Tony swore that in all his life, this was the first time he had ever been mocked by a smart butler.
And the worst part — the damn thing was set to a male voice.
Great.
But just as he dropped onto the couch, Jarvis spoke again. The AI was unusually talkative today.
"Sir, I am not the one you should be thanking. That would be Mr. Xu Dan."
"Xu Dan?" Tony blinked. Speaking of Xu Dan — these days, he counted him as a friend. As far as making friends with businessmen went, Xu Dan was his one and only exception.
But once he heard that name, a chill crawled across Tony's scalp. He hadn't logged into World of Warcraft in days.
His login streak was broken.
Just as that dreadful thought hit him, Jarvis continued, "Sir, would you please come downstairs and take a look?"
"...Jarvis, you're acting strange today." Tony frowned, glancing at Pepper. "Pepper, did you plan something with Jarvis?"
Pepper was caught off guard and immediately shook her head. "No. I've been trying to track your whereabouts through every possible channel these past few days. I haven't had time to come here at all."
"That's even weirder. Jarvis, what is going on?"
Still asking, Tony got up and headed downstairs.
As soon as he stepped into his lab, the small machines he had built previously whirred to life.
One rolled up to him and projected a recording.
It was exactly what Xu Dan had been doing in the lab that day.
Jarvis had captured everything — and now played it back for Tony.
Tony went silent.
"Mr. Stark has been kidnapped?!"
"Yes. And he was injured as well."
"We need to rescue Mr. Stark!"
"The rescue is already underway."
"Thank you, sir."
"No need. Just do it."
…
"Then I'll go."
"Sir, allow me to thank you again on behalf of Mr. Stark!"
"No need. Go!"
…
"Damn it! I finally tricked that useless Tony. If he hadn't been playing games all day, the plan wouldn't have dragged on for half a year. Damn him!"
…
A long, heavy silence followed.
Pepper stood at the doorway.
She stared at Tony Stark's slowly slumping figure, and her heart ached.Tony hadn't cried since the day he lost his parents.Back then he vowed he would become strong — someone who couldn't shed tears.
But now… tears shimmered in his eyes, and his clenched jaw trembled as he fought them back.
When he was trapped in that cave, he had suspected everyone — everyone except Obadiah.
After all, Obadiah was his father's friend. Tony had grown up treating him like an uncle.
He never imagined that in the end, this man would not only betray him — but also try to kill him.
Now, he almost felt grateful the terrorists hadn't shot him the moment they realized he was Tony Stark.
And he never expected that the one who would save him… wasn't Rhodey, or Happy, or Nick Fury.
It was Xu Dan — a friend he'd known for such a short time.
Life was ridiculous.
The projection ended.
Tony sniffed sharply, grinding his teeth — until Pepper suddenly hugged him tightly from behind.
"Pepper, let go. I'm going to kill Obadiah."
"No! Tony, no! Calm down!"
"Let go!"
"No!"
Pepper's trembling voice and tears finally smothered the flames of Tony's rage.
Then Jarvis spoke at the perfect moment. "Sir, I believe this is what Mr. Xu Dan wanted you to see."
"Dan?"In Tony's mind, Xu Dan's status climbed instantly to the top tier.
Game godfather? Forget that — he was Tony's lifesaver.
"Do you want me to contact him, sir?" Jarvis asked.
"No. I'll go see him myself."
"But, sir, it is already late."
"…Fine. I'll go tomorrow morning."
…
At dawn the next day, Tony jumped into a sports car and raced straight to Xu Dan's home.
He hadn't slept a single minute.
Xu Dan had gotten used to rising early. With his strong physical condition, six hours of deep sleep was enough — a rest more refreshing than ten hours for an average person.
When he heard the security alert, he already knew Tony had arrived.
There was no need to open the door himself. With one simple verbal command, the automatic system unlocked it.
Seeing Tony's figure approaching, Xu Dan smiled.
"Morning. Did you see yesterday's news? They say that now that Stark Industries has shut down its weapons division, it's going to get crushed by the Antarctic Company… apparently Stark is shrinking and Antarctica is exploding in size."
"Dude, please. Don't torture me first thing in the morning. I have zero psychological burden shutting down weapons manufacturing. I can close it quite happily."
"Happily? Sounds like someone's been stimulated."
"If you had been in my place, you'd find it pretty stimulating too."
"Oh, really?"
"…Thank you."
Xu Dan shot him a disgusted look. "Please. I don't accept hugs. Especially not from a bearded man."
Tony took a 50,000-point critical hit.
But he had no right to complain — the guy in front of him had saved his life.
"Actually, besides thanking you in person, there's something else I came for today."
"What is it?" Xu Dan asked. "And listen — if you want to thank me, forget it. Just help me finish setting up my hardware tech department."
Tony nodded, then said quietly, "You purposely had Jarvis hint things to me. I checked Obadiah again after that… and I found some unbelievable secrets."
"What secrets?"
"He built the suit."
Xu Dan frowned and thought it over.
Obadiah completing the Iron Monger so quickly — honestly, he was surprised.
Even Tony hadn't built the Mark II that fast.
There was only one explanation: Obadiah must have been watching Tony while he was trapped in the cave.
Otherwise, there was no way he could have built it so fast.
"That really is a tricky problem for you," Xu Dan said, patting Tony on the shoulder.
And it was. After calming down last night, Tony had even thought about having the police arrest Obadiah immediately…
But once he saw the Iron Monger, he didn't dare act rashly.
Suddenly, Xu Dan grabbed the coat from the hanger and said calmly, "I'm not sure how much time I'll waste helping you deal with Obadiah, so—let's start working on my hardware tech today. I'll handle Obadiah for you. And I believe you understand what to do afterward."
-----------------------
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