As they waited for Rhodes to arrive with the rescue team, the desert temperature began to climb.
The three of them sat together on a sand dune.
Tony rubbed his growling stomach, swallowed hard, and said, “When we get back to New York, I’m eating two cheeseburgers right away.
Now *that’s* real food.” Beside him, Luca immediately scowled in deep disagreement.
“Cheeseburgers?
That’s junk food for little kids.
Anyone who actually knows how to enjoy life goes for a crispy, juicy chicken burger with a bit of custom hot sauce.
*That* is a real culinary experience.” Tony stared at Luca as if he were an alien and shouted back, “A chicken burger?
Are you insane?
Beef is the soul of a burger!
Dry, boring chicken doesn’t even deserve to be placed between two slices of bread!
Did that serum ruin your taste buds or something?” “You’re the crazy one!
A fried chicken cutlet is crispy on the outside, tender on the inside, bursting with flavor in every bite.
Unlike your beef patties, which taste like chewing on boot leather!” Luca fired back without yielding an inch.
“Beef is the pinnacle of fine dining!
Only someone like you would eat fried chicken every single day!” “Bullshit!
That’s just because you don’t understand the art of seasoning!
I bet once we’re back in New York, any random person on the street would agree a chicken burger is a hundred times better than a cheeseburger!” The two squabbled until they were red in the face over this meaningless argument, neither willing to back down.
To the side, Ho Yinsen couldn’t help but chuckle softly.
These were the Stark brothers—even while waiting to be rescued in the middle of a desert, they still had to win every petty argument.
Before long, the distant roar of helicopter blades echoed across the sky.
Two search-and-rescue helicopters bearing US military markings swept in quickly, whipping up clouds of yellow sand as they landed before them.
The cabin door burst open.
Colonel Rhodes tumbled out in full military uniform, his eyes bloodshot.
Catching sight of Tony and Luca sitting in the sand, he charged forward without a word and pulled Tony into a fierce embrace.
“Thank God…
I knew you were too stubborn to die out here,” Rhodes choked out, slapping Tony’s back with a tight, trembling grip.
The sight was rather comical, however.
Tony wore a filthy tank top, covered in thick stubble, looking gaunt and emaciated.
Anyone who didn’t know better would have thought he was a refugee who had been wandering the desert for six months.
Luca, on the other hand, thanks to the serum’s enhancements, looked robust and healthy, his skin glowing with vitality.
Even with a few tears in his white lab coat, it did nothing to hide his commanding presence.
“Hey, Rhodes!
What took your rescue team so long?
I was about to turn into a mummified corpse under this sun.
I thought you’d at least fly in some iced champagne and beautiful women, but all I get are two clunky black metal birds.” Rhodes released Tony and turned to look at the picture-of-health Luca, his lips twitching slightly.
“Luca, you don’t look like someone who was kidnapped for two months at all.
Are you sure you weren’t throwing a party out here?” The men chuckled, traded friendly punches to the shoulder, and exchanged brief pleasantries.
Tony introduced Ho Yinsen to Rhodes, explaining that he was the savior who had preserved his life.
Rhodes immediately expressed his deepest gratitude to Yinsen.
Shortly after, they boarded the helicopters and took off toward the US military base in the Middle East.
A few hours later, aboard the Stark family private jet bound for New York, Tony and Luca sat on the plush leather couch in the cabin.
Having cleared out the accompanying staff, they were holding a confidential meeting strictly between the two Stark brothers.
Tony stared out the window at the clouds below, his gaze growing complex and heavy.
“Luca,” Tony began slowly, a trace of exhaustion in his voice.
“I’ve made up my mind.
As soon as the plane lands, I’m calling an immediate press conference to announce that Stark Industries is shutting down its weapons division.” Upon hearing this, Luca’s hand pouring red wine froze in midair.
He raised his head, staring at Tony as if he had lost his mind.
“Shut down the weapons division?
What kind of insane joke is that?” Luca frowned, utterly unable to comprehend the thought process.
Tony decided to lay out his reasoning.
“We need to flush out the mole.
Whoever leaked our location wants Stark Industries.
If I announce the closure of our most profitable sector, the stock price will plummet.
When that happens, whoever’s lurking in the shadows is bound to panic and slip up.” After hearing him out, Luca rolled his eyes dramatically.
“Tony, did a rock fall on your head in that cave?
You want to burn down the whole house just to catch a single rat?
That’s completely unnecessary.
Keeping our weapons is how we protect ourselves and root out the traitor.
Why on earth are you so fixated on shutting it down?” Tony let out a long sigh.
In truth, his real motive stemmed from the terrorists using Stark weapons to kill innocent civilians, and all the lives destroyed by his creations.
“Because, Luca…
our weapons have killed too many people.” Tony let out a self-deprecating chuckle, steeped in bitterness.
“Don’t you see the irony?
I always thought we were protecting the world.
But in reality, even the weapons those terrorists used against us came right off our own production lines!
A weapons expert nearly blown to bits in a desert by his own inventions…
it’s the ultimate cosmic joke.” Tony grew increasingly emotional as he spoke, spiraling into intense self-reproach.
Hearing Tony’s confession, Luca did not offer sympathy.
Instead, he slammed his wine glass down onto the table, looking at Tony with frustrated exasperation.
“Tony, did staying in that cave too long give you some kind of ridiculous Captain America complex?!” Luca stared into Tony’s eyes, his tone blunt and unforgiving.
“How did our family make its fortune?
We’re arms dealers!
And now you suddenly want to play the saint?!
You think if you close the weapons division, the media and politicians will stop calling you a warmonger?
Don’t be so naive!
Have you forgotten who we are?
We’re wicked capitalists, Tony!” Luca stood up, stepped right in front of Tony, and began forcefully reshaping his perspective.
“If terrorists used our weapons against us, it only proves one thing: our weapons aren’t powerful enough yet!
They need to be so terrifying that anyone who lays hands on them trembles in fear!” Luca gestured passionately, his eyes flashing with zeal.
“The lesson we should learn from this is simple: we need to build even deadlier, more advanced weapons!
Strong enough that no enemy on Earth can ever hurt us again!
The direction changes now.
We stop selling to those moronic military brass and focus on empowering ourselves!
To deal with our enemies effectively, we should build weapons that guarantee absolute, instant obliteration!
If anyone dares show hostility toward us, we vaporize them into ash with an orbital laser from the sky!
*That’s* how a Stark does things!” Tony stared at Luca in stunned silence, his mind momentarily blank.
Yet, strangely enough, as he processed Luca’s logic, his eyes began to shine brighter and brighter.
*Right!
Why on earth should I shut down the weapons division?!
I was never some world-saving saint anyway.
I’ve always been a playboy and an egomaniac—why am I wasting time wallowing in guilt?!
They used my weapons against me?
Fine!
I’ll build even stronger, more terrifying weapons to beat them to death!
For instance, upgrading that crude suit into a high-tech Iron Man armor that can fly through the sky!* With that epiphany, the heavy weight pressing on Tony’s chest evaporated, sweeping away all his guilt and uncertainty.
“You’re right, Luca.
The desert sun really did bake my brain.
I was an idiot to feel guilty about it.” Tony stood up abruptly, his trademark arrogant, confident smirk returning to his face.
He clapped Luca on the shoulder.
“We’ll do it your way.
Not only are we keeping the weapons division open, but I’m also funneling massive capital into developing personal weapons systems controlled exclusively by us!” Luca nodded in satisfaction.
*Now that’s the Tony Stark I know.*