Chapter 5: Tony Stark Goes Missing
Aside from these frustrating matters, Sherlock had two other gains during these seven years.
Firstly, after seven years of refinement, Sherlock had grown accustomed to life across the ocean.
That's right, you didn't misread it, accustomed!
The reason was simple: the United States, touted as the World's number one, with superheroes everywhere, and having saved the World countless times, had infrastructure that truly made Sherlock pull his hair out.
Sherlock, who was used to night markets, takeout, and small convenience stores in his previous life, was astonished to discover in the early days of his transmigration, after the initial excitement wore off, that these things simply didn't exist in this country, which claimed to be the World's number one!
Forget night markets; if you were hungry at night and wanted to order a delicious late-night snack like before his transmigration, that was pure fantasy.
Sherlock finally understood why pickup trucks and large supermarkets were so popular in this country.
They were truly far away. Not to mention the terrible public transportation, if you wanted to buy food and drinks and not go hungry in the middle of the night, the best approach was to hoard supplies.
And if you wanted to hoard supplies, the best places to go were those large supermarkets.
At such times, the enormous cargo bed of a pickup truck truly came in handy; that thing could really hold a lot.
Of course, these were minor details. Most importantly, Sherlock learned something he would never have done before his transmigration: planning.
Don't underestimate this; it's truly useful in this place. Sherlock learned this skill purely through painful lessons.
Not just Sherlock, but anyone who, after going to the supermarket without a plan, returned home only to realize they forgot something, and then had to run back and forth all morning just to get everything, would tearfully learn how to make a plan.
Coupled with the occasional '0-yuan shopping' events, if anyone were to tell Sherlock now that life abroad was better than in his home country, Sherlock would definitely pull out his wand and hit them with a Cruciatus Curse to wake them up. If they still refused to see reason, then he could only send them off with an Avada Kedavra.
Aside from these living habits, one thing that surprised Sherlock the most was the identity of his deceased adoptive parents.
These two were actually inextricably linked to Stark Industries!!
Strictly speaking, his father was actually distantly related by blood to Maria Stark, the mother of Iron Man, Tony Stark.
According to his own family seniority, Maria Stark was his father's aunt, so strictly speaking, Tony Stark was his distant uncle?
When Sherlock learned of this, the utter shock he felt deep down was truly indescribable.
As for how Sherlock found out about this, it goes back to last year when he had just finished his training with Price and found an invitation in his mailbox.
Sherlock, with a puzzled expression, opened the invitation and discovered it was from Pepper, inviting Sherlock to his uncle's birthday party.
Don't even ask, Sherlock actually went, dressed in formal attire, no less.
However, not long after arriving, Sherlock returned amidst Price's laughter.
Could that even be called a birthday party? It was practically a supermodel rave!! Although Sherlock considered himself a pervert, as a pervert with principles, Sherlock still found such a debauched scene distasteful.
In any case, Sherlock simply couldn't stand that kind of party and left directly without even saying a word to Tony Stark.
Before becoming Iron Man, Tony was truly a lawless, arrogant playboy. Sherlock had absolutely no good feelings towards such a Tony.
Although he had no substantial contact with Tony, Sherlock was still a junior who had accepted the invitation. After handing the gift to Pepper, he still had a brief conversation with his future aunt.
Pepper, in turn, apologized to Sherlock. She hadn't expected Tony, after inviting his only nephew, to forget about it and call in a bunch of supermodels again.
Sherlock, however, expressed understanding and also comforted his future aunt, who was feeling exhausted.
And after returning home, Sherlock made up his mind that he absolutely did not want any contact with this arrogant playboy until Tony went missing in Afghanistan.
In fact, Sherlock did just that. Until the end of his seven years of study, Sherlock never responded to any of Tony's invitations.
At most, he would call Pepper during holidays and ask her to convey his blessings.
And just after Sherlock had finally completed his magic training and Price's training, and had only been a slacker for a few days, as he was contemplating whether he should drive his large raptor to see the World.
Sherlock received another call from Pepper.
On the phone, Pepper's voice was already tearful, and she told Sherlock that Tony had just gone missing in Afghanistan and that Sherlock needed to come to Stark Tower immediately.
After all, according to United States law, if Tony had indeed met with misfortune, then Sherlock, as Tony's only living relative, had the right to inherit all of Tony's assets!
Upon hearing Pepper's words, even if Sherlock were an idiot, he would have known that the so-called plot of the Marvel Universe was about to begin. If nothing unexpected happened, Tony was currently being held by an electromagnet in an unknown cave in Afghanistan.
Without any hesitation, after Sherlock greeted Price, and at Price's request, he almost literally dragged a truckload of weapons and drove towards Stark Tower.
Although Sherlock appeared very anxious on the surface, only Sherlock himself knew that he wasn't anxious at all. After all, according to the plot, this was something Tony Stark had to experience.
Moreover, because the Terrorists needed Tony to build weapons for them, if nothing unexpected happened, although the situation looked extremely critical, there was actually no real danger.
Sherlock even leisurely slowed down his car after leaving his gun shop for a distance and disappearing from Price's sight.
And just as Sherlock was contemplating whether he should stop somewhere on the way to Stark Tower to grab a cup of coffee, a sudden spark appeared not far ahead on Sherlock's path.
Before Sherlock could react, a portal suddenly opened in front of Sherlock's car, and a figure Sherlock absolutely did not want to see emerged from it.
Sorcerer Ancient One, one of the two great baldies!