No one will always wait for you, except for the sixth man.
This term can be replaced with Voldemort, auto-camping sniper, Garen, and other similar words.
After Kratos revealed his intentions, Tony actually felt a sense of relief.
The other party had an agenda, but it wasn't a big one.
If it turned out that Stane was really the one behind all this, sharing some of that bastard's shares with Kratos wouldn't be out of the question, and it wouldn't affect Tony's control over Stark Industries.
Getting rid of a major threat at the cost of some money was something Tony could completely accept.
Moreover, Tony's mindset had subtly changed recently. After realizing that his company's weapons had harmed countless people, he had already prepared to exit the arms business.
So, were Stark Industries' stocks still valuable?
Heh! At that point, who knows who's tricking whom?
Tony showed a genuine smile. "Alright! Deal."
"That's a wise decision."
The two sly foxes shook hands in a historic moment.
Tony added, "Oh, and I have a small request. Yinsen... he's helped me a lot, but according to my plan, it'll be hard for me to take him with me. Kratos, could you...?"
Before Tony could finish, Yinsen's eyes were already moist.
"When you're ready, let me know, and I'll safely get him to your place," Atreus agreed immediately, casually tossing a small walkie-talkie to Tony before saying, "Now, I have a small favor to ask of you."
"Go ahead."
"When you get back to New York, I want you to make me a set—no, a series—of humanoid bio-suits. You know, superheroes like to wear masks and such."
Tony felt a bit awkward but agreed without hesitation.
"Pleasure doing business!"
With that, Atreus took the girl in his arms and walked off casually, leaving Tony behind to continue being a prisoner.
Just before the heavy iron door—a symbol of fate—shut, Tony saw Kratos snap his fingers. The two terrorists standing like statues on either side of the door seemed to wake from a nightmare. Their eyes lit up, and they began wiping sweat from their faces, not even noticing the two figures walking away grandly.
"They... they really don't seem to be working together."
"Uh, maybe," Yinsen echoed.
Tony continued working on developing Iron Man Mark I.
Meanwhile, outside the cave, Atreus casually strolled away with Black Canary as if on a shopping trip.
Armed terrorists surrounded them, yet Atreus walked as if he were on a leisurely stroll. He remained calm, though the woman beside him, Dinah, was far from calm.
It took them ten minutes to walk out of the valley where the camp was located. Black Canary, exhausted, was gasping for breath.
Though she wasn't weak, she hadn't surpassed human limits. Up close, she was confident she could take down ten terrorists, but what about over a hundred AK-47s?
She'd be riddled with bullets and end up like Swiss cheese.
Yet Atreus acted like nothing was wrong. They had strolled all the way from Dubai, hiring American helicopters to do some shady work, flown near the valley, and snuck in thanks to Black Mask's mind control powers.
After the conversation, Atreus had even prepared a camouflage tent in advance, camping right next to the terrorist group in the adjacent valley.
If the view hadn't been so bleak, it would've been the perfect camping trip.
Despite her misery, Black Canary couldn't help but ask, "Why didn't you just rescue Mr. Stark directly?"
"I've already explained. That's my genuine thought."
There were two reasons Atreus didn't mention:
First, while he had unlocked the [Godslayer System], if he wanted to maintain the power boost from Wonder Woman, his [Good-Evil Score] couldn't be negative.
At this point in time, arms dealer Tony Stark was covered in blood. If Atreus saved him directly, he'd lose a century's worth of 'virtue' in an instant, and he'd have no place to cry about it.
Since the system didn't provide strict guidelines, Atreus figured he'd let Tony continue along his original path of developing [Iron Man].
The second reason? He needed Tony's help with money laundering.
Atreus still didn't understand where his seemingly endless fortune came from, and who knew if it would suddenly run out tomorrow. This strong sense of insecurity forced him to seek additional income sources.
The money from diamonds came from the Bettinelli crime family's [blood money].
Even if Atreus could hide it from the sponsor behind him, who knew how many other people were watching that money?
When it comes to money laundering, who's more professional than an arms dealer?
Theoretically, since Atreus had saved Tony's life, Tony was obligated to take on this burden.
With Iron Man's personality, Atreus wasn't worried about him reneging.
Having settled everything, Atreus felt content.
But the Black Canary beside him had some curious inner conflicts. "Boss, can I ask you a question?"
"What is it?" Atreus, already lying down on his cot and sleeping bag, covered his eyes with his left hand.
Black Canary moved closer. "You... really aren't interested in me now?"
Atreus silently pulled her closer, then slid his hand down from her waist.
Black Canary froze, her entire body going stiff like she'd been shocked.
Atreus grinned. "Are you doubting a former VIP of the Black Mask Club?"
Black Canary meekly replied, "Uh, no."
Atreus withdrew his hand. "I just prefer total conquest over rough possession."
For some reason, Black Canary's heart fluttered at such a dominant statement, her whole body heating up, yet she couldn't muster a word of rebuttal.
The next second, Atreus pointed outside the tent. "Now, Miss Secretary, kindly keep watch while I rest."
"How long do you plan to rest, Boss?"
"I rest twice a day..." Atreus began, and Dinah had a small moment of delight, thinking 'You still care for me.' Little did she know, Atreus's next words were: "Each time for 12 hours."
Black Canary's face fell immediately.
Hey! Since you're not my girl, of course, I'll treat you like one of the guys and work you like a mule.
And so, the poor Black Canary was stuck keeping watch.
In fact, the terrorists' heads were so rusty that none of them even looked up at the top of the valley.
A day and night later, Tony sent the signal.
It wasn't that Tony didn't want to wait until everything was ready; it was just that the thing he built looked nothing like a missile.
As soon as he put on the suit of iron armor, the terrorist leader monitoring the cameras realized something was wrong. Shouts in Arabic echoed through the cave where Tony was held.
Tony couldn't help but open the hidden walkie-talkie. "Kratos! Are you there? Something's gone wrong on my end, and my control program still needs more time to finish. They've discovered my plan!"
Kratos's voice drifted in slowly. "You want me to buy you some time?"
"Yes."
"As you wish, my friend."
Tony thought he heard a finger snap. At first, he didn't know what good that would do from such a distance. But soon, the cave echoed with the sound of gunfire and screams.
Yinsen was incredulous. "Are they fighting each other?"
Tony was now certain Kratos had the ability to control enemies' minds. He quietly breathed a sigh of relief and spoke into the walkie-talkie, "I'll break out soon. Yinsen will hide here. Please pick him up quickly."
"OK!"
Today marked a monumental day for all [Iron Man] fans.
Tony Stark, piloting the extremely ugly and crude [Iron Man MKⅠ], burst onto the scene.
Due to material limitations, this clunky human-shaped chunk of metal only had two flamethrowers. As Tony charged out during the chaos, the terrorists who had been shooting at each other were eliminated.
"Whoa!" Tony seized the opportunity, unleashing hellish flames at the terrorists wielding various weapons.
In the blink of an eye, he turned a dozen men into charred corpses. As he left the cave, he even ignited the massive pile of munitions in the valley.
"Boom!" A series of explosions rocked the valley, alerting every terrorist there.
They began unloading all sorts of weapons, unleashing a barrage of bullets at Iron Man.
The protection on the first-generation Iron Man suit was lacking. Apart from the thick steel plating protecting Tony's body, many mechanical parts were exposed. After taking a barrage of bullets from the rifles, the suit was nearly out of commission.
From the hilltop, Black Canary, watching the show, couldn't help but question, "That's it?"
Atreus slapped her on the rear. "Keep watching. If this were all he had, he wouldn't deserve the name Stark."
Black Canary shot him a glare.
Sure enough, in the next moment, sensing things weren't going well, Tony finally activated the most dazzling feature of the [Iron Man MKⅠ].
"Whoosh—"
Weighing 1,500 pounds (680 kilograms), the clunky iron man was propelled by its jet engines like a rocket.
(End of Chapter)