Kapitel 43: Saving Stark

Well, in the middle of nowhere, with only grass as far as I could see, I came to a very important conclusion.

I was lost. Again. Its only been the... 15th time this month, and I got lost another 20 times the previous month, so all in all it wasn't too bad yet.

I had been running the entire day, not stopping at any point, yet the system only kept saying warmer and colder, teasing me.

Honestly, the system by now has become a good friend of mine.

It does bully me occasionally, and it does enjoy watching me do dumb shit when ordered to, but its been the only thing the past two months I've been talking to and it has helped me find the bases after it got satisfied with teasing me.

Well, enough about that, I need to prepare food.

Yet in the endless grass plain, there didn't seem to be any edible things.

I ever tried hunting for a few hours on end around the evening yet that also was completely fruitless.

Alas, giving up on eating dinner, I was about to go sleep when something interesting happened.

A convoy started approaching me.

Summoning my shotgun, I went into my combat stance, ready to start dodging whatever came my way. Yet the convoy had yet another surprise in store for me.

It wasn't a ten rings convoy, it was American.

Looking at the more than 20 vehicles, with a healthy mix of APCs, humvees and trucks, I paused momentarily.

Soon enough, they also spotted me, and I heard faint panicked shouting coming from the convoy.

Still assuming my combat stance, I kept looking at them convoy.

Sure enough, they did not dare do anything like openly attacking me for possessing guns I acquired from the enemies. Slowly, one by one, the convoy turned away from me, making a wide berth around our initial encounter.

And after they had all fucked off, their silhouettes not visible in the distance anymore, I continued on my way, trying to find the base where Stark was held.

Like that, I spent a total of a whole week outside, just running around the endless nothing. I did a few times come across villages and similar, but the villagers only shouted some things upon seeing me and then ran and hid into their homes.

Finally, on the 7th day, as I was eating yet another unsalted, uncooked goat leg, the system finally made a ding sound.

Jumping on my feet, I heard the systems voice resound in my ears.

"Alright, now you should go and save Stark, as for why I didn't help you find him earlier, that was because it would have been dangerous for Stark and the other guy if you had stormed their place too early."

Obviously, I didn't hear anything the system said, and seeing the large orange arrow in the distance I had long since started running at maximum speed. Each step I took at max speed sent stones flying, and like a raging bull, I only saw the color orange in the distance.

The few times where I ended up slipping and falling due to unstable terrain, or due to the sand giving away, I simply smashed my hand against the ground and performed a forwards roll, then continuing my run.

Hours passed, and after I had crossed probably more than 500 kilometers on foot, I wasn't tired at all. Instead, I was excited at seeing the structures in the distance. The backpack with countless guns was thrown in the side, and I started running the same way as previously, with my hand in the ground for easier steering.

Soon, the structures outlines became clearer, and I started looking for anything that could pose a threat to me.

Not seeing any tanks or the like in the distance, I summoned my dearest <Thunderclap>.

RUMBLE RUMBLE RUMBLE!

Sure enough, I saw suddenly countless people swarm out of the hangar like building. Yet after a few more minutes of running, I noticed something was wrong.

The arrow wasn't pointing to this place...

Straining my eyes, I realised another issue.

This... This was the previous American base I had come across...

Pausing my sprint, I carefully turned around, slowly walking back to the bag with guns. By now, there were probably a few sniper rifles and binoculars aiming in my direction, and without elaborating, I simply bowed in the direction of the base.

Just to make sure, I also did a peace sign, and then a thumbs up. They probably understood that, right?

Then, making a wide berth around them this time, I continued running towards the mountains in the distance, behind where the base had been.

After yet another 200 kilometers of running at full speed, having crossed three different mountains, I finally arrived in front of a cave entrance. The cave entrance was very hard to find, located near the lowest area of a cliff, between two valleys, making this a great spot due to the surrounding vegetation.

And unlike before, there were multiple guards in front of it. Ten rings guards, as I had guessed, due to their outfits matching the usual ten rings members.

Once again, I aimed <Thunderclap> at the skies, and let the death knell resound throughout the valley.

RUMBLE RUMBLE RUMBLE!

And as soon as they heard the thunder, the two guards started shaking in utter fright.

"HOW DELIGHTFUL!" Not wasting any time, I charged at the entrance of the base, after having thrown the bag with guns once more to the side.

As I approached closer to the base, the two guards saw me, and while screaming, they started showering me with bullets.

"That tickles." I said, as I walked closer and closer.

Soon enough, I stood in front of the left guard, that kept trying to shoot me with his empty ak.

And as the clicking noises resounded, I didn't even bother shooting him.

Raising <Thunderclap>, I swung it downwards, and with a cracking sound his head had burst open.

Then, turning to look at the other guard that tried to run away, I pointed in his general direction.

RUMBLE RUMBLE RUMBLE!

The entire upper body of the man had been blown off, everything above the solar plexus completely gone.

"God, I love this thing."

Knowing that the shotgun shell, that was already multiple times as powerful as it should be due to being shot from this monster, was restored from thin air.

"I love infinite ammo! HAHAHA HAHAHA!"

After saying that, with a smile on my face I walked into the base.

Yet as soon as I stepped into the cave, the left wall exploded, sending me flying. And as I was smashed into the other wall, another explosion rung out, this time from above.

Annoyed at the explosion, I started digging my way out of the rubble that had covered me. And after a little bit of struggling, I had managed to move a few tons of rock, before I burst out of the rocks that blocked the entrance, to the dismay of the few soldiers in front of me.

One of them started shooting, while another two started running.

And the last guy collapsed on the ground and started praying to Buddha.

RUMBLE RUMBLE RUMBLE!

With one shot, both of the stragglers that tried running deeper into the cave, had a half of their body removed. Collapsing to the ground, they were both deader than dead.

The guy who was shooting me by now stopped shooting, the thunder had frightened him, freezing him up. Slowly, I walked closer, and as soon as he turned tail to run, I jumped towards him.

With a punch flying towards his head, and then easily connecting, his head had turned into meat paste.

Then, i turned to look towards the guy who was praying on the ground. As I kept walking closer and closer, his prayers started getting faster and he started shaking all over.

Slowly, my shotgun was out near his mouth, and as he kept praying I slowly shoved it into his mouth. The hot gun metal started scorching his mouth, and while he was rolling on the ground, screaming in utter pain, I stomped on his head with some strength.

The skull easily collapsed, sending bits of flesh and brain matter flying, as if I had jumped into a puddle.

Making my way further down the tunnel, I got ambushed a few more times by groups of stragglers that kept trying to kill me, before turning them all into experience for myself.

As of now, I had killed more than 30 people, yet the tunnel system still kept going, deeper and deeper underground.

Soon enough, I found a room with weapons inside of it. Ammo, a hell of a lot of it, as far as the eye could see. The aks that were strewn about, and some more modern weapons, along with the grenades and similar, made it obvious this was an armory.

Inspecting the armory with a cursory glance, I sensed only one little lamb was hiding here from me, so I decided to ignore it.

Deeper into the facility, I came across a canteen of sorts. More than 20 ten rings members greeted me here, the bullets all bouncing off my body, all of them bent or cracked as if they had hit a diamond wall.

Slowing down the world using <Focus>, thunder rung out throughout the room, head after head being exploded by my shotgun. And as for those who ended up hiding behind tables and the like, it did not matter, one shot was more than enough to turn them into mincemeat.

Looking at the massacre I caused, with blood and guts being strewn around, and the walls being painted red, I was satisfied, and continued onwards.

A few hundred meters later, I had cleared out two more rooms, before I felt a slight sense of danger. My sixth sense had long since become a fully functional alarm, making sure that I would not walk into anything dangerous anymore, courtesy of countless ambushed I had lived through.

Yet judging by how faint it was, I guessed it would at most be a light injury, so I kept walking deeper and deeper.

BANG!

Finally, after I entered another room, a rifle shot from an unknown caliber, had blown a hole into my right chest.

Well, calling it a hole was too much, as the little hole was no more than 2 cms in width, and didn't go much deeper than the skin layer.

Then, slowing down the world, I saw a guy camping in the corner of the room with a sniper esque rifle aiming at me. He didn't get to fire another shot though, as he was, together with his rifle and position, scrapped by <Thunderclap>.

RUMBLE RUMBLE RUMBLE!

Leaning my shotgun over my shoulder again, the wound on my chest had already stopped bleeding completely.

After another 10 minutes of wandering around, I came across a fortified position in the cave.

A machine gun, a M249, was pointed at me. It was mounted on a pile of sand bags and there were multiple people next to it, all aiming their guns towards me, the nervousness apparent in their eyes.

"Get out of our fucking base! My name is Raz-" the man behind the machine gun tried to threaten me.

Too bad, that only pissed me off more.

Straining my vocals cords a little bit, I leaned back my head, before unleashing an 'absolutely inhuman, demonic' roar, according to the systems description. The walls of the cave faintly trembled, and the ground under me also shook slightly.

The previous roar was only at half power, yet this one was at full power. I wonder what their expressions would be like.

Yet as soon as I looked back smugly where the Raz something guy had been, I was dumbfounded.

They had all run away. They had fucking run away.

"COME BACK HERE YOU LITTLE SHITS!" I said, as I broke into a sprint down the tunnel. Within seconds I had found the first victim, and not holding back at all, I swung my shotgun like a baseball bat, horizontally.

The walls were painted red, and with that, I continued without stopping, smashing in head after head.

Finally, after finding the last 2 people ahead of me, I was catching up faster and faster.

The Raz guy, upon hearing me running behind him, with the stomping sound getting closer and closer, almost fell down.

In the end though, it didn't matter, as I finally caught up to them, I grabbed both their necks from behind, throwing myself to the ground.

With both of them being slammed into the ground at full force, they stopped moving for good.

Jumping up, I dusted myself off, then proceeded deeper into the cave. Finally, I saw a door after another five minutes of walking.

Well, it wasn't a normal door, it was a jail cell.

Smiling as I thought I found it, I tried opening the door.

BOOOOM!

Yet the damn thing exploded, sending me smashing against the wall.

Annoyed, I looked back at the door, where I saw an old man with a pistol.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

Shot after shot resounded, yet by now pistols shots wouldn't even tickle the me with 11 strength, not to mention the current me with 21 strength!

"Hey!"

BANG!

"Can!"

BANG!

"You!"

BANG!

"Calm!"

BANG!

"Ptuy, Down!" I said, after spitting out a bullet.

Click Click Click.

"Oi, im here to help you two out!" I said, annoyed.

"What the fuck are you?" the old geezer said, all the while frightened.

"YER GRANDPA YOU OLD COOT! HOW CAN YOU JUST SHOOT SOMEONE WHILE THEY'RE TRYNA TALK TO YA!? I came here to help save the two of ya." still lying down, as I couldn't be bothered to get up, I continued.

"What? How did you know were here?" he asked, as he kept a healthy distance from me.

"Simple, I found you after searching for week throughout the bumfuck middle of nowhere, eating unsalted goats and other wildlife."

"No but, what i meant is, Stark said only one person should've known he was held here, as the video for a ransom was sent to his colleague. How the hell would someone unrelated know about his kidnapping?" he continued, suspicious of me.

"What? No, the video is everywhere, there even are occasionally posts on social media before they get taken dowm. Apparently the entirety of America and the world knows he's kidnapped."

"What? Did Stane leak it?" he asked.

"Don't look at me, I'm as clueless as you-wait, Stane?" suddenly remembering the name and finding it familiar, I tried to remember.

"Yeah, Stane is the friend of Starks father, and was the CEO for a bit before Tony took over."

"HE'S THE ONE WHO ORGANISED THE KIDNAPPING!" Suddenly remembering that, I shouted it out without thinking.

"What?! What proof do you have to accuse someone of that? That's not something to be said lightly."

"NO no, he wants to become CEO again, this was supposed to be an assassination, not a kidnapping. As for why he wasn't killed but instead they demanded a ransom, why would you not demand a ransom for someone who is should've been killed in the first place!"

" Hah? What are you talking abo-"

Jumping up and interrupting him, I continued.

"I'll find proof, give me 10 minutes please, I'll be back the moment I find someone who can confirm it!" saying so, I bolted away at maximum speed.

I was excited as all hell.

After all, if I could give the rich guy proof he was betrayed, there was a good chance for extra profits to be had.

"What do you think, Tony." the old man said a few minutes later, not turning around, as the faint sound of footsteps approached.

"It's not possible for Stane to betray me, he would never be jealous of me. If any-" Stark, wearing a half completed iron man armor, with most of his back still exposed, tried to say, yet he was interrupted.

"AAAAAAARGH!" As a scream resounded, a man was dragged by the.... Other human here. The other human also had a laptop in hand, then, upon seeing Stark, he put on the most polite and sincere smile he could.

"Mister Stark, I take it the armor is finished?" I said, and while the man kept his hand pointed at me, I brought the guy, thaat I dragged all the way here, to the front.

"How do you know about the armor?!"

"This here, is evidence number one. " I said, while holding the man by the neck. Then, throwing him on the ground, I asked a question. "Who are you? Introduce yourself to your audience!"

Yet he didn't get to introduce himself, as Stark shouted out suddenly? "Abu Barkaar?!"

... And from the way he shouted, he was not pleased at all upon seeing him.

"Oh well, since you know who he is, then do tell Stark who ordered what." I said, still smiling.

"It was Stane! It was Obadiah Stane! We didn't know the convoy we ambushed back then was carrying Stark, he simply asked us to ambush it as he said it would have a very important target! Yet when we ambushed it and found Stark, Raza felt we were completely underpaid and wanted to blackmail him for more. What Raza didn't expect though was that the video was leaked and that the entire world saw us demanding a ransom for Stark, that was only meant to be seen by Stane! He also supplied us with countless weapons from Stark industries, you can find all of them in the warehouse down the tunnel. Please let me go, ple-"

"Shut up! ", I said, silencing the man instantly.

"Now then. That was the first piece of evidence, which you may think I have threatened to kill him for. The second one is completely irrefutable, as the laptop contains evidence of Stanes involvement. Pick it up at your leisure mister Stark, and I'll go rest in the corner. "

Like that, I parked my ass in the previous cornner, this time a bit more comfortably, while Stark asked the guy I brought to give the laptop to the old geezer that shot me like 10 times.

After the guy gave the geezer the laptop, he sat down, while the oldie went through the laptop. Over time, as the minutes passed, and his expression kept changing, he finally sighed.

"Tony... He's right, Stane is responsible for your kidnapping."

"What?! Are you sure Yinsen?!" Stark was shocked as hell.

"Told ya! Next time at least hear out someone you old coot before you shoot! Oh hey that rhymed."

Ignoring me, the old man continued,"There's also evidence of him selling them weapons and helping them smuggle people. And it's not a little bit of evidence Tony, Stane... Is definetely guilty."

Under the iron man helmet, Stark was probably shocked speechless at his friend's betrayal.

Giving him some time to collect himself, he turned to look at me after several minutes had passed.

"How did you get in here?"

Smiling, I replied. "Through the front door."

"The... Front door?" the geezer said.

"Ask the guy in front of you what reputation I have by now, hah!"

And as soon as they turned to look at him, he started talking.

"The Ghoul, the man eater, and many other names are used for him. He has raided more than 16 of our bases, and utterly destroyed them, having killed hundreds-"

Interrupting him, I said "Thousands!"

"Right, right. I apologise." he said, afraid that I would rip him apart. "Thousands of our members. He also has raided another 4 insurgent bases and completely wiped them out. All of the bases had at most a handful of survivors, while they had at the very least 50 people in them at the start. He has also destroyed multiple tanks, armored vehicles, has charged through mine fields and endured god knows how much machine gun fire. He's considered the devil himself."

"Ah, didn't think I was that popular, thank you thank you!" I said, smiling.

"Now then, are you going home mister Stark?" I asked the rich guy.

"... Obviously." he said, slowly lowering his arm.

"Great! Please give me a lift home!"

"Huh?"

"Yeah, I have a ton of weapons I took as trophies, and there's no way they would allow me to get into a normal airplane with those things! Even if I took out more bad guys than the entirety of the military here..." saddened at the thought of losing my trophies, I replied.

"Under one condition." Tony said.

"Yes, boss?" perking up my ears, I looked at him.

"Take a damn shower. You smell so terrible you can probably be used as a biological weapon...Hell, If I returned back to America with you in tow looking like that they would think I found aliens."

"...Oh, okay. Also if you do head out I think there's like one or two stragglers in the rooms so be careful not to get shot!"

Standing up, I looked at Abu something.

"Abu guy, wheres the showers?"

"... First room down the corridor, right next to the warehouse and living quarters."

15 minutes later, I came out of the showers, feeling refreshed.

Looking at my body that was covered in scars, I soon put on my clothes after admiring my body that had become far more muscular than before.

Putting on a pair of pants I found lying around, that was a bit too short for me, I ripped off everything under the knees.

"Way better.", I said to myself.

At the cave entrance, I found Abu dead, shot in the head, with another dead guy that had a hole molten into his chest.

Looking at me, that now probably looked like a human being and not some hellish abomination, both of them were schocked speechless upon seeing the countless scars covering my body.

"Did you suffer all those while trying to save us?" the old gee- Yinsen asked.

"Yup, although most of it is my own carelessness. Anyways, let's get out of here and go home as quickly as possible. I dont know what you have to do old geezer, but I know Tony has to kick out a disgusting rat that betrayed him and I have to take care of my two kids."

"You have children?!"

"Yup, they're adopted but I still treat them as if they were my own flesh and blood."

"Ah..." not knowing how to reply, they just nodded.

And like that, we set off.

A large metal man, an old man, and a human with a backpack filled with guns to the point he looked like a porcupine.

Eliza, Bruce, grandpa is coming home!