Courtyard House: Initial Donation of 50 Million

The Afghan sun continued to relentlessly bake the barren land, turning the rolling hills a glaring, earthy yellow. Meanwhile, deep within a secluded valley, in the Ten Commandments' cave base, Tony Stark was experiencing the longest and darkest period of his life.

The damp, cold cave reeked of a mixture of rust, engine oil, and human sweat. Tony, shirtless, wore a crude electromagnet connected to his car battery on his chest, a stark reminder of his vulnerability and humiliation. He sat at a makeshift workbench cobbled together from ammunition boxes, intently sketching on crumpled sheets of paper by the flickering light of a kerosene lamp. His fingers trembled slightly from the cold and weakness, but his eyes burned with an eagle's edge, fueled by an indomitable spirit and an urgent will to survive.

"Copper wire...high-purity silicon...palladium sheet...laser cutter..." Tony muttered to himself as he rapidly listed the items, his pen almost tearing through the paper. His forehead was covered in fine beads of sweat, partly from the stuffy cave, but more so from the sharp pain in his chest and the mental stress of his rapidly working brain.

"Laser cutter?" Dr. Ethan leaned closer, looking at the list with a furrowed brow, and whispered in heavily accented English, "Tony, this is too conspicuous. They'll get suspicious."

Tony didn't even look up, a sarcastic smile playing on his lips. "Doubt? Ethan, they kidnapped me to make me build the Jericho missile, and the core components of the Jericho require precision machining. Without laser cutters, are you expecting me to gnaw out the parts with rocks and my teeth?" He paused, turning to Ethan, a sly glint in his caramel-colored eyes. "Don't worry, I'll add plenty of 'smokescreens' to the list, like… ten tons of scrap metal, or a few barrels of cheap vodka. Make those adorable terrorists think I'm just making exorbitant demands, or trying to get myself drunk to escape reality."

His tone was relaxed, even somewhat cynical, but Ethan could clearly see the deep weariness and solemnity in his eyes. The shadow of waterboarding had not yet faded, and the pain in his chest tormented him constantly.

“And this,” Tony pointed to an item on the list, “I need an arc welder, the more powerful the better. The reason… well, the missile casing needs to be seamlessly welded to prevent leaks from affecting its power.” He paused, lowering his voice slightly, with an undeniable determination, “but the real reason, Ethan, is that we need to build something smaller, something that can fit in my chest, to replace this damn car battery.”

Ethan's pupils contracted, and he instantly understood Tony's intention. He looked at the rudimentary device on Tony's chest, then at the seemingly scattered materials on the list, and a bold and insane plan gradually took shape in his mind. "A miniaturized... Arc Reactor?" he asked almost in a whisper.

Tony nodded, his eyes gleaming with genius. "That's right. Using the high-temperature plasma generated by an electric arc, a fusion reaction is carried out under the confinement of a strong magnetic field... The principle is the same as that huge thing my father researched back then, only it needs to be shrunk down... shrunk down to fit in my chest cavity." He gestured with his hand to indicate the size. "It can provide stable, powerful energy, enough to power... um... some necessary equipment, like, a means of transportation to get us out of here."

He avoided using the overly sensational term "steel armor," but Ethan fully understood his ambition. If successful, this plan would not only save Tony's life but also be their only hope of escape!

“But Tony,” Ethan said worriedly, “the materials and technology requirements are too high! And our every move is under their surveillance.” He glanced at the armed guards who were faintly visible at the cave entrance.

“So we need time, Ethan.” Tony’s eyes hardened. “We need you to cover for me. I’ll pretend to be studying the Jericho missile blueprints to mislead them. And you, my dear assistant,” he patted Ethan’s shoulder, though the gesture made him wince in pain, “you need to help me gather and organize these materials, and… when we actually start building that ‘little thing,’ shield me from those curious stares.”

He picked up the pen, scribbled his name at the end of the list, and handed it to Ethan, his face regaining its slightly arrogant expression. "Go ahead, Doctor. Give this list to our 'hospitable' hosts. Tell them the great Tony Stark needs these 'trivial' things to create the art of death. And by the way," he lowered his voice, a hint of mischief in it, "tell them that if they can't get the best vodka, at least get the kind that won't kill them."

Ethan took the list, looking at Tony's forced ease, his heart filled with mixed emotions. He nodded solemnly, turned and walked towards the cave entrance to face the menacing guards.

Tony watched Ethan's figure disappear into the shadows of the passage, his facade crumbling instantly, revealing only deep exhaustion and pain. He clutched his chest, coughing violently several times, each cough aggravating his wounds and causing him to feel dizzy with pain. He leaned against the cold stone wall, panting heavily.

"Pepper..." he murmured, his voice barely audible. In his near-death suffocation, it was her voice that pulled him back. He had to live, he had to go back. For her, and for those who had died because of the weapons he had created. Shutting down the weapons division—the thought had never been clearer and more resolute.

He closed his eyes, forcing himself to rest and conserve his strength. The real battle had only just begun. He needed to use this brief respite to repeatedly rehearse the design blueprints of the miniature electric arc reactor in his mind, considering every detail and every possible point of failure. The hope of survival rested on this unborn "little thing."

Meanwhile, on the other side of the world, in New York, USA.

The afternoon sun streamed through the huge floor-to-ceiling windows into the spacious, bright office on the top floor of Stark Industries, but it couldn't dispel the gloom on Pepper Potts' face. She had just ended an emergency video conference with the Pentagon about the latest developments in the investigation into Tony's disappearance—or rather, the complete lack of progress.

Across the conference table, Obadiah Stanislav, Tony's "mentor" and the current head of Stark Industries, was comforting her with a somber expression: "Pepper, don't worry too much. The military has mobilized all resources, and the FBI and CIA are searching with all their might. Tony is so smart, he'll be alright." His fat fingers were interlaced on the table, his tone sincere, but his eyes held a subtle, almost imperceptible scrutiny. "What you need to do now is stabilize the company. With Tony gone, you are the pillar of strength."

Pepper rubbed her temples wearily, forcing herself to stay awake. "I know, Obi. I just... I'm just not feeling well." She walked to the window, looking down at the bustling Manhattan streets, her heart filled with desolation. Tony's last location message had vanished without a trace. She had used all her personal connections, even contacting the secretive Strategic Homeland Security and Logistics Agency (S.H.I.E.L.D.), but the reply was still "under investigation."

She remembered the young man from the East named Wang Huanbo who had suddenly appeared in the archives, claiming to be an old friend of Tony's deceased father. His resolute gaze and promise as he left had become Pepper's only lifeline. She didn't know where Wang Huanbo had gone, nor whether he truly had the ability to find Tony, but in this situation, she had no choice but to believe him.

Obadiah nodded thoughtfully, did not ask any further questions, but gave a few more instructions on company affairs before getting up and leaving the office.

Pepper stood alone in front of the huge floor-to-ceiling window, the sunlight casting a long shadow around her. She took out her phone and brought up the location Tony had last sent her, her fingers unconsciously tracing the screen. Tony, where are you?

Afghanistan, a secluded valley, the Ten Commandments' cave base.

Tony was unaware of what was happening in New York. All his energy was focused on the work at hand.

Under the dim light of a kerosene lamp, Tony and Ethan sat around a makeshift "workbench" cobbled together from scrap metal and spare parts. Scattered on the table were various tools and key components that Ethan had painstakingly and risked great danger to "snatch" from the materials sent by the Ten Commandments: coils made of high-purity copper wire, polished palladium metal rings, several high-energy magnets, and a small piece of precious deuterium raw material for fusion reactions (which Tony had cleverly smuggled into the "experimental materials" list).

Sweat streamed down Tony's face, dripping onto the cold metal parts. The wound in his chest throbbed with pain from the constant bending over, and the wires connecting to the battery twitched occasionally, causing discomfort. But he seemed oblivious to these sensations, his entire focus absorbed in the gradually taking shape, gleaming metallic circular device in his hands.

"Ethan, tweezers! Be careful, aim at this interface!" Tony's voice was slightly hoarse from focus as he carefully adjusted the last few connection points of the core component of the miniature electric arc reactor with a sharpened screwdriver. His movements were precise and steady, carrying an innate rhythm of a top engineer.

Ethan held his breath and, with trembling hands, handed Tony the tweezers, assisting him in performing this most delicate operation. He looked at Tony's pale yet intensely focused profile, his heart filled with admiration and worry. This device was their only hope for escape, but its complexity far exceeded their expectations.

"All done!" Tony breathed a sigh of relief, securing the last connection point. A precisely structured, ring-shaped device, about ten centimeters in diameter and gleaming with a cold metallic luster, appeared in his hand. A cavity was pre-drilled at the center of the ring, the future location for the fusion reactor core.

"This is... a miniature arc reactor?" Ethan's voice trembled slightly.

"That's just the core framework; we're still missing the crucial 'heart.'" Tony carefully placed it on the workbench, then picked up a smaller, sealed cavity made of special ceramics and metal, containing a tiny amount of deuterium. "Now, we need to put it in, and then... connect it to high voltage and ignite it!"

His eyes gleamed with excitement and tension. This was the most crucial and dangerous step. Success would grant them a powerful energy source; failure could send this little thing, along with the cave, flying into the sky.

"Tony, are you sure..." Ethan looked at the small device, then at the rudimentary wiring next to it, his face full of worry.

"Nothing is ever 100% certain, Ethan," Tony interrupted him, his tone unusually firm. "But this is our only chance. Are you ready?"

Ethan took a deep breath, nodded vigorously, and picked up two thick wires connected to the car battery (to serve as a temporary starting power source).

Tony picked up the core chamber containing the deuterium raw material, as if holding the most precious gem in the world, and carefully inserted it into the reserved space in the center of the reactor frame. With a soft click, it fit perfectly.

"Let's begin!" Tony said in a deep voice, his eyes sharp as knives.

With trembling hands, Ethan slowly and extremely carefully brought the exposed ends of the two wires close to the electrode contacts pre-installed on both sides of the reactor…

At this critical moment!

Suddenly, a commotion and hurried footsteps erupted at the cave entrance! Several Ten Commandments guards stormed in aggressively. The leader, a minor leader with a grim face, sharply scanned Tony and Ethan, as well as the strangely shaped metal device in front of them.

"Stark! What the hell are you doing?!" the squad leader roared, striding over. "What is this thing? Where are the blueprints for the Jericho missile?!"

Tony and Ethan's hearts leaped into their throats! Cold sweat instantly soaked their backs!