Are you all right?
Tony really wanted to curse him out, but after seeing the bloodstains on the other man, he sensibly kept his mouth shut.
"Did you do all this?" He forced down the urge to vomit and looked at the handsome, black-haired youth, his eyes filled with disbelief.
"I heard in a nearby village that the Ten Rings Gang kidnapped a very wealthy tycoon. Judging by the looks of things, that must be you, right?" Alvin pretended not to recognize him. Rubbing his thumb and forefinger together, he put on a kindly smile. "Then it's time to settle the bill. I saved you. How much are you planning to pay?"
"You saved me?"
Tony's rebellious streak flared up at once. Throwing his neck back, he shouted, "Hey, kid, take a good look! I clearly escaped on my own!"
Crack!
The instant he finished speaking, Tin Man's head was twisted off.
Alvin raised a hand, and the head of the First Generation Iron Man Armor dropped into his palm. He weighed it a few times and said calmly, "Go on. What were you saying?"
With his head exposed, Tony stared at the helmet that had been twisted off and was now in Alvin's hand. His eyelids began twitching wildly.
After hesitating for half a second, he decisively changed his tune. "That's right. If you hadn't drawn the attention outside, we couldn't have gotten out so smoothly!"
As it turned out, no matter how tough someone's mouth was, they would still compromise when their life was threatened.
"Then let's talk about the payment, Mr. Tycoon."
Alvin moved his index finger, tossing the helmet over, and said with a smile, "Since the Ten Rings Gang was able to kidnap you, you must be very rich, right?"
"Kid, drop the 'must be.' I'm very, especially, incredibly rich!"
At the mention of this, Tony wore a proud expression, like a swan. "You can't even imagine how much money I have!"
What am I supposed to do? I really want to beat this show-off to death!
The corner of Alvin's mouth twitched. He forcibly suppressed the urge to punch him. "Fine. Give me one million. Consider it payment for saving you."
"What? One million?"
Tony's eyes widened.
"Too much?" Alvin asked, somewhat surprised. That shouldn't be the case. Given Tony's assets, wasn't one million practically nothing?
"No, it's too little, kid." Tony looked as though he had been insulted. He shouted furiously, "Do you know who I am? How could a mere one million possibly be worthy of me, Tony Stark? At least multiply it by ten! No, even a hundred times that wouldn't be worth one of my hairs!"
Sometimes, it was genuinely impossible to understand what rich people were thinking. Alvin nodded along and said, "Fine, then I'll give you what you want: one hundred million dollars."
"."
This time, Tony was finally rendered speechless. His face twitched several times. "I was speaking metaphorically. Do you understand what 'metaphorically' means?"
"Didn't you say that even a hundred times that amount wouldn't be worth one of your hairs?" Alvin loved watching tycoons get humiliated. Putting on a look of surprise, he said, "It's fine. I understand. If you can't afford it, forget it. Just give me one million."
"Can't afford it? Who are you saying can't afford it?"
Tony was so furious his liver hurt. Pointing at Alvin, he shouted with trembling hands, "Fine, fine, one hundred million it is! I don't care about that little bit of money at all!"
Alvin had figured Tony out. With someone like him, the only way was to go against the grain.
Tony Stark was a very intelligent man.
A playboy, a billionaire, a super-genius—he possessed countless titles. But in the Marvel Universe, the one most widely known was undoubtedly "Iron Man."
He had built an Arc Reactor by hand while alone in a cave. Just that achievement alone put him a century ahead of the entire world.
No wonder Thanos called him a man cursed with knowledge.
Oh, there was a very high chance he had also been cursed with money. Just like that golden guy next door, he would never have to worry about money for the rest of his life.
It was enough to make anyone jealous enough to undergo phase separation!
"That's great. I want to be cursed with knowledge too."
Alvin fantasized about it, but unfortunately, since he had failed math, physics, and chemistry, he was probably destined to miss out for the rest of his life.
Of course, he was not doing this entirely for the money. He was simply looking for a suitable reason to get close to Tony Stark.
Tony, who had spent one hundred million dollars just to back up his boast, took a deep breath and smoothly struck a boss-like pose. "Now, I've paid you. I'm your employer. Any problems?"
"No problem. For one hundred million dollars, you're my god."
Alvin shrugged indifferently. It was just something he was saying.
"Good. Go find a vehicle, then take us out of here." Tony dropped heavily onto the ground, his head covered in sweat.
It was obvious that this model, built by hand in a cave, was not as lightweight as the later models. The pilot had to expend a great deal of physical strength while operating it.
Alvin stared at the person hiding behind Tony and asked, "If you don't mind me asking, Mr. Very Wealthy Tycoon, who's the person beside you?"
"His name is Yinsen. He's my... friend."
Tony hesitated for half a second before introducing him as a friend. "What? Is there a problem?"
"There's a small problem~" Alvin rubbed his index finger and thumb together, smiling at Tony. "You'll have to pay more!"
"Fine! Damn it, you're a devil!" Tony gritted his teeth in fury, but there was nothing he could do. "I'll pay you more—ten million. Take both of us out of here, you greedy little brat!"
"I'm not called 'greedy little brat,' Mr. Wealthy Tycoon."
Alvin cleared his throat and introduced himself. "My name is Alvin Valshius, a merchant who's traveling."
"Hey, I gave you one hundred million, and this is what you feed me?"
Tony stared at Alvin with deep resentment. He had nearly broken his front teeth trying to bite into the flatbread just now.
"You have two choices, delicate Mr. Tycoon." Alvin refused to indulge him and pointed at the cactus outside the vehicle. "Either chew on that like a camel, or eat this."
Looking at the cactus covered in thorns, Tony ultimately chose the latter between the camel option and the dry flatbread. "Damn it, this has to be the most expensive flatbread in the world!"
That was not wrong. A flatbread worth one hundred million dollars might not be unprecedented, but it was certainly unlikely ever to be surpassed.
Yinsen silently gnawed at his flatbread, looking exactly like someone with severe social anxiety.
Tony alone was like a social menace. His mouth had not stopped moving since they got into the vehicle.
Alvin's ears rang from the noise, and he seriously wondered whether he had saved the wrong person.
"Alvin, how did you twist my helmet off?"
"What are the limitations of that ability of yours?"
"Why aren't you saying anything?"
Looking at Tony, who chattered endlessly and could almost rival Deadpool, Alvin felt his blood pressure rising.
"Tony, if you don't shut up, I'm kicking you out of the vehicle!" Alvin had finally reached his limit. Gripping the steering wheel tightly, he slammed on the brakes, the veins on his forehead bulging. "I swear to God, even if you give me another one hundred million dollars, I absolutely will not compromise!"
The sudden braking nearly sent Tony's head through the windshield.
Seeing that Alvin had been driven to the edge of rage, he showed not the slightest bit of concern. He simply raised two fingers. "I'll give you another two hundred million."
"Of course. What would you like to ask, respected Mr. Tycoon?"
Alvin's expression changed instantly. He became gentle and warm.
Yinsen, sitting in the back seat, opened his eyes wide, his face filled with confusion. Is this the world of rich people?
Taking in Yinsen's expression, Tony wore a thoroughly satisfied look. His urge to show off reached its peak at that moment. "Remember this: Problems that can be solved with money aren't problems in front of me, Tony Stark. Dear Yinsen, Alvin."
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