Page 34
An American-style wooden detached villa is located in a suburb.
The living room of the villa was a bit messy.
The TV was on and the news was playing. The host's excited and hoarse voice filled the room, carrying a kind of inspiring power.
"… Cheers! Another American superhero has been born after Steve Rogers! He is Tony Stark! Our Iron Man!…"
The man sat on the sofa with his legs crossed, listening to the TV and reading a newspaper. On the table in front of him was a half-empty bottle of whiskey.
On an entire page of the newspaper, half was a gold and red steel mask, and the other half was half of Tony Stark's face, with a large black artistic title "I'm iron man" printed at the bottom.
The headline on the back of the newspaper read 'Stark Industries Stock Continues to Rise to the Limit'.
The sun shines in from the door, bringing a bit of warmth, and the laughter of children can be faintly heard in the yard.
It is late autumn, but it is not that cold this year.
Three or four young children in thin clothes and pants gathered together, and in the middle was a little man made of mud with four legs and two heads.
They jumped and shouted, "Iron Man! Iron Man!..."
A postman in a black jacket knocked on the door and walked into the yard. He held a thin document bag in his hand and shouted, "Ezekiel Stani, there's mail for you..."
The postman drowned out the children's cheers with his rough voice, and the children ran away in all directions, frightened by this strange and rude guy.
/——————
Moscow.
It was snowing heavily here at this time, and the ground was covered with white snow.
Pedestrians trudged along the road with difficulty, taking one step deep and one step shallow.
Next to the main road, there is a garbage-filled, sparsely populated alley. Deep in the alley is an old, remote house.
The house was in a mess, with a simple bed in the middle, on which lay an old man who was about to die and exuded a decayed smell.
A middle-aged man was sitting beside the bed. He had long, unkempt hair, a weathered face, and was wearing a tattered jacket.
There is an old small TV from the last century next to the bed, which plays the same news about Iron Man... It's annoying.
The old man looked at his son with lifeless eyes. He kept coughing, his voice weak but full of reluctance, "It should be you..."
The old man was Anthony Vanco, a genius who had worked with Howard Stark to develop the Ark Reactor. He was later accused by Howard of using technology for improper profit and was expelled from the company. Soon after, he was deported to Russia for espionage and then exiled to Siberia.
Today, more than a decade later, the old man's son has become successful and famous, but he and his son are living in a corner of a garbage dump, rotting and moldy, with maggots as their companions...
Ivan Vanko, who was sitting beside the bed, comforted the old man sadly and feebly, "Don't listen to their nonsense."
On TV, the voices praising Stark continued, making Ivan Vanko even more confused.
"I'm sorry... All I can leave you is knowledge..."
The old man was barely breathing and tried to say something, but he died suddenly the next second.
Tears involuntarily fell from Ivan's eyes. He stroked the old man's dry cheek lovingly with trembling hands and let out a heart-wrenching cry.
"what!"
"what--!!!"
……
Chapter 43. Psychological Game with the Director of SHIELD (Part )
It was already dusk when we returned to Stark Villa.
There was a lot to do that day. Contacting workers to repair the damaged building, dealing with some journalists, and most importantly - taking over the administration of the company from the deceased Obadiah.
When I stepped into the gate of the villa, it was quiet inside, with a strange atmosphere, just like a silent jungle, which often indicates that a dangerous hunter is passing by.
"Jarvis?"
Stark shouted, frowning.
"Welcome home, sir."
Jarvis responded, but the smart-controlled lights in the room did not turn on, and something ominous seemed to be gradually intensifying.
Standing outside the living room and looking inside, there was a dark figure standing behind the sofa. He stood there quietly, facing the glass wall, looking at the sea that was gradually turning dark under the night sky, and it seemed that he stood there for a very long time.
Jarvis showed no warning about the outsider who had invaded the villa, as if he did not exist here at all.
A deep and solemn voice suddenly sounded, echoing in the empty living room, "I am Iron Man? You think..."
"Do you think you're the only superhero in the world?"
Lai Mu, who was standing next to Stark, suddenly took over the conversation, "Is that what you meant to say?"
The black shadow turned around, but his face was still unclear. Only a cold snort could be heard.
"A person with unknown origins and no identity. He suddenly appeared in Afghanistan half a year ago, and before that, no information about him could be found on the earth."
"A few days ago, you went to Afghanistan with Stark to participate in the war in your personal capacity, and yesterday you killed Obadiah and caused a large-scale explosion... Don't try to provoke us. Not arresting you immediately is my only mercy."
There was a condescending and arrogant tone in the cold voice.
"Who the hell are you?"
Stark reached out and pulled Lemu behind him. He took two steps forward, blocking the middle, looking at the shadow vigilantly, ready to summon the Mark Armor at any time.
The battle seemed to be about to break out.
The shadow walked towards the two of them step by step, and the first thing that caught their eyes was a shiny bald head. He was wearing a black leather coat, a black eye patch on his left eye, and a solemn expression.
"I'm Nick Fury, Director of S.H.I.E.L.D."
Lai Mu looked thoughtful, then suddenly realized something, and said with a hint of humor in his voice, "Oh! Did Coulson tell you? So you came here with cash to pay for the copyright? I don't agree with you if you don't have one million."
Nick Fury frowned, "You are being unreasonable. SHIELD won't give you a penny."
"It doesn't matter. I'll be happy to be a creditor of SHIELD. It's so impressive to say, 'Nick Fury owes me a million!'"
Of course, Lai Mu didn't lack this little money. He was just teasing Coulson out of mischief at first, and now he just brought it out to talk nonsense and try to disrupt the opponent's rhythm.
Nick Fury was a little angry. He worked hard to create such a high level of quality, and you're talking to me about this?
"That's enough. I'm not kidding you."
Nick Fury exhaled through his nose, and his one-eyed eye slid across Stark's body like a snake and fixed on Lemu, "Stark, I wanted to talk to you about the 'Avengers'."
Stark subconsciously replied, "What big boy alliance?"
Nick Fury was selectively deaf and continued to talk to himself, "But, what you call a superhero is allowing a minor to drive a war armor?"
"And you, Lemu Etxeberria, where did you come from? Don't tell me you jumped out of the center of the earth."
The atmosphere became tense for a moment, and the three of them were stuck in place.
"No hurry, sit down first."
Lai Mu broke the deadlock. He gestured to Fury to invite him in, and then pulled Tony Stark, "It's okay, there's no danger. He's just a kind and honest agent. He came to our house very politely to communicate with us, so we should at least offer him a drink of water first."
As he spoke, he sat down on the sofa.
The three of them sat down one by one in the dim living room, and the faint sound of waves came from outside the glass wall.
Nick Fury was quite considerate and didn't intend to fight to the end, or he couldn't do it alone.
Lai Mu poured himself a glass of water and took a sip. In the darkness, I couldn't see the expression on his face, but I could hear his not-so-loud voice.
"Can I ask you a personal question?"
Without giving Nick Fury time to refuse, Lemu continued, "Have your eyes been injured?"
Nick Fury stared at Lemu with his deep single eye, and said meaningfully, "Yes, I lost an eye during a mission because I trusted an immature teammate too much."
Are you hinting at me?
Lai Mu complained in his heart, "No matter where you go, you never forget to educate people? You use the same tactics with Captain America Steve."
However, if Nick Fury responded at this time with "One-eye is a man's romance", then things would be interesting... er, no, things would be serious.
Lai Mu didn't comment on the surface, his face was calm, "Well, I don't want to talk about your eyes... I want to ask about a cute cat. I heard that you have a big orange cat. I like cats very much. If you have a chance, can you bring it to me to see."
Nick Fury frowned, alert in his heart, and his fingers on the armrest of the sofa hooked unconsciously, and his tone became cautious, "Where did you hear that?"
Why did he mention the cat? Did he know that my eyes were blinded by the Devouring Beast?
But he shouldn't know this...
Stark felt like he had no sense of participation, so he interrupted in a bored and nagging manner, "You didn't tell me that you like cats. If you like cats, I can give you a hundred cats, one of each color, even cheetahs. I have always been very generous, I never owe anyone money, and I will never be reluctant to give away pets to others."
After Stark finished speaking, there was silence for thirty seconds.
The other two people present clearly had no intention of paying attention to him; they were busy with a psychological game, and a tiny movement or a seemingly irrelevant word could reveal a flaw.
Lai Mu took another sip of water. When telling a story, doing some mechanical movements can help keep his thoughts smooth.
"A friend, a friend who can fly, told me. She is a human being who walked out of your Earth."
Nick Fury tightened his coat and crossed his legs, naturally hiding the turbulent emotions in his heart, "So you want to tell me that you are an alien?"
"Of course, this is where I come from, and this is the answer you want."
Nick Fury spread his hands and seemed to accept this. "Well, alien...sadly, the cat died of old age. No cat can live that long. I can't bring it to see you."
Old fox.
Lai Mu smiled and nodded, "That's such a pity, I thought it could live for a thousand or eight hundred years."
Chapter 44. Psychological Game with the Director of SHIELD (Part )
"My friend mentioned you to me. He said you're a nice person, but you're a bit of a talker."
When Lai Mu said this, his conscience did not hurt. As everyone knows, slimes have no hearts, so Lai Mu has no conscience.
Nick Fury is more than just a chatterbox. He was a huge talker when he was young. He has restrained himself a little as he got older, but even so, he still often says "Fuck you".