Not only had Dotilt nearly destroyed every safe in the rear section of the base, she still hadn't managed to capture Eric O'Grady!
"Where's Iron Man? Didn't he come in with Eric? Why is Eric the only one here? What the hell have you been doing?"
"I told you to capture him. I didn't tell you to reduce the entire warehouse back here to this!"
With Tothwanwell standing in front of her, Dotilt finally began to calm down after completely losing herself to rage.
She knew she had gone too far just now.
Even so, there was still a strange, unfocused look in her eyes.
"By the power of the gods! Don't worry! Ultron is keeping Iron Man occupied, so there shouldn't be any major problems."
"They came here specifically for these safes!"
"I absolutely won't let them succeed. I'll capture them and make sure they're punished for what they've done!"
She spoke as though she were standing on the side of justice, but Tothwanwell didn't believe a word of it.
Everything before his eyes had turned into a nightmare far worse than he had ever imagined.
He had no idea what this woman thought she was doing.
Everything was destroyed.
All of it...
"Don't worry. Leave the rest to me. I'll definitely take care of it!"
"If they refuse to cooperate, I'll find another way. I absolutely won't let them leave behind any trace!"
Tothwanwell was already devastated after seeing the base he had painstakingly built reduced to this state.
Then another subordinate rushed over with even worse news.
"Bad news!"
"Karl escaped right under our noses!"
"Even the cage we spent a fortune building disappeared with him. It vanished into thin air, as though it had simply evaporated!"
As each word left the subordinate's mouth, Tothwanwell's confidence collapsed.
How was that possible?
That was the strongest cage he had spent an enormous fortune constructing.
How could Karl possibly escape right under his nose?
Even if Karl could reverse space-time or understood the Law of Time, he still shouldn't have been able to escape!
Unless he possessed the Eye of Agamotto.
But Karl was only a sorcerer.
How could he possibly possess such a supreme artifact?
"Useless! Every last one of you!"
"What good are any of you if you can let someone escape right under your noses?!"
"You'd better pray that you bring him back quickly! Otherwise, every one of you will pay for this with your heads! Do you hear me?!"
Tothwanwell simply couldn't believe it.
He had gone through so much trouble to finally trap Karl here.
How could the man simply disappear for no apparent reason?
Impossible!
Absolutely impossible!
But the evidence was right in front of him.
No matter how violently rage churned inside him, Tothwanwell still had to force himself to calm down and deal with the situation.
Dotilt could only drop to one knee.
Although Eric O'Grady had shrunk himself, his hearing remained exceptionally sharp.
The moment he heard that Karl had already escaped safely, he knew there was no reason to continue fighting here.
He quickly retreated toward the back, returned to his normal size, and notified Iron Man that they needed to leave as soon as possible.
But Iron Man was still locked in a fierce battle with Ultron.
Ultron had never expected this armored man before him to actually be capable of fighting him on equal terms.
Even now, Ultron found it surprising.
"We've been here long enough! We can't keep fighting!"
"Don't forget what Karl warned us about!"
Iron Man heard Eric shouting to him repeatedly, but he still had doubts.
They still hadn't obtained the antidote.
Even if they had recovered Captain America's shield, what good would that alone do them?
This place had already been destroyed beyond recognition.
Trying to find the antidote among all these ruins would be nearly impossible.
They had no choice but to retreat for now and figure out another solution later.
Although the situation left them frustrated, they understood that this wasn't over yet.
They had to keep moving forward.
Iron Man prepared to withdraw at high speed, but there was no chance Ultron would simply allow him to leave.
"You go first, Eric!"
"Keep that shield safe. It's going to be extremely useful to us!"
Iron Man patted Eric on the shoulder.
Eric looked at him.
Tony had proven that he could still hold his own against Ultron, and Eric estimated that he should be able to last a little longer.
So he could only nod reluctantly.
"Then hurry!"
Eric immediately shrank down and sped away.
Ultron tried to grab him, but an energy beam suddenly cut across his path and stopped him.
The beam sliced a nearby cabinet cleanly in half.
Its destructive power was obvious.
"Other than Karl, you're one of the few people I can actually consider an opponent."
"I didn't expect you to be this capable."
Iron Man felt no excitement at the praise.
As far as he was concerned, his opponent was still nothing more than an artificial intelligence.
"If you had even a little sense, you'd realize that the Skrulls are only using you!"
"You may think you're on top of everything right now, but in reality, they've been playing you from the beginning!"
"You'd better think carefully about where this is heading."
Iron Man gave him a faint smile.
Ultron immediately charged forward with a punch.
Tony twisted aside at the last instant.
Ultron's fist missed him completely.
Iron Man then accelerated to maximum speed and blasted straight through the wall, leaving behind a massive hole.
Ultron rushed after him.
He pursued Tony for a long distance, but in the end, he had no choice but to give up.
Back at the base, Tothwanwell stood alone amid the ruins, looking utterly lost.
"It's all destroyed..."
"The base I only just finished building... all of it is gone!"
"They didn't come here just for the shield."
"They came here to destroy me."
"To destroy everything I have!"
The disbelief and shock in his eyes tormented him until he was barely able to think straight.
Karl knew that this was only the beginning.
There was still much more to come.
They certainly couldn't stop now.
As long as they kept going, things would become far more interesting.
"He isn't already thinking about surrendering, is he?"
"This is only the beginning."
"The best part hasn't even started yet."
"It's a shame I never got the chance to explain just how much fun this is going to be."
"If he knew, I'm sure he'd be thrilled."
At this point, Tothwanwell had practically been ruined by Karl.
His entire base had been reduced to wreckage.
As for Karl and the others, their mission could be considered half-complete.
Although they hadn't managed to obtain the antidote, recovering Captain America's shield was already a major success.
More importantly, not a single member of their group had been killed or injured.
Karl was extremely pleased.
When everyone arrived at the designated rendezvous point, however, they discovered an enormous cage sitting beside Karl.
Iron Man reached out and examined the metal.
The quality was exceptional.
"I have to admit, these people really are wealthy."
"How many planets would they have to mine to obtain this much raw material?"
Even Tony couldn't help being impressed.
The sight was far more remarkable than he had expected.
As long as everything continued according to plan...
"Just look at this. Isn't it beautiful?"
Eric O'Grady stared at Iron Man.
Tony was standing in front of a giant cage, enthusiastically admiring it as though it were some priceless work of art.
Eric couldn't help wondering whether his battle with Ultron had somehow knocked something loose in his head.
Why else would he suddenly start talking like this?
He was completely speechless.
(End of Chapter)
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