The next day, a Quinjet quietly flew over the Middle East.
Inside the cabin, a middle-aged man pointed out the window at the desert below and said solemnly, "The area below was where Tony Stark was last confirmed missing. The complex political situation prevents us from launching a large-scale search, so we can only investigate discreetly. That means we must keep a low profile during this operation."
Du Mu nodded. "Don't worry, Chief. I'm famous for keeping a low profile."
"I'll say it again: I'm Coulson, not some village chief."
"Stop pretending. You're the newbie village chief. I can see the title above your head."
"..."
Coulson instinctively glanced at the empty space above his head, then could only look helpless.
He had read Du Mu's file and knew the man's methods and record inside out.
Du Mu was an outstanding graduate of S.H.I.E.L.D. Academy. Since joining S.H.I.E.L.D. two months ago, he had demonstrated exceptional ability and execution.
No matter how difficult the mission, he always managed to handle it alone. He never made a retreat plan and never needed backup.
In just two months, he had completed 48 missions, with an astonishing 100% success rate!
Even Coulson, hailed as S.H.I.E.L.D.'s hardest worker, couldn't keep up with that terrifying efficiency. Du Mu had even been promoted straight to Level 5, setting the fastest promotion record in S.H.I.E.L.D. history.
However, Du Mu was almost obsessively committed to completing his missions. You could even say he'd stop at nothing.
During one covert infiltration mission, he slaughtered nearly a hundred soldiers at the base. No one survived—not even the two guard dogs!
As soon as the news got out, Nick Fury immediately covered it up.
Nearly a hundred soldiers dead? That was practically the casualty count of a small-scale conflict!
They were S.H.I.E.L.D., not freaking Hydra!
When Nick Fury sternly questioned him afterward, Du Mu's reply was completely unapologetic.
"There were no witnesses, and I didn't trigger a single alarm. Isn't that the perfect infiltration?"
Well, that made perfect sense!
A report from S.H.I.E.L.D.'s psychologists concluded that Du Mu might be suffering from severe delusions.
To him, the entire world was one enormous virtual game.
Everyone else was an NPC.
And he was the only player!
Normally, such an extremely dangerous and uncontrollable variable should have been placed on S.H.I.E.L.D.'s highest-alert blacklist and kept under strict supervision long ago.
But Nick Fury hadn't done that.
After all, what boss would fire an employee who single-handedly boosted the company's entire KPI?
In the end, Nick Fury chose to turn a blind eye to Du Mu's methods.
Of course, he couldn't open both eyes.
Since their boss was like that, Coulson, as his subordinate, naturally had nothing to say.
"If the operation plan looks good, I'll contact the pilot and have him find a safe place to land."
As he spoke, Coulson prepared to contact the cockpit.
"No need to go to all that trouble."
Du Mu waved a hand.
Before Coulson could react, he casually pressed the button to open the cabin door.
Coulson was horrified. "Wait! We're hundreds of meters up! You don't have a parachute—"
"Woohoo, let's fly!"
Before he could finish speaking, Du Mu shouted, spread his arms, and leaped out of the cabin.
Coulson was left sitting in the cabin, completely dumbfounded.
The yellow sand whipped through the air.
Du Mu plummeted from hundreds of meters up. Violent gusts tugged at his clothes, and all he could hear was the wind screaming in his ears.
The ground rapidly grew larger in his field of vision. Jagged rocks and rolling dunes came into sharp focus.
Du Mu showed no sign of panic. He suddenly spun in midair, turning onto his back with his face to the sky and his arms spread wide, then quickly drew them in to shield his chest.
At the very instant he was about to hit the ground—
Thump!
A huge pile of dry, fluffy hay suddenly appeared right beneath him. Du Mu landed squarely in the haystack, sending dried grass flying everywhere.
Then he easily leaped out of the haystack, completely unharmed.
[Skill: Leap of Faith] [Effect: When you fall from a great height, a haystack will always be there to catch you. Immune to all fall damage.] [Evaluation: Everything is permitted, nothing is true.]
Du Mu had earned this skill by completing a mission. It was useful, sure, but the important thing was that it looked ridiculously cool.
He now felt an urge to jump whenever he stood somewhere a little high up.
"Where the heck am I?"
Du Mu looked around. All he could see were endless, monotonous dunes. The harsh environment made it difficult to even tell which way to go, let alone find anyone.
But that wasn't a problem for him.
"System, track the mission target."
[Mission target "Tony Stark" location marked]
At the system's prompt, a bright golden dot immediately appeared on the minimap.
"Not bad. It's not too far." Du Mu muttered as he set off toward the dot.
Several dozen minutes later.
Following the mission marker, Du Mu reached the edge of a valley surrounded by towering rocky mountains.
He crouched and peered down. A crude little camp lay hidden at the bottom of the valley.
Sandbag fortifications and barbed wire surrounded the camp. Inside were stacks of weapons crates marked Stark Industries, along with scattered missile parts and wreckage.
Armed men patrolled the camp. There were at least forty of them.
The golden mission marker was deep inside the camp, in a shadowy cave.
Du Mu observed that the only path to the cave was heavily guarded, making infiltration difficult.
Normally, he'd have gone straight in and enjoyed the fight.
But this mission was important.
Until he found the target, it was better not to alert the enemy.
"Looks like the front entrance is out. I'll have to find another way in."
Clang!
Clang!
Clang!
The crisp sound of hammering echoed through the cave.
In the dim light, someone was working furiously at a forge.
Don't get the wrong idea. This wasn't Big Boss. It was the Iron Man himself, Tony Stark!
Ever since terrorists had kidnapped him three months ago, he'd been imprisoned in this isolated cave and subjected to endless threats and humiliation. They were forcing him to build a new type of missile.
But who was Tony?
He'd been a rebel since childhood. Tell him to go east, and he'd go west!
So he'd pretended to build missiles while secretly requisitioning a large amount of materials and tools from the terrorists. With the help of his fellow prisoner, physicist Dr. Yinsen, he'd secretly designed and built a suit of Steel Armor capable of helping them fight their way out.
Tony held an iron mask in a pair of tongs and set it on the workbench. Yinsen, who had been hard at work with his head down, looked up at the sound.
"The core components are almost done. All that's left is the final assembly and getting the power system started."
Tony's voice was low and hoarse, with a faint trace of exhaustion.
"Yinsen, we're running out of time. Those guys seem to be getting suspicious. We need to act soon!"
"Leave the rest to me." Yinsen nodded earnestly.
"Good. Stay here, then. Once I've cleared out the scum outside and made sure it's safe, you can come out with me."
Tony's eyes were full of resolve.
All the hardships he'd endured over the past few days had turned this playboy, who'd dabbled in drinking, gambling, and women, into a mature and steady man.
He silently swore to himself:
If he made it home alive, Tony Stark would be gambling's sworn enemy from then on!
With Yinsen's help, Tony began putting on the heavy armor pieces one by one.
Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud...
While the two men worked, a dull, strange digging sound suddenly came from beneath the rocky ground at their feet.
"What was that?"
Tony and Yinsen froze at the same time and exchanged confused looks.
But before they could react, a horrifying sight unfolded!
Less than two meters from them, the hard ground vanished in an instant, as if an invisible eraser had wiped it away!
In its place was a perfectly square pit, about a meter across!
Suddenly, a head shot up out of the pit.
Its eyes stared straight at Tony.
"Found you!"