Bant unleashed a deliberate blasting punch.
This punch carried more than twenty years of force, and Dr. Dongwu had no way to block it.
In fact, he had meant to dodge.
Boom!!!
The instant Bant threw his punch, flames as red as blood exploded outward.
Like a raging tide, they swallowed the entire lobby.
Dongwu had nowhere to run.
"Aaah!"
The inferno engulfed him, wrenching a shriek from his throat.
The fleshy wings on his back beat frantically, and the moment the membranes spread, they were scorched full of holes.
Even so, those ruined wings still carried him through the sea of fire and up into the air.
Above the flames, Dongwu spread his wings.
In the blink of an eye, the charred remnants on his body flaked off, and a brand new form revealed itself once again.
Fighting an enemy with healing that far beyond ordinary people was a headache.
Bant clicked his tongue in irritation.
At the same time, his gaze flicked toward Steve, collapsed on the floor.
When Bant released the flames, he had deliberately left a safe pocket for Captain America, but Steve was already in bad shape.
If he stayed here too long, he might actually die.
Luckily, right then, Tony in his armor charged in.
Bant had shown up and taken out the monstrous bird that Tony had struggled with for so long, so it was only natural for Tony to rush back into his own tower.
But the moment he entered, he almost could not take it.
The high heat from the flames had turned the inside of the building into an oven.
"I should install air conditioning inside the suit, no, I should just install a constant temperature system," he muttered helplessly.
"Sir, the temperature of the flames below has exceeded the suit's melting point," JARVIS warned.
Tony's current armor was made of titanium alloy.
Ordinarily, titanium alloy melts below 1687 degrees Celsius, and even though his suit's melting point was somewhat higher, it still could not withstand the extreme temperature released by the Flame Man.
That said, unless the heat was absurdly high, melting metal was a slow process.
And under Tony's watch, a vortex appeared at the center of the flames at the base of the building.
All the fire streamed into the vortex's core and then vanished.
Only a burning Flame Man remained, standing there with both hands raised.
"What?"
"Who is that?"
The instant Tony saw Bant, he immediately shouted in anger.
"Sir, that does not appear to be a life form from Earth," JARVIS said.
"Who cares about that?" Tony snapped.
"Can't you see he's ripping me off?"
To be fair, the Flame Man's appearance did resemble Iron Man's armor in a few ways.
He had the same red and gold palette, a similar build, and even his face carried a faint resemblance to the armor's mask.
"Stop throwing a tantrum, Tony Stark.
Take him out of here."
Bant lifted a hand.
The floor beneath Steve bulged upward, forming an inverted pyramid pedestal that carried him as it moved.
Below the pedestal, flames served as its propulsion.
This was the Flame Man's usual way of flying, stable but slow.
"Where did this clown crawl out from?" Tony dropped beside Bant, arms folded, looking like he had no intention of taking Steve at all.
"First, I don't like it when people hand me things.
Second, this is Stark Industries, so it's not your place to give orders!"
He said irritably, "I'm the boss!"
Bant: …
Thinking of the relationship between Steve and Tony Stark's father, Howard, and the bond between those two, Bant could only say quietly, "You'll regret it."
"I never regre… wait, that emblem?"
Tony finally saw the symbol on Bant's chest clearly, and his guard shot up instantly.
"What does that have to do with that dinosaur kid?"
"That's the insignia of the interstellar law enforcement organization, the Tiangong Association.
Quick Flash Star and I are both sheriffs of the Tiangong Association," Bant said smoothly.
And it was not exactly a lie.
The Little Broken Watch's emblem had originally been the same as the Plumbers' insignia.
Fury rose on Stark's face.
"You dare call yourselves sheriffs…"
Before he could finish, Bant cut him off.
"Enough."
"Get this man out of here, or he's going to die.
He's a human."
Tony could only grit his teeth and carry Steve away.
He could not just stand there and watch someone die in front of him.
Outside Stark Tower, Coulson saw Tony emerge with the unconscious Captain, and it felt like his entire world shattered.
Inside the tower, the battlefield was left with only Bant and Dongwu once again.
Or rather, only two monsters.
"The fight's only just beginning, kid!" Dongwu sneered.
He truly had no way to deal with Bant's searing heat, and he could even say he feared it.
But with his terrifying regeneration, he could not be killed by flames in a short time.
And what about the other side?
How many punches could this flame monster take?
Dongwu had absolute confidence in his strength.
He did not believe Bant could withstand his blows.
In that instant, the battle erupted again!
Dongwu spread his wings and dove like a pterosaur!
Bant's feet burst with power, like Iron Man chasing down a spacecraft in Avengers 3, the energy released from his soles turning into boosters that launched him straight up!
Boom!
Bant streaked upward like a flaming meteor flying in reverse!
The moment he collided with Dongwu, a shockwave erupted like a planet striking Earth!
Boom!
In an instant, every pane of glass in the entire building shattered.
The bulletproof glass, shaken into grains, hammered down like a torrential storm.
Midair, Bant slammed Dongwu flying backward, then stuffed a scorching fireball straight into Dongwu's mouth.
Another explosion roared.
Dongwu howled in pain and immediately seized Bant's body with his massive claws.
He had intended to crush Bant, only to discover this hot, living brand was terrifyingly hard.
In truth, the Flame Man's defense was shockingly powerful.
Even the modified Super Vilgax could send him flying, crashing through and collapsing multiple buildings, and he would still be uninjured.
Dongwu might be strong, but no matter how strong, could he possibly outmatch Vilgax?
To injure the Flame Man, it would take someone like Thanos or the Hulk making a move.
"No more tricks to put on a show?" Bant said with a laugh.
Then flames wrapped his entire body.
"Aah!"
Scalded, Dongwu hurriedly let go.
In the next moment, Bant grabbed him and shot upward, bursting straight through the tower's rooftop!
In fact, Bant charged with Dongwu through the stratosphere, reaching an altitude of tens of thousands of meters.
The air was thin here.
Dongwu had wings, but in this environment, flying was difficult.
Bant had no intention of letting him fly anyway.
He brought his palms together, compressing high temperature flames into a laser, and fired a single blast into Dongwu's abdomen!
"Get down there for me!"
/-\
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