Each micro-missile was smaller than a green pea.
At such extreme velocity, even the jellyfish turrets were unable to intercept them.
When designing these weapons, Tony had already incorporated Atlantean armaments into his database, drawing from previous combat footage and simulated projections.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Dense swarms of micro-missiles locked onto the four foremost jellyfish turrets and struck with pinpoint accuracy.
The explosions themselves were not especially violent, but they released vast quantities of fine, pale powder.
The moment this off-white super-oxide compound made contact with the turrets' surfaces, it triggered an intense chemical reaction, rapidly forming an ultra-corrosive acid capable of dissolving metal.
The jellyfish turrets' outer shells were eaten away almost instantly, and their internal mechanisms failed in quick succession.
Sparks erupted across their bodies as their lights flickered erratically—then they shut down completely.
---
By then, Mark IV had already closed in on an amphibious assault vehicle.
Tony's left arm armor reshaped itself, unfolding into a uniquely designed metal blade.
Gripping the hilt with his right hand, Tony brought the blade down in a single, decisive slash.
The instant the weapon was held, its edge began vibrating at ultra-high frequency—far beyond what the naked eye could perceive.
The turret was sliced apart as easily as cake.
At the same time, armor plates along Tony's legs flared open. The engines ignited, blasting out fierce jets of flame.
Mark IV's massive frame slid sideways in one smooth, elegant motion—almost like a zero-gravity space maneuver.
A heartbeat later, seven or eight cannon blasts slammed into the spot where Tony had been standing.
The violent explosions sent the disabled assault vehicle flying.
By then, Tony had already reappeared beside another one.
And during that rapid repositioning, four Atlantean soldiers who had attempted to fire were cut down effortlessly by the high-frequency blade.
---
Seeing this, one of the super sea-snails locked onto Mark IV.
Its immense energy signature surged as a lethal ion beam prepared to fire.
Inside the helmet, Tony was instantly alerted by a shrill warning.
He remained calm.
The bulky rear armor of Mark IV split open into four ports, ejecting dozens of high-density smoke canisters.
In seconds, a vast stretch of the battlefield—over a kilometer wide—was engulfed in thick white particulate clouds.
Deprived of a clear target, the super sea-snail unleashed a barrage of energy beams anyway, blanketing the battlefield ahead.
Behind the smoke, despite Mark IV's heavier build, the sheer number of enhanced thrusters gave it superior speed and agility—even beyond that of Mark III.
The beams chased Tony through the haze, melting craters into the ground where they struck.
As he passed another amphibious vehicle, Tony struck in a single fluid motion, disabling it with minimal effort and maximum efficiency.
Though these vehicles possessed formidable frontal armor, JARVIS had already identified their weaknesses.
With each destroyed unit providing new data, their fatal vulnerabilities were finally pinpointed.
In less than a few minutes, seven amphibious assault vehicles and four jellyfish turrets had been destroyed by Tony alone.
---
The spectacle was captured in full by satellites and long-range surveillance systems.
"That armor—Stark's Mark suit?" President Ellis asked, staring at the footage.
"Yes, sir," Ross replied.
"You still can't analyze his power core?" Ellis pressed. "He's not an alien, for God's sake."
Ross shook his head.
"Our labs have deciphered over fifty percent of the structure. But the energy output core remains a major obstacle."
"Any prototype we build has extremely limited endurance—nowhere near enough to support energy weapons."
Ellis resisted the urge to grab his hair. His recent hair loss had become so severe that even touching it felt risky.
Both men turned their attention back to the screen.
---
Amid a storm of energy beams, Tony had already charged to within several dozen meters of a super sea-snail.
Along the way, through constant acceleration and deceleration, he had destroyed three more assault vehicles and over fifty Atlantean soldiers.
It wasn't intentional.
Given the armor's mass and momentum, anything in Mark IV's path was simply smashed aside—Atlantean soldiers sent flying like ping-pong balls.
According to JARVIS's calculations, plowing straight through was more energy-efficient than evasive maneuvers.
However, as Tony pushed deeper, more soldiers, vehicles, and turrets converged on his position.
Even with JARVIS's assistance, the computational load was growing intense.
Buzz—!
A cannon blast struck Mark IV directly.
The explosion rocked the armor, but its sheer weight kept it upright.
Still, visible damage appeared across the plating.
Despite that, Tony forced his way to within striking distance of the super sea-snail.
---
"Now!"
Armor plates along Mark IV's abdomen snapped open.
Four 80-millimeter missiles launched simultaneously.
Their casings shed layer by layer as they accelerated again and again, altering trajectory mid-flight and slipping past two defensive energy beams.
The instant they were fired, Tony turned and fled.
Yes—fled.
He didn't hesitate to burn energy, even ejecting nonessential modules to increase speed.
Five seconds later—
The missiles detonated.
A blinding flash erupted—brighter than a star.
The shockwave obliterated more than ten jellyfish turrets outright, while dozens farther away dimmed and shut down as if their power had been cut.
Violent electromagnetic pulses rippled outward, crippling even more mechanical systems.
The nearest super sea-snail survived the initial impact, but its body erupted in sparks, systems failing one after another.
Atlantean technology, powerful as it was, had yet to surpass fundamental mechanical principles.
Without a full-coverage energy shield capable of protecting such a massive structure, the high-yield EMP warheads wreaked catastrophic damage.
---
By the time the blast peaked, Tony had already fled nearly two kilometers away, pushing Mark IV beyond the core EMP radius.
Even so, interference flickered across his HUD, the visuals breaking in and out.
Still—
The strike had landed.
And for the first time, the Atlantean advance had been forcefully disrupted.
_____
T/N:
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