WebNovels

Chapter 1 - Traveling through time or traveling naked?

"Where is this?"

Chen Tian propped himself up, and when he adapted to the light and opened his eyes again, Chen Tian completely froze.

An endless Gobi Desert, and a few charred military Hummers in the distance, still emitting black smoke, with several bodies of U.S. soldiers scattered around.

Chen Tian quickly recovered from his daze, frantically patting and checking his own condition.

He found that he was still wearing the wrinkled blue-striped shirt and black trousers from the subway, but they were now covered in sand.

However, the computer bag he should have held in his right hand and the mobile phone in his pocket were all gone.

"I... did I transmigrate?"

Chen Tian was full of questions.

He remembered that he was on his way to work, and in order to save a child who accidentally ran into the road, he was sent flying by a dump truck.

He lowered his head, thinking about the whole process.

But in his memory, there were only a few vague sentences.

"I thought it was a speed bump." "Because we are all working hard."

Chen Tian shook his head and chuckled.

He truly didn't know where a socially anxious homebody like him got the courage at that time.

Never mind, at least he was still alive now, and it seemed he had transmigrated to some desert?

Chen Tian looked up, intending to find a prominent landmark.

The sunlight was suddenly blocked, and Chen Tian turned his head in confusion—a Terrorist with a full beard and a red checkered headscarf was standing behind him, revealing a mouthful of yellow teeth.

"Hello, American pig." The other party said in broken English, then raised the butt of his AK-47.

Bang!

Chen Tian's vision went black, and he lost consciousness again.

"Clang—clang—"

Rhythmic metal hammering sounds pulled Chen Tian back from the darkness.

He blinked, his vision blurring as it focused on the low stone cave ceiling.

The damp air was filled with the smell of rust and sweat.

"Oh, our Sleeping Beauty is finally awake." A playful male voice sounded.

Chen Tian turned his head and saw a man in a white vest, covered in grease, hammering a red-hot piece of metal in front of an anvil.

The man had his back to him, his muscles clearly defined, his movements precise and powerful.

"Tony, don't be like that, he looks badly hurt." Another gentle voice said.

Only then did Chen Tian notice a middle-aged man sitting in the corner, wearing round glasses and a worn-out suit, typing on an old laptop.

Tony?

Glasses man?

Cave?

Blacksmithing?

Chen Tian's brain was suddenly struck by lightning—he was too familiar with this scene!

The opening of "Iron Man 1"!

"Tony Stark?" Chen Tian blurted out.

The man hammering metal paused, then slowly turned around.

Chen Tian was stunned again; wasn't this Robert Downey Jr.'s face?

"Wow, has my reputation spread to China?" Tony raised an eyebrow, wiping his face with an oil-stained hand, "But you don't look like my fan."

Chen Tian's mouth hung open, momentarily unsure whether to be shocked that he had transmigrated to the Marvel Universe, or to complain that Tony's narcissism was exactly like in the movie.

"My name is Ethan, I am a Doctor." Ethan walked over to check Chen Tian's injuries, "You took a heavy blow to the head and need rest."

"Wait, where is this? What year is it now?" Chen Tian asked eagerly.

"Some damn cave in Afghanistan, some month in 2008, I've been here..." Tony stopped what he was doing and turned to look at the markings carved on the cave wall, "Thirty days!" Saying this, Tony suddenly grabbed his hair with both hands.

"Damn it! I haven't had a cheeseburger in thirty days!"

Tony freaked out for a while, then continued hammering his metal.

"I must escape quickly! My cheeseburger! I'm going to eat two at once when I get out!"

After Tony said this, he remembered something and turned to look at Chen Tian.

"By the way, we've been kidnapped by a group of Terrorists calling themselves the Ten Rings Gang, they want me to build missiles, and I'm building an escape tool.

Welcome to the Hell Club, member benefits include daily whipping and intermittent execution threats."

Chen Tian's brain raced.

According to the movie plot, the first Iron Man Suit would soon appear, then he would escape with Ethan, only Ethan would sacrifice himself...

That's right! Transmigration!

I am a transmigrator!

Then do I have the golden finger that transmigrators must have?

"System? System Dad? System Grandpa?"

Chen Tian sat cross-legged in the corner of the cave, closing his eyes and frantically calling out in his mind.

Ethan saw that Chen Tian seemed fine, so he returned to his position to debug the computer.

Ten minutes passed, and Chen Tian was still calling out to his golden finger in his mind.

The only responses were Tony's "clang clang" of hammering metal and Ethan's "tap tap" of typing on the keyboard.

"System Ancestor! Please show yourself!" Chen Tian was almost in tears, "I don't need any invincible system, just a beginner's gift package will do!"

"Tony, I think his condition is more serious than we imagined." Ethan pushed up his glasses and whispered to Stark, "He's talking to himself in Chinese, and his expression is very... rich."

Tony stopped his hammer and observed Chen Tian with interest: "Let me guess, PTSD (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder) plus DID (Dissociative Identity Disorder)?"

"It could also be a transient psychotic disorder triggered by acute stress reaction." Ethan added professionally.

Chen Tian gradually broke down.

Although he didn't have a golden finger now, as long as he didn't sacrifice himself like Ethan, Tony could still get him out.

But, this was Marvel, would he just become a worker again after getting out? And then die from the purple potato monster's snap?

Chen Tian's expression was a mix of crying and laughing.

Anyone who didn't know would surely think he had a mental problem.

Oh, and those who didn't know included Tony and Ethan.

"Tony, I think he needs a sedative." Ethan said worriedly.

"No, I think what he needs is this." Tony pulled out a rusty iron can from under the workbench, poured out the last bit of cloudy liquid, "Afghanistan specialty, guaranteed to make you forget all your troubles."

Tony held the iron can, sat beside Chen Tian, and handed him the can.

Chen Tian was startled by Tony's movement and subconsciously took the iron can, "Thank you."

Chen Tian brought the iron can to his mouth, and a pungent smell of alcohol hit his brain, his face instantly turning into a mask of pain.

"This... this is alcohol?"

"We call it 'Cave Happy Water'." Tony grinned, "Drink it, and I guarantee your brain will return to normal."

Just as Chen Tian was hesitating whether to drink this 'Cave Happy Water', heavy footsteps came from the cave entrance.

Three armed Terrorists walked in, led by the bearded man from before.

"Stark! Where is that damn missile?!" The bearded man roared furiously at Tony.

"Ah, Abu, my dear foreman.

The great Tony Stark never works on anyone else's schedule." Tony leisurely crossed his legs.

The bearded man's face instantly turned ashen.

He suddenly raised his gun stock and smashed it towards Tony.

Just at this critical moment, a cold voice came from the cave entrance: "Stop!"

Everyone turned at the same time.

A bald man slowly walked in.

He was wearing an exquisite white robe, completely out of place with the dirty surroundings.

"Boss..." The bearded man immediately lowered his gun and respectfully stepped aside.

The bald man ignored him and walked straight to Tony: "Mr. Stark, my men seem to be too lenient with you."

Tony shrugged: "Indeed, they don't even provide cheeseburgers."

The bald man smiled slightly, a smile that sent shivers down Chen Tian's spine.

He waved his hand lightly, and two burly men immediately rushed forward, pinning Ethan and Chen Tian to the ground.

"What are you doing?" Tony's voice lost its playfulness for the first time.

The bald man took a red-hot branding iron from the brazier and slowly said: "I heard... there's an old saying in the East, 'Kill the chicken to scare the monkey'."

The branding iron hissed in the air, and Chen Tian could feel its heat getting closer and closer.

'Damn it, even though I know I won't die, if I get a scar on my face, I'll become an ugly man!

System! Aren't you coming out yet?'

Chen Tian still tried to summon the transmigrator's benefit, but there was still no response.

"Wait!" Tony shouted.

The bald man looked at Tony.

Tony took a few deep breaths, his gaze lingering between the branding iron and Ethan and Chen Tian for a few moments.

"I need assistants to help me build the missile." Tony said this, staring intently into the bald man's eyes.

The bald man threw the branding iron aside, walked in front of Tony, first looked at the crude reactor on his chest, and then looked at Tony.

"One week, I'll give you one week.

If in one week, I still don't see the missile, you will enjoy the 'flaying' torture."

After the bald man finished speaking, he left the cave with his subordinates.

A deathly silence fell within the cave.

Fine beads of sweat oozed from Ethan's forehead, and Chen Tian's back was completely drenched.

Tony stood in place, his chest heaving violently, clearly also shaken by the recent threat.

"That... thank you." Chen Tian said softly, his voice still trembling slightly.

Tony turned around, his expression unusually serious: "Don't thank too soon, we only have one week." He walked to the workbench, picked up a few crumpled blueprints, "I need to redesign the escape plan."

Ethan wiped the sweat from his forehead and walked to Tony's side: "We need to speed up."

Chen Tian took a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down.

He walked to their side and looked at the blueprints Tony was drawing—it was clearly the prototype of the Mark 1 Iron Man Suit!

"I can help." Chen Tian suddenly said, "I'm a programmer, maybe I can help you ease some of the programming pressure for this armor."

Tony looked up, eyeing him suspiciously: "Chinese programmer? Don't you guys only write web pages and make games?"

"That's a stereotype." Chen Tian shrugged helplessly.

In 2008, the programming level of Chinese programmers was still somewhat behind in the eyes of developed countries, but he was from 2025!

You know, in 2025, those robot otaku even made the driver program designed by Iron Man 1 Tony, and even proposed improvements to avoid the problem of slow startup speed at critical moments...

Regarding this, I can only say... robot otaku are awesome...

Chen Tian decided to impress Tony with practical actions first.

So he took over Ethan's position, brought up the armor program on the computer, and then pointed at the computer and said: "This section can be modified.

If," Chen Tian recalled an improvement plan discussed by a blogger he had seen on foreign websites and a domestic master, and typed a few times on the keyboard, "this way, the armor can be more efficient in mobilizing resources during startup."

Tony's eyebrows shot up: "Interesting..."

Over the next few hours, the three of them gathered around the workbench, discussing intensely.

Chen Tian was surprised to find that the knowledge he had learned on Earth was completely applicable in this World.

He once again found several flaws in Tony's design from the discussions of countless Marvel fans and even proposed improvement plans.

"Are you sure you're just a regular programmer?" Tony narrowed his eyes, "These suggestions... are quite professional."

Chen Tian shrugged: "A hobby." He didn't dare say that he had watched all the Iron Man movies and was a super socially anxious homebody who loved watching robot otaku research videos.

Late at night, after the guards changed shifts, the three finally had a chance to quietly discuss the escape plan.

"At this rate, we can complete the armor within five days." Tony said in a low voice, "But there's a problem—the energy is only enough for one person."

Chen Tian's heart tightened.

This was just like the movie plot, Ethan would sacrifice himself...

But he didn't say it out loud.

He planned to persuade Ethan then, or have Tony make a few more bombs.

Over the next few days, the three worked almost non-stop.

Chen Tian was responsible for writing the armor's control system, Tony was responsible for the mechanical structure, occasionally helping Chen Tian improve the program, and Ethan handled the assembly of various parts.

During this period, the guards came to check the progress multiple times, but Tony managed to fool them with technical jargon.

On the fifth night, the armor was finally nearing completion.

Chen Tian was debugging the final control program when he suddenly heard Tony and Ethan arguing in low voices.

"No, this plan is too risky!" Ethan said firmly.

"It's the only way!" Tony retorted in a low voice.

Chen Tian quietly moved closer and heard Tony say: "Listen, I'll rush out in the armor to draw fire, and you and Chen Tian can take the opportunity to escape through the side door."

"What about you?" Ethan asked anxiously.

"I have the armor for protection, I'll be fine."

Chen Tian's heart jolted—this was completely different from the movie plot!

In the original story, Tony should have escaped with Ethan in the armor, and Ethan should have sacrificed himself to buy time.

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