Stark's Shocking Turn! The Gears of Fate Begin to Turn

The night wind at the foot of the Kunlun Mountains carried the slight chill of early autumn as it drifted through the open window into the bedroom. Xiang Yi sat cross-legged on the bed, the profound meaning of the Returning to the Hidden Formula flowing quietly through his mind like a stream. Deep within his consciousness, the familiar interface silently emerged:

Xiang Yi

Mental Power: 270/300 (+0.1/minute)

Energy Points: 350

Summoned: Lanling King (Loyalty 120%), Guiguzi (Loyalty 100%), Ming Shiyin (Loyalty 95%), A Ke (Loyalty 90%)

Outside the window, the city lights formed a hazy sea of glow, nearly drowning out the stars. Yet the steady sense of connection from the Kunlun base was like an anchor sunk into the deep sea, granting his troubled mind a brief moment of peace. Everything remained under control. Like a patient fisherman, he had already quietly cast an invisible net into deep waters.

"Xiao Yi, watch the news for a bit, then go to bed early!" His mother, Li Wan, called gently from the living room below.

"Got it, Mom!" Xiang Yi called back, ending his meditation. Barefoot, he stepped onto the cool floor, picked up the milk beside his desk that had long gone cold, and prepared to head downstairs. Playing the part of an ordinary twelve-year-old boy was his camouflage for blending into this world.

He had just reached the turn in the stairs when the deliberately lowered, professionally grave voice of the female news anchor from the television in the living room slammed into his ears:

"...Emergency news bulletin! Mr. Tony Stark, CEO of Stark Industries, was ambushed by unidentified armed militants while returning to base after demonstrating the 'Jericho Missile' in Kandahar Province, Afghanistan, this afternoon..."

Crash!

The glass slipped from Xiang Yi's fingers and shattered across the wooden floor, the sharp sound of breaking glass piercing the air. The milky liquid quickly spread over the floor, soaking his feet in icy coldness. Yet that chill was nothing compared to the impact of the image on the screen—on Afghanistan's barren, yellow-brown wasteland, the wreckage of several Humvees twisted and warped in blazing flames. Thick black smoke billowed upward, and the Stark Industries logo flickered in and out amid the fire and smoke like a branding iron being scorched.

"...The vehicle carrying Mr. Stark suffered a violent explosion after the attack... His current whereabouts are unknown, and his fate remains uncertain!"

An icy chill shot up Xiang Yi's spine and straight to the top of his head. For an instant, time seemed to freeze.

Afghanistan! Kidnapping! The Ten Rings Syndicate! The cave! Ethan! Mark I! The birth of Iron Man!

Those fragments of memory buried deep within his past life erupted like an awakened volcano. A jolt of dread from the foresight of a "spoiler," mixed with the helplessness of being mercilessly crushed beneath the wheels of vast history, gripped his heart with bone-deep coldness.

Almost at the same moment, a cold notification ignited soundlessly deep within his consciousness:

[World Key Node Detected: Tony Stark attacked and missing!]

[Main Observation Mission Triggered!]

Mission: Conduct an in-depth observation of the Ten Rings Syndicate's operational patterns, armed composition, and intentions.

Main Reward: Energy Points ×500. Perfect Rating Bonus: [Basic Energy Vein Coordinates (One-Time Use)]

Failure Penalty: Increased Worldline Attention (S.H.I.E.L.D./Ten Rings Syndicate vigilance increased)

[Accept?]

Energy vein coordinates! The beacon in the darkness radiated a deadly temptation. But the penalty of "increased Worldline Attention" hung over him like a sword above his head, signaling enormous risk. Accept! This was not only the perfect opportunity to seize scarce resources—it was also the beginning of his first true attempt, as the hand behind the scenes, to reach out and influence the world's main storyline! With a flicker of thought, he confirmed the mission at once.

"Xiao Yi? What happened? Did you fall?" Hearing the commotion, Li Wan hurried over. Seeing her son's pale face and the mess on the floor, she crouched down anxiously to clean it up. "Scared out of your wits? It's just the news... That place is a hundred thousand miles away from us, but it really is frightening to hear about."

"My hand slipped." Xiang Yi avoided his mother's searching gaze and instinctively reached for the sharp shards with his bare hand. Pain suddenly pricked his fingertip, and a bright red bead of blood seeped out, mixing with the milk on the floor. The sting instead gave him a warped sense of reality. Ten Rings Syndicate... Afghanistan... Chaotic clues churned in his mind.

His father, Xiang Haishan, paced over with the evening paper in hand. Looking at Tony Stark's spirited file photo on the television screen, he let out a heavy sigh. "Sigh, heaven envies genius. Such a brilliant mind, yet all he made were things for killing. In the end, he may be destroyed by them himself. Once guns start firing, human lives become cheaper than grass." His broad, callused hand settled on Xiang Yi's shoulder and gave it a gentle pat, conveying a weighty sense of sorrow.

"Dad..." Xiang Yi looked up. The deep hatred of war in his father's eyes, along with his lament over the fragility and uncertainty of life, was so real and heavy. Memories from his past life surged up again—the sparks from the hammer striking metal in the cave, the roar of the crude first-generation armor lifting into the air, the earthshaking declaration of "I am Iron Man"... In the end, all of it settled into the cold certainty within the transmigrator's heart.

His fingers, stained with milk and blood, slowly and forcefully curled within the shadow cast by the stairs. He clenched them into a fist, his knuckles turning white from the force.

The wind outside seemed to halt at that moment, while the static from the television grew distant and blurred. His tempered voice landed clearly against the silent floor:

"No, Dad. This isn't the end."

Iron Man's legend would be forged precisely through this kidnapping. And the net he had carefully woven was finally about to be cast into this surging current of fate!

He raised his head, his gaze seeming to pierce through the thick walls and reach that distant wasteland imprisoning the future Iron Man. The flickering flames on the television screen reflected in his dark eyes, but what they ignited was a blaze called "planning" and "control."

"This is the beginning of his rebirth."

His parents stared at him in stunned confusion. Xiang Yi offered no explanation. He silently finished clearing away the last shards of glass, then turned and quickly headed upstairs.

The bedroom door softly closed behind him, cutting off the lights and gazes from downstairs. Xiang Yi immersed himself in darkness. On the desk, the screen of Guiguzi's encrypted laptop glowed faintly, and the prompt for [Observe the Ten Rings Syndicate] shimmered with cold blue light at the edge of his vision. An encrypted communication window silently popped up.

"Lanling King!" Xiang Yi's voice in the encrypted channel was resolute, without the slightest hesitation belonging to a boy. "Top-priority order: mobilize every force you have in the shadows and establish an intelligence network. Target—within a hundred-kilometer radius of the Stark attack site in Kandahar Province, Afghanistan, all traces of armed activity bearing the 'Ten Rings' mark! Eyewitness reports, black-market logistics anomalies, any sign of movement! At any cost, I want to see the Ten Rings' ghostly shadow in the shortest possible time!"

"Guiguzi! Xuan Weizi Network, focus all resources on Afghanistan! Filter out the 'white noise' of U.S. military communications, penetrate S.H.I.E.L.D.'s interference layers, dive deep, and find the Ten Rings' pulse in the electronic world!"

"Mr. Ming Shiyin! Please use the secrets of heaven as your guide and divine the Ten Rings Syndicate's core scheme and the location of its nest! Do not spare the Energy Points required!"

"A Ke! Keep your blade honed and ready! Be prepared at any moment to tear through the darkness and bring back what I need. Maintain absolute silence and sharpness. Await my command!"

The orders shot out like taut bowstrings, instantly linking forces scattered through the unseen. The responses came as swiftly as flashing blades:

"By your command, my lord!" Lanling King's voice was as low as the night.

"The web of information will be rewoven at once!" Guiguzi's tone was calm, yet filled with power.

"Though fate may hide itself, its trail shall surely be revealed!" Ming Shiyin's reply carried a trace of mysterious resonance.

"The blade is drawn. Awaiting orders." A Ke's voice was concise and cold, like the faint hum of an edge.

The communication window went dark. The room fell completely into darkness, with only the faint glow of the laptop screen outlining Xiang Yi's cold profile, utterly devoid of childishness. He pushed open the window, and the night wind carrying the scent of the Kunlun Mountains rushed in, scattering the loose hair across his forehead.

Below him, the city's countless lights remained tranquil and peaceful, weaving the nighttime dreams of ordinary people.

Far away, on Afghanistan's smoke-filled wasteland, a turning point of fate that would decide the future was unfolding.

The television's lingering words seemed to still curl through the air: "...his fate remains uncertain..."

Xiang Yi's gaze pierced toward the southeastern night sky like an arrow, as though it could penetrate the heavy curtain of darkness and reach that barren land where a legend of steel was about to be born. The thin red cut left by the glass across his palm was faintly visible in the dim light, like a silent mark of fate.

The rhythm of destiny had begun to beat. The moment he pressed the confirmation button, a silent war had already begun!

"Your rebirth has begun, Tony." His whisper scattered into the night wind, carrying the complicated sigh of a transmigrator who saw through everything, as well as the cold sharpness of a chess player placing a crucial piece. "And the curtain on my stage has only just risen."

At the edge of his vision, a line of dim blue text quietly appeared:

[Observe the Ten Rings Syndicate (Clue Collection Progress: 0%)]

In the darkness, there was no curve at the corner of the boy's mouth. Only in the depths of his eyes rested the focus of a hawk locking onto its prey, along with the calm of a chess player after placing the decisive move.