"While they may look like simple construction explosives on the outside, the quality is quite surprising. Probably, just five of these would be enough to bring down the entire building"

Although it took some time, Prime and the others managed to collect all the explosives thanks to Tony's tracking technology, which made the search extremely quick. In the end, about 20 explosives were found around the parking lot.

After hearing Tony's words, Prime felt even more certain: the one behind this attack didn’t just want to take down the building but to cause the greatest disaster possible. Prime didn't even want to imagine how fatal it would be for everyone in the building if the explosives were detonated.

"It’s likely that the corporation funding the explosives is operating in the shadows right now"

Prime listened closely to Tony's words, and a thought crossed his mind: if just five explosives could take down the building, what could 20 do? His question was quickly answered by Tony.

"I think that would trigger a chain reaction, probably affecting the surrounding buildings. Honestly, what were these people thinking involving innocents in this mess?"

Prime couldn't agree more with Tony, but he had a hunch: if the explosives were detonated, he would likely be blamed for it all. Moreover, this would significantly delay his long-term business plans, one way or another.

"If you give me some time to analyze these explosives, I think I can trace who made them"

As soon as Prime heard Tony, he couldn’t help but think how timely this was. To be honest, robotics was never really his area of interest, and he had never delved into that field. With so many other concerns in mind, dedicating time to this seemed almost like a waste.

"Are you serious? That would be great! If we can find out who made these explosives, it's very likely we’ll also find the masterminds, if they decide to talk"

Upon hearing Prime, Tony raised an eyebrow and looked at him. For Tony, it was quite unlikely those men would talk, even under torture.

"Do you really think they'll spill? I don't know... You seem confident. Do you have a method to make them open up?"

Hearing this, Prime briefly turned to Tony, sporting a small smile that made Tony freeze for a moment.

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"Don't worry. Even if they don't want to talk, they'll end up talking. I have my ways to ensure that"

Tony remained silent upon hearing Ryan’s words. He preferred not to imagine what Ryan would do when he found the makers of the explosives. However, he shrugged; either way, it wasn’t his problem. Besides, Tony believed those people didn’t deserve a happy ending, especially after putting Pepper in danger.

While Prime and Tony were distracted, Annie and Ema returned. Ema looked pleased about something, while Annie had a thoughtful expression. Prime noticed and stared at her. As soon as Annie caught Prime's gaze, she quickly shared her thoughts.

"I was with the security team, and they told me they noticed something strange"

As soon as he heard this, Prime raised an eyebrow, showing his doubt. Annie, noticing his reaction, continued speaking.

"They reported that before they were called, they saw other men in similar clothing walking upstairs, but they all left. However, none of them seemed to have a bag or any object that could hide an explosive unnoticed"

Prime narrowed his eyes at Annie's words and then briefly turned to Tony, who wore the same expression. Tony had likely reached the same conclusion he had. At that moment, Prime could only think about how insane those people were.

"If I'm not mistaken, when we removed the last explosive, its timer was close to 2 minutes, right?"

Tony didn’t answer Prime’s question, just nodded. At that moment, Prime squeezed his eyes shut; about a minute had already passed since all the explosives were removed. Less than a minute remained, and even though it wasn’t his fault, Prime felt it wouldn’t be right to just let people die.

"Annie, Ema, Sara, we need to finish what we started. Letting people die knowing I could have stopped it... that would leave a bitter taste for you, wouldn’t it?"

As soon as Prime asked, the three exchanged quick glances and then nodded, their eyes shining faintly in the colors of their respective symbionts. Tony, standing beside Ryan, quickly understood what he was trying to do.

"So, you finally decided to reveal yourself to the world"

Prime gave a wry smile at Tony's words. After all, he had never been a fan of attention, neither in his previous life nor this one. However, it wasn’t like he had been hiding, in the end.

"You know what? I’ll help too. I can’t sleep tonight knowing several people might die when I could have lessened the damage, even if just a little"

Hearing this, Prime smiled and nodded at Tony. While he thought about the preparations he needed to make, since time was short, the ground suddenly shook, as if it were an earthquake. Then, an extremely loud noise echoed just a few meters from the building. The tremor wasn’t strong enough to damage the structure, but it was enough to shift the cars from their places.

"Damn, it looks like they won’t give us time to regroup"

As he said this, Prime, Tony, Annie, Sara, and Ema began to run out of the building through the underground parking exit. As soon as they emerged, they were greeted by smoke and the sight of a building that was clearly about to collapse. The structure stood across from Prime's building, and if it did fall, the consequences would be equally devastating for him.

"It looks like they caught us this time"

Sara, next to Prime, commented with a nervous smile on her face. Although Prime wanted to argue with her words, deep down, she was right. However, whoever had done this, Prime would make sure they paid, sooner or later.