Talking Nonsense with a Straight Face

Mike smiled. "You spoke. That's a good start."

Flamingo gritted his teeth. "If you can't guarantee my family's safety, I won't hand over any evidence. Other than my life."

He looked every inch the hardened tough guy.

Mike neither confirmed nor denied it, merely taking out his phone and calling Pepper.

"Hello, Mr. Tang." Happy answered the call.

"Good morning, Mr. Hogan."

"It's afternoon in the United States right now," Happy quipped.

"Ha, sorry. I forgot about the time difference." Mike asked, "Where's Ms. Potts?"

"She's working..."

"Mr. Tang, is there any news about Tony?" The phone changed hands, and Pepper was now on the line.

"Not for now. Everything is proceeding step by step, and I believe we'll have a breakthrough soon. What about your side? How's the investigation going?"

"Based on Colonel Rhodey's recollection, Tony received a call from Obadiah before getting in the car."

Obadiah was someone Tony regarded almost as a father. That was why Pepper had mistakenly believed Obadiah saw Tony as a son.

Previously, Pepper had not considered Obadiah a suspect. But once the seed of suspicion had been planted and taken root, with the filter of familial affection removed, Obadiah's suspicious points were as numerous as holes in a sieve.

"Unfortunately, we haven't found any evidence yet..." Pepper said regretfully.

"What a coincidence..."

Mike briefly told Pepper about being attacked, capturing two mercenaries, and the possibility that the two men had dirt on Obadiah.

Pepper froze.

Could it really be such a coincidence?

Talk about being handed a pillow just as you got sleepy.

Given Mike's personality, the simplest way to complete the mission would have been to go straight to Obadiah, beat the bald man into a swollen pig head, use Obadiah to contact the kidnappers, and finally find Stark.

Pepper would never agree to such a plan. She was a good person, and Obadiah was the vice chairman of Stark Group's board. If anything went wrong with the plan, the consequences would be impossible to predict.

Therefore, helping Pepper find evidence would also help locate Tony Stark. Otherwise, Mike would not have deliberately held back, especially after someone had tried to smear his face with missiles.

Mike told Pepper to send someone to take the prisoners away.

"Remember to find someone trustworthy," Mike specifically reminded her.

"I understand."

If Obadiah was involved, then the people within the group could not be trusted. As for outsiders... Pepper thought of Coulson.

"Snake S.H.I.E.L.D.? Guess it's up to luck."

When Mike heard Pepper was contacting S.H.I.E.L.D., he inwardly complained that he only hoped Hydra agents would not show up. Still, Mike had no better suggestion, so he could only make do.

After ending the call, Mike caught sight of Flamingo's shifting eyes and changing expression.

"To deal with someone like Obadiah, they actually want to find evidence and use the law to punish him. Do you think Ms. Potts is a good person? So... a good person wouldn't use someone's family to force them to talk, would she? That's probably what you're thinking."

"You're right to think so. Ms. Potts isn't that kind of person."

"But I am."

As he spoke, a thick killing intent radiated from Mike.

After spending too long on the battlefield and killing too many people, killing intent arose naturally. Killing intent truly existed; Flamingo was certain of that. He himself had once scared fresh recruits into wetting themselves with a look. But he never could have imagined that one day, he would be so terrified he could not move.

He seemed to see mountains of corpses and seas of blood, saliva dripping from the corner of his mouth.

"Zabuza Momochi's killing intent really is impressive." Mike was very satisfied with the effect.

The killing intent faded, and Flamingo panted violently like a drowning man who had nearly suffocated.

Mike said flatly, "First, a good person like Ms. Potts, if she promises to protect your family, will do everything she can to keep that promise. Or do you think someone like Obadiah is more trustworthy?"

"Second, Obadiah will soon have more than enough on his plate. If he wants to harm your family, that would at least have to wait until he settles accounts afterward, and that assumes he ends up as the winner."

"Lastly, unless he did nothing at all, Obadiah will expose a flaw sooner or later. So—you're not as important as you think."

Rayner had witnessed Mike subduing the enemies from the air. Having finally found a place to park the helicopter, he hurried over.

"Mr. Tang, are you all right?" Rayner jogged over with his gun in hand.

Tsk, tsk. Before, it was Mike this and Mike that. Now it was Mr. Tang?

"You should ask those two." Mike did not notice the change in Rayner's form of address.

Rayner glanced at the unconscious Bison, then at Flamingo, whose hand had been severed and whose thigh was still pierced by a machete.

Did he even need to ask?

"What do we do now? Keep searching, or take them back to the base first?"

"No need. Someone will come take over."

About twenty minutes later, an armed helicopter flew in from the distance.

Mike had Rayner hide behind a nearby rock. If the newcomers meant trouble, he did not want dead weight by his side.

There was no machine-gun strafing and no missiles fired. The helicopter simply landed on a patch of flat ground.

Several people disembarked. The leader wore a black short-sleeved tactical shirt and carried a bow on his back, while agents in helmets and camouflage uniforms followed behind him.

He had not expected Hawkeye to be leading the team.

"Clint."

"Mike."

After a brief exchange of introductions, Mike gave Hawkeye a quick rundown of the situation.

Hawkeye had quite a few questions.

But this was clearly not the time to play curious, and he and Mike did not know each other, so some questions were not easy to ask.

Hawkeye had his men further treat Flamingo's wounds. Mike had only given him basic first aid; blood was still flowing from his severed arm and thigh. Having lost too much blood, Flamingo's face was white as paper, and he was barely conscious.

As for Bison...

Mike said, "He won't die. I held back."

"He is still alive." The agent examining Bison's injuries did not know what to say.

The bulletproof layer of his vest had shattered into a spiderweb pattern, and not a single rib was intact. It looked as though he had been hit by a truck.

A few minutes later, the injured men were carried onto the helicopter on two stretchers. S.H.I.E.L.D.'s people left in a hurry, while Mike and Rayner continued their search mission.

"Mr. Tang..."

"Just call me Mike. You're giving me goosebumps."

Rayner hesitated and stammered.

Mike said impatiently, "Say it if you've got something to say. Otherwise, shut up."

Gathering his courage, Rayner asked, "Tang... Mike, are you a Mutant?"

"No."

Mike thought for a moment, then added, "Hard to say. Maybe I have an unawakened X-Gene. What, do you have a problem with Mutants?"

"No, no!"

Rayner hurriedly denied it. Even if he did, he would not dare say so.

Mike said, "Then what exactly are you trying to say?"

Rayner looked embarrassed. "I just want to know how to become stronger."

Mike said, "Poor people rely on mutation. Rich people rely on technology."

Rayner asked, "Do you rely on mutation or technology?"

Mike shook his head. "Neither. I rely on grueling training. Want to learn?"

Rayner nodded like a pecking chicken.

Mike shouted:

"Listen carefully!"

"The key to becoming stronger is whether you can stick to a brutal training regimen. One hundred push-ups, one hundred sit-ups, one hundred squats, plus a ten-kilometer run. Do one set every day!"

"Of course, you can't skip three meals a day. Eating bananas for breakfast is fine too. And the key point is this: to temper your willpower, the most important thing is never using air conditioning in summer or winter."

"At first, it hurts like hell and makes you want to take a day off. But to become stronger, no matter how painful or uncomfortable it is, you have to keep training every day until you cough up blood. Even if your legs are so heavy you can't move them, you must keep doing squats. Even if your arms are creaking, you have to keep doing push-ups."

"After a year and a half, I noticed changes in my body. I went bald, and I became stronger. In other words: train yourself to death with the determination to sacrifice a full head of hair without regret. That is the one and only secret to strength!"

Rayner said, "R-really?"

Something felt off, but Mike's booming voice and completely serious expression were awfully convincing.

Mike gave him a sidelong look. "Of course it's fake."

It was not like he was Saitama.

The key for a transmigrator to become stronger was having a reliable cheat.