Chapter 1736: Killing Killian, and New 2-Star Teammate
There were thrusters on the back of the huge pincer. In less than three seconds, it smashed into the ground with Killian.
With a roar, the white flames on Killian’s body expanded.
The giant pincer finally couldn’t withstand the high temperature anymore and started to warp.
Struggling free, Killian laughed wildly. “Tony Stark, is that all you can do?”
The huge Hulkbuster followed closely behind and raised its right arm.
A huge launcher popped out of the side of the right arm, and two red dots inside lit up as they pointed at Killian, who was about to completely escape.
Two thin beams of red light shot out and cut through Killian’s body at an extremely fast speed.
Less than a second later, white smoke rose from the Hulkbuster’s launcher along with a strong smell of burning flesh.
Killian, who was laughing as he struggled, paused.
Killian gaped. “No, that’s impossible. I’m immortal.”
The next moment, a twisted hole appeared in his head, and white flames spurted out.
As white flames exploded from the wounds all over his body, Killian sensed the danger of death. Before he lost consciousness, he only had one thought: I have to recover; I must recover.
The Extremis virus in his body had completely broken free of its restraints, and was stimulated to an unimaginable degree.
Killian grew brighter and brighter, and his wounds were enveloped in he white flames.
“Step back.” Luke’s warning rang out in Tony’s earpiece.
The tyc.o.o.n subconsciously did as he was told and flew into the sky with a swoosh. In pa.s.sing, he summoned more equipment on the other hand.
With a crack, the equipment turned into a huge cannon that pointed at Killian, who was wrapped in white flames.
Amidst the white flames, Killian came back to his senses. Looking at Luke and Tony in the sky, he laughed. “See that? I am destiny. I am immortal.”
Both smug and furious, he slowly took two steps forward and bent his knees, ready to launch himself into the sky to fight his two enemies again.
At that moment, he staggered.
The light that he was bathed in spluttered.
Then, his body quickly changed color, from white to yellow and then red, until it turned a grayish-black tinged dark red, like embers that were about to die out.
Looking at the data projected on the virtual screen, Tony mumbled, “This energy level decline… Is he going to die?”
A few seconds later, Killian, who was on the ground, had practically turned into coal.
The last bit of light still flickered in his eyes, which were full of fear, anger and confusion.
He tried to move, and his charred figure cracked.
...
The cracks quickly spread from inside his body to the surface, destroying the stability of his human form as he completely collapsed, like a stone statue that had been smashed apart.
There was still some dark red color in the fragments, but it flickered for a few seconds before it was extinguished.
Tony was surprised. “He’s really dead?”
Although he had taken out a laser cutter just now to kill Killian in one go, why did it feel like… Killian had spontaneously combusted himself?
Luke, however, nodded in confirmation. “He’s indeed dead.”
That was because the system notification confirmed that the mission to kill Killian had been completed.
Tony’s contribution rate was 40%, Luke’s was 50%, and everybody else contributed 10% in total.
The tyc.o.o.n’s laser slash might not have killed Killian outright, but it pushed him over the line.
Tony was relieved, but then came back to himself and stared at Luke’s body with an ugly expression.
At that moment, all of the Dark Knight armor was in tatters, with more than 80% of it damaged.
More importantly, Luke’s right forearm, left arm and right foot were gone.
He had used his left arm and right foot to save Tony and block Killian’s last attack.
“You…” Tony flew over and grabbed his right arm.
Luke got gooseb.u.mps all over his body. He pushed the guy away and said, “Hey, I’m fine, okay?”
Tony: …This is fine to you?
Looking at a certain tyc.o.o.n who had been upgraded to a 2-star teammate in the system, Luke coughed and said, “Don’t forget, there’s Life 1 and the Light Dagger. Regenerating broken limbs is only a matter of time.”
Tony was suspicious. “Really?”
“Get lost.” Luke said, “If you’re free, go and kill all those Extremis soldiers. I don’t want another Killian to appear.”
Tony’s mouth moved, but he held back since Luke would be indisposed for many days.
Luke told the team that he was going to leave to recuperate. Then, he activated what was left of his propulsion system and flew east over the ocean.
At the same time, the Bat Squad members who had been disconnected came back online in backup robots to eliminate the remaining soldiers.
n.o.body dared to be careless. It would be best if another Killian didn’t appear in this world.
Killian had been besieged and died. As long as these people weren’t stupid, they wouldn’t jump out so foolishly like this – the most troublesome thing was a hidden danger like this.
Furthermore, Luke had lost an arm and a foot over Killian.
This was a very high cost.
When he faced the Chitauri army in the Battle of New York as Batman, his situation hadn’t been this wretched.
Of course, this was a deliberate misunderstanding which Luke had created.
This time, his clone was only crippled for a period of time. Back then in New York, his entire clone had been destroyed, which had been an even greater loss.
…
On the other side, Ellis looked at the Pink Bear suit hovering above him. He was too far away from the dock to hear anything, and he couldn’t help but call out lightly, “That, little girl…”
Mindy lowered her head and descended with a woosh. “Who are you calling a girl?”
Ellis choked.
But the wily old politician immediately changed his tune. “Ah, Miss Pink Bear, how’s it going over there?”
Mindy said, “It’s almost done. I’ll have someone pick you up later. It seems that War Machine is also nearby and hasn’t left yet.”
Ellis’s heart jumped. Hadn’t he been screwed over by War Machine today? Although, technically speaking, that wasn’t Rhodes’s fault.
Suppressing his uneasiness, Ellis asked with a smile, “How about… Killian?”
Mindy looked at him strangely and replied, “Iron Man blew him up.”
Ellis was relieved.
There was no need to worry about the authorities and corporations disclosing the Norca oil tanker leak.
Whoever brought it up would be attacked by Roxxon Corporation and a bunch of others with vested interests – that was how the game worked in their circle.
Only someone like Killian, who had been about to spread the matter under the guise of a terrorist, didn’t have such concerns.
If Killian escaped and spread rumors, it would be a huge hidden danger blocking Ellis’s path toward being reelected.
If Ellis wasn’t reelected, he and his backers would lose at least half of their benefits, which would be a huge loss.