Rumble—!
A terrifying explosion rang out. The ground shook violently and cracked apart!
Tony sprinted away like a madman and yelled at Du Mu, who was fleeing right alongside him, "How many bombs did you bury!?"
"Not many. Just a hundred or so."
"???"
Tony instantly felt as if the ghosts of his past were coming back to haunt him.
He remembered how, before the Mark III was born, he'd had to run for his life just like this.
Now that he'd made the Mark III, things had finally started looking up. He could run for his life wearing the Mark III!
Fortunately, this explosion wasn't as powerful as the last one, and it had gone off deep underground.
After the two of them had sprinted more than a hundred meters, the shock wave finally subsided.
When they looked back, a massive crater, dozens of meters across, had appeared in the ground!
Tony walked to the edge of the crater and stared into its smoke-filled depths, the corner of his mouth twitching. "Surely he's dead this time, right?"
Du Mu glanced at the mission panel. "Nope. Not yet."
Thud!
Before he could finish speaking, a battered suit of Steel Armor leaped out of the crater!
The Iron Monger Armor was in terrible shape.
Under TNT's relentless bombardment, even its formidable defenses couldn't hold out. Cracks and damage covered its entire body, and a huge hole had been blasted through the cockpit at its center, revealing Stane's disheveled form inside.
"Didn't expect that, did you? I'm back!"
Stane laughed maniacally, relieved to have survived.
Tony was stunned.
That hadn't been enough to kill him? Was the truth really that the bigger the mech, the stronger it was?
He instinctively raised his right arm to fire an energy blast, only for the system to show that his power was too low.
Seeing this, Stane gave them a cruel grin. "Haha! Now you're finally out of options, aren't you? Now it's my turn to—"
Bang!
A sharp gunshot cut him off.
Stane's grin froze. A clear bullet hole appeared in his forehead, blood slowly seeping from it.
Du Mu impassively holstered the Golden Desert Eagle in his hand and shook his head.
"Who gets in a mech without a helmet?"
"..."
Tony was dumbfounded, unable to snap out of it for a long while.
He'd never imagined Stane would meet such a ridiculous end.
Du Mu ignored the stunned Tony. His attention had already been drawn to the system information appearing in his mind.
[You have successfully defeated the BOSS "Iron Monger," Obadiah Stane!]
[Calculating damage rewards...]
[Rewards: 10,000 EXP, 5 free attribute points, equipment "Life-Taking 3000," item "Master Key," item "Red Mushroom," item "Blue Pill," equipment "BT-7274 Vanguard-class Titan"]
[Equipment: Life-Taking 3000 (a superweapon combining ten different kinds of killing weapons)]
[Item: Master Key (you can open any door and steal other people's Wi-Fi)]
[Item: Red Mushroom (eating it will make you bigger)]
[Item: Blue Pill (eating it will make you bigger)]
Du Mu: "?"
None of those sounded like anything respectable.
However, his gaze quickly locked onto the final item.
[Equipment: BT-7274 Vanguard-class Titan]
[Effect: A fourth-generation Vanguard-class Titan mech equipped with advanced artificial intelligence. It can coordinate with its Pilot through a neural link and is outfitted with a range of powerful weapons, including a rapid-fire cannon, missile launcher, and energy weapons. It also boasts excellent mobility and defensive systems, and can automatically repair itself and absorb energy to replenish its power.]
[Comment: Protocol Three: Protect the Pilot.]
"A mech!?"
Du Mu's eyes lit up, and a surge of delight welled up inside him.
The rewards included a complete mech!
And judging by the description, its performance seemed every bit as good as Tony and Stane's Iron Man Armor!
If Tony hadn't been standing right beside him, Du Mu would have summoned it to take a closer look.
Thump!
With Stane's death, the uncontrolled Iron Monger Armor crashed to the ground.
Only then did Tony come back to himself. He glanced at Stane's corpse, his expression complicated, and spoke in a subdued voice. "I really did consider him family once. I never thought it would end like this..."
Du Mu shrugged. "His daughter probably feels the same way."
Tony: "?"
Not long afterward, a S.H.I.E.L.D. team led by Coulson arrived with the screech of brakes.
Coulson looked at the two of them with a helpless expression. "I have to say, you're always remarkably easy to find."
"Don't blame me."
Tony protested his innocence. He was the victim every time, wasn't he?
After hearing what had happened, Coulson directed the team to secure the scene.
His gaze passed over the wreckage of the Iron Monger. Puzzled, he asked, "There's one thing. What happened to the Reactor in this armor's chest?"
"Gone?"
Tony froze and immediately strode forward to inspect it.
Sure enough, the Iron Monger's chest was empty. The Reactor Stane had stolen from him was gone, even though he could have sworn he'd still seen it there.
Tony immediately turned to the most suspicious person at the scene: Du Mu.
Feeling that scrutinizing gaze, Du Mu felt his pure and innocent dignity suffer a grave insult.
"What are you looking at me for? I didn't steal it!"
He really hadn't stolen it.
He'd just forgotten to turn off auto-loot.
The next day, Stark Industries held a press conference.
"The truth is... I am Iron Man!"
With that single sentence, Tony set off a nationwide frenzy and left every S.H.I.E.L.D. department working overtime to clean up the mess he'd made.
Even Nick Fury had developed dark circles under his eyes. Fortunately, his face was dark enough that they didn't show.
"Agent Du Mu, your surveillance assignment is over. From here on, Black Widow will handle further contact with Tony Stark and evaluate him."
Nick Fury's voice came through the phone, hoarse from a night without sleep.
The system notification sounded at just the right moment.
[Mission "Monitor Tony Stark" complete!]
[Rewards: EXP +1,000, S.H.I.E.L.D. reputation +30, item "Hive Tech Smoke Bomb," equipment "Loitering Munition"]
[Item: Hive Tech Smoke Bomb (releases a large amount of smoke to help you escape)]
[Equipment: Loitering Munition (launches a controllable loitering munition that scatters four bombs after exploding. Blocking the bridge? One short, two long.)]
Now that was something!
Wouldn't he have to take a trip to the Spaceport and give it a try?
Du Mu thought to himself.
Then Nick Fury's voice sounded again. "I have an urgent assignment for you."
"Over the past month, there have been multiple reports of missing persons in the Bronx. The total number of missing people is over a hundred, including local residents and tourists."
"An initial assessment suggests the incidents may involve unusual circumstances. I need you to investigate."
[NPC Nick Fury has issued you a new mission]
[Mission: Investigate the Missing Persons]
[Objective: Determine why the people went missing]
[Reward: 500 EXP, S.H.I.E.L.D. reputation +10, random equipment ×1]
The original two chapters weren't to my liking, so I spent the whole evening revising them. Brothers who read them last night can refresh the page and read them again.