Ever since Tony Stark was blown away by a missile produced by his own company, a question kept circling in his mind, 'Is engaging in weapons development really a patriotic and beneficial thing?'
The leader of the Ten Rings once called himself the most famous killing maniac in American history.
"This counts all the weapons produced by Stark companies on my head."
And then there was Yinsen.
This special trip left Tony with very complicated feelings.
No matter what, Tony, who finally escaped, never expected to encounter a bounty hunter sent to assassinate him.
No matter how he looked at it, the bounty hunter's target seemed more like those terrorists, which was quite odd.
But it did not matter anymore. The bargaining was just a ploy to divert the bounty hunter's attention.
Tony had already aimed at the pile of munitions nearby and only needed an opportunity.
Finally, when this greedy bounty hunter let his guard down, Tony detonated the explosives.
The explosives were enough to level the entire valley, let alone take out a single bounty hunter.
While aloft, Tony thought about that, and then discovered the fuel supporting the armor's flight... was exhausted.
"I just got airborne, damn it!"
After the boosters under the feet of the heavy armor went out, Tony became an iron meteor, letting inertia slam him hard into the sand.
Crash!
Clatter!
The bladeproof and bulletproof Mark 1 fell apart on impact, smashing a big crater in the sand dune, fragments flying tens of meters away.
Fortunately, the Tony inside was not badly injured.
He struggled out of the armor. Not far into the barren desert he met a rescue team searching for him.
Helicopters, field vehicles, ambulances instantly surrounded him.
"Oh~ James really is a lovely guy."
Looking at that familiar face, Tony felt moved inside.
Just as Tony raised his hands to embrace rebirth, a chill shot from his tailbone to the back of his head.
A playing card was precisely stuck between his feet.
A bank account number was written on it.
"It's him!"
Tony's pupils shrank violently as he solemnly looked at the bloodstained playing card at his feet, the Joker, the liar.
"Is this a warning to me?"
A cold sneer tugged at his mouth, "Hmph~ Am I Tony Stark the kind of person who breaks his word? It's only $50,000,000? Fine!"
———
Corin was a bit angry.
Not because Tony had played tricks on him.
If he had been completely straightforward and without any schemes, he would not be the proud genius he was.
"Sure enough, Tony Stark in armor will not surrender easily."
What made him angry was that the old tailor had stayed up for two whole days sewing a scarlet suit specially for him, and it turned to ash in the explosion.
As for himself, although the blast was powerful, it only left Corin with wide area burns.
After a while, the self-healing factor in his body restored him to his original state.
The only covering left on the naked Corin was that mask.
He moved his feet. Ultra long-range vision locked onto Tony again, he was struggling to crawl out of the armor.
A faint sneer curved Corin's mouth, "This guy already threw away the bank account number I gave him, I can guarantee it."
Although he guessed Tony's move correctly, Corin was not in the least anxious.
Not to mention, walking naked in this desert felt pretty cool, as long as the sun did not hit his butt.
Like a powerful clairvoyant, his gaze stayed fixed on Tony, watching him struggle out of the armor wreckage, watching him look around in confusion, watching him wave excitedly at the distant helicopter, watching him embrace old friend Major Rhodes warmly.
When Tony was finally heavily surrounded by the rescue team, Corin casually tossed a playing card, one he had pulled from a coin baby's body.
Everything else had turned to ash.
The meaning of this card was clear, 'No matter how many people are around you, once I target you, you cannot run.'
Also…
"Don't forget the bank account number, sir employer."
'You played tricks on me, now I'll scare you to death.'
Watching the changing expression on Tony's face, a satisfied smile appeared at the corner of Corin's mouth.
Searching his memory, Corin returned to the place where he had changed clothes earlier.
When he put his clothes back on, he felt a long-missed sense of security.
After thinking for a bit, he felt that as a bounty hunter with professional ethics, even if he gave up the previous task, he should still notify the employer.
Business failed but honor remains, after all.
He dialed the phone.
["Oh? Mr. Cockroach? My friend, are you calling to report good news?"], Obadiah's voice came through the line, suppressed but excited.
"No, no, sir employer, more precisely I should call you former employer..."
Obadiah's mood shifted from excitement to anger as Corin explained.
["Is that so?"]
Before Corin finished, Obadiah angrily slammed down the phone.
———
"The Ten Rings, Cockroach, they are all a bunch of untrustworthy trash! Idiots! Damn them!"
After smashing things in his office in fury, Obadiah gradually calmed down.
He made another call and issued a new mission to the underground market:
[Kill the bounty hunter codenamed "Cockroach". Bounty $2,000,000.]
After hanging up, Obadiah muttered, "Cockroach, my money is not that easy to take. Betray me and it will be the biggest mistake of your life. Heh!"
Thinking it over, terrorists or black market experts, they were all unreliable people.
If he wanted to achieve his goals, he still had to rely on himself in the end.
———
At this moment Corin did not know he had already become the single highest individual kill bounty target in the Hell's Kitchen underground market.
When he returned to the streets of New York and looked at the shop that said high-end tailoring, he licked his lips.
A sudden feeling of guilt rose up.
He pushed open the shop door. The old tailor was sitting in a lounge chair leisurely basking in the sun.
Seeing Corin come in, his eyes looked him up and down with guarded suspicion, as if Corin might pull a gun and do a zero-dollar shopping run at any moment.
Corin had no choice but to tell the truth. Although he was grateful for the old craftsman's gift, the clothes were broken, beyond repair.
The old tailor immediately showed a look of understanding, "I saw it when you changed clothes back then."
When he saw Corin change clothes, he had also noticed those silver gleaming throwing knives and knew Corin was not ordinary.
So after he left he had already started preparing a scarlet suit more suitable for combat. After a few days it was basically finished.
Corin exclaimed in gratitude to hear the old tailor had been so thoughtful, but was stopped by the old man raising a hand.
"Don't thank me, pay up! Three hundred thousand, not a cent less, but from now on I will make your clothes!"
Corin was a bit stunned by the old man's completely different attitudes before and after, and after thinking it over accepted gladly.
He went to the exchange to replenish throwing knives once more. By the time he returned to his Manhattan hotel, the moon was high.
He lay comfortably in the bathtub.
Corin opened his attribute panel. The data stream presented a holographic interface before his eyes:
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[Name: Corin Roch]
[Age: 28]
[Physical: 15]
[Current account: $2,865,000]
[Acquired talents: Sub-Wolverine level regeneration, Dynamic Vision Lv.2, Jeet Kune Do mastery, Physical Enhancement Lv1 (5/5 heavy), No-Face Mask, Precise Throwing Lv2, Sketching Mastery]
▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬
He was secretly surprised his account balance had reached over 2.8 million. Those terrorists' bounties really added up.
He looked again at the talents he had acquired. Hmm… quite a few, but mostly basic talents.
Although there was a lot of room for improvement, this mission had exposed some problems.
While thinking how to improve his talents, a slightly magnetic languid female voice came to his ear, "I do not understand how a kid's kill bounty could surpass Tony Stark's."
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