Seizing the Obelisk

Tony signed the contract after downing a glass of wine, then snapped his fingers. "J.A.R.V.I.S., make the transfer!"

I want an intelligent butler too—the feminine kind. I’ll have Skye develop one later… Old Wang gave Skye’s bank account number. With a buzz, ten million dollars arrived.

No matter how small the mosquito, it was still meat. Old Wang was quite satisfied. The playboy did have his good points—at least he paid without hesitation.

Pepper hurriedly asked, "Mr. Wang, what preparations do we need? When do we start? Do you need assistants? I’ll contact the best doctors in New York right now. What specialties do we need? Surgery? Internal medicine? Thoracic surgery? Proctology? Neurology? Gynecology… andrology?"

"Pediatrics."

Old Wang waved a hand. "I’m enough on my own. No preparation is needed either. We can begin right now. Does anyone need to leave?"

"This… isn’t that too hasty?" Pepper felt uneasy. The more she watched, the more Mr. Wang seemed like some swindler digging a pit for them.

There was obviously no need for anyone to leave. A secretary and driver were always the people closest to their boss; they knew Old Wang’s secrets best. Everyone on Earth knew that.

"In fact, it has already begun."

Old Wang raised his left hand and crooked a finger.

All the shrapnel, like little sluts catching the scent of a man, flew toward Old Wang’s embrace in unison.

Old Wang naturally rejected them.

Tony immediately felt excruciating pain, as though hundreds of needles were piercing through his chest and internal organs at once. Sweat poured from his entire body as he clutched the sofa worth tens of thousands of dollars with both hands, unable to stop himself from regretting it.

Fuck, I should’ve gotten anesthetized first!

Tony took a savage bite of his hamburger. It seemed to hurt a little less.

Suddenly.

Whoosh!

Whoosh, whoosh!

Hundreds of tiny shards burst through his skin, then stopped neatly in midair before Old Wang, arranged in orderly rows.

Old Wang glanced at the coffee table.

All the shards hurriedly flew over and obediently landed on it.

Tony let out a muffled groan. In an instant, he felt indescribable agony, as if he had become a sieve leaking blood everywhere. Then came a wave of bliss, like ascending from hell to heaven. Finally, his eyes rolled back, his head tilted, and his legs stretched out.

He passed out.

Clean and simple.

"Tony!"

Pepper rushed over and held her boss and secret crush. She checked his breathing and found that it was still there, then checked his heartbeat and found that it was somehow still there too. Only then did she breathe a sigh of relief.

Looking at Tony again, his clothes were riddled with holes. Blood seeped from the tiny openings in his chest, quickly staining his entire body. Bulk discounts applied.

"Master Wang, this, this…"

Old Wang waved a hand. "It’s fine. He just passed out from the pain."

Regarding Tony’s pain tolerance, Old Wang could only say that he was indeed a playboy. It was far too poor. Forget comparing him to Guan Yu—even Skye was tougher.

Skye hadn’t looked that hurt even while bleeding. Was this really necessary?

To be precise, any mother who had given birth naturally was far tougher than Tony.

He raised his index finger again and crooked it. The Arc Reactor embedded in Tony’s chest hurriedly flew over to Old Wang.

Old Wang shook his head.

The Arc Reactor swayed pitifully before flying obediently onto the coffee table.

I threw myself at you, and you still don’t want me!

Old Wang suddenly pointed.

A large amount of green mist spread out, completely enveloping Tony before seeping into his body.

The torn skin and severed muscles quickly healed. His internal organs began to recover as well. Even the large hole in his chest slowly wriggled with new muscle, miraculously vanishing.

Pepper and Happy’s mouths fell open into O’s. They could not believe their eyes.

Was this a magic show, or were they filming a Hollywood blockbuster?

The special effects were free!

An unprecedented itch made the unconscious Tony twist his body involuntarily. If it had not been inappropriate to do so in front of others, Old Wang really wanted to record a video on his phone. Even if he could not use it for blackmail, it would still make a nice memento.

"Water, come!"

Old Wang beckoned. The faucet turned on by itself, and a stream of water flew over from more than ten meters away, washing away the bloodstains on Tony’s body and splashing the sofa and floor worth tens of thousands of dollars.

It revealed intact skin.

Even the scar from the missile explosion was gone.

"Wind, come!"

A gust of wind swept past and dried Tony off.

"Fire, come!"

A luxurious limited-edition signed lighter flew over. Pepper’s face filled with terror as she hurriedly cried, "Don’t!"

"I didn’t even bring five-spice powder or cumin. Was there any need to panic?"

Old Wang waved a hand, and the lighter returned to wherever it had come from.

"That’s it?" Pepper stared blankly. Mr. Wang’s move had been too beautiful. Was this some grand fantasy-themed stage magic act?

"Done. Time to clock out."

Old Wang stood, smiling. "Get plenty of rest and replenish your nutrition… don’t engage in strenuous exercise."

Old Wang did not specify what kind of strenuous exercise playboys liked best, but Pepper and Happy surely understood.

Suddenly, a ringtone sounded.

It was not a call, but a text message from Skye.

After glancing at it, Old Wang furrowed his brows, narrowed his little eyes, felt his heart tremble, and curled his lips into an amused smile.

"S.H.I.E.L.D.’s secret research base has been attacked by the Winter Soldier. The target is the only Box 084 classified at Level 10. S.H.I.E.L.D. has deployed its rapid-response special forces, led by ‘Crossbones,’ Agent Brock Rumlow, to pursue him."

There was only one text, but its contents were explosive.

S.H.I.E.L.D. had hundreds, perhaps thousands, of Box 084s. Each contained a mysterious item, but only one was classified at Level 10. It was the first mysterious object in history:

The Obelisk.

It was the key to Skye becoming Quake.

Something he had always wanted had actually been snatched first by Hydra. Whitehall was too impatient, but that was a good thing instead.

Egghead valued the Obelisk greatly and certainly would not be willing to part with it. Going over to seize it directly was not impossible, but it was unnecessary. After all, he was still in the honeymoon phase with S.H.I.E.L.D.

Now it was in the Winter Soldier’s hands, bringing the two things he wanted together.

How could he miss such a perfect opportunity?

He had originally wanted to have a proper chat with Tony.

Now, it seemed that would have to wait until next time!

"This, this is incredible!"

Pepper pounced over and felt Tony’s chest. It had really healed completely?

Could this be the ancient Eastern mystical power known as qi?

"Mr. Wang…"

Pepper hurriedly turned to thank him, only to find no one there.

"Happy?"

"Uh… Mr. Wang just left. He was so fast." Happy hurriedly answered, then rubbed his eyes.

As both driver and bodyguard, and a former boxer, he had kept his eyes on Mr. Wang the whole time. If anything went wrong, he would have lunged in immediately and pinned Mr. Wang down with his fists and body weight.

He would have shown him the advantage of strength and weight!

Just now, Mr. Wang had looked at his phone, apparently at a very important message.

Then Happy’s vision blurred, and Mr. Wang vanished in an instant.

That speed…

Never mind whether he could beat him.

If they actually fought, he would not even be able to hit him!

A sense of frustration welled up inside him.

"Happy, turn on the power and have the household robots clean this up."

Pepper gave the order, then touched Tony’s pulse, breathing, and forehead before letting out a sigh of relief.

As long as her boss was fine, Stark Industries would not descend into chaos.

A full half hour passed.

"Mm…" Tony finally woke up.

Thanks to Ziyuan882 for the 100 tip, and Fiery Wine Scorching Lips for the 200 tip!