Chapter Thirty-Eight: Innsmouth

Jarvis projected the video from the S.H.I.E.L.D. database before Tony, along with the original footage and related materials he had found, all displayed beside the main video. Tony could switch between them with a simple swipe of his hand.

"Thanks, Jarvis." Tony watched the bizarre behavior of the figure in the video, his brows slowly knitting together as he read the annotated information beside it. The existence of a religion connected to mysterious powers on Earth didn’t surprise him—after all, if one were to count, Thor could be considered a religious figure on Earth as well.

Once the video finished playing, Tony set his cup down with a grave expression and began to peruse the relevant documents Jarvis had prepared. When he saw S.H.I.E.L.D.’s records noting that touching the statue could lead to being controlled, his dissatisfaction grew.

Ever since Agent Barton was controlled by Loki, Tony had harbored a deep wariness toward mind-control abilities. With current science unable to prove the existence of the soul, understanding such powers was impossible. Yet S.H.I.E.L.D. had started researching mind control again, and Tony shook his head repeatedly.

"What does that control-obsessed baldy intend to do—become the new Yuri?" Tony closed the projection and leaned back on the sofa. He needed to carefully consider his next move; after all, Fury was the director of S.H.I.E.L.D., and there was no way Tony could halt his research. Even if he confronted him, the king of agents would simply move the project underground, and then not even Jarvis could monitor its progress.

After a long contemplation, Tony decided to investigate the strange church himself. Although S.H.I.E.L.D. had already turned the place upside down, Tony felt he needed to conduct an on-site investigation—perhaps he could discover intel S.H.I.E.L.D. had missed.

The next morning, Tony prepared to head to the town called Innsmouth. Since everything originated there, it was only natural that answers would be found there as well.

This time, he didn’t fly directly in his Iron Man suit. Instead, he took a private jet to Boston and then drove his sports car to Innsmouth.

Innsmouth was a coastal town. Before its decline, it had been a port specializing in shipbuilding exports and had also developed a fishing industry. After the Anglo-American War of 1812, it gradually withered away. The townsfolk began to worship a strange and sinister deity, and the church was built during that era.

Driving into Innsmouth, Tony was greeted by a cluster of dilapidated houses. Since the great fire twenty-seven years ago, in which all the townspeople perished in the flames, the town had fallen into utter silence. Its remote location and the lack of anyone coming forward to claim relatives meant the local government had no intention of investing in reconstruction. Thus, the town remained untouched until Tony and his team arrived.

"Well, it looks like our groundhogs have already been here. Hopefully, they left some clues for me." Tony remarked as he noticed the fresh tire tracks on the broken street. It was hardly surprising—if he could think of coming here, S.H.I.E.L.D.'s agents surely could as well. However, Tony was armed with cutting-edge technology, and he believed he might unearth clues that S.H.I.E.L.D. had missed.

"Jarvis, what’s the result of the scan?" Tony asked as he walked toward the heart of the town. For this expedition, he had enlisted Stark Group’s dedicated satellite to scan Innsmouth and expected results soon.

"Sir, a subterranean cavity has been detected at the town center, with traces of artificial construction." Jarvis reported, and Tony’s eyes lit with interest. "Excellent. Looks like our adventure is about to pay off."

As he ventured deeper into the town, Tony continued to observe its ruins. "Jarvis, can you simulate the fire from back then?"

"Sir, simulation underway. Eliminating the effects of twenty-seven years of change and human activity." Jarvis projected the simulation onto Tony’s lenses and cautioned, "Sir, the simulation suggests the fire was unusual. The flames likely ignited from within each building."

"Oh? So this was probably a mass cult sacrifice?" Tony deduced quickly. Flames erupting simultaneously from every house, once natural causes are ruled out, could only have been man-made. If a criminal gang had orchestrated it, it would have required an enormous group. Yet no such gang had ever been reported, and what could have provoked them to burn an entire town with no survivors?

As cultists worshipping that strange, evil deity, a more plausible explanation emerged: for some unknown reason, they had committed collective suicide in the form of sacrifice.

But these were only Tony’s conjectures. With the current intelligence, he could only make these two most likely guesses, but he was convinced that the mysterious underground space hid secrets yet to be uncovered.

Arriving at the town center, Tony gazed upon the ruins of a grand building directly ahead. Even with the naked eye, it was clear that this ruin was far larger than any he had passed on his way—likely the residence of the town mayor.

"Sir, the underground space lies beneath the ruins ahead. The scanner has identified a concealed entrance." Jarvis projected a three-dimensional map before Tony, marking the probable underground entry.

"Alright, looks like I’ll have to play groundhog for a while." Tony shrugged and moved to the indicated spot, donning his Iron Man gauntlet before beginning to clear the debris.

Uncertain of the safety of this exploration, Tony had already arranged for Jarvis to remotely control the suit, keeping it close behind him. This way, he could merge man and machine in an emergency, and use components to assist himself when needed.

With the help of the Iron Man suit, Tony swiftly cleared a patch of ground. Using his thrusters to sweep away the charred surface, he raised an eyebrow at the floor etched with unknown patterns.

"Wow, looks like my luck’s holding up." Tony arched his brow at the spot. Though the statue in the video was blurry, this floor with its mysterious markings was surely connected to the current investigation.

As expected, with Jarvis’s further scans, Tony used his gauntlet to pry the floor open. Since the place had already been ravaged by fire, the original mechanism was likely destroyed, and Tony refrained from smashing through the floor outright only out of respect for whatever mysterious power might still linger.