Chapter 166: Tony Stark Is Very Anxious
Their tactical execution was maxed out.
Very soon, the remaining demons on the ground were completely cleared out, slaughtered down to the last.
After wiping out the demons on the ground, the Astartes leaped onto the tops of the surrounding buildings.
Demons were still pouring endlessly from the sky, but the moment they emerged, they were met with attacks from the Astartes' weapons.
The energy weapons finally revealed their edge.
The energy-weapon technology from PROJECT Corporation had quickly been mastered by the Technology Department and integrated into the weapons.
Energy weapons needed energy cores.
Without that, modern human energy technology simply could not make energy weapons compact and long-lasting.
Fortunately, their technological capabilities included energy-core technology.
In essence, these cores used plasma and ion-compressed energy to output lasers, plasma, and vibration energy.
Their output power was extremely high, and they could last a long time.
But Reacher felt that still was not enough. At the very least, it could not fully match the ranged weapon requirements of the Astartes and Raven.
So he set his sights on magic.
Since the armor they wore and Raven's combat suits could be engraved with runes, then these energy weapons could be as well.
Kamar-Taj's system in this area was quite mature.
They had magical energy bows, cannons, and more.
Reacher did not need magical energy itself. He only needed two traits: power conversion and material stability.
To put it simply, the energy bullets and lasers fired from the weapons had to pass through runes during launch, amplifying and transforming them. That would increase their killing power, not only against real physical matter, but also with special effectiveness against demons.
At the same time, the weapon materials themselves had to be able to withstand long-term use.
Otherwise, if the war was only halfway through and the energy weapons broke, that would be far too frustrating.
Reacher had learned that lesson before. When he had first joined the army, he had experienced weapon jams, gun damage, and similar problems many times. Those memories were still fresh.
With the Astartes and Raven providing long-range energy-weapon fire, together with Skye, the king of wide-area destruction, they immediately choked off the demons' continuous offensive from the sky.
Clearly, under Reacher's command, Manhattan's residents were safe.
They only had to be careful of demon corpses occasionally falling from above.
The residents began to cheer.
Most of them looked with gratitude and worship toward the silent Astartes and Raven soldiers standing on the rooftops of distant buildings.
Everyone knew that in this disaster, it was these two powerful and mysterious forces that had saved them, their families, their friends, and their children.
However, among the ordinary residents, a different kind of reaction was unfolding among the higher-level figures and more perceptive observers. What truly unsettled them was something else entirely.
That something was Skye.
The terrifying energy she had unleashed had covered the entire sky over Manhattan. That astonishing destructive power had instantly cleared an estimated minimum of over five hundred thousand monsters.
What kind of immense power was required to achieve destruction on this scale?
Unfortunately, due to special magnetic field interference in Manhattan, energy detection systems had been unable to record the exact energy data from Skye's outburst.
Otherwise, everyone would have wanted to know the precise energy output she had displayed in that single moment.
…
Inside the ocean-view villa, Tony Stark stood in the living room, silently watching the images on the LCD screen.
After a long while, he drained the whiskey in his glass in one gulp.
Then he bent down and placed the glass on the glass table beside him.
"Sir, you appear to be troubled."
"Yeah. I'm questioning things."
Tony's brows were tightly furrowed. After straightening up, he walked onto the balcony. He gazed at the sea, then turned his head for a glance toward the distant Manhattan skyline, where the night sky resembled blooming fireworks.
"Are you worried about those two mysterious armies?"
"A little."
Tony admitted it in response to Jarvis's question, but then he shook his head, staring hard in the direction of Manhattan.
It was as if he could see across the great distance with his own eyes, seeing those silent, grim, powerful armies, and those dense swarms of mysterious monsters that police firearms and bullets could not harm.
A trace of worry rose in his heart despite himself.
"What worries me more is that this world has suddenly become one I no longer recognize, Jarvis."
"In the past, I thought this world only had humans."
At this point, as if realizing he had forgotten something, he added, "And mutants."
"Mutant abilities are powerful, but they're also weak and fragile."
"But tonight, someone told me that aside from us, there are other people. Other enemies we don't understand."
Tony had always been a carefree person.
He was born in America, the son of the largest arms dealer in the country, even the world. From a young age, he had inherited immense wealth, as well as the brilliant mind of his dead father, Howard Stark.
Tony was a genius.
After his father died, under his leadership and that of his uncle Obadiah, Stark Industries had completely reached its peak.
He lacked nothing.
So he indulged in pleasure and luxury.
There had been no so-called crisis that could threaten him.
But now, things were different.
He now knew that apart from humans, other forms of life existed.
And the unknown was what frightened people the most.
Tony did not know whether tonight's incident was just a coincidence. If it was not, then this time it was Manhattan, and with the help of those two mysterious forces, they had successfully resisted the invasion of those monsters.
What about next time?
What if next time he happened to run into it, and no one was there to help him?
Would he die?
Once he died, all his genius and all his wealth would vanish into smoke.
Tony was not a saint. At least, not now.
Right now, he was more worried about himself.
Tony did not want to be having a private date with some beautiful, fiery cover girl one day, discussing the philosophy of life, only for a group of unknown monsters to show up at his door and kill him.
Just thinking of that scene sent a chill through Tony.
Human technological weapons did not have much effect on those things.
So what was the so-called most tightly guarded security force in the world around his wealthy district worth?
"Sir, would you like me to redesign your security system?"
"No, Jarvis. You know ordinary security systems are useless now."
Tony shook his head.
He turned and looked toward the waves rising in the distance. The moonlight was bright, just like his eyes.
Tony muttered to himself, "I need weapons and equipment that can fight those things."
"I think I need to develop something that can protect me, Jarvis."
Tony was very clear-headed.
Relying on others was unreliable. Could America's so-called most powerful military fight those monsters?
He had to put a big question mark there.
At the very least, even if they could fight them, the losses would be severe.
"Jarvis, immediately lock onto and track those mysterious forces. I need their information. I need to contact them. I need their armor, their energy-weapon technology, and I need to know why they're so powerful."
...
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