Facing Tony's questioning, David did not respond.
Because at this moment, he actually wasn't as calm anymore.
Even though he really had confidence in Raymond, his boss, being directly hit by the self-destruct explosion of those three people without any defense made it difficult to believe that Raymond could still be fine.
David put himself in Raymond's shoes and thought for a moment—if he were in Raymond's position, there would actually be several ways to deal with the situation.
For example, knocking those three people away in advance to keep them at bay.
Even if they really approached, as long as he activated his psychic defense shield beforehand, he should theoretically be able to withstand it.
He might end up somewhat embarrassed, though.
However, if he was embraced tightly by those three people, followed immediately by their self-destruction like just now, then the situation would be completely different…
He knew Raymond was likely much stronger than himself, but could Raymond really withstand that type of attack just now?
David was uncertain, and this was the first time he felt such doubt.
"Jarvis, dispatch a few armors here and get them ready to evacuate. I'll stay here and deal with these guys!"
Seeing David didn't respond, Tony shook his head without blaming him too much, and immediately began making arrangements.
Initially, Tony thought that with himself present, plus the unfathomable Raymond, they would be more than enough to handle Killian's group, which was why he agreed to bring Pepper along.
Unexpectedly, Killian turned out to be such a tough opponent.
Especially after witnessing that Raymond might have been killed by Killian's subordinates' suicide attacks, Tony, no matter how arrogant he was, wouldn't dare assume he could easily defeat Killian and his crew.
Even though he was well-prepared this time, he still had doubts.
"I'll stay and fight alongside you," David suddenly spoke up.
"You sure?" Tony reconfirmed with him.
Tony nodded, didn't say more, and instructed Jarvis again, "Just send three more suits—"
Counting these three dispatched suits and the one that earlier rescued Happy, there would be four in total, precisely enough to take Happy, Pepper, Beth, and Skye away safely.
Tony wasn't exactly sure how strong David was, but based on David's two actions earlier, he shouldn't be weak.
At least, even if David couldn't help significantly, he wouldn't drag him down—quite the opposite of the other four.
Hence, Tony swiftly made this decision.
"Tony, let's leave together." Pepper looked at Tony, her face full of worry, "It's too dangerous for just the two of you to deal with them alone. How about we go back and get the rest of the Avengers first..."
"Its not necessary." Tony cut Pepper off directly.
Seeing Tony suddenly become so decisive, Pepper knew this meant he had already made up his mind, and nobody could change it.
As Tony's side completed arrangements for the next step, the smoke from the explosion gradually dissipated, allowing Tony and the others to slowly discern the situation within.
Killian and his people also stared intently at the explosion point, afraid they might miss some thrilling sight.
Through the thinning smoke, they could see clearly—the three who self-destructed had long been obliterated, leaving no trace behind.
The attacked "Raymond" had also disappeared without a trace, leaving behind only a massive crater caused by the explosion.
Inside the crater remained a small pool of molten lava, bubbling and sizzling hotly, like a boiling pond…
Witnessing this, Killian finally breathed a sigh of relief.
But this time, he learned his lesson. Instead of immediately gloating, he rushed to the explosion's center to confirm again whether any body parts of "Raymond" remained.
After all, considering Raymond's astonishing regenerative capabilities displayed earlier, if even a small portion of his body remained intact, one couldn't confidently assert he wouldn't recover.
However, as he reached the edge of the explosion's massive crater, he finally confirmed no body parts remained at all.
The huge stone hanging in his heart finally dropped.
He turned around to look at Tony and cruelly smiled, "See that, Stark? That's what happens to those who oppose me. You're next!"
Yet, he noticed that after delivering his ruthless threat, Tony across from him did not appear shaken, nor did he fire back with a retort.
Instead, Tony gazed at him—or rather behind him—with astonishment.
"Damn, this can't be serious…" A sense of dread arose in Killian's heart.
As he stiffly turned his neck to look back, his ominous premonition was immediately confirmed as not merely his imagination.
From that small pool of magma, a human-shaped magma monster slowly emerged, appearing directly behind him!
At the very moment he saw this, the humanoid magma creature grabbed him by the neck, lifting his entire body effortlessly like one would lift a tiny chick.
"Do you like the surprise I prepared for you, little trash?" Raymond's face gradually emerged from the magma.
Killian couldn't respond as his throat was tightly gripped by Raymond, making speech impossible.
Moreover, the magma dripping down Raymond's hand quickly began to erode his body!
Though Killian possessed an enhanced Extremis virus, far surpassing the standard version in heat resistance and regeneration, these advantages were like jokes before Raymond's magma.
His body was rapidly being evaporated by the magma. Despite Extremis fully activating its regeneration, the regeneration rate couldn't keep up with the damage inflicted by the molten lava.
Indeed, thanks to this regeneration, he could resist Raymond's attack slightly longer and wouldn't instantly die.
Yet, this only meant an even more nightmarish torment for him!
Killian weakly struggled to break free from Raymond's grasp, but it was obvious he greatly overestimated himself.
The one confronting him was Raymond's Akainu sub-personality, which excelled both physically and in fruit powers. If it were merely a contest of pure strength, the Akainu persona could crush him with a single finger!
Realizing he wouldn't survive, Killian intended to copy his subordinates and self-destruct immediately.
Considering his perfected version of Extremis, the power of his self-destruction would be tens of times stronger than his subordinates!
Even knowing it might not be enough to kill Raymond, he refused to die humiliated.
"You still want to self-destruct? I have no patience to continue playing with you… Hound Blaze!"
Raymond instantly saw through Killian's intention and coldly snorted.
The hand gripping Killian suddenly transformed into a massive magma hound, swallowing him entirely in one gulp!
At nearly the same instant, Raymond, who was observing the battle in his mind, received a notification:
[You have killed the Class A "Villain" Aldrich Killian, slightly altering the world's trajectory. Development Points +250.]
[You may convert Development Points into Universal System Points at a 1:5 exchange rate.]
[Special Note: Any alteration to the world's trajectory, no matter how minor, can cause unpredictable butterfly effects, posing unknown risks. Proceed carefully!]
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