Marvel: Umbrella Corporation

In the living room~

After a while, Tony learned from Maria and Nick what had happened.

This made him lower his head in silence, deep in thought about a countermeasure.

Clearly, he didn't want to get involved in this situation.

Although his palladium poisoning had temporarily been alleviated, without the constant protection of the arc reactor, he couldn't face any unexpected dangers.

Simply put, if an enemy aimed a sniper rifle at him from a distance, his fate would be no different from that of an ordinary person.

Nick noticed Tony's hesitation and stood up, his expression grim.

"Tony, the safety of S.H.I.E.L.D. concerns the order of the entire human race. If S.H.I.E.L.D. falls into the wrong hands, human society will spiral out of control."

Hearing this, Tony's eyes flickered slightly.

Maria lowered her head, guilt written all over her face. "I'm sorry. It was my fault for not following the director's instructions the other night. I should have sent someone to assist you."

As voices filled the living room, Banner descended from upstairs.

"Who's here so early? Maria? Director Fury? What brings you here?"

Another round of explanations followed.

Banner's reaction was far more agitated than Tony's.

"We absolutely can't let those villains take control of S.H.I.E.L.D.! Who knows what chaos they'd unleash?"

Tony smiled wryly after hearing this.

He was just about to say something when JARVIS's voice suddenly interrupted.

"Sir, three vehicles are rapidly approaching the house."

Tony's expression changed, and a sense of crisis instantly arose in his mind.

"Banner, protect Pepper! JARVIS, get my armor and the arc reactor!"

As he spoke, Tony removed the wires connected to his chest, took the arc reactor handed to him by one of his mechanical arms, and placed it into his chest.

He then dashed into the basement to suit up.

Banner, without hesitation, ran upstairs to shield Pepper.

Meanwhile, Nick and Maria reacted quickly as well, drawing their handguns and taking cover behind the counters.

Moments later, a loud "boom!" shook the room as an explosion blasted a large hole in Tony's villa. Bullets soon rained inside.

Outside the villa, three vehicles had come to a halt. A man wearing a metallic mask with a left arm entirely made of metal tossed aside a portable rocket launcher and picked up a rifle, firing as he advanced toward the house.

*Ratatatat…*

The man, Bucky Barnes—known as the Winter Soldier—remained emotionless as he approached.

At that moment, a red-and-gold figure shot out from the villa—Tony, clad in his armor.

Emerging from the villa, Tony immediately fired a repulsor blast at the nearest enemy.

*Boom!*

Bucky raised his metal arm, blocking the attack.

The other henchmen responded by lifting their rocket launchers, aiming them at Tony.

*Whoosh… Whoosh… Whoosh…*

"...JARVIS!"

"Yes, sir."

JARVIS, equipped with rudimentary AI, instantly deployed decoy flares from the Mark VII armor.

However, these weren't ordinary rockets. They were Hydra's latest innovation, capable of bypassing the flares entirely and striking their target.

In disbelief, Tony watched as the missiles hit him directly.

*Boom!*

The explosion hurled Tony backward, sending him toward the cliff by the sea.

"Tony!"

Pepper, stepping out of her room at that moment, screamed in despair upon seeing Tony fall.

However, a second later, Tony soared back up, entirely unharmed. The missiles' force had merely pushed him back but couldn't scratch the adamantium mesh of his armor.

What followed was a one-sided battle.

Neither bullets nor rockets could harm Tony, and Winter Soldier's henchmen were swiftly taken down. Realizing the dire situation, Bucky led the remaining few in retreat.

When the dust settled, Tony surveyed the nearly demolished villa and turned to Maria and Nick.

"You're paying for this."

Maria and Nick immediately nodded in agreement. After all, they were funded by public expenses, and the compensation wouldn't come out of their own pockets.

"Tony, we now need to—"

........

As Nick and Maria discussed their next move to uncover the mastermind and thwart the enemy's plans, Natasha and Barton sensed something was amiss.

In a secret room, Natasha carefully peered outside to ensure no one was around before speaking.

"Maria is missing."

Barton nodded, checking his handgun.

"We need to leave S.H.I.E.L.D."

"Agreed. Let's go now."

"Should we bring anyone else?"

"There's no one else. Sam's on leave, and Logan and Victor left last night."

"What about the new recruit, Quake?"

Hearing the name, Natasha glanced at Barton skeptically.

"A rookie? Are you sure she's not a spy?"

"I have a feeling… But let's not involve her now."

Both being decisive, they made their move quickly, evading S.H.I.E.L.D. agents and security cameras as they exited the building.

Once outside, they sped through New York in a car—only to be blindsided by a speeding truck.

*Bang!*

The violent collision sent their car flying.

Unlike the director's armored vehicle, theirs was an ordinary sedan, offering no bulletproof protection. The crash left the car mangled, with shattered glass everywhere.

Despite their injuries and numerous wounds, the duo retrieved their firearms, unbuckled their seatbelts, and kicked open the car door to escape.

Moments after they fled, a rocket blasted the car.

*Boom!*

The explosion's shockwave threw them to the ground. Had they hesitated even a second longer, they would have perished with the car.

Yet the relentless assault continued. Before they could recover, a group of black-clad attackers surrounded them.

*Ratatatat…*

Bullets rained down, leaving them with no chance to retaliate.

Just as they were about to be riddled with bullets, shadows emerged around them.

"Ahhh!" "Help!"

"Monsters!"

The attackers screamed as these shadows unleashed their tongues, swiftly killing several Hydra operatives.

The sudden assault left the remaining operatives in disarray, forcing them to retreat.

Only two Hydra operatives, their expressions cold and devoid of fear, continued firing at the shadows.

"Ratatatat…"

These two were Winter Soldiers—emotionless and unrelenting.