The next day, a Quinjet quietly arrived above the Middle East.
Inside the cabin, a middle-aged man pointed at the desert outside the window and said in a low voice:
"The area below is the last confirmed location where Tony Stark went missing. Due to the complicated political situation, we can't conduct a large-scale search. We can only investigate covertly. So this mission must remain low-profile."
Kai nodded. "Don't worry, Village Chief. I'm famous for keeping a low profile."
"I'll say this again—I'm Coulson, not some village chief."
"Stop pretending. You're clearly the beginner village chief. I can even see your title floating above your head."
"…."
Coulson subconsciously glanced at his empty headspace, left speechless.
He had read Kai's file thoroughly and knew his behavior all too well.
Kai Havoc, an outstanding graduate of S.H.I.E.L.D. Academy. Since joining S.H.I.E.L.D. two months ago, he had displayed terrifying individual capability and execution efficiency.
No matter how difficult the mission, he always completed it alone. He never made retreat plans, nor did he ever require backup.
In just two months, he had completed 48 missions with a 100% success rate.
Such monstrous efficiency put even Coulson—known as S.H.I.E.L.D.'s hardest worker—to shame. Because of this, Kai had been fast-tracked to a Level 5 agent, setting the fastest promotion record in S.H.I.E.L.D.'s history.
However, Kai had an almost obsessive fixation on completing missions—one could even say he would stop at nothing.
During one infiltration mission, he slaughtered nearly a hundred soldiers inside a base. Not a single person survived—not even the two guard dogs at the entrance.
The moment this incident came to light, Nick Fury immediately sealed all information.
Nearly a hundred casualties—this was practically the scale of a small conflict!
They were S.H.I.E.L.D., not Hydra!
When faced with Fury's strict questioning afterward, Kai gave a perfectly confident answer:
"There were no witnesses, and no alarms were triggered. Isn't that the perfect infiltration?"
…Makes perfect sense, somehow.
According to S.H.I.E.L.D.'s psychological analysis, Kai was suspected of suffering from severe delusional disorder.
To him, the entire world was just a massive virtual game.
Everyone else was an NPC.
And he… was the only player.
Under normal circumstances, such a dangerous and uncontrollable individual would've long been placed on S.H.I.E.L.D.'s highest-risk blacklist and kept under strict supervision.
But Nick Fury didn't do that.
After all, what boss would fire an employee who single-handedly boosts the company's KPI?
In the end, Fury chose to turn a blind eye to Kai's methods.
…Well, he only had one eye to begin with.
Since even the boss didn't care, Coulson naturally kept his mouth shut.
"If there are no issues with the plan, I'll notify the pilot to find a safe landing zone."
Coulson reached for the cockpit communicator.
"No need to go through all that trouble."
Kai waved his hand.
Before Coulson could react, he casually pressed the button to open the cabin door.
Coulson's face changed drastically. "Wait! We're still hundreds of meters up! You don't even have a parachu—"
"Woohoo, let's go!"
Before he could finish, Kai shouted excitedly and leapt out of the aircraft with his arms spread wide, leaving Coulson frozen in shock inside the cabin.
…
Yellow sand roared across the desert.
Kai plummeted from hundreds of meters in the air, violent winds tearing at his clothes as the howling air filled his ears.
The ground rapidly expanded in his vision—jagged rocks and rolling dunes becoming clearer by the second.
Yet there was not a hint of panic on his face.
Mid-air, his body suddenly twisted, flipping into a face-up position. His arms spread wide before quickly pulling in to guard his chest.
Just as he was about to hit the ground—
*Boom!*
A large pile of dry hay suddenly appeared beneath him out of thin air.
Kai crashed directly into it with perfect precision, sending hay scattering everywhere.
Moments later, he casually stepped out of the haystack, completely unharmed.
[Skill: Leap of Faith]
[Effect: When falling from a height, a haystack will appear below you, negating all fall damage.]
[Description: Nothing is true, everything is permitted.]
This was a skill Kai had obtained from a previous mission.
Not only was it practical—it looked ridiculously cool.
So much so that whenever he stood somewhere high, he felt the urge to jump.
"Where the hell am I now?"
Kai scanned his surroundings. Endless dunes stretched as far as the eye could see. The harsh environment made it difficult to even determine direction, let alone find someone.
But for him, that wasn't a problem.
"System, track the mission target."
[Mission target "Tony Stark" location marked.]
As the system responded, a bright golden marker appeared instantly on his mini-map.
"Not too far."
Kai muttered as he started running toward the marker.
…
About forty minutes later, Kai arrived at the edge of a valley surrounded by massive rocky mountains.
Lowering his body, he looked down.
At the bottom lay a crude, hidden camp.
The perimeter was fortified with sandbag defenses and barbed wire. Inside were weapon crates bearing the logo of Stark Industries, along with scattered missile components and wreckage.
Armed militants patrolled the camp—at least forty of them.
The golden marker indicating the mission target was located deep within a dark cave at the center of the camp.
Kai observed carefully.
The only path leading into the cave was heavily guarded—making infiltration quite difficult.
Under normal circumstances, he would've already gone in guns blazing.
But this mission was important.
Until he found the target, it was best not to alert the enemy.
"Looks like the front entrance won't work… guess I'll take another route."
…
*Clang!*
*Clang!*
*Clang!*
The crisp sound of metal striking metal echoed within the cave.
In the dim light, someone was working hard at forging.
Don't misunderstand—this wasn't just anyone.
This was the man of iron himself—
Tony Stark.
Three months ago, he had been kidnapped by terrorists and imprisoned in this isolated cave. He had endured constant threats and humiliation, all to force him into building advanced missiles.
But who was Tony Stark?
Rebellious since childhood—the type who would go west if told to go east.
So under the pretense of building missiles, he obtained a large amount of materials and tools.
With the help of his fellow captive, physicist Dr. Yinsen, he secretly designed and built a suit of armor powerful enough to break them out.
Tony placed a steel mask onto the workbench with a pair of tongs. Yinsen, who had been working intently, looked up.
"The core components are almost done. Now we just need final assembly and to activate the power system."
Tony's voice was low and hoarse, carrying a trace of exhaustion.
"Yinsen, we're running out of time. Those guys are starting to get suspicious. We need to act soon."
"I'll handle the rest."
Yinsen nodded seriously.
"Good. When the time comes, you stay here. Once I clear out the outside and confirm it's safe, I'll come back for you."
Tony's eyes were filled with determination.
The suffering he had endured these past days had matured him.
Deep down, he swore:
If he survived this, Tony Stark would never manufacture weapons again.
With Yinsen's help, Tony began putting on the heavy armor piece by piece.
*Clunk! Clunk! Clunk!*
But just as they were working—
A strange, dull digging sound suddenly came from beneath the rocky ground at their feet.
"What was that?"
Tony and Yinsen froze at the same time, exchanging confused glances.
Before they could react—
Something shocking happened.
Less than two meters away from them, the solid ground suddenly vanished—like it had been erased by an invisible hand.
In its place appeared a perfectly square hole, about one meter wide.
And then—
A head suddenly popped out of the hole.
Its eyes locked directly onto Tony.
"Found you."