Chapter 34 Breach of Agreement

Two dozen people out against one car can't lose by any stretch of the imagination.

　　It's just a car, how many people can there be.

　　It's not like it's a van full of people.

　　Members of the Ten Commandments gang on the outskirts of the stronghold were the first to spot their returning companions.

　　Upon seeing that only three people had returned, they gave a puzzled expression.

　　Just as they were about to open their mouths to inquire about what had happened, the three Ten Commandments Gang members, who couldn't see anything unusual, suddenly raised their guns.

　　Da da da da da da da da da ...

　　Boom! Boom!

　　Bang Bang Bang ...

　　Gunshots and explosions rang out at once, instantly shattering the calm of the valley.

　　Before the Ten Commandments gang members inside the stronghold could react, the Ten Commandments gang members on the periphery died in a storm of bullets from the Gatling machine guns and bombardment from the RPGs.

　　These three members of the Ten Commandments Gang, who were being manipulated by Russell, displayed extremely excellent fighting skills.

　　The possession of the symbiote gave them a superhuman physique they never had before.

　　And Russell's maneuvering gives them the general combat savvy of a Navy SEAL.

　　Through the Symbiotic Thread, Russell manipulates these three members of the Ten Rings Gang, performing various combat techniques copied from the Punisher.

　　Although this was not as good as him personally executing it, it was still a huge gap that was hard to resist for those members of the Ten Commandments Gang who had not been trained in special combat.

　　The contrast between the two is like an NBA team bullying a high school varsity team.

　　Russell, who has already determined Tony's whereabouts, has absolutely no desire to leave the Ten Rings gang members alive.

　　Under his control, these three Ten Commandments Gang members possessed by the symbiote were like the God of Death, frantically harvesting the lives of their companions.

　　The battle ended quickly.

　　Within five minutes, members of the Ten Rings gang in the stronghold were lined up to report to Mephisto in Hell.

　　After taking care of these guys, Russell forcibly stopped the hearts of the three Ten Rings gang members through the Symbiotic Thread, giving them the same decent death as the Punisher.

　　The Venom Golem's first battle was more effective than he had imagined.

　　Until the end of the battle, the members of the Ten Commandments Gang inside the stronghold, did not even notice his presence.

　　Perhaps some members of the Ten Commandments Gang had already discovered the three strands of Symbiote that were thinner than a baby's finger, but they didn't even have a chance to figure out what was going on before they died at the hands of the Venom Golem.

　　There was something so stifling about dying at the hands of one's comrades, though.

　　But that's a good result compared to Russell himself.

　　If Russell had cast Venom Form to join the fight, they would have died a much more miserable death.

　　After taking out the Ten Rings gang members in the stronghold in one fell swoop, Russell made his way to the pickup truck that had been purposely left behind.

　　As he maneuvered the Venom Golem into battle, he did his best to avoid the battle spilling over into the pickup truck.

　　Though the pickup looks a little older, a little more worn, and quite a bit more Iraqi battle-damaged in color.

　　But it was the only transportation in the stronghold.

　　Unlike the stronghold that held Tony, this one was just a regular stronghold.

　　The stronghold where Tony is being held holds a large number of Stark Industries' weapons.

　　And here, there aren't many guns that are even a little more refined, let alone heavy firepower like missiles.

　　Russell boarded the pickup, which appeared to be in Iraqi war-damaged condition, and used the keyless start technique he'd learned while working as an assassin to start the pickup, which he didn't know how much longer it would last.

　　......

　　The cave where Tony is being held.

　　The makeshift studio had just been set up when Tony had members of the Ten Rings gang outside deliver twelve small missiles from Stark Industries.

　　After a bit of tinkering, he easily dismantled the small missile, which sold for a lot of money, and removed a small gadget from it with a pair of pliers.

　　"What is it?" Ethan asked curiously.

　　"Palladium metal, 0.15 grams!"

　　"We need a total of 1.6 grams, so you're going to have to dismantle all 11 of the remaining missiles!"

　　Tony said slowly, looking at the metal palladium in front of him.

　　Tony had answered his own question, but Ethan still didn't know exactly what he wanted to do.

　　The only consolation is that Tony's desire to live is now completely up.

　　In another cave.

　　"What's he doing?"

　　Raza, the junior leader of the Ten Commandments gang, said to his companions who were watching the surveillance footage.

　　"Working."

　　The Ten Commandments gang member watching the surveillance footage quickly returned.

　　Raza, who was dark-skinned and had a greasy head, didn't say another word, staring at the campfire in front of him without a word.

　　Getting Tony to help himself to a Jericho missile hadn't been in his plans.

　　His plan from the beginning, or rather, the agreement between him and Obadiah was to kill Tony, not kidnap him.

　　Obadiah was responsible for providing Tony's whereabouts, and he was responsible for the attack.

　　When it is done, Obadiah will not only give them a satisfactory payment, but also fulfill all their purchasing needs.

　　Although Tony is surrounded by American troops for protection, it is not difficult to kill Tony under the protection of American troops with proper planning.

　　If all goes according to plan, Obadiah is now the new owner of Stark Industries.

　　However, plans can't keep up with change.

　　Or rather, Obadiah shouldn't have timed the attack to coincide with Tony's return to the U.S. base.

　　After seeing the power of the Jericho missile, Raza changed his mind.

　　The power of the Jericho missile, it's amazing.

　　And yes, after killing Tony, he does get to buy the Jericho missile from Obadiah.

　　But paying to buy it from someone else is better than having someone help you make it for free.

　　Not to mention, the manufacturing process gives him access to all the relevant information for building a Jericho missile.

　　So, Raza slightly violated the agreement and instead of killing Tony right away, he tied him back up.

　　The man is tied back up and Tony is now peacefully building Jericho missiles.

　　But for some reason, Raza always felt that something wasn't quite right.

　　What exactly went wrong, he couldn't say right now.

　　Just as he was pondering what to do about Obadiah's side of the discontent, a member of the Ten Commandments gang suddenly came to his side.

　　"Chief, we can't reach Rahimi and the others now."

　　"Can't get in touch? What do you mean?"

　　Raza looked up at the Ten Commandments gang member and frowned.

　　"We paged them, but there's been no response."

　　"Keep calling, and if there's still no answer, send a couple of guys over to check it out."

　　"Call the other strongholds by the way, tell them all to be careful, the U.S. Army is looking for Tony Stark everywhere right now, tell them not to wander around if they're not doing anything."

　　Raza made arrangements quickly.

　　"Okay, chief!"

　　When the henchmen left the cave, Raza lifted his head and looked at the surveillance screen with a grave expression.

　　At this point, Tony was completely unaware of what was going on outside and was working feverishly with Ethan to dismantle the missiles and extract the palladium metal he needed.

　　On the other side of the mountains, Russell was driving wildly in his Iraqi war-damaged color pickup truck.