Chapter 70 Mandarin's Declaration of War

War Machine Rod was lying on a bed in a military hospital, covered with thick bandages. Although he had a smile on his face, his eyes revealed fatigue and pain. He was seriously injured in the previous fierce battle with the desperate warriors, but he did not regret it because he knew he was fighting to protect the people.

Just as he was immersed in the silence of the ward, footsteps were heard outside the door.

"Rod, we're here to see you!" A friendly voice sounded, and Tony Stark and Pepper Potts walked into the ward together, holding some gifts in their hands.

"Hey, buddy, you're such a hero!" Tony joked and waved to Rhodes, holding a bag full of snacks in his hand.

"Yeah, Rod, you're awesome!" Pepper also praised with a smile, and she handed Rod a bouquet of flowers.

Rhode smiled. Although he was injured, he was in a very good mood. He said with emotion: "You guys are really good at comforting people. This is just a small injury. I can still continue to fight."

"Oh, you're proving you have nerves of steel!" Tony began to tease again.

Rhodes was not to be outdone. He laughed and shot back, "Haha, you should know that I am a war machine. It's a piece of cake for me to deal with an engineer like you."

The three of them joked in the ward, and the atmosphere was relaxed and happy. The gifts brought by Tony and Pepper made Rod feel warm, and he said with emotion: "Thank you, really, you came to see me, I feel much better."

"How could we not come to see you? You're our good friend and a hero!" Pepper said gently.

Tony then said, "Yeah, Rod, you're a brave fighter and we're all proud of you."

"Okay, let's stop talking about this." Rhodes interrupted their praise with a smile, "Why did you two come together?"

Pepper smiled and explained, "Tony said he wanted to come see you, so I followed him and bought some snacks."

"I know these snacks are your favorite." Pepper handed Rod the bag, which contained potato chips and candies of various flavors.

"Thank you so much." Rhodes said gratefully.

Then, the three chatted about some family matters, recent interesting events and work. Tony still made some jokes from time to time, which made Rod laugh. Pepper gently cared about Rod's injuries and told him to have a good rest.

After chatting, Tony's expression gradually became serious. He looked at Rhodes seriously and asked, "Rhodes, who are those terrorists you met in the battle?"

Rhode was a little curious. With Tony's personality, shouldn't he know something in advance? But then he thought, maybe Tony just knew a rough idea.

Rhode frowned, recalling the battle. "They call themselves 'Desperate Warriors', and their leader seems to be called 'Mandalin'. They are very strong, and they have strange self-healing abilities, almost like supernatural beings, and they seem to be able to control high temperatures."

"High temperature?" Tony Stark raised his eyebrows and smiled evilly.

"Asshole. What are you thinking about!" Pepper knew at a glance that Tony next to her was doing something weird again, so she punched him on the head.

Tony Stark looked at Pepper in pain, while Pepper put her hands on her hips and looked at him with a fake smile on her face.

"Okay, I surrender."

Then he looked at Rhodes and said, "This 'Mandalin' seems very interesting. "This 'Mandalin' sounds like an organized terrorist force, and their abilities are not simple."

"Yes, I think so too. I think there must be some kind of technology or supernatural power behind their self-healing ability." Rhodes said seriously.

Tony nodded, and decided to let Jarvis collect information about the word "Mandalin" after he returned. Perhaps this force was hiding behind the scenes, and there might be a bigger conspiracy behind it.

"Rod, you have to rest well. When you recover, I will hold a private party for you." Tony encouraged and gave the other party a knowing look.

Rhode smiled and blinked quickly, indicating that he had received the message, "I will fight you for 300 rounds when I recover."

......

In the bank hall, a group of robbers holding cold weapons threatened the hostages with ferocious faces. They had been injected with the desperate virus, their abilities were enhanced, and their bodies that were hit by bullets recovered quickly. One of the robbers shouted loudly: "Don't move! Otherwise, you will bear the consequences!"

The hostages huddled together in fear, and the atmosphere in the bank became tense and depressing. After the robbers were injected with the desperate virus, they felt extremely powerful, as if they had become invincible, and this feeling made them crazy and brutal.

At this time, a security guard tried to resist but was easily knocked to the ground by the robbers. The robbers smiled triumphantly, thinking they had the situation under control.

At this moment, there was a flash of lightning, and a hero wearing a lightning suit appeared at the door of the bank hall.

"Stop! Put down your weapons!" Electric Man's voice was very cold.

"Damn it! It's Electro."

The robbers were shocked when they saw Electro appear. Although they had abilities granted by the Extremis virus, they felt extremely pressured when a real superhero like Electro appeared in front of them.

However, some of the robbers began to show symptoms of rejection because their bodies had not fully adapted to the desperate virus. Their bodies gradually became abnormally hot, as if they would explode at any time.

"Damn, these guys can't control the Extremis virus!" a robber screamed in horror.

In the chaos, one of the robbers suddenly rushed towards Electro, trying to use his enhanced abilities against him. However, Electro was swift and easily avoided the robber's attack and punched him in the chest.

The robber was hit by the electric shock from the electric man, his body trembled instantly, and finally he fell to the ground and could not move anymore.

"Who else?" Electric Man glanced at the other robbers coldly, his tone full of warning.

The remaining robbers were so frightened by the powerful strength of Electric Man that they dropped their weapons and dared not to act again.

However, some robbers had not fully adapted to the Extremis virus and began to show symptoms of rejection. It seemed as if their hearts were chilled, but for some reason the symptoms of rejection quickly disappeared.

"Catch them!" Suddenly, the police force rushed to the bank and handcuffed them one by one with gloves.

"You'd better be careful and don't put too much pressure on them, or they will explode." Electric Man said to the sheriff on the side.

The sheriff originally thought that the Electric Man would fly away directly after solving the problem, but he did not leave. Instead, he told him about these people. The sheriff was stunned for a moment.

"explode?"

"Yes, explosion." Electric Man has also been looking for the mastermind behind these people recently, but without exception, these desperate warriors are actually a group of buyers, not real "sellers".

Although he thought about going to Hawke Group for a moment, he immediately shook his head.

At this moment, Electro noticed that the turned-on TV screen was playing a video.

On the TV screen, Mandarin's image appeared. He was dressed in gorgeous clothes, with an arrogant and arrogant look. Behind him was a huge national flag. He was standing in a luxurious hall, with extraordinary momentum.

"Dear American government, I am here to declare war on you!" Mandarin's voice was loud and majestic. "I represent the desperate warriors. We will plunge the entire America into fear and chaos!"

The screen showed Mandarin's desperate warriors, all of them with fanatical expressions, as if they had been incited by Mandarin's words.

"Your country is eroded by hypocrisy and corruption. Your government, in order to maintain the so-called 'justice', has betrayed its faith. They actually call us, the people abandoned by society, 'desperate warriors'. Are we only worthy of being 'terrorists' in your words?"

Mandarin's words were full of anger and dissatisfaction. In an impassioned tone, he expressed strong accusations of injustice and hypocrisy in American society.

"Your country is built on deception and lies. Your hero, Iron Man, is nothing but a liar, a hypocritical person who uses technology and money to manipulate people."

Then, Mandarin stared at the screen intently, as if he wanted to speak to someone.

"War Machine, are you listening too?" Mandarin turned to the other side of the screen, as if he could see the position of everyone watching the TV with his eyes. "You are America's hero, but you can't stop us. I will give you one last chance, surrender and join us, otherwise you will face destruction!"

"Now, it's time for you to pay the price!" Mandarin's voice turned cold and ruthless. "From now on, every Tuesday, I will show you a scene that will terrify you until your government surrenders to me, until you recognize this hypocritical society."

"I will make you tremble at my feet and let you feel the taste of despair! You are nothing but my pawns, and I will let you witness the collapse of this country!" Mandarin's voice became louder and louder, and its penetrating power became stronger and stronger.

Mandarin's threats shocked the people of America. His terrorist attacks frightened ordinary citizens and caused widespread concern and panic. People watched on TV, feeling uneasy and afraid.

In the ward of the military hospital, Rhodes was lying on the bed, staring at Mandarin on the TV screen. He felt the desire for him in Mandarin's words, as if he was telling Rhodes something.

The opponent before him will be the most powerful enemy he has ever encountered.