Arc Reactor

Over the next ten-odd days, Hong Fei and Tony grew increasingly familiar with each other. It was obvious that because Hong Fei got beaten by Frank, openly or otherwise, every day, Tony's vigilance was rapidly fading.

Master Hong's self-inflicted suffering scheme had worked rather well.

In addition, Frank delivered the materials Tony needed one by one. Tony transformed the secret room until it was exceptionally bright, even installing an air conditioner specifically for it.

Hong Fei became busy as well.

Of course, his work was mainly physical labor. Tony often sat by the newly assembled workbench, pointing this way and that.

"Hey, hey, put that over on the left. Right. Wait, don't touch that. Put it back where it was. Good..."

At times like these, he would cross his legs and make sarcastic remarks. "Don't blame me for being heartless. Our time is extremely limited. You may be injured, but my injuries are worse than yours. Someone dug a huge hole in my chest. Besides, compared to this little hardship, your life is obviously more important, isn't it?"

Hong Fei smiled at every instruction and agreed to all of them, but the little notebook in his heart had already filled page after page.

Tony's list of requested materials included a pile of strange things this time, such as the crate of bullets Hong Fei was carrying. Tony explained to Frank that he needed to extract substances from them to make the Jericho Missile. He talked endlessly about bullets and missiles, and at first glance, it really sounded convincing.

Frank did not believe him.

Hong Fei believed him even less.

He stopped Frank when he was about to give Tony a full burst of bullets. For the reactor, they could give him what he wanted. In any case, Hong Fei had left plenty of safeguards against Tony and was not afraid of him causing trouble with the bullets.

More importantly, with Yinsen, another plot character, gone, Hong Fei had no idea whether something unexpected might happen. So he could meet Tony's demands as much as possible.

As time passed, once the secret room had been arranged and all the materials had arrived, Tony joined the busy work as well. He often became so absorbed in his work that he neglected even food and sleep.

Naturally, no one else saw that kind of effort. They only knew Tony as someone who spent every day drinking and indulging himself, as though all his accomplishments had simply fallen from the sky.

During this time, Frank gradually appeared less often, replaced by five new men.

After changing clothes, they repeatedly showed up in groups of three or five, threatening Tony and Hong Fei with their hands, their feet, and their weapons. This clearly made Tony even more anxious about his situation.

His efficiency naturally improved without anyone noticing.

Frank's original plan had been to take away all of Tony's drafts, but Hong Fei rejected the proposal. Taking the papers would only heighten Tony's vigilance, and Tony might not write down anything important anyway.

Hong Fei occasionally asked questions that made him sound illiterate, and he memorized whatever Tony casually let slip as though showing off. There was no shortage of crucial information among it, and that was important.

Finally, on Hong Fei's thirteenth day in the secret room, Tony personally activated a circular device, and a cold, pale blue glow immediately lit up the room.

Hong Fei said, "It looks so beautiful."

Tony immediately rolled his eyes. "It's an energy reactor. I have a bigger one at home that powers the whole building. It can replace that damn magnet in my chest."

"Power? Does it have a lot of electricity?"

"Three billion joules per second. Enough to last me several thousand years. But if it's used elsewhere, it might only last ten minutes or so."

Hong Fei nodded blankly, while his heart ached at the cost.

Tony's list included a batch of missiles produced by Stark Industries. Hong Fei knew full well that all Tony needed was Palladium, but since Tony did not say so, Hong Fei could only buy according to the list.

So he personally dismantled missiles worth millions of dollars, all for the mere 0.5 grams of Palladium contained in each one.

Tony would have to pay for this himself!

That night, Tony was taken out of the secret room for interrogation. After all, it had been nearly half a month, and he had not even produced the shell of a Jericho Missile. Although the Jericho Missile was not what Hong Fei wanted, they still had to keep up appearances.

Taking the opportunity, Hong Fei met with Frank again.

"Did you get the missile data?"

Frank shook his head. "He did give it to me, but I don't know whether it's real or fake."

That was the downside of being uneducated.

"It doesn't matter. That was never important. Now, you should make him hand over the information on the thing in his chest."

Frank froze, and his gaze shifted again. "This is your real objective?"

Hong Fei nodded. "That's right. Don't underestimate that thing. The Jericho Missile is worthless in comparison. But Tony won't hand it over willingly, so you need to..."

The two plotted for a long time.

The interrogation room door was suddenly kicked open, and Frank strode in menacingly. Tony, bound to a chair, instinctively shrank his neck.

Ignoring everyone else, Frank sat down on the table and openly fixed his gaze on the glowing reactor in Tony's chest.

Tony immediately sensed trouble.

Frank reached out and tapped the reactor's casing. With a smile that did not reach his eyes, he said, "Now, we can make an additional deal."

Tony said nothing, and Frank continued on his own. "Give me the data on this little thing, and I can spare your little secretary."

Tony's eyes widened at once, and his gaze became fiercer than ever. He suddenly struggled against his restraints and roared, "What did you do to her?!"

"I haven't done anything yet. But if I don't see the data tomorrow, you can guess what I'll do."

Tony panted heavily in rage, but Frank ignored him. With a wave of his hand, he had Tony dragged away. Throughout the process, Tony looked as though he wanted to devour Frank alive.

This showed that Frank did not need to put any effort into acting like a thug.

Back in the secret room, Tony became somewhat gloomy, looking as though he were about to fight Thanos.

Hong Fei huddled motionlessly in the corner. As the instigator, this was not the time to fan the flames.

The keyboard clattered loudly, and the light from the screen made Tony's face look even darker.

Hong Fei did not sleep very soundly that night, while Tony stayed awake the entire time.

Early the next morning, Tony began pounding on the door and calling for Frank.

When he personally handed the disk to Frank, he could not help saying, "I know you're mercenaries. The fact that you dared to attack the local militants makes it clear that you're a group willing to do anything for profit. I've already given you what you wanted. I hope you won't get any other ideas, or I guarantee I won't let you off!"

Frank looked at the disk, then suddenly smiled.

With a dull thud, he kicked Tony to the ground, then silently closed the door and left.

Hong Fei grimaced as he watched. Frank had added that little performance himself.

Not long afterward, Tony was taken away again, and Frank returned to find Hong Fei.

"I still have no way to verify this data."

"It's fine. I believe the data Tony gave us should at least be enough to build a reactor. But he definitely won't honestly hand over every piece of data. Whether we end up making a reactor or a bomb, we can't say for sure."

"Then what do we do?" Frank's expression darkened. "Looks like I haven't taught him enough of a lesson. I'll go find him right now."

As he spoke, Frank stood up directly, looking ready to skin Tony alive.

Hong Fei hurriedly called out, "Come back. What are you in such a hurry for? Whether that thing is a reactor or a bomb doesn't matter to us. All I want is something capable of making it. Whether it explodes has nothing to do with us."

Hong Fei did indeed need the reactor technology, but he did not intend to use it as the foundation for developing some kind of armor.

It would be difficult to reproduce armor technology based solely on that first-generation iron lump, and developing it further from there would be even harder. Taking a step back, when Hong Fei thought of the cost of Tony's armor, he felt that it was not something he could afford to play with.

Besides, if he had that much money, he might as well use it to do some good and directly improve his physical condition. Wouldn't that be more reliable than building armor?

Therefore, the Arc Reactor's greatest use in his hands would be for conducting certain secret exchanges of interest.

Hong Fei continued, "Tony will probably start planning his escape very soon. Is the plane ready?"

"It's already arranged."

"Good. The arrangements in Afghanistan can begin. Whether it's getting back in or withdrawing, especially that box of tools I rely on to make a living, nothing can go wrong."

After Frank left, Hong Fei made a phone call.

Obadiah, who was already in Afghanistan, had indeed been waiting anxiously. He was practically going mad from waiting.

After receiving the first call, he immediately began a tracking investigation. But the US military dug three feet into the ground in the tracked area and still failed to find even a single hair.

Moreover, the militants he had originally partnered with demanded astronomical compensation for their heavy losses, even threatening to expose their cooperation unless he gave them even more weapons and equipment.

Obadiah was ruthless and not one for empty words. He flew directly to Afghanistan and wiped them all out.

After eliminating that future trouble, he began agonizing again.

On one hand, he hoped the US military would quickly find and eliminate the bandits who had abducted Tony. On the other, he did not want the US military to rescue Tony.

The best outcome was for Tony to have already been killed, with the US military finding only a corpse in the end.

That way, he could eliminate the threat without paying any price. All he would need to do was shed a few tears in front of the cameras, and what did that amount to?

But now, with no news at all, this was the worst possible situation for him.

So when the phone rang and he saw the number he had muttered about countless times, he answered immediately.

"Mr. Stan, are you ready?"

Lowering his voice, Obadiah put on a gentle tone. "I'm ready, but I need confirmation that Tony is safe."

"Of course. That's an entirely reasonable request." Hong Fei grinned and rose to walk toward the interrogation room.

Separated by a one-way mirror, Hong Fei started a video call with Obadiah.

When that bald head appeared on the phone screen, Hong Fei aimed the camera at the interrogation room and smiled. "Come on, Mr. Stan. Take a look. Isn't that the famous Tony Stark?"

The matter of the transfer was entirely fictional.