“Whew~ whew~ snore~ whew~ snore~”
Inside the bar, a drunk man was sprawled over a table, sleeping like the dead, his snores loud enough to shake the roof.
“Hey, buddy? Hey!”
A man walked over and tapped the drunk’s face with a gun, but there was no reaction at all.
The drunk continued sleeping soundly.
The man helplessly shook his head, lowered the gun, then pressed his palms together and rubbed them up and down while silently muttering something.
“Ugh! Cough, cough!”
The drunk instantly woke up and hurriedly crawled off the table, coughing toward the floor beside him.
Water was streaming from his mouth and nose.
…
“Who are you?” Ethan asked uncomfortably.
That sensation just now—being unable to breathe—had felt as though he were drowning.
The man didn’t answer.
He merely raised an eyebrow at Ethan.
Ethan covered his head.
Because of his hangover, his head was splitting with pain.
Combined with that suffocating sensation just now, he needed some time to recover.
The man also said nothing.
He simply sat quietly beside him, playing with the coin in his hand.
After being imprisoned on the brink of death for several years and finally escaping with his life, it was only natural that Ethan had let himself go a little.
He’d drunk quite a bit the previous night.
Under the combined effects of alcohol and the emotional release, Ethan had slept more comfortably than he had in the past three years.
But now that sleep had been interrupted, he felt terrible all over, and his head felt as though it were about to explode.
After quite some time, Ethan finally began to feel better.
He raised his head and looked at the man.
A very unfamiliar face…
Yet somehow, an incredibly familiar feeling.
It was a resolute face with sharply defined features, almost exactly like one of the heroes described in the myths of ancient Greece.
But those eyes?
Tony?
Had he gotten plastic surgery?
Those deep-set eyes gave him an air of carefree irreverence.
This guy…
“Adan? You’re Adan!”
Ethan sounded hesitant, but his certainty was unmistakable.
“Bingo! Correct answer! Here, this gun is your reward!”
Adan grinned and stuffed the gun he’d been holding into Ethan’s hands.
“OMG!”
Ethan jumped down from the bar table, spread his arms, and waved them around in disbelief.
“Adan, I really didn’t expect… you to be this young!”
It made sense.
Without his beard, Adan looked to be only in his early thirties.
Before shaving, Ethan had always assumed Adan was already in his forties.
A beard really was a miraculous thing.
It was just like Messi with and without a beard—the difference was practically heaven and earth!
But that made things rather depressing.
But now, Adan clearly looked to be in his thirties, bursting with charm and at the absolute peak of his life.
And Tony…
Well, rich bastards were all like that…
And as for himself…
Oh!
Ethan felt that he really needed to take better care of himself.
Ahem.
Adan actually wanted to tell Ethan that if he really calculated his age…
He might even be old enough to call Earth his big brother.
But after thinking about it, he decided against it.
If he revealed his age, it would make getting married and establishing a family rather difficult in the future.
“Adan, you clearly look so…”
Ethan spread his hands and gestured.
“But why, back in the cave… were you so…?”
He waved a hand in front of his face as he asked.
Adan answered very seriously, “Wasn’t I worried that some of the guys inside might have questionable tastes and make me keep a ball in my mouth while kneeling down and singing ‘Conquered’ for them every day?”
Adan was lying.
Ethan smiled and said nothing.
After all, in a place where there was no hope in sight… what use was there in keeping yourself neat and tidy?
Even Ethan, despite carefully grooming himself every day, had only done so because he wanted to die looking somewhat dignified.
The reason he’d asked just now was simply because he was curious.
…
“Yesterday, Tony Stark, who had been missing for three months, finally appeared.
But the first thing he did after returning to Stark Industries was announce that the weapons manufacturing division would be shut down?
“A weapons company that doesn’t manufacture weapons?
“Oh, perhaps it can sell flowers and plants in the future!”
A television in the bar was broadcasting the news, with a host reporting on the latest developments.
“Looks like Tony took quite a hit,” Ethan said to Adan beside him.
“Don’t worry. He’s Tony Stark!”
Adan smiled as he replied.
“So what do we do next, Adan?”
Ethan stood up and looked out the window.
There weren’t many people in the bar during the daytime, and there weren’t many people in the town either.
“I have some good news. Michelle said we can stay here for as long as we want.”
Adan joked.
Ethan immediately turned around, leaned over the table, and stared seriously at Adan.
“Yesterday, when you were like that… how did she even take a liking to you?”
“Gold shines wherever it goes!”
Adan smiled, stood up, and patted Ethan on the shoulder.
Adan’s face wasn’t handsome for no reason, okay?
Back then, in order to create a handsome face, Adan had studied all kinds of golden ratios and guides before finally sculpting the face he had now.
And the charm bonus wasn’t something to scoff at either.
Even after being tempered by the passage of countless years, Adan was still that dazzlingly charming young man.
No, wait.
He was an uncle now.
It was quite miraculous, actually.
Aside from situations where he was under the sun or in a favorable natural environment, the energy within Adan’s body circulated more quickly.
Even intimate physical activity helped restore his magical power to a certain extent.
In just two days since leaving the cave, he’d already accumulated as much energy as he had possessed during an entire year in the cave.
However, trouble came along with it.
As his strength continued to increase, Adan discovered that his mind magic seemed to have developed a form of repulsion toward him.
He could no longer even use mind magic.
Night had fallen.
Most of the people drinking in the bar had already left.
Only a few drunks remained, and the bartender was carrying them out one by one and tossing them outside.
“Ethan, what are you thinking about?”
Adan walked out and saw Ethan standing motionless outside the door like a statue.
He walked over and asked with concern.
“Adan, we can’t stay here forever.”
Ethan hesitated before speaking.
Ethan was tired of conflict.
He wanted to return to somewhere more peaceful.
This place was simply too chaotic.
“Of course, Ethan. We won’t stay here forever. But we need to wait. We can’t leave this place right now.”
Adan explained.
Neither of them had passports or identities.
They couldn’t even cross the border, let alone get on an airplane.
Actually, Adan was waiting.
Because he vaguely remembered that after Tony became Iron Man, he would return here.
That would be the time for Adan and Ethan to leave.
But Adan was worried.
He was worried about Ethan.
Ethan couldn’t even protect himself.
He was just an ordinary person.
And as for Adan’s current strength, he really wasn’t sure whether he could completely protect Ethan amid all the chaos.
Perhaps…
Adan stared at Ethan’s back.
He should give Ethan some power.
Power strong enough to protect himself.
Within Adan’s magical storage space, there had once been countless scrolls, armors, and weapons containing powerful magical energy.
But under the effects of time, they had all turned into piles of scrap metal.
There were, however, still a few divine artifacts.
A few extraordinary items possessing tremendous power remained usable.
Some of them were so powerful that even Adan, with his current strength, didn’t dare touch them.
But among them were two rings…
Rings capable of granting an ordinary person extraordinary power.
Power beyond compare.
Perhaps that power would be very suitable for Ethan.
The only thing was, Adan still wasn’t certain whether Ethan would be willing to accept such power.
(End of Chapter)