[Only one chapter today, sorry!]
"What was that sound?"
Outside Sector 16, Coulson, who was attaching a small timed explosive to the sector's access door, suddenly asked the agent beside him.
The agent, handing Coulson the explosive, seemed confused. "What? The timer's beeping?"
Coulson shook his head, dismissing the thought. Waving his hand, he retreated five meters away with three of his subordinates, standing with their backs to the door.
He had already activated the timer, and in a few seconds, the explosive would detonate. There wasn't enough time for Coulson to linger on his unease.
Whatever that sound was, he would find out once they entered Sector 16.
Coulson was now accompanied by just three well-trained agents.
As for Pepper, after Eren's warning call, Coulson had assigned one of his agents to escort her out of the so-called danger zone.
Pepper's role had only been to guide them to the hidden Sector 16 lab. Now that they had located it, there was no need for her to stay, and Coulson saw it as an opportunity to gain favor with both Tony Stark and Eren.
If there was indeed danger in Sector 16, it might even earn him a favor from those two—something that could be incredibly valuable down the line.
Well, he thought ruefully, maybe he already owed Eren a few favors himself.
Boom!
As Coulson was lost in thought, a muffled explosion broke the silence.
The heavy electronic gate of Sector 16 had been blasted open by SHIELD's specialized explosives.
"Check your weapons!"
With the gate breached, Coulson and his team drew their handguns and cautiously advanced.
Eren had repeatedly warned them about the dangers within Sector 16, and Coulson wasn't about to take those warnings lightly.
He even took out a special device resembling a remote control. It was a SHIELD distress beacon—pressing the button would alert the nearest SHIELD headquarters, summoning reinforcements.
The moment Coulson and his team stepped into Sector 16,
Buzz!
The dim, shadowy lab was suddenly illuminated as rows of lights flickered on, one by one.
"Something's up!"
The abrupt transition from darkness to light caused the seasoned agents to instinctively dive for cover, anticipating an attack.
But several tense seconds passed, and no assault came.
Just as their nerves began to ease, a deep, heavy sound of footsteps echoed through the space.
Then,
Boom!
With a deafening crash, a massive mechanical arm smashed down, obliterating an agent and the cover he had been hiding behind.
A colossal steel robot, towering three to four meters high, emerged from the shadows, standing before them.
Without waiting for orders, the two remaining agents opened fire on the giant machine.
But bullets that could tear through human flesh had no effect on the robot's alloy frame, producing only harmless sparks.
The giant robot instinctively raised one of its mechanical arms to shield its head. When it realized the bullets couldn't even scratch its armor, the machine paused.
A guttural voice, tinged with Obadiah's chilling tone, emerged from the robot.
"Flesh is weak. Only steel is eternal..."
Just moments ago, Obadiah's human body had been powerless against bullets. A single handgun had been enough to shatter his limbs and end his life.
But now, resurrected in the Iron Monger, Obadiah felt invincible. Bullets that had once been fatal now couldn't even pierce his "skin."
The stark contrast left him intoxicated with his newfound power.
With a laugh, the massive robot stomped its mechanical leg, shattering several tiles as it closed the distance to one of the agents in an instant.
Boom!
A steel fist came down, turning the agent's head into a spray of blood and gore.
"Damn it!" Coulson cursed under his breath as his brown eyes narrowed in horror.
At that moment, he finally understood the danger Eren had warned about.
This monstrous machine was far beyond what his small team could handle. If Pepper had stayed with them, she would have been torn apart in seconds.
"Damn it! Obadiah actually created this kind of mechanical monstrosity. Things just got a lot worse."
Without hesitation, Coulson pressed the distress button in his hand and shouted to the last remaining agent, "Retreat!"
Then he turned and ran without looking back.
Bang! Bang!
The remaining agent fired two shots at the Iron Monger's head before quickly retreating. As he ran, he kept glancing over his shoulder at the massive robot.
Unbeknownst to him, those gunshots were his death knell.
The bullets ricocheted harmlessly off the Iron Monger's head, leaving faint sparks.
Remembering the vulnerability of his human form, the robot's eyes flared crimson, glowing like searchlights.
"I hate the sound of bullets," it growled.
Raising one arm, it launched a small rocket from its mechanical limb.
Boom!
The explosion ripped through the retreating agent, reducing him to a spray of blood and fragmented flesh.
(End of Chapter)
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