Before leaving, Tony said something inexplicable to him: that he owed him two minutes. But time was tight, so Ronin didn't ask for details.
As soon as he walked out of the hall, Ronin immediately canceled his transformation state. Then he saw a swift figure running into the hall—it was that guy Thomas!
"I am the embodiment of justice, the judge of evil! Endless light shines upon me. I will cleanse the darkness and bring light back to the world. I… am Soldier: 76!"
Thomas made his shining debut in the Soldier: 76 uniform, his chuunibyou soul burning fiercely.
Everyone stared at him in dumbfounded silence. Only Tony shook his head and gave him a look of concern for the mentally disabled.
"Huh? Where is everyone?"
Thomas spun around on the spot. After seeing the bodies all over the floor, he smiled awkwardly and said, "Mr. Iron Man, you're still the best!"
Cromwell and the others were a bit confused. Could this guy really be the wise and courageous Mr. Ronin? Why did he seem like an idiot?
"Hey, where's Mr. Ronin?" Thomas didn't see Ronin and felt a little panicked.
"I'm right here, Soldier: 76. Thank you for saving everyone!"
Ronin swaggered in through the main entrance and gave Thomas a slight nod. "This is the second time you've saved me. I'm very grateful!"
Whoa!
The boss actually nodded to him in thanks—so cool!
???
Cromwell, Hill, and several others were completely stunned. Soldier: 76 was clearly Mr. Ronin, so how could Mr. Ronin appear in the same frame as Soldier: 76? Was there more than one Soldier: 76? Or was "Soldier: 76" just a codename that anyone could use?
Their minds were in complete chaos.
Ronin had felt a little guilty at first. His transformation changed everything from head to toe, including his voice. Thomas only matched the height; nothing else fit Soldier: 76's appearance.
Soldier: 76 had silver-white hair, while Thomas had brown. Soldier: 76 had a scar on his forehead, but Thomas didn't. Soldier: 76 had very fair skin, yet Thomas was as dark as a ghost.
But what stood before him now was an utterly convincing Soldier: 76, even the voice was identical.
Alright, this had to be Tony's handiwork. He'd have to thank him properly later.
He needed to learn this kind of transformation technique—it was way too cool!
Changing the voice wasn't hard. He could extract Soldier: 76's voice data from the movies, load it into a voice changer, and install it in the gas mask. But turning the skin white? That was impressive. Did they use some kind of strong bleaching powder?
At that moment, the reporters rushed in—click click click…
Ninjutsu: Infinite Continuous Shooting Technique!
Seeing the reporters, both Ronin and Tony felt their heads swell. They immediately tried to find a way to slip away.
Well, they had overthought it. The reporters were all swarming Soldier: 76 for interviews and had nothing to do with the two of them.
It was the first time they had been ignored by reporters. It felt like being sent to the cold palace.
Tony felt a little tangled inside. Wherever he went, wasn't he always the most dazzling star? This time he had actually been sidelined by the reporters? How could that be acceptable? He had to reclaim his pride!
Tony paced back and forth in front of the reporters, but none came to interview him. He even removed his armor to reveal his handsome face—still nothing. All the reporters surrounded Soldier: 76.
Fine. Reporters were a profession that loved the new and grew tired of the old.
"Are you really Soldier: 76? Wow, you're so cool!"
"Soldier: 76, where did you come from and where are you going?"
"Soldier: 76, can you describe what happened in this malicious attack?"
Surrounded by a crowd of young female reporters, Thomas felt light as a feather, as if he were in paradise—everything felt wonderfully perfect.
"Don't rush, ask one by one. I'll answer one by one. We have plenty of time…"
Thomas wished he could chat with these young ladies for a long time. If possible, he wouldn't mind booking a room to talk slowly.
Unable to watch Thomas brag any longer, Ronin put his arm around Tony's shoulder and the two walked out together. Their backs looked lonely and cold.
Two old guys eliminated by the times leaned on each other for warmth, finding a trace of solace in one another in this heartless world.
Inside a hamburger shop, Ronin and Tony ate burgers and drank Coke, chatting casually.
The entire shop belonged only to them because Tony had directly booked the whole place.
"Tony, I'm really curious how you turned Thomas into that appearance."
Ronin called Iron Man by his first name. At first they had only a cooperative relationship, but today Tony had rushed over to save him without asking for any reason. From this alone, Tony was a friend worth making.
He didn't believe Tony would actually fall for the stupid idea that had been thrown out in an emergency—something about writing a script and having him come over. The agreement they had made less than three minutes earlier had been scrapped. Thinking back, it was ridiculous—barely enough to fool a three-year-old.
"That's very simple. We can talk about it later. Let's discuss business first. Thomas said you've drafted the initial script." Tony spoke very seriously.
Ronin's expression became complicated. "You didn't actually believe it, did you?"
Tony frowned, his tone turning a bit stern. "Thomas lied to me?"
"Ah… the situation was urgent. Thomas came up with that method to save me, because it was the only way to get you here as fast as possible. Sorry for deceiving you." Ronin explained and apologized.
Hearing this, Tony smiled and shrugged. "It's no big deal. Anyway, I was planning to find some time to deliver the battle suit case to you."
"As compensation, I've decided to show you a passionate, exciting video." Ronin took out his phone.
"Video? Passionate and exciting? Sorry, I'm not interested in that kind of thing."
Tony glanced at Ronin warily and subconsciously shrank back a little.
Ronin puffed out his cheeks, almost laughing out loud. "It's not what you're thinking."
"Besides that, what other video could be called passionate and exciting?" Tony thought for a moment and said with some excitement, "Could it be the 'Winston' trailer!"
"Very close to the correct answer." Ronin guided him patiently.
Tony took a big bite of his burger and thought while eating.
Did eating burgers help with thinking? Ronin also took a bite, but not for thinking—it was purely for desire: to eat!
While eating, Tony suddenly had a flash of insight. He pointed his index finger and tapped the table heavily. "The 'Winston' trailer, right?"
Ronin nodded. Tony Stark truly deserved to be one of the smartest people in the world. He just couldn't understand why Tony had believed Thomas's nonsense—it was truly puzzling.
So the two of them watched this passionate video together.
The trailer was only two and a half minutes long. After watching it, both of them felt their blood boiling. They wanted to find someone to fight right away, yet they still felt unsatisfied and wished Winston could be released immediately.
"Such a hype movie!" was Tony's evaluation.
"You're only seeing the surface. Trailers are all like this—they rely on hype to attract the audience. In fact, the whole movie will convey a lot of deeper meaning."
The scripts of the Overwatch series weren't just about hype; they also contained things that made people think on a deeper level. This was the charm of the Overwatch movie series.
In one more day, Overwatch Pictures would release the trailer across the entire internet to build anticipation for Winston's release and create buzz.
Believe it—on that day, the whole world would be boiling with excitement!