Splash-
A basin of water was dumped over Tony Stark's head, jolting him awake.
Tony calmly looked around.
A group of masked, heavily armed men dressed as soldiers surrounded him.
Tony choked on the water, unable to speak, and squinted at them.
Then Tony struggled to raise his upper body, rubbed his throbbing neck, and asked weakly, "Who... who are you?"
The leader said, "Obviously, we're the people who are going to kill you."
Tony could tell they weren't joking. That chilling killing intent couldn't be faked.
But they hadn't made a move.
Could it be...
"Then why not kill me outright? Why wake me up?"
"Heh."
"Faiwu, stay here and watch him. Just keep him alive," the leader instructed a young-looking man.
"Yes."
Tony watched the others leave, leaving the young man behind to bandage him.
Summoning what little strength he had, Tony said to Faiwu, "Is your name Faiwu?"
"Hmph." Faiwu gave a disdainful chuckle.
"You look pretty young. There's no need to turn to crime."
Tony did everything he could to come up with something persuasive.
"Kidnapping and murder might seem profitable, but they're dangerous. There's no reason to commit crimes over a little money..."
In Tony's view, assassins and kidnappers were all in it for the money.
If they had happy families and didn't have to worry about making ends meet, they wouldn't do this.
Who went into this line of work for an ideal?
Tony kept talking. "If you get into a gunfight and take a bullet, you could die. Think about your family..."
Tony didn't notice Faiwu's expression darkening.
"Whew..."
Tony had just paused for breath, intending to continue persuading him.
Thud-
A fist slammed into Tony Stark's stomach.
"Ugh..."
Tony Stark had never been treated like this.
He collapsed onto the floor, curled