I hate it when people touch my hair

"boom!"

Rod was punched and sent flying, crashing into the shipping container.

"Rhodes!"

"I'm fine... damn! This guy's fucking strong!"

As soon as the Mark 17 Heartbreaker landed, an Extremis warrior grabbed its head and ripped it off its chest armor!

"Sir! They are too powerful! My drone protocol is ineffective in combat!"

"Then stop fighting! Smash them!"

The pulse cannon in the "Mark 16 Nightclub" hand began to charge, but a female Extremis rushed in at an even faster speed and plunged her hand into the reactor!

"BOOM!!!"

The nightclub exploded on the spot, turning into an expensive firework.

Tony was stunned.

This is not a battle, this is a massacre.

"Jarvis! Analyze the weaknesses! Why can't you kill him?!" Tony activated the thrusters on his back, flew into the air, and strafed with the pulse cannon.

"Sir! Their healing abilities are too strong! Unless... a single, fatal blow!"

"Easy for you to say!"

"Bang--!"

"Shit!"

Tony was grabbed from mid-air by two Extremis soldiers and slammed onto the deck.

"Tony!" Killian's voice came from above.

He stood on the tower crane, dressed in an elegant suit, his hair neatly combed, but his face was glowing with a hellish red light under the intense heat.

"Look at you, Tony! You're always so dependent on these toys!"

"Killian!" Tony pointed his cluster cannon at him. "Where's Pepper?! What did you do to her?!"

"Her? She's evolving, Tony!" Killian spread his arms wide, enjoying his masterpiece. "I gave her a gift! A perfection you could never give her!"

"Go to hell!!"

Tony's armored missiles were launched, but Killian was faster.

"call--!"

He unleashed a burst of flames like dragon's breath, detonating the missile as soon as it left the launch bay!

"boom!"

The shockwave slammed Tony hard against the shipping container.

"Sir! The family party is completely ruined! Please get out of the battlefield as soon as possible!" Jarvis's voice rang out.

Those early models were as fragile as cheap plastic toys in the face of these 3000-degree "human-shaped blast furnaces".

In addition, their limited numbers prevented them from forming a large-scale operation, leading to their rapid collapse, melting, tearing apart, and leaving wreckage scattered across the deck.

"It's over, Tony."

Killian slowly walked down the stairs, followed by a dozen or so surviving Extremis warriors.

They surrounded the fallen Tony Stark like a pack of glowing wolves.

Tony tried to stand up, but his damaged armor wouldn't cooperate.

"Jarvis... eject your armor..."

"Access denied, sir. The breastplate is severely deformed from the impact."

Tony is trapped in his own "iron coffin".

Killian stepped forward, his palms turning crimson. He was going to melt Tony's visor like opening a can.

"You know what, Tony? My biggest regret is choosing... to believe your lies." Killian's voice was filled with the pleasure of revenge.

"And now..."

He raised his hand and aimed it at Tony's face.

"Farewell, outdated...futurists."

Tony closed his eyes. "...Pepper."

Stop.

A voice suddenly rang out across the entire deck.

The man slowly descended into the night sky.

Her golden hair was perfectly styled, and her deep blue eyes were completely still.

The Stars and Stripes cape fluttered behind him even without wind.

"Homelander..." Tony could barely breathe.

"Wh...what?!" Killian's smile froze. "You...when did you get here?!"

"Hey, Tony. Colonel Rhodes." Azu turned around and waved to them as if greeting them in his own backyard. "Looks like... your party's getting a little out of control?"

"Homelander..." Rhodes climbed out of the container, half of Mark 12's body almost melting away. "You... how did you get here?"

"Oh, me?" Azu pointed to himself, "I'm... saving the world."

He turned to the side.

Everyone, including Killian, saw what was behind him.

Behind Azu... stood a person.

A man dressed in a well-tailored suit, still shaken but unharmed.

"Mr...Mr. President?!" Rod's jaw nearly dropped.

"Good evening, Colonel." President Ellis swallowed, trying to remain calm.

Tony Stark's brain has gone blank.

"Wait...wait a minute..." Tony struggled to his feet. "The President...the President is still up there...we...we're here to rescue him..."

Azu smiled.

"Tony, Tony...did you think I just arrived?"

He scanned Tony's chest with an X-ray vision. "Your little heart is beating pretty fast."

"I arrived twenty minutes ago."

"What?!" Tony and Rod exclaimed in unison.

"Just as you... well... were scrambling up like two headless flies," Azu shrugged, "I flew to the top of that oil tank and untied the president. By the way, I also told him a joke."

He turned to the president: "Do you find this funny, Mr. President?"

"...Very...very humorous, Mr. Homelander." President Ellis wiped away a cold sweat.

Tony Stark felt he had been subjected to the greatest insult of his life.

"So..." Tony pointed at him, trembling with rage, "You fucking...after you rescued the president...you just hid up there...and watched us get beaten like dogs?!"

"Wow, Tony, watch your words." Azu feigned surprise and covered his mouth. "I wasn't looking."

"That's called trust."

"I trust the abilities of you 'Avengers'."

"You..."

"Tony!" Rod pulled Stark back from his near-rage.

"Enough!!" Killian finally snapped out of his shock, coldly pointing at Azu, "And who do you think you are?! You're just a clown in a costume! Kill him!!"

"Go to hell!!"

One of the soldiers closest to Azu roared and charged forward, his body engulfed in scorching flames, his hands like branding irons as he reached for Wu Yanzu's head!

Azu didn't even look at him.

He simply... casually slapped her across the face.

"Smack—!!!!"

A slap that was crisp and clear.

The Extremis soldier, who could tear apart steel armor with his bare hands, had his neck rotate 720 degrees from that slap.

"Thump."

The body fell to the ground, and the entire audience gasped for breath...

"..." Tony Stark held his breath.

"..." Colonel Rhodes's armor system showed that his heart skipped a beat.

"He... fucking..." Rod whispered.

"Oh, I'm sorry." Azu shook her hand in disgust, as if it had gotten dirty. "I hate it when people touch my hair."

"Damn monster..." Killian took a step back without making a sound.

"No." Azu shook his head, and that "holy" smile returned to his face. "I am a citizen of my homeland."