Chapter 343: Chapter 343: Roxxon
[Tony closed his eyes and exhaled, saying, "Where did that come from?"]
[Then the door behind him opened, revealing Tony controlling the Mark 42 remotely through a virtual projection, while Rhodes stood on the speedboat and asked, "Tell me some good news!"]
[Hearing this, Tony replied calmly: "I saved everyone!"]
["Oh! Thank God!" Rhodes couldn't help but feel relieved.]
[But then Tony poured cold water on his enthusiasm: "Yeah! But the president was kidnapped!"]
[Rhodes turned his head and complained: "You couldn't save the president even with your battle suit. How are we going to save Pepper when we have nothing?"]
[Tony opened his mouth and asked Jarvis: "Ah! Jarvis, is it time?"]
["Is this the House Party Protocol, sir?"]
[Tony nodded: "That's right!"]
[Malibu Villa Ruins]
[Several large cranes were working at the site. One crane was lifting the massive stone slab that had collapsed onto the basement entrance. Workers were clearing away the rubble.]
[The next second, the door to the basement opened, and the remaining debris tumbled down. A curious worker walked to the edge to inspect the opening.]
[There was only a faint light visible in the dark chamber below, and then something rushed out from the darkness.]
[The scene changed to Pepper, still strapped to the examination bed. A staff member injected another dose of the Extremis virus into her body.]
[Killian approached and looked down at her. Pepper regained consciousness, and Killian greeted her with a smile.]
[Pepper ignored him and gasped for breath. She had successfully survived the second stage of the Extremis virus.]
[After recovering slightly, Pepper looked at Killian, shook her head and said, "Do you think he will help you? That's impossible!"]
[Killian blinked and moved closer to Pepper: "I captured you not only to provoke Tony Stark! In fact... there is a more embarrassing purpose!" He even laughed awkwardly at his own admission.]
["You are my..."]
[Before he could finish, Pepper took the initiative to complete his sentence: "Trophy."]
[Killian closed his eyes and laughed, then nodded in confirmation.]
[Pepper closed her eyes and turned away, not wanting to look at him.]
[At that moment, a figure descended from above. It was the Iron Patriot armor. Pepper watched with surprise as the suit walked toward them.]
[Killian turned around and looked at the armor, saying, "Good evening, sir!"]
[As soon as he finished speaking, the armor opened automatically, and Ellis fell out, landing on his knees. When Pepper saw him, she couldn't help but gape in disbelief that Killian had captured the President of the United States.]
["Welcome aboard, Mr. President!"]
[As the camera pulled back, a massive cargo ship came into view.]
["Have you heard of an elephant graveyard? Well, two years ago, this barge became the elephant!" Killian led the way, with Ellis following behind, looking in the direction Killian indicated.]
[Ellis quickly recognized the vessel: "This is the Roxxon!"]
[Killian was not surprised that Ellis could identify it: "Of course you remember it! It leaked nearly a million gallons of crude oil near Pensacola! Thanks to you, no rich executives were ever brought to trial!"]
[Ellis asked, "What do you want from me?"]
["Nothing grand, sir!" Killian looked at him with a smirk, "I just needed a good excuse to execute you on television! I've moved on!"]
["I've found a new political backer. He will take over your position by this time tomorrow! Tie him up!" After saying this, his expression hardened and he walked away.]
[The guard behind him grabbed Ellis by the collar and forcibly dragged him away.]
"Oh oh oh! Looks like our Mr. President is going to be in a little trouble!" Scott said lightly while sitting on the sofa in the living room.
Sam chuckled. "Yeah! But it doesn't look too serious. That oil spill incident isn't enough to really threaten him."
"But it's bound to be embarrassing!" Wanda remarked as she walked over and sat down next to them.
"Well! Maybe some corporate executives are going to be in trouble. Now that it has been exposed, the public can no longer turn a blind eye or a deaf ear to it," Pietro added.
Tony squinted as he watched Pepper being injected with the Extremis virus. She seemed to be holding on, which gave him some relief.
[Tony and Rhodes secretly approached the port and successfully boarded the ship after evading the patrols and staff.]
[Rhodes took the lead with Tony following closely behind, and the two hid behind a stack of crates.]
[At this point, Rhodes suddenly asked: "You're not going to go crazy all of a sudden, are you?"]
["I hope not!"]
[The two avoided various guards along the way and moved deeper into the ship. Soon they came to the back of a shipping container. Rhodes peered around the corner to assess the situation. To his horror, he saw Ellis, dressed in the Iron Patriot armor, suspended in mid-air. Below him, armed men were preparing their weapons.]
["Oh! My God!" Rhodes couldn't help but exclaim as he ducked back to Tony's side.]
["He's hanging from an oil tank, and they're going to burn him, man!"]
[Hearing this, Tony immediately understood Killian's plan: "A Viking funeral, public execution!"]
["Yeah! They're going to burn him alive with oil!"]
[The two knew there was no time to lose, so they quickly headed towards Ellis while trying to remain undetected.]
[At that moment, a voice came over a loudspeaker: "The live broadcast is about to begin, everyone take your positions!"]
[Killian was watching from the control room: "Okay! Switch from Camera A to E! Let's rehearse first!" The display screen was divided into four separate feeds. In addition to showing Ellis from various angles, there was also an icon representing the Mandarin.]
[Rhodes moved forward with his gun drawn: "Is your weapon ready?"]
[Hearing this, Tony immediately raised his pistol: "Yeah! What's the plan?"]
["Cover my six, watch your aim, and don't shoot me in the back!"]
["Six o'clock! Aim high! Watch your back! Alright!" Tony repeated while glancing behind them.]
[As they turned a corner, a guard on the roof opened fire on them. Tony immediately returned fire, but his shooting skills were poor and most of his bullets missed. Only one shot hit a nearby searchlight, but it didn't disable it.]
[The two were forced to retreat under the barrage of automatic gunfire, finally finding a safe position to take cover.]
[Tony crouched down and said defensively, "Did you see that? Nailed it!"]
[Rhodes complained: "Yeah, you barely scratched the light bulb!"]
[Tony insisted stubbornly: "I was aiming for the light bulb. You definitely couldn't hit it from this distance!"]
[After hearing this challenge, Rhodes didn't waste any words. He stood up, took careful aim, and shot the searchlight to pieces with a single shot. Then he crouched back down and gave Tony a knowing look without saying a word.]
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