Just as Charles was communicating with Ginny, the sound of flying engines could be heard in the sky above.
Everyone looked up and saw Tony appearing in his Iron Man suit.
With Tony's control, he quickly landed on the nearby grass.
After landing, Tony tapped his chest reactor, and the armor automatically opened. Tony stepped out from inside, leaving the Iron Man armor behind.
Tony approached Charles and said with a smile, "Hey buddy, looks like I arrived just in time. You guys are throwing a party, huh?"
Charles patted Tony's shoulder and replied with a smile, "The party has just begun. You've picked a good time to show up."
Tony looked at Ginny and Tsunade beside Charles, then draped his arm over Charles's shoulder and said to the two, "Sorry, I'll borrow your man for a while. Won't take too long."
With that, he pulled Charles away and walked to the nearby drinks area. Tony grabbed a glass of whiskey, took a sip, and then spoke, "Buddy, did I just pull you out of a battlefield?"
Charles looked at Tony and shook his head. "Tony, what brings you here this time?"
Charles knew that Tony wouldn't come without a reason; there must be something going on.
Tony looked at Charles, remained silent for a moment, then spoke after a few seconds, "I heard that you guys are selling a physique-enhancing serum similar to the Super Soldier Serum?"
Hearing Tony mention the physique-enhancing serum, Charles looked at him with some surprise. He hadn't expected Tony, as Iron Man, to be interested in such a thing.
"Yes, we are selling it. SHIELD bought a sample from me before."
"Why, even as Iron Man, are you interested in this stuff?"
Tony looked at Charles and said, "I'm interested in anything that can enhance my strength."
Charles thought for a moment. Perhaps Tony's experience in the magical world's war made him realize that when energy runs out and ammunition is depleted, the final stage of war comes down to physical strength and melee combat.
"For 10 of the new energy sources you developed, you can take it."
Hearing Charles's offer, Tony immediately took out a box from his suit pocket. Inside were 10 triangular new elements.
Seeing Tony casually take out the box, Charles was surprised. "How did you guess the price?"
Tony laughed. "Instinct!"
In fact, Tony had another box of the same kind in his other pocket.
Charles directly took out the physique-enhancing serum from his storage space and handed it to Tony.
"Buddy, your storage ability is really enviable."
Charles smiled, "I believe in the future you can develop similar technology."
Tony held the potion in his hand and asked Charles, "How do you use this? Injection or?"
"Oral. You can drink it directly, then rest for a night, and you'll adapt to your new self."
Tony smiled holding the physique-enhancing serum.
"This is a very convenient method."
"Do you sell this openly here?"
Charles nodded. "Yes."
Then Charles seemed to remember something and said, "You can consider upgrading the metal of your Mark Armor."
"Last time SHIELD came, they tried to sell me two types of metal: Adamantium Alloy and Secondary Adamantium Alloy. They're said to have excellent performance. You can buy some for yourself."
Hearing Charles mention the metal, Tony cursed, "Shit, these guys actually got their hands on military-grade materials."
Tony was familiar with this type of material, and although he hadn't used it in his Mark series cause the military didn't sell it. He didn't expect SHIELD to have access to it.
Charles shrugged and said, "I don't know how they got it, but I heard this stuff is priced at $100,000 per gram. With the weight of your Mark series, making a suit would cost a fortune."
"They're ripping people off. There's no way it's $100,000 per gram."
If it were truly priced that way, with the weight of his Mark series ranging from tens to hundreds of kilograms, even with his wealth, he couldn't afford to make more than a few suits.
Charles chuckled, "They're definitely ripping people off. Robbing a bank isn't even this profitable."
Tony glanced at the physique-enhancing serum in his hand, then at his Mark Armor nearby, and said, "I won't disturb your party any longer. I'll figure out a way to procure some Adamantium Alloy from SHIELD."
With that, Tony walked toward his Mark Armor, quickly put it on, and activated it before flying off into the distance.
Watching Tony fly away, Ginny's voice sounded beside Charles, "Did that guy leave?"
"Yeah, he's gone."
Then the two walked toward the center of the party. Charles glanced at where Tsunade was.
Tsunade was currently chatting with Orochimaru, seemingly in deep conversation.
Orochimaru glanced at the party in front of him and smiled, "Do you think Jiraiya, that idiot, will come over and have some fun with that guy, Tony?"
"I heard Tony is a complete playboy. That's right up Jiraiya's alley."
Hearing Orochimaru mention Jiraiya, Tsunade nodded in agreement. "That guy, when he comes over, he will probably think this place is heaven."
Thinking about Jiraiya and Tony hanging out together, Tsunade shook her head and continued, "He's not one to stay out of trouble."
Orochimaru chuckled but didn't say anything more.
…
On the other side-
Currently, Jenny was outside a morgue, and a staff member approached her after a brief discussion.
"Miss Jenny."
Jenny looked towards the door of the morgue, her eyes lifeless and unresponsive.
"Miss Jenny, do you think you can handle this?"
Hearing her name being called for the second time, Jenny finally snapped out of it. "Sorry, what?"
"We need your help to identify the body."
At this moment, inside the morgue, five bodies were laid out neatly in body bags, arranged in the room.
Suddenly, one of the bodies sat up, struggling as soon as it realized it was in a bag.
It was none other than Nick, who had sacrificed himself during the plane crash.
Nick struggled to tear open the bag and sat on the autopsy table, gasping for breath, his eyes filled with confusion as he looked around.
Suddenly, he noticed a tag tied to his toe. He lifted his foot and took it off, reading the three words: "Anonymous."
Nick put down the tag and suddenly sensed someone beside him. He turned and saw Ferrel, whom he had killed. This startled him, and he fell off the table, knocking over a nearby tool rack.
Nick assumed a defensive posture and said, "Ferrel."
Ferrel replied, "Hey, buddy!"
Nick sighed in relief, "You scared me."
"We need to talk, Nick."
Nick looked around and asked, "What's going on?"
Ferrel said expressionlessly, "You know what's going on."
After a moment of thought, Nick asked in surprise, "Am I dead?"
Ferrel looked at Nick and said, "Dead? No. But you'd wish you were."
Hearing Ferrel's words, Nick felt confused and tried to understand their meaning.
At that moment, the door of the morgue opened, and two staff members escorted Jenny inside. As they walked, one of them said, "This way, please."
The three newcomers froze when they saw Nick standing there. Jenny exclaimed, "Oh my god! Nick."
Nick turned to see Jenny and also called out her name, "Jenny."
Then, he prepared to look at Ferrel, but as he turned, he realized Ferrel had vanished, and instead, he saw his own naked body.
"Oh!"
Nick exclaimed in shock, immediately covering himself with his hands and crouching behind the autopsy table, retreating and asking, "What's happening? Where am I? Who's in charge here?"
One of the staff members raised a hand and said, "I'm in charge here."
After explaining the situation, Nick put on clothes and left the morgue with Jenny.
…
On the other side-
The search and rescue operation for the plane, as well as the search for debris, continued.
"Base, Search and Rescue One calling."
"We've found what appears to be wreckage in the woods within a 4-kilometer radius."
"Head to the Ellesford dock immediately and stand by."
The search and rescue team arrived at the scene, and a staff member observed, "The dock is destroyed. It looks like parts of the wing and a turbine."
"A few miles from the main crash site. Over."
"Copy that, Search and Rescue One, received."
Two members of the search and rescue team entered the woods and began inspecting the scene.
One of them, holding a flashlight, began searching and soon made a discovery: "Found a body, no signs of life. Stand by."
"Assessment of casualties, confirmed deaths."
"Please dispatch medical personnel to the scene. Over."
A voice came over the radio, "Received, Search and Rescue One."
"Medical personnel are on site."
Meanwhile, another member of the search and rescue team ventured deeper into the woods and soon arrived at the original location of the Egyptian coffin.
The coffin had already been removed, leaving behind only a mummified corpse, surrounded by many crows.
The search and rescue member shooed away the crows upon seeing the body, then approached it. As it was already nighttime, he used a flashlight to illuminate the mummy, inspecting it closely.
"Wow, what is this?"
After a few glances, unable to discern what it was, he turned to shout to another search and rescue member, "Hey! You'd better come and take a look..."
But in the instant he turned to speak, the mummified corpse on the ground suddenly moved, extending its hand to grab him, and instantly sucked him dry, turning him into another mummy.
The shout also attracted another search and rescue member.
"Alan, what's wrong?"
"Alan?"
As the second search and rescue member approached, he too met the same fate as the first, being grabbed and turned into a mummy.
With the replenishment of two more victims' blood and energy, Ahmanet, who had long been mummified, regained some flesh and blood and gained mobility.
"Rise!"
With a low command from Ahmanet, the two search and rescue members who had been sucked dry rose up like zombies, becoming her minions.
Unnoticed by Ahmanet, an illusionary clone of Itachi Uchiha stood on a tree branch, observing everything that happened in the forest.
"So, this is the reason for the illusionary fluctuations I sensed earlier?"
…
On the other side-
Jenny led Nick into a bar, curious about his transformation.
The TV in the bar was playing a breaking news report: "A US military aircraft crashed tonight in Surrey, narrowly missing Waverley Abbey."
Jenny looked at Nick, who was drinking heavily, her face full of disbelief, and asked, "How did you escape from the plane? You're completely unharmed."
Nick held the bar with both hands, clearly bewildered by what was happening to him.
Nick didn't know how to answer the question, so he continued to drink.
Jenny looked at him and said, "Thank you!"
Nick asked in confusion, "Why?"
"You saved my life."
Nick picked up another glass of alcohol and looked at Jenny, saying, "You would do the same for me."
After saying that, he continued to drink.
But as Nick put down the glass, the figure of Ferrel appeared before him again, calling his name.
Nick closed his eyes, thinking it was just his imagination.
At this moment, Jenny spoke up, "Nick, I think I should tell you something."
"As you know, I'm collaborating with a group of archaeologists."
Nick nodded, "I know, yeah."
"We've made a hypothesis that an Egyptian princess was intentionally erased from history."
"We've been searching for something called the 'Dagger of Set'."
"It's a ceremonial dagger with a huge gemstone on the hilt. Set is the Egyptian god of death."
"Legend has it that when the dagger and the gemstone are combined, they will grant Set supernatural power."
"I believe it must be hidden here, in Europe, stolen by the Crusaders centuries ago."
"I found references to it in a manuscript belonging to a Crusader knight, hinting that the dagger was broken and the gemstone was buried somewhere in England alongside the knight."
"Recently, a massive Crusader tomb was discovered in London, and we're certain the gemstone is there."
"That tomb is our lead to finding Ahmanet."Top of Form
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