The next day, a Quinjet quietly flew over the Middle East.
Inside the cabin, a middle-aged man pointed at the desert outside the window and said in a deep voice, "The area below is where Tony Stark was last confirmed missing.
The complex political environment restricts us from launching large-scale search operations; we can only investigate in secret.
Therefore, this operation must be kept low-key."
Du Mu nodded, "Don't worry, Village Chief, I'm famously low-key."
"I'll reiterate, I'm Coulson, not some Village Chief."
"Stop pretending, you're the Novice Village Chief.
I can see the title above your head."
"…"
Coulson subconsciously glanced at his empty head, left with only a helpless expression.
He had read Du Mu's file and was well aware of his style and deeds.
Du Mu, an outstanding graduate of the S.H.I.E.L.D. Academy, had shown extraordinary personal and executive abilities since joining S.H.I.E.L.D. two months ago.
No matter how difficult the mission, he could always handle it alone, never making a retreat plan, and never needing support.
In just two months, he completed 48 missions, with an astonishing 100% success rate!
Such terrifying efficiency left even Coulson, known as the S.H.I.E.L.D. workaholic, far behind.
Du Mu was even exceptionally promoted to a Level 5 Agent, setting S.H.I.E.L.D.'s fastest promotion record.
However, Du Mu had an almost obsessive, even unscrupulous, dedication to completing missions.
In a secret infiltration mission, he once Carnage nearly a hundred soldiers in the Base; not a single person survived the entire Base, not even the two guard dogs!
As soon as this happened, Fury immediately suppressed the news.
Nearly a hundred soldiers dead—this scale of casualties was almost comparable to a small conflict!
They were S.H.I.E.L.D., not HYDRA!
Afterward, facing Fury's strict accountability, Du Mu's response was also very self-righteous.
There were no witnesses throughout, and no alarms were triggered.
Wasn't this the most perfect infiltration?
Hmm, very reasonable!
S.H.I.E.L.D. psychological experts' analysis report indicated that Du Mu possibly suffered from severe delusions.
To him, the entire World was a massive virtual game.
Everyone else was an NPC.
And he was the only player!
Under normal circumstances, such an extremely dangerous and uncontrollable factor should have been placed on S.H.I.E.L.D.'s highest alert blacklist and strictly monitored.
But Fury did not do so.
After all, what boss would be willing to fire an employee who single-handedly boosted the entire company's KPI?
Regarding Du Mu's conduct, Fury ultimately chose to turn a blind eye.
Of course, he couldn't keep both eyes open.
Since his boss was like this, Coulson, as his subordinate, naturally wouldn't say much.
"If the action plan is fine, I'll notify the pilot to find a safe landing spot now."
Coulson said, preparing to contact the cockpit.
"No need for such trouble."
Du Mu waved his hand.
Before Coulson could react, he casually pressed the cabin door's open button.
Coulson was greatly alarmed: "Wait! We're at several hundred meters! You don't have a parachute…"
"Woohoo, taking off!"
Before he finished speaking, Du Mu shouted, spread his arms, and leaped out of the cabin door.
Leaving Coulson bewildered in the cabin.
...
Yellow sand swirled.
Du Mu plummeted from several hundred meters high; the violent airflow tore at his clothes, and only the whistling of the wind remained in his ears.
The ground rapidly enlarged in his vision, with jagged rocks and undulating dunes clearly visible.
There was no panic on Du Mu's face; his body suddenly spun in the air, turning to face upwards, arms spread, then quickly retracted to protect his chest.
Just as he was about to make contact with the ground—
Bang!
A large bundle of dry, fluffy hay bales appeared out of nowhere directly below him.
Du Mu accurately slammed into the hay bale, sending straw flying everywhere.
Then, he easily jumped out of the hay bale, completely unharmed.
[Skill: Leap of Faith]
[Effect: When you fall from a high place, there will always be a hay bale below to catch 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 to mention its practicality, the key was that it was incredibly cool.
So much so that now, whenever he stood somewhere a bit high, he had an urge to jump down.
"Where did this bring me?"
Du Mu looked around; all he could see were monotonous sand dunes, and the harsh environment made it difficult to even determine direction, let alone find someone.
However, this was not a problem for him.
"System, track mission target."
[Mission target 'Tony Stark' location has been marked]
As the system's voice sounded, a conspicuous golden light spot immediately appeared on the mini-map.
"Not bad, not too far," Du Mu muttered, taking strides toward the light spot.
Several tens of minutes later.
Following the mission marker, Du Mu arrived at the edge of a valley embraced by huge rock mountains.
He crouched down and looked below; a crude small camp was hidden at the bottom of the valley.
The perimeter was covered with sandbag fortifications and barbed wire, while inside were various weapon crates marked with Stark Industries and scattered debris of missile components.
Inside the camp, a group of heavily armed Terrorists patrolled back and forth, at least forty people.
The golden light spot marked as the mission target was located deep inside a dark cave at the very end of the camp.
Du Mu observed that the only passage leading to the cave was heavily guarded, making infiltration quite difficult.
Normally, he would have enjoyed a fight by now.
But this mission was quite important.
It was better not to alert the enemy before finding the mission target.
"It seems the front door is not an option; I need to find another way."
...
Clang!
Clang!
Clang!
The crisp sound of hammering echoed inside the cave.
Under the dim light, a person was vigorously hammering metal.
Don't misunderstand, this person was not the prison boss, but the Man of Iron, Tony Stark!
Since being abducted by Terrorists three months ago, he had been imprisoned in this isolated cave, subjected to threats and humiliation by the Terrorists, all to force him to manufacture new-type missiles.
But who was Tony?
He was rebellious from a young age, the kind who would absolutely go west if told to go east!
So, under the guise of manufacturing missiles, he procured a large amount of materials and tools from the Terrorists, and with the help of Dr. Ethan, a fellow captive physicist, secretly designed and built a set of Iron Armor powerful enough to help them break through the siege.
Tony used iron tongs to pick up an Iron Mask and placed it on the workbench; Ethan, who had been engrossed in his work, looked up at the sound.
"The core components are almost done; now it's just the final assembly and activating the power system."
Tony's voice was low and hoarse, with a hint of undetectable fatigue.
"Ethan, we don't have much time; those guys seem to be getting suspicious, we must act quickly!"
"Leave the rest to me." Ethan nodded seriously.
"Good, you hide here then, and once I clear out the scum outside and confirm it's safe, you can come out with me."
Tony's eyes were filled with determination.
The hardships he had endured these days had made this playboy, who indulged in gambling, women, and alcohol, mature and steady.
He secretly swore in his heart.
If he could return alive this time, he, Tony Stark, would forever be at odds with gambling!
Next, with Ethan's assistance, Tony began to put on the heavy armor components one by one.
Thump!
Thump!
Thump!
Thump...
Just as the two were busy, a dull and strange digging sound suddenly came from under the rocky ground at their feet.
"What's that sound?"
Tony and Ethan's movements froze simultaneously, and they exchanged confused glances.
However, before they could react, a horrifying scene unfolded!
Less than two meters from their feet, the hard ground vanished instantly as if wiped away by an invisible eraser!
In its place was a perfectly regular square pit, approximately 1 meter on each side!
Suddenly, a head sharply emerged from the pit.
Its eyes stared intently at Tony.
"Found you!"