[ Ding! You rescued Tony Stark. Middle East Rescue Progress +30%. Total Progress: 75% ]
The system prompt suddenly rang in Saitama's ears, and he froze for a second.
Saving Stark gave him 30% completion? What was that about?
Anyone familiar with the plot would know—Tony Stark was firmly against selling weapons to any organization outside the U.S. If he died, his company's other leader, the ambitious Obadiah Stane, would take over and sell even more arms.
So, saving Tony in reality meant greatly improving the situation in the Middle East.
"Oh."
Saitama let go, and Tony Stark's moment of heroism lasted all of three seconds—his Mark I armor had already reached its limit in the battle. Before even hitting the ground, it clattered apart in midair, falling as a heap of scrap metal.
"Still alive… finally out… Saitama, you're a freak, you know that? Hahaha! Right, how's Yinsen?"
Lying in the desert, Tony was breathing heavily, his face full of relief and excitement from surviving.
"Almost forgot Yinsen!"
Saitama smacked his head and dashed toward the mountain top.
A few seconds later—
"Cold… s-so cold~~~"
Curled up into a ball, covered in frost and shivering, Yinsen's voice trembled. He thought he was going to die up there.
Who knew how high Saitama had left him?
It was a blistering desert, yet poor Yinsen was covered in frost. The scene was almost surreal.
"Hey, Saitama, think you can do me a favor and take me home? I've got a huge private party ready to welcome you—and Yinsen!" Tony grinned despite his injuries, especially with his arc reactor nearly out of power. He'd have to build a new one soon.
"Still got 25% left to finish. If what Yinsen said is true, and those weapons come from Stark Industries… then to complete the mission…"
Saitama thought it through quickly. He might not talk much, but he was no fool. The mission's goal became clear—
To reach 100%, he'd have to shut down Stark Industries' weapon sales at the source.
And standing right here was the man in charge.
"Oh, fine. But for dinner I want raw egg over rice and seaweed egg drop soup—with ham."
The request of a true slacker. For Saitama, that was gourmet dining.
…
About forty kilometers from where Tony had crashed, the U.S. Bagram Air Base had already dispatched aircraft for a full-scale search.
"Sir! We've got something! Radar detected an unidentified object crash-landing in the desert. Should we check it out?"
A soldier reported in.
Since Tony had gone missing, Colonel Rhodey had barely slept—and with Saitama's sudden appearance, his head was spinning.
"Go check it out. If it's that bastard Tony, I swear the first thing I'll ask is how the ride in that HMMWV was!!"
Rhodey's face was dark.
"Yes, sir! Adjusting course now, coordinates…"
Three Apache attack helicopters roared toward the desert.
Whoosh—
About to rest his eyes, Rhodey thought he was hallucinating—a blur shot across the desert below?
"No way… maybe I'm just seeing things from lack of sleep."
He rubbed his forehead.
"Under attack! We're under attack!"
"No visual on the target! No visual!"
"Evasive maneuvers, now!!"
A sharp alarm blared. The tail rotor of the last Apache had been twisted out of shape, sending the helicopter spinning out of control toward the ground.
Below, a massive dust trail stretched almost ten kilometers across the desert—like a jeep at full speed.
Except… even with jet engines, a jeep wouldn't be this fast.
"Damn it! Those terrorists are still coming for us?"
Rhodey jumped to his feet, anger flaring—until he noticed the trail's direction.
Wait… wasn't that toward Tony's villa? Hell… could it be…?
A strange mix of anticipation and unease welled up inside him.
…
Luxury seaside villa.
Freedom City.
Perched on a cliffside, sleek white architecture with full-glass panoramic windows screamed futuristic elegance.
This was the personal mansion of Tony Stark, CEO and chairman of Stark Industries.
"Think I clipped something on the way here. Might've been a helicopter."
Saitama lounged lazily on the sofa, watching a cheesy drama on the giant floor-to-ceiling screen.
"Hahaha! Screw the helicopter! Jarvis, send a repair payment to whoever was unlucky enough to own it!"
Fresh from the brink of death, Tony laughed wildly, not caring about his dirty clothes as he lay on the floor. "Right now, I just want a few burgers! Jarvis, order me ten burgers!"
(End of Chapter)
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