Mantis Stalks Cicada

Tony had not even fully perfected Jarvis yet. All things considered, Jarvis was the most valuable thing on him. Even setting Vision aside, Jarvis itself had excellent capabilities—a comprehensive assistant.

As an artificial intelligence, it could also connect to the Penguin Merchant Guild’s external modules and provide support.

Since it had yet to be perfected, Tony’s greatest use was giving him easy access to S.H.I.E.L.D.

As the son of one of its founders, Tony Stark held a special place in S.H.I.E.L.D.’s heart. With Tony vouching for him, he could avoid a great deal of trouble.

Otherwise, given that he had needed to use a little illusion magic just to enter the country, it would be no small feat for someone with such an unreliable identity to join S.H.I.E.L.D. and become a Level 6 Agent with considerable clearance.

S.H.I.E.L.D.’s combat strength was indeed nothing impressive, but that did not mean he could simply point a gun at Nick Fury’s head and make him promote him.

Uh… come to think of it, using illusion magic against that one-eyed bastard might actually have a chance. His willpower was formidable, after all—enough for an "ordinary person" to become director of S.H.I.E.L.D.

But his illusion magic was at this level, after all.

It was just that if it failed, or if something Captain America carried interfered with it and broke through the illusion while he was being recruited, then he would probably have to completely abandon this route and go find Alexander Pierce instead. In a Mission Space of this difficulty, his illusion magic was far from foolproof.

Mm, better to play it safe and learn from the veterans’ experience. It would be best to get in "quietly."

As for Alexander Pierce, he would see if he could find an opportunity to sell him for a good price…

Thinking about it this way, if he wanted to complete his Promotion Mission safely, then at the very least, S.H.I.E.L.D. could not have any problems before he left this Mission Space…

On the street beneath the Stark Industries building sat a shabby used car, crammed with four burly white men. After watching Tony Stark accept interviews from the media in the distance and casually coax a beautiful female reporter into his car, the man in the driver’s seat said coldly,

"Tony Stark, a world-renowned genius with exceptional research and practical skills. He forged the first-generation Iron Man suit with nothing but a little hammer while trapped in a desperate situation."

"He is conceited, arrogant, and full of all kinds of little quirks. He possesses a unique personal charm, yet he often rubs people the wrong way. The number of people who admire him is about the same as the number who dislike and hate him, making him extremely difficult to approach."

"But! Once you establish a good relationship with him and gain his approval, you may have a chance to obtain an Iron Man suit personally tailored for you by him—a terrifying piece of equipment that retains an individual’s agility while rivaling the power of a mech when its full might is unleashed."

As he finished speaking, the breathing of all four men in the car grew heavier.

This was the most detailed and most feasible intelligence they had purchased.

However, precisely because the returns were so good for the investment, other Reincarnators would definitely come to compete for it.

According to the intelligence, Tony Stark only had one opportunity per mission scenario to make an Iron Man suit for someone else. If someone else got there first this time, they could only wait until they entered the S.H.I.E.L.D. vs. Hydra Mission Space again to obtain one.

"Compared to anything else, our real competitors are the other Reincarnators!"

"That’s right, Boss."

"How about we kidnap Tony Stark…"

A Reincarnator in sunglasses sitting in the passenger seat spoke greedily.

"Shut up! Don’t even think about that! Bring it up again, and I’ll kick you out of the team! The most important thing in this Mission Space is to proceed step by step. Never skip ahead! This is a lesson piled up from the corpses of the big shots! S.H.I.E.L.D.’s power is too terrifying—they could kill you without you even knowing how you died!"

The captain nearly roared in a low voice, his tone filled with terror.

When he saw the three men fall silent in fear, his expression softened somewhat.

"But there is no need to worry too much. As long as we follow the intelligence we uncovered, our chances are quite high. Besides, information on this world’s so-called ‘superheroes’ is not that hard to acquire."

"Let me tell you, it is said that after an Elite Reincarnator veteran obtained a suit tailored by Tony, his own powers happened to be perfectly compatible with it. He had originally been completely unremarkable, but he completed his Promotion Mission in one stroke and became one of the big shots of the French 10th Legion!"

He did not want to frighten all his team members at once, so he immediately painted them a rosy picture.

Heh. Tony would only tailor one suit for one person. Without question, even if their team succeeded, only he would get it. Still, it was necessary to placate the others first, lest they got scared…

"Captain, look! A suspicious person is approaching Tony Stark!"

At that moment, another team member with some sort of visual enhancement spotted a suspicious individual brazenly approaching Tony with his sharp eyes.

Why call him suspicious?

Because most of those approaching Tony were reporters or businessmen trying to build connections. Most wore neat suits or obvious press attire.

But that person was different. He was actually wearing a yellow delivery uniform and a rider’s helmet as he walked straight toward Tony Stark.

Based on what their captain had said, he was very likely a competitor!

The others looked over and indeed saw someone dressed in yellow riding a two-wheeled electric scooter toward Tony. Because of his strange outfit, he was stopped by a chubby man in a suit beside Tony.

All four of them grew solemn.

Was he a native of this world, or a Reincarnator?

His approach had been far too abrupt. They had not even had time to react.

But then the captain steadied himself and put on an expression as though everything was under control.

"Don’t panic, everyone. Tony Stark is famously hard to approach. Unless it is a beautiful female Reincarnator, someone dressed so bizarrely could never leave an impression on him at first sight."

"Heh heh, how could it be so easy to establish ties with a native big shot at this level of difficulty? Leaving a bad impression would instead get you directly blacklisted, and then you could forget about it forever."

Yet just as he finished explaining, they saw Tony Stark open a crudely packaged pizza box with a look of utter delight. He picked up a slice, stuffed it into his mouth, and soon wore an intoxicated expression of pure bliss.

After snapping out of that expression, he quickly packed up the pizza and placed it in his sports car. Then he pulled out a check and began writing on it, saying something to the oddly dressed man at the same time.

Before long, Tony Stark did not even want the beautiful reporter he had just picked up. He directly pulled the pizza delivery guy into his sports car and drove away…

At that moment, the Reincarnators in the car could still hear the echo of their captain’s earlier claim that everything was under control.

Uh, Captain, why did that feel a little off?

"What are you standing around for? Hurry up and follow them!"

The captain finally came back to his senses and jumped up in agitation.

But he quickly realized that, in order to establish his authority, he had seated himself in the driver’s seat…