Marvel: Starting with Iron Man in the Apocalypse

The pale morning light struggled to penetrate the thick dust clouds, painting the lifeless city with a sickly hue. Chen Haotian and Tony Stark left the makeshift outpost in the rotten-smelling cold storage and officially embarked on their journey to the armory of the old military base in the west of the city, marked on the map.

The map he found in the police station archives had been carefully studied by Chen Haotian and was now firmly imprinted in his mind. The route he chose was not the shortest straight distance, but rather one that made the most of the city's underground pipe network, the passageways inside abandoned buildings, and relatively narrow alleyways that were less likely to be blocked by a large horde of corpses. It was a circuitous but theoretically safer route.

"I hope your navigation system is more reliable than some car navigation systems," Tony said habitually, following behind Chen Haotian while cautiously observing the dark windows of the buildings on both sides. "I don't want to experience a zombie apocalypse followed by an additional urban getaway adventure."

Chen Haotian didn't turn around. His voice came steadily, carrying a reassuring calmness: "Don't worry, my brain has the latest version of the 'Doomsday Survival Navigation System' built in, with an error rate of less than three per thousand. That is, provided the map information is accurate and there are no unplanned 'roadblocks'."

They were walking through a back alley of an abandoned commercial street. Garbage cans were overturned and emitted a foul stench. Several stray cats watched the two uninvited guests warily from the piles of trash before darting away. The alley was narrow, barely wide enough for two people to walk side by side, with towering brick walls on both sides that blocked most of the view from the main street and created a sense of oppression.

"Roadblocks?" Tony shrewdly caught the word. "You mean those leisurely 'walking enthusiasts,' or...?"

He didn't finish his sentence.

At the alleyway ahead, in the dim sunlight, a figure slowly emerged with an extremely unnatural gait. Unlike other zombies, it didn't stagger or move stiffly; its movements were faster, more coordinated, even carrying a predator-like focus. Its skin was an unhealthy bluish-gray, its muscles abnormally developed, especially its upper limbs, which were almost swollen, with black, sharp, bone-like claws extending from their fingertips. Most unsettling were its eyes, no longer cloudy and lifeless, but gleaming with a bloodthirsty, beast-like red light.

It blocked the entrance to the alley, which was the only place they could pass through on their planned route.

"Back off!" Chen Haotian shouted in a low voice, holding the steel halberd horizontally in front of him and crouching slightly, assuming a fighting stance. He instantly realized that this thing was completely different from the ordinary zombies he had encountered before.

Tony immediately sensed the danger, gripped the fire axe that was already somewhat dull, quickly took a few steps back, leaned against the wall, and looked for a possible angle to counterattack.

The mutated zombie let out a low, inhuman roar, put down on all fours, and exerted force! Its speed was astonishing, like a gray lightning bolt, rushing straight at Chen Haotian, who was standing at the front!

Chen Haotian's pupils contracted slightly. Instead of taking the hit head-on, he slid to the side, simultaneously aiming his steel shovel precisely at the mutated zombie's ribs. However, the zombie's reaction far exceeded expectations. Its forward momentum abruptly halted, and its thick arm swept across, its dark bone claws whistling through the air as it struck the steel shovel.

"Clang!"

A piercing clang of metal clashing rang out. Chen Haotian felt a jolt in his arm, and the steel shovel nearly slipped from his grasp. The bone claw's hardness far exceeded his expectations!

Missing its first attack, the mutated zombie immediately turned, its crimson eyes locking onto Tony a short distance away. It pushed off the ground with its hind legs, unleashing another burst of incredible speed as it pounced!

"Damn it!" Tony cursed. Against such a fast-moving enemy, his fire axe felt far too cumbersome. He could only roll awkwardly to the side, dodging the deadly pounce. The zombie's claws grazed his back, tearing and leaving several deep gashes on the back of his expensive, already stained, custom-made suit.

"Its speed and strength far exceed those of an ordinary individual! Attack its joints and eyes!" Chen Haotian shouted urgently, while closing in again to try to attract its attention.

Tony scrambled to his feet, still shaken, his back burning with pain. He stared at the mutant, which had turned again, growling as it prepared for its third attack. A surge of frustration and rage welled up inside him. He, Tony Stark, genius, billionaire, philanthropist, had been driven to such a sorry state by… a mutated corpse!

"Joints...eyes..." Tony's mind raced, his gaze sweeping across the narrow alleyway, landing on scattered trash, discarded metal pipes, and bricks. A fire axe wouldn't do; it was too slow. He needed something faster, more precise, or...more forceful.

Just as the mutated zombie was about to pounce on Chen Haotian again, Tony's gaze locked onto a broken, rusty but unusually sharp piece of steel bar, and a half-full metal oil drum emitting a pungent odor next to it.

A crazy idea flashed through his mind like lightning.

"Hey! Ugly hunk!" Tony yelled, kicking the oil drum hard.

The oil drum churned, spilling its unidentified liquid, which splattered all over the mutated zombie. The pungent odor grew even stronger.

The mutated zombie's movements were momentarily halted by this sudden interference. Its crimson eyes turned to Tony, and it let out an angry roar.

It's now!

Tony didn't pick up the steel bar; he knew he lacked the accuracy and strength to deliver a precise assassination in an instant. He did something more direct—he yanked a miniature high-voltage stun gun disguised as a pen (a Stark Industries gadget, originally for self-defense) from his suit pocket and slammed it down on the liquid-soaked mutated zombie. At the same time, he used all his strength to hurl the fire axe in his hand at a bare metal plate with broken wires at the zombie's feet!

"Bang!"

The stun gun struck the zombie, creating a small burst of sparks. Almost simultaneously, a heavy fire axe slammed into a metal plate; the impact seemed to trigger something, causing the severed wire to snap back and come into contact with the conductive liquid spilled on the ground—

"Crackling and popping—!"

A dazzling blue burst of lightning erupted instantly, engulfing the mutated zombie! Powerful electricity flowed through the liquid to its entire body, causing it to let out an extremely shrill scream. Its body convulsed violently, its muscles spasming unnaturally, and puffs of blue smoke rose from its body.

Seizing this fleeting opportunity, Chen Haotian charged forward like a cheetah, his steel shovel, imbued with all his strength, precisely piercing the mutated zombie's bloodshot eyes, which were wide open in pain, from the side!

"Pfft!"

A thick, black liquid splattered out. The mutated zombie's convulsions stopped abruptly, and its massive body crashed to the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust.

Silence returned to the alleyway, broken only by the heavy breathing of the two men and the lingering smell of burning and stench in the air.

Tony leaned against the wall, looking at the still slightly twitching corpse on the ground, then at his own empty hands and disheveled appearance. There was no joy of victory on his face, only a deep solemnity and... a ignited flame.

"This thing..." he pointed at the mutated creature on the ground, his voice hoarse, "is more troublesome than anything we've encountered before. Speed, strength, and those damned bone claws... If there's more than one such place..."

Chen Haotian pulled out his steel halberd and wiped the sticky blood off the zombie's tattered clothes, his expression equally serious: "It seems the 'game difficulty' of this world is increasing. Ordinary melee weapons and makeshift weapons are too inefficient and too risky against these mutants."

Tony straightened up, walked to the sharp piece of steel, bent down to pick it up, weighed it in his hand, and then threw it away with disgust. "Trash," he muttered, but his gaze became sharp and focused, as if he were looking through the narrow, dirty alleyway at a distant future filled with metal and technology.

"We need better equipment," Tony looked up at Chen Haotian, his tone no longer joking or complaining, but with an unprecedented seriousness, the focus of an engineer facing a technical challenge. "Not this scavenged junk. Real...armor. Something that can provide protection, enhance strength, and carry weapon systems...something more."

His fingers moved unconsciously in the air, as if sketching a complex design. The concept of the battle armor, for the first time, did not originate from laboratory blueprints or the rosy visions of a press conference, but rather took true and clear form in his mind amidst the death and crisis of this post-apocalyptic ruins, after a life-or-death battle.

Chen Haotian looked at the glint in Tony's eyes, a barely perceptible smile playing on his lips. He knew something had been ignited. He nodded. "Agreed. The armory is our next target; hopefully, it has what you need."

He didn't say much, but both of them understood that the journey ahead would be given a completely new meaning because of the brief but dangerous battle they had just experienced. They were not just trying to survive, but also searching for and even creating "answers" to cope with this increasingly dangerous world.