Washington D.C., S.H.I.E.L.D. Headquarters, Triskelion...
Or rather, what used to be the Triskelion.
At this moment, there were no buildings left here; the terrifying nuclear explosion had vaporized everything, even melting the earth into glass.
A little further away, the spreading Impact also flattened most of the buildings.
The Lincoln Memorial, Roosevelt Bridge, White House, Pentagon.
The former two were completely destroyed, while the latter two, being a bit further away, were still largely collapsed.
These once iconic buildings of Washington D.C. could now only be vaguely identified by their architectural remains.
Everywhere one looked, there were only desolate ruins.
The air was filled with a pungent, mixed scent, including the acrid smell of ozone after ionization, the burnt smell of vaporized plastic and rubber, the rusty smell of melted iron, and even a faint, sweet, metallic scent lingering in the air.
In this explosion-covered area, there was no other sound except for the occasional creaking of collapsing buildings or the faint popping of tiny flames beneath the rubble.
Above, the sky was a grayish-yellow, mixed with radioactive dust and smoke, appearing from a distance as if it were mirroring the collapsed silhouette of the entire city.
At this time, three golden-red figures swiftly flew over the ruins, heading towards the southwest of Washington D.C.
And there, approximately 15 kilometers west of Washington D.C., in Arlington County, was the temporary relocation and resettlement area that had been set up within the last 12 hours. The original residents here had already been moved to other, more distant cities, while all schools, office buildings, and even large shopping malls had been cleared out and quickly converted into temporary aid stations.
Large numbers of Washington D.C. residents, once impeccably dressed and high-ranking, were now gathered here with despondent expressions, receiving examinations and treatment from medical personnel in protective suits.
And in the temporary command post within Arlington County.
Most of the Avengers were gathered here, their faces grim. A heavy, low pressure permeated the entire room.
What exactly did we save?
This thought lingered in everyone's minds.
Did they save America? Did they save the World?
Yes, they destroyed the Sky Carrier, foiled HYDRA's plan to dominate the World, and saved tens of thousands of innocent people who might have been killed by the Insight Project.
But if they had been more careful and cautious, would HYDRA not have chosen to detonate the nuclear bomb in a desperate act?
Looking at the numb faces of the displaced people outside the room, and thinking of the innocent civilians who died in the nuclear explosion, at this moment, no one had an answer in their hearts.
In the corner of the room, in front of a row of computer monitors, Tony Stark removed his remote control device, his eyes hollow as he stared at the various data displayed on the screen.
At this time, the three remotely controlled Iron Man Suits that had gone to the radiation zone for search and rescue had returned and were being cleaned of the radioactive dust they carried in a special isolation area.
Tony, who was usually very decisive and highly action-oriented, seemed at a loss for what to do after putting down the remote control device.
However, in reality, Tony had done more than anyone else over the past 12 hours.
First, the White House was strafed by the Sky Carrier, then Washington D.C. experienced a nuclear explosion, coupled with HYDRA's synchronized rebellions in various places.
The entire U.S. high command suffered severe casualties, and the government was temporarily paralyzed.
The temporary command post that had been organized was simply unable to consider rescuing Washington D.C.; most of its energy was focused on maintaining stability in the other states.
Even this temporary resettlement area was built by Stark Industries and some surviving S.H.I.E.L.D. Agents working together.
However, after all of this was done, besides repeatedly sending unmanned Iron Man Suits into the radiation zone for search and rescue, Tony still didn't know what else he could do, only staring blankly at the screen in front of him.
Finally, Steve Rogers, who had been silently leaning against the wall with his head down, broke the dead silence in the room.
"Have you found Metal... Luka... yet?"
Steve instinctively wanted to say 'Metal Knight', but at this point, it seemed unnecessary to pretend not to know the other party's true identity.
After he spoke, most of the people in the room did not react, simply looking quietly at Tony.
Only Harry Osborn's eyes flickered with a hint of surprise upon hearing Luka's name, but in the end, he just bit his lip tightly and fell silent again.
In fact, Steve also knew that his question was just a rhetorical one.
But in this situation, even he didn't know what to say to break the current atmosphere.
Tony, hearing this, merely looked up slightly, no light visible in his eyes.
"No. Jarvis detected a change in humidity over Washington D.C.... a nuclear explosion... the nuclear explosion zone will soon produce radioactive black rain... subsequent search and rescue must be delayed by half an hour before continuing..."
Although his tone always carried an indelible heaviness, Tony still finished the sentence completely.
Actually, Tony should have been one of the people most confident about Luka's survival.
As soon as the radiation's interference with electromagnetic signals had slightly weakened, he immediately dispatched the re-assigned Iron Man Suits deep into the nuclear explosion zone to search for Luka's whereabouts.
Especially after not finding the remains of the Boxing Mecha, his confidence grew even more.
Knowing the strength of the E-Carbon Armor, he clearly understood that even if it were at the center of the nuclear explosion, not a single fragment of the Boxing Mecha would be untraceable.
However, as time passed, even the strongest confidence would be continuously eroded.
At present, the only thing supporting Tony to continue searching was that faint, vague belief.
That kid has so many wild inventions; he definitely wouldn't die in a place like this!
However, compared to Tony, the other people present clearly did not share his 'blind' confidence.
After hearing this, the room immediately fell silent again.
However, just then, Jarvis's mechanical voice suddenly sounded from the computer in front of them.
"Sir, Mr. Orange's artificial intelligence just contacted me. His unmanned mecha has already entered the radiation zone."
At these words, the light in Tony's eyes, which had been downcast and silent, recovered somewhat. He ignored the puzzled looks of the others, immediately turned back to the computer desk, and put on the remote control device again.
At the same time.
In the Washington D.C. nuclear explosion zone, thick black rain mixed with radioactive dust began to fall slowly from the sky.
As the first drop of rain fell, a dense'shush' sound began to spread outwards from the explosion zone.
Gray-black rainwater flowed into the ground through the cracks in the ruins.
And approximately 10 kilometers from the core of the explosion zone.
On the trunk of a sycamore tree, snapped in half, a thumb-sized, pale blue cube was tightly wedged in a crack in the bark.
This blue energy cube emitted a faint glow, appearing strikingly out of place amidst the dim and desolate surroundings.
It was unknown when the raindrops from the sky would finally fall precisely onto this long-awaited energy cube.
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