The moment she decided to set off, the most practical problem facing Artoria (in her Seele form) was: how to cross the distance of over ten thousand kilometers between New York and Kunar Province, Afghanistan, at the fastest possible speed.
Short-range teleportation in a quantum state could not support such ultra-long-distance movement, and conventional transportation was too slow. For every minute of delay, Tony's risk increased by a notch.
"System," she called out urgently in her consciousness, "I need to get to Kunar Province, Afghanistan, near the designated coordinates immediately. Is there a plan for a quick arrival?"
The interface unfolded silently, and a line of text surfaced:
[Emergency travel demand from the Host detected.]
[Based on the core principle of 'assisting the Host's convenience and happiness,' a one-time 'Directional Space Folding Gate' usage permission can be provided.]
[Description: Constructs a temporary stable spatial passage connecting two locations, single-use passage, maximum capacity of 2 units.]
[Note: This is a non-combat auxiliary function with a 30-day cooldown after use. Enable?]
Directional Space Folding Gate. This perfectly solved the transportation problem. The Little Things System was indeed reliable.
"Enable! Destination: Kunar Province, Afghanistan. Coordinates set to a safe zone ten kilometers outside the attack point provided by S.H.I.E.L.D."
[Instruction confirmed. Calculating spatial parameters... Coordinates locked... Energy infusion...]
The air in the center of the basement workspace began to warp, giving off pale blue ripples like water. At the center of the ripples, light was absorbed, forming a rotating, deep blue vortex that seemed to have stars flowing within it. The vortex stabilized, about two meters in diameter, with subtle energy ripples undulating at its edges. From the other side of the gate, the faint sound of dry wind and a completely different, rugged scene belonging to a desert mountain range could be heard.
"Let's go!" Artoria did not hesitate and was the first to step into the star gate. There was a momentary feeling of weightlessness and spatial stripping as she passed through, as if passing through a layer of cool water film.
The next second, dry, scorching air hit her face, carrying the faint smell of sand and gunpowder. She was already standing on the edge of a desolate valley, surrounded by jagged brownish-red rocks and sparse drought-tolerant plants. In the distance, mountains rose and fell, and the sky was high and azure. This was precisely a hidden valley about ten kilometers northwest of the attack site marked in the S.H.I.E.L.D. data.
Almost as soon as she stood firm, the deep blue vortex behind her fluctuated again, and Minerva's figure emerged silently. After landing, she immediately knelt on one knee, pressing one hand onto the scorching sandy ground. The sensors under her black eye patch were turned on at full power, scanning the surroundings.
"Environment confirmed: Southeastern mountainous region of Kunar Province, Afghanistan. No immediate threat. Space Folding Gate closed." Minerva stood up, her matte black'Shadow' armor barely reflecting any light under the fierce sunlight, blending perfectly into the rock shadows. "creator, please confirm your status."
"I'm fine." Artoria was adapting to the environment through her Seele form's perception. The quantum state made her exceptionally sensitive to space, allowing her to vaguely perceive the 'existence outlines' of living beings and the'sense of blockage' from large metal objects. "As planned, search separately. Centered on the attack point with a fifteen-kilometer radius, focus on investigating caves, abandoned buildings, and hidden canyons. Maintain attempts to link via quantum communication, trying to synchronize once every hour. If any suspicious signs are found, prioritize observation; do not act rashly."
"Understood. Your safety is the highest priority. Please be cautious." Minerva took one last look at Artoria, as if to confirm her status, then activated her optical camouflage. Her entire person seemed to blend into the heat-warped air, vanishing instantly among the scattered rocks. Her movement was silent, leaving not even the faintest sound of footsteps.
Artoria also took a deep breath and concentrated. Activating her quantum state ability, her body became illusory. With one step, she passed through a massive rock like a ghost and appeared on a hillside dozens of meters away. She moved quickly by penetrating matter in this way while spreading her perception outward.
The mountainous area under the blazing sun was deathly silent and dangerous. Artoria maintained a high level of vigilance; the quantum state was not invincible. Continuous penetration of matter consumed a great deal of energy, and the penetration effect on high-density or special energy structures would be diminished. Following the map provided by S.H.I.E.L.D. and her own intuition, she 'glided' toward several directions suspected of having cave systems.
Time passed in anxiety and focus. Bypassing a minefield (she could 'feel' the abnormal accumulation of underground metal) and avoiding a patrol of armed pickups (by sneaking into the mountain in advance using her quantum state), Artoria searched two suspicious areas and found nothing. The drought and heat began to bring pressure. Although the Seele form had a high tolerance for extreme environments, the exhaustion from continuous mental tension was real.
Just as she was preparing to head to the third area, the inconspicuous quantum communication unit on her left wrist, paired with Minerva's, sent an extremely weak but regular vibration—the agreed-upon simple coded signal.
Short-short-long. Suspicious signs found. Alert not triggered.
Artoria's spirits lifted, and she immediately 'passed through' toward the general direction the signal came from. A few minutes later, she arrived near a more remote dry riverbed with steep cliffs on both sides. Behind a massive rock in the shade, the air warped slightly, and Minerva deactivated her optical camouflage, revealing her form.
"creator," Minerva's voice entered Artoria's mind directly via quantum communication, weak but clear, avoiding any sound wave leakage, "Eleven o'clock direction, eight hundred meters, base of the mountain. Discovered signs of artificial repair, suspected hidden cave entrance, with recent human activity footprints and tire tracks. Three hidden fire points outside the entrance, two Sentinels, equipment is old but they are in an alert state. Internal structure of the cave is unknown, but there is noise and heat radiation from a continuous low-power generator operation. Fits the characteristics of a temporary detention point."
Using the rock as cover, Artoria looked over carefully. The mountain Minerva pointed to looked natural, but in her quantum state perception, there was an area where the 'material density' and 'energy flow' had subtle inconsistencies with the surrounding natural rock walls. It did indeed look like a disguised entrance.
"Can you determine how many people are inside? Is there any life signal from Tony?"
"Electromagnetic interference inside the cave is strong; precise life detection is obstructed. However, through preliminary analysis of heat and sound source separation, there are at least eight to ten independent heat sources inside. Two of the heat sources are relatively fixed in position near the generator, possibly guards. The remaining heat sources are scattered. No signal perfectly matching Tony Stark's biological characteristics has been detected, but deep within the cave, there is one heat source with an abnormal form, accompanied by irregular high heat emission, suspected to be... an individual who is injured or has an infectious fever." Minerva reported, her eye patch always locked on the cave entrance. "Close-range reconnaissance is needed for confirmation."
"I'll go," Artoria said, "I can phase in to take a look. You stay outside, monitor the entrance and the Sentinels, and be ready to provide backup."
"Risk is too high. Internal conditions are unknown, interference is strong, and your quantum state may be restricted within complex artificial structures." Minerva objected; this was a rare instance of her explicitly opposing Artoria's instruction.
"But this is the fastest way to confirm if he's inside. If he's not, we save time. If he is, we need to know his exact condition and the cave's layout." Artoria's tone was firm. "Don't worry, I'm just looking; I won't be exposed. You be ready at any time. If things change, follow Plan B."
Plan B was a forced assault for extraction. Minerva fell silent for a moment, clearly calculating various possibilities rapidly. "...Understood. Please be extremely careful. I will maintain the highest alert. If you are inside for more than fifteen minutes without a specific safety signal being sent out, I will initiate Plan B."
"Good."
Artoria took one last breath to adjust, raising the penetration power of her quantum state to the stable limit she could currently maintain. She chose a spot far from the Sentinels' line of sight that appeared to be solid rock wall. Her body rippled again as she slowly'sank' into the hard mountain.
The feeling inside the mountain was completely different from the outside. Various minerals, crevices, and water veins (though almost dry) formed complex obstacles. Interference did indeed exist; metal veins mixed within certain rock layers made penetration sluggish. She had to slow down, moving like she was swimming through a thick liquid, while extending her perception as much as possible to capture sound and heat.
After passing through about six or seven meters of rock wall, she entered an artificially excavated passage. The air was murky, filled with oil, sweat, and a hint of blood. It was a low arched passage with rough walls and dim light bulbs hanging from wires overhead. Maintaining her quantum state, she clung to the shadows at the top of the passage and moved forward silently.
The passage wasn't long. After turning a corner, a relatively open space appeared ahead. It looked like a natural cave that had been expanded and renovated. Wooden crates and oil drums were piled on one side of the cave, while the other side was partitioned into several small spaces with waterproof tarps. A generator hummed in the corner. Four or five militants in mixed clothing with rifles slung over their shoulders were sitting around; some were dozing off, while others were talking in low voices in a language she didn't understand.
Her gaze searched quickly. Then, in the deepest part of the cave, in a 'cell' simply enclosed with rusty iron bars, she saw him.
Tony Stark.
He was leaning against the cold stone wall, the left side of his body wrapped in filthy bandages that showed dark bloodstains. His face was pale, his lips were parched, and his golden hair was matted with blood and dust. His eyes were closed, and his chest rose and fell weakly, but he was indeed still breathing. Most shocking was his chest—under his tattered shirt, a metallic reflection could be vaguely seen, along with crude wires connected to a car battery. That battery was placed right by his feet.
The Arc Reactor... it's already installed. Artoria's heart tightened. This meant that shrapnel had already injured his heart when the attack occurred, and Dr. Yinsen (if this World had an Yinsen too) had already performed the preliminary surgery, using an electromagnet and a car battery to temporarily keep him alive. This aligned with the key points of the 'original story.'
But Tony's condition looked worse than it was portrayed in the movie. He seemed to have a fever, his body twitching unconsciously from time to time.
Not far outside the cell, a thin middle-aged man in a dirty white lab coat and glasses (who should be Yinsen) was being pointed at with a gun by a burly man who looked like a leader, checking some blueprints. Spread out on the table were clearly fragments of the design blueprints for the Jericho Missile! The leader pointed at the blueprints and then at some missile parts and crude tools piled on the other side of the cave, speaking excitedly to Yinsen, obviously forcing him to build something using these remains.
They don't just want ransom; they want technology. Artoria understood. Tony was still alive, with Yinsen temporarily maintaining his life, but his situation was extremely dangerous, and the enemy was forcing them to use Stark's technology to manufacture weapons.
She had to get the intelligence out and formulate a rescue plan as soon as possible. Tony couldn't wait seven days; with his current terrible state, things could deteriorate at any time.
She quietly backed away, preparing to return the way she came. However, just as she was about to retreat into the passage, the leader checking the blueprints seemed dissatisfied with Yinsen's progress and irritably kicked over a nearby water bucket. There was a loud clang that was exceptionally piercing in the relatively quiet cave.
A guard who had been dozing was startled awake. Bleary-eyed, he looked up and happened to gaze toward the shadows where Artoria was clinging to the ceiling.
In her quantum state, Artoria was almost completely transparent, but in a dimly lit cave with flickering shadows, an overly focused gaze or some special intuition could still bring risk.
The guard squinted suspiciously, seemingly feeling that the outline of that shadow was a bit... unnatural. He muttered something, rubbed his eyes, and looked again carefully.
Artoria held her breath (though she hardly needed to breathe in her quantum state) and remained motionless.
The guard looked for a few seconds, found nothing, cursed, and prepared to lower his head to continue dozing.
But just then, another guard beside him happened to open a tin can. The metal inner wall of the can, under the dim yellow light, reflected the scene of the area on the cave ceiling at a subtle angle.
In that distorted reflection, the humanoid 'thing' clinging to the cave ceiling, its edges fluctuating slightly like water ripples, was clearly visible.
The guard's eyes widened instantly, and he opened his mouth to scream—
"En..."
The word "enemy" hadn't even come out yet.
A blurred phantom appeared at his side as if teleporting. A hand covered in bionic skin, warm yet hard as iron, accurately throttled his throat, snuffing out the scream in its cradle. The other hand pressed somewhere on the side of his neck, and the guard's eyes rolled back as he slumped down limply.
It was Minerva.
She had somehow, and in some way, already infiltrated the interior of the cave at that critical moment.
Her face under the black eye patch was expressionless as she gently laid down the unconscious guard, then tilted her head slightly, as if 'looking' at the shadow where Artoria was.
Safe. I am here.
There was no sound, but Artoria understood the meaning of that posture.
Minerva's figure became blurred again, like an ink stain blending into the background, and she quietly retreated into the nearest shadow corner as if she had never appeared. The others in the cave didn't even notice the brief commotion over here; the leader was still shouting at Yinsen.
Artoria did not stay any longer and quickly 'phased' out of the cave, returning to the dry riverbed outside the mountain.
A moment later, Minerva also emerged from another rock crevice like a ghost, deactivating her optical camouflage.
"creator, confirmed?" Her voice came through the quantum communication.
"Confirmed. Tony is inside, still alive, but seriously injured. He has an electromagnet in his chest powered by a battery. Dr. Yinsen is there but is being coerced into building weapons from missile remains. There are at least nine enemies with heavy weapons. The cave structure is simple: one main cave and one passage exit." Artoria shared the intelligence at a very fast pace, her heart still pounding from the recent danger and lingering fear. "How... how did you get in?"
"Ventilation fissure. The size was sufficient for me to pass through. After you entered, I detected a seventeen-second monitoring gap during the guard shift change at the entrance, so I infiltrated from the rock fissure on the upper side and followed behind you the whole time." Minerva answered calmly, as if speaking of a trivial matter. "Your safety cannot be compromised."
Artoria looked at the silent and reliable Guardian before her, a complex warmth and lingering fear welling up in her heart. "...Thank you. Now, we have to formulate a plan on how to get him out. Charging in is too risky and might hurt him. And Dr. Yinsen must be saved too."
"More detailed intelligence is needed. The next shift change time, patrol patterns, specific distribution of weapons, and... whether we can establish a brief, safe contact with Tony Stark or Dr. Yinsen to synchronize the plan." Minerva analyzed, "I suggest continuing to lie in wait and observe. At the same time, I need to return to the vicinity of the entrance to set up some 'little gifts' to create conditions for a possible retreat or forced assault."
"Agreed. Keep in touch and be absolutely cautious."
"Yes. You please be extremely careful as well, creator."
The blazing sun remained, but in these desolate mountains shrouded in death, the spark of hope had been quietly ignited. The gears of rescue, amidst silent stalking and tacit guardianship, began to turn slowly.
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