At noon the next day.
A C-5 transport aircraft landed at a military airfield on the outskirts of Los Angeles.
After the rear cargo door opened, Roy, Tony, and Rhodes walked down from the aircraft.
Tony didn’t hesitate for a moment.
He headed straight toward Pepper, who was dressed in professional attire, and Happy, who wore a neatly pressed suit.
Before long, he reached Pepper.
“Red eyes.
Missed your missing boss that much?” Tony teased.
“I’m happy.” Pepper replied.
“Happy that I don’t have to look for another job.” She then turned toward Roy beside Tony and said gratefully, “Thank you.” “You paid me to solve your problem.
No need to thank me.” Roy replied.
Pepper was about to say something else when Tony spoke.
“Did you bring the checkbook?” “I did.” Pepper immediately took a checkbook and fountain pen from her handbag and handed them to Tony.
Tony accepted them without hesitation and began writing.
A moment later, he tore off a check worth $30.5 million and held it out to Roy.
Roy accepted it, glanced at the amount, and smiled in satisfaction.
The instant the check entered his hand, system information visible only to him appeared before his eyes.
[Commission: Rescue Tony Stark] [Commission Status: Completed] [Commission Reward: Become the One-Tail Jinchūriki — Reward Issued] As the system notification appeared, an enormous mass of chakra materialized within Roy’s body out of nowhere.
It did not merge with his own chakra.
Instead, it was implanted into his body in the form of a seal.
At its core, a Jinchūriki was a human vessel with a Tailed Beast sealed inside them.
Naturally, the One-Tail’s Tailed Beast chakra wouldn’t simply merge with Roy’s own chakra.
Although Roy had now become the One-Tail Jinchūriki, his situation was completely different from Gaara’s.
That was because rewards granted by the system would never be living beings with independent consciousness.
In other words, Roy didn’t need to reach an understanding with a Tailed Beast.
He had immediately become a Perfect Jinchūriki capable of undergoing a complete Tailed Beast transformation.
Roy stored the check inside his system storage and said to Tony, “If you run into anything troublesome in the future, you can come find me in Hell’s Kitchen, Manhattan, and hire me.” “No need to wait until the future.
I’ve got a job for you right now.” Tony replied immediately.
“What kind of job?” Roy asked.
“This isn’t the place to talk.
Let’s discuss it in the car.” With that, Tony headed toward the Rolls-Royce parked behind Pepper and Happy.
Once inside, Roy closed the door.
“All right.
What do you want to hire me for?” “I want you to act as my secret bodyguard and protect both me and Pepper until I figure out exactly who has been selling Stark Industries weapons to terrorists.” Tony didn’t beat around the bush.
He looked at Roy seriously.
“I’m a private investigator, not a bodyguard.” Roy replied.
Tony immediately countered, “Traveling halfway across the planet to rescue a hostage from terrorists isn’t exactly standard private-investigator work either.” The moment he finished speaking, the system completed its evaluation and displayed a new commission.
[Commission: Serve as Tony Stark’s Secret Bodyguard] [Commission Status: Incomplete] [Commission Reward: Lightning Style: Chidori] Roy closed the system panel.
“Thirty million.” “No problem.” Tony agreed without a second thought.
Thirty million dollars was undeniably expensive.
But for Tony, it was entirely acceptable.
After discussing a few details concerning the protection arrangement, Tony called Pepper and Happy into the car.
Happy took the driver’s seat.
Pepper sat in the front passenger seat.
Happy asked, “Where to, sir?” Before Tony could answer, Pepper spoke first.
“The hospital.” “No.” Tony immediately rejected the idea.
“Tony, you need to go to the hospital and get checked out.” Pepper turned around and looked at him.
Tony met her gaze seriously.
“I said no.
Don’t force me to go to the hospital.” “I’ve been locked up for three months.
Right now, there are only two things I want to do.” “First, I want a cheeseburger.” “Second—” Before Tony could finish, Pepper cut him off.
“You really are hopelessly horny.” “Not that.” Tony immediately corrected her.
“I want to hold a press conference.” A press conference?
Pepper looked at him in confusion.
“The press conference can wait.” Tony ignored her and looked toward Happy.
“Drive.
Let’s get a cheeseburger.” …
Half an hour later.
Stark Industries headquarters.
The first-floor lobby.
Camera flashes erupted nonstop.
Surrounded by a crowd, Tony walked toward the podium with the cheeseburger he’d just bought in hand and Obadiah beside him.
The moment Roy entered the lobby, he spotted a familiar figure.
The guide NPC of Marvel’s newbie zone!
A Level 8 S.H.I.E.L.D.
agent!
The textbook example of an American secret agent!
One of the trusted subordinates of S.H.I.E.L.D.
Director Nick “Motherf***er” Fury!
Phil Coulson!
Roy wasn’t surprised in the slightest to see Coulson here.
Coulson, however, clearly hadn’t expected Roy to be here as well.
The instant he spotted Roy, a possibility flashed through his mind.
Without wasting any time, Coulson quickly approached Roy and Pepper.
“Roy.
It’s been a while.” Coulson greeted him.
“Not that long.
Only a few months.” Roy replied.
Coulson turned toward Pepper.
“Hello, Ms.
Potts.
I’m Agent Phil Coulson with S.H.I.E.L.D.
Would you have a few minutes to talk?” Pepper frowned slightly and looked at him in confusion.
“S.H.I.E.L.D.?” Even Tony had never heard of S.H.I.E.L.D.
before.
Naturally, Pepper hadn’t either.
Coulson handed her his business card.
“We’re a special agency.” Pepper accepted it and slowly said, “The Department of Defense, FBI, CIA, and military have all already contacted us.” “We’re different.
Our responsibilities are a little more specialized.” “We’d like to know the details of how Mr.
Stark escaped.” As he finished speaking, Coulson’s gaze shifted toward Roy.
“No need to guess.
I rescued him.” “I accepted a commission from Ms.
Potts and made a special trip to Afghanistan.” “As for the exact details, there’s no need to go into them.” “Knowing that I was the one who rescued him should be enough for you to file your report.” Roy spoke at an unhurried pace.
Coulson was about to ask something else when Colonel Rhodes approached Pepper.
“What exactly is Tony planning to announce?” “I don’t know what he’s doing either.” Pepper replied immediately.
At the same time, Tony, who was seated in front of the podium, began to speak.
“I never got to say goodbye to my father.” “If I had, I’d want to ask him what he thought about producing weapons.” “Did it ever trouble him?” “Did he ever have doubts?” “Or was he really the uncompromising hard-ass the media always made him out to be?” “I saw young soldiers killed with my own eyes.” “Killed by the very weapons I’d designed to protect them.” “And I realized that I’d become part of a world that refused to take responsibility…” At that point, Tony rose to his feet and walked to the microphone at the podium.
His expression became utterly serious.
“I’ve had my eyes opened.” “I’ve realized that I have more to offer this world than just making weapons.” “So, effective immediately, I am shutting down Stark Industries’ weapons manufacturing division until I can determine a new direction for the company!” Pepper, Obadiah, Rhodes, and every reporter in the lobby stared at Tony in disbelief.
The only person who wasn’t surprised was Roy.
As the reporters erupted into frantic questions, Roy took his phone out of his system storage and sent a message to his stockbroker.
Before leaving for Afghanistan to rescue Tony, Roy had already contacted his broker and instructed him to short Stark Industries stock.
He wasn’t exactly short on money.
But that didn’t mean he minded using the “insider information” that came naturally with being a transmigrator to make himself a nice profit.