บท 227: Chapter 225 Revealing Identity!
"You..."
Kyle was about to say something to the Card Bearers when suddenly, from outside the ballroom door, came the sound of hurried footsteps approaching, along with an anxious shout, "Mr. Carl, are you in there?"
Before Kyle could respond, Tony, dressed in a suit and drenched in sweat, rushed in. The Card Bearers in the hall immediately became alert, their cold gazes focusing on him like a pack of old wolves eyeing their prey.
Sensing the imminent danger of death, Tony quickly halted just inside the entrance of the ballroom. He gasped for breath and used his hand to steady himself against the doorframe. He looked in horror at the room full of people in black, and his clever mind raced to analyze how he could save himself from this situation.
However, there was no need for him to act.
"Everyone, stand down. He's one of us," Kyle spoke up in a tone that brooked no argument. The Card Bearers immediately stopped, their actions halted, and they stepped back, creating enough space and a clear path.
Kyle's usually handsome face softened slightly, and his sparkling eyes met Tony's.
"You... you are..." Tony's body trembled, suspicion already present in his mind, and with Kyle standing before him without any disguise, the image he saw began to overlap with the person he remembered from a childhood photograph.
"Tony. I'm sorry about your father," Kyle said softly, no longer hiding his true identity but instead baring his heart.
Tony clenched his fists and tears welled up in his eyes. Emotions and a thousand words were stuck in his throat, and he managed to say just one sentence with all his might:
"Godfather, you've finally come back."
Few knew just how simple that sentence was, yet it had taken two generations and over sixty years to utter.
"Yeah, I'm back," Kyle sighed, approaching Tony and lightly patting his shoulder.
Tony, like Howard, was a man of science and engineering. Despite his seemingly carefree and flirtatious demeanor, he was not very good at expressing his deep emotions.
But up close, staring at the young and familiar face in front of him, Tony couldn't hold back any longer. He grabbed Kyle's arm tightly, choked up, and tears streamed down his face.
The Stark family had a long-standing wish.
For this, Howard had ventured into outer space, and now his fate was uncertain. Tony had lost his father at the age of fifteen and had shouldered the burden of Stark Industries, enduring and persevering through it all.
Today, that long-standing wish was finally coming to fruition, and Tony couldn't contain his emotions.
"You've done enough, Tony. Now that I'm back, I'll be your support from now on," Kyle said to Tony with a calm and highly persuasive tone.
To outsiders, this scene and conversation seemed very strange.
After all, Kyle looked like a young man who had just graduated from college, while Tony was on the brink of middle age, sporting a mature beard. Two individuals with a more than ten-year age difference were conversing as if their roles were reversed.
However, to the Card Bearers present, this was entirely normal. Kyle was Tony's godfather, a fact that Howard had publicly acknowledged to the outside world over thirty years ago.
"I don't need your protection. I have enough strength to protect myself," Tony grumbled, turning his face away and quietly wiping away his tears.
Tony, who cared about his image, felt incredibly embarrassed about crying in front of so many people.
"Tony Stark's godfather... Could it be..."
Behind a table in the corner of the ballroom, Elle covered her mouth with her hands to stifle any sounds. Her heart was in turmoil as she watched the black-clad individuals in the room, the gathering of Card Bearers, and the interaction between Kyle and Tony.
As a member of the Carter family and a journalist for the New York Times, how could she not know who Tony Stark's godfather was?
Retired General Kyle, the greatest legendary hero of the 20th century, and someone who is still ranked as the world's strongest man, the symbol of America's power and conquest during his time, and now hailed as the Symbol of Peace throughout the world.
"From the looks of it, his hair color may have changed, but he hasn't aged a day. In fact, he looks even younger than what I saw in the old black and white photos."
Elle was taken aback and crouched down. Her plump buttocks accidentally bumped into a bottle behind her, producing a crisp sound.
In the next moment, tables and chairs separated to the sides as Natasha swiftly grabbed Elle's arm. With both hands, she lifted Elle, who was as light as a chicken, ready to slam her onto the ground.
"Don't hurt me, I know that old man," Elle cried out in alarm, suspended in mid-air with her hand nervously pointing toward Kyle.
Old Man?
Upon hearing this, Kyle's lips twitched slightly, but considering that she was a younger generation acquainted with him, he spoke up, "Natasha, let her go."
Natasha released her grip, and Elle dropped to the smooth floor, sitting down with a painful expression while clutching her bruised buttocks.
"It's so quiet outside; there must be someone we know coming," Kyle pondered. He surveyed the dozen or so black-clad Card Bearers in the ballroom and issued an order, "It's not a good idea to stay exposed like this. Leave for now and return to the family base."
The Card Bearers all nodded in agreement, wasting no time and swiftly departing through secure passages. With their skills, they could easily navigate through the armed blockade outside, where special forces and agents posed no threat.
Soon, the scene was left with only Kyle, Raina, Tony, Elle, and the unconscious leader of the terrorists.
Kyle instinctively looked at Elle, and she immediately joined her hands together in a pleading gesture, indicating that she didn't want to leave.
Tonight had accumulated enough news stories to fill an entire year, and the return of the Symbol of Peace would undoubtedly make the headlines in The New York Times. These were headlines that could shock the world, and Elle couldn't afford to miss them.
"Tony, I hope you don't mind if we use your venue for a bit," Kyle turned to Tony and said.
"Feel free to use it, Godfather. Isn't everything I have yours?" Tony replied somewhat helplessly. Howard had told him over twenty years ago before he left, that the entire Stark family fortune was under the control of one person.
Now Tony understood that this person was his godfather, Kyle, and that behind him was an even larger and more mysterious force.
Recalling the staggering 100 Billion Dollars in debt, Tony couldn't help but smile bitterly, realizing that he had been played all along.
"Raina, could you tidy things up a bit?" Kyle surveyed the surroundings.
The opulent ballroom was now in disarray, with tables and chairs overturned and scattered due to the earlier panic. Bottles, glasses, and bullets were strewn across the floor, and lifeless bodies lay scattered around. The leader of the terrorists who had fainted was sprawled in a corner.
"Sure thing, Boss," Raina said with a faint smile. Her voice was pleasant to the ear, and she concentrated her silver-eyed gaze. Her fair, delicate hands extended outward, and an invisible mental force emanated from her, causing all the objects to hover around her.
In the astonished eyes of Tony and Elle, the tables and chairs began to automatically right themselves, bullets and other debris flew into trash bins, and the bodies were neatly piled in a corner. The unconscious leader was automatically tied to a chair by a belt.
Finally, a few bottles of precious red wine and Lafite, along with clean glasses, flew out of the wine cabinet. They opened themselves, and over half of the wine was poured into the glasses.
All of these telekinetic phenomena were completed in just three seconds.
Even Kyle was slightly surprised by this scene, simultaneously dividing her mental focus, and expertly controlling over a hundred objects for classification. Raina's progress in her telekinetic control ability over the past sixty years had been truly remarkable, and in some respects, her abilities were no less impressive than those of a god!
(End of this chapter)
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