(⌒▽⌒)☞☜(⌒▽⌒)
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Saying that Iron Man is the archenemy of the Mandarin is a bit too much of a compliment to Stark. The Mandarin possesses ten high-tech rings, all of which are alien creations. The abilities are quite varied, including things like shockwaves, mind control, magnetic manipulation, material reconstruction, and absolute zero.
To draw an analogy with characters, it's like picking ten mutants or superhumans such as Daisy, Magneto, Professor Xavier, and Iceman, and turning them into rings to wear on one's hand.
One person gathering the combined powers of ten mutants or superhumans.
If Madam Gao is like a martial arts master who has practiced diligently for four hundred years, then Mandarin is like an alchemist stepping out of a fantasy world!
Facing the Air Force Colonel, Daisy couldn't explain what the Ten Rings and Chi refining were, so she just shifted the blame to mutants.
"Trust my years of experience in life and death situations, there is an extremely powerful mutant over there." This reason sounds extremely far-fetched, but Daisy can only say so much.
The multifunctional vehicle kept accelerating, speeding northward, while she glanced back.
With a solemn expression and frowned brows, Daisy managed to convince Colonel Rhodes to believe about 60% percent of what she said.
The ordinary U.S. soldiers were unaware of Daisy's concerns. After driving for hundreds of miles, their tense nerves began to relax, and a few of them began to whisper to each other.
"Don't slow down, keep going, we're heading straight back to Bagram Air Base," Daisy shouted loudly over the communicator.
The soldiers were somewhat resentful, but the prospect of returning to base suppressed their dissatisfaction, and they happily accelerated their return.
The Bagram Air Base was merely wishful thinking. Daisy had a strong premonition that the enemy had detected their whereabouts and was now pursuing them. This was the instinctual feedback given to her by the beast intuition she got after the Panther Goddess bestowed her blessing.
Bagram Air Base was home to tens of thousands of U.S. troops, and theoretically, Mandarin wouldn't engage in direct confrontation with modern weapons. However, they were currently in the southern Kandahar Province, while Bagram was in the eastern Parwan Province. Under normal circumstances, even with accelerated straight-line travel, it would still take two days. But their current situation was far from normal.
The troops stationed in southern Afghanistan were sparse, with some bases consisting of only a few dozen to a few hundred people, more like outposts than bases. Daisy didn't intend to let these people die in vain. Right now, she could only hope to return to Kabul first, hiding amidst the chaos of the big city to fool Mandarin.
As for leaving alone, she had considered it, but she feared that her high-speed flight or teleportation fluctuations would be remembered by the other party. Then she'd be in trouble, unable to fight or flee. That would be too much fun for her.
Instead of shining brightly like stars in the night sky and attracting the pursuer away, it was better to blend in with the light and stay with the main force. Maybe they could still slip through unnoticed.
At the same time, she hoped her feelings were wrong, that there really was no strong enemy, and certainly no pursuit.
Unfortunately, there was something in this world called Murphy's Law. Good things never seem to happen, but as soon as trouble shows its face, it always finds its way to you.
"Who are you people?" Three hours of fast driving later, Mandarin finally caught up with them.
His tone was theatrical, fluctuating with ups and downs, elongating his vowels.
With his black hair fluttering in the wind, Mandarin wore a dark green silk robe, hands clasped behind his back, exuding an air of nobility, with a simple and ancient countenance.
Normally, Colonel Rhodes might decide whether to kick or lend a hand depending on his mood when encountering such a person. But now, he had no such thoughts. He and his soldiers and operatives were all surprised, looking up at this old man who flew without any apparent aid, seemingly surpassing the speed of sound.
This man could fly without relying on any tools, it had to be said that this event shocked all the soldiers and agents who were still in the scientific age before the Superhero era began.
Colonel Rhodes discreetly glanced at Daisy, silently asking, 'Is this the powerful enemy you mentioned?'
Daisy nodded subtly, signaling a few others to prepare for an attack.
Daisy restrained the frequency of her shockwave projections to the outside world. She was highly sensitive to fluctuations and could sense that Mandarin's right index finger ring was continuously emitting microwaves. This type of fluctuation differed from Daisy's and even from Mandarin himself; it belonged to the ring's inherent vibrations…
The two types of vibrations instantly distinguished themselves. Daisy was somewhat curious because she observed that Mandarin seemed to only use some basic abilities from the rings, similar to how she could only generate shockwaves when she first gained her powers. Could it be that the rings had no derived powers?
Daisy speculated a bit, and Mandarin's danger level in her mind slightly lowered by half a notch. However, even if there were no derived powers, he could still overpower her with his own strength and the ten rings.
Mandarin is different from Madam Gao; the Ten Rings were overwhelmingly powerful, with abilities ranging from mind control, shockwaves, absolute zero, flame impacts, and lightning storms, to material reconstruction—covering a plethora of offensive and defensive capabilities, leaving him nearly without weaknesses.
With the Ten Rings and his own martial arts skills, Mandarin was currently at the top level on Earth.
The Ancient One, with full support from Dormammu, might have a fifty-fifty chance against Mandarin because of her low defense. Removing the other powerful beings at the level of the Heavenly Fathers, maybe only the Dark Phoenix could defeat Mandarin.
In short, this was an enemy that could be described as terrifying!
The soldiers looked at each other in confusion. Daisy knew she had to handle the conversation herself. As the commander, with her Asian features and the fact that Mandarin spoke theatrically, which was actually in Chinese, the soldiers couldn't understand him.
Daisy rubbed her somewhat stiff face, putting on a standard Coulson-style smile, while also trying to adjust her frequency to make herself look especially friendly and cute.
She cheerfully waved, as if she had just seen a fellow villager, "Old man, we came from Maiwand and are heading to Kabul for this cousin's wedding!" Daisy pointed to Rhoddy beside her, indicating that he was the cousin...
Normally, she wouldn't speak such nonsense, but upon observing closely, she found that the Mandarin was very off. Long-term seclusion for cultivation was probably one reason, but another was the strange look in this old man's eyes—sometimes fierce, sometimes confused.
This reminded Daisy of a detail, the Ten Rings weren't just equipment; they had their own thoughts. Occasionally, they communicated through the platform provided by Mandarin.
Mandarin's mental attributes were undoubtedly off the charts, but having Ten Rings chattering in his ears every day, no matter how high his attributes were, he probably couldn't handle it, right?
Daisy is just taking advantage of the mental issues of an innocent old man, blabbering some nonsense, and hoping to bluff her way through. Otherwise, who is a decent person who would bring a submachine gun to a cousin's wedding?
If he refuted her, she would claim that Afghanistan was chaotic. If he didn't, it would confirm that Mandarin indeed had mental problems.
The seemingly immortal Mandarin, instead of being charmed by her cute antics, frowned and glanced at her, seemingly displeased with Daisy's impure blood. However, amidst the "barbarians" around, especially with Colonel Rhodes, a black man, Daisy's Asian appearance became relatively rare and friendly.
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