Under the resentful gazes of the workers, Du Mu strode toward the elevator. Seeing Stane's face, the guards naturally didn't dare question or stop him, and let him swipe his access card and enter without a hitch.
With Stane's identity as perfect cover, Du Mu had a clear path all the way to Tony's luxurious office.
He went straight to the desk, turned on the computer, and plugged the silver USB drive Tony had given him into the computer.
A prompt immediately appeared on the screen.
GOOGLE search TWKAN
[Cracking security protocols...]
[Crack successful. Searching for hidden drives...]
Soon, a heavily encrypted hidden drive was unlocked, and a large number of confidential files popped up.
One video stood out in particular. It showed Tony being kidnapped by terrorists in the Middle East.
According to the video, the mastermind behind it all was none other than Tony's uncle, Stane. He had not only been trading arms with the terrorists for a long time, but had also directly ordered the attack on Tony.
"Would you look at that? Is this what plain and simple American workplace infighting looks like?"
Du Mu was thoroughly impressed, but the best part was still to come.
Somehow, Stane had managed to collect the remains of the Mark I made in the Middle East. He had also secretly assembled Stark Industries' top engineering team to reverse-engineer it, with the goal of building a suit of Steel Armor called the "Iron Monger"!
Judging by the progress reports and blueprints in the files, development of the Steel Armor was nearly complete.
After going through the files, Du Mu reported everything to Nick Fury.
Nick Fury was silent for a moment before saying gravely, "The strategic significance and potential threat of Steel Armor technology are too great. We absolutely cannot let it fall into the hands of an ambitious man like Stane, or any other hostile force. I'll send Coulson and a team to Stane's research facility at once. S.H.I.E.L.D. will take over and protect the site and all its technology."
As for where they would be protecting it, Nick Fury didn't say outright, but his intentions were obvious: they would bring it back to S.H.I.E.L.D.!
There was nowhere safer than S.H.I.E.L.D.!
Whether anyone else believed that or not, Du Mu certainly did. After all, Hydra wasn't exactly a pushover either.
Following Nick Fury's orders, Du Mu copied all the hidden files twice, then pulled out the USB drive and left the office.
But as soon as he opened the door, he saw a sexy woman in office attire walking toward him.
"Mr. Stane, I heard you were back. As it happens, there's an urgent funding request for an important research project that needs your signature."
Taking in her appearance, Du Mu guessed she might be Stane's assistant. He accepted the documents she handed him and took a look.
Good grief, a full fifty million dollars.
"Ahem!"
Putting on a stern face, Du Mu said, "Put this research project on hold for now. Transfer all the money into this account instead. I have a new project that needs the funding more."
As he spoke, he pulled out a pen and paper, quickly wrote down his bank account number, and handed it to the assistant.
The assistant was clearly taken aback. "Put it on hold? Mr. Stane, this project has a very high priority... What's your new project?"
"Graduate student hair technology."
"...All right."
Looking at Du Mu's shiny bald head, the assistant understood perfectly. Then she added, "By the way, you haven't forgotten about tonight, have you?"
"About what?"
"Our date, of course. Didn't we agree to have dinner together tonight?"
The sexy woman licked her lips and gave him a tempting look. It was clear that tonight's meal was going to be a seafood feast.
Du Mu couldn't help thinking, Would you look at that!
Was there some special tradition among Stark Industries' executives? Why did they all like having office romances with their female assistants?
Du Mu brushed her off. "Some other time. My wife's coming home tonight."
"Liar! Mom told me she's going to Hawaii for vacation this week!"
"???"
Was this what your social circle was like?
After a great deal of effort, Du Mu finally managed to shake off Stane's female assistant—or rather, daughter.
Then he returned to Tony's seaside mansion.
"Jarvis, open the door!" Du Mu called out automatically when he reached the mansion's entrance.
Jarvis didn't respond.
Du Mu immediately sensed something was wrong. He quickly pulled a Diamond Pickaxe from his Game Inventory and swung it several times at the wall beside him.
The hard wall crumbled like tofu before the Diamond Pickaxe, leaving a square hole in an instant.
Du Mu climbed through into the living room and saw a bloodless figure crawling along the floor in the shadows. Its chest was hollow, a terrifying sight.
"Holy crap, Kayako?" Du Mu exclaimed in shock.
Hearing him, the figure on the floor weakly spoke. "It's... it's me... Hurry... help me get to the lab... and get the reactor..."
"Tony?"
Du Mu recognized the voice. "All right, give me a second."
He immediately took up the Diamond Pickaxe, broke through the floor, and jumped straight down into the lab below.
Before long, he found the old Arc Reactor Tony had used at first. He hurried back the way he came and leaped through the hole into the living room.
"Here! Catch!" Du Mu tossed the reactor toward Tony.
Tony caught it with the last of his strength, as if it were a lifeline. His hands trembling, he pressed the reactor into the hole in his chest.
Light shone from his chest again. A trace of color returned to Tony's pale face, and his breathing gradually steadied. He collapsed onto the floor and gasped for breath, his clothes already soaked through with cold sweat.
"Ha... ha... Thanks, buddy. You saved my life again," Tony said gratefully.
"No big deal."
Du Mu waved it off, then asked curiously, "How'd you end up in this state? Where's your reactor?"
Tony's eyes instantly turned cold and furious. Gritting his teeth, he said, "Stane! He broke into my house and stole my new reactor!"
Du Mu asked again, "Then why didn't you put on your armor?"
"I didn't have time..."
A hint of embarrassment flashed across Tony's face. This was already the second time he'd been attacked without wearing his Steel Armor.
Thinking of that, he said bitterly, "Damn it! Sooner or later, I'm going to develop armor that I can wear close to my body and activate at any time!"
"Good timing. I've completed your mission too."
Du Mu pulled out the silver USB drive and tossed it onto Tony. "Stane was behind everything, including ordering the terrorists to kidnap you. The evidence is all in there."
[Mission "The Mole in Stark Industries" complete!]
[Reward: 500 experience points, +10 Tony affinity, item "Honesty Bun"]
[Item: Honesty Bun (After eating the Honesty Bun, you will uncontrollably tell the truth for one minute)]
"That bastard! I'll make him pay!"
Tony took the USB drive, fury rising uncontrollably on his face.
He immediately reactivated the Jarvis system Stane had shut down, then struggled to his feet and hurried toward the underground lab to put on his Mark III armor.
At the same time, the system's voice rang in Du Mu's mind.
[Attention, player: The BOSS event has officially begun!]
[Target: Defeat "Iron Monger" Obadiah Stane!]
[Reward: Determined by the damage the player deals to the BOSS. The more damage, the greater the reward!]
"BOSS event!?"
Du Mu's eyes lit up, and excitement surged through him.
After playing this game for so long and taking out so many low-level mobs, was he finally about to face a real BOSS battle?