Tony: Can you imagine the feeling of seeing hope and then suddenly despair?

Chapter 35: Tony: Can You Imagine Seeing Hope Only to Fall into Despair Again?

As a genius officially certified by Marvel, known as "the man cursed by knowledge," Tony Stark had recently felt his intelligence was insufficient for the past month.

Why?

Why did that guy wearing a black mask knock him out?

What grudge did I have against him?

Just when he was about to escape, he was dragged back and imprisoned for another month.

The strangest part was that he was still guarded by the same group of militants this month, but these guys were disarmed, and outside the valley, another group with clearly superior equipment had them surrounded.

Judging by the situation, the earliest militants had also become hostages!

Every day, these hostages had to line up obediently to get food at the mess hall by the valley entrance, and then one person would be sent into the cave to deliver food to Tony and Yinsen.

During free time when the weather was good, Tony was surprised to discover that the hostages were actually required by the people outside the valley to maintain hygiene within the valley.

Tents had to be pitched neatly, drainage ditches dug around them, and defecation and urination had to be done in designated covered toilets. Anyone caught relieving themselves indiscriminately would be tied to a flagpole to sunbathe for a day without food.

The tents couldn't be dirty either; they had to be cleaned daily, and even the blankets had to be folded neatly.

Any failure to meet standards resulted in punishment and no food.

Were these hostages or new recruits attending military training?

Just as Tony Stark requested that the cave be cleaned as well, he was refused. The reason given was: he was not a hostage of the group outside the valley, but a hostage of the group inside the valley, so he could not make demands of them.

Fine, the subordinate of my subordinate is not my subordinate?

You guys have certainly mastered the feudal lord system of the Middle Ages!

Tony Stark couldn't figure it out no matter how hard he tried, so he resorted to his daily routine of asking Yinsen, who spoke multiple languages, "Who are those people outside the valley?"

Yinsen, with a numb expression, mechanically replied, "You've asked me one hundred and thirty-seven times already."

The group outside the valley uniformly wore gray combat uniforms and black, unadorned masks. The few people who entered and exited the valley never communicated, and Tony couldn't go outside, so he had no way to find out.

Moreover, these guys appeared well-trained and equipped. Tony's armor had disappeared when he woke up, and he couldn't break out with bare hands.

The days in the valley were a repetition of the previous day.

Just as Tony Stark thought he would be imprisoned like this forever, on the morning of the thirtieth day, the people outside the valley began dismantling the camp.

After the camp was dismantled, Sabre, wearing a black mask, led his action team into the valley. The team members carried boxes of weapons and approached the Ten Rings Gang members. Sabre personally led his men to return the armor to Tony Stark.

"Put it on!" Sabre commanded coldly in English.

"What?" Tony Stark was stunned.

Sabre ignored him, turned to face the Ten Rings Gang members, and spoke just as coldly, "Pick up your weapons. After he puts on the armor, you will..."

Taking a deep breath, Sabre stated the requirements personally instructed by the Great Demon Lord: "Continue the battle from a month ago!"

Although he couldn't understand the Great Demon Lord's bizarre request, he had to execute it resolutely to avoid being remembered by the petty-minded.

In the past years, the Great Demon Lord had done many such eccentric... cough cough, incomprehensible things.

"..." XN

After Sabre finished speaking, silence fell over the valley.

What kind of operation was this?

Like saving and loading in a single-player game?

Seeing the leader glance at his watch after speaking, Tony and the Ten Rings Gang members realized they were serious.

"Yinsen, hurry and help!" Tony quickly called for assistance.

The Ten Rings Gang members quickly picked up the light weapons stored in the boxes, but facing Sabre's men, they didn't even have the courage to put their fingers on the triggers. After a month, these militants had truly been tamed like raw recruits.

A flustered Yinsen helped Tony put on the armor, using a hoist provided by Sabre during the process.

"And you, grab a submachine gun," Sabre pointed at the unarmed Yinsen.

"You two go back to the cave entrance. You guys go surround him. The rest of you, fall back a bit."

"That's right, fall back to that position."

Sabre acted like an on-site commander, meticulously executing the micro-management requirements of the master.

"Everyone to your positions. After we leave, you start fighting!"

These people quickly packed their belongings and left the valley at a brisk pace, disappearing into the vast yellow sand.

The Ten Rings Gang members cautiously approached the valley entrance to peek. After confirming they had left, they began to cheer, tears of joy streaming down their faces.

"They're gone, these devils are finally gone!"

"Allah is great."

"Eternal Heaven protect us."

"Amen."

Tony Stark's emotions were also in disarray, but he realized this was the perfect opportunity to escape, so he immediately opened fire on the Ten Rings Gang members.

Although he had seen the Ten Rings Gang members being severely punished this past month, Tony hadn't forgotten how they had treated him a month ago.

A magnet was still lodged in his chest.

The Ten Rings Gang members, who had been celebrating joyfully, were suddenly attacked. They scrambled to fight back, but their light weapons were useless against Tony's armor.

After unleashing fire dragons from the flamethrowers on both sides, the valley was engulfed in flames. Tony then grabbed Yinsen and soared into the sky.

The two flew a bit farther than in the original story, but the armor still disintegrated in the air. After all, the cave operations were all done by hand, and the tools weren't as precise as what Tony usually used. The connection points were bound to be weak and couldn't withstand the immense pulling force.

In the sky, aboard a stealth transport plane, Sabre saw that Tony Stark had successfully escaped and that the US military helicopters were approaching. He finally breathed a sigh of relief.

"Director, the mission is complete. The target has escaped successfully."

Just hearing him say that, anyone would think his mission was to rescue someone.

"Very good, you can rejoin the team now," Lin Hao said, waving his hand on the video screen.

"Thank you, Director," Sabre said excitedly.

The hard times of the past few years were finally over.

Far away in New York, Lin Hao had completed his bottom-fishing acquisition of Stark Industries.

Unfortunately, only 31% of the shares were circulating in the market. Over 42% of the shares were still held by Tony Stark himself, and Obadiah, that old fox, held 20%. The remaining scattered shares were in the hands of stubborn retail investors and some institutions or individuals who knew the inside story.

Obadiah was the mastermind. Naturally, he wouldn't sell his shares. He had originally planned to buy low, but he had suddenly lost contact with the Ten Rings Gang members over the past month. He was filled with anxiety and fear, worried that Tony Stark had returned and was hiding in the shadows gathering evidence. Thus, he had no intention of dabbling in the stock market.

It wasn't until today that he received advance notice that Tony had been rescued by the Air Force and was on his way to the Afghanistan base.

Only then did Obadiah order his traders to start buying low.

"Sir, all the sell orders for Stark Industries have disappeared!" the trader exclaimed in surprise.

The stock price of Stark Industries had been falling for the past three months, so much so that he hadn't bothered to look at it. Now, upon checking, he found that all the sell orders were gone.

If he still couldn't realize what was happening, he wouldn't deserve to work on Wall Street.

"Sir, is Tony Stark coming back?"

Obadiah didn't answer him, and the furious old man smashed the phone in his hand.

"Who is it?" Obadiah couldn't help but suspect the Ten Rings Gang members he had lost contact with for a month, muttering to himself, "Could it be these dirty bugs?"

"Damn it, taking the commission wasn't enough, and now they dare to steal my stocks?"

Obadiah was determined to sound out Tony first, and then he would definitely go to the desert to investigate. If these bugs were indeed causing trouble, he swore he would kill them.

Meanwhile, Tony, on the plane, was complaining to his friend Rhodey, who had been searching for him for three months: "You have no idea what I've been through these past three months..."

Rhodey looked at the magnet on his friend's chest and sighed, "I know."

"No, you don't!"

At this moment, Tony was starting to sound like a broken record: "I thought I could escape a month ago, but I never expected to encounter such a twisted group of people!"

"They actually kept me imprisoned for another month... Can you imagine the feeling of seeing hope and then suddenly falling into despair?"

"They're simply insane!"

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