Time Travel, And No System?!

(Brain deposit--drop--)

Clang, clang, clang, clang...

The crisp sound of metal-working rang through the cramped, dim cave.

At that moment, Tony Stark was staring with a solemn expression at the steel helmet he was beating in his hands, his gaze as resolute as if he were about to head onto a battlefield at any second.

"We need to hurry, if we delay too long, they'll grow suspicious." Dr. Yinsen reminded in a low voice from the side.

Tony Stark did not answer, merely speeding up his hammering.

Just as the two men were racing against time, a voice suddenly rang out behind them: "May I ask, where is this?"

The instant the voice sounded, both Tony Stark and Dr. Yinsen froze.

Their bodies stiffened, simultaneously halting the actions in their hands.

For a moment the cave was terrifyingly quiet, so quiet that even rapid breathing could be heard.

Nor did anyone know how much time passed before Tony Stark stiffened and turned around, at which point he realized the speaker was actually a youth who looked to be barely of legal age.

Vigilantly sizing up the youth, Tony Stark asked in a deep voice: "Who are you?!"

The youth answered very politely: "Hello, my name is Luo Bai."

Tony Stark did not lower his guard, instead continuing to ask: "Are you in cahoots with them too?!"

A trace of bewilderment appeared on Luo Bai's face, prompting him to ask back: "Who are they?!"

"Those terrorists outside." Tony Stark said, his gaze turning somewhat sharper.

Luo Bai started, instantly denying: "Of course not, do I look like a terrorist?!"

"Then how did you get in?!" Tony Stark asked next.

Luo Bai fell silent for a moment.

A moment later, he spoke with a trace of hesitation: "If I tell you... I just appeared out of thin air like this... would you believe it?"

Tony Stark: "???"

Yinsen: "???"

Luo Bai was not lying; he really had appeared out of thin air.

It was just that he hadn't appeared out of thin air using some magical ability or the like, but rather... time travel.

Would you dare believe that he had merely gone downstairs to pick up a delivery, suffering neither a car accident nor falling into a sewer, yet somehow traveled through time?!

In fact, at first Luo Bai did not believe he had time-traveled.

After all, as an elite student from Tsinghua University, he had always deeply believed in science.

It wasn't until he discovered that the slovenly uncle standing opposite him looked strikingly like the actor who played "Iron Man" Tony Stark in the Marvel Universe films, and even kept babbling about "terrorists," that Luo Bai had to suspect he had crossed over.

As a loyal viewer of the Marvel movies, he was far too familiar with this scene; this was clearly the plot of Iron Man 1!

Tony Stark had been attacked by terrorists and captured into a cave, ultimately creating the iron armor...

And right now, wasn't that a steel helmet in the slovenly uncle's hands?!

Realizing that he had truly traveled into the Marvel Universe, Luo Bai felt indescribably depressed.

Anyone with even the slightest understanding of the Marvel Universe knew that this was by no means a normal urban world.

Things like terrorist attacks or underworld hold-ups were mere minor scenes in this world, seeing as how alien invasions and similar massive disasters were a dime a dozen here.

How a fragile college student like Luo Bai, who had never even touched a gun, was going to survive here was secondary.

The thing that needed to be considered right now... was how on earth he was supposed to escape from this cave!!

"System?!"

"Old grandpa?!"

"Didn't they say all time-travelers have cheat codes?! Where is my cheat?!"

Luo Bai shouted in his heart.

Seeming to notice that he kept quiet while the expression on his face looked quite fierce, Tony Stark finally couldn't help asking: "You, are you okay?!"

Fortunately, Luo Bai's English was quite good, so communication wasn't too difficult either.

"I feel like I'm not doing very well." Luo Bai answered despondently.

"Dragged here, no one is going to feel very well." Tony Stark let out a bitter laugh.

Before Luo Bai could speak, he continued: "You just said you appeared out of thin air, what does that mean?!"

Luo Bai didn't know how to explain his time travel, so he could only reply helplessly: "It's very complicated to explain this matter, and I don't know how to explain it either."

"No way to explain it?!" Tony Stark asked rhetorically, a hint of skepticism carrying in his tone.

In fact, Luo Bai had sensed his hostility long ago, and he also understood the reason behind it.

Tony Stark had been captured by terrorists and brought to the cave, and having experienced inhuman treatment, it was only natural for him to suspect Luo Bai's identity.

Yet if he wanted to leave this place, Luo Bai needed Tony Stark's help.

Thinking of this, Luo Bai hurriedly explained: "Although my identity is a bit suspicious, I am definitely not in cahoots with those terrorists."

"How do you prove it?" Tony Stark asked.

"No proof needed. If I were a terrorist, the two of you would have been exposed by now, wouldn't you?" Luo Bai countered.

Right now, Stark and the other man were secretly manufacturing an escape weapon.

If Luo Bai truly were a terrorist, he would have taken measures the very moment he discovered them.

Would he still be chatting with them here?

Tony Stark didn't utter a sound, but it wasn't hard to tell from the expression on his face that he had already relaxed his vigilance.

"Fine, you've convinced me. Since you're not one of the terrorists, why did you appear here?! This is hardly a good place." Tony Stark inquired once more.

Luo Bai replied helplessly: "Actually, I didn't really want to come here either."

He had come straight here the moment he traveled through, so he hadn't had a choice in the matter.

"You..."

"Tony, we're running out of time."

Tony Stark seemed to still want to say something, but Dr. Yinsen interrupted him from the side.

Considering that they indeed didn't have much time left, Tony Stark didn't continue asking, pushing down his numerous doubts as he went back to hammering the steel helmet in his hand.

Seeing that Tony Stark no longer suspected him, Luo Bai finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Yet the heart he had hanging in his chest didn't completely settle down just yet, because he knew he still had a "hard battle" to fight next.

Thinking of this, Luo Bai complained internally once more: "Please, I'm a time-traveler, could I really not have a system?! No way, seriously no way??!"

He called out in his mind for about a minute or so.

Until Tony Stark finished beating the metal and the system's voice still hadn't sounded, Luo Bai finally confirmed that he truly had no system.

This made him somewhat despair, but what made him even more despairing was—

At that moment, those terrorists seemed to have noticed the abnormality inside the cave.

Heavy door-pounding and curses rang out inside the previously quiet cave, and the warning sounds of firearms could even be heard from time to time.