When Lock Parker heard that Tony's two requests were so simple, he immediately felt that thinking for even a second longer would be disrespectful to those 5% of the shares, so he agreed without hesitation.
Kill one person and save two more, and you can get at least 5% of Stark Industries stock worth tens of billions—what's there to hesitate about!
This deal is absolutely amazing!
This directly transformed Lock Parker's net worth from a small single-digit hundred million to a triple-digit hundred million!
Of course, even if he gets those 5% shares, he won't be foolish enough to cash them out immediately.
Unless Tony Stark himself dies, cashing out Stark Industries shares would always be the most foolish thing to do.
The best course of action is to stay at Stark Industries and let Tony help him make more money!
Seeing that Lock Parker readily agreed made Tony feel much more at ease.
While tens of billions of dollars is a lot, he can easily earn it back if he loses it.
But he only has one life!
Especially after the Ten Rings kidnapping incident, Tony understood even more the importance of having a strong backup plan.
Otherwise, once you're captured, there's absolutely no hope from outside—you can only rely on yourself!
And Lock Parker, the extraordinary man who managed to find him in the vast desert before the military, was undoubtedly the most reliable backup plan!
So for Tony, using 5% of the shares to secure both his and Pepper's future lives wasn't expensive at all.
In fact, comparatively speaking, he had actually profited!
Tony's value rose from 500 million to 50 billion, so Lock Parker's treatment of him naturally upgraded to the highest standard.
Lock Parker not only kept providing Tony with blankets, water, food, and snacks on the drive back, but he also drove much more smoothly.
Tony and Ethan, who had been constantly beaten in the cave, finally enjoyed a long-lost sense of comfort and quickly fell asleep in the steadily moving car.
On the way back, since Lock Parker had memorized the route, he deliberately avoided encountering any other terrorist groups.
They drove all the way to the nearest airport in Afghanistan.
Kingpin's men, who had already made arrangements, immediately handed the three of them plane tickets and led them through a special channel. They didn't even go through security and boarded directly from the back.
After several transfers, the three successfully returned to the "peaceful" and "free" United States after three days.
Actually, it can't be said all three "returned," because Dr. Ethan was originally from Afghanistan.
However, his home had already been destroyed by the Ten Rings, leaving him with nowhere to go but to follow them back to New York.
In Afghanistan, not only his home, but even his wife and daughters had long since died at the hands of the Ten Rings.
This revelation left Tony in a state of shock when he first learned it on the plane.
Because that was not what Ethan had told him in the cave.
Back then, Ethan had constantly encouraged him—to live for his family, for hope, for the future.
It was precisely because of Ethan's encouragement that Tony didn't give up.
But now, he learned the truth—
Ethan had already lost everything.
Tony still had Stark Industries, left behind by Howard Stark.
But Ethan… had nothing left.
Ethan told him the truth on the plane.
His home, his family, even his hometown—everything had been destroyed.
And the weapon used… was a Stark Industries missile.
At first, Ethan had even considered killing Tony.
But he gave up.
Because he understood that the fault never lies with the weapon, nor entirely with its creator—but with those who use it.
Even without Stark weapons, another missile would have destroyed everything anyway.
More importantly, Ethan believed that someone like Tony—standing at the peak of human intelligence—shouldn't waste his life on war.
He should change the world.
That was why Ethan saved him.
That was why he lied.
That was why he gave Tony hope.
Until the very end, Ethan never expected to survive.
He had planned to sacrifice himself so Tony could escape.
But Lock Parker changed everything.
After hearing Ethan's truth, Tony remained silent all the way until he stepped back onto New York soil.
He felt no joy.
Only weight.
Two months ago, Ethan gave him an artificial heart—
A second life.
Now, Ethan gave that heart something else.
Something heavy.
Something real.
Responsibility.
Tony Stark could still be a billionaire, a genius, a playboy—
But he could also be something more.
A hero.
When Tony looked up again, the light in his eyes had changed.
It became sharper.
More determined.
Ethan saw it—and felt relieved.
Lock Parker saw it—and sighed inwardly.
No matter how much the story changes…
The will of the universe remains.
Tony Stark was still destined to become Iron Man.
However, this time… things were slightly different.
Instead of returning with a grand press conference like in the original timeline,
Tony quietly returned.
No announcements.
No media.
No celebration.
Just him, Ethan, and Lock Parker—
Heading silently toward his seaside villa.
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A/N: Support Via Powerstone And Collections
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