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[Frog] Chapter 24: This Mark I is different?
🕑 Added 2024-08-20 09:05:15 +0000 UTCA flash of golden light swept across.
Once again, the Emperor Armor enveloped Alan's body.
After this period of training and spiritual refinement, the golden light that swirled around the armor seemed even more radiant. This also signified that Alan's strength was steadily increasing.
"S.H.I.E.L.D. and Tony’s people have already found this area. Looks like I can't just stroll out like last time," Alan thought.
"Teleportation!"
His figure blurred for a moment before reappearing in the same location he had teleported to previously.
At the very instant Alan appeared, aboard the S.H.I.E.L.D. helicarrier, the monitor in Agent Hill’s hands started beeping.
"Director, that armor has reappeared!" Agent Hill called out.
Nick Fury quickly took the tablet from her hands. His dark face revealed no visible change in expression, but he calmly asked, "Where did it show up this time?"
"The same place where it disappeared last time," Hill responded.
Narrowing his eyes, Fury ordered, "Tell Coulson to pull back. He’s been spotted."
Realizing what Fury meant, Hill quickly picked up a satellite phone and dialed.
On the other end, in a car, Coulson—who had been napping—was startled awake by the sound of his phone. He shot up from his seat, only to hit his head on the car roof with a loud thud.
"Oh, shi—"
Coulson quickly grabbed the satellite phone. "Hello, Agent Hill?"
"The Director says you've been made. The mission’s over. Fall back," Hill instructed.
"What?" Coulson was incredulous.
Before he could ask further questions, Hill had already hung up.
Staring at the satellite phone in his hand, Coulson was still in disbelief. "Me? A senior agent, discovered? No way. Absolutely impossible!"
But since he had received the retreat order... Coulson had no choice but to drive back.
...
"Keep tracking him. Let's see where he's trying to go!" Fury commanded, utilizing all of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s resources to monitor Alan’s every move.
He refused to believe that Alan could slip through his fingers once again.
"Let’s see who you really are," Fury muttered darkly.
Meanwhile, at Tony Stark's residence, though Tony was currently missing, J.A.R.V.I.S. continued to operate under its AI protocols.
The moment Alan appeared, J.A.R.V.I.S. had already switched to surveillance mode.
On a large transparent screen, Alan stood suspended in midair, seemingly orienting himself.
"This should be the right direction," Alan murmured, locking in on the direction of the Middle East. He knew S.H.I.E.L.D. and J.A.R.V.I.S. were likely watching him.
"Zen Seal!"
Alan placed his hands over his belt as a ripple of energy radiated outward from him, expanding across the surrounding area.
Everything within a 50-kilometer radius—except for Alan—was forcibly frozen in an absolute stasis. This included light itself.
Light could no longer travel through this zone, meaning all optical surveillance became completely useless against Alan.
"It will automatically release in thirty seconds," Alan said to himself as he swiftly flew in the direction of Tony’s location.
Inside S.H.I.E.L.D., Nick Fury and the others could only see an image of the armor standing still in place—completely immobile.
"What’s going on? What’s he doing?" Even Nick Fury, with all his intelligence and cunning, couldn't decipher what was happening.
Agent Hill was equally baffled. Both of them stared at the screen, wide-eyed and confused.
To track Alan’s movements, every available surveillance system was focused on him.
However, without exception, all the monitors displayed the same frozen image.
After thirty seconds, the "Zen Seal" effect ended.
"Motherf—, what the hell just happened!" Nick Fury blurted out his classic expletive.
Because in the surveillance feed, the armor had seemingly vanished into thin air. One moment it was there, and the next, it was completely gone.
This ability left Fury utterly baffled and even more frustrated. He had mobilized nearly every resource S.H.I.E.L.D. had to monitor Alan, yet still, the man had slipped away.
Ever since becoming Director of S.H.I.E.L.D., Fury had never felt this defeated.
"Hill, find him! He’s definitely heading somewhere and doesn’t want us to know. Use every global resource we have—find him!" Fury barked. Enraged, he even smashed Hill’s tablet with his fist.
"Yes, sir!" Hill responded and immediately got to work.
Meanwhile, in another corner of New York, a bald woman in a yellow hooded cloak stood on a rooftop, her gaze deep and focused in a particular direction.
She whispered softly to herself, "This is... the power of time."
Half an hour later...
Alan stood on a desert plain, surveying the scattered debris and signs of multiple explosions.
"This should be the place," he muttered.
Now, he just needed to locate where the Ten Rings had imprisoned Tony Stark.
Standing still, Alan spread his arms wide. The mental power he had trained during this time began to radiate outward through the Emperor Armor, like a massive net spreading from him as the center.
Ten kilometers...
Twenty kilometers...
Twenty-five kilometers...
Thirty kilometers...
"Found you," Alan thought with a smile.
Now that he had pinpointed the location and distance, he could use his teleportation ability.
In an instant, Alan appeared above a canyon, eroded by the desert sands. Below him was the cave where Tony Stark was being held captive.
"Zen Seal!"
Once again, Alan activated the Zen Seal, freezing every Ten Rings guard in place as they patrolled the area.
Inside the cave, Tony Stark, in the middle of writing the program for his armor, also froze. Nearby, Yinsen held a screwdriver, twisting something into place.
Alan casually walked over to Tony, his eyes falling on the stack of design plans beside the computer. He nodded with satisfaction.
"Good, Tony is still Tony. If anything had happened to you, I’d have taken a huge loss."
However, as Alan glanced at the design plans for the Mark I armor, something seemed off. Picking up the plans for closer inspection, his mouth twitched in disbelief.
The head of the Mark I wasn’t the classic cylindrical shape. Instead, it was a helmet with an exaggerated pair of goggles.
And those goggles... Alan recognized them all too well. They were the same as the ones on his Emperor Armor.
"So... I inspired Tony to create the Mark I..." Alan thought, his expression growing strange.
Although Tony was unharmed and had indeed built the Mark I, it seemed that the development of the armor had taken a rather odd turn...
"Whatever. Time to go," Alan muttered as he left.
Once he departed, the Zen Seal’s effects wore off. Tony Stark, busy typing in code, suddenly noticed that his design plans seemed to have shifted slightly.
"Yinsen, did you move my plans?" Tony asked.
"No, I’ve been helping you with the screws this whole time," Yinsen replied.
Tony shrugged. Maybe he was just too tired and remembered it wrong.
As he input the last power code, Tony's lips curled into a smile as he glanced at the pile of parts, now ready for assembly.
"Yinsen, are you ready?" Tony asked.
"By tomorrow morning, we'll be breaking out of here," he declared confidently.
...
