Gentlemanly and Easygoing Stark

Knock, knock-knock.

One long, two short. The knock was quiet, but in the silent night, it rang out with startling clarity (Qing).

Yinsen widened his eyes in confusion. Had he started hearing things too?

The two exchanged a look, both uncertain and alarmed.

"Water meter inspection." A voice came from outside the door.

After a moment of silence, seeing no response from inside, the voice added, "Food delivery."

Stark: (⊙_⊙)

Just as he was wondering what to do—

Boom!

The two iron doors were violently kicked open.

"You just had to make me do it."

Stark saw Ming, a mixed-race man with distinctly Asian features, still holding his leg up from the kick.

Obviously, Ming was the one who had kicked down the door and spoken.

"Tony Shit-ark?"

"It's Stark!"

"Don't worry about the details." Mike smiled. "Miss Potts hired me to rescue you."

Stark's expression instantly changed from (╰_╯) to o(^▽^)o.

"Really?"

"I came to this lousy cave in the middle of the night instead of cuddling up with girls and doing something interesting just to mess with you?"

Stark's expression turned ugly, and for a moment, he was speechless. But Stark was still Stark—the kind of man Mike had wanted to stuff into a toilet and flush after knowing him for one minute. Whether he had a point or not, he had to argue.

"What if I still don't believe you?"

"My mission is to get you out. If you believe me, we can chat happily while we leave. If you don't, I'll knock you out, grab you by the ankles, and drag you out. So here's the question: believe me or not?" Mike looked eager to try.

"I think it'd be better to believe you." Stark stared at Mike. "Why do I get the feeling you're hoping I don't?"

"Heh heh, your imagination." Mike's eyes drifted away. He turned his head and said, "Pack up anything you want to take. Let's go."

"Hey, hey, I was right."

In the end, Stark looked around the cave, his gaze complicated. Ever since childhood, aside from his parents dying in a car accident, nearly everything in Stark's life had gone as he wished. Being attacked and kidnapped was the second great hardship of his life.

Hardship made people grow.

Stark tossed the blueprints for the Mark I into the furnace and said, "Let's go."

Stark took the lead, striding out with great confidence. After two steps, he backed up. "There's more than just you here to rescue me, right?"

"Of course."

But what Mike said next nearly made Stark explode. "There's also a driver outside."

Stark had been here for over a month. He knew exactly—Qing and Chu—how many terrorists were outside.

What could one person possibly do?

No, wait!

Mike had come in alone, and he'd kicked the door down so loudly, yet no one had come over...

Thinking about it, Mike immediately became suspicious again.

But Mike had no time to care about Stark's thoughts. When he said it smelled like piss and shit, he wasn't being figurative—there really was a foul stench in the air.

Think about it. Where would a dump like this get a flushing toilet? Stark and Yinsen ate, drank, pissed, and shat in this awful place, and neither had bathed for over a month.

That smell was truly something else.

Stark was so fussy and particular, yet he now looked completely used to it. All Mike could say was that human adaptability was terrifying...

Mike walked in front, with Stark and Yinsen following behind. Along the way, members of the Ten Rings lay sprawled on the ground from time to time, finally putting the two at ease.

Stark couldn't help asking curiously, "How did you do it?"

Mike answered seriously, "I quietly walked up behind them, struck a pose, then swung my hammer. One hit!"

Stark rolled his eyes. "Do you think I'm an idiot? You think I'd believe that?"

Mike said, "Then stop talking if you're not an idiot."

Stark nearly fell into depression.

Once outside, breathing the free air again after so long, Stark felt as though a lifetime had passed.

Stark grew curious again. "Why is there so much fog?"

"Maybe it's because of global warming." Mike kept making things up. "Follow me. Don't get lost."

"Wait!"

Stark abruptly stopped. He saw a pile of weapons bearing the Stark Group logo. "What are we doing with these?"

Mike said, "The military will deal with them."

"No!" Stark shook his head. "I don't want to hand these weapons over to the military. Help me destroy them."

Mike said, "That's outside the scope of the mission."

"We can't let these weapons keep hurting people. If they aren't destroyed, I'm not leaving. If you won't help, I'll do it myself!" Stark's tone was exceptionally firm.

Yinsen, who had barely made his presence known, said softly, "Sir, you're a mercenary, aren't you?"

"Yeah!" Stark's eyes lit up. "I'm hiring you to destroy these weapons."

As soon as he said that, white and golden spheres of light floated out from Stark's body.

System Notification:

[Tony Stark's Commission: Destroy the Ten Rings' Weapons]

[Payment: 10,000 USD (the system takes a 90% cut after fees)]

[Mission Description (Ming): Stark believed the weapons produced by his company were used to protect United States interests, eliminate villains, and safeguard the world's interests. Reality taught him a lesson.]

[Note: If someone commits evil, is the person who made the weapon guilty?]

Oh, what an unexpected windfall.

Mike immediately beamed. "No problem. I'll handle it for ten thousand dollars. Considering your current situation, I can collect payment after the job is done."

"Ten thousand dollars." Stark said disdainfully, "Even the cheapest bottle in my wine collection costs more than that. You make it sound like I'd skip out on the bill."

Mike said, "I'm not worried you'll skip out. I'm worried you'll forget to pay."

Stark said, "That won't happen. Don't worry, I'll have Pepper pay you."

Mike said gravely, "About Miss Potts..."

Hearing that, Stark's heart skipped a beat.

Pepper couldn't have gotten hurt, could she?

At that moment, Stark felt the world spin around him.

"...She seems to have been suffering from insomnia lately, and her memory's getting worse. What if she forgets too?" Mike finished.

Stark nearly spat out blood.

Insomnia?

With that grave tone, it sounded like Pepper had already been dead for seven days.

Usually, other people wanted to beat him up. Stark had never imagined there would come a day when he wanted so badly to smash someone with a hammer.

But Stark seemed to understand—Ming—just how important Pepper was to him.

Stark suddenly wanted to deliberately skip out on the bill. Mike seemed to see through his thoughts, his smile as warm as the February breeze.

"Someone once tried to skip out on a bill."

After waiting for a while without Mike saying anything else, Stark couldn't help asking, "And then?"

Mike's gaze was calm. "There was no 'then' in his life."

Stark suddenly shivered. "Anyway, I won't forget."

Mike said, "Then I'll accept the commission."

Soul Energy and Destiny Energy were absorbed by Mike at the same time. He felt so good that he wanted to hum Today Is a Good Day.

"Wait for me. I'll be done soon."

With that, Mike vanished into the fog. As it happened, he had a few Explosive Tags stored in his space, pulled from a draw and mostly useless.

Explosive Tags weren't especially powerful. In the age of firearms, their effect was mediocre. Their advantages were that they were portable and difficult to detect.

Mike stuck the Explosive Tags in place and set them to detonate after a delay.

"All done. Let's move!"

Returning to the others, Mike urged Stark and Yinsen onward.

Boom! Boom! Boom...

Just as the three left the small valley, violent explosions erupted in succession behind them.

The shockwave shoved them forward like a wave. Stark fell flat on his face.

Mike took two steps forward with the momentum while catching the weakened Yinsen.

Stark said, "You!"

Mike spread his hands. "Respect the elderly and care for the young! Which are you, old or young?"

"Uh..." Stark was at a loss for words, though he still felt something was off.

Couldn't he have grabbed both of them?

He could have done that, right?

Stark cursed inwardly, Motherfucker!