At that moment, the man arrived in front of a scruffily dressed figure who was nervously fiddling with the dog tags around his neck.
"Have you made your decision?" the man asked.
"Yes. I've decided," the scruffy man replied.
Happy pretended to be just passing by and hid nearby to observe. The more he watched, the more suspicious he felt.
The man set the case he was carrying down beside the scruffy figure.
"This is good stuff," he said coolly. "Don't say I didn't warn you."
With that, he turned and left, leaving the scruffy man clutching the case.
Happy saw everything clearly. He immediately approached the scruffy man and deliberately bumped into him as if by accident. The case slipped from the man's hands and fell to the ground, scattering a pile of miscellaneous components.
"Sorry, buddy," Happy said at once, crouching down to help pick them up.
While the man wasn't paying attention, Happy discreetly pocketed one of the components. What he failed to notice, however, was that the scruffy man's eyes suddenly began to glow red.
Happy stood up and walked away as if nothing had happened—but just then, Killian's subordinate returned and bumped into him in exactly the same way.
"Hey, pal," the man said. "You here by yourself? Planning to buy something?"
Clearly, he had already recognized Happy.
"Oh, I'm buying a gift for my girlfriend," Happy shot back without hesitation.
"Today's our anniversary."
"That thing in your hand doesn't belong to you," Killian's man said, dropping all pretense as he grabbed Happy's wrist.
Happy threw a punch immediately, but the man dodged with ease. Happy followed up with five or six rapid punches, all of which were effortlessly avoided.
Breaking free from the grip, Happy landed a heavy punch squarely on the man's face. The blow was brutal—his nose was visibly smashed out of place.
A flash of red light flickered across the man's face. In the next instant, his broken nose snapped back into position, completely restored, without even a scratch remaining.
Happy froze. He instantly realized how serious the situation was.
The man gave him no time to react. Grabbing Happy by the arm, he hurled him six or seven meters through the air. Happy crashed into several vendor stalls before finally hitting the ground.
At the same time, the scruffy man had finished assembling the components into a device resembling an asthma inhaler. Without hesitation, he raised it to his mouth and inhaled deeply.
Immediately, his body began to glow red. Streams of crimson light flowed visibly through his limbs, as if molten lava were coursing through his veins.
"Help me…! Someone help me…!"
The man staggered toward Killian's subordinate, reaching out desperately.
But the subordinate merely glanced at him before hurriedly retreating, as if avoiding imminent danger.
The glow inside the scruffy man intensified. People around the plaza began to notice what was happening. Soon, orange-red light burst from his eyes, ears, nose, and mouth.
"Gaaah—!!!"
His entire body radiated blinding orange light, shining outward like a living beacon.
BOOM—!
The entire plaza erupted in a massive explosion.
The shockwave shattered every window in the surrounding area. Towering flames engulfed the square, and passing vehicles were overturned by the blast. In an instant, the once-crowded plaza was reduced to ruins.
Amid the wreckage, Happy lay on the ground, soaked in blood. His body was riddled with injuries from the explosion, his face covered in crimson.
Because Happy had taken cover behind a fountain at the moment of detonation, he hadn't been hit directly. Others were not so fortunate. Aside from Happy, every person in the plaza had been reduced to ash. The ground was littered with black, human-shaped silhouettes—nothing else remained.
Fighting to stay conscious, Happy felt around and found a metal tag—the dog tag that had once hung around the scruffy man's neck. He clenched it tightly in his hand before finally losing consciousness.
At the edge of the plaza, a shattered figure emerged from the ruins. His entire body glowed like molten magma, his clothes reduced to tattered remnants of what looked like a suit. It was Killian's subordinate.
He hadn't escaped the blast, but the molten energy within him was rapidly healing his wounds.
After surveying the devastation, he staggered away from the plaza.
---
The television continued to broadcast news of terrorist activity. Their methods were growing increasingly brutal—not only executing hostages, but even attacking a U.S. military base in the Middle East.
The screen showed the base completely leveled, reduced to rubble. Yet rescue teams found no bodies, no identifiable explosives—only scorched black ash covering the ground.
Carl watched the report, frowning. He knew this scene all too well.
"This is Extremis," he muttered.
"Who?" Skye asked, sitting beside him and eating fruit. "Carl, what did you say?"
"Nothing," Carl replied. "Just be careful when you go out lately. These terrorists could trigger an explosion at any time."
He was worried about Skye. While her shockwave abilities could easily neutralize an explosion, being caught completely off guard could still put her in danger.
"Relax," Skye shrugged. "I've got a huge job right now—can't even find time to go out if I wanted to. A financial firm's system got hacked, and they hired me to fix it."
"That's good," Carl said with a nod.
He then took out his phone and called Gwen.
Gwen and Peter had already seen the news and understood the situation. They reassured Carl not to worry.
Compared to Skye, Gwen was even safer. Her spider-sense allowed her to foresee danger in advance—an almost broken ability. It would be extremely difficult for an explosion to catch her off guard.
After thinking for a moment, Carl tried calling Tony. Killian was clearly targeting him—Tony needed to be warned to keep his nanotech armor active at all times.
But the call wouldn't go through.
For a moment, Carl even wondered if Tony's house had already been blown up. Without hesitation, he decided to go check in person.
"Skye, watch the place," Carl said as he stood up.
Skye waved him off without looking up, already focused on her fruit again.
Carl's cloak unfurled as he rose into the air, flying straight toward Tony's villa.
---
Meanwhile, Tony had already received a call from the hospital.
Happy was critically injured and unconscious, admitted to intensive care.
Nanotech armor instantly surged over Tony's body, and he rocketed into the sky.
Inside the ICU, Happy lay covered in bandages, hooked up to a ventilator. Tony sat silently beside his bed.
A nurse finished checking Happy's vitals and reached for the remote to turn off the television.
"Please don't turn it off," Tony said quietly.
"It's his favorite show."
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