Stark Wanted to Hit Someone

The system notified him that the mission had been completed and directly deducted ten thousand US dollars from his account.

Soul Energy and Destiny Energy drifted from Stark again.

Mike's smile widened. Stark was a good comrade.

Hawkeye did not stay behind to wait for Mike, and Mike had never asked him to wait. So when Mike left the valley, he did not see Clint.

They found a sheltered spot to rest. The blast's heat wave, smell, and dust were truly unbearable.

Stark sighed. "If I could have a can of ice-cold beer right now, I probably wouldn't have any regrets in life."

"Really? I thought you'd say wine or champagne." Mike exhaled and took a can of beer from the System Space.

Glug, glug, glug...

After chugging half the can in one go, Mike felt like he was about to ascend to heaven in broad daylight. "You were right. This is amazing."

Stark touched the can. "It's actually cold!"

Yinsen complained, "The fact that it's cold is strange, sure, but shouldn't we be more concerned about where he got the beer from? He clearly wasn't carrying a bag..."

"Seems so." Stark stared fixedly at the ice-cold beer in Mike's hand, his Adam's apple bobbing.

"Want some?"

"Yes."

"If I said one million US dollars per can, I suppose you wouldn't haggle."

"I wouldn't."

"Heh."

With a flick of his wrist, Mike tossed out two cans of ice-cold beer, one to Stark and one to Yinsen.

Mike said, "Just kidding. I'm not that tasteless."

Catching the cold beer, Stark felt the chill spread through his hand. He eagerly opened it and took a huge gulp. "Whew... beer really hits the spot at a time like this."

He looked at the label. "What brand is this? I've never seen it before."

"It's from China. I run a small supermarket specializing in Chinese groceries... How does it taste?"

"It's all right."

A few minutes passed.

Hawkeye didn't go in there alone and get blown to bits, did he?

A figure ran out of the smoke.

Hawkeye!

His face was covered in soot, and his hair was full of grass clippings.

Clint glanced at the three men leisurely drinking ice-cold beer. "..."

Mike asked, "Why did you run in there?"

Clint lost it. "Who knew you were going to blow up the entire valley?!!!"

Mike pointed at Stark.

Clint asked, "He blew it up?"

"No." Mike shook his head. "He hired me to blow it up. If you want to pick a fight, go find him."

Stark shot Clint a sidelong glance. "Without a lawyer present, I will not admit to any accusations detrimental to me."

Mike cut in. "What law firm does your family lawyer work for?"

Stark smiled proudly. "Heh, Stark Group has its own legal department."

"Damn!"

Mike said, "Actually, don't let my appearance fool you—I graduated with honors from Princeton University's law school and interned at White & Case. I can introduce you to my personal lawyer. He's shameless as hell and can find loopholes in any case."

In the United States, shameless was the highest praise for a lawyer.

Stark himself was a massive pain in the ass, universally annoying, and the poster boy for contrarians. Suing people and getting sued was as routine to him as eating and drinking, so he had quite a high demand for lawyers.

"Fine. Have him contact the Group's legal department when he has time."

At this moment, Clint was on the verge of a breakdown.

After Mike vanished, Clint immediately took out his satellite phone and contacted Coulson.

Clint told him that the mist was real. It felt damp to the touch and was not some suspected optical effect.

Coulson told Clint to collect a sample.

After doing that, Clint could not suppress his curiosity and followed them into the valley.

When the explosion happened, Clint had sprinted madly toward the exit. Fortunately, the Explosive Tags had caused a chain reaction. If all the weapons had detonated at once, Clint would have been scattered in pieces and cooked somewhere between seventy and ninety percent done.

A thousand words became one sentence: "Is there any beer left?"

"Yes."

Mike tossed Clint a can, then took out some crackers for Stark and Yinsen.

Clint looked Mike up and down and asked, "Where are you hiding all that stuff?"

Stark said, "That's what I want to know too."

Mike lowered his voice. "To be honest, my refrigerator is connected to another dimension, and I can take things out of that dimension whenever I want."

Clint went, "Tch," while Stark stroked his chin thoughtfully—this was the difference between a poor student and a top student.

Of course, reality proved that sometimes top students simply overthought things.

Clint looked at Yinsen. "And this is?"

Yinsen wore a full suit. It was somewhat worn, but very neat. He wore a tie, and even had a handkerchief peeking from his breast pocket. His demeanor was calm and refined; he did not look like a prisoner who had been locked up for a long time.

"Yinsen," Yinsen introduced himself.

"He saved my life." Stark lifted his shirt, revealing the Arc Reactor in his chest. "A genuine 'heartbreak' wound, and the weapon that caused it was produced by Stark Group. It's fucking ironic. So not only am I going to blow up those terrorists' weapons, once I get back home, I'm shutting down Stark Group's weapons division."

"Heh."

Clint thought Stark was joking. After all, Stark Group's main business was arms trading.

Mike asked, "When?"

Stark said, "Huh?"

Mike said, "I mean, when are you announcing it?"

Stark said, "I'll hold a press conference the moment I get back. Why are you asking?"

Mike said, "When you were kidnapped before, I shorted Stark stock and made a small profit. Once you announce the shutdown of the weapons division, the stock will probably crash hard. I need to seize the chance to make another profit. Sure enough, insider information is the most important thing in trading. Hiahiahia~~~"

Stark said, "..."

I really want to hit someone.

Could I beat him?

The four of them walked to where the vehicle was hidden.

Mike said, "Going back to the base now would be troublesome."

Clint said, "Trouble is one thing. The main issue is that it isn't safe. We have a safe house in Parwan Province. We'll wait until dawn, then board a plane and return home directly."

Stark caught the key point. "Why wouldn't the Air Force base be safe?"

Mike said, "You still don't get it? Your kidnapping was an inside job. There's a mole."

Stark demanded, "Who?"

Clint said, "Obadiah is the prime suspect, and he has already gone into hiding. If he learns you've been rescued safely and returned to the base, who knows what he might do."

As long as Stark died, Obadiah might be able to win over those shareholders and politicians. To the latter two, how could a dead man matter more than profit?

As for the truth... ordinary people who shouted about wanting the truth all day were actually the easiest to fool.

Stark said, "Impossible!"

Mike reminded him, "Think about it again."

Stark recalled how, after the Jericho Missile demonstration, Obadiah had called and said he could not sleep because the order had not been finalized.

At the time, Stark had found it a little strange. It was only a five-hundred-million-US-dollar order. With him personally handling it, how could it possibly fail to close?

Besides, it was not the first five-hundred-million-US-dollar order, and Obadiah had never lost sleep over one before.

After a long silence, Stark asked, "Are you sure?"

Clint said, "It's basically confirmed."

Stark asked again, "Why?"

Clint's expression was innocent. Why are you asking me about the mess between you two?

Mike raised his hand. "I know this one. It's one hundred percent because you're arrogant, conceited, do whatever you want, and have a filthy mouth."

Clint unexpectedly wanted to give Mike's assessment a thumbs-up. At the same time, he secretly glanced at Mike. When it came to pissing people off, Mike and Stark were equally matched.