Saving Tony Stark

System mission:

After Tony Stark built the Mark I Armor, assist him in escaping. Mission reward: 30,000 Points. Failure penalty: 30,000 Points. If Points were insufficient, the balance would go negative, with annual interest of 50% of the principal.

"Tony Stark could have escaped on his own, so why issue a mission like that, and why is the reward so high? What exactly have I changed in the plot? Tell me, Tmall," Xia Yu said to the system.

"Master, you may have misunderstood me. You have not changed the plot at all for the time being. Even if you do not accept the mission now, Tony Stark will still escape as originally planned. But if you accept it, this part of the plot will change and become more difficult, so you will receive a Points reward," Tmall explained.

Xia Yu finally understood. So nothing would happen if he just stayed out of it. He said to Tmall, "Then I can just refuse, can't I? I'll earn Points later."

"All future system missions will be closely tied to the plot. In other words, Master can only increase his strength by accepting missions and following the plot. Only with enough strength can Master take part in the Ultimate Battle and save those who are certain to die in it." Tmall's voice was still electronically synthesized, but its words sent a chill through Xia Yu.

"Everything's been arranged to force me to change the ending, is that it? Give me an explanation. Why?" Xia Yu was getting angry.

"Please rest assured, Master. The system exists to assist you. Some things cannot be explained now. After Civil War, everything will become clear. Please actively undertake missions and increase your strength," Tmall said.

Xia Yu fell silent. Whatever the system was, at least one thing was right: increasing his strength came first. It was like playing a game; he needed to do the main quests and level up first.

Next, he needed to look into going to Afghanistan. At the very least, he had to know where to go. Xia Yu recalled the movie he had watched in his previous life. As for which cave Tony Stark was being held in, the movie had given a few key clues: Gulmira, the Ten Rings, an Abandoned Soviet Factory, and the desert.

Putting those clues together made things much simpler. Since Tony was sure to be fine, Xia Yu had time to carry out his original plan: buy Stark Industries stock at the bottom during its two major price drops.

Ten days later, having made all the arrangements, Xia Yu set foot in the Gulmira region of Afghanistan. Many place names in the Marvel Cinematic Universe were fictional, such as Gulmira and Sokovia. Xia Yu had never been to Afghanistan in his previous life, either. He had only heard that it was chaotic, but when he actually arrived, he found it was far worse than that. In the Gulmira region especially, aside from a handful of towns, the Ten Rings had taken almost everyone from the surrounding areas. They had reportedly all been seized for forced labor.

After several days of searching, Xia Yu settled on a place called Miyeno Town because it had a tavern. Afghanistan here had one thing in common with the one in his previous life: it was an Islamic country, so taverns were hard to find, especially in small places. Even among those who did not follow Islam, few had spare money for a tavern in a country plagued by years of war, where ordinary people couldn't even get enough to eat.

So Xia Yu went in and sounded the place out. Sure enough, he found a Ten Rings tattoo on the owner's neck. The man also spoke English, which was important; Xia Yu needed a translator.

Without wasting words, Xia Yu used a Life and Death Talisman to take control of him. He learned that the place was a Ten Rings outpost, that several nearby towns were secretly under the Ten Rings' control, and that everything here was a resource the organization kept penned up for its own use.

The tavern itself mainly served members of the nearby Ten Rings base. After spending more than ten days there, Xia Yu learned Tony Stark's current situation and exact location. All that remained was to wait for Iron Man to break out of his cocoon.

There were hidden storylines involving the Ten Rings in the Marvel movies. For example, in Iron Man 3, the impostor posing as the Mandarin was killed by a real Ten Rings member after going to prison. And in Ant-Man, there was a Ten Rings member among the people who went to Pym Technologies to buy the suit. So the Ten Rings ought to be extremely powerful in the Marvel Universe.

Over the following days, Xia Yu took control of more than ten Ten Rings members who came to the tavern to drink. Four of them were from the camp where Tony Stark was being held, but unfortunately, he got very little out of them. They were all just low-ranking soldiers and gave him no useful intelligence. Xia Yu already knew Tony Stark's situation without asking. What he needed most now was to contact Tony Stark and agree on a date.

Finally, two months after Tony's disappearance, Xia Yu took control of a minor leader who could even meet Tony Stark directly.

At the cave where the Ten Rings held Tony Stark, it was now the seventy-ninth day of his captivity. The terrorists had lost patience with him several times already. Tony Stark knew he could no longer stall and had to hurry to build the armor if he wanted even the slightest chance of getting out.

That day, a terrorist with dyed blond hair came in. Tony Stark had seen him before, at the bald leader's side. He was probably one of the leaders.

The terrorist headed straight for Yinsen as soon as he entered. Tony went over to stop him but was immediately shoved to the ground. The blond man pinned Yinsen against the table, drew a pistol, and pressed it to his head. "Tell me, how much more time do you need?" he demanded of Tony Stark.

"Fifteen days. I need at least another fifteen days. The equipment here is too crude," Tony said.

The terrorist used the gun to shove Yinsen's head hard against the tabletop. "I'll give you one week at most."

He then released Yinsen, picked up a schematic from the table, and gestured for Tony Stark to explain it. He pulled out one of the drawings and asked Tony what part of the missile it showed. Once Tony came close enough, he said quietly and quickly, "Mr. Xia sends his regards."

Tony could hardly believe it, but he didn't deny anything outright. He simply looked at the terrorist in confusion.

When Tony Stark said nothing, the terrorist spoke again. "The hundred million dollars on the ground, and you're an impotent old pervert."

Tony Stark was overjoyed. Suppressing his excitement, he asked quietly, "Why didn't he notify the U.S. military to rescue me?"

The terrorist faithfully relayed Xia Yu's words. "Your itinerary was top secret. He doesn't trust anyone in the government, and he doesn't trust anyone at your company. Mr. Xia is in a nearby town. He wants to agree on a time with you. I can help you."

Tony Stark thought for a moment. "One week. A week from now. What help can you give me?"

"I need to meet Mr. Xia first. I can't stay too long. I'll come find you in three days, and we can discuss it in detail then." The terrorist hurried off after that. Tony Stark said to Yinsen, "Now we have a better chance. Come on, we need to pick up the pace. There isn't much time."

Soon, the blond Ten Rings member met with Xia Yu.

"I need you to take me inside on the day we make our move. Ideally, I'd be able to get close to your leader," Xia Yu said.

"Impossible. I'm not one of his closest men. Even getting you into the camp would be extremely difficult. Sir, your face is far too easy to recognize."

"Hmm?" Xia Yu's expression changed.

The blond man had experienced what it was like to beg for life under the Life and Death Talisman. Seeing Xia Yu's expression change, he shuddered and forced down his fear. "Mr. Xia, you have to give me some way to stay alive. If I'm going to die either way, I might as well kill myself. Besides, if I take you straight in, we'll definitely be exposed, and that'll make it harder for you to rescue him."

Xia Yu was amused. The kid was pretty quick-witted. Keeping him as a planted agent inside the Ten Rings wouldn't be bad. Xia Yu actually had a rough plan in mind, but he needed to find out how far Tony had gotten.

The men who usually guarded Tony's cave were the bald leader's trusted subordinates, and there was nothing Xia Yu could do about that for the moment. So he had the blond man take Tony just one question: could he keep himself safe inside the cave, or at least hold the entrance and stop anyone from getting in?

Xia Yu already knew the answer. Tony only needed to fight his way out according to his own plan. Over the next few days, Xia Yu would gather the Ten Rings members he controlled and, ideally, have them bring a few more men each. Once he had those men under control, they could attack the camp directly and help Tony hold off the bulk of the enemy. Xia Yu himself would watch the battlefield and guard against that unknown unexpected factor.