The next day, a Quinjet silently flew over the Middle East.
Inside the cockpit, a middle-aged man pointed out the window at the desert below, solemnly stating, "The area down there is where Tony Stark was last confirmed missing. The complex political environment limits us from launching a large-scale search operation, so we can only investigate quietly. Therefore, this mission must remain low-profile."
Du Mu nodded. "Don't worry, Chief. I'm famously low-key."
"I'll reiterate: I am Phil Coulson, not some village chief."
"Stop pretending; you are the Starter Village Chief. I can see the title over your head."
"..."
Coulson instinctively glanced at his empty head, his expression one of helplessness.
He had reviewed Du Mu's file and knew the man's style and achievements inside out.
Du Mu was an exceptional graduate of S.H.I.E.L.D. Academy, and since joining S.H.I.E.L.D. two months ago, he had demonstrated extraordinary personal and execution capabilities.
No matter how difficult the task, he always managed to handle it alone, never drawing up a retreat plan or needing support.
In just two months, he completed 48 missions, with an astonishing success rate of 100%!
Such terrifying efficiency left even Coulson, who was praised as the model employee of S.H.I.E.L.D., in the dust. Du Mu had thus been uniquely promoted to a level 5 agent, setting the fastest promotion record in S.H.I.E.L.D. history.
However, Du Mu had an almost obsessive dedication to completing missions, which could be described as unscrupulous.
During one covert infiltration mission, he slaughtered nearly a hundred soldiers inside a base, leaving no survivors; not even the two guard dogs outside could escape!
When this incident came to light, Nick Fury immediately sealed off the news.
The deaths of nearly a hundred soldiers were almost on the scale of a small conflict!
They were S.H.I.E.L.D., not freakin' Hydra!
In the aftermath, when facing Nick Fury's stern inquiries, Du Mu responded with confidence.
There were no witnesses, and no alarms were triggered; wasn't that the definition of a perfect infiltration?
Yup, makes perfect sense!
S.H.I.E.L.D.'s psychological expert analysis report indicated that Du Mu was likely suffering from serious delusions.
To him, the entire world was a vast virtual game.
Everyone was an NPC.
And he was the only player!
Logically speaking, such an extreme, uncontrollable factor should have been placed on S.H.I.E.L.D.'s highest alert blacklist and monitored closely.
But Nick Fury chose not to do that.
After all, which boss would be willing to fire an employee who single-handedly raised the entire company's KPIs?
Regarding Du Mu's working style, Nick Fury ultimately chose to turn a blind eye.
Of course, he couldn't keep both eyes closed.
The same went for Coulson, who as a subordinate wouldn't dare to say much.
"If there are no issues with the action plan, I'll inform the pilot to look for a safe landing spot."
Coulson said as he prepared to contact the cockpit.
"No need to trouble yourself."
Du Mu waved his hand.
Before Coulson could react, he casually pressed the button to open the cabin door.
Coulson was taken aback. "Wait! We're hundreds of meters up! You didn't bring a parachute…!"
"Yeet!"
Before he could finish, Du Mu shouted, opened his arms, and leapt out of the cabin.
Leaving Coulson dazed inside the cockpit.
...
The yellow sand swirled.
Du Mu fell rapidly from several hundred meters in the air, the fierce wind tearing at his clothes, with only the screech of the wind left in his ears.
The ground rapidly loomed closer, jagged rocks and rolling dunes becoming clearly visible.
Du Mu showed no signs of panic; instead, his body twisted in midair, flipping to face the sky, arms extended, then quickly drawing them in to protect his chest.
Just as he was about to hit the ground—
Boom!
A large mound of dry, fluffy hay appeared right beneath him, and Du Mu slammed perfectly into it, sending a shower of straw flying everywhere.
Next, he easily hopped out of the haystack, completely unharmed.
[Skill: Leap of Faith]
[Effect: When you fall from a great height, a pile of hay will appear below to catch you, rendering you immune to all fall damage.]
[Evaluation: Nothing is true, everything is permitted.]
This was a skill Du Mu obtained after completing a certain mission; not only was it practical, but it also looked incredibly cool.
Thus, even standing on higher ground now made him want to jump down.
"What am I doing here?"
Du Mu glanced around, seeing nothing but monotonous sand dunes; the harsh environment made it challenging to orient himself, let alone find someone.
However, this was not a problem for him.
"System, track the mission target."
[Mission target 'Tony Stark' location marked.]
As the system's voice sounded, a prominent golden dot appeared on the mini-map.
"Not bad, it's not too far," Du Mu mumbled to himself, setting off towards the glowing point.
Fast forward a few dozen minutes.
Following the mission marker, Du Mu arrived at the edge of a valley surrounded by massive mountains.
He crouched low, peering down into the valley where a rudimentary camp was hidden.
The perimeter was fortified with sandbags and barbed wire, and inside lay various weapon crates marked with Stark Industries branding, alongside scattered missile component debris.
A group of armed militants were patrolling back and forth in the camp, with at least forty of them.
The golden dot of the mission marker sat deep inside the camp, within a dark cave.
Du Mu observed that the only path leading to the cave was heavily guarded, making infiltration quite challenging.
Normally, he would have gone full Rambo by now.
But this mission was rather important.
It was better not to raise alarms before locating the mission target.
"It seems the front entrance won't work; I'll need to find another way in."
...
Clang!
Clang!
Clang!
The crisp sound of hammering echoed within the cave.
In the dim light, one person was fiercely hammering away at iron.
Don't misunderstand; this person wasn't the prison boss but Iron MAN—Tony Stark!
Since being kidnapped by terrorists three months ago, he had been imprisoned in this isolated cave, enduring threats and abuses in an attempt to force him to create new missiles.
But who was Tony?
He was the rebellious type who always went against the grain!
So, under the pretense of making missiles, he called in a large amount of materials and tools from the terrorists. With the help of fellow prisoner Dr. Yinsen, he secretly designed and built a suit of armor capable of helping them break out.
Tony used a pair of tongs to hold an iron mask over at the workbench, looking up when he heard Yinsen's voice.
"The core component is almost done; we just need the final assembly and to power the system."
Tony's voice was low and hoarse, tinged with an almost imperceptible weariness.
"Yinsen, we don't have much time. Those guys seem to be getting suspicious. We must act quickly!"
"Leave the rest to me," Yinsen replied earnestly, nodding.
"Alright, you stay hidden here. Once I clear out the outsiders and confirm it's safe, you can follow me out."
Tony's eyes were filled with determination.
The trials he had endured in recent days had matured this prodigal son, notorious for gambling and liquor.
He silently vowed.
If he could survive and return this time, Tony Stark would swear off gambling for life!
Next, with Yinsen's assistance, Tony began to don the heavy pieces of armor one at a time.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang...
Just as the two were busy, a dull and strange digging sound suddenly came from the rocky ground beneath them.
"What's that noise?"
Tony and Yinsen froze simultaneously, looking at each other in confusion.
However, before they could react, a shocking scene unfolded!
Not two meters from their feet, the hard ground seemed to be erased by an invisible eraser, disappearing in an instant!
In its place was an extremely regular square pit about one meter on each side!
Suddenly, a head popped up from the pit.
Its eyes locked onto Tony, wide and unblinking.
"I found you!"