Saving Private Tony

Facing the swarm of bodyguards, Chu Yang picked up Happy, who was still standing there dumbfounded.

"Fuck! Don’t tell me you’re planning to…" Happy struggled desperately and shouted in terror, "No! Put me down!"

Chu Yang pretended not to hear him. When the bodyguards gathered together, he hurled Happy without hesitation.

Like bowling.

The clustered bodyguards were all sent sprawling by Happy’s collision.

"Being big really is great!" Chu Yang could not help remarking.

With so many people cushioning him, Happy was not hurt much. He struggled out of the pile, then launched into a stream of profanity at Chu Yang.

Chu Yang kindly reminded him, "Careful, someone’s coming up behind you!"

"You…"

Happy had just been about to curse him when he suddenly heard something cut through the air. His reflexes, honed over decades as a boxer, made him duck instinctively.

A sudden stun baton swept over Happy’s head.

"Again?" Happy could not help complaining.

There were way too many bodyguards here. Knock down one batch, and another came right after.

Happy turned and drove a savage punch into his enemy’s stomach!

One-punch K.O.!

"Nice punch."

"Quit watching and run!"

"Didn’t you still need to ask about Tony Stark?"

"They obviously don’t want me getting inside. Do you think they don’t recognize me?"

Someone did not want Tony Stark to return, so naturally they would not want Happy asking around about his whereabouts.

Chu Yang realized that.

"Today’s my first day on the job. If I leave just like that, it’ll look terrible on my performance record."

Chu Yang strode toward the densely packed crowd.

"Today doesn’t count! Tomorrow is your official first day!"

Happy reached out to grab Chu Yang’s clothes, but Chu Yang deftly avoided him.

"Just wait at the entrance."

As he spoke, Chu Yang was already surrounded by black-clad bodyguards so tightly that not even water could pass through.

Before long, Happy, standing outside, could no longer see him at all.

"Fuck, they have guns! How can your fists beat guns?!"

Happy cursed and reached for his waist. He had brought a gun too, but he had not used it earlier for fear of escalating the conflict. But given the situation now, he had no choice.

"Ahhh!!!"

Several completely different screams rang out in succession, startling Happy. He craned his neck and saw people constantly flying out from the center of the dance floor.

A moment later, black-clad bodyguards lay unconscious all over the bar.

The small number remaining scattered in an instant.

Chu Yang turned around and flashed Happy an OK sign with a smile.

"Your fists are really hard…"

Happy suddenly felt a little dry-mouthed.

At this level, he seemingly did not need any training at all. He could go straight onstage and collect an award.

Bang!

A flash of fire burst from the second floor of the bar. Chu Yang tilted his head, and the bullet grazed his temple before drilling into the floor.

"Ahhhhhh!!!"

This time, everyone in the bar went completely insane and began scrambling for the exit. A fistfight and a shootout were two entirely different things.

Happy pulled a handgun from his waist, ready to fight back, but Chu Yang moved even faster. He grabbed a bottle from nearby and threw it backward, accurately blowing apart the second-floor shooter’s head.

While people fled the bar, more gunmen began appearing on the second floor.

Then gunfire erupted one after another. The first floor was quickly covered by dense firepower. Bottles behind the bar were shattered into pieces, and expensive liquor spilled all over the ground.

Using Observation Haki, Chu Yang predicted the trajectory of every bullet in advance.

As he dodged, he picked up the scattered playing cards from the tables.

Then he coated the cards with Armament Haki, turning them into razor-sharp blades.

Chu Yang flicked card after card through the air with his fingers. Every card accurately sliced across a gunman’s wrist, severing their tendons along with flesh and skin!

The cards traced perfect arcs through the air before finally returning to Chu Yang’s hand.

There was no more gunfire in the bar, only cries of agony rising and falling.

"What was that just now? Chinese kung fu?"

Stunned, Happy walked in from outside. Looking at the defeated men scattered across the floor, he mimed throwing cards while pursing his lips. "Pew pew pew pew pew…"

"Stop with the pews. Little Li Flying Dagger—never misses. Got it?"

Chu Yang complained in his hometown dialect. Happy, unable to understand him, stared at him in confusion.

"I thought a whole army had come, but it turned out there were only two of you." A fat man in an overcoat, smoking a cigar, appeared on the second floor surrounded by bodyguards. He looked around and then revealed a surprised expression.

"Happy Hogan? We’re old acquaintances. There’s no need to bring me such a huge gift in person, is there?"

The fat man had a long scar beneath his right eye. When he narrowed his eyes, his entire face looked exceptionally ferocious.

The fat man took a deep breath, and a third of the cigar in his hand vanished. When he exhaled, smoke billowed from his big mouth like a steam locomotive.

Happy asked, "Gustav, can we talk in private?"

Gustav fell silent for a moment. He lowered his head and stared at Chu Yang standing beside Happy, then nodded and gestured for the bodyguards around him to leave for the time being.

Only the three of them remained in the empty bar.

"Gustav, you’ve made quite a lot of money over the years through Stark Industries and the arms Black Market."

"Happy, I know what you mean, but I really can’t help you." Gustav shook his head.

"If Tony can’t come back, do you think your business can keep going?" Happy said.

"Sigh…"

Gustav heaved a long sigh, seeming to have something difficult to say.

Chu Yang knew Obadiah Stane must have warned him. As a participant in the underground Black Market, Gustav could not possibly have had no dealings with Obadiah.

Happy stared at Gustav. "You know something about Tony, don’t you?"

Gustav smoked the rest of his cigar in one breath, then smashed the butt hard onto the floor. "Happy, Tony Stark has been kidnapped by local terrorists. He can’t possibly come back. What you’re doing is a waste of effort, understand?"

Happy asked coldly, "Where is he?"

"Oh, God!"

Gustav could not outlast him. He could only curse at the air, then told them everything he knew.

He had once made a deal with the terrorists who kidnapped Tony Stark and knew where they were located, though he was not sure whether they had moved.

"Don’t tell anyone I told you!"

"Got it!"

Happy left with Chu Yang, thoroughly satisfied.

Soon after, Gustav’s bodyguards reappeared on the second floor. Someone standing behind him asked quietly, "Boss, why did you have to tell them? We could have just killed…"

"Kill my ass!" Gustav glared at him and snapped, "You’ve followed me for so many years, yet you still have no eyes! Do you think that young man standing beside Happy is an ordinary person?"

"If we hadn’t told them, he could have killed every last one of us by himself. He might be a mutan… forget it!"

Gustav stopped halfway through, his expression inscrutable.

After learning Tony Stark’s exact location, Happy was extremely excited and immediately called Pepper, "Miss Potts."

"Miss Potts, I found out where Tony is. Please help me arrange a plane!"

He was going to Afghanistan tonight to save Tony!

Pepper was thrilled on the other end of the call. Only after calming down did she say, "No, Happy. We need to notify the military and have them rescue Tony!"

"I don’t trust those people. I suspect someone deliberately concealed the information because they don’t want Tony coming back. I’m going to rescue him myself. Trust me, I met an incredible guy today. I’m confident."

"An incredible guy? Who is he?! Happy, you can’t put your life in the hands of someone you met on the street less than twenty-four hours ago!"

Through the phone, Chu Yang heard Pepper’s complaint and nodded to himself. She had a very valid point, but Happy clearly was not listening.

"Listen, Pepper. You can notify the military or anyone else, but I have to rescue Tony myself. Damn it! If I had been by his side before, he never would have been kidnapped by any terrorists!"

Pepper heard the guilt in Happy’s heart. Everything he had said before had merely been an excuse. Only this sentence was true.

He deeply regretted failing in his duty as a bodyguard!

"Fine. I’ll arrange a plane for you, but you have to promise me not to do anything reckless. You’ll get Tony killed!"

"I promise you, Pepper. I’ll definitely bring Tony back."

Chu Yang’s head hurt just listening to him, especially as Happy kept setting death flags like crazy. He really wanted to sew Happy’s mouth shut.

After hanging up, Happy hailed a taxi by the roadside. Once inside, he realized Chu Yang was still standing outside and hurriedly shouted, "Get in! We don’t have time to waste!"

Chu Yang looked at him awkwardly. "It should be quitting time around now. I know America is a capitalist country, but labor laws should still be respected…"

After saying that, Chu Yang turned and walked away. Happy’s eyes widened. He had not expected this guy to actually intend to clock out!

"Fuck!" Happy hurried out of the taxi and grabbed Chu Yang. "You don’t expect me to go to Afghanistan alone, do you?"

Chu Yang rolled his eyes. "You were planning to go alone anyway."

"That was before I met you. Now I have to bring you! If it weren’t for you today, I would probably have been turned into Swiss cheese!"

"If you bring me to Afghanistan, we’ll still be turned into Swiss cheese!"

"I believe you can protect Tony and me!"

"Bullshit! Are handguns and RPGs the same thing? One shot, and all three of us will be blown to ashes!"

"Tell me, what will it take for you to agree to go to Afghanistan with me?"

"You’ll have to pay more!"

Happy: "…"

Chu Yang said, "I’m just a bodyguard. You want me to face terrorists in Afghanistan for that little salary? Doesn’t your conscience hurt?"

Once Chu Yang put it that way, Happy’s conscience really did sting a little. He and Tony were friends, and he could rescue him at any cost, but Chu Yang had no reason to do so.

"How about double pay?"

"Heh heh!"

"Triple!"

"Tch~~~"

"Five times!"

"Tsk tsk…"

"Ten times!"

Happy’s eyes had turned red. If Chu Yang still refused, he looked like he might start biting people.

"Deal!"

Chu Yang broke into a cheerful smile.

"We leave now?"

"I’m off work. Tomorrow."

Enraged, Happy let out a roar that shook the entire street!

"Fuck!"

Afghanistan.

This place had a subtropical arid climate. It was dry with little rain year-round, bitterly cold in winter and scorching hot in summer.

And this was the hottest season of the year.

Even sitting inside the plane, Chu Yang could feel the temperature rising in a straight line.

The clothes on Happy’s huge body were already soaked through.

As far as the eye could see, there was nothing nearby but desert and vast stretches of rugged mountains. It was difficult for the plane to find a safe place to land.

If they flew any farther, they could easily alert the terrorists who had kidnapped Tony Stark. At that point, the terrorists would simply bombard them with artillery.

"Get ready. We’re parachuting out."

"What?"

"Fuck, keep flying and we’ll fly straight into their home!"

Happy hurriedly took out a map and compared it carefully. Once he understood, he pressed the intercom button on his seat to contact the pilot, preparing to follow Chu Yang’s suggestion.

But for some reason, the pilot did not respond to Happy and continued flying straight ahead.

Happy anxiously pressed it several more times. "Damn it, it broke at a time like this!"

"Broke my ass, we’re screwed!" Chu Yang whistled. "They’re obviously sending us straight into a trap. Someone set you up, idiot."

"Set up?" Happy stared wide-eyed, revealing a pure, unclouded stupidity.

Chu Yang reminded him, "The problem isn’t with the military. It’s inside Stark Industries. Someone among the top executives wants Tony Stark dead in Afghanistan!"

"Last night, that woman named Pepper probably notified some high-ranking executive in the company besides the military. The information leaked, so naturally we got dragged into this too. They’re planning to send us to reunite with Tony Stark, and no one will even suspect them."

Happy slammed his fist heavily onto the seat. No matter how slow he was, he understood Chu Yang’s implication. Chu Yang had practically named the person outright.

"What do we do now? The cockpit is separated by bulletproof material. We can’t open it from out here."

Happy paced anxiously through the cabin.

Chu Yang walked up to the cockpit door. After several punches, the door made from special materials was completely deformed.

Happy froze in place, then slowly gave him a thumbs-up.

The pilot behind the door was horrified and hurriedly tried to draw his gun, only for Chu Yang to smash his fist into the man’s temple, blowing apart his helmet along with his eyeball.

The co-pilot pissed himself in fright and raised his hands tremblingly, showing that he had no intention of resisting.

Seeing this, Chu Yang immediately roared, "Hold the controls! Fuck!"

The co-pilot hurriedly grabbed the controls.

"Where are the parachutes?"

"Right under our seats."

"Only two?"

"Yes, only two."

"Let me guess. You tampered with this plane and planned to stage a crash, right?"

"Yes…"

Chu Yang took out the only two remaining parachute packs, then gave the copilot a look that said, Good luck.

The pilot, on the verge of tears, gripped the controls tightly.

From this moment on, the plane and his life were one and the same.

Chu Yang tossed a pack to Happy. Once he had it on, Chu Yang opened the plane door, kicked Happy beside him out, then jumped after him.

"Ahhhhhhh!!!"

"Saving Private Tony begins now!"

Where the desert, Gobi, and mountains met, caves appeared. Deep within, they connected to one another, giving the place the feel of a rabbit with three burrows.

Terrorists loved this kind of terrain. It made for a natural military base and could shield them from fighter jet reconnaissance.

America’s most famous playboy—Tony Stark—was currently being held in just such a cave.

Without his tailored suits, beautiful women, or fine wine, and dressed only in an oil-stained undershirt, the billionaire looked utterly miserable.

There was now a hole in Tony’s chest, filled by a crude electromagnetic device.

Ever since he had been blown up by one of his own missiles, countless fragments of shrapnel had remained inside Tony’s body.

The electromagnetic device attracted those fragments, keeping them from traveling through his bloodstream to his heart.

The man who created the device and helped Tony complete the surgery was named Yinsen. He was a crucial factor in Tony Stark becoming Iron Man.

The terrorists had forced Tony to make weapons for them.

To resist and escape, Tony asked Yinsen to help him extract palladium from the stockpile of weapons and create a miniature reactor to replace the crude electromagnetic device in his chest.

Through their combined efforts, the reactor was successfully built and began functioning normally in place of the device in Tony’s chest.

Tony took a stack of blueprints from the corner and slowly spread them out beneath Yinsen’s curious gaze.

"Magnificent art." Yinsen admired the steel armor depicted on the blueprints, then asked in confusion, "But can this thing move?"

"Excuse me, are you questioning my abilities?" Tony raised his head and said proudly, "Mr. Yinsen, standing before you is the president of Stark Industries, the man in the world who understands weapon-making best!"

Yinsen smiled without replying, merely running his fingers over the blueprints.

One week later…

It happened to be the day Chu Yang and the others arrived in the nearby area by plane.

The terrorists discovered Tony and Yinsen’s work on the steel armor. To protect Tony while he completed the final stage, Yinsen took up a weapon and went out alone to confront the enemy.

"Hey! Yinsen! Get back here!"

No matter how Tony called out, he never heard Yinsen’s response again.

"Damn it!"

Meanwhile, Chu Yang located the terrorists’ base through Observation Haki.

He then directed Happy to land nearby.

"We really got lucky."

"No, you should thank those two pilots for delivering us straight here."

"Yeah. I hope they’re okay!"

As soon as Happy finished speaking, the plane that had carried them crashed directly onto a hill beside the base. The violent explosion was no less devastating than a missile strike.

The terrorists in the base immediately poured out, packing the open ground outside.

Seeing so many enemies before him, Happy’s mouth went dry. He coughed awkwardly and said, "There are so many of them. How about we wait for the military? I think Pepper was right. Professional matters should be left to professionals."

Chu Yang gave him a disdainful look. "Now is the best time to attack. Once they retreat into the caves, it’ll be even harder to get in."

"Why do we have to charge in head-on?" Happy gestured. "Have you seen spy movies? We could sneak in."

Chu Yang mercilessly shot him down. "No. Your build is too conspicuous. Spies aren’t this fat."

Happy: "…"

Brother, did you really have to hurt me this way at such a serious moment?

Happy was miserable. He had already prepared himself to take a bullet for Chu Yang.

Rat-a-tat-tat-tat-tat!!!

Intense gunfire suddenly erupted from inside the cave.

Happy’s expression changed, and he rushed out so quickly that even Chu Yang failed to grab him.

That showed just how loyal he was to Tony Stark.

If Happy charged out like that, he would definitely be riddled with bullets.

So Chu Yang secretly used Wood Release behind him. A vine burst from the ground and tripped Happy.

His round body rolled and rolled all the way beneath a barricade.

Happy looked up and discovered that weapons and ammunition were piled all around him.

At that moment, the terrorists outside had yet to notice them.

Chu Yang made a throwing gesture at Happy.

Happy understood. He turned around, picked up a grenade from the ammunition pile,

and threw it toward the densest crowd.

Boom!

The grenade exploded amid the packed crowd!

The terrorists who had been focused on the plane crash immediately suffered countless casualties.

Happy did not care about anything else and simply kept his head down, throwing bomb after bomb.

The explosions sent everyone nearby scrambling in panic. Those too slow to run were blown apart on the spot.

"So, don’t watch the excitement for no reason!"

Chu Yang pulled several playing cards from his waist, coated them in Armament Haki, and threw them out, accurately hitting enemies preparing to spray bullets in Happy’s direction.

The cards were like sharp blades, cleanly slicing through their heads. Half their brains slowly slid off, wobbling like fresh tofu.

Fortunately, Happy was too busy throwing bombs to see the horrifying scene. Otherwise, he would definitely have thrown up.

The cards made no sound in flight, and coupled with Chu Yang’s incredible speed, the terrorists could not locate their enemy at all. They could only watch helplessly as their companions fell around them.

Hearing the commotion outside, the terrorist leader assumed an army had arrived and immediately sent the men who had just entered the cave back out to support the others.

Only a few terrorists remained inside now, and Yinsen was temporarily locked in a stalemate with them.

"Someone came from outside? The army? Or terrorists from another faction?"

Listening to the explosions outside, Yinsen was utterly confused.

Happy, lying beneath the barricade, was so frightened by the fierce gunfire that he did not dare raise his head.

Much later, when the gunfire gradually weakened, he finally remembered Chu Yang.

"Why haven’t I heard anything from him for so long? Don’t tell me he got shot to death?"

Happy gritted his teeth.

Risking having his head blown off, he left the barricade.

"I’m not scared! I’m not scared!"

Happy kept hypnotizing himself, then began firing wildly in every direction.

One bullet brushed past Chu Yang’s hair.

"Fuck me."

Chu Yang was so angry he nearly threw the cards in his hand.

After Happy rushed forward some distance…

he suddenly realized there was no gunfire around him anymore. The only gunshots were coming from his own side!

"Where are the terrorists?"

Happy turned in a circle, sword in hand, staring around in confusion.

"At your feet."

Hearing Chu Yang’s reminder, Happy instinctively looked down. His face rapidly went from white to green.

"Blergh!"

While Happy emptied out his stomach, Chu Yang entered the cave.

It was very quiet inside, pitch-black beyond reach.

Chu Yang stopped.

Something seemed to be wriggling in the darkness.

Click—

The sound of a trigger being pulled followed.

Chu Yang moved even faster.

The cards in his hand sliced through the darkness and shot into the depths.

"Ah!"

The terrorist leader hiding in the darkness clutched his bare severed hand and let out a low howl.

Pain and terror twisted his face into something grotesque.

He could not understand how Chu Yang had discovered him.

Suppressing the agony from his severed hand, the leader raised an RPG high and fired a round at Chu Yang’s position.

Unfortunately, Chu Yang had already predicted his actions and vanished the instant he fired.

"Fuck!"

The leader looked as though he had seen a ghost.

Just as he prepared to fire another round, the door behind him exploded open.

A suit of steel armor gleaming with icy light leaped into view before him.

The leader froze.

Bang!

The steel armor raised its mechanical arm, and a cannon blast sent him flying.

"Yinsen?!"

Tony, piloting the steel armor, looked around and finally spotted Yinsen lying on the ground. Another person stood beside him, and Tony immediately launched an attack.

To avoid accidentally hurting Yinsen with the cannon, he chose to use a flamethrower to force back the person beside Yinsen.

A blazing stream of fire shot straight from the nozzle.

The moment Chu Yang saw Iron Man appear, he thought the situation was settled, so he had specifically come to check on the injured Yinsen.

But he had not expected Tony to mistake him for an enemy!

The instant the high-temperature flamethrower erupted…

Chu Yang flicked out a card and severed the extended alloy barrel!

Tony: "???"

I must be seeing things!

Tony felt as though his brain was hallucinating. He had actually seen a playing card cut off the steel armor’s weapon.

He had even seen the card’s face!

Ace of Spades!

"Hey, boss, I’m an employee of Stark Industries. We’re on the same side!"

"You’re pretty funny. Your English is pretty good too."

"I’m serious. Today is my first official day on the job."

"Shut up, you damn terrorist!"

Completely unconvinced, Tony prepared to attack. The massive steel armor faced Chu Yang, its shoulder-mounted machine guns and cannons turning at the same time.

"Tsk, tsk. Rich people are all so impatient."

Under Chu Yang’s control, every card struck an exposed weld point on the steel armor, producing blinding sparks.

After the sparks flashed more than a dozen times in succession, Tony suddenly felt his body become lighter.

Clang, clatter—

In an instant, the steel armor became a pile of scrap metal, falling off him piece by piece.

Suddenly, Tony stood before Chu Yang as though he had been stripped naked.

Awkwardly raising both hands, he waved at Chu Yang. "Hello!"

Chu Yang smacked his lips.

This was bad.

Tony’s face went deathly pale. He had already begun imagining the scene of the terrorists executing him.

"Cough, cough, cough. I swear I’ll never play cards again for the rest of my life!"

Happy, who felt like he was about to vomit out his organs, staggered into the cave from outside. His steps were unsteady. At first, he had no idea how those people died, until he later saw a Nine of Hearts stuck in someone’s head.

"Happy?!"

Seeing his bodyguard and friend, Tony’s pale face quickly regained color as he shouted in delighted surprise.

"Tony!"

Happy was equally excited.

Just as the two were about to share a fierce hug, Tony suddenly stopped, turned to Chu Yang in astonishment, and asked:

"Fuck! You really are my employee?!!"

By evening, the military had used the intense artillery fire to pinpoint everyone’s location.

Colonel Rhodes personally led the team to rescue Tony Stark.

When he reached the destination and saw the wrecked base, his heart immediately tightened.

After such an intense battle, even if they found Tony, he had probably been burned to ashes…

Thinking of this, Colonel Rhodes was overcome with grief. A grown man like him actually had tears welling in his eyes.

Beep beep beep~~~

His phone rang.

Putting aside his sorrow, Colonel Rhodes answered it.

"What?"

"He’s already back!"

"He’s throwing a party in the hospital?!!!"

"Fuck! Tony!"

Hospital.

"So, the boy who cut through steel with playing cards is only sixteen, about to enter high school, and you just met him on the street?"

"You hadn’t even known him for twenty-four hours?!!!"

Tony, lying in his hospital bed, stared at Happy in stunned disbelief until Happy grew a little embarrassed and shyly turned away.

"Are you sure the information you found is real? That kid looked like he’d escaped from some secret base…"

Tony still found it hard to believe. Whenever he thought of how the armor he had painstakingly built had been as fragile as tofu before that kid, it felt like ten thousand ants were crawling over his pride.

"I’m sure!" Happy said seriously.

"Pepper mobilized all the manpower and resources in the company to investigate him."

"Yang grew up in a rural town. His parents and relatives were Chinese immigrants who had been in the country for generations, but they died when he was very young. He grew up relying on his neighbors and the town’s welfare organizations."

"He got into a public high school in Brooklyn, but for some reason, he never attended. Instead, he wandered the streets, and that was when he met me."

At the mention of Brooklyn, Tony instinctively frowned and said disdainfully, "If it were me, I wouldn’t study there either. Tsk, Brooklyn? That place can only produce thugs and junkies!"

"Watch your language, Mr. Stark." Pepper had heard Tony’s awful remarks as soon as she entered the room. She reminded him angrily, "If you say things like that in public, people will see it as discrimination. It’s terrible for Stark Industries’ image!"

"I apologize!" Tony raised both hands. "Even though it was an objective assessment, you’re right, Miss Potts."

Pepper had long grown used to Tony’s shamelessness. She said helplessly, "I found all the information you asked for. Now tell me how we’re supposed to deal with that boy."

"God! He’s only sixteen! Yet he was forced to go to the battlefield in Afghanistan to save people!"

"Happy, do you know how many laws we broke just because he’s a minor?"

"You told me you met someone capable on the street, but you never said he was underage!"

By the end, Pepper was practically roaring.

Her booming voice made Happy feel as if he were standing in the eye of a storm.

"Hey, you know I’ve always had trouble telling Asian faces apart." Happy wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and complained, "Normally, a minor couldn’t possibly beat up that many Black guys."

Tony nodded in deep agreement. "Normally, a minor couldn’t possibly destroy my armor with playing cards."

"Maybe he has some special skills? Don’t forget, he’s Chinese!" Pepper could not be bothered listening to the excuses of these two bastards. "What exactly are we going to do with him?!"

Tony and Happy exchanged a glance and answered in unison.

"Of course we keep him!!!"

"I’ll say it again: he’s a minor. We can’t employ him! That’s illegal!"

Pepper shouted furiously!

She felt that Tony and Happy had not listened to a single word she had said!

"Whoa, whoa! Calm down, Miss Potts!"

Tony jumped in fright and hurriedly explained, "I know he’s a minor, and I know he has no living family left. Under the rules, the Stark Charity Foundation can sponsor his education. You get what I mean?"

Now Pepper understood. They would use Stark Industries’ name to obtain guardianship over Chu Yang.

Tony smiled. "Find him a decent school. In exchange, I need him to help me run some tests."

Pepper suddenly thought of something. "Help you test the durability of those iron toys?"

"Hey! You can’t insult the crystallization of my genius like that!" Tony snapped in embarrassment. "The previous one was only a prototype, so it was that fragile!"

"A prototype ruined by playing cards is still a toy, isn’t it?" Pepper mocked him, then left the hospital room without looking back.

She was not worried about Tony’s health. After all, how bad could the health of someone who could throw a party in a hospital be?

Happy stood quietly to the side. While the two argued, he tried his best not to look like a third wheel.

As Tony’s friend and bodyguard, he knew all too well about the inexplicable feelings between Pepper and Tony.

"She doesn’t understand anything!" Tony’s face flushed red with anger as he kept defending himself. "I’m sure there was something wrong with those playing cards. Damn it, I should’ve taken some with me when I left!"

Happy thoughtfully reminded him, "Gustav has plenty. If you need them, I can bring you a few boxes."

Tony: "…"

With Stark Industries’ help, the school Chu Yang was to attend changed from one in Brooklyn to the best high school in New York City.

But Chu Yang still had no intention of going to school.

Because of this, kind-hearted Miss Potts made a special trip to the shabby little motel where Chu Yang was staying. She sat on a terrible fifty-dollar sofa and had a heart-to-heart talk with him.

She had never seen Chu Yang slaughtering his way through the terrorists’ base. In her eyes, Chu Yang was merely a sixteen-year-old boy whom Happy had tricked into going to a battlefield.

Even if the boy was highly skilled, he was still a child who needed to attend school, study, and receive an education.

"Miss Potts, the main reason I don’t want to attend school is that, aside from that school being truly awful, it would be difficult for me to learn the knowledge I need from an ordinary high school at this stage."

Chu Yang explained politely, his tone calm and composed. He did not seem like a teenage boy planning to drop out at all.

Pepper looked at him in surprise. "Yang, are you saying you’ve already taught yourself the entire high school curriculum?"

Chu Yang nodded. "Yes, Miss Potts."

With the talents granted by his many clones, mere high school knowledge naturally posed no challenge to Chu Yang.

Pepper advised, "Even so, for the sake of your future, I still recommend that you study systematically and then pursue further education at an excellent university."

"Working at Stark Industries in an office would be much safer than following Happy around as a bodyguard."

Chu Yang shrugged. "You might not believe me, but if I wanted to, I could get into any university."

Pepper became a little angry. In Chu Yang, she saw a stubbornness very similar to Tony’s.

That was not a good thing, especially for a boy his age.

"Okay. If you pass my test, I won’t say another word about your education, all right?"

"All right, Miss Potts."

After that, Pepper tested Chu Yang on some high school knowledge, and then…

Pepper began giving him questions beyond the curriculum.

Half an hour later.

Pepper fell silent.

She began to realize the seriousness of the situation.

The next day.

Despite her busy schedule, Pepper came to the hospital again.

"You’ve been coming rather frequently lately. That makes me very happy." Tony beamed and winked at Happy, who was watching from the side.

The corners of Happy’s mouth curled up slightly.

Pepper did not notice the tacit understanding between the two grown men. She walked straight up to Tony, placed a report before him, and said seriously, "I think you need to reevaluate that boy."

"Which one?" Tony froze for a moment, then suddenly understood beneath Pepper’s nearly burning gaze. "The playing card kid?"

Happy coughed lightly to remind him, "Yang."

"Oh, right." Tony awkwardly picked up the report from the bed. After reading it for a while, his expression became as serious as Pepper’s.

"I’d like to ask, what are the odds that you randomly meet someone on the street whose IQ is about the same as mine?"

"Haha, what nonsense are you talking about? The odds are about the same as winning the lottery, around 0.000001%."

The moment Happy finished speaking, Tony and Pepper looked at him at the same time.

A few seconds later, Happy suddenly shuddered.

"Congratulations, you won the lottery…"

Stark Industries.

"Can someone tell me why that idiot bodyguard was able to destroy the terrorists’ base and bring Tony back from Afghanistan?"

"I spent millions of dollars, and all I got was a crashed plane and two charred corpses?"

Obadiah Stane roared into his phone. The kidnapping he had so carefully planned had actually been ruined by an idiotic fat man weighing over two hundred pounds.

The other side was silent for a while before cautiously saying, "Besides Happy Hogan, there was another person on the plane that day."

Obadiah Stane sneered. "Haha, a Chinese boy who just turned sixteen? Are you trying to tell me he did all that?"

"That joke isn’t funny at all. I’d rather believe that idiot Happy mutated into Captain America."

The person on the other end could no longer find anything to say and could only keep apologizing.

Obadiah hung up with a twisted expression.

But he quickly returned to normal and repeatedly practiced keeping a smile on his face.

Tony Stark would be discharged tomorrow and hold a press conference. Obadiah could not afford to show the slightest trace of resentment.

"But why did Happy bring a sixteen-year-old boy along to save Tony?"

"After investigating him over and over, he’s just an ordinary Chinese kid. He’s even an orphan."

"What secret is he hiding?"

At the same time, in another high-rise building, a black, egg-headed man with an eyepatch was asking the same question.

However, his intelligence seemed to be a little more detailed than Obadiah’s.

"Using playing cards to cause a scene in Gustav’s bar, then leaving unharmed, and even going to Afghanistan to rescue people. Tony Stark’s new friend doesn’t look ordinary at all…"