"What the f—!?"
Tony and Yinsen's hearts nearly stopped from the shock of the sudden appearance.
Tony, in particular, hadn't slept for two days to meet his deadline, and the fright nearly made him pass out.
Under their astonished gazes, Du Mu skillfully scrambled out of the pit, brushed the dust off himself, and casually slung a pixel-style pickaxe onto his shoulder.
[Item: Diamond Pickaxe]
[Effect: Greatly increases mining efficiency; can quickly harvest/destroy most minerals and rocks.]
[Comment: If Andy Dufresne had this pickaxe, he'd have saved himself at least 27 years of detours.]
"Who are you!?"
Tony was the first to regain his composure, staring warily at the mysterious figure.
Du Mu grinned. "You must be Tony Stark. I'm here to get you out."
"Were you sent by the military?"
"No, I'm a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent. Here's my card."
Tony took the card and read:
Federal Bureau of Investigation, Senior Agent Du Mu.
"?"
"Uh, sorry, wrong one."
Du Mu smoothly snatched the card back, then pulled out a large handful of assorted business cards from his pocket.
Department of Defense, Central Intelligence Agency, New York Police Department, Federal Tax Bureau...
Tony: ...
"Found it."
Du Mu finally located the correct card and handed it over.
Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division, Senior Agent Du Mu.
Tony looked at the ridiculously long agency name and felt like it was something a novel author had made up to pad the word count.
He eyed Du Mu suspiciously. "How many people did your Strategic Homeland... division send?"
Du Mu smiled confidently. "Just me."
"???"
Tony's face went completely dark.
This guy can't possibly be serious, can he?
Du Mu paid no attention to Tony's reaction, his gaze already glued to the crude steel armor on his body.
[Mark I Armor (Bound to Tony Stark)]
[Description: A powered armor suit hand-built by Tony in the cave using salvaged materials. Requires a large amount of energy to drive.]
"Good stuff!"
Du Mu's eyes were shining.
No man could resist the allure of an armored suit, and he was no exception—this was a man's ultimate romantic fantasy!
It was a pity it was bound to Tony, a main plot character. Otherwise, he might try to see if he could make it drop.
Du Mu sighed regretfully.
He had already confirmed that the NPCs in this game had no respawn mechanism.
Once an NPC died, they permanently disappeared, and related quests would fail.
So, it was best to avoid harming main plot characters.
But I can definitely try it on a second playthrough, Du Mu secretly planned.
Tony felt chills run down his spine from Du Mu's intense and dangerous gaze. Just as he was about to speak, a clamor of noise suddenly erupted outside the cave!
Tony's expression instantly changed. He urgently looked toward the monitor in the corner.
It was obvious the terrorists had detected their situation and were rushing toward them.
"They're coming! Hurry up!"
Tony ignored Du Mu and shouted at Yinsen.
Soon after, terrorists reached the outside of the cave, banging on the iron door and yelling in a language neither of them understood.
"Boom—!"
The moment the terrorists forced the iron door open, a deafening explosion roared!
The bomb Tony and Yinsen had pre-set at the entrance was detonated, leaving several charred bodies on the ground as smoke and debris filled the air.
Before the two could breathe a sigh of relief, a more dense pattern of footsteps rapidly closed in from the distance!
"Damn it!"
Tony was frantic; these terrorists had arrived much faster than anticipated.
"Yinsen, activate the power system immediately!"
"But the armor isn't fully debugged yet..."
"We can't worry about that! Now!"
Tony knew the immense risk of forcibly activating the Iron Suit, but he had no choice.
If they didn't start it now, once the terrorists rushed in, they wouldn't even have a chance to fight back!
Yinsen gritted his teeth and, under Tony's instruction, started the power system. The progress bar on the computer screen began to advance slowly.
Outside the cave, the terrorists' shouts and footsteps grew closer.
"No time!"
Yinsen took a deep breath, grabbed a rifle from beside a corpse, his eyes determined. "I'll hold them off!"
With that, he decisively rushed out of the cave.
"Yinsen! Come back! Stick to the plan!"
Tony shouted anxiously, but Yinsen's figure had already vanished from the doorway.
Crunch, crunch...
Just at this tragic and tense moment, an inappropriate sound rang out.
Du Mu, who had produced a handful of melon seeds from nowhere, was leisurely munching on them, enjoying the scene of separation and sacrifice.
"The cutscene is pretty good, just a bit cliché," Du Mu commented, spitting out a shell.
Based on his vast experience immersed in countless game plots, this NPC named Yinsen was highly likely to be sacrificed.
Wait, why does this plot progression feel familiar?
Du Mu suddenly realized something was wrong and looked at Tony with suspicion.
Come to think of it, crafting a powered armor from scrap in a cave was inherently unscientific—it was blatant cheating.
Plus the plot of sacrificing a companion.
This kind of treatment only seemed to be reserved for the protagonist, right?
"System, don't tell me this little mustache is the protagonist, and I'm just a passing camera."
[Please rest assured, this game has no pre-set protagonist. The system will not interfere with any player decisions. Players are free to participate in the plot.]
[To become the protagonist, a supporting character, or a passerby is entirely up to the player's choice.]
"That's good."
Du Mu breathed a sigh of relief.
He didn't want to be some mobile camera that just went to sleep every day.
Tony watched Du Mu leisurely eat his melon seeds, his lungs nearly exploding with rage.
We're fighting for our lives here, and this guy is just sitting there watching the show!?
But then he reconsidered. This guy claimed to be an agent; he should at least have some fighting capability.
Tony, holding onto a final sliver of hope, shouted urgently at Du Mu: "Hey, Agent whatever! Quickly stop Yinsen! Don't let him do something foolish!"
The fate of Yinsen, a defenseless scientist, against a group of vicious terrorists was easily predictable.
He's definitely going to die, pal!
Hearing Tony, Du Mu scoffed. "Heh, who do you think you are? I'm a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent. If I do whatever you tell me, wouldn't I lose face?"
[NPC Tony Stark has issued you a new quest]
[Quest: Save Yinsen]
[Goal: Ensure Yinsen survives]
[Reward: 1000 Experience Points, Tony Stark Favorability +20, Random Rare Quality Item 1]
"However, on the other hand, as an upstanding citizen, how can I stand by and watch someone die? Don't worry, this mission is on me!"
The look of disdain on Du Mu's face instantly vanished, replaced by an expression of righteous valor.
The speed of his change left Tony utterly dumbfounded.
As for integrity?
Du Mu just thought, Do game players even have such a thing?