Chapter 57: System Breach

Natasha took down a burly guard head-on with a clean slide tackle, then charged straight for the upper floors of the Hans Group without looking back.

A police baton came swinging for her neck. She rolled forward to dodge, then flipped up and delivered a perfectly-timed scorpion kick to the attacker's groin. His eyes bulged, and a strangled grunt escaped him before he collapsed in agony.

She'd already dropped three men and was just catching her breath when five more goons rounded the corner, armed with electric batons.

Without hesitation, Natasha snatched up the baton from the man she'd just knocked out and swung it at the face of the first thug charging toward her.

Smack!

A loud crack rang out. The man's nose broke under the blow, and he stumbled backward several meters, completely incapacitated.

The others froze for a split second, stunned by the ruthlessness of this woman in a skin-tight combat suit. Then, shouting fiercely, they lunged toward her.

Natasha met them head-on. Her baton slammed into one attacker's wrist.

Crack!

The wrist snapped. Natasha yanked the electric baton from his hand, flipped it around, and jammed it hard into the center of his lower back. With a savage kick, she drove the thirty-centimeter baton deeper into his body.

The man convulsed violently, letting out a blood-curdling scream before crashing to the floor with a sickening thud.

The three remaining men hesitated, their steps faltering. The brutality was simply beyond belief.

Her style was vicious—far beyond anything they'd encountered.

But these weren't ordinary security guards. They were ex-special forces, forged in battle. Despite the fear tightening their guts, they pressed forward.

Natasha showed no mercy. She rammed the baton into one of their throats.

Crack!

His windpipe shattered. He dropped, clutching at his neck and gasping.

Only two left.

Natasha planted her foot, then launched herself into the air. Her knee slammed into one man's jaw, sending blood spraying. His jawbone shattered, and he passed out instantly.

"Still want to keep going?" she asked coldly, twirling the baton in her hand as she stared at the last man.

"No! No! Stay away from me!" the man shrieked. Eyes darting from Natasha to the baton in his own hand, he flipped the switch—then jabbed it into his own neck.

Bzzzzzt—

Electricity crackled violently. He convulsed, foaming at the mouth, before dropping like a puppet with cut strings.

"A smart decision," Natasha muttered, stepping over him.

The intense combat had loosened the zipper of her suit slightly at the chest, but the high-grade material still hugged her form with precision.

Meanwhile, Happy had just finished wrestling down a guard of his own. Using his size advantage and a last-ditch ear bite, he secured a narrow victory though blood now trickled from his nose.

Thinking he looked like a total badass, Happy turned around eagerly, hoping for a look of admiration from Natasha.

Instead, he found a hallway full of groaning guards and no sign of her.

Panic surged through him. He sprinted after her, terrified that the knockout woman might've taken even the slightest hit.

In the control room, Slim sat watching the monitors, dumbfounded. A curvy, wavy-haired woman in a combat suit had just decimated five men like it was nothing.

Against someone like that? He wouldn't last ten seconds.

But this was no time for awe. This was the moment to eliminate Iron Man. Miss it now, and there might never be another chance.

Slim dropped his half-raised rear back into the seat. His filthy hands clacked furiously across the keyboard.

As the computer executed his command, twenty more Iron Soldiers launched into the sky, joining the assault on Iron Man.

Bang!

Natasha kicked open the control room door—only to find it empty. The only figures inside were the two bodyguards assigned to Ivan, now hanging from the ceiling, bound in electrical wires.

"He's gone!" she said sharply.

She rushed to the computer and began typing at lightning speed.

Her slender fingers danced across the mechanical keyboard, their speed dazzling even Happy.

"What are you doing?"

Eyes locked on the screen, her fingers didn't stop."I'm rebooting the Iron Soldiers!"

Ding ding ding.....

One by one, the red warning icons on the monitor flicked back to normal. Natasha exhaled.

"Reboot complete."

At that moment, Aetheris was darting left and right in midair. With the agility of the Mark III Hellfire Armor, he'd already taken down over ten Iron Soldiers. But more kept pouring in, burying him in relentless attacks.

Even a tiger can be worn down by a pack of wolves.

"Sir, incoming call from Miss Potts," Paul's mechanical voice chimed.

"Answer it."

"Tony, I've located the Iron Soldier control system, but I'm locked out by a firewall!" Pepper's voice rang clearly, calming him slightly.

"Where's Natasha? Isn't she with you?" The mention of a computer issue gave Tony an instant headache—Natasha's hacking skills popped into his mind, and her absence left him confused.

"Natasha and Happy went to Hans Industrial. I'm here with Mr. Hans." Pepper glanced at Hans, who stood frozen, looking like a man whose world had collapsed.

Suddenly, Hans seemed to have a revelation."Try Russian! Use Russian!"

The operator typed in a string of Russian commands."Yada! It worked!"

Back in the sky, Aetheris was completely surrounded. Ten Iron Soldiers had boxed him in, leaving no escape.

One lunged at him. Aetheris countered with a rapid combo of punches.

But he couldn't issue commands fast enough. The two armored figures locked into a brutal stalemate.

Fwoosh—

Suddenly, the Iron Soldiers attacking him dropped from the sky like puppets with cut strings. Aetheris rose to his feet, panting.

"A whole squad jumping me—how classy."

"Thanks, Agent Romanoff." His system synced with Natasha's input, and a pair of piercing lake-blue eyes appeared on his screen.

"Wow…" he breathed. Those lips, that face… having her close would be a dream.

"Your new energy core output is steady, and your vitals are stable." Natasha couldn't help but be swept away by the charisma blazing across Aetheris's face, her heart fluttering.

(End of Chapter)

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