Gunfire

It had to be Howard Stark!

Rorschach's eyes immediately lit up.

Why would someone of Howard Stark's status and standing come to such a cheap bar?

Had the playboy taken a fancy to some girl and come here specifically to lie in wait?

Rorschach could not help entertaining the thought maliciously.

After all, when it came to womanizing, Howard Stark was even worse than his son Tony Stark. The guy would not even spare his friends' wives!

He was practically an animal.

"No!"

"At this point in time... S.H.I.E.L.D. should have already been established, right?"

"Could Howard be here to carry out some kind of mission?"

The moment he considered that possibility, Rorschach was no longer sleepy at all.

If something really happened, it might trigger some sort of mission.

"Raven, I was thinking, if Caliban really is that sensitive, perhaps waiting for you outside would be a better choice."

Rorschach paused, immediately making his decision.

Why go looking for Caliban when keeping an eye on Howard Stark was so much better?

"Fine. Caliban is inside, so I'll go talk to him. You wait here," Raven said. She did not think much of it and nodded in agreement.

Rorschach casually found himself a seat and ordered a drink for appearances' sake.

On the surface, he drank alone, but in truth, he was secretly keeping an eye on Howard Stark.

And once he started watching, he really did notice something.

"Sir, it's been over two hours. Will that guy really show up?"

The young bartender went about his work as if nothing was wrong, but quietly spoke to Howard Stark.

No wonder old Henry had called in sick. It turned out that this young bartender was actually a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent.

"He will."

Howard Stark answered with absolute certainty. "The Soviets never let traitors go, especially scientists like him. Other than us, no one can protect him."

"Then why hasn't he appeared yet?" The young bartender returned a polished glass to the rack.

"Given his circumstances, it's understandable that he'd be cautious." Howard Stark remained quite optimistic.

"Now get back to work. For all we know, he may already be here, watching from the shadows."

"Understood, sir!"

Their quiet exchange came to an end.

They believed that in such a noisy environment, no one would hear a few hushed words.

Little did they know that someone with cheats had already slipped in among them.

"A Soviet traitor, a scientist?"

Rorschach's thoughts turned, and he quickly thought of someone.

Could Howard Stark be talking about Anton Vanko, the father of Ivan Vanko, the future Whiplash?

Judging by the timeline, it really was about this time.

But if the person Howard Stark was waiting for truly was Anton Vanko, then Rorschach was witnessing history, wasn't he?

He just did not know whether this would trigger any sort of mission.

Rorschach had no way of knowing. He could only wait in secret and see.

Creak!

The bar's door opened again. A middle-aged man walked in, and naturally, none of the other patrons paid much attention to a rough-looking fellow.

But Howard Stark, sitting at the bar, immediately brightened.

The newcomer was their target!

Anton Vanko!

"I told you he'd show up."

With a soft laugh and the air of someone who had everything under control, Howard Stark drained his drink in one gulp and strode toward Anton Vanko.

Even on such an important mission, he could not resist showing off.

"Hey, Charlie, what took you so long?"

Howard Stark approached Anton Vanko with a smile, greeting him like an old friend.

"Don't even mention it. That vampire Hans claimed I hadn't waxed the floor even though I clearly had, and made me do it all over again."

The two of them chatted nonsense as they made their way to a secluded corner.

"Howard Stark?"

Only then did Anton Vanko begin confirming the other man's identity.

"Of course it's me! I'm famous enough that I'm easy to investigate. Don't tell me you didn't look me up before coming to meet me." Howard Stark spoke arrogantly.

"I did investigate you, but I couldn't be sure you weren't someone else in disguise." Anton Vanko shrugged. "But disguises are easy enough to expose."

With that, Anton Vanko asked Howard Stark an extremely profound academic question.

Howard Stark answered fluently, and only then did Anton Vanko finally relax completely.

"Now, can I see what I came for?"

Now it was Howard Stark's turn to inspect the goods.

Anton Vanko took several prepared sheets of paper from inside his clothes. Howard Stark gave them a quick look, then nodded in satisfaction.

They contained an extremely important research report by Anton Vanko on energy.

With that research, Howard Stark's recent concept for the Arc Reactor could become reality.

Although the academic report was only half complete, someone of Howard Stark's caliber could naturally tell that it was genuine.

"Okay! Let's go!"

Howard Stark unceremoniously pocketed the research report, then got up and motioned for Anton Vanko to leave with him.

But at that moment, a heavily bearded man suddenly rose to his feet.

He pulled out a gun, aimed it directly at Anton Vanko, and prepared to pull the trigger.

Did Anton Vanko really think he would be safe just because he had fled to New York?

"Watch out!"

A waiter in the bar spotted it sharply and immediately leaped toward Howard Stark and Anton Vanko.

He instantly knocked them both to the floor.

At the same time, he pulled out a gun and returned fire at the bearded man.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The piercing gunshots instantly echoed through the entire bar.

Chaos immediately erupted as everyone fled outside in panic.

But Rorschach did not move.

Because at that moment, the content on his system panel updated as he had hoped.

A new mission had been generated:

Mission: Protect Howard Stark from harm and ensure he remains completely unharmed

Mission reward: 50 Origin Points

F-fifty Origin Points?

Rorschach was stunned. The reward this time was far too low.

He had received one hundred Origin Points for killing Sabretooth, yet this time he would only get half that amount.

But considering the situation before him, fine. He was only dealing with a few weaklings, so the reward naturally could not be too high.