The next day, a Quinjet quietly flew over the Middle East.
Inside the cabin, a middle-aged man pointed to the desert outside the viewport and said in a grave 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 covertly. Therefore, this operation must be kept low-profile."
Du Mu nodded. "Don't worry, Village Chief. I'm famously low-profile."
"I'll reiterate: I'm Coulson, not a 'Village Chief' of any kind."
"Stop pretending. You are the Novice Village Chief. I can see the title above your head."
"..."
Coulson subconsciously glanced at his empty scalp, his face a picture of pure helplessness.
He had read Du Mu's file and was intimately familiar with his operating style and track record.
Du Mu, an outstanding graduate of the S.H.I.E.L.D. Academy, had displayed extraordinary personal ability and execution skills since joining S.H.I.E.L.D. two months ago.
No matter how difficult the mission, he always managed to complete it alone, never formulated a retreat plan, and never required backup.
In just two months, he had completed 48 missions, with an astonishing 100% success rate!
Such terrifying efficiency left even Coulson, known as S.H.I.E.L.D.'s "Model Worker," far behind. Du Mu was subsequently promoted to Level 5 Agent, setting the record for the fastest promotion in S.H.I.E.L.D. history.
However, Du Mu possessed an almost obsessive adherence to completing missions, to the point of being utterly ruthless.
In one secret infiltration mission, he massacred nearly a hundred soldiers within the base, leaving no one alive—not even the two guard dogs were spared!
As soon as the incident occurred, Nick Fury immediately sealed the information.
A hundred dead soldiers—that casualty count was comparable to a small-scale conflict!
They were S.H.I.E.L.D., not damn HYDRA!
When confronted by Nick Fury with a severe reprimand afterward, Du Mu's answer was completely unapologetic.
There were no witnesses throughout, and no alarms were triggered. Isn't that the most perfect infiltration?
Hmm, very reasonable!
S.H.I.E.L.D.'s psychological expert analysis report suggested that Du Mu might be suffering from severe delusional disorder.
To him, the entire world was a massive virtual game.
Everyone else was an NPC.
And he was the sole 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 Nick Fury hadn't done that.
After all, what boss would fire an employee who single-handedly boosted the entire company's KPI?
Ultimately, Nick Fury chose to turn a blind eye to Du Mu's methods.
Of course, he couldn't keep both eyes open anyway.
With their boss acting this way, Coulson, as a subordinate, naturally wouldn't say much more.
"If there are no issues with the action plan, I'll inform the pilot to look for a safe landing spot now."
Coulson said, preparing to contact the cockpit.
"No need for the trouble."
Du Mu waved a hand.
Before Coulson could react, he casually pressed the button to open the cabin door.
Coulson was aghast, "Wait! We're several hundred meters up! You don't have a parachute—"
"Woohoo! Liftoff!"
Before the sentence was finished, Du Mu yelled, spread his arms, and leaped out of the cabin door.
He left a bewildered Coulson stunned inside the aircraft.
Sand swirled.
Du Mu was in a rapid freefall from hundreds of meters up. The violent airflow ripped at his clothes, with only the shriek of the wind in his ears.
The ground rapidly grew larger in his vision; the jagged rocks and undulating dunes were clearly visible.
Du Mu's face showed no panic. His body spun sharply in the air, changing to a supine position, arms spread, and then quickly drawn together to protect his chest.
Just as he was about to hit the ground—
Boom!
A large clump of dry, loose hay instantly appeared out of thin air directly beneath him. Du Mu slammed into the hay with perfect precision, sending grass clippings flying everywhere.
He then casually sprang out of the haystack, completely unharmed.
Skill: Leap of Faith
Effect: When falling from a great height, there will invariably be a haystack below to catch you, granting immunity to all fall damage.
Comment: Nothing is true, everything is permitted.
This was a skill Du Mu had acquired after completing a certain mission. Putting practicality aside, the key point was that it was incredibly cool.
As a result, whenever he stood at a slightly elevated position now, he would feel an urge to jump down.
"Where did this drop land me?"
Du Mu surveyed his surroundings. All he could see were monotonous sand dunes. The harsh environment made it difficult to discern directions, let alone find a person.
However, this was not a problem for him.
"System, track the mission target."
Mission target 'Tony Stark' location has been marked.
As the System's voice sounded, a prominent golden light spot immediately appeared on the minimap.
"Not bad, not too far." Du Mu muttered, and began running in the direction of the light spot.
Dozens of minutes later.
Du Mu followed the mission marker to the edge of a valley surrounded by huge rocky mountains.
He crouched down and looked. Hidden at the bottom of the valley was a makeshift small camp.
The perimeter was fortified with sandbag bunkers and barbed wire. Inside, various crates stamped with the Stark Industries logo, as well as scattered missile component debris, were piled up.
In the camp, a group of heavily armed militants patrolled back and forth, numbering at least forty.
The golden light spot marking the mission target was located inside a deep, dark cave at the back 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 jumped straight into a fight to enjoy himself.
But this mission was relatively important.
It was best not to alert the enemy before finding the mission target.
"Looks like the front door is a no-go. I'll have to find another way."
Clang!
Clang!
Clang!
The crisp sound of hammering echoed inside the cave.
In the dim light, a person was vigorously forging metal.
Don't mistake him; this person was not the Prison Boss, but the Iron Man, Tony Stark!
Since being kidnapped by terrorists three months ago, he had been imprisoned in this isolated cave, constantly threatened and abused by the terrorists, all to force him to build a new type of missile.
But who was Tony?
A rebel from childhood, the kind of guy who would absolutely go west if you told him to go east!
So, under the guise of building a missile, he requested a large quantity of materials and tools from the terrorists. With the help of fellow prisoner, physicist Dr. Yinsen, he secretly designed and built a steel suit powerful enough to allow them to break out.
Tony clamped a steel faceplate with tongs and placed it on the workbench. Yinsen, who had been diligently working, looked up upon hearing the sound.
"The core components are almost done. All that's left is the final overall assembly and starting the power system."
Tony's voice was low and hoarse, carrying a trace of imperceptible exhaustion.
"Yinsen, we don't have much time. Those guys seem to be getting suspicious. We have to act fast!"
"Leave the rest to me," Yinsen nodded seriously.
"Good. When the time comes, you hide here. Wait until I clear out the riff-raff outside and confirm it's safe before you come out with me."
Tony's eyes were filled with determination.
The hardships he had endured these past few days had matured the playboy, who indulged in women, drinking, and gambling.
He secretly swore to himself.
If he could make it back alive this time, Tony Stark would be eternally sworn enemies with gambling!
Next, with Yinsen's assistance, Tony began to put the heavy armor components on himself, piece by piece.
Thump! Thump! Thump! Thump...
Just as the two were busy, a dull, strange digging sound abruptly came from the rocky ground right beneath their feet.
"What's that sound?"
Tony and Yinsen froze simultaneously, exchanging confused glances.
However, before they could react, a terrifying sight occurred!
Less than two meters from where they stood, the hard ground vanished instantly, as if wiped away by an invisible eraser!
In its place was a perfectly regular square pit, approximately one meter on each side!
Suddenly, a head popped out of the pit.
Its eyes stared directly at Tony.
"Found you!"