As Vis's taunts came to an end, the fighter jets closed in, continuing their cat-and-mouse game. Even though they had entered a range of fifty meters, the aircraft hesitated to launch any offensive weaponry, as if they had concerns.
"I told you so. There's a ninety-nine percent chance they won't fire missiles. We're on a Helicarrier, and if it's damaged or destroyed, that would indirectly disrupt Project Insight," Vis, now in his robot form, communicated with Steve, who was inside him, and Natasha on his palm via radio waves, transforming his voice into a regular one.
"You're making us sound like the villains," Natasha couldn't help but quip.
"Destroying the Helicarrier is indeed a solution, but directly below us is New York City. The crash of three Helicarriers would still result in a catastrophe," Steve said, analyzing the situation calmly.
"I see. That's why the master calls you…" Vis started to say but stopped halfway. There was no need to say that Steve was the hero with the most humanity and sense of justice. His actions always prioritized human safety. He was completely different from Kyle, who believed in fighting fire with fire.
Vis, an android created by Howard, was given life by Kyle and taught about armored warfare by Tony. In its mechanical soul's data code, the values and principles of all three were deeply ingrained, making it feel that there was nothing money and power couldn't solve.
While Vis was contemplating this, a sudden sound of turbulent air came from the back of his head. The intelligent system sent a loud warning signal.
Quickly, his bulky robotic body crouched down, and rolled forward in an elegant somersault, and the missile passed over his head and hit the deck of the Helicarrier not far ahead, exploding into a magnificent, terrifying display of dust and flames.
Vis quickly stood up again, extending his mechanical palm, while Natasha, who was on one knee, stood up, her chest raised. Her vibrant red hair fluttered as the shockwave from the explosion blew over her.
Natasha raised an eyebrow and commented on Vis's previous system prediction, "Your one percent probability just happened. They really launched a missile, ignoring the safety of the Helicarrier."
"It's not them, it's him," Vis countered.
A silver fighter jet rushed to the front of the aircraft formation, and through the windshield, you could see the cockpit of the aircraft. The pilot was a blond young man with a metallic arm.
Steve also saw this through the video feed from the rear of the aircraft. He spoke softly, "It's Bucky. He's caught up."
Vis wasn't concerned about that. He turned around, raised his mechanical arm, and his left-hand cannon opened a hole. After a brief energy buildup, a booming and trembling giant beam of daylight was fired.
The silver fighter jet was alerted and swiftly maneuvered like a nimble hawk, avoiding the beam.
The laser missed the jet's wing, but struck another fighter jet behind it, accidentally destroying it. The damaged aircraft plummeted, creating a fireball on the Helicarrier's deck. Nearby fighter jets had to accelerate and swerve to avoid the explosion.
Inside the cockpit, Bucky remained cold and ruthless, skillfully controlling the silver fighter jet. He aimed and fired two more missiles, approaching Vis from both sides.
"He's coming!" Natasha exclaimed.
"You don't have to tell me. I know," Vis replied.
With his left-hand cannon still emitting smoke, Vis took a few steps back and quickly switched to the right hand to charge energy. He calculated the missile trajectories and timing, preparing to intercept the two incoming missiles with a single laser shot.
"Boom!"
The collision between the missiles and the laser beam erupted in the airspace between Vis and the silver fighter jet. In an instant, shockwaves and waves of light battered the surrounding air, so intense that everything within a fifty-meter radius was pushed away.
Amidst the storm created by the explosion, the Helicarrier shook and descended slightly, and the airborne fighter jets temporarily pushed back, with the unfortunate ones being thrown off by the powerful cyclone.
At the same time, turbulent flows surged within the dark gray explosion, accompanied by the roar of engine cylinders accelerating.
In the next moment, a battered and bullet-riddled yellow car burst out of the blast zone at full speed, heading towards the Helicarrier's deck.
Inside the car, Steve and Natasha, sitting in the driver and passenger seats, were still in a daze.
"How did... it change back?" Steve couldn't wrap his head around the practicalities of the mechanical armored technology in which he was still largely stuck in World War II tech knowledge.
Natasha took a deep breath and asked, "Yeah, why didn't you deal with the fighter jets behind us first with that powerful energy cannon?"
"Both of you, I have some bad news. I'm running out of power," Vis explained straightforwardly.
"What did you say?!" Both people in the car were shocked and instinctively looked in the rearview mirror, where over a dozen fighter jets, led by the silver fighter, continued to pursue them, crossing over the dust and debris from the explosion.
It was a life-and-death race, like a reenactment of their earlier chase. But this time, it was an extraordinary sight, with about ten advanced fighter jets on a Helicarrier at an altitude of a kilometer pursuing an old, beat-up yellow car.
"At a time like this, you're telling us you're running out of power?" Natasha was at a loss for words.
Vis sighed in a human-like manner and said helplessly, "Kryon's energy conversion rate is too low, and the incomplete Transformers mode significantly depletes energy. Even a whole Kryon, after launching nearly ten energy rounds, would almost run out. Right now, I can maintain car mode rather than reverting to my prototype, which is already a good thing."
"So, what now..." Steve began to ask, but they heard a sharp thud, like something heavy landing on the car roof.
Vis provided a warning, "We've got a bird person coming back."
"A bird person? Is it Sam?" Steve expressed his surprise.
"It's me." A middle-aged black man lay on the car roof, wearing sunglasses. He leaned his head out of the windshield and lightly tapped on the car window with his finger.
"Did you find the control console to reset the Helicarrier system?" Steve asked, and the chip to restart the Helicarrier was still in his hand.
"I found it. It's right under the Helicarrier, but I don't have access," Sam said with a deeply serious expression and quickly added, "Also, just a moment ago, a helicopter carrying the Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. flew over there. Due to fighter jet escort, I couldn't intercept it."
"You've done a great job." Steve responded, then turned to Vis with an urgent question, "Do we have any reinforcements?"
"Usually, yes, but right now, everyone else is..." Vis's answer abruptly halted, and his voice trembled with excitement as he said, "Reinforcements are here!"
(End of this chapter)
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