The missiles Tony Stark prepared were terrifyingly powerful. They pierced through Elder Centipede's armor, then detonated inside its body.
The explosions blew Elder Centipede into several segments.
And then Tony Stark witnessed Elder Centipede's regeneration firsthand.
What the hell were you supposed to do with something like this?
At that moment, thanks to the time Tony had bought them, Reed finished charging.
"Susan!"
Reed shouted. Susan understood instantly, using an invisible force field to restrain Elder Centipede. Venom and Silk also fired webs to help bind it in place.
Reed aimed straight at Elder Centipede's head.
Sensing lethal danger, Elder Centipede chose to molt and regenerate!
It directly abandoned the bound shell, completing the molt at terrifying speed. Reed didn't know that, and he fired anyway, blasting Elder Centipede's head apart with a single shot.
Everyone let out a breath, thinking it was finally over.
But then Elder Centipede burst up from beneath the ground right under Susan's feet and swallowed her in one gulp!
"Susan!"
Reed and the others went pale with shock.
Tony's brows knitted together. This thing's vitality was way too stubborn.
But it still wasn't over.
After swallowing Susan, Elder Centipede threw back its head and roared at the sky.
Then a huge figure came charging in from the distance and slammed into Elder Centipede with brutal force.
Elder Centipede's enormous body rolled away from the impact.
"Ben!"
Reed was ecstatic. He knew Ben would come!
The Thing, Ben, looked conflicted. He hadn't planned to turn back into the Thing again, but the news footage showed the Fantastic Three, Silk, and Venom fighting Elder Centipede, struggling desperately for the sake of ordinary people. The sight weighed on Ben like condemnation.
He might have turned back into an ordinary man, but could he really hide behind other people's protection with a clear conscience?
More importantly, the destruction caused by this giant centipede was too severe. If it wasn't dealt with quickly, more people would die, the city would take even more damage, and countless uninjured people would still have their lives ruined. And Reed's group clearly had no answer for this monster.
Ben wrestled with it for a long time, and finally decided to become the Thing again.
Not for anything else.
Just to protect everyone's peaceful lives.
"Ben, Susan got eaten by it!" The Human Torch landed in front of him.
"I know," Ben rumbled, nodding. "What do you need me to do?"
Then he looked at Reed.
"Ben, can you hold it down?" Reed said. "I'll blow its head apart with one shot."
"Gentlemen, and you too, big guy," Tony called out, "can you hurry it up?"
Tony had already spent all his weapons. All he could do now was use his energy cannons to keep Elder Centipede occupied.
Once they settled on a plan, they moved immediately.
Ben charged at Elder Centipede. Elder Centipede recognized him. That slam earlier had hurt like hell.
So Ben was the first thing it focused on.
Just as it prepared to dive and crash into him, its body suddenly went rigid, and the middle section of its body began to swell.
"It's Susan!" Reed shouted in excitement.
Fermentation, the Fantastic Three… now the Fantastic Four's name exploded across the city. Tony became famous too. They became the heroes who saved New York.
Of course, there were negative effects as well.
The U.S. military was questioned again.
People questioned how the military's capability could be worse than a handful of heroes. So where did all that taxpayer money go every year?
The U.S. obviously couldn't accept being questioned like that, so they made a promise.
They would purchase Blade Tech Industries' Iron Overlord series War Machines in large quantities, using that to demonstrate the U.S. military's resolve to protect taxpayers and American citizens!
"Ms. Uld, please help me ask Mr. Zodhis. Can the Iron Overlord deal with a giant centipede-like monster?"
The military claimed it would buy in bulk, but in reality, it was still hesitant, because that giant centipede was far larger than the Iron Overlord.
The Iron Overlord was, at best, a three-meter-tall little giant. The giant centipede's body length was visibly over a hundred meters. If monsters that huge kept appearing in the future, could the U.S. military really defend America with Iron Overlords?
"Mr. Zod is not omnipotent," Uld replied. "The Iron Overlord was a product designed for the previous Deep Sea King incident. If you truly want to deal with a giant centipede, Mr. Zod says he can help manufacture a giant mech."
Her answer made the military representative roll his eyes.
A giant mech?
Not even talking about how much funding it would take to build one, once it was built, how much would Zod sell it for?
The Iron Overlord already cost 1.5 billion. A giant mech would be even worse.
It would probably be priced like an aircraft carrier.
/-\
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