Bodyguards in suits, leather, and sunglasses look cool, but it's actually a very boring job with high mental pressure.
Especially with high-risk employers, high salaries come with high risks.
Pepper's car was an armored limousine, and the driver, a steady-looking middle-aged man, was unfamiliar to Mike, appearing to be an Agent arranged by S.H.I.E.L.D.
Mike sat in the front passenger seat, while Pepper, Skye, and Black Widow sat in the back.
Mike just wanted to shout, "Come, sit on my whip!"
With an SUV escorting them both in front and behind, their travel entourage was even larger than Stark's.
It was a special period, after all.
Today, there were two main events on the itinerary: routine office work at Stark Tower and an evening lecture at the University of Chicago.
Initially, Mike thought that due to last night's attack, fewer people would attend the lecture.
But Mike was overthinking it; in Marvel's New York, if yesterday's incident hadn't occurred in a wealthy area or involved Pepper as a protagonist, it wouldn't even qualify for news, let alone widespread coverage.
Students nearly packed the auditorium, and there were quite a few young teachers as well.
The teachers' main goal was to secure research funding from Stark Industries, while the students primarily wanted to know how to get into Stark's core departments.
Even for a prestigious institution like the University of Chicago, it wasn't easy for students to find a satisfactory job.
"Ms. Potts, would you like to have a coffee together?"
This was from a lecturer or student who considered himself dashing and promising, their inner World probably thinking: "Sis (Auntie), I don't want to work hard anymore."
Drink your sister!
Mike kept pushing people away, so impatient he almost drew his blade to cut them.
"Stark is mine, you shameless…"
This was a fanatical Stark fan trying to throw rotten eggs at Pepper.
Mike, quick-witted, picked up a book and slapped it back; as for why it hit her in the mouth, would you believe it was a coincidence?
"I'm exhausted."
Back in the hotel room, Skye threw herself onto the sofa, lying face down, not wanting to move.
"I'll give you a massage."
"Okay."
"Feeling better?"
"Mm."
A moment later, Skye slapped Mike's hand away in embarrassment and anger, "Where are you pressing?!"
"This… my hands just went there on their own, I had nothing to do with it." Mike retracted his hands from her perky bottom, his expression innocent.
Skye glared.
Mike just grinned, his face thick-skinned, embodying the essence of "bold, meticulous, and thick-skinned."
Skye had no choice but to say irritably, "I'm going to take a shower!"
"Alright, together."
Five seconds later, Mike was pushed out of the room by Skye, and the door slammed shut.
Simply heartless.
Mike chuckled, then ran into Black Widow, who was returning from a spa treatment.
Uh… what's with just a bath towel?
There's a man living here!
Are you looking down on me?
Mike really wanted to raise his gun and teach this woman a lesson.
Alright, Mike just greeted her, then openly ate ice cream; as for anything else… forget it, even though he's an employee, he still has basic professional ethics.
Before closing the door, Black Widow tossed her wet hair and provocatively raised an eyebrow at Mike.
At that moment, Mike almost lost his mind due to a surge of dark energy.
Phew~ What a dangerous woman.
The next day.
Pepper's itinerary included inspecting Stark Industries, with a female reporter and a cameraman following her throughout for an interview, which would eventually be edited into a television documentary.
The reporter seemed very interested in Mike and Skye, the two personal bodyguards, asking Mike if he knew kung fu and Skye if her aim was accurate.
Until Black Widow, Pepper's secretary, came to stop them.
Both remained expressionless and did not answer, which would certainly be cut in post-production.
Pepper, of course, had to deliver a speech, and the location was specifically chosen as an exhibition hall.
The exhibition hall was an all-steel structure, shaped like an inverted bowl, with irregular one-way glass panels.
The nearby tall buildings, all Stark constructions, were suitable for gathering, and patrols had already been dispatched.
The reports were all: "No suspicious personnel" and "No suspicious signs."
There was a building two kilometers away, outside Stark Industries.
"Sniping from two kilometers away…" Mike murmured.
"No way." Despite saying this, Black Widow immediately ordered her subordinates to investigate.
Accurate sniping from three or four kilometers away was, after all, extremely rare, and accurate sniping from two kilometers away was considered a master among masters.
The key was that the building did not have a good sniping angle, which was why Black Widow had overlooked it.
"I have a premonition…"
Mike took out a possession card, "Use card!"
This was a loss.
He didn't know why the system's commission was set so low.
He said to Black Widow, "I'll be gone for a bit."
Then he walked behind the curtain.
Black Widow vaguely heard some sounds, then Mike's voice: "Scatter, Senbonzakura."
Black Widow was full of doubts, seeing Mike emerge from behind the curtain, holding a… sword hilt, "You said a moment, and it really was a moment.
What's going on?"
Black Widow was about to ask when she saw the glass above the exhibition hall suddenly shatter, and a cloud of pink dust appeared in front of Pepper.
Sparks exploded.
An iron lump fell from the pink dust.
At this moment, Black Widow vaguely heard the sound of a sniper rifle firing.
The sound was not very clear, indicating that the shot was fired from a great distance.
She realized it was a sniper but couldn't understand what the pink dust was, nor why the sniper's bullet would be blocked by the pink dust.
She instinctively tried to tackle Pepper to the ground.
"Don't panic!"
Mike spoke, addressing both Black Widow and Pepper.
"The speech is over.
Tell everyone not to panic and to exit orderly through the side door."
Pepper wanted to ask why not use the main entrance, which was wider.
The answer was quickly revealed: intense gunfire erupted from the main entrance, with S.H.I.E.L.D. Agents engaging in a firefight with unidentified armed personnel.
The unidentified armed personnel's weapons were no less sophisticated than S.H.I.E.L.D. Agents', and while their training might have been somewhat lacking, their numbers far exceeded them.
They quickly suppressed the S.H.I.E.L.D. Agents, who couldn't even raise their heads.
More than a dozen armed personnel with guns surrounded the main entrance, killing several employees who disobeyed orders and tried to exit through the main entrance.
The scene became utterly chaotic.
"Don't panic!" Mike said the same words again.
He walked behind Skye, pressed her trembling hand, and helped her draw her Glock pistol from its holster.
"First, disengage the safety."
"Well done."
Black Widow, standing nearby, felt like complaining: "Disengaging the safety is 'well done'?"
"Now, use the standard posture, one hand gripping the gun, the other supporting it, three points aligned, aim…"
"Pull the trigger."
Bang!
The bullet made a small pit in the ground, sparked, and then disappeared.
"It's okay, try again, pay attention to the recoil."
The thugs entered the exhibition hall.
"…"
Damn it, show some respect for our submachine guns and assault rifles, alright?
Even in this situation, you're still showing affection; you're not human!
Da da da…
A volley of bullets shot towards Mike and Skye.
Ding ding ding…
The surrounding pink dust formed something like a barrier, blocking all the bullets.
The exhibition hall suddenly fell silent.
"Again… Hey, hey, using an RPG is too much." Mike waved the sword hilt in his hand, and red dust engulfed the thug carrying the RPG.
Screams…
The pink dust turned red, the person also turned red, and the screams abruptly stopped.
"Tsk tsk, this is genuine dismemberment." Mike sighed with emotion.
"This…"
The leader of the thugs knew he had encountered a monster and wailed in his heart, "Why am I so unlucky?"
He didn't dare to fight anymore; as for escaping… would the opponent let him escape?