Chapter 1032: The Shocking Commoner (Part 10)

Shiler had originally planned to spend half an hour eating breakfast, and then let the gray mist resolve his hangover headache and the stiff neck caused by an incorrect sleeping posture last night.

More importantly, he had originally planned to rest for a day to recover his energy; psychological therapy is also very energy-consuming. However, once Jarvis's call came, Shiler had no time to rest and drove to Stark Tower.

As soon as he arrived at Stark's laboratory, he smelled a familiar scent of alcohol. Shiler stood at the door and coughed twice. Jarvis made a "beep" sound and said, "Apologies, sir, I forgot to turn on the air purifier in advance. Please wait a moment..."

Standing outside the door, Shiler heard the "buzzing" sound of fans starting up inside the laboratory. After a while, when he walked in again, there was only the scent of air freshener.

Very unsurprisingly, Stark was slumped over the laboratory table like a drunkard, with empty beer bottles all around him, muttering to himself.

Shiler listened intently for a while but couldn't understand a word he was saying. So, he reached out and pushed Stark. Stark looked at him with vacant eyes, as if he didn't recognize him, waved his hand at him, and slumped back onto the table.

The sound of mechanical parts rubbing together came from behind. Shiler turned his head and saw Jarvis piloting a robot body. Shiler glanced back at the unconscious Stark and decisively went out to find Jarvis.

Jarvis led Shiler to the adjacent room. He first poured a cup of coffee for Shiler and then pointed to the massage chair nearby, saying, "Sir, if you feel uncomfortable in your neck and shoulders, you can go and get a massage. This is the latest physical therapy massage chair launched by Stark Industries; it will make you feel better."

"Thank you, Jarvis, I really need this." Taking the coffee, Shiler took the opportunity to walk over. Jarvis adjusted the backrest for him, a mechanical arm reached out, the cabin door opened, and a screen popped up above the projection equipment.

"It will probably be a while before Mr. Stark sobers up, so you can watch a movie here for a while. If you need anything, just call me; I am at your service at any time." After saying this, Jarvis left.

Shiler saw that the image playing on the projection screen was from the first-person perspective of Stark's armor. The time displayed in the lower left corner indicated that this happened this morning.

Stark appeared at the door of a hospital room. He stood there for a long time, hesitating for about half an hour before reaching out to knock on the door. A voice Shiler was somewhat familiar with came from inside; it was Bucky Barnes, the Winter Soldier.

When Stark walked in, Bucky was reading a book. It wasn't a book of serious literature, but a comic book, and one of those funny comics from the last era.

Seeing that it was Stark who walked in, Bucky was clearly somewhat surprised, but he still put the comic book aside, stood up, and extended his mechanical arm, wanting to shake hands with Stark. But Stark completely ignored him.

Stark looked at the table beside Bucky's hospital bed, where quite a few medicines were placed. He pointed at them with his chin and said, "Sent by Steve?"

【Given the current environment, this site may be closed at any time. Please move to the permanently operating source-changing App as soon as possible, huanyuanapp.】

Bucky looked back at the various medicines on his table. His expression still appeared somewhat stiff, as if he couldn't express his emotions very well, but he still nodded and said, "Yes, Steve went to get me a new prescription and changed to a different medicine. It is said that it will be better."

Then, the two fell into an endless silence. Neither side knew what to say. Stark didn't even know why he had come here. But after a while, he finally remembered the main point, so he asked:

"I came to ask you, do you still remember how you..." Stark paused and took a deep breath. Just as he gathered the courage to say that sentence, Bucky looked into his eyes and said, "Yes, I remember. I remember every detail; they all remain in my memory."

Bucky lowered his head and said in a low voice, "That psychologist shattered the mental shackles Hydra had placed on me, but at that time, the memories of everything I had done remained in my mind. I couldn't erase them."

Stark opened his mouth. He discovered that he could stand here calmly and talk to the murderer who killed his parents entirely because of Steve.

Stark actually knew that Steve was caught between the blood feud of his two best friends and was under tremendous pressure, but he had never told anyone. And essentially, this matter had nothing to do with him, but in the end, the one most deeply hurt was Steve.

Howard was not just Stark's friend; he was also Steve's friend. It could even be said that Howard and Stark's relationship was somewhat awkward, but he and Steve were truly kindred spirits who had fought side by side.

His best friend and comrade-in-arms killed his other comrade-in-arms, and as a result, decades later, he indirectly hurt the comrade's son. The pressure of this series of tragedies weighing on one person can be imagined.

However, Steve never complained once, nor did he ever say to anyone, "Why don't you understand me? Why don't you stand in my position and look at this matter?"

Stark knew that Steve actually didn't want to put pressure on him. After all, in this matter, Stark was the first victim who was still alive.

Precisely because Steve was willing to be considerate of Stark, Stark was also willing to be considerate of him, choosing to ask in a more calm manner instead of attacking the psychiatric hospital, using violence to seize Bucky, and then forcing him to confess.

Bucky could also understand this point, so before Stark could ask, he spilled everything:

"At that time, I received an order from a high-ranking official within Hydra. Of course, I didn't know who issued the order, because I was just a killer; they wouldn't let me know too much."

"They ordered me to intercept the Starks' car and create a car explosion case. At that time, I set a trap on the highway. After the car was stopped, I jumped onto the hood and smashed the car window with my fist."

"At that time, I heard Howard Stark shout, 'Sergeant Barnes?!'."

"He recognized me, but he couldn't stop my subsequent actions, because at that time, I could only act according to orders."

Bucky took a deep breath, his mechanical arm gradually clenching into a fist. He said, "My fist hit his chest, but that didn't kill him. He pressed a button on the car. I thought he was going to activate a weapon, so I directly blew up the car's engine..."

"Everything ended in the explosion." Bucky's tone began to tremble: "After the flames went out, I walked up to confirm if the mission was completed. Those were indeed the bodies of the Starks."

"And, I found the wreckage of a safe box similar to a classified document box in the trunk, but because the explosion was too violent, nothing was left."

After speaking, he loosened his fist, as if resignedly waiting for judgment.

The next second, the iron armor grabbed his neck and pressed him against the wall. The light on Iron Man's mask carried a mechanical indifference and ruthlessness.

Bucky struggled instinctively. Just a second before he was about to pass out from suffocation, Iron Man heard him squeeze a word out of his throat: "... Thank you."

The next second, Iron Man loosened his arm, and Bucky fell to the ground, his head drooping to one side. The mask opened, Stark stared at Bucky and asked, "Why 'thank you'?"

Bucky looked as if he had finally collapsed. His mechanical arm pressed against the other wall, his fingertips digging into the wall, his tone trembling as he said, "If you can kill me, of course I should thank you. You let me accept the judgment I deserve, and from now on, I no longer have to be tortured..."

"Since I regained my sanity, all the images in my memory have been playing in my brain continuously. The begging, crying, and death of innocent people have been torturing me every moment..."

Bucky paused and continued, "But I know I cannot commit suicide, because I still have to support Steve; otherwise, he will become truly alone."

"He doesn't love this era at all. He has actually always hoped that he hadn't woken up."

"Everything in this era cannot support him to continue walking, and I must live on, becoming evidence that I have witnessed that era, reminding him that he is not alone, even if this means facing endless, never-ending guilt and despair..."

"You certainly should kill me..." Bucky gritted his teeth and said, "Only you can kill me, only you can end all of this..."

And at this moment, Stark instead calmed down. He looked down at Bucky sitting on the ground and said, "But I won't do that, not just because I want you to receive punishment."

"If I kill you, Steve will face such a tragedy again. One of his good friends killed another good friend. As you said, he can no longer bear a second such tragedy."

After speaking, Stark turned around, not looking at Bucky, trying hard to calm himself down.

After a while, he turned back and asked, "Before you killed Howard, what was his expression, what was his look? Tell me every detail, and any clues you think are valuable..."

"I was just a killer and didn't know too much..." Bucky, sitting on the ground, curled up one leg and rested his hand on it, lowering his head and saying, "That was the winter of 1991, approaching Christmas. Many of the base's experimental staff had gone home for the holidays..."

"A laboratory assistant wrote new orders and brainwashing programs into my brain, which included Stark's specific travel information."

"How did they get this information?" Stark asked with a frown.

Bucky shook his head and said, "I don't know, but that information was very detailed. Even when he would pass which highway, and at what minute and second he would pass which road sign, there was detailed information."

Stark's brow furrowed deeper and deeper. Bucky continued, "They set up the program. I appeared when I was supposed to appear. When I jumped onto the hood of the vehicle, Howard didn't show surprise."

Stark opened his eyes wide and said, "... What did you say?!"

"I said, he didn't show surprise that he was being attacked. He was surprised later because he recognized my identity; he recognized that I was 'Bucky Barnes'."

Then, Bucky turned his head to look at his mechanical arm and said, "I'm not too sure, but it seems that at that time, Howard looked at my arm... and showed a look of surprise and anger."

Stark's brow furrowed deeper and deeper. He didn't know that such details were hidden in the original murder case. What was special about Bucky's mechanical arm? Why would Howard focus his attention on Bucky's mechanical arm before he died?

"When Howard discovered that someone was attacking his car, he subconsciously wanted to press the button. I gave him a punch, but couldn't stop his action. He had anticipated all of this..."

Stark took a deep breath and said, "How is this possible?? Wasn't he attacked without cause? How could he, knowing he would be attacked, not hide?"

"Perhaps he had known for a long time that such a day would come." Bucky took a deep breath and said, "The Hydra of that era was not as easy to deal with as you imagine now. Howard Stark had already become a thorn in their side. Perhaps he had long thought that Hydra would kill him."

"Then why didn't he protect himself, or seek asylum?" Stark asked, very confused, "He knew someone was going to kill him, and he still didn't hide??!!"

Bucky pursed his lips, seemingly wanting to say something, but in the end, he didn't. Stark noticed this and stared at him, asking, "... What do you want to say?"

Bucky hesitated, but still said, "He perhaps didn't want to not hide, but just couldn't hide."

Bucky looked directly into Stark's eyes for the first time and said to him, "In that era, everyone who rushed to the front had something behind them that made them unable to hide, unwilling to hide, and even knowing it was death, they could only continue to fight forward."

"It wasn't the era that shaped them, but they who built that Golden Age." ===== CHAPTER 1033 =====