In the days that followed, Du Mu became Tony's bodyguard, showing up promptly every day at his seaside mansion.
At first, Tony hadn't been too keen on the arrangement.
That changed the day before yesterday, when several stockholders driven mad by the market crash somehow broke through the mansion's basic security, burst into the living room waving cleavers, and yelled that they were going to chop little Tony up and make soup out of him.
If Du Mu hadn't appeared just in time like a heavenly soldier, swiftly subduing the lunatics, Tony might have ended up as Toni.
Since then, he'd been completely compliant. He'd even asked Du Mu to protect him.
He could live without his life, but little Tony absolutely couldn't be allowed to get hurt!
"Du Mu, I've gotten those people out. You can carry on with your undercover mission without worry."
"Village Chief, I've always been able to count on you."
"My name is Coulson."
"Sure thing, Village Chief. No problem, Village Chief. Goodbye, Village Chief."
Du Mu promptly hung up on Coulson.
That's right. Those crazed stockholders were actually Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. whom Du Mu had asked to make a friendly guest appearance.
After all, how could ordinary people so easily break into the home of a top billionaire?
To be fair, those Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. were pretty good actors. They'd nearly scared Tony into having a psychological breakdown.
Du Mu even suspected that, in addition to drawing a salary from S.H.I.E.L.D., they'd done some side work—maybe as actors or extras.
At that moment, Du Mu sat with his legs crossed, luxuriating in a high-end sofa in the living room that was big enough to serve as a bed. He flipped through TV channels with the remote in one hand and wolfed down steaming-hot pizza with the other.
He looked so comfortable, you'd think he was the owner of the mansion.
Tony had just finished adjusting the Mark III in his underground laboratory. He came upstairs covered in the smell of machine oil and exhaustion—and found himself greeted by this scene.
What really made his blood boil was that Du Mu was eating the pizza he'd ordered!
Was this guy a bodyguard or a spoiled lord!?
"Give me a slice!"
Tony rudely snatched a large slice from the pizza box in Du Mu's hands and took a huge bite.
Du Mu didn't mind. Instead, he asked curiously, "Did you finish the suit?"
He knew Tony had spent the past few days holed up in the underground lab, devoting all his attention to tinkering with the Mark III.
"Of course!"
Tony flashed his trademark confident smile, but then remembered the close call the day before yesterday and added, a little indignantly, "If those lunatics hadn't suddenly barged in that day and left me no time to put on the suit, you wouldn't have needed to step in!"
Du Mu chuckled. "You think you get invincibility frames while putting on the suit? Who's going to be kind enough to wait for you to finish transforming before attacking?"
"I'll fix that problem soon!"
Tony was momentarily stumped. Though he thought Du Mu had a point, a genius's pride made him stubbornly refuse to admit it.
He quickly finished the pizza and wiped his hands. Then his expression suddenly turned serious. "By the way, I need your help with something."
"What is it?"
"Do you remember that batch of Stark Industries weapons I had you blow up in the Middle East?" Tony asked gravely.
Du Mu nodded. "Of course. You ran so fast back then, your pants almost fell down. It was hilarious."
Tony: "..."
He fought back the urge to slam the pizza box over Du Mu's head and continued, "I suspect someone inside Stark Industries is colluding with terrorists and secretly dealing weapons."
"I need you to go to the Stark Industries headquarters, sneak into my office, and use this to hack into my personal computer. Copy all the recent weapons manifests."
As he spoke, Tony handed Du Mu a small silver USB drive.
[NPC Tony Stark has issued you a new quest] [Quest: The Mole in Stark Industries] [Objective: Infiltrate the Stark Industries headquarters, hack into Tony Stark's personal computer, copy all recent weapons manifests, and deliver them to Tony Stark] [Reward: 500 experience points, Tony Stark's favorability +10, random item *1]
"Why don't you go yourself? Isn't it your place?" Du Mu asked, puzzled.
Tony sighed helplessly. "Because I unilaterally announced that I was shutting down the weapons division, seriously hurting the board's interests. They banded together and banned me from entering headquarters or participating in any company business for the time being. If I went now, I wouldn't even get through the front door."
"Then why not ask your assistant?"
"No. This mission is too dangerous. I'm afraid Potts might be targeted by the person behind all this and retaliated against. I can't let her take that risk."
Du Mu: "..."
So you're fine with me taking that risk?
New York, Stark Industries headquarters.
Du Mu entered the lobby on the first floor and saw employees in business attire streaming past him. Security guards were stationed throughout the building, and the tight security was plain to see.
Tony's office was on the top floor, accessible only by a restricted elevator.
Tony had given him an access card, but getting to the top floor in the middle of a crowd was still a problem.
"There are too many people around. Hard to make a move."
Looking at the steady flow of people, Du Mu temporarily set aside a certain straightforward, if crude, idea.
"Can't be helped. I'll have to use that."
Du Mu came up with a plan, turned, and walked into the men's restroom on the first floor. He locked himself in a stall, then pulled a flesh-colored mask out of his Game Inventory.
[Item: Disguise Mask (Can be molded into any face. Once shaped, it will be fixed permanently and cannot be reshaped)]
Du Mu pulled the Disguise Mask over his head. It felt cool to the touch, and as soon as it met his skin, it quickly molded itself to his features.
Soon, the surface rippled like water, gradually revealing a person's face.
It was Stane, whom Du Mu had met a few days earlier!
Next, Du Mu took out the bow-tie voice changer he'd obtained some time ago and fastened it to his collar.
"Perfect!"
Du Mu straightened his clothes and appearance, then opened the restroom door and walked out wearing Stane's face.
"Good afternoon, Mr. Stane!"
When Du Mu appeared, the employees passing by stopped and greeted him respectfully.
He had to admit, it felt pretty good.
Du Mu immediately put on a boss's air, cleared his throat, and used the bow-tie voice changer to imitate Stane's voice. "Hello, everyone. Thanks for all your hard work!"
The employees froze.
Why did Stane seem a little different today?
They quickly replied, "It's no trouble at all."
Du Mu nodded. "Well, since it's no trouble, you can all stay late and work overtime today of your own free will. I'm sure you're loyal to the company and passionate about your work!"
The employees: "???"