The next morning, on the other side of the world, in a desert region of the Middle East, inside a modified cave, Tony Stark lay on a makeshift bed looking disheveled.
His chest was wrapped in bandages, with a wire connecting underneath his clothing to a large lithium battery.
Tony, in pain, opened his eyes with a jolt. The discomfort in his nasal passages was intense.
Feeling around, he realized there was a catheter inserted. Pulling it out caused him pain all over his body, as if he were about to fall apart.
As he tried to get up from the bed, he noticed he was tightly bound in bandages, with a wire connected to him.
"What the fuck is this?" Tony couldn't comprehend his situation and struggled to tear off the bandages.
"If I were you, I wouldn't do that," a deep voice came from the dark corner of the cave.
Tony looked in the direction of the voice to see an older man standing in front of a mirror, shaving.
Tony, who had never been one to heed others' advice, ignored the warning and continued to rip the bandages from his chest.
Soon, he saw his chest was a mess, covered with numerous small wounds. At the center, a round metallic object was embedded, with a wire extending from it to the large battery.
Tony stared in disbelief. "What did you do to me?"
After a while, Tony, regaining his composure, sat on the edge of the bed and weakly asked the stranger.
He had no idea that the person before him was Yinsen, whom he had briefly encountered at a tech conference.
Yinsen smiled at Tony's question. "What did I do? I saved you. I removed as many fragments from your body as possible, but many tiny pieces still remain in your blood vessels."
After some conversation, Tony understood that the electromagnetic device on his chest was intended to keep him alive by slowing the fragments from reaching his heart.
However, it could only delay his death by a week. Ironically, the explosive device was one of his own creations.
Just then, urgent footsteps were heard outside the door. Yinsen's face changed immediately. "Quick, get up!"
"Do whatever I do," Yinsen instructed Tony, who reluctantly stood up, placing his hands on his head.
As they waited for the intruders, Yinsen explained, "They are from the Ten Rings. They attacked you and brought you here."
"Don't speak when they arrive; I'll handle the conversation."
Tony nodded, understanding these were dangerous individuals. Soon, a somewhat chubby Ten Rings member, along with his gang, appeared before Tony.
After a brief exchange, Tony learned why he had been kidnapped: to build highly destructive Jericho missiles.
"I refuse!" Tony's defiant response led the Ten Rings members to subject him to inhumane but non-lethal abuse. Eventually, under Yinsen's persuasion, Tony had no choice but to feign cooperation.
Outside the cave, Tony Stark, holding the lithium battery, noticed that the weapons the Ten Rings members were carrying were all manufactured by Stark Industries.
He had naively believed that his weapons were purchased by various countries for national defense and international peacekeeping missions. Now, he realized how wrong he was.
The Ten Rings lieutenant offered to provide any materials Tony needed, as long as he developed the Jericho missile, after which they would let him go.
Tony knew this was merely a pretext. The moment the missile was completed would be the moment of his death.
Inside the cave, Tony was despondent, while Yinsen tried to comfort and encourage him.
"No matter what, they'll kill me."
"Even if they don't kill me, I won't survive more than a week."
Tony had never imagined he would be so close to death one day.
"So, this is a crucial week, isn't it?"
As Yinsen spoke, Tony's mind drifted back to the mechanical armor he had seen that day in the storm. If only I could...
Tony's dim eyes began to regain their light. As a genius, he visualized a grand design unfolding in his mind.
...
Meanwhile, on the other side of the world, as Alan was purchasing gym equipment, he was unaware that a different Iron Man was being born.
At the Connors laboratory, Dr. Connors was tirelessly writing formulas and new reagent preparation plans on the blackboard.
His messy hair and deep dark circles under his eyes were clear signs that he had not slept all night. Having found a breakthrough, he was too excited to sleep.
Peter walked into the lab and saw the blackboard covered with complex formulas.
"Doctor, you didn't go home last night? You stayed here in the lab?"
Peter was incredulous.
"Yes, Peter. I've discovered a crucial element, according to the formula's derivation. This time, there are absolutely no issues."
Connors spoke with enthusiasm and even a hint of madness.
Peter noticed Connors' unusual state and quickly said, "Doctor, let me handle the rest. You should get some rest."
"No, I don't need to rest."
"Peter, prepare to start mixing the new genetic reagent immediately. We don't have much time, hurry up!"
Peter knew he couldn't convince Connors to rest, so he immediately joined the experiment. For scientists, sometimes a sleepless night is not a big deal.
The two of them worked frantically in the lab.
At Alan's home, he had set up a fitness area.
"Fortunately, the house is big enough; otherwise, these few pieces of equipment would fill up the space."
Today, Gwen wasn't by his side but was at Osborn Industries handling science exhibition matters. Otherwise, she could have put on some tight sportswear and exercised with him.
"Speaking of which, should I prepare a nice set of sportswear for her?"
Alan thought. After all, having so much exercise equipment with only one person using it seemed a bit wasteful.
Yes, exactly! Can't waste it!
Alan acted on his thought and immediately started browsing for women's sportswear online. One pink and white set caught his attention instantly.
"Hm, this one...…"
...