Chapter 78: The Armor of Steel

Clearly, this soldier was a typical enthusiast of the occult. After the initial wave of fear, what remained was an intense curiosity about magic.

Faced with his fervent gaze, Gu Zhongyan was momentarily taken aback. Then he let out a wry chuckle and looked at the somewhat excited Mike. “Thank you, Mike. This is all very helpful.”

As he spoke, Gu Zhongyan picked up his wand, pointed it at the blood-stained soil, and gave a forceful wave.

“Guide me!”

A faint glow fell upon the earth, and threads of blood were drawn out, floating in the air and forming the shape of an arrow, pointing northwest.

One by one, the soldiers stared in astonishment at this miraculous scene; it was clear that what they were witnessing had utterly overturned their understanding of the world.

Paying them no mind, Gu Zhongyan turned to Rhodey.

“I don’t think this spell needs much explanation. Colonel Rhodey, you should be able to understand it. Tony Stark is in the direction the arrow points.”

“However, this spell only shows the direction; I can’t tell how far away he is. So we’ll have to keep searching, following the arrow.”

“Also, the duration depends on the medium used for casting. Blood is best, lasting about ten to fifteen minutes. Hair works too—roughly ten minutes. Clothing or personal items are the least effective, lasting at most five to eight minutes.”

“So, if we don’t find Tony Stark before these items are used up, the rest will depend on you.” Gu Zhongyan spread his hands in resignation.

“Okay, got it. Everyone, follow the arrow—move out!”

To have attained the rank of Air Force Colonel, Rhodey was certainly no slouch, and his men were elite, moving far swifter than Gu Zhongyan had expected.

As for transportation, nothing beats a helicopter for efficiency.

Being an Air Force Colonel, Rhodey had no trouble requisitioning a few. Within two minutes, two CH-47 transport helicopters lifted off, heading in the direction the arrow indicated.

To avoid enemy fire, several military Humvees followed behind in a formidable convoy rolling toward the distance.

Meanwhile, in a concealed cave in the direction of their advance, two men were anxiously assembling something.

A closer look revealed an ungainly, pitch-black suit of iron armor standing before them.

The massive armor was roughly built, large plates of metal crudely joined together. There was no paint, no intricate bearings—at a distance, it looked like some oversized, poorly made toy.

“Tony, will this thing really help us escape?” A bespectacled, gentle-looking middle-aged man eyed the contraption with skepticism.

Opposite him was the very man Gu Zhongyan had come to rescue: the wealthy industrialist and future Iron Man, Tony Stark.

Gone was the confident figure from magazine covers. Now, Tony Stark wore a simple vest, a faint blue glow emanating from his chest—the arc reactor keeping him alive.

Before Tony could reply, a deafening blast echoed through the cave, shaking it violently and sending clouds of dust raining down, covering both men in gray.

They paid their disheveled state no heed. After a moment of stunned silence, their expressions changed. Tony immediately stepped into the bulky armor, shouting urgently, “Quick! Help me seal the suit and start the program—we’re out of time!”

The blast had come from explosives they’d placed at the entrance, a precaution against the Ten Rings discovering them at the critical moment and ruining everything.

Now that the explosives had gone off, it meant the Ten Rings had uncovered their secret. If they couldn’t activate the suit in time, death was inevitable.

“How do I operate it?” Yinsen hurried to the computer.

“Press F11. Tell me when you see the progress bar,” Tony instructed, his entire body encased in the suit, save for two holes at the eyes for visibility. In these conditions, he couldn’t possibly have armored glass to seal them—this flaw was unavoidable.

“Alright.” Yinsen’s hands flew nervously across the keyboard.

“The progress bar should appear. Now press Ctrl+I and then Enter!” Tony called.

“It’s moving! It’s working!” Yinsen saw the bar begin to crawl forward.

Outside, the explosion had already alerted the Ten Rings. Footsteps and shouts drew rapidly closer to the narrow cave.

As the noise intensified, the progress bar on the computer moved agonizingly slowly, creeping forward by inches.

With the Ten Rings almost at the entrance, the mild-mannered Yinsen gritted his teeth and dashed toward the opening.

“Wait, Yinsen, what are you doing?”

Seeing Yinsen’s movement, Tony’s expression changed. He shouted out.

“I’m going to buy you some time.” Yinsen didn’t look back, grabbing a machine gun dropped by a dead Ten Rings member and rushing outside.

“No, come back! Yinsen, come back!” Tony shouted, frantic within the immobile armor. Without power, he could do nothing but watch Yinsen run out, gun in hand.

Outside, Yinsen’s desperate roar echoed back.

“You sons of bitches, stop right there!”

Gunfire erupted, filling Tony’s ears.

Yinsen’s act was nothing short of heroic, but with no combat skills, even armed with a machine gun he couldn’t hope to stop the Ten Rings.

A burst of gunfire, a muffled groan—like a hammer blow—smashed into Tony Stark’s heart.

“Yinsen! Yinsen, what happened? Answer me, Yinsen!” Tony called out desperately, but the cave remained silent.

“Faster, faster—damn it, faster!” Tony’s eyes reddened as he stared at the sluggish progress bar.

At last, with his vision blurred by tears, there was a beep—the progress bar reached one hundred percent.

The heavy iron suit came to life, moving with a mechanical roar.

Driven by fury, the massive suit charged toward the cave entrance, slow but unstoppable, like a beast of the apocalypse.

At that moment, a brilliant bolt of lightning split the sky, slicing through the ranks of terrorists amid screams of terror.