Sherlock had no idea how deeply he had traumatized Yinsen.
Watching him bend over and nearly empty his stomach after taking lives for the first time was oddly reassuring.
At least now Yinsen could see that Sherlock was human, not some demon walking the earth.
Yinsen still thought the method had been unnecessarily cruel, but he felt no sympathy for the terrorists themselves.
He had grown up in this region and knew exactly what these men had done to innocent people.
Compared to their crimes, even Sherlock’s brutality felt like punishment they had brought upon themselves.
As the three men gathered in the valley, heavy footsteps echoed from the cave, accompanied by the grinding clang of metal.
A hulking figure made entirely of steel appeared at the entrance.
“Sherlock!
Yinsen!
I’m coming to help!” The voice arrived before the man did, but there was no mistaking Tony Stark.
The moment Tony lumbered out of the cave in the heavy Mark I, however, he froze.
He stood motionless at the entrance, staring at the scene before him as though the armor’s operating system had crashed again.
Behind the iron mask, Tony’s expression became complicated as his gaze settled on Sherlock, who was being supported by the man named John Wick near the center of the valley.
First, a perfectly circular hole had appeared in the cave wall and released a torrent of water.
Then John Wick had emerged from it and immediately shouted Sherlock’s name in fury.
Now that same man was holding Sherlock upright while he vomited his stomach out.
Everything pointed to the same conclusion.
This young man possessed abilities Tony could not understand, and he was responsible for the hellish scene spread across the valley.
More importantly, he was nothing like the Sherlock Tony remembered.
Seeing Tony remain frozen at the cave entrance, Yinsen walked over and patted the thick plating of the Mark I.
“Snap out of it, Tony.
Believe me, compared to what those men did to others, what happened here could only be called deserved—even if the method was far from humane.” “Yinsen, that isn’t what I—” Yinsen raised a hand and cut him off.
Then he pointed toward the weapon crates marked with the Stark Industries logo.
“Forget those men for a moment.
This is what you should be looking at.” Tony followed his gaze and finally noticed the Stark Industries crates scattered throughout the valley.
His disbelief was immediate.
“That’s impossible!” He maneuvered the enormous armor toward the two nearest crates and smashed them open.
Inside were several rockets he had personally designed and Stark Industries had manufactured.
“No.
No, this is wrong!
I’ve never authorized the sale of my weapons to anyone outside the military.
This isn’t how it’s supposed to work!” Tony continued breaking open crates around him.
Each one revealed more weapons bearing his company’s name, leaving him no choice but to accept what was directly in front of him.
After drawing a long breath, Tony seemed to make a decision.
“Yinsen, take those two and get out of here.” Yinsen stared at him.
“What about you?
Tony, once the rest of these men return and see what happened, they won’t let you leave alive.
You need to come with us, not stay behind.” Tony’s voice only became firmer.
“Don’t worry.
I’m leaving too, but first I have to destroy every weapon in this valley.
My company helped turn this place into what it is, so I have a responsibility to make sure these weapons can never be used again.” Yinsen opened his mouth to object, but Tony spoke over him.
“Trust me, Yinsen.
I’m a genius, and there are still far too many things waiting for me out there.
I’m not planning to die in this desert.
Besides, you helped build this suit.
You know what it can do.” That finally convinced Yinsen to stop arguing.
He returned to Sherlock and John and explained Tony’s decision.
Sherlock agreed without hesitation.
Before leaving, however, he slipped a ring through a gap in the Mark I’s faceplate and told Tony it was a tracking device that would allow them to locate him afterward.
The kidnapping had taught Tony to be more cautious, but Sherlock and John had clearly come to rescue him.
He accepted the device without protest.
Unfortunately, the armor left him with nowhere to put it, so Tony had no choice but to hold the ring in his mouth.
Once Tony accepted the tracker, Sherlock immediately left the valley with John and Yinsen.
Following his directions, the two men supported him as they headed back toward the hidden bunker.
Halfway there, Sherlock abruptly stopped.
He reached into one of his storage rings and produced three chairs, followed by a large assortment of food and bottled water.
Without explaining anything, he arranged the chairs facing the valley and sat down.
Apparently driven by some childish sense of mischief, Sherlock also handed John and Yinsen a pair of binoculars each.
He refused to explain what they were waiting for.
He simply ate his food and occasionally raised the binoculars to look toward the valley.
They waited long enough that even Yinsen began to grow impatient.
Then a massive explosion tore through the camp.
A huge ball of fire surged into the sky, forming a mushroom-shaped cloud above the valley.
From within the smoke, a small black figure shot into the air with a thick trail of soot streaming behind it.
It flew toward them, passed directly overhead in an awkward, barely controlled arc, and continued deep into the desert.
Only then did John and Yinsen understand why Sherlock had stopped and handed them binoculars.
He wanted to watch Tony make a fool of himself.
To be fair, the sight of Tony flying past them in the Mark I had been genuinely ridiculous.