Big Nephew Tony Stark

The next morning, in a patch of wasteland on the outskirts of Baghlan Province, Afghanistan.

"Boss, it's another two hundred meters ahead."

Xiao Liu looked at the tents faintly appearing ahead and the dozen or so burly armed men, then reported to Li Chuan in the back.

Li Chuan formed hand seals with both hands and used the Transformation Technique to assume the appearance of Obadiah Stane.

"Tell the brothers to put on their masks. Don't let anyone see their faces. Once I leave, return to the hotel and wait for me."

Although his goal this time was to wipe out Lazar Hamidmi and everyone in his base, there was no telling whether anyone here might not return to the base. If one or two slipped through, having seen Xiao Liu and the others' faces could become a problem in the future.

"Yes, Boss!"

Xiao Liu froze for a moment when he saw Li Chuan's appearance in the rearview mirror. Then he nodded and put on the mask he had prepared beforehand.

He knew his boss possessed the miraculous ability to take on another person's appearance, but this was the first time he had actually seen it.

As they neared the tents, Li Chuan's vehicle and the two cars behind it were forced to stop by the armed men ahead. He got out of the car with Xiao Liu.

"It's me, Obadiah Stane. Where is your leader?"

"Mr. Obadiah, Boss Lazar is already waiting for you in the tent. Follow me. Your bodyguards will stay outside."

A burly, bearded man stepped forward and examined Li Chuan before speaking.

Li Chuan gave Xiao Liu a look, and Xiao Liu immediately led several of his men back into the vehicles.

Inside the tent, the bald Lazar immediately stepped forward and gave Li Chuan a hug when he saw him being brought in.

"Mr. Obadiah, it's not that I don't want to honor our agreement. In our line of work, every head has its price. What you offered simply doesn't match the value of Tony Stark's head."

In truth, Obadiah had already offered quite a lot of money. But Lazar understood that Obadiah wanted Tony Stark dead so he could take control of the entire group. As long as Lazar insisted on raising the price, Obadiah would eventually have to give in.

Even if the deal truly fell through, keeping that genius inventor alive to work for him would still earn him a great deal of advanced weaponry. He would not lose out.

"Mr. Lazar, I gave it some thought these past few days, and what you said makes a great deal of sense.

More money isn't a problem. I can even provide you with large quantities of the most advanced weapons. But you must agree to one condition."

Li Chuan released Lazar and laughed heartily.

"What condition?"

Lazar narrowed his eyes.

Li Chuan sat down in a nearby chair.

"Simple. Take me to see Tony. There are some matters concerning the company that I need to ask him about. Once I get the answers I want, the terms I promised you will naturally be fulfilled."

"That simple?"

Lazar stared at Li Chuan. His instincts told him it could not be that simple.

"That simple!"

Li Chuan spread his hands.

After thinking it over for a moment, Lazar ultimately could not resist the temptation and nodded.

"Fine. But you can't bring any bodyguards. You go alone, and you must be blindfolded the entire way. Otherwise, the deal is off."

No scheme was of any use before absolute strength. So long as Obadiah was willing to go to their base alone, he would be unable to cause any trouble.

Li Chuan pretended to hesitate, then looked at his watch.

"No problem. But you'd better get me back before four in the afternoon. I still need to return to New York for a meeting tonight."

"If you really only want to talk, I don't think that will be a problem."

Lazar replied in a faintly warning tone.

Five minutes later, Li Chuan was blindfolded and put into a jeep.

After roughly an hour and a half of driving, the black cloth over his eyes was finally removed.

"Mr. Obadiah, welcome to my base!"

Lazar spoke to Li Chuan with a hint of pride.

After the blindfold was removed, Li Chuan casually surveyed his surroundings.

He appeared to be in a small valley, piled everywhere with all kinds of weapons. There were even exposed missiles, each bearing the Stark Industries logo.

There were no idle men in the base. Every one of them was a Ten Rings member carrying a firearm. At a rough count, there were probably thirty or forty of them.

"Mr. Lazar, take me to see Tony."

Li Chuan withdrew his gaze after only a quick glance.

Lazar said nothing more. He beckoned Li Chuan over and led him toward a cave in the middle of the valley.

The cave was clearly where everyone in the base rested. It was spacious and deep, twisting and winding, with an armed guard posted every dozen meters or so.

At the end of the cave, a large iron door appeared before Li Chuan.

Lazar spoke a few words in a local dialect Li Chuan did not understand to the two guards outside the iron door. The guards immediately took out their keys and opened it.

Tony and Yinsen, who had been welding inside, immediately stopped working when they heard the iron door move.

"Obadiah?"

The iron door opened. The moment Tony saw Obadiah walk in alongside the terrorist leader who had kidnapped him, his mind went blank.

As his father's friend and the company's largest shareholder besides himself, Obadiah had always looked after him. Obadiah had worked tirelessly to handle many of Stark Industries' troublesome affairs.

He simply could not understand why Obadiah was here. Had he been kidnapped too?

Although Tony Stark had already formed some suspicions, he still forcibly came up with what seemed like a reasonable excuse for the other man.

If this really was a kidnapping, then the terrorist leader's attitude toward Obadiah was far too good.

"Oh, isn't this my dear nephew Tony? I'm so glad to see that you're all right. I thought you'd already been blown to pieces by the people I hired. I was heartbroken for quite a while."

Seeing that the first-generation Arc Reactor in Tony's chest had been completed, Li Chuan broke into a broad smile. Then he turned to Laza beside him and said:

"What we're about to discuss isn't suitable for you to hear. Mr. Laza, could you and your men step outside for a moment?"

"No problem. Talk as much as you like. If you need anything, call for my men. They'll be right outside the door."

Laza nodded, then left with his men, pulling the door shut behind them.

"Obadiah, what did you mean by what you just said?"

Once the terrorists had left, Tony angrily stepped forward and demanded an explanation from Li Chuan.

Li Chuan glanced at the surveillance camera in the corner, then casually grabbed a chair and walked over to it.

"Looks like you're not completely stupid. It's exactly as you think. I wanted to take over all of Stark Industries, so I hired these men to blow you up.

"I just didn't expect you to survive by sheer luck. And after they discovered your identity, they tried to jack up the price, so I had no choice but to make another trip here."