A chaotic cave.
"Where is this?"
Rimuru, now back in slime form, was very confused. According to the original plot, when he exited the cave, he should have already reached the surface.
But now, after leaving one cave, he had entered another.
Since arriving here, Rimuru felt extremely uncomfortable, as if he had gone from a clear flowing river into a muddy puddle. The entire world felt shrouded in a dense fog.
Not only because of the darkness, but also because the magical energy here was extremely thin—completely different from the sealed cave.
Clang… clang!
A sound of hammering echoed. Rimuru looked around and saw an old man with messy hair, a beard, and a vest, continuously striking metal with a hammer.
When the slime saw the bearded old man, his eyes widened instantly.
Because that face was far too familiar to him.
Even if he was blind to Western faces, he would never forget this one—especially that iconic "lightbulb" on his chest.
[Tony Stark? Did I just travel into the Marvel universe?]
The Great Sage: "Yes."
After receiving confirmation, Rimuru still felt like he was dreaming.
He wanted to rule the anime world at will—and now even the Marvel universe? He never imagined that one moment he was in the Slime world's other dimension, and the next he had arrived in a cave in Afghanistan… and happened to meet the kidnapped Tony Stark.
Before Rimuru could take another step, he heard hurried footsteps.
Using his [Heat Source Detection], he clearly sensed more than a dozen armed men rushing toward the cave.
Had his identity been exposed?
Rimuru instinctively jumped aside and vanished into the darkness—but then realized something.
[I'm actually scared? These trash can't even catch normal monsters, let alone me!]
It turned out he was overthinking.
After entering the cave, the bald leader immediately grabbed Ethan and used tongs to hold a burning piece of coal, threatening to shove it into his mouth as he demanded information about Tony's whereabouts.
Seeing this, Rimuru felt like he had just suffered an "Aqua-level mental attack."
He remembered that in the original story, because Tony tested his armor leg system, the terrorists became suspicious, leading to this torture scene in front of him.
Ethan kept his mouth shut, refusing to say anything—even at the cost of his life. It was admirable.
One had to say, Tony's luck—or rather, his protagonist aura—was truly strong.
Even after being kidnapped, the script conveniently arranged such a capable assistant for him.
Without Ethan, Tony might have already died.
He not only performed surgery and saved Tony's life, but also acted as a bridge between Tony and the terrorists, even guiding Tony toward becoming a hero.
Originally, when Tony learned he had only a week left to live, he fell into despair—but it was Ethan who helped him regain his resolve.
In a sense, Ethan to Iron Man was like Uncle Ben to Spider-Man.
Unfortunately, as key characters, they were destined to die according to "the will of the universe."
Just as the bald man was about to force the coal into Ethan's mouth, Tony was forced to begin his emergency plan early, promising to deliver what they wanted within a few hours.
The crisis was temporarily averted.
Rimuru only had one thought about this: these terrorists were seriously uneducated.
Especially the guards watching the cave, who kept comparing images of Jericho missiles with Tony's armor parts.
One even insisted Tony's work didn't look like a missile at all.
Another joked from a different angle.
To this, Rimuru responded: "Ψ(￣￣)Ψ"
Because time was tight, Tony and Ethan were still working overtime deep into the night, racing against time to complete the final preparations.
Rimuru quietly moved into a blind spot of the cameras and transformed into human form.
Tony and Ethan were both startled when Rimuru suddenly appeared.
They immediately became extremely nervous—after all, they were at the most critical stage. Any mistake could ruin everything.
And Rimuru's appearance was too sudden and unnatural.
If Rimuru hadn't looked like a harmless little girl instead of a vicious terrorist, their hearts might have already stopped.
Even so, the atmosphere remained tense. Ethan swallowed repeatedly, clearly nervous and uncertain.
The firelight reflected off Rimuru's blue hair and golden eyes, making her look especially beautiful—which made Tony even more certain of his guess.
Tony raised his hands in a friendly gesture.
"Hey, kid, are you also a victim of this terrorist attack? Your blue hair is beautiful—are you a mutant? I don't discriminate against mutants. Maybe we can be friends!"
Tony's words were very well-crafted.
First, he framed Rimuru as a fellow victim like himself.
Second, he expressed no prejudice against mutants to reduce hostility.
Of course, if he could talk his way out of trouble, even better. If not, no harm done.
Rimuru shook his head.
"Wrong. I'm not a kidnapped victim, and I'm not a mutant. Also—I need to clarify something: I'm a boy!"
"Male?"
Tony and Ethan looked him over several times. Although not obvious, their expressions clearly said: you've got to be kidding.
Even in a dark cave, they weren't blind—they could tell the difference between male and female.
But now their lives were in the hands of this suddenly appearing "little girl," so they didn't dare argue. Staying alive was the priority.
"Alright, alright! Little guy, your position is good—our cameras can't see you. Just stay there and play for a while. Ethan and I still have work to do, okay?"
Tony smiled reassuringly—but it was a lie.
As long as they finished the armor, they would escape this deadly game.
Even if this "girl" was a hostile mutant, they still had ways to protect themselves.
Unlike now—he was powerless.
Hearing this, Rimuru rolled his eyes.
Did Tony think he was dealing with the same uneducated terrorists?
Rimuru directly said:
"You're not making a Jericho missile—you're making an escape suit: the Iron Man armor!"
In an instant, sweat covered Tony and Ethan's foreheads, and the air seemed to freeze.
Seeing their reaction, Rimuru smiled mischievously.
Tony and Ethan, not realizing they were being teased, suddenly wanted to hit him.
But they truly didn't dare.
A dragon trapped in shallow water being played by shrimp; a tiger bullied by dogs; a mischievous child was the most troublesome of all.
Clang… clang…
Ethan kept hammering, while Tony worked at the computer coding various systems.
Watching this, Rimuru couldn't help but sigh.
Tony Stark really was one of the biggest "cheats" in the Marvel universe—his tech tree was absurdly overpowered.
Especially regarding the Extremis virus research: Maya Hansen had studied it for over a decade, yet Tony surpassed her in a single night.
He had basically improvised everything on the spot.
Seeing such a "lucky" Tony, Rimuru became even more cautious.
The Marvel universe was full of traps—he had to be even more careful now.
After all, chaos development was the true way forward.
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