Chapter 150: Ex-Wife Missile, Duty Calls

Luke quickly activated the fire control system. Voltron's eyes flashed with a bright light for a fraction of a second before going dark once again.

"These are the last few Ex-Wife missiles. Thank goodness I grabbed so many back then."

The mecha's fire control system locked onto a squad of seven Chitauri. Luke gripped the joystick tightly, silently waiting for the right moment.

The skiffs piloted by these Chitauri were moving at an incredible speed. In the blink of an eye, the distance between them closed to just a few dozen meters.

The lead Chitauri let out a silent shout and gestured with his hands, prompting the others to open fire. A dense barrage of glowing plasma bolts streaked toward Voltron.

Voltron, which had been playing dead this entire time, suddenly sprang into action.

Adjusting its posture slightly, several bright missile trails launched from Voltron's shoulders with a sharp hiss, cutting through the vacuum of space with fiery tails to intercept the Chitauri.

The Chitauri scrambled to evade in a panic. However, these homing missiles pursued them relentlessly without exception, striking them dead on!

"Got 'em!" Luke thought to himself.

Come to think of it, the Ex-Wife missiles had never malfunctioned in his hands. Remembering how War Machine had fired a dud that became the laughingstock of everyone, Luke figured that was simply because James Rhodes had terrible luck.

With him, such a problem would never occur. Ever since his transmigration, he had been a favored child of fortune.

"Hammer Industries is, after all, a major military contractor..." Luke was just thinking this to himself.

As it turned out, he was celebrating far too early.

Several Ex-Wife missiles were watched closely as they accurately struck the Chitauri skiffs.

Across the vacuum, Luke could almost hear a series of crisp "clinking" sounds. And then... nothing more happened.

The terrified Chitauri found themselves still standing completely unharmed on their skiffs.

"..." Luke wore a blank expression of utter astonishment.

What was bound to happen would eventually happen.

This squad of Chitauri was stunned for a moment as well, before immediately waving their arms in celebration and opening fire once more as they charged toward Voltron.

Luke thought to himself: *What are you waiting for? Run!*

Voltron dropped the act, spun around, and bolted.

Its remaining five auxiliary thrusters instantly fired at maximum capacity, pushing the lurching Voltron past the debris fields and flying in the opposite direction. Behind them, the incoming fire from the Chitauri struck the floating wreckage, erupting into brilliant clusters of explosions.

Justin Hammer...

Luke really wanted to say a few words to him right now...

You, yes, you! This year's Nobel Peace Prize has your name written all on it!

You truly are the fighting chicken among hens, the fruit vendor among arms dealers, always refusing to walk the beaten path!

Luke felt that Tony was right after all: how could anyone dare to use Justin's weapons?

"You've screwed me over royally!"

Furious, Luke yanked frantically on the joystick, muttering endlessly to himself as he fled. He had just managed to embarrass himself all the way out of the solar system.

However, Voltron only had five auxiliary thrusters left. It moved as slow as an ox, its speed nowhere near that of the Chitauri skiffs behind it, and it was rapidly being overtaken.

Without a second thought, Luke unholstered the Invisibility Sword - Agreus from his storage space, half-turned in the vacuum, and slashed outward with a single sweep.

This strike connected directly with an oncoming skiff, instantly blowing it to pieces!

Seeing this, the remaining Chitauri immediately surrounded Luke, pouring a constant stream of firepower onto Voltron.

Luke swung his mecha sword to counterattack, but he dared not make any overly violent movements.

The overall structure of the mecha was already severely damaged and teetering on the brink of total collapse. If he dared to execute a move like Illusion Sword Dance right now, Voltron would undoubtedly disintegrate mid-air.

Fortunately, these Chitauri seemed rather dim-witted; they could not see the trajectory of the Invisibility Sword - Agreus, yet they were foolishly oblivious and failed to evade.

Luke spun around and swept horizontally with his sword, and yet another skiff exploded silently in the vacuum of space!

Because of the Adamantium plating, the Chitauri attacks landing on Voltron could only cause some shock damage. Even so, it was more than enough to give Luke a hard time.

Christina's display indicated that the mecha's structural integrity was plummeting rapidly. This was simply adding insult to injury. Under normal circumstances, injuries of this scale would amount to nothing at all.

What he feared most was that final straw that would break the camel's back. No one knew if taking one more blast would cause the entire machine to dissolve the very next moment.

Suddenly, arcs of lightning flashed across the void, raining down continuously upon the heads of the Chitauri!

The Chitauri aboard the skiffs shuddered violently, and several were electrocuted unconscious on the spot. Having lost control, their skiffs crashed heavily into nearby debris before detonating.

Light of Vengeance had become Luke's lifeline in the nick of time.

Out of the seven Chitauri, only a single one remained.

This particular Chitauri seemed to be the squad leader and possessed a higher level of intelligence by comparison. Instead of rushing to attack Luke, he utilized the skiff's maneuverability to desperately circle around to Voltron's rear, hunting for its thrusters.

Luke was not going to let him succeed.

If the remaining thrusters were knocked out, he and the Four Roses would be completely doomed, reduced to sitting ducks and blasted to pieces.

Luke swept his sword horizontally and slashed diagonally, but the nimble Chitauri managed to keep a safe distance with ease.

Seizing an opportunity, Luke immediately attempted a forward thrust, but after pushing the joystick, the machine failed to respond.

"What the hell! It jammed at the crucial moment!" Luke cursed furiously.

The damaged transmission components of the mecha severely impaired its ability to perform normal movements. Knowing this would happen, he could only feel helpless now.

Regardless, after finding a way to shake off these Chitauri, Luke decided he needed to find a place to carry out repairs—at least to the point where the transmission system wouldn't constantly jam. For now, he had to rely entirely on mecha hand-to-hand combat.

If he couldn't even execute mecha melee combat maneuvers, he would be reduced to taking a beating passively.

This clever Chitauri evidently located Voltron's remaining thrusters, and his skiff opened fire at maximum power.

Voltron suddenly froze in mid-air, shifting its body at an odd angle to present its head toward the Chitauri's attack.

Suddenly, an orange Nen guard appeared, enveloping the top of Voltron.

Centered on Luke, the Nen guard could only cover the head and upper body after Voltron's integration, but it happened to successfully block the Chitauri's assault.

"Hehe, didn't expect that, did you?"

Luke chuckled softly. Watching the momentarily dazed Chitauri, he didn't waste a second: pushing the joystick forward, Voltron gripped the Invisibility Sword with both hands and lunged forward with a fierce thrust.

This time, the machine did not jam. With a muffled, soundless explosion of fire, the last Chitauri was finally taken down.

However, Luke did not dare to linger for even a second. With all auxiliary thrusters blazing at full capacity, he fled like a sluggish ox toward the deeper regions of space.

Behind him, more Chitauri had already spotted him, flying toward his location in wave after wave...