After gunfire erupted from inside the cave, the dozen or so men Obadiah had brought outside instantly raised their weapons.
But Frank and the others were faster.
Frank immediately rolled away, while Numbers Three to Five, who had set up a machine gun on high ground, promptly showed themselves.
Amid the frenzied gunfire, the bodyguards were shredded to pieces within ten seconds.
Frank sprang to his feet, stepped over severed limbs, and checked the vehicles one by one. In the end, he found a crate of gold—but not three tons, only around one ton, since the crate was only slightly larger than a computer tower.
Frank and the others began moving the gold while the standoff inside the cave continued.
After Howard Stark died, Stark Industries remained under Obadiah Stane's control for quite some time. It was not until Tony, at twenty-one, turned over a new leaf that Obadiah returned control to the young Stark.
To Tony, Obadiah was not merely his father's business partner or a senior executive at Stark Industries. He was also his uncle, one of the few people Tony trusted, and an immensely important guide in his life.
Tony had always regarded Obadiah as an elder worthy of respect.
Yet half a minute ago, that elder had personally pulled the trigger at Tony's head, intending to end his life with a single bullet.
Hong Fei stood to the side and shrugged. "I told you long ago that he was a traitor, but you refused to believe me."
Tony stared at Obadiah in furious confusion, but Obadiah turned toward Hong Fei with utter shock.
"Don't look at me. Obviously, your weapon didn't work on me. Though that sound was really unpleasant."
Tony widened his eyes and demanded again, "Why?"
Obadiah turned back, his gaze suddenly turning vicious. He raised his gun again and rapidly pulled the trigger at Tony.
Hong Fei abruptly accelerated and activated Shinigami Eye. A string of afterimages immediately flashed behind him. He pulled another dagger from beside his leg and effortlessly knocked away every bullet flying toward Tony. Then, with a twist of the blade, Hong Fei drove its sharp edge into Obadiah's throat with a backhanded thrust.
Blood burst from the ruptured artery under the force of his blood pressure, suddenly spraying out in a red line.
Warm blood splattered across Tony's face, instantly leaving him stunned.
Hong Fei held the dagger in place with one hand and covered Obadiah's mouth with the other.
"Calm down. Don't be afraid. It'll be quick."
Obadiah's body trembled wildly and involuntarily, but under Hong Fei's restraint, he could not make a sound. He even forgot to use his eyes to convey his rage and hatred. There was only panic and terror before death in his gaze.
"Honestly, I never intended to do business with you either. You're too cunning and too ruthless. Compared to you, I'd rather deal with Tony Stark. You tried to kill me first this time, so we're even. Come on, relax. Take a deep breath. I'll count you down. Five, four, three, two..."
Before he reached one, the light had already faded from Obadiah's eyes. His body's trembling abruptly weakened, though it still twitched now and then from nerve reactions.
After gently laying him on the ground, Hong Fei secretly plucked a green card from the air behind the others.
He turned around and fixed his eyes on Tony.
That razor-sharp gaze immediately snapped Tony awake. Intimidated by Hong Fei's strength and ruthlessness, Tony took a slight step back.
"Tony Stark, the facts are right in front of you. Our deal is over. You can leave, but don't forget to pay. Otherwise, I'll come to collect my wages in person."
As soon as he finished speaking, Hong Fei knocked Tony unconscious with a chop to the neck.
"Withdraw!"
At Hong Fei's command, the seven men quickly evacuated through the tunnel with one ton of gold. After reaching the far side of the rocky mountain, the two vehicles headed for the airport overnight.
It was still Officer Abu who personally sent Hong Fei onto the plane, and the group flew straight to Eastern Europe.
The following morning, the US military spotted the mess outside the cave through satellite scans. When they arrived, aside from corpses everywhere and abandoned ammunition crates, they were delighted to find Tony Stark, whom they had been desperately searching for.
Unfortunately, Obadiah Stane had been brutally killed by the enemy. Tony said nothing about it after waking up, and everyone simply assumed he had been badly traumatized. They promptly sent him back to New York on a military aircraft.
Sokovia Castle.
Hong Fei held a verdant green card between his fingertips.
Active Skill Card: Deceive Time, Confuse Masses (Green) "After using this skill, any lie you tell has a low chance of earning another person's absolute trust."
Hong Fei raised an eyebrow.
The phrase "low chance" was rather subtle. What exactly counted as low?
As for using lies to gain someone's absolute trust, Hong Fei felt that it was hardly something a gentleman would do.
He was a good person, after all.
Besides, after boarding the plane out of Afghanistan, two streams of power had simultaneously entered his body out of nowhere. One increased his total energy, while the other directly strengthened his body.
This meant that he had received both positive and negative evaluations. Judging by the extent of the improvements, the evaluation rating this time could not have been low.
As for why he had received the improvements so late, Hong Fei believed it might be because kidnapping Tony was essentially a long chain of main quests. Only when he finally left that land did it signify the official end of the main quest, followed by the overall settlement of the quest chain.
After this settlement, his physical abilities had been strengthened to a certain degree. He was confident that his body had now completely surpassed Frank's.
His energy had increased by roughly one-third. If Hong Fei's body were regarded as a container for energy, then half of that container was now filled.
It was worth noting that the physical enhancement had not expanded the upper limit of his energy capacity. It was as though it had merely thickened and reinforced the walls of the container.
Having no data for comparison was painful. Hong Fei could only use his own feelings and tests to assess his current condition.
But compared to a system endlessly nagging in his ear and constantly forcing quests on him, Hong Fei still preferred having free control over his actions as he did now.
Frank pushed open the door and entered. With a flick of his fingers, Hong Fei put away the Skill Card.
"The bonds can be sold tomorrow, and the passports will arrive tomorrow too."
"Mm. Once we have them tomorrow, we'll leave immediately."
Other than Frank, Hong Fei and the other five all used genuine passports. Considering their future operations, they could not keep entering and leaving countries under their real identities, or they might attract the attention of certain organizations. That was why they had arranged quite a few passports this time, at least three for each person.
Passports that could withstand close scrutiny were truly expensive, because in a sense, those passports were real.
But now, Master Five Hundred Million no longer cared about such small amounts of money.
Frank said, "I thought you'd want to stay here and enjoy your castle."
"It's just a castle. What's there to enjoy?"
Hong Fei did not think he had reached the point where he could enjoy himself yet.
What he truly enjoyed were the moments when his body was strengthened and his energy increased. Moreover, during this operation, he could feel his excitement throughout the mission.
In other words, compared with lying still and enjoying himself, he preferred taking action himself.
Before you continue