The next day, a Quinjet stealthily flew over the Middle East.
Inside the cabin, a middle-aged man pointed at the desert outside the porthole 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 a large-scale search operation, so we can only investigate secretly. Therefore, this operation must be kept low-key."
Daniel nodded, "Don't worry, Village Chief, I'm famous for being low-key."
"Let me reiterate, I am Agent Coulson, not some village chief."
"Stop pretending, you are the Novice Village Chief. I can see the title above your head."
"..."
Coulson subconsciously looked at his empty head, only to be left with a helpless expression.
He had read Daniel's file and was well-versed in his methods and exploits.
Daniel, 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 S.H.I.E.L.D.'s model employee, far behind. Daniel was even promoted to a Level 5 Agent, setting S.H.I.E.L.D.'s fastest promotion record.
However, Daniel had an almost obsessive, even ruthless, dedication to completing missions.
In a secret infiltration mission, he once Carnaged nearly a hundred soldiers in a Base, leaving no one alive, not even the two guard dogs!
As soon as this happened, Fury immediately sealed the news.
The deaths of nearly a hundred soldiers—this casualty count was almost on par with a small conflict!
They were S.H.I.E.L.D., not HYDRA!
Afterward, facing Fury's stern questioning, Daniel's answer was also very righteous.
There were no witnesses throughout the process, and no alarms were triggered. Wasn't this the most perfect infiltration?
Hmm, very reasonable!
S.H.I.E.L.D.'s psychological expert's analysis report indicated that Daniel was suspected of suffering from severe delusions.
To him, the entire World was a vast virtual game.
Everyone was an NPC.
And he was the only player!
Normally, such an extremely dangerous and uncontrollable factor should have been placed on S.H.I.E.L.D.'s highest alert blacklist and closely monitored.
But Fury didn't do that.
After all, what boss would be willing to fire an employee who single-handedly boosted the entire company's KPI?
Regarding Daniel's conduct, Fury ultimately chose to turn a blind eye.
Of course, he couldn't open both eyes.
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."
Coulson said, preparing to contact the cockpit.
"No need for all that trouble."
Daniel waved his hand.
Before Coulson could react, he casually pressed the cabin door's open button.
Coulson's face turned pale with shock: "Wait! We're several hundred meters up! You don't have a parachute..."
"Woohoo, taking off!"
Before he finished speaking, Daniel shouted, spread his arms, and leaped out of the cabin door.
Leaving Coulson bewildered in the cabin.
Yellow sand swirled.
Daniel plummeted from several hundred meters high, the violent airflow tearing at his clothes, with only the whistling of the wind in his ears.
The ground rapidly magnified in his vision, with jagged rocks and undulating dunes clearly visible.
There was no hint of panic on Daniel's face. His body suddenly spun in mid-air, turning to an upward-facing posture, his 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 appeared out of thin air directly below him. Daniel slammed into the hay bale with incredible precision, 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, a hay bale will appear below you to catch you, immune to all fall damage]
[Comment: Nothing is true, everything is permitted]
This was a skill Daniel obtained from completing a certain mission. Not to mention its practicality, the key was that it was incredibly cool.
So much so that even now, when he stood on a slightly higher spot, he had an urge to jump down.
"Where did this take me?"
Daniel looked around, seeing only monotonous sand dunes as far as the eye could see. The harsh environment made it difficult to even discern directions, 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 dot immediately appeared on the minimap.
"Not bad, not too far," Daniel muttered, and started running in the direction of the dot.
Tens of minutes later.
Daniel followed the mission marker to the edge of a valley embraced by huge rock mountains.
He crouched down and looked down, where a crude, small encampment was hidden at the bottom of the valley.
The perimeter was fortified with sandbag-stacked defenses and barbed wire fences. Inside, there were various weapons crates marked with Stark Industries, as well as scattered debris of missile components.
In the encampment, a group of heavily armed Terrorists patrolled back and forth, at least forty of them.
The golden dot marking the mission target was located deep within the encampment's secluded cave.
Daniel observed that the only passage leading to the cave was heavily guarded, making infiltration quite difficult.
Normally, he would have already enjoyed a fight.
But this mission was more 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 within the cave.
In the dim light, a person was vigorously hammering iron.
Don't misunderstand, this person was not the 'Prison Boss', but the Iron Man, 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 build new missiles.
But who was Tony?
He was rebellious from a young age, the kind who would definitely go west if you told him to go east!
So, under the guise of building missiles, he procured a large amount of materials and tools from the Terrorists. With the help of Dr. Ethan, a fellow prisoner and physicist, he secretly designed and built a set of Iron Armor powerful enough to help them break through the siege.
Tony used iron tongs to clamp an iron mask onto the workbench. Ethan, who had been working diligently, looked up at the sound.
"The core components are almost done; now all that's left is the final assembly and activation of the power system."
Tony's voice was low and hoarse, with a hint of undetectable fatigue.
"Ethan, we don't have much time left. Those guys seem to be getting suspicious. We must act quickly!"
"Leave the rest to me," Ethan nodded seriously.
"Good, you hide here, and once I clear out the riffraff 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 past few days had matured this playboy, who indulged in gambling, women, and alcohol.
He secretly swore in his heart.
If he could return alive this time, 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 beneath 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 an extremely regular square pit, about 1 meter per side!
Suddenly, a head abruptly emerged from the pit.
Its eyes stared directly at Tony.
"Found you!"