Chapter 13: Blue and Red Pills, Which One Do You Choose?

From Marvel, Starting as a Genie

In Afghanistan, inside a secret base, it had never been this lively before, with gunfire sounding in a group.

"Come on, we should go," Tony Stark, wearing the armor, said to Yinsen, who had fallen on the sandbags, after clearing out the last enemy in the cave.

While speaking, he tried hard not to look at the several holes in Yinsen's body that were gurgling with blood.

To win time for the armor to start up for Tony, Yinsen's life was about to fade away. But they didn't have time to treat the wounds now, and Tony Stark's most primitive version of the armor wasn't enough to support him in doing delicate work like bandaging wounds.

"No..."

Because of excessive blood loss, Yinsen was now in a dying state, speaking weakly.

"Hurry! We have an agreement; Tony Stark will not break his promise!" Tony's tone was urgent. Actually, he knew in his heart that there were countless terrorists outside, and even if he took Yinsen, it would be impossible to leave while ensuring Yinsen's safety.

"The situation is constantly changing, Stark..."

"No, you have to go back to visit your family. Get up quickly!"

"My family is all dead. I'm going to visit them now," Yinsen closed his eyes. "It doesn't matter, I'm fine like this..."

"Thank you for saving me," Tony accepted the reality that could no longer be salvaged.

"Don't let me down, don't make a senseless sacrifice..."

Looking at Yinsen, whose chest was no longer moving, Tony put down the armor's helmet and turned to walk outside.

After Tony left the cave, this place was suddenly filled with purple and golden light.

"What a moving scene, isn't it? Ancient One," Ding Hao walked out from the side and said lightly.

"You are right," the Ancient One faced Yinsen, took off her hood, and bowed slightly. Yinsen was the first guide on Tony Stark's path to becoming a hero.

"I can feel the vigorous desire for survival in his soul. What's even more precious is that between life and death, he can still rationally make decisions. This is a noble quality that most humans cannot possess," Ding Hao raised his hand slightly toward Yinsen, and golden light like clouds and mist dragged Yinsen up.

The Ancient One opened her mouth, wanting to say something.

"Don't worry, I will abide by the rules. But I am also prepared to give him a choice," Ding Hao hooked his finger, drawing out Yinsen's residual soul. "Now, state your wish."

"I want to live..."

"In the name of the Genie, your wish is about to be fulfilled."

With Ding Hao's words, all the wounds on Yinsen's body healed in an instant. Except for his soul and consciousness not returning, he could be considered to have come back to life.

Following that, Yinsen fell, merging into the soil, sinking more than ten meters underground. Here, Ding Hao wove a beautiful dream—a beautiful dream based on Yinsen's imagination.

In this beautiful dream, the world was incredibly peaceful, and Yinsen's family hadn't lost their lives because of the war. Their whole family lived in a small town called Migu, which was the place where Yinsen was born.

"I asked his incomplete soul, which represented his instinct for survival. He wants to live," Ding Hao clapped his hands, and the psychedelic scenes around him all dissipated. Then he turned his head and spoke to the Ancient One.

"Now I am asking his consciousness, which represents his reason. If he makes the same decision, he will return to this world in another form. If not, he will sleep forever in the beautiful dream until this planet is destroyed."

"How will his reason respond?" the Ancient One asked. She couldn't see Yinsen's final result in the future; people protected by the Genie would be detached from the conventional timeline.

"See if he detaches from the dream," Ding Hao shrugged. "This dream is far more beautiful and real than one simulated by electronic signals, and reality is colder and more unreasonable than what he has already seen."

The Ancient One breathed a sigh of relief. She wouldn't underestimate the people Ding Hao favored. Such people must have shining points. But no matter how shining they were, sleeping in the dream woven by the Genie wasn't so easy to wake up from.

By the time Yinsen woke up, this important node would have long since ended.

After all, the current Tony Stark had already escaped from this demon's den, wandering in the vast desert, waiting for rescue.

Soon, S. H. I. E. L. D. members and the military, having locked onto his position, all set out to bring him home.

One day later, in a house on the edge of Hell's Kitchen, Frank had a large pile of drawings and documents piled before him. He was setting up a combat plan to break through the Hand and Kingpin's defense lines.

This combat plan needed to consider many points. For example, after the assault ended, many teammates might turn into enemies in an instant. How to face and solve this problem then?

The situation in Hell's Kitchen was very complicated now. Frank had long discovered that it wasn't just his side staring at this place. Once, when he was exploring the terrain like this, he smelled a familiar scent.

That was the trace of military special forces working ahead of time. The military had intervened in this matter for some unknown reason.

"Can't we change a target?" Johnson, who was beside him, couldn't help but speak.

"No. You guess how many people are staring at us now. If we move, they won't believe I'm changing targets."

Frank paused and looked at the TV. It was replaying the press conference Tony Stark held. At the press conference, Tony Stark announced that he would close the weapons manufacturing part of Stark Industries as soon as possible.

"Besides, I don't have much time. If the quest chain is broken, I don't have the confidence to complete the final quest. This is the hope I can grasp; I won't give up."

Johnson turned to look at the TV screen. "Do you know? The divination results from these few times tell me that if you still insist, you will be much more miserable than that guy."

Johnson was referring to Tony Stark, who had made a sudden decision.

"His brain was just blown up, but at least he came back alive. As for you, you might just die there forever."

"I know, and I'm very grateful to you, Johnson. But I am not you," Frank continued to organize the information before him. "I don't have divination ability, and I won't believe in divination blindly. Otherwise, one day, if I want to go out, I might have to call you in advance and let you tell me which leg to step out with first."

Johnson swallowed the remaining words of persuasion. Indeed, Frank was right. If his life were entirely made by divination results, he really didn't know if it was correct or pathetic.

*Eh? * Wait? Was he indirectly scolding me!

Johnson suddenly felt that Frank's words had a hidden meaning. He subconsciously wanted to perform divination, and the pocket watch was even taken out, but in the end, he put it away. ===== CHAPTER 14 =====