Meanwhile
Afghanistan. Bagram Air Base.
Nicknamed "The Junkyard," this U.S. military weapons testing site had just hosted Tony Stark's latest product showcase, the Jericho Missile.
The demonstration was flawless.
So flawless, in fact, that the champagne was already flowing.
For Tony, it was tradition: every time a deal crossed the $500 million mark, he celebrated with a complimentary case of champagne, for the client, of course. A classy nod of respect.
"To peace!"
"To peace!" xN
Tony raised his glass.
The attending officers followed suit, toasting with cheer. The atmosphere was practically festive.
Just then, Tony's phone rang. A video call from Obadiah.
"Hey, Obi! What's up?" Tony flipped his rotating-screen phone and stepped aside. On the other end, Obadiah was lounging against a headboard, clearly just waking up.
"I couldn't sleep without knowing how it went. All good?"
"Come on, it's me." Tony grinned. "The place feels like Christmas morning. Here, look."
He spun the camera around, giving Obadiah a live view of the party.
"Good. That's what I wanted to hear."
After the call, Tony hopped into a nearby armored convoy.
Unbeknownst to him, he wasn't in the vehicle originally designated for his return trip.
Colonel Rhodes had advised Tony to ride with him instead, but Tony waved it off with:
"You tell me this after I've already sat down?"
Rhodey didn't push the issue.
After all, who would dare attack the world's most famous weapons manufacturer this close to a U.S. airbase?
Turns out… someone would.
Reality is stranger than fiction.
On the road back
Tony's convoy was ambushed with terrifying precision.
RAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT!
BOOM! KRAKOOM!!!
Armor-piercing rounds tore through the escort vehicles like paper. Most soldiers didn't even have time to scream.
Tony barely managed to scramble out of the opposite door.
He reached for his phone, no signal.
They had come prepared.
"Shit!"
"What the hell is going on?!"
He shouted, heart pounding.
Then, WHUMP!
A missile slammed into the ground beside him.
Tony turned just in time to see the warhead… with a Stark Industries logo proudly printed on the casing.
"Leon, you jinxing bastard…"
That was the last thing he managed to say before the explosion hurled him like a rag doll.
The blast tore through his armor, shrapnel shredded his vest.
He hit the dirt, blood pouring from his chest, and quickly lost consciousness.
News of Tony Stark's ambush and unknown condition quickly spread, thanks to certain people who wanted it to spread.
Back at the cliffside villa, Pepper Potts was the first to receive the alert.
Stark Villa, California.
Leon was still snoring peacefully when he was jolted awake by the sound of sobbing.
"JARVIS… what the hell happened?"
"Sir…"
Before the AI could finish, Pepper burst into the room like a hurricane, throwing herself into Leon's arms, sobbing uncontrollably.
"Leon, Tony… he might be… he might be gone!"
She couldn't even speak through the tears.
JARVIS calmly filled in the blanks: Tony Stark had been ambushed by terrorists. Status: unknown, presumed dead.
"WHAT?!"
Leon froze.
It was like the sky had collapsed.
He couldn't even imagine a future without Tony.
"Pepper, there's a saying, 'Only the good die young, the wicked live forever.' My brother's definitely one of the wicked ones. He'll be fine."
"But just in case, I'll go talk to Uncle Stane. He's well-connected, he'll know what to do."
Pepper nodded, still crying too hard to walk.
Leon gently carried her to the sofa, then grabbed his keys and tore off in his sports car toward Stark Tower.
"JARVIS, call Uncle Obie."
"Right away, Master Leon."
Beep… dialing… connected.
"Hey, Leon."
"Obie, you already heard about Tony, right? I'm on my way to the tower now. Any updates?"
"No need."
"Wait, what do you mean- ?"
Leon didn't even get to finish.
Suddenly, a massive cargo truck, fully insured, half-trailer, came barreling down the wrong lane, straight for Leon's car.
"SHIT!"
He pulled the wheel hard, drifting sideways to dodge.
JARVIS kicked in, auto-correcting the servos to keep the car from flipping.
SCREEEEEECH!
The tires screamed. Metal shrieked. But miraculously, they stopped.
Leon exhaled.
Only for the truck to keep charging.
"Oh, come ON!"
CRASH!!
The semi slammed into Leon's car, launching it over the cliff's edge.
The airbags deployed instantly, but Leon had already blacked out from the impact.
"Target neutralized."
The truck driver, still masked, calmly reported into his phone as he watched the vehicle tumble toward the ocean below.
"Are you sure he's dead?"
A voice on the other end was cold, doubtful.
"Uh… I'll go down and double-check. Don't worry."
"Make it fast. Cops will be on the scene soon."
"Understood."
Hanging up, the hitman hopped into an amphibious motor-scooter prepared in the truck's cargo bay.
He navigated down to the crash site, found Leon still alive, barely breathing.
Just to be safe, he dragged Leon from the wreckage, pressed a .50-cal Desert Eagle to his temple, and emptied the entire magazine.
The damage was gruesome, beyond recognition.
Then, he chained the body to a stone, loaded it onto the scooter, and dumped it far out in the open ocean.
By the time law enforcement arrived, Leon's remains would've been reduced to fish food, nothing left but marine waste.
Or so the killer thought.
What he didn't know was that deep beneath the waves, Leon Stark's heart was still beating.
Something was protecting him.
[System Awakening: Ding! Congratulations, Host! You've completed the mission: "Double Dose of Bad Luck!"]
[Daily Sign-In System has been activated. Newbie protection enabled.]
[Prompt: Do you wish to bind this system? Please answer "yes" or "no."]
'…or?'
…
[Severe cranial trauma detected. Host consciousness impaired. Independent decision-making currently unavailable.]
[Default binding initiated.]
[Ding! Binding complete.]
[Beginning Newbie Starter Pack draw…]
[Ding! Congratulations, Host! You have received the Soldier Boy Template, including one standard-issue combat suit and a tungsten-alloy shield.]
[Warning!]
[Newbie Protection will expire once host regains full consciousness.]
'What the hell…'
Leon's awareness flickered for a second, then faded again.
Without the Newbie Protection, even the regenerative power of Soldier Boy's template wouldn't have saved him.
His head had been, quite literally, blown open.
But under the combined effects of the super-soldier regeneration and the system's protective mode, Leon's fatal injuries began slowly healing.
And in that hidden mental space…
Forgotten memories from a past life, finally began to return.
Every 250 P.S = 1 Extra Chapter
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