"Robert, I've checked, this man is Tony Stark, chairman of Stark Industries. He was indeed kidnapped recently and even made the news, so the innocent one isn't just the person beside him, but him too..." Clark's voice echoed in Robert's mind.
"Is that so?" Robert nodded understandingly, then shrugged, "Well, it doesn't matter now. He won't live long anyway, I'll check if there are any fish that slipped through the net..."
Hearing Clark speak up, Robert didn't continue his actions, although he remained quite interested in Tony Stark's chest arc reactor.
"Wait!" Just then, Yinsen called out to Robert, looking somewhat hesitant, "What do you mean he won't live long? Tony is alive and well, isn't he?"
"I don't know how he made this energy device, but his energy has been eroded by it, showing signs of rapid decline. That means some energy or substance in this device is already harming his body, and quickly..." Robert felt Yinsen had a good aura, being a rare innocent here, so he offered a brief explanation.
"Palladium!" Tony Stark's pupils contracted, quickly understanding, then touching the arc reactor at his chest, he whispered, then looked up at Robert, "If you hadn't told me about this, I might have..."
Tony Stark looked up, intending to say something, but found that Robert had already disappeared.
"Where is he?" Tony Stark stood there, somewhat stunned.
"Probably left, I guess? It seems we're safe now..." Yinsen, seeing Robert's departure, sighed in relief.
"That's not necessarily good. Although he spared us, my mech was dismantled, and we've lost our means of defense. If there are still members of the extremist organization here, we're in danger!" Tony Stark came to his senses, looking at his painstakingly built mech in pieces on the ground, his mouth twitching.
"If I can really survive this, I'll build an even more powerful mech! One that can defeat that guy!"
"Really?" Yinsen, recalling Robert's performance, felt doubtful, then remembered something, his expression turning serious, "No, you can't build another mech. The arc reactor in your chest must be removed, and the shrapnel inside must be extracted, or you won't live long. We should thank him for the warning, but unfortunately, he didn't leave his name..."
"I'll solve these problems. I remember his appearance. As long as I can survive, everything is solvable!" Tony Stark touched the arc reactor, his voice firm, "But I should be thanking you more. You saved me twice, once at the brink of death and just now. Once we survive, I'll..."
"Wait!" Yinsen quickly interrupted, "Tony, I've seen movies. If you say something like that, it means one of us won't make it out of here..."
"..." Tony Stark's mood, just getting into the groove, was interrupted again. He's not someone who easily says thank you.
"Let's grab some weapons and check the outside..." Yinsen shook his head, picking up a submachine gun, "I'll go first. Follow me!"
"Click!" Coming to his senses, Tony Stark grabbed Yinsen's shoulder, seriously saying, "No! Together!"
Quickly, Tony Stark and Yinsen cautiously peeked outside the cave, wanting to see if there were still members of the extremist organization around. They saw devastation everywhere, not a single intact body visible, and various craters left by explosions...
"Gulp!" Tony Stark and Yinsen swallowed nervously, Yinsen's voice trembling, "Don't tell me he did all this alone..."
"I suspect, he's not human!" Tony Stark said with a hint of hesitation.
"Could he be some kind of god or demon, sent to collect these people's souls?" Yinsen shrank his neck, feeling a chill, and cautiously said.
"No! There are no gods or demons in the world! He must possess some technology I'm unaware of. Maybe he's a cyborg or has undergone some kind of biotechnological modification... But he's definitely not a pure human!" Tony Stark shook his head, his voice firm.
"But for us, this is also a good thing. At least we can leave safely, let's go..."
"Whoosh!" As Tony Stark spoke, a helicopter's sound came from the sky. Tony Stark, recognizing the helicopter's insignia, waved excitedly, and fearing the helicopter wouldn't hear, even fired the submachine gun into the air as a signal.
The helicopter wasn't manned by anyone else but Tony Stark's friend in the military, Colonel Rhodes. Rhodes had been under immense pressure since losing Tony Stark, not just from the military and other sectors, but also his own psychological burden.
After all, Tony Stark was under his care when the incident occurred. If Tony Stark couldn't be found in the end, Rhodes didn't know what to do...
Quickly, Tony Stark and Yinsen boarded the helicopter. Tony Stark introduced Yinsen and his help, then began inquiring about the situation.
"We don't know what happened. We detected significant gunfire here and came to investigate. We just happened to find you here. What happened with those extremists? What caused such a commotion?" Colonel Rhodes asked, frowning.
"We encountered a monster, possibly a cyborg or someone like Captain America. He annihilated this place alone..." Tony Stark said seriously, shaking his head.
"You're not joking?" Colonel Rhodes widened his eyes at Tony Stark, then seeing his expression, quickly grabbed the communication device, "This has to be reported immediately..."
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