"What the f—!?"
Tony and Ethan's hearts nearly stopped from the sudden turn of events.
Especially Tony; he hadn't slept for two days to meet the deadline, and the shock almost made him faint.
Under their stunned gaze, Daniel nimbly climbed out of the pit, brushed the dust off his body, and casually slung a pixelated pickaxe over his shoulder.
[Item: Diamond Pickaxe]
[Effect: Greatly enhances digging efficiency, capable of quickly mining/destroying most minerals and rocks]
[Comment: If Andy Dufresne had this pickaxe, he would have saved at least 27 years of detours]
"Who are you!?"
Tony was the first to snap back, his gaze warily fixed on this unknown individual.
Daniel grinned: "You must be Tony Stark, I'm here to rescue you."
"Are you sent by the Military?"
"No, I'm a S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent, this is my business card."
Tony took the card and looked at it.
Federal Bureau of Investigation, Senior Agent Daniel.
"?"
"Uh, sorry, wrong one."
Daniel very naturally pulled back the card, then pulled out a large handful of various business cards from his chest pocket.
Department of Defense, Central Intelligence Agency, New York Police Department, Federal Tax Bureau—
Tony: …
"Found it."
Daniel finally found the correct card and handed it over.
Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division, Senior Agent Daniel.
Tony looked at the long, cumbersome agency name, feeling like a novel author had invented it just to pad the word count.
He looked at Daniel suspiciously: "How many people did your Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division send?"
Daniel smiled confidently: "Just me."
"???"
Tony's face darkened.
This guy isn't here to mess with him, is he?
Daniel paid no attention to Tony's reaction, his gaze already firmly fixed on the crude steel armor on Tony.
[Mark I Armor (Bound to Tony Stark)]
[Description: A power armor handmade by Tony in the cave using scrap materials, requiring a large amount of energy to operate.]
"Good stuff!"
Daniel's eyes lit up.
No man can resist the allure of armor, and he was no exception; this was the ultimate romance for a man!
It was a pity it was bound to Tony, a main quest character, otherwise he could have tried to see if it would drop.
Daniel sighed regretfully.
He had already verified that the NPCs in this game did not have a refresh mechanism.
Once an NPC died, they would disappear permanently and never reappear, and related quests would also become invalid.
So, it was better to try to avoid acting against main quest characters.
However, he could try it in the second playthrough.
Daniel mused inwardly.
Tony felt a shiver run down his spine from Daniel's eager and dangerous gaze, and just as he was about to speak, a sudden clamor came from outside the cave!
Tony's face changed drastically, and he quickly looked at the monitor in the corner.
Clearly, the Terrorists had already monitored the situation here and were rushing towards them.
"They're coming! Hurry up!"
Tony, ignoring Daniel, shouted at Ethan.
Not long after, Terrorists had already arrived outside the cave, banging on the iron door and yelling in an incomprehensible language.
"Bang—!"
The moment the Terrorists forcefully pulled open the iron door, a deafening explosion roared!
The bombs Tony and Ethan had set up beforehand at the entrance detonated, and several charred bodies lay on the ground, enveloped in smoke and debris.
Before they could even sigh in relief, more intense footsteps rapidly approached from a distance!
"Damn it!"
Tony was burning with anxiety; these Terrorists were coming much faster than expected.
"Ethan, activate the power system immediately!"
"But the armor isn't debugged yet."
"We can't worry about that! Hurry!"
Tony knew the risk of forcibly activating the steel armor was immense, but he had no choice.
If he didn't activate it now, once the Terrorists rushed in, they might not even have a chance to resist!
Ethan gritted his teeth and, under Tony's command, activated the power system; the progress bar on the computer screen began to advance slowly.
Outside the cave, the roar and footsteps of the Terrorists grew closer.
"It's too late!"
Ethan took a deep breath, grabbed a rifle next to a corpse, his eyes incredibly firm: "I'll hold them off!"
With that, he rushed out of the cave without hesitation.
"Ethan! Come back! Stick to the plan!"
Tony shouted anxiously, but Ethan's figure had already disappeared from the cave entrance.
Crack, crack, crack.
Just at this tragic and tense moment, an untimely sound rang out.
Daniel was seen cracking melon seeds, which he had pulled out from who knows where, watching this scene of life and death with great relish.
"The cutscene is pretty good, but the plot is a bit cliché."
Daniel spat out a melon seed shell and commented.
Based on his extensive experience immersed in countless game plots, this NPC named Ethan was highly likely to be sacrificed.
Wait, why does this plot development feel a bit familiar?
Daniel suddenly realized something was wrong and looked at Tony suspiciously.
Speaking of which, the idea of hand-crafting power armor from scrap materials in a cave was inherently unscientific, practically blatant cheating.
Coupled with the plot of sacrificing a companion…
Such treatment seemed to be reserved only for protagonists, didn't it?
"System, don't tell me this guy with the mustache is the protagonist, and I'm just a passing camera."
[Please rest assured, this game has no preset protagonist. The system will not interfere with any of the player's decisions. Players are free to participate in the plot.]
[Becoming a protagonist, supporting character, or passerby is entirely up to the player's choice.]
"That's good."
Daniel breathed a sigh of relief.
He didn't want to be some mobile camera, just sleeping all day.
Tony watched Daniel leisurely cracking melon seeds, his lungs about to explode with anger.
They were fighting for their lives here, and this guy was just cracking melon seeds and watching the show!?
But then he thought, this guy claimed to be an Agent, so he should have some combat power, right?
Tony, holding onto a last shred of hope, urgently shouted at Daniel: "Hey, Agent! Quickly help me stop Ethan! Don't let him do something foolish!"
Ethan, a helpless scientist facing a group of ruthless Terrorists, his outcome was predictable.
He's a goner, man!
Hearing Tony's words, Daniel sneered: "Heh, who do you think you are? I'm a S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent. If you tell me to do something and I do it, wouldn't I lose face?"
[NPC Tony Stark has issued a new quest to you.]
[Quest: Save Ethan]
[Objective: Ensure Ethan survives]
[Reward: 1000 experience points, Tony Stark's favorability +20, random rare quality item *1]
"But then again, as a good citizen, how can I stand by and do nothing? Don't worry, I've got this quest covered!"
The disdain on Daniel's face instantly vanished, replaced by a look of righteous indignation.
The speed of this change in expression left Tony dumbfounded.
As for integrity?
Daniel stated, do game players even have that?