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*****
"Bang!"
A sniper round shot out, curving through the air under George's magnetic influence and precisely hitting the bald leader in the temple, killing him instantly.
Seeing their leader suddenly drop from a headshot, the terrorists froze in shock, followed by screams and chaos.
However, a few seasoned fighters quickly deduced the sniper's general position based on where the leader was hit and began firing wildly in that direction.
Some even pulled out rocket launchers.
"Good thing I altered the bullet's trajectory."
George had anticipated this response. Since the bullet curved in flight, the terrorists' guess about his location was completely wrong. None of their shots came close to hitting him.
"Bang! Bang! Bang!"
One shot after another, bullets fired from different directions and angles, picking off the retaliating terrorists one by one.
Even those hiding behind cover met the same fate—there was no escape.
Helpless, the remaining terrorists fled in terror, retreating into the cave.
To them, this couldn't be the work of just one person. How else could bullets be coming at them from every direction?
"It's about time to wrap this up."
George put away his sniper rifle and descended to the cave entrance. He pointed at the opening while chanting.
"Smokescreen!"
Thick smoke billowed into the cave, quickly rendering the interior completely obscure.
Drawing his handgun, he casually strolled inside.
By his estimate, fewer than ten combat-capable terrorists remained.
"Bang! Bang! Bang!"
His pistol fired in rapid succession, the bullets curving midair to strike down the terrorists who attempted to ambush him from the shadows.
The smokescreen hindered the terrorists' vision, just as it hindered George's.
However, his psychic abilities allowed him to sense the emotional states of those hiding inside—especially their fear.
Using that as a guide, George easily pinpointed their positions and killed them one by one in the thick smoke.
With his current strength, if it were a surprise attack, he could easily take down a small military base without sustaining a scratch.
Of course, that's only if he ambushed. If he were the one caught off guard, a single missile would be enough to kill him.
This was why he was so cautious about keeping his identity hidden, going to great lengths not to expose his location.
In his past life, as a regular human, he knew all too well the destructive power of modern weaponry. Even though he had learned magic, he never underestimated organizations like S.H.I.E.L.D. or HYDRA.
To be honest, he doubted even powerful wizards like Dumbledore or Grindelwald could survive a direct nuclear explosion unscathed.
"My apologies."
The smokescreen cleared as George approached the terrorists who had been knocked unconscious by snake venom earlier. Without hesitation, he pulled the trigger and ended their lives.
He was a rational man, and his experiences after crossing into this world taught him that showing unnecessary mercy to enemies would only get him killed.
Only dead enemies are good enemies.
Walking deeper into the cave, George dealt with the last two guards at the door and used an unlocking spell to open the iron gate.
"No need to worry. I'm here to save you. Those outside have been dealt with," George said, smiling as he holstered his gun and looked at Tony, who was aiming a metal arm at him.
Hearing George's words and seeing the bodies of the two fallen guards at the entrance, Tony breathed a sigh of relief, retracting the flamethrower-equipped mechanical arm he had built.
When the gunfire and screams echoed from outside, Tony knew something had gone wrong. However, he wasn't sure whether the intruder was friend or foe, so he had prepared himself just in case.
"Did Rhodey send you?"
"I don't know Rhodey. Let's talk after we get out of here." George spoke and led the way out of the cave.
Tony and Yinsen exchanged glances, grabbed their belongings, and followed closely behind. As they passed the two fallen guards, they also picked up their rifles.
But it was clear their caution was unnecessary. Apart from the corpses, they encountered no living soul on the way out.
Outside the cave, Tony looked down at the bald leader, whose head had been blown off, and couldn't help but mutter:
"Did you really do all this by yourself?"
A lone man infiltrating a heavily fortified terrorist base, killing everyone without a scratch—this was beyond belief.
But what Tony saw next defied all logic even more.
"Wingardium Leviosa!"
George cast a levitation spell, causing the pile of Stark Industries' missiles and bombs near the entrance to float into the air. They then aligned themselves neatly in order and flew back into the cave.
He intended to destroy the cave and everything inside it, erasing any trace that could expose him, including the surveillance cameras and the bodies.
"Who are you, really? A magician?" Tony was stunned by George's seemingly magical control.
"You can call me George, or magician if you like," George replied with a smile. "Now that you mention it, I do have a magician's flair. Maybe I'll make money with it someday."
"But for now, we should get far away from here."
George loaded Tony and Yinsen into a jeep. Once they reached the edge of his power's range, he detonated the grenades he had collected from the terrorists, triggering a chain reaction that set off the missiles and bombs, reducing the cave to rubble and covering his tracks.
"Why did you save me?" Tony asked from the passenger seat as they drove through the desert beyond the valley.
He couldn't help but be curious about George, this enigmatic figure who had appeared out of nowhere to rescue him. He was particularly interested in George's motives for doing so.
"Do you want the truth or a lie?" George asked as he stopped the car.
"What's the lie?" Tony blinked in curiosity.
With a grin, George said, "The lie is that I think you're an extraordinary genius inventor, and it would be a great loss to humanity if you died here. So, I came all this way to save you for the sake of mankind."
Tony chuckled. "Even though you're not wrong, it does sound a bit fake."
Having escaped the clutches of the terrorists, Tony's mood was considerably lighter.
"So, what's the truth?" he asked.
"The truth is, after you were kidnapped, Stark Industries' stock plummeted. I saw a chance to make a lot of money, so I came here specifically to rescue you," George stated frankly.
He believed it was better to be honest about things like this. Tony Stark wasn't a fool, and if George wanted to work with him in the future, some honesty would help establish a foundation of trust.
More importantly, it was also a way to probe Tony's potential future decisions, particularly about whether he would shut down Stark Industries' weapons division.
In the movie, Tony returned home and shut down the weapons department, causing the stock to plummet further. But this wasn't a movie, and Yinsen was still alive, so George couldn't be certain Tony would make the same choice.
By bringing up the topic now, George intended to use his psychic abilities and the Legilimens spell to get a sense of Tony's intentions.
(End of Chapter)