And so began Ethan’s life as a prisoner of war.
However, being held captive alongside a genius as valuable as Tony Stark was naturally very different from being treated like disposable cannon fodder.
As a Foundation agent who supposedly possessed knowledge about anomalies, Ethan’s value had risen considerably.
On top of that, Tony had specifically demanded that both Ethan and Yinsen assist him in “manufacturing” the Jericho missile.
As a result, Ethan and Dr.
Yinsen only needed to serve as Tony Stark’s assistants, ostensibly helping him build the missile.
The Atala militants desperately wanted the Jericho missile.
Although the conditions in the cave were crude, they were willing to satisfy almost every request Tony made.
So while Tony outwardly appeared willing to manufacture a Jericho missile for the Atala organization, by the third day he had already drawn up a rough blueprint for the Mark I armor and shown it to Ethan and Dr.
Yinsen.
Ethan naturally supported Tony’s plan alongside Yinsen.
He knew the plot well enough to understand that without the prototype Mark I armor, there was absolutely no way they would be able to carve out an escape route.
Fortunately, the Atala militants weren’t exactly educated.
They had surveillance equipment monitoring the trio’s movements, but in the beginning, they couldn’t understand what Tony and the others were actually building.
Meanwhile, the Atala organization had also dispatched personnel to investigate the region near Bagram Air Base and determine whether any anomalous activity had actually appeared.
Their investigation unexpectedly turned up something.
According to the reports, a valley roughly eighty kilometers from Bagram Air Base had indeed experienced an anomaly.
Something terrible had supposedly happened to a village in that area.
Eager to obtain supernatural power, the Atala organization dispatched a sixteen-man armed squad to investigate the village.
Because part of Ethan’s information had now been verified, his life was spared.
If they truly managed to obtain some kind of supernatural object, they might still need the assistance of a Foundation agent like him.
As a result, the Atala militants actually improved Ethan’s treatment.
At the very least, his meals were now on the same level as Tony’s.
By this point, the cave where Ethan, Tony, and Yinsen were being held had already been transformed by Tony into a crude workshop.
Filled with improvised machinery and a rough industrial atmosphere, this primitive cave workshop was where the first Iron Man armor would be born.
In his previous life, Ethan had been a science-fiction enthusiast.
The chance to personally witness the birth of Iron Man—especially seeing the Mark I go from nothing to reality—was something he found genuinely fascinating.
And so, inside that crude cave workshop, Tony directed Ethan and Yinsen as they dismantled large numbers of older Stark Industries missiles.
Their goal was to obtain palladium, the crucial energy source needed to power the Mark I prototype.
The days passed one after another.
Ethan didn’t waste the opportunity.
During this period, he asked Tony Stark a great deal about science and technology.
Although Ethan barely understood engineering, the technological development path of his previous world differed significantly from that of the Marvel universe.
Because of that, several ideas he brought up during their discussions actually gave Tony new inspiration.
Ethan had to admit that Tony truly was an extraordinary technological genius.
Compared to watching him put on armor and fight, Ethan actually felt that if Tony ever settled down and devoted himself entirely to scientific research, humanity’s Technology Tree in the Marvel universe might someday advance all the way to the level of an interstellar civilization.
It was precisely because the gap in technical knowledge was so enormous that the Mark I could be assembled right under the militants’ noses without them realizing what they were looking at.
Around half a month passed.
By then, the various components of the Mark I, including its weapons and power systems, were nearly complete.
However, now that the Mark I had taken shape, the testing stage became much more dangerous.
Any obvious mistake could expose what they were really building.
In the original Iron Man storyline, this was exactly why Tony had ultimately been forced to wear the hastily completed Mark I into battle before it was fully ready.
So whenever they tested the armor, Ethan had to be extremely careful.
The slightest mistake could alert the terrorists.
Just as another round of testing came to an end, voices suddenly sounded from outside the door.
They were speaking in an Afghan language.
A moment later, several Atala militants violently shoved the door open.
Ethan’s heart tightened.
What’s going on?
Did they discover us?
The three of them immediately became tense.
Then the man in charge of the Atala organization at this base—a fierce-looking bald leader—pointed at Ethan.
“You.” “Come with us.” Ethan’s expression became uneasy.
Before he could figure out what was happening, the system’s mechanical voice sounded in his mind once again.
[Ding!
The Atala organization’s investigation of the anomaly has failed.] [The failure has strengthened the Atala organization’s belief in the existence of anomalies.] [Rumor Points increased by 500.] Ethan immediately relaxed.
So this was about the anomaly.
He was brought back to the same interrogation room as before.
This time, however, the person conducting the interrogation was the actual leader of the Atala forces stationed at this base.
The moment Ethan sat down, the junior commander from before glared at him and shouted, “Damned agent of Uncle Sam!” “Because of your intelligence, we lost thirty men!” Ethan’s expression remained calm, as though the result had been entirely within his expectations.
“Isn’t that perfectly normal?” “Even an organization as powerful as the Foundation pays a considerable price when containing dangerous anomalies.” “With your organization’s current capabilities, sacrificing merely thirty lives just to confirm that anomalies truly exist…” “Wouldn’t you say that was an extremely worthwhile exchange?” The junior commander opened his mouth to respond, but the bald leader raised a hand and stopped him.
“Enough.” “He’s right.” The leader turned his attention back to Ethan.
“Then, Mr.
Ethan, would you be willing to assist us in containing those anomalies?” “In exchange, we’ll give you your freedom.” Ethan gave a faint smile.
“I’m not trying to look down on your organization, but containing anomalies isn’t that simple.” “Even if the federal forces at Bagram Air Base were fully mobilized, they still wouldn’t necessarily have a one-hundred-percent chance of success.” The bald leader grinned.
But the threat behind that smile was unmistakable.
“That’s exactly why we need your assistance, Mr.
Ethan.” “I can help you.” Ethan met his gaze.
“But I’ll need intelligence and logistical support.” “Anything except weapons.” “In that case…” Ethan smiled.
“We have a deal.”