After killing the bearded man, Daniel quickly stepped to Ethan, who lay collapsed on the ground.
Following the fierce battle just now, Ethan's condition had clearly deteriorated. His breathing was weak, his gaze unfocused, and his face practically had a giant red "death" stamp written across it.
Ethan struggled to speak, his voice faint as a dying candle: "I won't make it… please tell Tony not to waste—"
"Save the sentimental lines for yourself."
Daniel cut off Ethan's dying words without ceremony. A green bottle appeared in his hand.
He twisted the cap off and poured all the liquid inside onto Ethan's hands.
Ethan: "?"
I'm about to die, and he's making me wash my hands?
Just as Ethan struggled to understand, a strange tingling sensation suddenly spread through his chest.
He instinctively looked down, and saw the bullet wounds across his chest closing at a speed visible to the naked eye. In the blink of an eye, they vanished completely.
[Item: Bio-Tech Hand Sanitizer]
[Effect: Instantly heals most injuries. Even severed limbs can be reattached with ease.]
[Evaluation: Clean hands, healthy life.]
"How… how is this possible?"
Ethan sat up, staring in disbelief as he touched his completely uninjured chest.
If not for the bloodstains and bullet holes torn through his shirt, he would have thought the whole ordeal had been a nightmare.
"Nothing is impossible."
Daniel casually tossed aside the empty bottle without a shred of reluctance.
Items like this filled his in-game storage. He had so many he could never use them up.
At that moment, the system notification chimed.
[Side Quest "Save Ethan" completed!]
[Reward: 1000 EXP, Tony Stark Favorability +20, Item: Pure Iron Poké Ball]
[Item: Pure Iron Poké Ball (A 100-kg Poké Ball. Only creatures that survive deserve to be captured.)]
"No wonder the mission came from a main storyline character. The reward is generous."
Daniel nodded with satisfaction.
As expected, main story quests were king—far more efficient than grinding daily missions.
Bang—clang—bang—clang.
With heavy, clumsy metallic footsteps, a roughly welded iron-sheet armor suit emerged from the passage.
The faceplate flipped up, revealing Tony's anxious, sweat-dampened face.
"Finally found you two."
Seeing Ethan unharmed, Tony breathed a sigh of relief and immediately asked, "Where are the terrorists?"
"They're all over the floor."
Daniel gestured with his chin.
Tony looked around—then sucked in a sharp breath.
Bodies were strewn everywhere. Each terrorist had a neat bullet hole in the center of his forehead. White and red fluids pooled across the ground, looking especially gruesome in the dim light.
Tony stared at Daniel in shock. "You did all this?"
"Stay low-key."
Daniel waved modestly.
Tony inhaled sharply. Daniel had taken out this many terrorists alone—an unbelievable feat.
But Tony Stark was never one to admit inferiority. His expression stayed calm as he replied with a frivolous tone, "Listen, James Bond, your job's done. Leave the rest to me."
With that, Tony closed the faceplate and marched out of the cave in the iron armor.
Outside, dozens of terrorists had already taken positions. Every man held a new-type firearm produced by Stark Industries, all aimed toward the cave.
The moment the armored figure appeared, the bald leader's eyes flashed viciously. He immediately ordered:
"Fire!!"
Machine gunfire erupted.
The bullets rained down on the armor in a storm, the impacts deafening and relentless.
Despite the sturdy armor, the force made Tony's entire body tremble. He was cursing wildly in his heart.
Using weapons he designed to shoot at him—this was outrageous!
Strangely, though the eye sockets of his armor had two obvious openings, not a single bullet hit them. It was as if the bullets were deliberately avoiding that spot.
"My turn!"
Tony raised both arms and released twin jets of blazing flames that swept through the enemy ranks.
The men in front were engulfed before they could react, their screams echoing across the valley.
Seeing his forces pushed back, the bald leader's face darkened. He roared, "Heavy machine guns! Suppress him!"
From high on the cliff, several mounted heavy machine guns swung their barrels toward Tony and unleashed a torrent of bullets.
The impacts sparked violently off the armor. The powerful force pinned Tony to the ground.
Then things got worse—an errant shot severed the right leg's tread mechanism. Tony collapsed to one knee, unable to move.
"Damn!"
Tony felt sweat pour down his back.
The armor's defense was good, but its mobility and weapon systems were incomplete. Once it lost movement, he was just a turtle stuck in its shell.
The bald leader immediately noticed Tony's predicament. He grinned hideously and shouted:
"Bring up the RPG! Blow that metal can to pieces!"
Bullets were one thing.
But he didn't believe a Stark-designed anti-tank rocket wouldn't pierce that armor!
A terrorist hefted the launcher, aimed directly at Tony.
Tony swallowed hard.
He knew better than anyone how destructive this weapon was. The armor wouldn't survive it. One hit and he'd be pureed Tony.
Bang!
Just as the trigger was being pulled, a crisp gunshot cracked through the chaos.
The terrorist's head exploded. The launcher clattered to the ground.
Tony turned and saw Daniel holding a pistol not far away.
"Listen, Elon Musk. Your scene ends here. Leave the rest to me."
Elon… Musk?
Tony blinked in confusion, but the crisis gave him no time to think. He shouted back:
"Get back! Their firepower is too heavy!"
"Oh?"
Instead of backing off, Daniel calmly holstered his pistol.
Then, under Tony's bewildered stare, a massive, sleek, icy-metallic six-barrel Gatling gun appeared in his hands.
"How about compared to this?"
"What the—!?"
Tony's eyes nearly popped out.
Where did he even pull something that huge from!?