Chapter 1839: Journey of a Madman (52)

The desert rainy season had arrived. A violent storm had snapped all the vegetation at the cave entrance, and a mist formed from the heavy water vapor rose from below, lending a ethereal quality to the otherwise mundane scenery outside.

But those inside the cave had no heart for the view. Stark was working at a lathe; by now, the small cave was packed with all manner of industrial equipment.

Three locals carried in a new machine. Stark frowned, looking with dissatisfaction at the mud they had tracked in on their rain boots.

Schiller, who had been following them, stepped forward and closed his umbrella. He spoke a few words in the local language to the men, and those sturdy, hulking figures went outside to find leaves to wipe their boots.

They grumbled some complaints, but still carried the equipment to the designated spot. Stark hugged a large crate and handed it to the leader, saying, "This is a guidance route interference device for the missiles. You can bury it near your base for important supplies; it has a certain chance of causing the missiles to deviate."

Schiller translated Stark's words. The local spoke rapidly in a flurry of sentences. Schiller looked at Stark and asked, "Does this thing have radiation?"

"Everything has radiation." Stark walked back, seemingly quite accustomed to explaining such simple questions. He said, "If they mean nuclear radiation, I can guarantee there is none."

"They want to install this in the village because their wives and children are there. They don't want to be bombed, so they want to know if this thing will have any effect on pregnant women."

Stark's footsteps paused, but he still said, "If you are really worried, I can build you a protective shield. If you put this thing inside the shield, it will be fine."

After the locals left with the device, Schiller asked, "Is the protective shield really useful?"

"It's useless. It's just an ordinary iron shell, and it might even affect the signal." Stark adjusted the angle of his hammer and said, "Look, psychologists aren't entirely useless. Now I even understand some common sense in psychology."

Schiller's gaze passed over Stark and landed on half a robot buried in a pile of parts and metal scraps in the shadows of the cave—the result of Stark's work over the past week.

"Pepper must be looking for me like a madwoman." Stark stared at the object in his hand and said, "She must be worried to death."

"And you staying here isn't out of heartlessness; you just want to prove to her, and to everyone else, that you no longer need to be saved by others, but rather that you are going to save others."

Stark's hand gripping the hammer handle tightened slightly. He looked up and saw Schiller standing in the rain mist at the cave entrance, his silhouette blurred and softened. He said with some emotion, "I never thought that the person who understood me best in this world would be a psychologist."

"But you should have thought of it sooner. You are the type of stubborn person who believes all psychologists can read minds, right?"

Stark laughed deeply, shook his head lightly, and said, "And your performance confirmed my suspicions. I thought you wouldn't..."

"Wouldn't what? Wouldn't notice that you suddenly seemed like a different person? Wouldn't think that you gave up easily-attained safety to choose adventure? Or wouldn't understand that you are willing to pay any price to save the world?"

While Stark was dazed, Schiller had walked to the opposite side of the workbench. The campfire was not lit, and the cave was very dark, with only faint light from the entrance. Thus, when standing against the light, Schiller almost turned into a solid black silhouette. Stark could not see any of his expressions, but he could imagine them.

Stark turned his head away and said, "Normal people would be all of the above, but fortunately, you are also a madman."

"I can fully understand how shocking what you are doing is by normal social standards, but I understand even better that you don't actually like social standards."

"So you plan to say things I like to hear?"

"So that you will sign the bill willingly."

Stark laughed happily. He hammered a metal part in his hand, adjusted its position, and said, "Listen, I am absolutely not going to send the bill to Afghanistan."

"Then this is a free clinic."

"Come on, you just said I wasn't someone who needed to be saved." Stark complained, "Do you think you're doing community service?"

"What if I have the same reason as you for staying here?"

Stark was stunned for a moment. He looked at Schiller, thought carefully, and then said cautiously, "I thought you didn't want to leave here because you didn't want to return to America."

"I really don't want to return to America."

Stark put down the hammer, rubbed his sore shoulder, and sniffed, "You have a good relationship with the locals."

"Because I am a doctor, and the people here need doctors very much."

"So you stayed for the patients here?"

Schiller turned around and leaned against the cave wall next to the workbench. Stark could only see his rising and falling profile, and his sharp eyelashes, which looked like arrows on a full moon's bowstring.

Schiller stood there silently, and Stark was silent too. But after a few dozen seconds, he still said, "You want to help the Afghans take back their land and drive out the invaders, not because you are truly kind, but because you hate America."

"I don't hate any country."

"Fine, let me put it another way: most of the people you hate hold American citizenship."

"If you keep talking, that 'most' will include you."

Schiller walked toward the cave entrance without looking back. Stark watched his back silently until Schiller opened his umbrella and walked out into the rain. Only then did Stark shout at his back, "You don't really have mind-reading powers, otherwise you would know what I'm thinking!"

Strange narrowed his eyes and asked, "Then what is the price?"

Suddenly, the grass at the cave entrance moved. Stark raised an eyebrow in surprise, thinking Schiller had changed his mind and was coming back to argue with him.

But the person who appeared at the entrance was Erik. When he walked into the cave, he was also startled by the situation inside. After all, the entire cave was now densely packed with all kinds of equipment, looking like a small factory.

"Tony, what are you doing here?" Erik looked around and said, "What are these parts for?"

"Erik, why are you back? It's dangerous here." Stark walked out from behind the workbench and looked at Erik, saying, "You have to leave quickly. They will be back soon."

"They? You mean that doctor?" Erik looked at Stark and said, "Did he convince you to stay?"

"You know Schiller?"

"I've just heard his name from the locals." Erik stepped forward and pressed his hand on Stark's shoulder, saying, "Tony, you might have been deceived by him. He and the locals are in cahoots."

"I know." Stark nodded.

Erik's eyes widened, and he repeated, "You know? And you're still staying with him?"

"He saved me."

"He did it for..."

"Regardless of what he did it for, he did save me, just like you did."

Erik paused suddenly, feeling a bit guilty. He wasn't sure if Stark was implying something, so he changed the subject, "Tony, I'm serious. You have to leave with me this time. I just heard from my mercenary colleagues that the government forces are planning a new round of attacks on terrorist bases."

"This isn't just a small skirmish with a few missiles. I heard the US military is pressuring the government forces to launch a full-scale operation immediately. The situation will be very dangerous."

Erik stared into Stark's eyes and said, "Simply put, there's going to be a large-scale war here. Ordinary people without training won't survive. If you don't leave, you'll definitely die."

Erik stepped forward again and continued, "The government forces are already secretly blocking several supply routes to the outside world. The trucks won't be able to get out in about three days. My mercenary group is organizing the final evacuation."

"As long as I get you out of there, we can catch the last flight. Whether we fly to Wakanda or take a Stark Industries private jet back to America, it'll be fine."

Stark frowned deeply. He looked at Erik and asked, "Why is the US military suddenly pressuring the government forces?"

Erik tilted his head, then turned back to look at Stark and said, "You know, because of your disappearance."

He pursed his lips and said in a somewhat sad tone, "It's basically confirmed in the US that you're dead. The situation at Stark Industries is very chaotic, and they need you back to take charge."

"More importantly, if the news of your survival gets back home, this war might not even have to happen, and many people might be spared."

Stark frowned and pursed his lips, showing a slightly hesitant expression. Erik keenly sensed this emotion and pushed further, "But you know some people don't want you to go back—the culprits who caused you to end up here."

"What's more, they might just want to use your death to trigger a large-scale war."

"But what good does that do them? Is Afghanistan that important to them?" Stark asked.

Erik touched the weapon at his waist by instinct, looked at Stark, and lowered his voice, "The whole world is important to them. Their goal is to throw the world into chaos."

Stark narrowed his eyes, "Isn't it people from Stark Industries who want to kill me to control the company?"

"It's not that simple, Tony." Erik looked back at the cave entrance, confirmed there was no movement, and then said, "Have you heard of Hydra?"

Stark's eyes widened.

"You might think they're a thing of the past, but when I snuck into the village yesterday, I heard that man called Dr. Schiller say 'Hail Hydra' to someone on the phone outside a house."

"Schiller is Hydra?!"

"BOOM!"

A violent tremor shook the entire mountain. The familiar sound of bombers flying at low altitude came from outside the cave. Erik rushed to the cave entrance, looked up, cursed through gritted teeth, and said, "The bombing is early. Run! Tony!"

Stark also reached the cave entrance, but he grabbed Erik and said, "The cave is a natural shelter from bombing. Going out now is just looking for death."

Suddenly, the walkie-talkie at Erik's waist rang. After he pressed the button, a desperate shout came from the other side: "All units retreat! All units retreat! They're launching a surprise attack, these pieces of shit are going back on their word, they want to silence us, hurry... Ugh!"

Erik's face changed. He immediately realized what had happened. His mercenary group was under attack.

Erik turned to look at Tony again, his hand already on his stun gun. But thinking that it would be hard to have any chance of winning if he had to support a living person while retreating, he had to stomp his feet. After leaping out of the cave, he shouted inside:

"Tony, wait for me! I will definitely come back and save you!"