But now he had figured it out.
Dragging this out served no purpose.
It would not change the situation he was trapped in, so he might as well seize the initiative and keep control in his own hands.
After all, those terrorists probably could not even read a single word.
When the time came, he could feed them a few lies, finish building the Iron Suit, put it on, and carve his way out.
Zod's War Machine had already proven its power and value on the battlefield.
Otherwise, it would not have been worshipped by so many.
With real combat results as proof, Tony Stark was naturally full of confidence.
Sure, the Iron Suit he built in this crude environment could never compare to Zod's War Machine, but it would be more than enough to deal with a bunch of terrorists.
To be honest, even Zod was curious.
The first generation Mark 1 had no shock absorption system, so how did Tony Stark fall from that height and not die?
Or was it that, in an environment this primitive, Tony Stark had literally hammered out a shock absorption system for the Mark 1, one strike at a time?
That was too absurd… no, too sci fi.
Ever since the new element incident, Zod had been paying close attention to Tony Stark, feeling that more than a few things would appear that could shatter his worldview.
This was the second time already.
"Give him a little trouble. Don't let it go too smoothly."
"I don't want him coming back that fast."
Zod gave the order to the beast soldiers on the other end.
"Boss, what exactly do you want us to do?"
The beast soldiers looked strained.
They only knew they were not allowed to kill Tony Stark.
Everything else was unclear.
"For example, when he's about to finish the Iron Suit, have another group of terrorists attack suddenly."
"Yinsen can die in the attack."
"Then the Iron Suit gets blown up by accident, you catch Tony Stark, and that first batch of people can be wiped out."
"After that, you 'accidentally' recognize Tony Stark and demand that he keep building the Iron Suit."
Zod made it sound effortless, as if it were nothing.
He laid out a full script on the spot, and the best part was that it could loop endlessly.
Killing off a Yinsen would probably lock Tony Stark's resolve to become a superhero even more firmly, and then another Yinsen could simply be arranged for him later.
During this period, terrorist attacks were growing more and more rampant.
The Mandarin of the Ten Rings stepped forward and claimed responsibility for these incidents.
What gave the United States the biggest headache was that they could not find any traces of explosives at the blast sites, not even bomb fragments.
By logic, no matter how powerful a bomb was, it could not burn itself out completely.
Even a nuclear bomb could not do that.
Normally, investigators could use whatever remained to identify the bomb type and then narrow down suspects who might have had access to it.
But they never imagined the truth: these "terror attacks" were full of coincidence and passivity.
Killian and his group had no intention of carrying out terrorism at all.
It was simply that when they administered medication to ease the Extremis virus in the Extremis soldiers and test subjects, the dosage ran too high, causing stable Extremis organisms to suffer accidents and trigger massive explosions.
So even if surveillance recorded everything perfectly, it was still impossible to identify any terrorists.
Killian was merely pushing experimental accidents onto a fabricated Mandarin, presenting them as acts of terror.
Meanwhile, the United States concluded that the Mandarin was the most terrifying terrorist in history, comparable to that someone who had already been killed.
They believed he must have an exceptional intelligence network and operational team behind him.
They even suspected that among the world's top mercenaries, a large portion might be working for the Mandarin, but they could not confirm it.
What they could not understand was why the Mandarin always chose targets where ordinary people were concentrated.
There were no "accidents" in the rich districts.
Did he not realize that if he staged a terrorist attack on Wall Street, the United States would collapse by half?
Because of this, security around Wall Street and most wealthy areas was strengthened even further.
Zod's Blade Technology Industries also came under intense scrutiny.
Zod, who knew exactly what was going on, was not the least bit panicked.
And he did not let Killian continue with this behavior.
Even if Zod liked to claim he was not some righteous crusader or superhero, he was still human, and there were things within reach that he would do.
So Killian was placed under Zod's mental control, captured, and tossed into a tiny black room, with plans to release him only after Tony Stark returned.
Killian entered a Winter Soldier like sleep state.
Zod sealed him in ice with freezing breath, while the surroundings maintained a cryo chamber effect.
"Blonsky."
Zod went to find Blonsky.
"Boss."
Blonsky answered immediately.
He had no idea why Zod was looking for him, and he desperately hoped it was not for sparring.
Ever since Zod had grown stronger and stronger, Blonsky felt he was completely outmatched, unfathomably so.
Zod might not even need to lift a hand to defeat him.
"Relax. I'm not here to train with you."
Blonsky froze, but did not think too deeply about it, assuming his expression had simply been too obvious.
Zod had no intention of telling him the truth.
A boss who could see through a subordinate's mind would only make subordinates uneasy.
As Zod's mental power grew stronger, he had gained the ability to slip into other people's minds and sense their thoughts.
It was a terrifying ability, practically a copy of Professor X.
Of course, for now it could only work on people weaker than him.
Even so, it was already absurdly effective.
Against weaker enemies, he could control the entire battlefield instantly, without worrying about being surrounded at all.
"Blonsky, do you want to become stronger?"
Zod had no interest in continuing to read Blonsky's heart, so he asked directly.
Blonsky's eyes lit up at once.
He thought he was about to get another upgrade.
What came after a beast soldier, then?
A super beast soldier?
An ultra ultimate beast soldier?
A cosmos invincible final beast soldier?
"Of course I crave it, boss."
Blonsky thumped his chest as he spoke.
No man did not crave power, and Blonsky was the kind of man who would abandon every other desire for power alone.
He had never sought out women, and had no intention of marrying.
Pure, and therefore easy to use.
"I'll give you a way to obtain power right now."
Zod told Blonsky to return to Great Britain and become a super soldier king.
With his modified and strengthened body, it would be effortless.
Then, after a few years of blending in, Great Britain would "loan" him to General Thunderbolt Ross.
After that, he would go capture the Hulk, and then bring back the Super Soldier Serum and the Hulk's blood to Zod.
/-\
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