisible giant hand.

Bang!!

A blood mist blossomed as Su Chen, with minimal effort, just needed to nudge the parachutes, sending the pilots plummeting straight down to their deaths.

"Damn it!"

The surviving jets didn't dare look back, rushing towards their distant aircraft carrier.

The mysterious, almost supernatural crash had given them cold sweats. This was undoubtedly caused by the boy who walked out of the nuclear explosion.

"Sir, it seems the enemy possesses some kind of supernatural ability."

"Jarvis, that's not your usual logical way of speaking," Tony Stark said, flying through the air in his latest Mark suit. From the Stark Tower in Manhattan to Washington, D.C., it would take him just over a minute to arrive.

Using near-Earth satellites, the AI Jarvis monitored the situation involving the boy. Even the scientifically rigorous Jarvis couldn't explain the crash.

"It's as if annoying him caused the crashes."

"Hey, buddy..."

Tony chuckled, "You make it sound like he's a god who causes natural disasters when angry."

Jarvis, without a trace of emotion, continued, "Natural disasters are visible, but the crash had no visible energy signature. The engines just failed."

The AI, grounded in logic, struggled to comprehend the reality-bending attack. Invisible and undetectable by external energy forms, it posed a significant challenge for Jarvis.

"Five seconds to the battlefield."

The micro-reactor-powered Mark suit was faster than the Raptors.

Soon, the golden-red armor streaked across the sky above Washington, D.C.

"Wow!!"

"It's Iron Man!"

"He's finally here, I love you, Tony Stark!!"

"Iron Man! Forever the best!"

The people on the ground cheered, from his dramatic debut to openly revealing his identity, the confident Iron Man remained the most popular superhero. Children in Iron Man logo shirts ran outside, raising their hands and cheering as Tony flew by.

"Jarvis, care to measure the decibel level of their cheers and maybe gauge their happiness index?" Tony quipped even on the battlefield.

Jarvis, used to his master's humor, didn't respond, staying focused.

"Alright, back to business."

Tony's expression turned serious under his mask.

Whoosh!!

He flew through the nuclear explosion's mushroom cloud, launching micro-missiles from shoulder compartments. Like bees from a hive, the missiles rained down on the ground target.

Boom!!

In an instant, the ground seemed to face a barrage from an entire army, the earth shattering and orange flames raging.

"Sir, thermal, kinetic, and all impact energy is rapidly disappearing."

From Tony's aerial view, the flames below quickly dissipated as if time reversed, with the explosions vanishing without a trace.

"As expected."

"The boy's energy levels are spiking exponentially. He can absorb and release external energy, please proceed with caution."

This confirmed Tony's hypothesis. As a genius, he quickly deduced that the boy transported and detonated the nuclear energy at the Pentagon. Energy manipulation was the best explanation.

"This mutant has quite a few abilities."

Tony found the situation tricky. Besides telekinesis, the boy had mysterious abilities, showing at least three different powers.

Hmm...

When did mutants start having such diverse powers!!

One big question remained: how did he access nuclear material?

"That was easy for a hacker of Tony's caliber, especially since many defense systems were built by Howard Stark with backdoors.

"Didn't expect that."

The boy was an escaped lab experiment, almost a human test subject. The official story of him being an extremist mutant was fabricated.

Tony felt disillusioned. He had long been disgruntled with the military, and now they indirectly caused this disaster.

"Regardless, the boy took the wrong path."

Bombing the Pentagon was a fact. He had to answer for his actions.

Capture at the least.

At most...

Execution avoided.

Whoosh!!

Tony exhaled deeply, calming his inner guilt, then called upon Jarvis.

"I'll hire the best lawyer for him afterward."

"But..."

"Activate the 'House Party Protocol.' Let's give this boy a final curtain call!"

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