Chapter 1840

"Can the robot you built move yet?"

Shiler strode into the cave entrance and looked at Stark, saying this with a serious expression on his face that made Stark swallow his intended retort. Just as he was about to answer, Shiler spoke rapidly: "The nearby anti-government military bases have all been subjected to comprehensive bombing. It is no longer safe here; the locals are organizing an evacuation."

"If you want to leave, now is the best opportunity. You can use your robot to hijack a supply truck and drive south. Once you reach territory controlled by the government forces, they will send you back to the United States."

After finishing, Shiler began to pack his things in the cave. Stark stood where he was, and just as Shiler bent down to pick up his coat, his peripheral vision caught the sight of a pitch-black gun barrel pointed at him.

"Who exactly are you?" Stark asked, staring at Shiler.

Shiler let go of the coat, slowly stood up straight, let his hands hang at his sides, and looked at Stark, saying: "I told you long ago, I am not your savior, nor am I your friend."

"Answer my question, Dr. Shiler." Stark just stared tightly at Shiler's eyes from behind the gun barrel.

"Do you think this is useful?" Shiler took a slight step forward, but Stark, who was holding a firearm, retreated a step. Shiler tilted his head slightly and narrowed his eyes, saying: "Did someone say something to you?"

"Answer me!" Stark was practically roaring.

"I am a killer. My job is to kill you, so can you put the gun down now and stop this pointless struggle?"

Shiler's tone was so flat that Stark could not distinguish whether he was joking or serious, but he was very certain that the small pistol in his hand, which only had two bullets, might not pose a fatal threat to Shiler even at such close range. If what Shiler said was true, then he was a dead man today.

"Then why didn't you kill me from the start?"

"You are becoming a bit annoying." Shiler turned back to pick up his coat, ignoring Stark's anger entirely, and continued to himself: "However, if you don't want to return to the United States, then hurry up and pack your pile of things. We are following the main force to evacuate."

Stark slowly lowered the gun. He walked quickly back to the workbench and reached out his arm to tap a button.

With a "clatter," an arm extended from the pile of scrap metal. As the robot, which had originally only revealed half its body, lifted its head, scarlet light flickered in its eyes.

Shiler turned his head to watch the giant robot slowly stand up from the scrap pile. For a human, the cave could be called huge, but for it, it was somewhat cramped; it could only half-kneel on the ground and extend its hand toward Stark.

Stark turned to look at Shiler and said: "Regret not killing me sooner? Hmm?"

Shiler's gaze shone slightly as he looked at the giant robot. Stark noticed that he was examining the robot from head to toe very seriously, a focused gaze that reminded Stark of a child squatting in front of a store shelf looking at robot toys.

Suddenly, Shiler turned his head to look outside the cave entrance.

"Hurry up and go, we don't have time." Shiler hurriedly gathered his things, and Stark also had to immediately pack up some important equipment. He looked back at the giant robot he had built and followed Shiler to the cave entrance.

"Do you intend to leave it here?"

"I can activate it at any time. It can fly, and its speed is definitely much faster than you imagine."

Shiler turned his head to look at him and said: "You can try to use it to kill me, and everyone here."

"I am not you; I am not a killer."

The two left the cave one after the other. The local bearded man glanced at Shiler, then glanced at Stark following behind him, said nothing, and waved his hand to let them get into a truck.

Shiler sat in the driver's seat to drive, and Stark got into the passenger seat. As soon as he sat in the car, Stark turned his head to look at Shiler and said: "Are you a Hydra? I thought this kind of ancient organization had been wiped out long ago."

Shiler looked up at the position of the bombers in the sky while turning the steering wheel and said: "Any terrorist organization in this world is longer-lived than you imagine."

"Tell me what exactly is going on here?" Stark looked at the smoke and dust rising from the distant missile explosions and said: "Government forces, anti-government forces, the U. S. military, Hydra, mercenaries—what exactly are they doing here?"

Shiler, busy driving, turned his head to look at Stark and fell silent.

Stark hammered the car window hard, opened his mouth wide, and raised his voice: "You can't keep me in the dark about everything; this makes me feel like everything has to do with me!"

"Shut up." Shiler narrowed his eyes and looked out the other car window.

Suddenly, the "whoosh-whoosh-whoosh" sound of grenades rang out from outside the car window. Shiler slammed the steering wheel, and Stark's head hit the car window glass hard.

Blood blurred the vision in one eye, but Stark still looked in the direction of Shiler's gaze. He saw a familiar logo—the logo of the mercenary legion where Erik was.

Several off-road vehicles and pickup trucks were chasing alongside their car and seemed to want to overtake and intercept them from the side. Shiler pushed the gear lever hard and stepped on the gas, and the truck sped out with maximum horsepower.

"What the hell is going on? Why are they chasing us?!" Stark said, clutching his throbbing forehead.

"Can't you be quiet for a while?!" Shiler raised his volume, a rarity, and shouted at Stark.

"But I fucking want to know what the hell is going on!! Tell me quickly!!! Otherwise, I will go to hell and keep bothering you!!!"

Shiler drove in silence and soon left the pursuers behind. After about twenty minutes, Shiler slammed on the brakes, and Stark almost knocked out his front teeth. He looked up and found that the car had driven to the front of a cliff, with dense forests and precipices all around.

The rumbling of thunder came from afar, and thick dark clouds pressed down very low. The water vapor in the air indicated that a heavy rain was about to arrive.

Shiler and Stark pushed open the car doors and got out, running quickly toward the side of the rock wall. Stark said while running: "This isn't a solution; I'll call Iron Wall 1 over."

"No need, follow me."

Shiler led Stark quickly through the mountains, and soon they arrived at the other side of the giant cliff. Pushing aside the bushes, Stark saw a familiar military logo on the cliff wall; it was a giant laboratory door.

Shiler went to the console to operate it, and the door soon opened. He walked inside and beckoned to Stark, who walked in with some hesitation.

Then he discovered that this was an abandoned base. Everywhere he looked was sand and dust. After walking in, tables and chairs were overturned on the ground, and there were suspicious bloodstains on the walls.

"Where is this?"

"An abandoned laboratory." Shiler pulled up a chair and sat down, while Stark sat opposite him.

"Now you can tell me what the hell is going on, right?"

"They want your brain."

Stark was stunned.

"Who?" he asked in surprise.

"Everyone."

"Someone leaked the news that you were still alive." Shiler said concisely: "The public thinks you are dead, and the terrorists in Afghanistan are responsible for your death. But if you are actually not dead, it means they can get you without having to bear the responsibility for the kidnapping."

Stark didn't grasp it for a moment, but soon he reacted. The purpose of these people was no different from that group of terrorists.

Simply put, kidnapping or killing Tony Stark meant bearing a huge pressure that almost no one in this world could bear, because Stark represented a class.

If someone dared to use such violent means against the world's greatest capitalist, then others belonging to this class would not let the culprits go, and they would definitely make them die in a very ugly way as a deterrent to ensure their own safety.

But the current situation was that the culprits were confirmed to be the terrorists in Afghanistan, and the Stark Group and other capitalists had already begun to exert force in retaliation. This corroborated the death of Tony Stark's social identity.

This meant that Stark no longer had social value, only that genius brain of his. As long as they could kidnap him, they could control him to work for them for a lifetime, and without paying any price. After all, a person cannot die twice; the Afghan terrorists had already paid the price.

Stark opened his eyes wide and looked at Shiler, saying: "So they are all here to kidnap me?"

Shiler looked up at him and said nothing. Stark tilted his head back and sighed, saying: "Fine, Stark is just that popular, the most high-profile party star in the world, hmm?"

"Wait." Stark suddenly realized something and said: "Who leaked the news that I was still alive?"

"It couldn't be those terrorists; they were still counting on me to build weapons for them. They wouldn't take the initiative to attract others to snatch me."

Stark just wanted to ask Shiler if it was him, but Shiler looked at him with that look like he was looking at an idiot. Then Stark realized that Shiler was also one of the people who had contact with him, and like that group of terrorists, he was already a winner; there was no need to add competitors for himself.

Just at this moment, Erik's anxious expression flashed through his mind. Stark's facial features tightened together, and he muttered to himself: "I just felt something was wrong. If he couldn't understand what I was going to do, it meant he wasn't a hero. Since that's the case, why did he have to take me away?"

Immediately afterward, Stark remembered that Shiler had previously said that this group of mercenaries did dirty work for the military, so it was possible they were acting on behalf of the military to hunt him down.

Connecting this to the screams that came from Erik's walkie-talkie earlier, the mercenary organization he belonged to had been silenced. So who silenced them? And why silence them?

If the news that Stark was still alive was leaked by Erik, everything would be explained. The military wasn't silencing that mercenary organization, but silencing Erik.

Because it was Erik who told the military this news. Erik knew that the military was aware Stark was alive. Only if Erik died could the military shirk responsibility by saying they didn't know.

"Have you heard of the Ten Rings?" Shiler suddenly spoke up.

Stark was slightly startled, recalled for a moment, and then shook his head. Shiler lowered his head to adjust his trouser legs and said: "Remember when you asked those locals to find the Stark Group missiles?"

Stark nodded. Shiler spoke again: "There aren't many areas that have been bombed, and even fewer that have just had firefights. They followed the tire tracks of the car you drove earlier and found a place where there were fragments of Stark Group missiles."

"That's where I was first attacked!" Stark said somewhat anxiously: "Did they find the complete missile? Did they bring it back?"

"They no longer need to find the complete missile." Shiler took something out of his jacket pocket and handed it to Stark.

When Stark took the thing, he was startled by the peculiar feel. He looked down and saw it was a piece of tattooed human skin.

"This is the tattoo of the Ten Rings. It was the Ten Rings that kidnapped you."

"Then who instigated them?"

"The Ten Rings is an organization that is often active in the border regions of Asia, with strongholds in both Afghanistan and Mexico."

"Mexico..." Stark muttered while looking down at the pattern. He closed his eyes in some pain, but finally spoke: "Obadiah... Before I came to Afghanistan, Obadiah went to Mexico twice, and we originally had no business dealings there."

But Shiler changed the subject, and in Stark's shocked gaze, said: "Yes, but their attack was unsuccessful, and the second time you were attacked, it was Hydra—which is me."