Chapter 342: Chapter 342: Monkey Games
[On Air Force One, Eric Savin had not left yet. He was holding a time bomb remote control in his hand and preparing to leave with a parachute strapped to his back.]
[Just when he thought everything was going according to plan, the two people he had locked in a room earlier unexpectedly cheered. He sensed something was wrong and immediately looked out the window.]
[The next second, an iron arm pierced through the adjacent glass, and then a repulsor blast shot Eric Savin directly backward. He fell to the ground and immediately got up, but couldn't find any trace of his attacker.]
[He subconsciously stepped backward, but Mark 42 unexpectedly appeared from behind him, slammed him hard against the wall, and threatened him with a glowing repulsor:]
["Where's the president?! Tell me now!!!"]
[Eric Savin curled his lips and said calmly: "He's not here!" His arm suddenly turned glowing red-hot and he grabbed Mark 42's arm.]
[Affected by the intense heat, the operation of Mark 42 was slightly compromised. Eric Savin looked at him coldly: "Go enjoy the jet!"]
["Speaking of air currents! Let's go fishing!" He picked up the remote control and pressed it. The door of Air Force One was immediately blown open, and the people inside were sucked out by the violent decompression.]
[Tony hit him with his elbow, but was caught by Savin's other hand. However, Tony had already learned from Rhodes about how he was attacked, and the Mark 42 was far more advanced than Rhodes' Iron Patriot.]
[Therefore, although Mark 42 was affected to some extent, he was still able to channel energy into the arc reactor in his chest. As he broke free from Eric Savin's grip, a powerful unibeam blast pierced straight through Savin's chest.]
[Eric Savin looked at Tony in disbelief, coughed, and slowly collapsed to the ground.]
["Can this wound heal? You son of a bitch!" After dealing with Eric Savin, Tony immediately rushed to rescue the people being sucked out of the cabin.]
The second generation Dr. Connors narrowed his eyes and looked at Eric Savin, who was unable to heal himself after his chest was pierced. He realized that the regenerative ability of the Extremis virus also had its limits.
If the heart was pierced, the Extremis virus wouldn't be able to heal the wound, nor would it cause overheating and explosion!
This was a crucial weakness when dealing with Extremis soldiers, though he didn't know that Tony and others had already confronted Killian.
Tony looked at the footage of the dead Eric Savin and smiled, "I discovered that day that a broken heart cannot be restored, which is why we were able to win so easily later."
"Yeah! The self-destruction of those Extremis soldiers is too powerful. It's simply a nightmare for anyone without protection!" Rhodes had to admit.
If Tony hadn't used the unibeam to pierce a soldier and discovered that he didn't self-destruct, they wouldn't have known about this vulnerability. If they had allowed the enemy to self-destruct, their casualties would undoubtedly have been much greater.
Many of the soldiers in Crossbones' team had been badly burned by such explosions.
[At this moment, passengers were screaming in terror as more and more people were sucked out of the plane by the rushing wind. Tony suddenly broke through the hatch and rushed inside.]
[But by this time, everyone had already been pulled out of the cabin, and Tony immediately directed the Mark 42 to pursue them.]
["How many people are down there?"]
[Jarvis finished scanning instantly and replied: "13, Sir!"]
["How many can I carry at a time?"]
["Four, Sir!"]
[Tony frowned, but quickly devised a new strategy.]
[The group was falling faster and faster through the air, and Tony accelerated to catch up with them, grabbing one of the women.]
["Slow down, slow down! Relax! What's your name?" Then he spotted the name tag on her chest and called out: "Heather!"]
[Not long after Tony began the rescue operation, Air Force One exploded and disintegrated in the air.]
["Listen to me, do you see that guy? I'm going to fly over to him and you need to catch him! Do you understand?"]
["What?" Heather was stunned for a moment, but before she could fully process what was happening, Tony accelerated and caught up with another falling passenger.]
"I'll electrify your arm so you can't let go! You can do it, Heather!"
[Heather reached out to grab the man's leg, but failed to do so due to nervousness. Tony immediately accelerated and chased after him again, and this time she successfully grabbed his leg.]
[Tony smiled and said, "Simple, right? There are still 11 more!"]
[He continued to fly towards the others, "Remember that game called Barrel of Monkeys? Let's play it like that!"]
["Altitude 18,000 feet!" Jarvis began to announce the altitude.]
["Come on! Everyone hold on to your monkeys!"]
[The group gradually linked up with each other, forming a human chain, but their altitude had dropped to 10,000 feet.]
["Six thousand feet!"]
[As the altitude decreased rapidly, Tony couldn't help but start shouting: "Come on! Come on, everyone! Come on! Come on!"]
["One thousand feet! Four hundred feet! Two hundred feet!"]
[Tony finally caught up with the last person and shouted: "It's a big monkey, catch him! Hello!"]
[After completing the chain, Tony immediately accelerated and pulled upward. The last man nearly hit a small boat below, but fortunately they avoided collision at the last second.]
[Finally, Tony lowered the altitude carefully and deposited everyone safely into the water. He scanned and confirmed that all 13 people had been rescued. The survivors cheered for the Mark 42.]
["Well done! Great job, everyone cooperated perfectly! Jarvis, we're only half done! We still have to find Pepper!" Tony said, controlling the Mark 42 to turn around and fly away.]
[At that moment, a truck suddenly appeared on a nearby road and honked its horn. The Mark 42 flew directly into its path and was struck head-on, with armor pieces scattering across the ground.]
"Oh! My God! He did it! Oh my God! He really did it!"
"Iron Man! I love you!!!"
"Great! MAN!"
"Yeah! Another incredible feat by Tony Stark!"
Tony, watching the broadcast, held his wine glass and after seeing that he had successfully saved everyone, he couldn't help but take a celebratory sip.
"I told you I could do it!" Tony smiled proudly. His successful mid-air rescue displayed on the screen clearly filled him with pride, and his voice grew noticeably louder.
But the very next second, when he saw his Mark 42 being smashed to pieces by a truck, his smile instantly disappeared, leaving him standing there in embarrassment.
He had just finished boasting about himself when reality delivered an immediate slap to the face. It was too fast and too unexpected!
Rhodes couldn't help laughing, "Tony, what happened there?"
"Damn, where did that truck come from?!" Tony complained angrily, glaring at the truck in the paused footage that Jarvis was replaying.
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