Hearing Luca question his technical skills, Tony immediately puffed out his chest with confidence.
"Spare me your ignorance, Luca. This is a miniature high-explosive bomb I threw together back when I was bored in the lab."
Tony pointed at John's chest and explained in detail.
"It may be small, but it's powerful enough to blow an elephant into a pile of mush."
"Now it's firmly attached to the surface of this guy's heart. The bomb's activation program is linked to JARVIS's core code."
Tony looked at the deathly pale John and said with a sneer.
"I'm the only one who can control it."
"All I have to do is open my computer and set a timer. Once the time is up, once the countdown reaches zero, no matter how far he runs or how thick a shelter he hides behind..."
"Boom! The bomb will go off automatically."
Tony made an exploding gesture.
"When that happens, this guy's heart will turn into a firework in an instant. There's no way he'll survive. Even God couldn't save him."
After hearing the explanation, John felt completely numb!
WTF?!
What the fuck kind of demon brothers were these?!
He'd already told them everything he knew about the classified information, clear as day, and they still wouldn't let him go?!
Not only were they refusing to release him, they were planting a bomb on his heart?!
Did being rich mean they could fight this dirty?!
John closed his eyes in despair, nearly in tears.
He felt that the world was full of malice.
One man's sorrow was another man's joy.
When Luca heard Tony's deranged plan, not only did he make no attempt to stop him, he couldn't help laughing.
Because he'd just had a brilliant idea.
He stepped forward and looked down at John, whose face was ashen.
"Don't look like your dad just died. The good news is, your leg isn't broken. My laser just pierced your thigh muscle a little. You might have some trouble walking from now on."
"After all, I deliberately controlled the power output when I fired. I'm a merciful man."
Luca smiled as he spoke.
"If you really want to live, I can give you a chance right now."
At those words, John opened his eyes, as though he'd grasped a lifeline.
But Luca immediately laid out his conditions.
"However, there's no such thing as a free lunch. When you get back to your superiors, you have to report what happened tonight."
"You need to tell them that the assassination failed entirely because S.H.I.E.L.D. agents were lying in wait at the hotel! It was S.H.I.E.L.D. who secretly protected us, killed two of your teammates, and wounded you."
At that, Luca reached out and patted John on the cheek.
"And most importantly, you must never tell anyone that I have superpowers."
"You have to insist that Tony and I are just playboys who were scared out of our wits. S.H.I.E.L.D. did all the fighting back."
"Do you understand?!"
John's expression began to change as he wrestled with the decision.
He wasn't stupid. He immediately understood why Luca was doing this.
This damned playboy was utterly ruthless!
He wanted to pin the failed assassination on S.H.I.E.L.D.!
He wanted to stir up conflict between Hydra and S.H.I.E.L.D.!
And the guy was so devious that he insisted on hiding the fact that he had superpowers as a trump card.
If he agreed to go back and lie to the organization...
But once the organization discovered the truth, he would definitely face punishment worse than death.
But if he refused, he was one hundred percent certain he would be killed on the spot.
No matter what he did, he was dead either way.
But if he agreed to Luca's terms, at least he could live a little longer for now.
It was a choice with no way out.
John sighed, as though it had taken all his strength.
Clearly, his backbone had completely bent.
At last, John lowered his head and spoke hoarsely.
"I understand what to do. S.H.I.E.L.D. did it all. Mr. Stark is just an ordinary rich man."
Hearing the answer, Luca snapped his fingers in satisfaction.
"Very good. I like doing business with smart people."
Then Luca waved to Yinsen, who was standing in the corner.
"Yinsen, come give us a hand. Untie this much-suffering Lightning Warrior. Let him hurry back and report."
Ten minutes later.
On a street not far from the hotel entrance.
An all-black Rolls-Royce sat quietly by the curb.
The car was still running, its engine humming softly.
The heat was turned up high inside.
Happy sat in the driver's seat.
From time to time, he glanced through the window toward the hotel entrance.
At that moment, Happy was deeply unsettled.
He was waiting for Luca and Tony.
To be honest, as two of the world's richest men, the two bosses had faced plenty of extortion attempts and assassination attempts over the years, ever since they were young.
As their most trusted bodyguard, Happy had shielded them from many attacks, both open and covert, over the years.
But this time was different.
The situation tonight was completely beyond Happy's understanding.
This time, the bosses had even used heavy weapons like miniature missiles!
Even Happy, sitting in the car, had heard the explosion clearly.
That undoubtedly showed how serious the situation was.
Happy sighed and rubbed his aching temples.
Although Tony and Luca usually acted relaxed,
and spent their days throwing parties, drinking fine liquor, and chasing beautiful women, as though nothing weighed on their minds, always greeting everyone with a smile,
Happy knew perfectly well that this was just a disguise they used to lull outsiders.
In fact, he and Pepper had discussed it many times in private, and they had long since guessed the truth about some things.
No one who could rise to the top in a business empire full of scheming was a fool, including a seemingly simple and honest bodyguard like him.
To be honest, at the side of one of the world's richest men, a bodyguard was actually one of the people closest to him.
Happy followed the two bosses every day, driving them to and from all kinds of occasions and meeting all sorts of people.
In the process, he naturally came into contact with some of Tony's or Luca's core secrets.
So Happy understood Luca and Tony's current predicament very well.
Being betrayed by their most trusted uncle definitely couldn't feel good.
No matter how upset they were about something like that, they couldn't go around telling people about it. They could only keep it bottled up and cover it with a life of revelry.
And Happy didn't have to think hard to guess
that Obadiah might have sent people to carry out tonight's assassination attempt.
Other than him, no one could have tracked the bosses' movements so precisely and gotten hold of so many heavy weapons.
At that thought, a fierce gleam immediately appeared in Happy's eyes.
Damn Obadiah!
The Stark Family had treated him well!
When old Mr. Howard Stark was alive, he had treated him like a brother.
Tony and Luca had even treated him like family, giving him untold wealth and status.
Why did he have to do this? Could a person's heart really be so wicked?
Happy clenched his fists, wishing he could storm into Obadiah's house right now, put a gun to the old baldie's head, and demand an explanation.