To take down Killian, they first had to find him.
The ghost Chad Davis had a sliver of awareness, but all he could repeat were fragments like "Killian… revenge…"
So Lynn agreed with Tony's plan.
He remembered the sequence clearly: find the Mandarin, discover he was just an actor, then uncover the real culprit—Killian.
The bar Tony led him to was crowded that night.
The town was small, but plenty of people came out to drink and unwind.
Wearing a baseball cap, Tony bought a drink at the counter.
After scanning the room, he nodded toward an older woman near the pool table. "That's Chad Davis's mother."
"Are you going, or am I?"
"I'll go."
Tony lifted his glass and gave Lynn a confident wink. "I've read your file. You're good with young women—but when it comes to a grieving mother who's lost her son, my techniques work better."
Lynn just shrugged and took a sip of his drink.
Taking a deep breath, Tony Stark slowly walked toward Mrs. Davis.
"Mrs. Davis? May I sit here?"
He pointed to the seat beside her.
"No one's stopping you."
With her permission, Tony sat down across from her and began to talk.
From where he stood by the bar, Lynn watched Tony accept a folder from Mrs. Davis.
But before Tony could flip it open, a woman in a suit suddenly appeared, slammed him face-down onto the table, and handcuffed him.
Seeing that, Lynn finished the last of his drink, set the glass down, and walked over.
"Hey. What's going on? What are you doing?"
A middle-aged man playing pool spoke up, frowning at the woman.
"Arresting a criminal. Are you the sheriff here? I'm with the National Security Agency."
The woman flashed an ID badge.
The sheriff was about to respond when Lynn stepped forward and stopped him. "National Security Agency? Tsk. I've worked with the NSA before—handled a few special cases with them."
He held up his own badge. "And by the way, your ID is way too fake. Even the logo placement is wrong."
The moment Lynn said that, the sheriff drew his pistol.
The woman only shook her head. "I really didn't want to use force."
As she stepped toward Lynn, her hand—hidden behind her back—suddenly glowed orange-red, veins lit from within like molten metal.
"Hey, Lynn—watch out!"
"Heh~" Tony barely got the warning out before the woman lunged, her burning arm shooting toward Lynn's throat.
Lynn caught her wrist with one hand, feeling the searing heat radiating through her skin.
He shook his head. "Nice ability… pity you're using it the wrong way."
The woman tried to retaliate, but Lynn pivoted, gripped her arm, and flung her—sending her crashing straight out of the bar.
Crash!
The woman smashed straight through the glass window and tumbled outside.
At the same time, Tony shouted for everyone in the bar to evacuate immediately.
He hurried over to Lynn, raising his cuffed hands. "She's definitely one of Killian's people. The guy who attacked Happy had the same ability."
"And also—please get these handcuffs off me!"
People rushed toward the exits—but a second later, a hail of bullets tore in through the shattered window.
Lynn grabbed Tony and yanked him behind the bar.
Bullets ripped through bottles and glasses above them, sending shards of glass and splinters of wood raining down.
Tony raised an eyebrow at Lynn. "What a thrilling and pleasant Christmas, huh?"
"Should I really release your handcuffs, or do you also find this pleasant?"
Seeing Tony's wrists still bound, Lynn grabbed the chain of the handcuffs with both hands and pulled hard.
"I have some quirks, but I'm not into bondage shit, so please do, and Pal, those cuffs are made of special alloy, not like normal—"
Snap!
Before Tony could finish, Lynn ripped the handcuff chain apart with one pull.
"Wow. You should enter a strongman competition. Might even break a Guinness record."
As Tony finished joking, the gunfire outside slowly died down.
Two sets of footsteps approached the bar.
"Tony Stark, come out quietly. I only want the document you took. Hand it over, or next Christmas your friends will be visiting your grave."
Hearing the man's voice getting closer, Tony grabbed a bottle of water from the floor, opened it, tore a strip from his shirt, and stuffed it into the mouth of the bottle.
"You got a lighter?"
"Of course."
Lynn handed it over without hesitation.
Tony lit the improvised Molotov cocktail, a proud grin tugging at his lips. "I still stand by it—science is limitless."
Then he suddenly rose from behind the counter and hurled the flaming bottle straight at the bald man approaching the bar.
Bang!
The flaming bottle burst against the bald man, fire engulfing him instantly—but he didn't scream.
Instead, as the flames spread, his entire body glowed bright orange-red from within.
"Oh my God…"
Tony winced. "Is this the Extremis from that file?"
Lynn stood up beside him, watching the burning figure with a steady expression. He patted Tony's shoulder. "Like I said—science isn't always almighty. Now watch this out."
The moment he finished speaking, Lynn's eyes flashed.
Two beams of Heat Vision shot out, slamming into the bald man and blasting him backward.
The hole burned clean through his chest, and the molten, orange Extremis glow beneath his skin flickered… then faded completely.
In seconds, his body returned to an ordinary corpse.
"I'M GOING TO KILL YOU ALL!!!"
Seeing this, the woman in the suit immediately raised her gun and fired at Lynn and Tony.
Lynn simply lifted his hand, and a Bone Shield materialized, blocking every bullet.
"I almost forgot about you."
His eyes flashed again—another burst of Heat Vision—and the woman was killed instantly.
As the light faded, Lynn turned to Tony. "So, do you still insist on your 'science above all' philosophy?"
"Of course."
Tony stepped out from behind the counter. Kneeling beside the woman's body, he rummaged through her pockets until he found a key and unlocked the cuffs from his wrists. (Lynn had broken the link between them; they were still on Tony like bracelets.)
"But Lynn… are you sure you're a necromancer and not Clark Kent from the Comics?"