"You underestimate yourself!"
"That energy blast of yours just now was powerful enough to kill me. You're stronger than I expected."
Iron Man hovered in midair. He had no intention of wasting any more time fighting Ultron.
But the moment Ultron realized that Iron Man wanted to leave, he immediately moved to block his path.
"Trying to go help Karl? Not a chance!"
Ultron knew exactly what Tony intended to do. Everything that came next was still within his calculations.
The cold malice in his eyes was enough to send a chill down anyone's spine.
"Then we'll keep going!"
A faint smile appeared at the corner of Iron Man's mouth.
Meanwhile, Karl was still dealing with the cage imprisoning him.
Tothwanwell almost wanted to record the entire scene so he could replay it frame by frame every day.
Seeing Karl seemingly helpless, struggling against the cage, gave him an incredible sense of satisfaction.
"You destroyed my entire base. What I'm doing to you now is nothing more than a minor punishment!"
"Did you really think you were invincible?"
"You think you're something special? Let me tell you, this is only the beginning. Everything that comes next will force you to crawl at my feet. You won't have another easy moment!"
Tothwanwell adopted the posture of a victor.
Karl said nothing. Instead, he carefully studied the entire cage.
If Tothwanwell had really managed to gather this much steel and metal...
"Forget how much titanium alloy this entire place could possibly have. There's absolutely no way he could have forged this much of it by himself."
Karl silently analyzed the situation.
Tothwanwell watched as Karl remained motionless for a while before calmly sitting cross-legged inside the cage, seemingly unconcerned by his predicament.
Tothwanwell gradually lost his patience.
What he wanted most was to see Karl become frantic and desperate, eventually collapsing at his feet and begging endlessly for forgiveness.
That would truly satisfy him.
Instead, Karl was simply sitting there in complete silence.
It was incredibly irritating.
"What's wrong? Have you given up?"
"Or did you finally realize there's no way you can break this thing open, so you decided to surrender?"
"You should have seen yourself just now. It was hilarious."
"Don't think I'm going to waste much more time playing with you. Looking this miserable really does suit you…"
Karl felt disgusted and couldn't be bothered wasting words on him.
What he had actually been doing was observing everything around him.
Only by waiting for Tothwanwell to approach and preparing in advance would Karl have a chance to end things with a single decisive strike.
Otherwise, he would merely waste his strength.
He had already stalled for nearly half an hour.
Karl couldn't help wondering how things were going on the other side.
Iron Man had his own custom-built weapons, so Karl believed Tony should be able to hold out against them for a while.
What Karl was less certain about was whether they could retrieve the specially secured lockbox quickly enough.
That question had remained in his mind the entire time.
Karl continued examining everything around him, and a trace of surprise gradually appeared in his eyes.
"You've been staring at this thing for so long. What happened? Still haven't found some brilliant trick to deal with it?"
Tothwanwell burst into laughter again.
Karl merely turned his head toward him.
Seeing that arrogant expression, Karl remained completely unmoved.
"All you want is to sit there and wait for me to embarrass myself, right?"
"That's why I'm not listening to any of your pointless nonsense."
"If I were you, I'd be more worried about what's happening behind your back instead of standing here enjoying the show."
"By the time you realize something has gone wrong, it'll already be too late."
Hearing that, Tothwanwell's expression darkened with resentment.
Karl had taken his starship.
So many superheroes had escaped as well.
And his base had practically been reduced to ruins because of Karl!
How could Tothwanwell possibly not hate him?
He hated Karl so much that he wanted to skin him alive right then and there.
Yet seeing Karl trapped inside the cage still gave him an inexplicable feeling of satisfaction.
"If you eventually decide to beg me for forgiveness, then maybe—if I'm in a good mood—I might actually consider it."
"But if things become even worse than you imagine, you won't have anyone to cry to!"
A sinister expression appeared in his eyes.
"I have to admit, you may not be much of a fighter, but when it comes to building something like this, you're far better than I expected…"
"No matter what, we've fought enough times to know each other by now."
Karl looked at him calmly.
"At this point, there's no need to keep pretending you're more impressive than you really are."
Those words instantly ignited Tothwanwell's anger.
The moment Karl saw him approach the cage, Phoenix Force erupted from his hand.
Karl hurled it outward at incredible speed!
Tothwanwell was completely unprepared.
The force slammed into him and sent him flying to the side.
His subordinates hurried forward to help him up, but Tothwanwell felt humiliated and immediately shoved them away.
"Get away from me!"
"I'm perfectly fine!"
"Keep him locked down here!"
"No matter what happens, keep your eyes on him! Do not let him take a single step outside that cage! Do you hear me?"
Tothwanwell turned around and left.
Although he only half-believed what Karl had just said, he was also worried that Dotilt and her people might not be able to handle the situation properly.
Unable to completely suppress his concern, he headed toward the rear section of the base to check.
The area behind them had already been devastated beyond recognition.
Dotilt was still leading a group of Skrulls in a frantic attempt to surround and capture Eric O'Grady.
"He's at twelve o'clock!"
"Quick! Look over there!"
The laser blades in their hands had already torn through much of the massive warehouse behind them.
Dotilt had issued an absolute order.
Under no circumstances was Eric O'Grady allowed to escape from her again.
After all the taunts Eric had thrown at her earlier, Dotilt was burning with rage.
She wanted nothing more than to catch him immediately and slap him across the face several times.
How could she possibly allow him to escape now?
When Tothwanwell saw that everything he had spent so much effort constructing in this part of the base had been destroyed, he was genuinely stunned.
"Dotilt! What the hell are you doing?!"
But Dotilt had already been completely consumed by rage.
She wasn't listening to anyone.
She didn't even pay attention to what Tothwanwell had just said.
"Catch him!"
"Do you hear me?!"
"If any of you let him escape again, I'll make you pay with your lives!"
"Every last one of you!"
Eric O'Grady had already shrunk himself to an extremely small size.
He darted rapidly between different locations.
Although his body had become smaller, the energy within him seemed to increase exponentially.
The sensation felt incredible.
His entire body seemed to overflow with power, leaving him with an extraordinary sense of exhilaration.
Energy surged continuously throughout him.
Before Dotilt could continue her reckless pursuit, Tothwanwell stopped her in her tracks.
His eyes were filled with questions.
He simply couldn't understand what she thought she was doing.
(End of Chapter)
[100 Power Stones = 1 Extra Chapter]
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