Tony raised both palms. Two repulsor blasts shot out—basically palm cannons, for anyone who needs it explained in plain English.
Boom!
The gun-toting thugs in civilian clothes were blasted into a daze, completely disoriented.
Bullets pinged off Tony's armor with sharp metallic ding-ding-ding sounds. Even though the Mark V was lightweight and thin, ordinary bullets couldn't scratch it.
Thomas had been about to suit up as Soldier: 76, but one look at the situation made him drop the idea. These were just low-rent terrorists. Iron Man could handle them easily—it wasn't worth stepping in.
Ronin let out a sigh of relief as the attackers dropped one after another, but he was still confused.
Hadn't they already taken out the mercenaries' hideout? So why were people still coming after him?
Who the hell was watching him like a shadow? Every time he showed his face in public, someone tried to take a shot. Did they think he was an easy target?
If they really pushed him too far, he wouldn't mind transforming into Soldier: 76 and hunting the mastermind to the ends of the earth.
Ronin made up his mind: in the next few days, he would use every connection he had to find out exactly who was pulling the strings. Otherwise, he'd be stuck hiding at home, too scared to go anywhere.
He didn't mind being a homebody, but there was a big difference between choosing to stay in and being forced to. Being locked down felt like prison—you'd go stir-crazy eventually. Even if he stayed in voluntarily, he still had to go to the office for work. He sure as hell didn't want to get blown up by a missile on the way there.
The gunfire finally stopped. Tony scanned the area, confirmed the threat was gone, and retracted the armor. The Mark V folded neatly back into the red briefcase.
People who had hidden inside the theater had watched the whole thing. Even after the shooting ended, they stayed frozen in fear for a long time before daring to come out.
They were incredibly grateful Iron Man had been there. Without him, who knew how many innocent lives would have been lost?
A kid on a skateboard rolled up, staring at the briefcase in Tony's hand with pure admiration. "Mr. Stark, is that your latest suit? It looks so freaking cool!"
Tony's lips curved into a small, satisfied smirk. "Mark V. Portable armor. I finished it just a few days ago."
Once Pepper calmed down, she rushed out of the car and threw her arms around Tony. The attack had scared her badly.
Tony gently patted her back. "It's okay, Pepper."
Then he carefully pushed her away and turned to Ronin with a serious expression. "I think you should lay low for a while. You might've become a real thorn in someone's side."
Ronin nodded, then let out a cold snort. "Then this thorn is going to stab that person's eyes out."
"Go home and get some rest. We'll talk about the script another day." Tony patted his shoulder.
It was obvious Ronin was in a bad mood. The string of terrorist attacks over the past few days had all been aimed at him—one at the bar, one at the film summit, and now this smaller-scale hit today.
With just his own power, it was hard to fight back against the shadowy figures hiding in the dark. Those people never came at you openly. They always waited for the moment you let your guard down and then stabbed you in the back.
As soon as Ronin got in the car, Lucy called.
"Mr. Ronin, I just heard there was a terrorist attack at the International Cinema. Are you okay?"
Ronin answered in a relaxed tone, "With Iron Man right next to me, what could possibly happen? Don't worry."
He didn't want to dump his bad mood on anyone else. He was happy to share the good times, but he kept the worries to himself.
"That's good… I should've come with you."
Lucy sounded full of regret. If she had been there, at least she could have kept an eye on him in person and known right away if he was safe. Staying home meant she could only worry herself sick—she never wanted to feel that panic again.
"It's fine. There'll be plenty more chances. Dear Miss Brent, I'm officially inviting you right now: come watch the future Iron Man movie with me."
Ronin realized that after spending so much time around Tony, he hadn't picked up any good habits—just a talent for smooth-talking.
Lucy agreed without hesitation. After what had just happened, she realized Ronin held a big place in her heart. He wasn't just the guy who signed her paycheck—he was a good friend she could talk to about anything.
"Thomas, who do you think is behind this?"
After hanging up, Ronin fell into deep thought. If he didn't wipe these people out once and for all, he probably wouldn't even sleep well at night.
Thomas furrowed his thick brows and said carefully, "First, let me make it clear—this is just my personal guess and opinion. It has nothing to do with anyone else. Sir, just treat it like a joke and don't take it too seriously."
"Spit it out!"
Ronin was getting impatient. He had no idea where Thomas had picked up these annoying habits. Had his chuunibyou soul spread to every part of his body?
Thomas looked completely serious. "I suspect it's one of your business competitors."
Ronin was speechless. He almost wanted to smack the guy. Did that even need guessing?
Besides competitors, who else would waste time hiring people to attack him every day? He didn't think he was America's public enemy, or the world's for that matter. He hadn't done anything especially world-changing, but he also hadn't done anything evil. At least he gave people some entertainment in their free time.
So it had to be a competitor. But which one? Cromwell? Hill? Or some other big shot? That didn't make sense. After seeing how powerful Overwatch Films had become, they shouldn't be stupid enough to pick a fight.
"Have you considered Flying Films?" Thomas asked.
"Flying Films…"
Ronin muttered the name under his breath. He had killed their CEO—how could Flying Films still cause trouble?
The more he thought about it, though, the more possible it seemed. Flying Films had been the first to target Overwatch. Maybe some of Charlie's people were still around and shared his way of thinking.
Like Hydra—cut off one head, and two more grow back. If someone had inherited Charlie's mindset, they might launch a fierce revenge attack.
If they couldn't work together, then only destruction remained.
Overwatch Films was too big for them to take down directly. The only simple and effective way was to kill him.
Ronin's thoughts suddenly clicked into place. "Thomas, I'm giving you a 20% raise on this month's salary."
He had considered many possibilities but had ruled out Flying Films, thinking the company would fall apart after Charlie's death. Now he realized how naïve that had been.
Only Flying Films would go to such lengths to mess with him.
Yes—it had to be them!
Thomas grinned inside. He could hit the nightclubs again and blow off some steam.
When they got home, Thomas smoothly shifted into neutral, released the clutch, pulled the handbrake, and killed the engine in one fluid motion.
As soon as he stepped out of the car, Ronin's phone rang again—an unknown number.
The voice on the other end sounded urgent. "Mr. Ronin, this is Falcon Special Forces. We just finished the interrogation. The people who hired the attackers were from Flying Films. The current CEO is Sammy Walton, cousin of the former CEO Spark Charlie."
Just as expected…
"We went to Flying Films to arrest him, but he wasn't there. He wasn't at his home either. So please be extremely careful. It's best if you stay at a police station or find somewhere secure to wait until we complete our operation."
"Got it."
Ronin hung up and instinctively scanned the surroundings. He signaled Thomas not to get out of the car.
At that moment, two groups of well-dressed, muscular men in suits appeared on either side of the villa.
The suits would have been fine, except they were all carrying various guns—and one of them was shouldering a damn rocket launcher. Come on, guys, that's a bit much!
Were these the legendary suited thugs?
Finally, a short man (actually about 5'5") stepped forward, cigar clamped in his mouth. Next to his tall, burly suited goons, he looked like a dwarf.