Chapter 12: Bodyguard

On a day with clear skies and shining sun, the weather in New York was beautiful. However, one person's heart was filled with concern.

Standing outside the Stark Industries building, Kian's lonely figure stood out among the bustling white-collar workers going in and out of the building.

He was a big fan of Iron Man and greatly admired his father. But giving up the opportunity for a promotion and a good life to become a bodyguard seemed like a bad deal.

Unfortunately, he had no choice.

According to Colonel Phillips, the Germans had their eyes on Howard Stark and were planning to assassinate him. They hoped that by killing the engineer, who frequently referred to himself as the greatest in America, they could hinder America's military operations in Europe.

This was mainly because, in this world, over 60% of America's weapons and military equipment were manufactured by Stark Industries. Howard Stark had a hand in designing and manufacturing almost 40% of the remaining weapons.

To ensure the designer's safety, the committee decided to send Kian, known as the best soldier in the Strategic Science Corps, to protect Howard Stark.

This made Kian feel depressed. Being too good was a curse. It wasn't that he enjoyed going to the battlefield and risking his life to come back. He was confident he could rise to the top of the military.

No matter how you looked at it, being a bodyguard seemed like a step-down.

Just as he was taking a deep breath and about to enter the building to find his employer, a Ford sedan stopped on the street behind him. Immediately after, a middle-aged man with a refined appearance and calm temperament got out of the driver's seat and opened the door to the back seat.

"....How about going to the hotel I just mentioned? The pool is huge, and there's a hot spring!"

As the door opened, a man with a small mustache stepped out, hugging a hot and sexy woman with each arm. After getting out of the car, the man stood straight. The two women carefully smoothed out the wrinkles in his suit, loosened his tie, and wiped away the lipstick marks on the corner of his mouth.

"Damn, rich people!"

Kian couldn't help but curse, looking at this playboy with envy. Besides Howard Stark, who else in Stark Industries could show off like this?

"We'll see the ladies later."

After fixing his clothes, Howard took a kiss out of each of the two women's faces, then said to the driver who opened the door for him, "Jarvis, can you do me a favor and take the two ladies home?"

"But you just said..."

"There's been a change of plans," Howard replied, gesturing towards Kian. "We have a guest."

Jarvis followed Howard's gaze and saw Kian dressed in military uniform and carrying a briefcase. Suddenly, he saw something that made him freeze in panic. The soldier he thought was on their side had drawn a gun and pointed it at Howard!

Before Jarvis could protect Howard, Kian had already fired his gun. He frowned, stepped forward, grabbed Howard by the tie, and pulled him down to the ground.

His gun did not stop firing, emptying a magazine in a row. As the empty magazine dropped, he quickly replaced it with a new one. However, he did not shoot this time. He remained vigilant, scanning the chaotic street with his sharp eyes like a hawk, looking for any possible ambush spots.

After confirming there were no killers, Kian quickly helped Howard, who was still in shock, to get up, and they rushed into the Stark Building.

At that moment, Howard suddenly turned his head back towards the street. He saw several bodies in a mess across the road, blood staining the ground. Each person held a gun, and Howard even spotted a Thompson submachine gun.

What caught his attention the most was the fact that their guns were pointed at their own heads as if they had all committed suicide at the same time.

...…

It wasn't until Kian entered Howard's private office that he finally relaxed. In his eyes, although the office was a bit rough, at least the basic security was guaranteed.

The only dangerous floor-to-ceiling window could withstand at least three gunshots before it would break. Of course, it could also be blown open with explosives.

After confirming the safety, Kian re-secured his gun and placed it back into his holster.

"Please sit down. Thank you very much for saving my life!"

Howard, who had experienced assassination, had already adjusted after a while. He ordered his secretary to make two cups of coffee and invited Kian to sit down.

"Just doing my job!"

Kian replied expressionlessly, taking out a folded transfer order and his credentials from his pocket and handing them to Howard.

"You can check my identity anytime you want."

"No need to; Agent Carter and Colonel Phillips called me and said that you are the best soldier. After seeing you today, I can confirm that," Howard said

At that moment, the secretary brought in two cups of coffee.

Kian took the coffee handed to him by the secretary and smelled it before placing it on the table. "It seems like many people are targeting you, Mr. Stark!"

"This is inevitable. As the weapon developer in the country, it's hard to avoid these kinds of things!" Howard smiled with some self-satisfaction.

Just as he was about to sip the coffee, Kian suddenly reached out and slapped the cup out of Howard's hand while pointing his gun at the beautiful and frightened female secretary next to him.

"Who touched this cup of coffee just now? Speak up now!"

It was fortunate that Kian had a keen sense of smell and experience, or else he wouldn't have noticed.

Howard's female secretary knew nothing about the incident. She wasn't the culprit, and the person responsible for the poisoning was quickly captured - a janitor in charge of cleaning.

Although the crisis was temporarily resolved, Kian was still puzzled. The Germans seemed to be in a hurry to kill Howard Stark. He wanted to ask Howard what he had done to make the Germans want to kill him badly. Still, considering it might involve some secret, he refrained from asking.