Little Chili Pepper

"Tony Stark's health?" Coulson frowned; he always felt there was more to William's words than met the eye.

Little did he know, this was actually a double entendre. On the surface, William was talking about the icing problem of the Iron Man suit, but in reality, he was alluding to Tony's health.

In Afghanistan, a Jericho Missile had exploded in front of Tony's chest, leaving a hole that required a night of surgery for doctors to finally save his life.

However, there were still many tiny shrapnel fragments inside his body, and these fragments were constantly migrating toward his heart. He was currently relying entirely on the Arc Reactor in his chest to pull the shrapnel away, barely clinging to life.

From that moment on, the Arc Reactor became his second heart, as well as the core of the Iron Man suit.

Yet, the Arc Reactor contained a large amount of palladium, and over time, toxins would seep into his body and eventually spread throughout his system. In other words, the source of life in his chest was slowly consuming his life.

Of course, Coulson did not know this yet.

"Even if I told you, you wouldn't understand," William said, feigning profundity. "Our mission is already underway. Tony is a smart man; he should have already discovered Obadiah's scheme. Next, we just need to proceed step by step."

S.H.I.E.L.D. had been conducting a deep investigation into Iron Man's disappearance, and to their surprise, they uncovered the conspiracy behind Tony's kidnapping. The Ten Rings, the Jericho Missile, Stark Industries...

All these clues pointed to one person—Obadiah Stane!

If Obadiah were an ordinary person, S.H.I.E.L.D. would have likely moved to arrest him long ago.

But Obadiah was one of the founders of Stark Industries and a close friend of Howard Stark. After Howard's death, he had dedicated himself to assisting Tony, helping Stark Industries grow continuously until it became the world's largest arms dealer.

With a figure of such status, they could not make an arrest without concrete evidence. S.H.I.E.L.D. could only try to warn Tony, but Tony's arrogant personality left them hitting a wall.

Fortunately, William stepped in to help, making Tony realize where the problem lay. It seemed that the tail of that old fox, Obadiah, would soon be exposed.

"What should we do next?" Coulson asked curiously.

"Wait." William resumed mopping the floor. "If I'm not mistaken, Ms. Potts will come to us on her own."

Potts had been feeling anxious these days, perhaps because she felt she had fallen for her boss, or perhaps because she sensed something bad was about to happen.

She walked toward Tony's basement workshop with a folder in hand. When she reached the end of the stairs, she was shocked to find the floor covered in shattered glass.

"How are you feeling now, sir?"

"You... be gentle, this is my first time!"

The door to the basement workshop was broken. From a distance, Potts saw huge mechanical arms dragging a man. The man was wearing a red and gold Iron Man suit, his voice filled with pain.

When she saw his face, she was stunned, for it was none other than her boss—Tony Stark!

"Are those bullet holes?" Potts exclaimed, seeing the dense cluster of bullet holes on the armor.

Tony smiled awkwardly. "Heh, that's nothing. Haven't you seen worse scenes than this?"

Iron Man had descended into the war-torn zone of Afghanistan, sending the terrorists running for their lives. However, when Tony returned to the country, the U.S. military mistook him for an unidentified flying object and nearly shot him out of the sky with two F-22 fighters.

He finally made it home safely, only to find, much to his frustration, that he couldn't get the suit off.

The Mark 3 armor was designed to detach automatically, but after two intense battles, the suit's functions were largely damaged. He had to rely on the mechanical arms to pull and tug at it—it was a nightmarish memory!

"Hey, can you do me a favor?" Tony said as he removed the armor. "I need you to go to my office and hack into the mainframe to get all of the company's recent transaction records. I suspect the company might be involved in shady dealings."

Potts looked at him, annoyed to the point of exasperation. "Can I refuse?"

"This is the unlock chip," Tony said, ignoring her. "You'll need it to access the mainframe. What we're looking for might be hidden in administrative files, or there might be hidden files; you need to check carefully. Once you find the records, I will personally destroy these..."

"Enough!" Potts interrupted Tony. "I won't help you. I don't want to be an accomplice to your death!"

To be honest, Potts's feelings were very complicated. She had known Tony for a long time and was used to this playboy bringing all sorts of women home every night. Before this, she had never felt she had a crush on Tony; after all, he was a genuine, incorrigible flirt.

But everything started to change from that night. Tony had been drawn to the charming Potts, and after they danced and chatted on the rooftop, the atmosphere grew increasingly intimate, and they had almost kissed. Then Tony went downstairs to get her a drink, but he didn't return to her; he simply vanished from the party.

This left Potts feeling a sense of loss. Now, she found herself worrying about Tony. Lately, Tony had been tinkering away in his workshop, and she had no idea what he was actually doing.

But she knew this was dangerous, and that Tony might lose his life because of it!

"You know?" Tony pulled up his shirt, revealing the Arc Reactor in his chest. "I used to be arrogant and self-important, not understanding the meaning of life. But after going through this, I feel I've changed. I know what I should do now. Trust me, I won't let you down!"

Potts sighed. How did she end up with a boss like this? But thinking about it, having accompanied Tony for so long, she understood this overbearing CEO's temper better than anyone. If she didn't help him, he might do something even crazier.

"Only this once."

In the silent Stark Industries building, Potts tiptoed cautiously toward Tony's office. It was ridiculous that she, as Tony's personal secretary, had to sneak around like a thief to enter a place she could normally access freely.

She walked to the desk, took out the unlock chip Tony had given her—the USB drive—and inserted it into the data port.

After a search, Potts found the hidden folder and discovered many secrets. At the same time, she saw a video that left her shocked.

It was a video of Tony being kidnapped. The terrorists were speaking in a language she couldn't understand at all, so she quickly translated the video.

"You didn't tell us the person we were supposed to kill was Tony Stark, Mr. Stane. You will pay for your lies. We demand double the payment!"

"Oh, my God." Potts's eyes were filled with terror. She finally knew who the mastermind behind Tony's kidnapping was.

Good morning~