"..."
Tony and Yinsen exchanged a glance and saw the same unspoken shock in each other's eyes.
These terrorists were no ordinary rabble. Most of the weapons in their hands were high-end equipment from Stark Industries.
On top of that, with all that heavy firepower, there was no way they could have armed themselves that well without powerful backing.
And yet this elite group of terrorists had been wiped out in less than the time it took to turn one's head.
And all Fenris had done was raise a hand.
"I'm going to build a weapon like that someday."
At that moment, Tony's eyes burned as he looked at Fenris. Inside that genius mind of his, several new plans were already beginning to take shape.
"Forget that. Let's move."
Yinsen tugged at the stunned Tony and helped him to his feet, half-supporting him as they made their way to the cave entrance beside Fenris.
The smell of blood hit them head-on, and the crimson mess all over the ground made both men feel a wave of instinctive nausea.
"You get used to it."
Fenris, however, did not change expression in the slightest. His face remained utterly calm.
"Tony?"
Yinsen glanced at Tony beside him, whose face had gone ashen. This had to be the third or fourth time today he had gone blank like this.
"I was thinking... the casualties caused by Stark weapons must number far beyond this."
In front of Yinsen, Tony voiced his true thoughts without holding anything back.
"But all those years, I sat comfortably inside a lab and never knew the outside world looked like this."
Tony's gaze swept slowly across the area outside.
Even though he was seeing sunlight again for the first time in far too long, all his attention had settled on the rows of weapons crates outside.
Each of them was stamped clearly with the Stark Industries logo. After the blast, most of the crates had splintered into broken boards, exposing the fine weapons hidden inside.
"Yinsen, these are the things that sent all those cover girls one after another into my arms."
After a pause, Tony suddenly let out a sigh.
"But I don't think my inventions were ever used the way I imagined they would be."
"..."
Yinsen silently turned his head away.
His hometown, Gulmira, had also been destroyed by Stark weapons.
"If there's something you want to do, then do it, Tony."
Yinsen encouraged him. After spending months together day and night, he already understood Tony well enough.
He knew Tony was not nearly as heartless as he looked on the surface. He had a warm heart.
"Huh?"
Yinsen's encouragement stirred something in Tony, but on the surface he still acted unimpressed, turning instead to look at the quiet Fenris beside him.
By now, Tony had accumulated countless questions about this superhuman who had saved him.
Who exactly was he?
What were his abilities?
And more than that...
Which one of his father's friends had sent Fenris all the way out here to rescue him?
But when the words reached his lips, it seemed he felt that firing off so many questions at once in front of Fenris would make him look cheap, so he abruptly changed course.
"Where's the pickup team?"
"I'm the only one who found this place."
Fenris answered honestly.
"What? You came alone?"
This time it was Yinsen who grew anxious.
"Tony can't wait around. He won't survive out here in the desert."
"Yinsen."
Tony stopped him.
He had seen with his own eyes that Fenris had stepped out from a mirror suspended in empty air. He knew that if Fenris had dared come alone, then he definitely had a way to get them out.
"Let's go."
Fenris waved a hand, and to the utter disbelief in both their eyes, a portal crackling with sparks opened up.
"Spatial technology..."
Tony muttered to himself, his gaze on Fenris already blazing with excitement.
His physical conditioning was terrifying. His explosive force was overwhelming. In a cramped space like that cave, he had managed to slaughter dozens of heavily armed terrorists while keeping Tony completely unharmed, which meant his neural reaction speed had to be absurdly fast.
Even Captain America, supposedly the peak of human physical performance, would have been completely outclassed in front of him.
Then there was that light-based attack, and now this spatial technology...
If Tony could reproduce even one of those abilities, it would be enough to change the world.
Compared to technology this far beyond the current age, spending his time and genius on gunpowder, rockets, and weapons research suddenly felt like a complete waste.
Tony knew that hidden superpowered groups existed on Earth. And with the mutant situation making such a massive uproar not long ago, someone at his level naturally knew the truth behind it.
He did not know whether Fenris was one of those so-called mutants, but he was absolutely certain of one thing. Even among the entire superhuman population, Fenris's power would stand at the very top.
"No. I can't let him get away."
Tony made up his mind on the spot that no matter what, he was going to pull this young man with limitless potential over to his side.
As the portal opened wider, the scene on the other side gradually came into view.
It was an office, spacious and imposing, though papers and files lay scattered all over the floor.
It was obvious the owner of the office had not been in a very good mood.
"Fenris! You're back again!"
"Can you at least knock before coming into my office?"
"I really think you should spend some time at that school learning basic manners."
From the other side of the portal, an exasperated voice suddenly rang out.
"You promised me you'd bring Tony Stark back safe and sound. If I don't see him with my own eyes, then the high-density fuel you asked for is absolutely not getting handed over to—"
"—you."
Barely a few hours had passed since Fenris had left. The instant Nick Fury caught sight of those familiar sparks forming in empty space from the corner of his eye, he lifted his dark face from behind the desk piled high with files.
He had only gotten halfway through the sentence before his gaze met a pale face he had been trying to find for months.
"Tony Stark?"
Tony stepped curiously through the portal. One step was all it took to cross tens of thousands of kilometers, going from the deserts of the Middle East to a bustling city.
The bizarre experience made Tony walk back and forth through it several times.
Until, in one abrupt turn of his head, he found himself meeting the eager stare of a bald Black man.
"You are...?"
Tony frowned and instinctively took half a step back.
"My name is Nick Fury. I was a friend of your father's. I'm the one who sent Fenris to rescue you."
Looking at Tony's guarded expression, all of Nick's anger and frustration from moments ago had long since vanished. He forced a friendly smile onto his face and brought up Howard's name, hoping to ease Tony's suspicion.
Seeing Tony Stark standing here alive in front of him, the smile in Nick's eyes could barely be concealed.
Last time, SHIELD had been the first to get hold of the evidence against Stryker.
And now once again, SHIELD was the first to find the missing Tony Stark.
This time, Nick Fury was going to see what excuses the idiots at the CIA, the FBI, and the military still had to block his next funding request.
"My father?"
Sure enough, once Howard's name was mentioned, Tony visibly steadied.
But looking at Nick Fury's dark skin, he still could not help asking:
"Decades ago, you... were friends with my father?"
(End of Chapter)
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