Find them and kill them all

Reed looked at Happy the way a man might look at a beautiful woman, his eyes shining as he kept sizing him up, making Happy uncomfortable all over.

But that slight discomfort was nothing compared to the joy in his heart. Now that the enhancement was complete, he could clearly sense how much stronger he had become.

Terrifying strength, incredible speed, unparalleled perception, and a body as hard as iron.

Though he had yet to test it, he felt that even a hit from a large-caliber sniper rifle would leave him unscathed.

Just as he began wondering whether it was all an illusion, a gunshot suddenly rang out!

Bang!

The deafening sound echoed through the Laboratory. Reed jumped in fright, while Happy felt only a faint sting in his chest, like a mosquito bite.

Both immediately turned toward the source of the sound. Tony stood there holding a modified pistol, wisps of smoke still rising from its muzzle. Clearly, he had fired the shot.

"Not bad. Whatever else you can do, that defense alone makes you a decent meat shield."

Reed snapped out of his daze, his mouth twitching. "Boss, I think you ought to be more careful. What if the enhancement hadn't worked as well as we hoped, and you killed him?"

Tony waved a hand. "As long as he isn't dead, I can save him. It's fine."

That was the kind of confidence the Horse Talisman's power gave him.

Happy, meanwhile, didn't give it much thought. Hearing Tony's praise, he simply broke into a grin.

"Don't worry, boss. From now on, I'll be your meat shield."

Before Tony could respond, Reed shook his head speechlessly. One was as cunning as a monkey, the other as foolish as a bear. He had nothing to say to either of them.

"Good. You can keep being my personal bodyguard, then."

At Tony's reply, Happy rubbed his head and grinned foolishly.

Ignoring him, Tony turned to Reed. "Try to make more of this enhancement serum."

"I'm planning to dump that guy somewhere later."

"Why?"

Reed was puzzled. Keeping the guy meant an endless supply of enhancement serum. Why get rid of him?

Besides, he was an excellent research subject. Reed still had plenty of ideas he wanted to test.

Tony simply shook his head without explaining.

Reed didn't know where the guy had come from, but Tony certainly did. He had snatched him right out from under the Military's nose.

Keeping him for a little while should be fine, but someone would inevitably discover him if he stayed too long. Then Bruce would become an endless source of trouble, and Tony had no desire to invite all that onto himself.

Besides, even without any outside trouble, the guy himself was a ticking time bomb.

Keeping him here meant watching him day and night. If he accidentally woke up, things would get very interesting indeed.

Reed did inject him with large doses of anesthetics every day, as Tony had instructed, ensuring that he remained unconscious.

But it only took one mishap. The anesthetics couldn't keep him down forever, so getting rid of him as soon as possible was the best option.

He had already reaped all the benefits he could from the guy anyway. Surely he couldn't actually expect to create an army of superhumans using his blood.

That would be utterly insane. More importantly, Tony couldn't find that many suitable candidates.

After making the arrangements, Tony left the basement with Happy. By then, it was completely dark outside.

They had spent nearly five hours in the underground Laboratory, and midnight was only two hours away.

Stretching, Tony glanced at the dramatically transformed Happy and said casually, "Stay here tonight. Find yourself a room."

"Okay, boss. Got it."

Happy acknowledged him, and Tony left him to it, heading straight for his room on the second floor. After working so hard these past few days, he was exhausted and needed a good rest.

Tonight, however, was destined to be sleepless. The moment he returned to his room, JARVIS's voice rang out.

"Sir, a large number of unidentified armed personnel have been detected approaching the villa. Please prepare immediately."

All traces of drowsiness vanished from Tony's face, and he looked sharply out the window.

But beneath the cover of night, he could see nothing.

"Bring up the surveillance feeds around the villa and project them onto the wall."

JARVIS immediately projected the footage from the outside cameras.

On-screen, a large group of armed men dressed in black were rapidly approaching the villa. Every one of them carried a firearm and a full set of gear. They were armed to the teeth.

Tony's brow furrowed as he tried to work out who they were.

The Ten Rings? Impossible. Their gear is all cutting-edge weaponry. The Ten Rings don't have anything like that.

Apart from the Ten Rings, I haven't crossed any other groups since coming back to New York.

Could it be him?

Bruce's image suddenly flashed through Tony's mind.

If he had to name the biggest source of trouble around him, Bruce would undoubtedly come first.

He had taken Bruce away from an alley and made sure there were no surveillance cameras nearby.

But anyone determined enough could still discover that he had taken Bruce.

After all, the direction Bruce had disappeared in happened to coincide with where Tony had appeared. It looked suspicious no matter how one viewed it.

By his calculations, however, even if the Military eventually noticed him, it certainly wouldn't be this soon. Someone must have seen him take Bruce away for them to come knocking so quickly.

And anyone who could spot that immediately had to belong to a group that had been watching him all along.

Few forces in New York could monitor his movements at any time. Kingpin was one, and the Military was another, but neither had any reason to watch him.

Aside from those two major forces, there was one more: S.H.I.E.L.D.!

Thinking of Natasha's appearance at his company, S.H.I.E.L.D. had probably started watching him as soon as he returned to New York.

At that thought, Tony raised his eyebrows, wondering where he had given himself away.

It took a long time to explain, but in only an instant, Tony had connected everything in his mind.

Though he had no evidence, he was eighty percent certain that the people outside were from S.H.I.E.L.D. There might even be Military personnel among them.

"Go. Kill them all!"

The words left Tony's mouth coldly. Though he had guessed who the intruders were, he had no intention of showing them any mercy.

When he had first crossed into this world, he hadn't been strong enough, so he had wanted to keep a low profile.

But now he had both manpower and strength, with the behemoth that was Stark Industries behind him. If anyone wanted to cause him trouble, he would cut off their reaching hand first.

Besides, the current S.H.I.E.L.D. was not yet the all-powerful organization it would become.

Since they dared to target him, they couldn't blame him for being ruthless.