Chapter 59: Tattoo a Target on Your Forehead—So I Can Aim Right at It?

The next day.

Alvin, still in bed, was woken by a call from Stark.

“What is it? Can’t you let me sleep a little longer in the morning?” he yawned, his eyes sunken with fatigue.

Yesterday, he dealt with that damn lizard, then went to Osborn Corporation to retrieve the incomplete Super Soldier Serum data, and didn’t rest until late at night.

And now, barely eight in the morning, the phone woke him up again.

“Pepper is missing!”

Tony’s voice was tense, utterly lacking his usual ease—he sounded panicked: “She threw me a birthday party yesterday, and after she left that night, she didn’t show up at the company today!”

“What’s so strange about that?” Alvin frowned, scratching his head: “Maybe you two had too much fun last night and decided to take the day off.”

“Bullshit! I didn’t do anything yesterday!” Tony shouted, furious: “I know Pepper—she would never take a day off without telling me. But she didn’t say anything. And I had JARVIS check—she didn’t go home last night!”

“Where are you now?”

Alvin’s brow furrowed—he suddenly realized this wasn’t simple—and asked at once.

“I’m in the lab at the seaside villa.”

Tony was like a fly without a head—worried for Pepper’s safety, yet clueless where to start.

“Wait—I’m on my way!”

Alvin pulled on his clothes and kicked open the door.

Outside stood Black Widow, already awake; she’d heard the noise inside and spoke up: “What happened?”

“Someone kidnapped Pepper Potts.” Alvin paused, then turned to her: “Can you get S.H.I.E.L.D. to help track her down?”

“I can, but I need the Director’s approval—I’ll call right away.” Black Widow dialed as she spoke.

After briefly explaining the situation, she hung up and told Alvin: “It’ll take some time—Tech Division is hacking into all of New York’s surveillance systems.”

“This isn’t as simple as it looks.”

Alvin threw on his coat and tossed the car keys to her: “Let’s go to the seaside villa—see what’s really going on.”

He didn’t believe surveillance footage would yield useful leads.

If it were that easy, JARVIS’s capabilities would render any firewall meaningless—it wouldn’t be impossible to find a missing person!

In the car, Alvin immediately focused his suspicion on Obadiah.

No one had more direct financial ties to Stark than Obadiah.

At this moment, Obadiah kidnapping Pepper Potts might deviate from the original plot—but it wasn’t impossible.

But the question was... how did he bypass JARVIS’s surveillance?

That puzzled Alvin completely.

“Looks like I’ll have to ask Tony for the answer.”

Just then, Black Widow pressed the accelerator: “Hold on, boss!”

“Huh?”

Boom!

The black Mercedes roared to life.

Tires screeched against the pavement like a beast unleashed, shooting straight onto the main road.

Alvin then experienced firsthand what “high-speed driving” truly meant.

Black Widow gave him a masterclass in extreme racing—foot glued to the gas, brakes forgotten—zigzagging through dense traffic, the speedometer nearly exploding.

A two-and-a-half-hour drive was cut down by two-thirds; even Alvin, with his solid constitution, nearly got dizzy.

“Nice driving—don’t do it again!”

Alvin gave Black Widow a thumbs-up, stumbling out of the car with wobbly legs.

Watching him shake, Black Widow kept a calm face but laughed wildly inside—she’d finally gotten her revenge for being hung from the ceiling back then!

On the top floor, they found the lab in ruins and Tony Stark slumped in despair.

“Alvin, you’re here?”

At JARVIS’s reminder, Tony finally snapped back to awareness—he looked up and saw Alvin, then the woman behind him: “She... is that the woman from the charity gala?”

“That doesn’t matter—tell me what happened.”

Alvin scanned the chaotic room, skipping all pleasantries: “Did you have JARVIS check the surveillance?”

“I did. Found nothing.”

Tony clenched his fists tightly, eyes bloodshot, face twisted in fury.

Clearly, Pepper Potts meant a great deal to him—her sudden disappearance was pushing him to the edge of sanity.

“Calm down, Tony.”

Alvin soothed him while sinking into thought.

“Alvin, you have to help me!” With JARVIS unable to find Pepper, Tony had no options left—he clung to Alvin as his last hope: “Please, find Pepper—I can’t lose her!”

“JARVIS, where was the last place you detected Pepper?” Alvin asked.

“Mr. Valerus, without Mr. Stark’s authorization, I cannot monitor Miss Potts’s movements.” JARVIS replied honestly: “After Miss Potts left the villa last night, vehicle data indicated she went to Stark Industries—but surveillance was subsequently blocked.”

Of course... it was Stark Industries!

Alvin’s eyes flickered—he had a rough guess: “Where was Obadiah last night?”

“You... suspect Obadiah?” Tony looked stunned, then suddenly remembered: “Wait—when Pepper came to see me last night, she warned me to watch out for Obadiah. Could this be connected?”

“I should’ve warned you, Tony.” Alvin patted his shoulder, solemnly: “Your kidnapping wasn’t as straightforward as it seemed.”

“But... why would Obadiah do this?”

Tony was reeling, his face twisted with pain and conflict—he bit his lip hard: “He... he had no reason to!”

“Actually, according to what I know, Obadiah had serious disagreements with your father, Howard.” Black Widow spoke up suddenly: “They clashed on many issues—all of Obadiah’s proposals were rejected by Howard. That might be the reason.”

“Who are you? How do you know this?”

Only now did Tony sense something was off—he stared suspiciously at Black Widow.

As she opened her mouth to explain, a sudden chill swept over her—like a sharp blade pressed against her brow.

Years as a spy made her react instantly—she lunged at Alvin and kicked Tony aside: “Watch out!”

Bang!

A bullet shattered the glass and slammed into the wall.

The immense force carved a palm-sized dent into the reinforced concrete.

Black Widow, elite agent that she was, rolled away, drew her Glock, and emptied the entire magazine toward the shooter’s position.

“Get cover—this guy’s a professional assassin!”

Just from that single shot, Black Widow knew: the shooter was a professional.

The angle was impossibly precise—if she hadn’t reacted in time, the outcome would’ve been catastrophic.

Tony, knocked over, didn’t have time to curse—he instinctively covered his head and dove behind a pillar: “What the hell is going on?!”

Alvin brushed dust off his clothes, calm as ever: “Need I ask? Your ‘dear uncle’ realized things were falling apart, so he hired someone to kill you.”

“Don’t stand up!”

Black Widow’s blood ran cold—Alvin was standing? Was he trying to get himself killed?

Bang!

The shooter, targeting vital points, fired again.

But what happened next stunned Black Widow—the bullet, as it neared Alvin, seemed to slow down a thousandfold, its trajectory clearly visible.

Then, the bullet spun in place and stopped right before Alvin.

“I didn’t come looking for trouble—you came to me instead?”

His gaze turned icy as he stared toward the shooter’s location, his telekinesis spreading outward, imprinting the assassin’s facial features into his mind.

A man with a target tattooed on his forehead crouched behind a hidden rock, staring in disbelief through his scope.

Alvin raised his hand and tapped the bullet’s base with his index finger—once, then again—the crisp sound echoing clearly in the room.

Ding~ Ding~ Ding~

As the tapping continued, the telekinetic energy surrounding the bullet became visibly tangible.

“Target Eye, huh?”

Alvin sneered, flicking the bullet’s base with his finger: “Tattoo a target on your forehead—so I can aim right at it?”

BOOM!!!

The accumulated telekinetic energy on the bullet’s base erupted all at once.

The tiny bullet triggered a sonic boom, tearing through layers of air and vanishing from sight in an instant.