52: Death Notice from the Ten Rings

"Oh! No, no, no!" Tony immediately jumped up, feeling a jolt when he heard Lyon was about to take action.

"They're clearly here for me. If anyone's going to fight, it should be me!"

After he said this, he waved his hand. "Jarvis, suit up!"

The nearby flight pod in the lab immediately disassembled and attached itself to him.

Lyon didn't stop Tony.

Those dozen or so people upstairs had muscle mass at an ordinary human level. 

Even if they might possess some mysterious powers, they wouldn't be a match for Tony.

Once Tony was suited up, he directly smashed through the glass door and rushed upstairs.

"You stay down here and wait for my word!"

Tony's voice echoed all the way down the hallway.

"The handsome guys with diapers on their heads, here I come!"

It was clear that he had been feeling a bit suppressed with his busyness lately, and once he put on the suit, his true nature was revealed.

Lyon shook his head and stepped over the broken glass to head upstairs.

The uninvited guests clearly hadn't anticipated that their target would suddenly rush up from downstairs.

As soon as Tony reached the upper floor, he unleashed his full firepower, firing cluster bombs in a rotating barrage.

The intruders had no chance to fight back and were quickly killed.

Even those who managed to react were blasted to the ground the moment they tried to resist.

With Tony operating at full power, the ceiling of the villa was shaking with a loud rumble.

By the time Lyon walked into the living room, bodies were already lying everywhere, and half of the walls had cracked.

'Great, looks like he could call the renovation company again tomorrow.'

The last black-clad man was cornered by Tony at that moment.

It was clear these attackers were professional assassins.

None of them uttered a scream as they died.

'Even now, with only one person left alive, would he fight to the death...?'

Lyon had just been thinking that the last man might make a desperate final stand.

But instead, the man retreated and pulled a plain envelope out of his pocket.

He extended the envelope, then, in one swift motion, slit his own throat with a dagger, dying on the spot.

When his body fell, it even maintained the posture of holding out the envelope.

"Uh, it seems he didn't intend to fight to the death, but chose to die to prove his loyalty?" Lyon walked up to Tony's side.

"No, he wanted me to read the letter."

Click!

Tony flicked up his faceplate, and the armor automatically detached.

He stepped forward to pick up the envelope, but Lyon beat him to it.

"Be careful, the letter could be poisoned, Tony. Next time, when handling something from an enemy, it's best to stay in your armor."

Tony was taken aback. "Poison on the letter? Would someone really do something that fucked up?"

"In some Eastern martial arts novels, there's a fondness for such plots. These sneaky people seem like the type who would do that sort of thing."

Lyon brought the envelope to his nose and sniffed it. "Alright, no poison. I guess I was overthinking."

"But why hand over the letter before committing suicide?" he asked as he casually opened the envelope.

"Maybe some organization wants to recruit me? Wasn't this just an initiation test?" Tony leaned over to read.

Lyon looked at him with disdain. "Seriously... What kind of high school guesswork is that? Do you think you're the Messiah?"

He unfolded the letter.

From its appearance, it was just an ordinary letter, likely made from bamboo paper.

People who usually use this type of paper are mostly from Southeast Asia.

'Could the other party possibly be the Hand?'

The two of them read the letter line by line.

[To Mr. Tony Stark:

Congratulations on passing my test.

—You have killed the peripheral members of the Ten Rings who were sent to carry out an assassination mission.

This has successfully proven that you are worthy of having your head personally severed by me.

In recent years, you have been the first person to reach this stage.

First, allow me to introduce myself.

I am the leader of the Ten Rings, Wenwu.

The Ten Rings that you eradicated half a month ago were merely poor imitators of mine."

"I need to thank you for killing those inferior imposters for me.

However, I regret to inform you that, although they were just imitators, they also represented the prestige of the Ten Rings in the whole world.

Since you have publicly claimed to have eradicated the Ten Rings, I have no choice but to kill you to uphold the reputation of the Ten Rings.

In one month, I will personally come to claim your head.

Sincerely,

Wenwu.]

"..." The two quickly finished reading.

Tony furrowed his brows tightly. "So, does that mean the Ten Rings were just the tip of the iceberg? No, the Ten Rings are actually a hidden organization!"

He thought of Hydra and the Red Room.

All these organizations that hide in the shadows of the world—

So far, none of the ones he knew about were any good.

While Tony was still speculating about the Ten Rings' background, Lyon beside him suddenly exploded!

"A good one, Wenwu!" Lyon's eyes almost immediately began to glow red.

The letter in his hand shattered without any warning.

He floated up, his clothes fluttering without wind.

The red light in his eyes grew more intense, like a demon god emerging from hell, glaring at all before him.

Although he wasn't wearing his Superman suit, at this moment, it seemed as if a blood-soaked cape was billowing behind him.

"Tony, you should get some rest. I'll be back after killing a few people!"

His face was expressionless.

It was as if he was casually mentioning that he would eat a piece of bread later.

Yet his tone was so chilling that it could send shivers down one's spine.

Tony turned his head in astonishment. Before he even got a good look at Lyon, he suddenly felt as if a mountain was pressing down on him, causing him to stumble back several steps.

"You... you mean right now?" Tony looked at Lyon, feeling a slight tremor in his heart.

"Heh, the Ten Rings dare to issue a death notice for a month later? I'll make sure they don't see the sunrise tomorrow!"

Lyon hovered there.

The oppressive aura Lyon exuded felt like a mountain hanging in the air, or a river flowing backward.

It was as if the entire world might shatter like a mirror crashing to the ground in the next instant.

Tony had never seen Lyon so furious before.

Gulp!

His throat tightened, and for some reason, he felt a sense of panic.

"Lyon! Calm down! You need to calm down!" Tony hurriedly said.

"They came for me, so I should be the one to deal with them!"

"Don't act impulsively, let's talk about this first!"

He jumped up, trying to pull Lyon down, but Lyon remained completely unmoved, while Tony himself ended up hanging onto Lyon.

"Uh..." He clung to Lyon's calf, giving an awkward smile, "Listen, Lyon, we shouldn't rush into things."

"Look, the challenge was issued to me, to Iron Man. I need to respond to this challenge!"

"Otherwise, what was the point of that press conference I held earlier? Was it just to show off?"

"…"

Lyon looked speechlessly at Tony, who was hanging onto his calf.

The fire of anger in his heart was somewhat extinguished by this goofball.

"Isn't it?" Lyon slowly landed on the ground, allowing Tony to stand firmly again.

"You see, you always misunderstand me so deeply." As soon as Tony's feet were firmly on the ground, he immediately stepped forward and grabbed Lyon by the shoulders.

"I am Iron Man; this is my responsibility. You know what I've been wanting to do from the beginning, right? This is an opportunity!"

He continued sincerely, "The Ten Rings gang—it sounds just as bad as the Ten Rings group."

"They provoked me, and I just happened to be looking for them!"

"These dancers hiding in the shadows, none of them are good people, so let me investigate and then deal with them, okay?"

"Are you serious?" The red glow in Lyon's eyes gradually faded, returning to their usual color.

He looked at Tony with a strange expression, "Do you really want to have a fight with that Wenwu?"

"Don't look at me like that; you handled the Red Room, so why can't I handle the Ten Rings?"

"Do I look like I'm joking?" Tony spread his arms with a smile, though he felt a sigh of relief inside.

For some reason, seeing Lyon in a rage made him feel uneasy.

It reminded him of seventeen years ago, when he was holding Lyon and crying in front of their parents' gravestones.

That day, the rain poured down like silver waterfalls, and he couldn't tell if the wetness on his face was rain or tears.

He couldn't tell if he felt anger, sadness, or confusion in his heart.

His vision blurred from crying.

Suddenly, baby Lyon, who was in his arms, babbled and reached out to wipe the moisture from Tony's face.

Even as a baby, Lyon's big eyes seemed to hold concern, and his tiny hands gently patted Tony's cheeks over and over.

At that moment, Tony knew that this child was the only family he had left in the world.

He vowed that he would never let anything happen to Lyon. This little one must have a smile on his face every day, must be lively and full of energy every day.

Over the past seventeen years, he has perfectly upheld this vow.

But now, Lyon has grown up, even becoming as strong as the Superman, and has started protecting him in return.

This made Tony feel very uneasy and forced him to admit that he could no longer protect Lyon.

However, seeing Lyon's furious appearance still made his heart tighten with anxiety.

It was also a faint sense of guilt.

He blamed himself for being too weak, for no longer being able to protect his brother.