(Brain storage place—lost—)
....................
Boom, boom, boom, boom...
The sharp sound of blacksmithing echoed through the small, dark cave.
At that moment, Tony Stark was intently focused on the steel helmet he was hammering in his hand, his expression determined as if he were preparing for battle at any moment.
"Hurry up! They'll get suspicious if we take too long," Dr. Ethan urged in a low voice.
Tony Stark didn't respond but instead quickened his pace.
As the two raced against time, a voice suddenly broke through the tension: "Excuse me, where is this?"
Both Tony Stark and Dr. Ethan froze, momentarily stunned.
The cave fell eerily silent, the only sound being their rapid breaths.
After what felt like an eternity, Tony Stark turned around stiffly, realizing the voice belonged to a young man who looked barely out of his teenage years.
Eyeing the newcomer warily, Tony Stark asked in a deep voice, "Who are you?!"
The young man replied politely, "Hello, my name is Luke White."
Tony Stark didn't lower his guard. He pressed on, "Are you with them?!"
Luke's face showed confusion as he replied, "Who are 'they'?"
"Those terrorists outside," Tony Stark said, his eyes narrowing.
Luke was taken aback and quickly denied, "Of course not! Do I look like a terrorist?!"
"Then how did you get in here?!" Tony Stark demanded.
Luke hesitated for a moment, then replied, "Well, I kind of just... appeared out of thin air. Do you believe that?"
Tony Stark: "???"
Ethan: "???"
...
Luke wasn't lying; he really did just appear out of thin air.
It wasn't through some magical ability but rather... time travel.
Can you believe he just went downstairs to pick up a package, didn't get in a car accident or fall into a sewer, and ended up traveling through time?!
Initially, Luke didn't believe he had time-traveled either.
After all, as a top student at a prestigious university, he had always believed in science.
It wasn't until he noticed that the scruffy man in front of him looked exactly like the actor who played Tony Stark in the Marvel movies—and was talking about "terrorists"—that Luke began to suspect he had indeed traveled through time.
As a devoted fan of Marvel films, this scene felt all too familiar. This was clearly the plot of "Iron Man"!
Tony Stark had been attacked by terrorists and captured in a cave, ultimately creating his iron armor...
Wasn't that scruffy guy currently holding a steel helmet?
Realizing he had truly entered the Marvel universe, Luke felt an overwhelming sense of despair.
Anyone familiar with this world knew it wasn't just an ordinary urban setting.
Terrorist attacks were merely a small part of the landscape; after all, there were far more significant threats, like alien invasions.
For Luke, a typical college student who had never even touched a gun, surviving here seemed secondary.
What he needed to focus on now was how to escape the cave!!
"System?!"
"Grandpa?!"
"Weren't time travelers supposed to have cheats?! Where's my cheat?!"
Luke screamed silently in his mind.
Noticing his prolonged silence and the intense expression on his face, Tony Stark finally asked, "Are you okay?!"
Fortunately, Luke spoke fluent English, so communication wasn't too difficult.
"I'm not feeling great," Luke replied, feeling frustrated.
"No one feels good about being trapped here," Tony Stark responded with a bitter smile.
Before Luke could reply, Tony Stark pressed on, "You said you appeared out of thin air. What do you mean by that?!"
Luke struggled to explain his time travel, ultimately saying, "It's complicated, and I'm not sure how to explain it."
"No explanation?!" Tony Stark asked, skepticism creeping into his tone.
Luke sensed the hostility and understood the reason behind it.
Tony Stark had been captured by terrorists and brought to this cave, and after enduring inhumane treatment, it was natural for him to doubt Luke's identity.
But if Luke wanted to escape, he needed Tony Stark's help.
Thinking quickly, he replied, "While my identity may seem suspicious, I assure you I'm not with those terrorists."
"How do you prove that?" Tony Stark asked.
"No proof is needed. If I were a terrorist, I would have already exposed you, wouldn't I?" Luke countered.
At that moment, the two were secretly working on escape weapons.
If Luke were truly a terrorist, they wouldn't be having this conversation.
Tony Stark remained silent, but it was clear from his expression that he had relaxed his guard.
"Okay, you've convinced me. Since you're not a terrorist, why are you here? This isn't a good place to be," Tony Stark asked again.
Luke sighed, "Honestly, I didn't want to end up here."
He had arrived in this cave the moment he traveled through time, with no control over it.
"You..."
"Tony, we're running out of time."
Tony Stark seemed ready to say more, but Dr. Ethan interrupted.
Considering their limited time, Tony Stark chose not to press further. Suppressing his doubts, he resumed banging on the steel helmet in his hands.
Seeing that Tony Stark no longer doubted him, Luke finally exhaled in relief.
However, he didn't fully relax; he knew he still had a "hard battle" ahead.
With that thought, he silently lamented, "Please, I'm a time traveler. Do I really not have a system? No, no?!"
He called out in his mind for about a minute.
It wasn't until the sound of Tony Stark finishing the system still didn't occur that Luke confirmed he truly had no system.
This realization left him feeling desperate, but what was even more concerning was that the terrorists seemed to have noticed something was amiss in the cave.
Heavy thuds and curses echoed in the once-quiet cave, punctuated by the distant sound of gunfire warnings.