Tony's Assignment

If Su Ming, with his exceptional bearing and impeccable attire, merely stood out when he left the luxurious Manhattan Hotel,

then as he gradually made his way into the heart of Hell's Kitchen, he became utterly out of place.

Neon tubes cast flickering afterimages across peeling wall tiles, while murmurs of drug deals drifted from behind rusted iron doors.

The windows of abandoned bars were coated in filthy grime, and gaunt addicts huddled within.

Foul white mist billowed from sewer grates, and behind every door seemed to lurk a pair of greedy eyes.

Even the stray cats carried coins riddled with bullet holes in their mouths.

This was paradise for criminals—Hell's Kitchen.

Ignoring the women who approached to flirt with him, Su Ming, masked and transformed into a noble prince, walked straight into an antique shop.

Though the shelves were piled with moldy old books and sculptures made of dry bones, biometric scanners were embedded within the walls.

Once it was confirmed that Su Ming carried no weapons, the hidden guards relaxed their fingers around their guns, and the entrance to the Underground Exchange slowly opened.

It was his first time here. Beyond a descending staircase lay a spacious hall.

The hall was not luxurious, but it was spotlessly clean.

The air filtration system carried the scent of cedar, a stark contrast to the stench aboveground.

All kinds of people moved between the private rooms, but when they saw Su Ming, they all revealed looks of amazement.

One attendant-like man even came over specifically to invite Su Ming to dinner with his mistress.

After declining with a smile, Su Ming went to the service counter and called twice before waking the receptionist from her starry-eyed daze.

After selecting a task collection badge, he followed the number on it into a small room.

There was only a chair and a screen inside. Once Su Ming sat down, he seemed to hear a faint female voice from the speakers:

"God~ What a beautiful boy..."

After the door closed, the screen automatically displayed densely packed bounty missions scrolling in a loop.

Finding people, assassination, kidnapping, intimidation, chopping off hands and feet...

The bounty amounts never quite satisfied Su Ming.

Of course, after earning two million dollars in one go, anyone would look at other sums and think—they were just so-so.

Suddenly, Su Ming's gaze was caught by a task in the scrolling list:

Protect Tony Stark, bounty: one million dollars.

Among so many tasks, commissions to protect someone or act as a bodyguard were almost nonexistent.

It was as if the clients all tacitly agreed that the gentlemen of Hell's Kitchen were better at killing and destruction.

A faint smile tugged at his lips. This Tony really was a popular target.

For no other reason than that Su Ming had already seen several commissions involving Tony Stark—most of them assassinations.

The highest bounty was only eight hundred thousand dollars.

Yet this task to protect him was worth a full million, making it the highest-priced bounty mission so far.

Quite a few people had their eyes on Tony!

Without the slightest hesitation, Su Ming accepted the mission to protect Tony Stark.

At the same time, people in the other private rooms of the exchange saw the notification that the bodyguard job had been claimed, and they began discussing it:

"Whoever dared take a mission involving Tony Stark must be tired of living!"

"Exactly. The people after Tony's head are business rivals on his level, along with ruthless people offended by his terrible temper.

Independent contractors who can only take jobs at the Underground Exchange wouldn't even be enough to fill their teeth..."

"Good luck, brave fellow!"

Su Ming knew none of this. He only saw a drawer suddenly pop out beneath the screen, containing a phone and a card.

Just as he was studying the card in confusion, the phone rang.

As it was his first time here, he did not understand the rules. A staff member's prompt sounded around him:

"The employer is calling. Please answer."

Su Ming understood and picked up the phone.

"Hello, Mr. Courage. I'm glad you accepted this task."

The encrypted call and distorted voice let Su Ming barely make out the words, but he could not identify the speaker.

"Mr. Stark will soon travel to Afghanistan for business. I will arrange for you to stay by his side, making it easier for you to complete your bodyguard assignment."

Su Ming listened, feeling that this was only natural.

But then the conversation took a complete one-eighty:

"Oh, right! Mr. Courage, would you be interested in hearing about a job worth three million dollars?"

Su Ming's eyes lit up. Three million? A new record!

"I'm willing to listen."

The person on the other end seemed very satisfied and continued explaining:

"Here's the situation. The bounty for protecting Mr. Stark is one million. I also have a mission to kill Mr. Stark—worth three million.

Would Mr. Courage be interested?"

Things were getting interesting...

A trace of amusement appeared in Su Ming's eyes as he waited for the other party to elaborate.

"Please do not be confused, sir. It is merely business. As I said, protect Mr. Stark until he returns from Afghanistan, and one million will be paid in full. The mission to kill Mr. Stark can take effect at any time."

Su Ming was deeply curious.

"Dear employer, I understand the mission terms, but why choose me? I mean the latter mission."

A low laugh sounded from the other end of the line.

"Mr. Courage, it was not I who chose you. You chose the mission. The moment you accepted this bodyguard task, I knew you possessed extraordinary courage."

Courage, my ass. More likely no one dared accept a job involving Tony...

Su Ming grumbled inwardly, then reconsidered. Tony had not gone to Afghanistan yet. This was the perfect opportunity for him.

After exchanging a few pleasant pleasantries, he hung up.

Following the staff's explanation, Su Ming learned that the card in the drawer was proof of task acceptance and contained the bank account number and codename of the person who accepted the mission.

Su Ming had no idea he needed to provide a codename, so he came up with a phonetic rendering of his own name on the spot—Destiny.

Amid the reluctant farewell of the female attendant, Su Ming took the mission contact number and left the Underground Exchange.

Back at the Manhattan Hotel, Su Ming lay on the bed and considered his upcoming mission.

He remembered that Tony had suffered quite a bit in Afghanistan, and that it had also awakened a rare compassion beneath his arrogant personality.

Put simply, nearly dying beneath missiles developed by his own company had sent a chill down his spine.

That was why he later decided to completely cancel all weapons development projects.

Su Ming felt that, as a bounty hunter, he still had to show some respect for his first assignment. Future Iron Man or not, now that he had fallen into Su Ming's hands, sorry—but Su Ming was an emotionless bounty hunter!

Thinking of this, Su Ming knew which direction his abilities should develop in.

He realized that he lacked any means of long-range attack.

Before this, he had relied on Jeet Kune Do Mastery to dominate Brooklyn, but in gunfire-ridden Afghanistan, facing fully armed Taliban fighters, Su Ming realized that he had to acquire an outstanding long-range combat method!

Guns? Bows? Or something else?

As he carefully browsed the system store, Su Ming fell into deep hesitation.

Every option was good! But damn, they were expensive...