“Gurgle, gurgle… gurgle…”
Tony was held by both arms and forced underwater.
He struggled desperately.
The suffocating sensation brought on by the lack of oxygen.
The nauseating feeling of water rushing into his nasal passages.
Tony Stark was experiencing pain with every passing second, something he had never endured in his nearly forty years of life.
He was no longer the favored son of heaven, the great Tony Stark.
Now, he was nothing more than a prisoner, a toy that could be manipulated at will.
Every time he was pulled out of the water, Tony desperately gulped down as much air as he could.
But less than three seconds later, he was shoved underwater again.
His eyes, ears, nose, and mouth were all filled with water.
Never in his life had he hated water as much as he did now.
Not far away, a bald man watched Tony Stark suffer with a vicious expression, a satisfied smile appearing on his face.
Behind Tony, Yadan stood trembling as he watched helplessly as Tony suffered… along with Yadan himself.
There was nothing he could do.
Yadan’s instincts had indeed been frighteningly accurate.
His words had become a prophecy—he was currently enjoying the “better” treatment in another water tank, and he had been holding his breath for quite some time without surfacing.
He no longer knew how many times he had been shoved underwater.
Tony’s vision began to blur, and strange sounds echoed in his ears.
A vague image appeared before him.
In that image, someone seemed to be calling Tony’s name…
Pepper.
It was her voice.
At that moment, Tony could clearly feel the electromagnet in his chest.
He could feel the magnetic force it emitted, firmly holding the fragments of shrapnel inside his body in place and preventing them from entering his heart.
In his dazed state, Tony saw himself from a strange perspective.
He saw the electromagnet in his chest.
He seemed to see a mirror, too.
The lights inside the mirror were glaring and dazzling.
Water.
There was water everywhere.
Tony foresaw death.
Just as he was approaching the brink of death, Tony was pulled out of the water once again.
He struggled.
He fought with all his strength.
He wanted to live.
But his struggles were completely useless.
Once again, several men around him forced him beneath the water.
Yadan was suffering even more at this moment.
He was receiving even “better” treatment.
Tony Stark still had a clear value to these people, so nothing could happen to Tony—not physically, nor psychologically.
As for Yadan…
All they needed was for him not to die.
However, Yadan was enjoying this pain.
He greedily absorbed every bit of suffering experienced by each of his senses, using the pain of being on the verge of death to stimulate the faint, uncontrollable power within his body, forcing that power to circulate instinctively in self-defense.
And every trace of that circulation, Yadan firmly recorded in his mind.
Because this was the method he needed.
Eventually, Tony and Yadan were dragged out of their water tanks by the guards.
The two were barely conscious, their heads covered with cloth as the guards dragged them toward an unknown destination.
Ethan followed behind under the guards’ shoves.
Sunlight!
It was sunlight!
A guard suddenly pulled the sackcloth off Tony’s head.
The sunlight… was so dazzling.
For a moment, Tony’s eyes couldn’t adjust to the light outside.
He felt dizzy and disoriented, and only after a while did he gradually recover.
And Yadan…
This was a man who hadn’t seen the sun for four whole years.
The moment the cloth was removed from his head—
Holy crap, it was daytime!
Yadan’s eyes were even temporarily blinded.
Yet, through the dazzling white haze, he saw it.
He saw everything he needed.
He sensed energy.
He could feel every part of his body desperately absorbing the energy floating in the air and the sunlight around him.
What the hell?
Was he originally some kind of Kryptonian?
Or had he turned into a solar-powered human?
Whatever the case, Yadan only wanted to claim all this energy for himself!
Bathed in sunlight, Yadan felt the abundant energy floating through the air.
He closed his eyes and raised his head, dancing around as he greedily sucked in the surrounding energy.
One of the guards nearby looked utterly incredulous.
What was wrong with this guy?
Had drinking water made him drunk?
Or was he raising his proud head to the heavens?
And what was that sucking motion with his mouth supposed to mean?
Was he insulting them?
The guard immediately taught Yadan how to behave with the butt of his rifle.
He slammed the rifle butt hard into Yadan’s stomach and said to Ethan beside him, “Keep this guy in line!”
Ethan hurried over to support Yadan and whispered, “Yadan! Just behave yourself!”
Yadan spat out some sour water, turned his head toward Ethan, smiled, and waved his hand.
Damn it!
Did everyone in this godforsaken place have their rifle-butt-smacking skill maxed out?!
The fat man ahead had already walked down the small slope in front of the cave and was waving at Tony and the others.
The guard behind Tony hurriedly slammed the rifle butt into Tony’s shoulder, making him stumble.
Tony quickly hugged the source of his life—the battery connected to the electromagnet in his chest—and followed.
It was only then, when he carefully looked around, that Tony realized the surrounding mountains were filled with these terrorists.
In the open area in the middle, there were countless weapons and military supplies.
And Tony was very familiar with those weapons, those guns, those missiles…
They came from Stark Industries.
How could they possibly come from Stark Industries?!
The fat man turned around and spoke to Tony.
Ethan translated for him.
“He’s asking what you’re thinking about.”
“I’m thinking about how he has a lot of weapons I made,” Tony replied calmly.
The fat man circled around Tony as he spoke, pointing at everything around them and gesturing passionately, spittle flying everywhere. Enjoying the story?
Tony could only look toward Ethan.
Ethan translated, “He says they have everything needed to manufacture the Jericho missile. He wants you to make a list of the materials.”
As he spoke, the fat man’s tone rose again, his hands continuing to gesture.
“He says he wants you to start manufacturing it immediately. Once you finish, he’ll release you… and us.”
“Not bad,” Yadan applauded softly from the side.
A smile appeared on the fat man’s face as he looked at Tony and extended his hand.
Tony looked at the fat man and shook his hand.
“No. I won’t do it.”
After hearing Tony’s answer, Ethan turned to look at Yadan.
Yadan shrugged and said, “Now that’s a man of principle. No wonder he’s played Sherlock Holmes.”
Ethan hadn’t heard what Yadan said clearly, but he had heard Tony’s answer.
All he could do was translate Tony’s exact words to the fat man.
The fat man burst into laughter, shaking his head and waving his hand.
The guards shoved the three of them back toward the cave.
As they left, Yadan glanced back and saw someone standing on the hillside.
A bald man.
Wasn’t that the boss of this place?!
What a pity.
I should’ve turned you into my son back then.
Yadan sighed and was just about to follow Ethan and the others back into the cave when the fat man suddenly stopped him.
Tony and Ethan, who were walking ahead, immediately turned around and looked at the fat man.
Ethan asked nervously, “What do you want to do?”
“Nothing. You two can go back now. This guy has to stay,” the fat man said with a smile.
Yadan waved at them and smiled.
“It’s nothing. Remember to save me some dinner tonight!”
With that, Tony and Ethan were escorted into the cave by the guards, while Yadan was taken to meet the boss of the place—the bald man.
“I’m actually very curious about how you’ve managed to survive until now. You should have died. I should have killed you. But why are you still alive? Why is there a voice inside me telling me that I can’t kill you? I almost forgot that you were even in the cave.”
The bald man stared at Yadan as he spoke.
“Maybe I was your lover in a previous life,” Yadan answered without hesitation.
“Smack!”
The rifle butt…
It really was an indispensable part of a rifle.
Your gun could be missing bullets, but it absolutely couldn’t be missing a stock.
Otherwise, how could you experience the joy of smashing people with it?
Blood flowed from Yadan’s head.
The bald man turned around and said, “Take him away… Get him something to bandage that wound. Don’t let him die.”
The power of the mind…
It was truly terrifying.
After Yadan was taken away, the bald man stood on the hillside and silently watched his retreating figure.
It was strange.
He didn’t know why, but he simply didn’t want this bizarre man to die.
But why?
However, he would find out.
No matter what the reason was, he would find it.
He would find the reason why he couldn’t kill Yadan.
He would uncover the secret behind how Yadan had managed to survive until today.
And all of that…
Would belong to him.