Marvel's Death Merchant

“No need to call anymore, I’ve tried,” Dr. Gordon said weakly, as if he had suffered some kind of blow.

"Hey. Let's not talk about whose fault it is yet, turn on the lights." Tony Stark assumed it was a trick by the terrorists outside to get these people to stay with him, so he suggested to the two men.

“I’d like to turn it on too, but I can’t find the switch here,” Dr. Gordon’s voice came from Tony Stark’s left.

“The switch.” Tony Stark fumbled around for a moment, then suddenly found the switch. He immediately turned it on, and a bright light instantly shone through.

As everyone's eyes gradually adjusted to the dim light, two more people were handcuffed opposite them in the secret room. Between the three lay a corpse in a pool of blood, clutching a Stark Industries-branded pistol.

"What's that in your pocket?" Dr. Gordon asked urgently, watching Tony Stark pull out a white object. He felt this was a crucial clue to their inexplicable arrival here.

“It’s a cassette tape and two bullets,” Stark said, staring at the tape and the bullets in his hand with a puzzled look, without looking up.

"Where was it found?" Dr. Gordon continued.

“In my pocket…” he replied wearily, because shrapnel from the shell was still in his heart, and he had not yet recovered, so Stark looked very bad.

Upon hearing Tony Stark's words, Gordon and Adam checked their pockets. Adam found nothing, but Gordon found a small key in his pocket.

Just as Gordon and Adam were about to open the lock they thought was a key to their feet, they were dismayed to discover that it wasn't a key to the chains at all. Tony Stark then noticed a player in the right hand and a gun in the left on the ground.

With Adam and Gordon's help, Stark began listening to the tape. Stark himself wasn't particularly concerned about his safety; although he had inexplicably arrived there, the armed men needed his help. Therefore, Stark wasn't afraid of his own safety.

Just as Stark was about to listen to the tape, Adam found a black bag in the toilet seat next to him, containing two handsaws. They thought they could use the handsaws to cut the chains, but reality gave them a rude awakening.

Seeing the two of them like this, Tony Stark immediately turned on the recorder. The voice that came through read: "Hello Tony Stark, you can call me Jigsaw. You might be wondering why you're here instead of in that cave, but that's not important. What's important is... I want to play a game with you, and you have to play. Listen carefully to every word I'm about to say..."

"You are a notorious death merchant. You only care about your own interests and then use your hypocritical peace to sell weapons that cause the world to suffer war. You take pleasure in selling weapons and don't care about others dying under your peaceful weapons."

"Alright, since you've killed so many people, I'll give you a chance. The two men next to you are guilty. You can choose to kill them with the pistol on the ground, and that way you can live." Tony Stark listened blankly to these voices. In fact, since waking up, he had been thinking about whether selling weapons was the right or wrong thing to do. After a few days, Tony Stark's mind had changed.

"This is your final warning. The battery in your chest area has had its power reduced. You only have three hours left. That means after three hours, the battery will run out of power, and debris from your heart area will enter your heart."

"So, you have two choices. One, kill these two people, and you'll be given a battery immediately afterward, then you can survive. Two, you can die first, say goodbye to those unforgettable people, and then let these two slowly die. There's a special key to your chain on the wall next to you; you can choose to unlock the chain and use your company's weapons to kill them. Whether you live or die is entirely in your hands."

“Hey sir, you’re not going to kill us, are you?” Gordon said innocently, raising his hands.

“Of course, I’m not that kind of person.” Tony Stark looked at Dr. Gordon with a complicated expression and said firmly. 'Jigsaw' had given Stark a difficult choice.

"Fuck you." Adam, who was busy sawing for a long time and found that it was not working, broke the handsaw in frustration. Gordon relaxed and sat down on the ground, staring at the chains and said in a deep voice, "I think he doesn't want us to saw through the chains, he wants us to saw through the feet."

"Mr. Jigsaw, do you think Tony Stark would kill those guys to save his own life?" Sikh asked the old man his boss had brought from an unknown place, looking at the scene in the underground chamber of the cave.

“I don’t think he will,” Jigsaw replied confidently to Thicke, looking at Tony Stark on the screen.

"That really surprises me!" Thick said, slightly surprised. He had a plan in mind: three hours later, no matter what, Stark would emerge unharmed. This was a special experience his boss had prepared solely for Tony Stark. (To be continued...)

P.S.: I made a cameo appearance in Saw. Please subscribe and vote with monthly tickets.

Chapter 124 Iron Man Suit

Just as the rumors had said, Tony Stark did not kill the two men. Three hours later, Stark was taken to the cave above and imprisoned with Hou Yinsen. Following the original plot, Stark returned to the cave with a clearer understanding of the sins he had committed, and he had already figured out a way to leave.

The plot is pretty much the same as before. After Stark returns, he shows Hou Yinsen the blueprints for his first Iron Man suit. Of course, Thick comes again, sees the Iron Man suit blueprints on the table, leaves without saying anything, and Stark then forges the outer shell of the Iron Man suit by hand before moving on to his weapons.

"Buddy, hold the missile steady," Tony Stark said to Hou Yinsen. Hou Yinsen didn't understand and pressed the missile down on the table to stabilize it. Tony Stark then used his elbow to take the missile off and pulled something out of it.

“Alright, we don’t need this anymore.” Stark then carefully used tweezers to remove a small piece of metal from the cartridge case, and then threw the cartridge case away.

"What is this?" Hou Yinsen asked, looking somewhat puzzled.

“We need a lot of palladium parts; we’ll probably have to disassemble quite a few more,” Tony Stark said earnestly, handing the tweezers to Hou Yinsen.

"I'll go prepare the other parts. Get me the hot water, Silverson, and a handful of yellow mud." Tony Stark walked to the weapon case and carefully searched through it, calling out to Hou Silverson.

"It seems I can finally help you." Upon hearing Tony Stark's words, Hou Yinsen nodded and smiled.

With the yellow mud and hot water prepared by the team working together, Tony Stark finally managed to take down all 12 palladium metal parts.

"Come on, pour the yellow mud and hot water into this." Tony Stark waved to Hou Yinsen. There was an iron bowl on the welding table.

"That's enough, that's enough." Tony Stark stopped him, saying that the hot water had only wetted the bottom of the bowl.

Stark carefully placed the yellow clay into the iron bowl, gently flattened it with an iron spoon, and then placed a round iron plate on top of the clay, using the spoon to draw a few millimeters of indentation along the edge.

"Throw all the palladium parts in, then Silverson, use fire tongs to heat them over the fire until they melt into a liquid," Tony Stark instructed Hou Silverson.

“No problem.” Hou Yinsen nodded. He held the iron can containing the palladium parts tightly with fire tongs and carefully brought it to the fire to heat it.

“Be careful, be careful. If you're even slightly tired, just say so. Don't overexert yourself.” Tony Stark stood beside Hou Yinsen, nervously reminding him, because his plan could not afford to fail.

"Don't worry, I'm a scientist. You don't need to worry about my stamina." Hou Yinsen sat on the ground, his hands on his knees, his eyes fixed on the iron can burning in the flames. He said softly.

“At this rate, it’ll be burning for a whole day. We’ll take turns watching over it,” Tony Stark said to Hou Silverson.

Stark understood that this place needed someone to oversee it; it couldn't be left unattended. If the combustion became too intense and the temperature went too high, a large amount of elements would be lost, and then it would be truly over. Tony Stark wasn't willing to let up on his future changes; he wanted to see it completely completed—it was the only plan to make up for his mistakes.

"Hey, be careful, be careful. We only have this one chance." Tony Stark's voice was tense; yes, we'd reached a crucial step.

“Don’t worry, my hands are very steady. Otherwise, you would be dead while I’m removing the shrapnel for you.” Hou Yinsen, holding a steaming iron can in his tongs, slowly walked to the welding table and poured the molten palladium from the can into the dent. After the dent was filled, Tony Stark finally breathed a sigh of relief.

"Did it succeed?" Hou Yinsen asked, looking at the silvery-white liquid inside.

"Hmm, it should be almost done once it cools down." Hearing Hou Yinsen's voice, Tony Stark turned around and nodded at him, then quietly waited for the molten metal to solidify.

"It solidified so quickly?" Hou Yinsen exclaimed in surprise as he looked at the solidified silver metal.

“Hmm.” Tony Stark didn’t say much. He carefully used tweezers to gently sweep away the yellow mud around the solidified silvery-white metal, then picked it up with the tweezers and placed it on a pre-prepared circular iron ring.

“It’s done, Silverson. I need some more copper wire, twelve will be enough.” Tony Stark said to Hou Silverson with a long sigh after setting in the silver metal ring.

"Hurry up and bring the stuff over." Just then, footsteps and the sound of things being moved came from outside.

"Be gentle, be gentle, don't break it." Before the person even arrived, the arrogant, bearded man's voice had already reached the area.

"Mr. Stark, you certainly haven't disappointed me. You are truly a good man, contributing to our holy war." The bearded man, not understanding the principles of missile manufacturing, assumed Stark was making missiles for them and praised him.

"Of course, we'll do our best." Hou. Yinsen knew that their situation was extremely unfavorable, seeing Stark's indifferent attitude towards the bearded man. First, he jumped in to play the good guy and speak to the bearded man, trying to lull him into a false sense of security.

“Hmm.” Stark glanced at the bearded man, nodded silently, indicating that he was right.

"Alright, Stark, you can now focus on your work for us." After saying this, the bearded man led his men away.

“Mr. Stark, we can’t expose ourselves right now. So we need to be patient; this is also our chance to leave,” Hou Yinsen said, glancing at Tony Stark beside him.

“I know everything you’re saying, Silverson. But their coming in has made me think about myself,” Stark said indifferently.

"I must make up for my mistake," Tony Stark thought to himself.

This experience in Afghanistan was a huge blow to him; for the first time, he realized his mistakes. Therefore, he was determined to make amends. He wanted to shut down Stark Industries' weapons division, because his arms dealing had already impacted Stark. All of this was, of course, under Tang Tian's control. He was waiting for the most opportune moment to rescue Stark, which would deepen their relationship and ensure that Stark Industries' weapons division would fall under Umbrella Corporation's control. (To be continued...)

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Chapter 125 Rescue Operation

Conference room at Umbrella headquarters in New York City, USA.

"Boss, the director of the Strategic Homeland Defense, Attack and Logistics Bureau wants to see you to discuss Mr. Stark's disappearance." Aldridge Chilian, who had just received a phone call, came to his boss's side. He was dressed in a black outfit and spoke respectfully to Tang Tian.

"Is that so? Since it's his idea, then let him come." Tang Tian simply gave the order, his eyes devoid of any emotion.

"Understood, boss." Qi Lian'an left, indicating his understanding, and then spoke to Nick Fury on the phone.

"S.H.I.E.L.D. is getting involved too? Interesting." A glint flashed in Tang Tian's eyes as he picked up the bottle of red wine from the glass table, poured it into a glass, and slowly pondered the question.

"Boss, he said he'll be here soon." A moment later, Qi Lian'an walked in and said to Tang Tian. Tang Tian nodded to indicate that he understood.

"Qi Lian'an, how's your research progressing?" Tang Tian looked up at Qi Lian'an and asked with great interest about the topic that interested him.

"We've already made progress, because Dr. Alexia provided a crucial plant, so my team will complete it in no more than three months," Qi Lian'an replied confidently when he heard his boss speak for him.

"Very good, I believe you will do well." Tang Tian said to Qi Lian'an with great confidence.

After arriving in the Marvel universe, Tang Tian aimed to establish a powerful force. With the support of the Umbrella Corporation, his power has grown considerably. In his eyes, S.H.I.E.L.D. is merely a new power; even if they discover Umbrella's secrets, it's of no consequence to Tang Tian.

"Knock knock knock..." Just as Tang Tian and Qi Lian'an were talking, a slow knocking sound rang out.

"Please come in," Tang Tian said simply.

Then the door opened, and three people walked in: two men and one woman. One of them, a one-eyed black man, walked in first, and Tang Tian knew exactly who he was.

"Mr. Donald, a legendary figure from World War II, the chairman of Umbrella Corporation," Nick Fury said politely as he approached. His words carried a lot of meaning, but most importantly, he wanted Donald to know that he knew a great deal.

"You've learned quite a bit from this," Tang Tian said calmly to Nick Fury, his expression remaining unchanged, showing no particular surprise.

“Of course, Mr. Donas. We know you very well. We are agents of the Strategic Homeland Security Agency, also known as S.H.I.E.L.D..” Nick Fury continued without any embarrassment, seeing that Tang Tian was ignoring him.

"Oh, what brings you here? If there's nothing else, please leave." Tang Tian didn't like this one-eyed black man and directly told him to leave.

"We are an official American organization. Your attitude..." Before Nick Fury could say anything, Hawkeye, who was standing next to him, couldn't stand it anymore and burst out with anger.

"Hawkeye, don't speak," Nick Fury interrupted, now truly realizing the extent of Tang Tian's power. He then turned to Tang Tian and asked, "I think Mr. Donas already knows about Mr. Tony Stark's disappearance."

“Of course, I already know that. You can tell me what you want here,” Tang Tian said, raising his head slightly to look at Nick Fury.

“We can provide Mr. Stark’s exact location, but we have one condition. That is, some of your Watchmen members need to join S.H.I.E.L.D.,” Nick Fury said cautiously after thinking for a moment, then wanted to see Tang Tian’s reaction.

“I refuse. I’ve already found Stark’s location; I don’t need you. Qi Lian’an, have them leave.” Tang Tian finished speaking and left the conference room, leaving the three people looking at each other blankly. After the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents left, Tang Tian and Qi Lian’an went to the underground base.

"Qi Lian'an and Death Hank, your mission is to go to Bagra Air Base in Afghanistan and rescue Tony Stark. That should be fine. Once you get there, don't kill anyone there. I've already notified their leader to leave," Tang Tian ordered Qi Lian'an and Death Hank.

"Yes, boss. Understood, sir." The two replied in unison.

"Each of you will lead a team of 20 Newtypes. The location will be entered on your wrist computers. Alright, let's begin the mission," Tang Tian gave his final command.

Meanwhile, on the other side, Stark's Mark 1 was almost complete, and when the militants came to reap the rewards, they were blown away by the shockwave of the bomb at the entrance. Hou Yinsen and Tang Tian were activating the power system of the first-generation Mark suit by pressing the keyboard on the computer under Stark's instructions.

“We should hurry. This is our only chance to get out of here. Hopefully, our friend Donald can get here soon,” Stark said nervously.

"Mr. Donald should come. We'll definitely make it back alive," Hou Yinsen said, his forehead covered in sweat.

"Almost there, almost there," Stark muttered to himself, the progress bar on his computer already pointing to fifty percent.

“There’s not enough time!” Hou Yinsen stared at the computer screen, then turned to Stark and said, “Hey, I’ll go buy some time and stick to the plan.”

"If you're just a little faster, we can all survive." Hou Yinsen picked up a submachine gun, frantically pulled the trigger, and rushed out of the cave, trying to seize a rare chance of survival.

"Identify the target location." Tang Tian asked the Newtype member next to him to open the satellite image on his wrist computer. That area was where Stark had disappeared. The weapons and equipment they carried were all modified automatic weapons. If these people were killed, new ones would naturally come.

"Except for the two who came out of the cave, kill all the other humans in this place. We need to minimize what others know," Tang Tian said to the two without any emotion.

"Yes, boss." The new humans are also devoid of emotion; they only strive to complete their boss's orders, without refusing or resisting—it's all for the sake of the mission.

These new humans exuded a chilling power, their minds seemingly devoid of emotion, devoid of any other feelings, replaced only by the perfect ability to execute missions. While they might fall short of some superheroes, they were undoubtedly powerful soldiers, perfect tools for carrying out missions. Tang Tian planned to do other things after this matter was over. After all, superheroes were slowly emerging, so getting to know them and acquiring their genes would be better. (To be continued...)