[Mysteries On Marvel] Chapter 107/108 (Patreon)

Eren had just taken a few steps when a grayish-black mist suddenly rose behind him, enveloping the area where Obadiah had died.

The moment the mist appeared, the entire world seemed to fall eerily silent.

As Eren walked forward, a terrifying aura emerged from behind him, causing his body to tense instantly.

His right leg, mid-step, froze in place.

The next second, a chilling wind blew past.

Just as mysteriously as it had appeared, the grayish-black mist vanished without a trace.

At the same time, the horrifying presence that had enveloped Eren also disappeared.

After the mist dissipated, several seconds passed before Eren dared to glance back.

The mountains were still the same, the road unchanged, and even the roadside weeds looked no different than before.

But Obadiah's luxury car now appeared as though centuries had passed in an instant. The vehicle was corroded beyond recognition, reduced to a rusted, skeletal frame.

As for Obadiah's corpse, which should have been beside the car, it had turned to human-shaped ashes. The sea breeze quickly scattered the remains into the air.

"Damn it, what just happened?"

Feeling uneasy, Eren's pupils darkened as he entered a semi-meditative state, attempting to divine what had transpired the moment he turned away.

But before he could begin, his intuition was overwhelmed by an infinite terror. It was as if attempting the divination would lead his very essence to be consumed by that boundless fear.

Swallowing hard, Eren cautiously withdrew from his meditative state, not daring to probe further into the mysterious event.

Although he didn't know what had happened, his instincts told him something ominous had occurred.

Shaking off the lingering dread, Eren quickened his pace, breaking into a short run before vaulting over the wall surrounding Stark's villa.

Unlike Obadiah, Eren didn't have authorized access to Stark's villa, so he had to rely on alternative methods to enter.

Fortunately, the Joker's abilities had given him exceptional agility and heightened perception, allowing him to evade the villa's ubiquitous security cameras.

After about a minute, Eren climbed onto the balcony and slipped into the villa, where he found Tony Stark slumped on the sofa, incapacitated by a device Eren had invented—a powerful electromagnetic disruptor.

Tony's body trembled slightly, wracked with pain.

Without the miniature arc reactor in his chest, the shrapnel lodged near Tony's heart moved closer with every beat, inching toward a fatal endpoint.

To make matters worse, the electromagnetic disruptor heightened Tony's suffering, leaving him gasping for breath and on the verge of suffocation.

Paralyzed, Tony was utterly helpless.

"Wow, you look absolutely pathetic," Eren remarked as he stepped into the living room, observing Tony's desperate struggle between life and death.

Hearing Eren's voice, Tony's bloodshot eyes flickered with a glimmer of hope.

His trembling body strained, his lips parted as though to speak, but the paralysis and darkened veins on his face rendered him mute.

Instead of immediately returning the arc reactor to Tony's chest, Eren pulled out his phone.

"Hold on," he said casually.

He snapped several photos of Tony from different angles. A moment like this—Tony Stark so utterly defeated—was too rare not to document.

Satisfied, Eren finally opened the briefcase and retrieved the miniature arc reactor that Obadiah had stolen.

Buzz...

As soon as the arc reactor was reconnected to the device in Tony's chest, he took a deep, life-saving breath.

"Ahh…"

While Tony recovered, Eren went to the bathroom to wash the electrolyte solution off his hands.

When he returned to the living room, Tony was still lying on the sofa, breathing heavily and unable to compose himself.

Eren dialed Pepper's number in front of Tony. The call was answered after just a few rings.

"Pepper, where are you right now?" Eren asked directly.

Tony, still gasping for air, froze when he heard Pepper's name. He hadn't forgotten Obadiah's chilling words when he stole the arc reactor:

"It's a shame you dragged Pepper into this. I had planned to spare her."

If Pepper got hurt because of him, Tony knew he'd never forgive himself.

Fortunately, his worst fears hadn't yet materialized.

Pepper's voice came through the phone. "Don't worry, Eren, I'm fine. I'm with Coulson, and we just got the arrest warrant for Obadiah. We're heading to Stark Industries to shut down his secret operation in Sector 16…"

At that moment, an image flashed in Eren's mind—Pepper's body riddled with bullets, torn apart.

His instincts screamed a warning.

"Don't go there, Pepper!" Eren interrupted sharply. "Leave immediately!"

Pepper hesitated, surprised by Eren's urgency. A second later, she replied, "It's okay, Eren. Coulson brought five experienced agents with him. I'm just showing them the way…"

(End of Chapter)

Before Eren could say anything more, Tony, still lying on the sofa but recovering somewhat, rasped out, "Don't... don't go, Pepper. Obadiah... he's dangerous…"

"Tony?"

After nearly a decade as Tony's personal assistant, Pepper instantly recognized his hoarse voice.

There was a gasp on the other end of the line before Pepper quickly asked, "What happened to your voice? And why is Eren with you?"

Hearing this, Eren silently rolled his eyes before speaking into the phone. "Honestly, Pepper, if I hadn't shown up in time, the famous Tony Stark might already be dead!"

Tony, still gasping for air on the sofa, managed to muster his usual stubbornness. "No, even if you hadn't come, I'd still be fine. It was just a minor... hiccup…"

Eren shot Tony a scornful look, raising his phone as a reminder of the incriminating photos he'd just taken.

Tony's face twitched as he caught sight of the gesture. Quickly shifting the subject, he said, "Listen, Pepper. Obadiah has lost it. He nearly killed me just now... Anyway, anything involving Obadiah is extremely dangerous right now. Leave the matter of shutting down Sector 16 to the agents. That's not something you should be handling."

"The only thing you need to do is find a safe place and stay there until this is over. Got it?"

After Eren and Tony both issued warnings, Pepper, who had felt reassured by the five agents accompanying her, began to sense that something was wrong.

But as she stood before the entrance to Sector 16, she muttered, "...But we're already here."

Damn it! What kind of timing is this?

Eren cursed silently before shouting into the phone, "Pepper, leave immediately! I've already foreseen your death. If you stay there, you're going to die!"

Without waiting for a response, Eren connected with his clone in Hell's Kitchen, instructing it to head toward Stark Industries' headquarters as quickly as possible.

Hell's Kitchen

The clown-faced Eren, who had just stuffed explosives into a grotesque doll to make it more "presentable," paused briefly as he absorbed the information from his main body.

"Death omen?"

"Even though Obadiah is already dead, something like this still happens? Things are getting interesting."

Grinning, the clown Eren adjusted the doll's pose before weaving his way past the bloodied corpses littering the room—courtesy of Kingpin's gang.

The doll was his parting gift to Kingpin.

"Ah, almost forgot."

Halfway out, the clown Eren retraced his steps to retrieve a car key from the belt of a dead thug.

The distance from Hell's Kitchen to Stark Industries wasn't short, and this was the perfect excuse to indulge in some high-speed driving.

Back at Tony's villa

After hearing Eren's warning about Pepper's danger, Tony shouted into the phone, "Get out of there immediately! I'll be there soon. Just stay safe until I arrive, Pepper."

Hanging up, Tony steeled himself and rushed to his basement, where his mechanical arms helped him don the gold-and-red Mark II suit.

As he suited up, Tony suddenly turned to Eren, who had followed him downstairs. "By the way, I thought Obadiah took the arc reactor from my chest. How did you get it back?"

"I shot him, broke his arm, and took it back. What, you think he suddenly had a change of heart and gave it to me out of goodwill?"

Eren's words were laced with sarcasm as he looked at Tony with a mocking smile. "You've been holding that question in for a while, haven't you? Took suiting up in armor for you to work up the courage to ask, huh? Impressive."

"Of course not!" Tony retorted reflexively, his tone defensive. "I just wondered if you used some weird magic to get it back from him."

"Against someone like Obadiah? Magic's overkill."

Eren ignored Tony's deflection and said grimly, "Listen, Tony. There's something off about Obadiah. I shot him, broke all his limbs, and even put a bullet through his head. But when I thought he was dead, his 'body' vanished."

"What?"

Tony was momentarily stunned. Wasn't this guy supposed to be a diviner or something? Diviners could be this brutal? And what did he mean by the body vanishing?

"Obadiah might have gotten entangled in some kind of supernatural incident," Eren continued, his expression darkening. "Even the danger Pepper's facing could be connected to him."

As he spoke, Eren recalled the ominous vision of Pepper's death. If Obadiah was involved in something truly otherworldly, his apparent resurrection could spell big trouble.

Tony, now fully suited up in the Mark II, tested the suit by blasting a nearby luxury car into smithereens. With confidence brimming, he declared, "Don't worry. I'll take care of Obadiah. He won't harm Pepper. Not a chance!"

With those words, Tony activated the repulsors on his palms and legs. Orange flames burst forth, propelling him into the air.

"Leave the rest to me!"

With that, Tony smashed through the villa's floor and rocketed toward Stark Industries.

At Stark Industries' Sector 16

In one of the laboratories, a massive steel robot's eyes flickered to life, emitting a pair of ominous crimson beams.

At the same time, distorted whispers filled the room, radiating from the machine:

"Flesh is weak…"

(End of Chapter)

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