The robot was equipped with numerous loudspeakers, and as soon as she spoke, the area quaked, and avalanches occurred in the distant mountains that had not been affected by the explosion earlier. This was quite an uncommon sight in the United States.
This year does seem colder than previous years, at least there have been more snowy days.
"Come on, Deathstroke, let's start the second round!"
With that said, she controlled the giant robot and fired a cannon shot at Su Ming from the large gun barrel at the back. The incoming shell was roughly the size of a truck.
The Magic Floating Cloak quickly carried him away, and a mushroom cloud soon exploded where he had been standing, the rolling heat wave filled the air with a vast amount of water vapor.
Su Ming also retaliated, slicing a small piece of the giant robot with the Godslayer.
The armor was several meters thick and unbelievably hard, could it be made from the corpses of Celestial Gods?
How did Lady Nine-Heads manage to make it like a Super Space Fortress? Will there be blonde 'galaxy fairies' singing and dancing to affect my mind next?
However, it didn't happen. After several exchanges, Su Ming found the robot somewhat cumbersome, not very advanced, more like a giant tractor.
"You're the Hydra Leader after all, you have plenty of Good Days to enjoy, do you need to fight so hard?" Su Ming responded loudly while flying, and although this thing was a humanoid mecha, it was much bigger than the Celestial Divine Species he killed before.
"All my family members are Hydra members, even those who were coerced into joining by the Red Skull, they were all killed by Americans, is that reason enough?"
The woman launched another salvo of rocket shells at Deathstroke, this giant armor was simply a mobile military base, with countless weapons equipped on it.
It is both a fortress and a city controlled by a madman.
"Ah, the US Army again, I knew it..." Su Ming muttered to himself while dodging the blue explosion.
No matter what bad happens in North America, it's never wrong to suspect the military first.
The woman stopped explaining, she began broadcasting videos to the dark sky using loudspeakers and various devices.
The general message was that the United States deceived its people, claiming that World War II was just a play staged with Hydra to resolve internal contradictions and economic recession back then and to seize the United Kingdom's international status, while people were used as scapegoats.
Now that WWII is over, she wants to stand out and expose everything, meanwhile releasing videos of Captain America slaughtering his own soldiers, in these videos, Steve wasn't killing masked men in civilian clothes, but very real American soldiers.
Su Ming did his best to destroy the giant robot, but even after entering its interior and unleashing full power with the Strangulation Device and the Magic Floating Cloak, the destruction speed was far from sufficient. The woman managed to finish her brief speech, placing the Black Pot on America's head.
He naturally knew what she said was false, yet the bystanders didn't know, and there would always be conspiracy theorists willing to believe her words.
This woman just aimed to plant mistrust towards superheroes and the country among people, along with spreading some hate, and that would be enough.
Su Ming was in the giant robot, hearing it buzz like a giant speaker, destructing while contemplating the issue.
A bit troublesome, clearing Steve's name would be easy for Su Ming, it's just how to convince his own conscience that's difficult.
The noise-filled environment isn't friendly to the Strangulation Device, it's gradually wilting. The vibration from the internal sound waves, even if transformed into metal, still affects the Symbiote.
Although it won't lose connection with its Host like other Symbiotes, its combat effectiveness is greatly reduced, merely firing a few shots occasionally, or tossing a couple of grenades, far from its usual spirit.
Su Ming originally had a long-term plan for Steve, but now it seems Captain America would find it hard to clear his conscience.
Having power yet killing his own people is a huge burden for a hero, especially for someone upright.
Indeed, finding a way to thoroughly eliminate this woman is necessary, to prevent her from causing trouble intermittently.
As he thought about this, he was nearing the core area of the robot along the pipeline, but then the large basketball-sized object that looked familiar suddenly emitted a dazzling light.
It grew brighter and brighter, and simultaneously the temperature within the machine was rapidly increasing.
Soon after, a giant mushroom cloud rose from the park. Though not a nuclear bomb, it was a manner of massive energy leakage, but a mushroom cloud equating to a nuclear bomb is almost universally recognized in this era, as people haven't seen bombs with greater destructive power.
Thus, chaos erupted, those who were taking refuge from the 'nuclear radiation' in the city now once again had to flee, behaviours revealing the human bottom line surfaced at this moment.
To escape for life, humans are capable of anything.
Howard was driving the small car stolen by Deathstroke, speeding through the traffic, with numerous car accidents happening just outside the windows. Occasionally, small pieces of human or vehicle wreckage would fly onto the windshield. He could only pray that the car's original owner could survive and not die because of him.
But if that person he never met really died, Stark Industries would compensate more in pensions in the future.
Howard's driving skills were quite good. Not only could he fly planes, but he was also an expert at driving cars. He narrowly escaped the chaotic traffic and turned to a place he thought safe, where he parked by the roadside in a wheat field.
He realized it wasn't a nuclear bomb, but the panicked crowd was scarier than a rampaging bull. He had no choice but to run away.
Now that it was safe, he stopped the car immediately and looked worriedly at the thick smoke darkening in the distance.
"Please be okay, Slade..." He clasped his hands together, constantly rubbing his small mustache, muttering to himself.
"He won't die, it's just an energy burst." A voice came from behind him, still so grim and dark.
Su Ming immediately used Kang's teleporter upon noticing something was off, sending himself into the cosmos. The enemy's self-destruct only blew up himself.
"Great, you're indeed still alive."
Howard sighed in relief, turning around to see Deathstroke, seemingly unscathed in front of him. Even though he didn't know how he escaped such a formidable explosion, as long as this man was here, there was still room for maneuvering.
After all, he knew facing this situation, even the current Holy Shield Brotherhood could not be relied upon, let alone Captain America and the others. Only strong power could turn the tide, but whether Deathstroke was willing was another matter.
"Is that half of the robot still with you?" Su Ming nodded, casually removing his armor to reveal his true form, lighting up a cigarette, and sat on the car hood, appreciating the mushroom cloud with Howard.
Does every moment of light belong to the darkness? This is what the Supreme Leader wants to see, making the light-representing superheros become the backdrop for darkness.
"Yes, it's still with me. We should quickly find Dr. Zola. He's an authority on robots, and maybe he can help us find where Hydra is." Howard hurried back into the car.
Su Ming removed his tie, turning it into a flying carpet: "Let's fly. After being with Zola for so long, you must have figured out his plans, right?"
"The Paperclip Plan is fishy, I know. But science has no borders, and technology can be useful to us. Although Zola used to be a bad guy, he even almost killed Baki before, he does know some things I'm not aware of. I think even if he still stands with Hydra, he's not on the same page as Lady Nine-Heads, he should be willing to help. If we combine efforts, we can surely solve this."
Once Howard gets serious, he's still quite reliable, after all, his brain is in the right place.
"Take that half of the machine, and I'll send you there." Su Ming took a deep drag of the cigarette, snuffed it out, re-equipped his armor using the strangulation device, and jumped onto the flying carpet formed by the magic floating cloak: "But I have no time to watch you guys do research, I need to deal with Faust. Seriously, haven't you noticed your new Director is off?"
He sat down and even patted the place next to him, signaling Howard to hurry over.
"If I hadn't noticed anything wrong, you think I would have stayed in Hollywood making movies all this time? But I'm not you, I neither have the evidence to topple him nor the strength to protect myself, I can only hide." Howard pushed open the car door and walked from the driver's seat to the outside of the passenger's door.
Su Ming interrupted impatiently, waving his hand: "You just don't want to kill. Otherwise, how could he, someone who studies psychology, possibly be a match for you, a physicist? Forget the car, your Stark Industries cars aren't that great anyway."
With an expression of resignation, Howard hugged the mechanical body of Lady Nine-Heads from the passenger seat and climbed onto the flying carpet: "Also, your cars aren't that great either. They're just good-looking on the outside, but the mechanical parts inside are a mess, worse than the tractors I build."
Su Ming nonchalantly commanded the cloak to take off: "So what? The cars are sturdy and fuel-efficient. As long as they sell well, it works. I sell family cars, someone like you at forty without a wife has no say."
"You're just pretending to be young with your immortality, aren't you supposed to be way older than me, yet you're not married either?" Howard lowered his head to inspect the mechanical body, which under the purple fabric was a big iron shell, looking like a chimney with limbs attached.
"I'm not as formalistic as you," Su Ming folded his arms, watching Howard dismantle the pile of metal and plastic. The mechanical body of the Root of Hatred looked like a big fridge storing several internal organs: "Besides, considering I can't die, I don't need to look for a successor for the company. By the way, aren't you interested in the SSS Serum or the Infinite Prescription? You could take a few shots—finding a wife at 80 wouldn't be too late."
"Life is wonderful because it is finite." Howard took out a small screwdriver from his pocket, twisting the screws in the robot's abdomen. He wanted to take apart the lungs to check if any bombs were hidden underneath: "I'm not interested in extending my life, I just want to make it fulfilling. If I live too long, I'd probably go mad with boredom."
"Hmm, there are indeed people who think like you do, since death is just a cycle of soul and energy," Su Ming nodded. Everyone has their own preferences—some like immortality, while others naturally don't.
Howard was implying he wanted to die equally as a human, like every other person. This thought was a bit like Batman. After all, he watched countless immortals swagger in front of him daily and was never tempted.
Not even for longevity, even superpowers were refused by him, as being ordinary was vital to understanding ordinary people's thoughts—this was his sacrifice to protect Gotham.
It might be somewhat subjective, but the Bat's convictions don't change unless he goes insane.
"Alright then, speaking of which, I'm on quite good terms with a few Lords from Hell. Do you prefer your lava cool or hot?" Su Ming shrugged, casually asking.
"@#@%@!" Howard's mustache twitched as he cursed colorfully: "Even death can't rid me of you?"