This should be the deepest part of the small base.
In front of Blaine was a very solid-looking iron door, covered with bullet marks. Just looking at it gave off a strong sense of security — it could definitely withstand bullets without any issue.
Blaine searched through the corpse of a nearby terrorist.
He found a ring of keys.
Then he tried them one by one.
"Clack."
The iron door unlocked and swung open.
Tony, who was busy working, froze for a second. Then he quickly reacted, his eyes widening in surprise and excitement. "Did the military send you to rescue me?"
At this moment, Tony Stark no longer had the image of a dashing playboy. While he didn't have any major injuries, his body and face were covered with countless small cuts and scrapes, dirt, grease, and bloodstains. He looked no different from an ordinary factory worker.
Inside the small base, aside from Tony, there was also another man — a white guy with a hawk-like nose — obviously Dr. Yinsen, the person crucial to Tony's early transformation into Iron Man.
However, Yinsen's once-white lab coat had nearly turned black from grime.
Not that Blaine had anything against factory workers, but seeing Tony Stark in such a miserable state still made him want to laugh.
Still, with Blaine's sharp eyes, he could tell:
Tony and Dr. Yinsen were already in the later stages of their work. Tony should have already extracted the key elements and built the prototype of his arc reactor and armor— meaning his life was temporarily safe.
That made Blaine breathe a sigh of relief.
If his arrival accidentally caused some unexpected changes leading to Tony's death, that would be a disaster.
All the money he had spent coming here would go down the drain.
Thankfully, so far, the only unexpected factor was himself. Everything else was still progressing according to the plot.
"Mr. Stark, are you dreaming?"
Blaine deliberately lowered his voice, making it sound deep and sinister. He pulled his bowstring taut, aiming an arrow straight at Tony. "Someone paid me to take your life."
Tony jumped in fright, then quickly reacted. "Who wants my life?"
Yinsen, who had thought they were finally safe, also moved to stand protectively by Tony's side, staring warily at Blaine.
"Mr. Stark, are you stalling?"
Blaine couldn't help but laugh, but he still pretended to be angry and said, "I don't have much time to waste with you. Goodbye, Tony."
Saying that, he loosened his fingers slightly on the bowstring.
For ten million, he didn't mind taking Tony's life.
"Wait, wait! Can I ask a question?"
Tony hurriedly waved his hands. "How much? How much did they pay you?"
"Ten million."
Blaine squinted slightly. Before sending Tony to the afterlife, he didn't mind answering a few questions — a small tribute to his admiration for Tony in his previous life.
Besides, Tony couldn't escape anyway.
"What?!"
Hearing the number, Tony immediately shouted, his face full of disbelief. "Ten million? I'm only worth ten million? I'm Tony Stark! And I'm only worth ten million?!"
"Are you done ranting? If not, you can go meet God now." Tony was sarcastic and cool, good at making people laugh.
But that didn't stop Blaine from wanting to kill him.
"Wait! There's more! More!"
Tony hurriedly stopped Blaine again, his brain spinning fast. "Man, you're so young — why are you doing this kind of work?"
Even though Blaine had deliberately lowered his voice to sound more imposing,
Tony Stark was no fool. From the glimpse of Blaine's half-exposed face, he could tell he wasn't very old — no stubble, just a bit of soft fuzz. Clearly much younger than himself.
Tony was obviously trying to stall for time, chatting while his hand was secretly fumbling for something behind his back.
"Money."
Blaine looked at Tony like he was an idiot.
Why else would he do this job if not for money?
Was Tony a blockhead?
Besides, the meaning behind this money was much deeper for him — it could accomplish too many things.
"Cough, cough—"
Tony choked a little but quickly recovered, stretching out two fingers. "I'll pay you double — twenty million! Just don't kill me!"
He had originally thought whoever was after him wanted his life for some secret or political reason.
But meeting someone who purely did it for money — and with such terrifying skills — was very rare. Tony had never encountered such a person before.
However—
If it was just about money, Tony actually relaxed a little.
Money?
That was the one thing he had the most of.
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