Marvel: Starting with Iron Man in the Apocalypse

The air in the convenience store seemed to freeze, with only the emotionless voice of the news anchor echoing from the television. Chen Haotian and Tony exchanged a glance, both seeing the gravity in each other's eyes. In less than twenty-four hours, this city would face its end, and they were currently trapped in this impending destruction.

"Local law enforcement..." Tony repeated Chen Haotian's words, his gaze also falling on the faint outline of the police station outside the window, "Hopefully their armory hasn't been emptied out, or... taken over by those things."

"We need to act quickly," Chen Haotian said succinctly. His mind was already planning the route and assessing the risks. "The less time we spend in open areas, the better."

Without further delay, the two quickly left the convenience store, which reeked of decay. Tony casually stuffed the still-charged portable radio into his slightly modified tactical waist pack with multiple pockets, hoping it might come in handy in a signal-isolated environment.

They moved swiftly through the shadows of the buildings, like two ghosts blending into the urban landscape. Abandoned vehicles and scattered debris on the streets provided excellent cover, but also lurked danger. As they crossed an intersection, a deep engine roar approached from afar, and the two immediately ducked behind an overturned van.

Through the gaps in the carriage, they saw three black, rugged-looking armored vehicles with what looked like signal jammers or communication antennas mounted on their roofs, speeding along the main street. There were no police badges or government markings on the vehicles, only an inconspicuous red and white umbrella-shaped emblem on the door.

"The Umbrella Corporation's internal security forces," Chen Haotian said in a low voice, his sharp eyes tracking the direction the convoy had gone, "They're moving really fast. It seems the so-called 'epidemic prevention and disinfection' preliminary arrangements have already begun."

Tony scoffed. "Not bad, but they're using it in the wrong place. They're cleaning up the mess, not addressing the root cause."

After the convoy passed, the street returned to its unsettling silence. The two continued their stealthy approach towards the police station. The closer they got to the station, the more chaotic the surroundings became. The neighborhood where the station was located appeared to have experienced a more intense conflict; the walls were riddled with bullet holes, and several police cars lay swerving on the roadside, their doors open and empty. Dried, blackened bloodstains were even visible on the ground.

The police station's main building was a three-story brick and stone structure that looked quite old. Shattered glass littered the floor at the main entrance, and the metal frame was twisted and deformed, clearly indicating it had been forcibly breached. It was pitch black inside, and completely silent.

"Looks like this place has fallen." Tony stood in the doorway, his nano-bracelet glowing faintly. A thin layer of nanomaterial quickly covered his hands and forearms, forming a tactical glove with basic protection and enhanced grip. He bent down to pick up a broken baton from the ground, weighed it in his hand, and then threw it away. "Hopefully, the equipment room will have some surprises in store for us."

Chen Haotian was even more cautious. He didn't rush in, but carefully observed the marks on the ground near the entrance. In addition to the messy footprints and bloodstains, he also noticed some blurry, non-human drag marks, as well as several darker stains that seemed to contain some kind of viscous liquid.

"There's something inside, more than one," he calmly assessed, while gesturing for Tony to watch out for unusual traces. "Be careful, our objective is equipment, not clearing out the nest."

Tony nodded, raised his right hand slightly, palm facing the dark doorway. Nanoparticles gathered in his palm, forming a miniature energy transmitter. Although the power was not great, it was enough to deal with sudden threats at close range.

The two cautiously entered the Raccoon City Police Department, one after the other. The interior was a mess; tables and chairs in the reception area were overturned, documents were scattered everywhere, and the air was thick with the stench of blood, gunpowder, and an indescribable smell of decay. Emergency lights provided a dim illumination, casting distorted, flickering shadows on the walls and floor.

They avoided the main corridor, moving along the wall and following the blurry signs to the equipment storage room on the first floor. The corridor was equally chaotic, with several office doors broken and faint, eerie chewing and rubbing sounds coming from inside.

Chen Haotian made a shushing gesture and pointed to the corner ahead. Tony understood, and the two held their breath, pressed themselves against the wall, and slowly peered out.

In the corridor around the corner, four or five staggering figures swayed. They wore tattered police uniforms or civilian clothes, their skin was ashen, their eyes were vacant, and they made unconscious hoarse noises from their throats. One of the zombies, with its back to them, had a broken police walkie-talkie hanging on its shoulder, swaying back and forth as it moved.

"A detour?" Tony asked in a very low voice.

Chen Haotian shook his head, his gaze sweeping over the room signs on both sides of the corridor. "No need. The target is just ahead. Let's finish this quickly and without making too much noise."

Before he could finish speaking, Tony had already made his move. Not with an energy weapon, but with a flick of his wrist, several tiny, hair-like nano-sharps silently shot out, precisely striking the back of the zombies' heads or the junctions of their spines. The nano-sharps carried a weak bioelectric interference, instantly disrupting their already fragile nervous systems. The zombies stiffened, then collapsed to the ground like puppets with broken strings, making no further sound.

"Clean and efficient," Chen Haotian praised. The two quickly passed through the fallen zombies and arrived at the iron door marked "Equipment Storage Room".

The door was locked, a heavy mechanical combination lock. Tony once again demonstrated Stark Industries' "art of lock picking," nanobots infiltrating inside, and a few seconds later, a soft click came from within the lock.

Chen Haotian gently pushed open the iron door, and a metallic and gun oil smell wafted out. The equipment room was relatively tidy, but there were signs that it had been hastily ransacked. Some gun cabinets had been pried open, and the weapons inside were gone, but there were still a few unopened boxes piled up in the corner, and several sets of dark blue combat uniforms and helmets with UBCS (Umbrella Biohazard Emergency Response Team) markings, along with matching tactical vests and identification tags, were hanging on the hooks on the wall.

"It seems this place was once set up as a temporary assembly or supply point." Chen Haotian stepped forward, took down two relatively well-fitting UBCS combat uniforms and helmets, and found two 9mm pistols, several spare magazines, and two tactical knives from the unopened boxes. "Good luck, I have an identity and basic equipment."

Tony wasn't particularly interested in the old-fashioned firearms; his gaze was drawn to a separate, electronically locked cabinet in the corner of the room that required higher access. "There might be something good in there."

He once again used nanotechnology to crack the electronic lock. The cabinet door slid open, revealing not weapons, but some special equipment: several tablets with the Umbrella logo, several tactical goggles with night vision and thermal imaging capabilities, and several matchbox-sized devices labeled "Emergency Signal Jammer".

"These are more useful." Tony picked up a pair of tactical goggles, put them on his head, and turned them on. His vision immediately switched to a clear green night vision mode. "They allow us to see more clearly and can also interfere with low-level surveillance to some extent."

Chen Haotian picked up a signal jammer, examined it, and then put it back: "This thing might alert them. What we need now is a 'legal' identity, not complete stealth."

The two quickly changed into UBCS combat uniforms, put on their helmets, and hung their identification tags around their necks. The uniforms were slightly ill-fitting, but enough to fool everyone. Chen Haotian equipped himself with a pistol and a dagger, while Tony only took tactical goggles and a tablet; his main combat capability still came from his own nanotech armor.

With their disguise complete, the two looked exactly like standard Umbrella Corporation internal security personnel.

"Alright, now we can..." Chen Haotian hadn't finished speaking when he suddenly stopped, his sharp gaze snapping towards the corner above the equipment room door.

There, a spherical surveillance camera that had been facing indoors and in standby mode (indicator light red) had silently rotated, its black lens now precisely aimed at the two of them. The eerie lens reflected the faint light of the emergency lights, like a cold, indifferent eye.

Tony immediately noticed the anomaly and lowered his voice, "We've been discovered? When?"

Chen Haotian didn't answer; his mind raced, analyzing the situation. They had been very careful since entering the police station, dealing with the zombies without making a sound, and cracking the locks using technology far ahead of their time… The only explanation was that the camera, or rather the surveillance system behind it, possessed extremely high intelligence and permissions. It might have noticed their intrusion from the beginning and had been silently observing them until they changed into UBCS uniforms. This action might have triggered some specific alarm logic.

"Not just now," Chen Haotian's voice was low, carrying a hint of cold understanding, "we may have been in its 'sight' from the very beginning. The Umbrella's surveillance network is more sophisticated and intelligent than we imagined."

He looked up, meeting the blacked-out camera's gaze without flinching, a barely perceptible, calculating, and provocative smile playing on his lips. Now that he'd been noticed, the game needed to be played differently.

"Let's go," Chen Haotian said to Tony, his tone regaining its calmness. "Now that the master knows that a 'guest' has come uninvited, we should go to the 'Hive' to pay a visit in person."

He strode out of the equipment room first, without glancing at the camera again. Tony followed closely behind, his eyes behind his tactical goggles gleaming with a predatory edge. Exposure, sometimes, isn't entirely a bad thing; it can also be a means of probing and applying pressure.

At the street corner, another hidden camera slowly rotated, tracking the two figures, dressed in UBCS uniforms but exuding completely different auras, as they disappeared into the alleys leading deeper into the city.