MUP: Chapter 106. Stone Mask

Controlling the Stand to pull back its arm...

Bruno pulled Tony straight out of the air.

Thud --

Tony landed heavily in front of Bruno with a heavy thud, but fortunately, he was protected by his armour and did not suffer any serious injuries.

However, before he could stand up again, he heard a light shout.

"Sticky Fingers!"

In the next second, Tony felt like an invisible fist had hit him.

"Jarvis."

"I'm sorry, Sir. I haven't been able to find the source or the mechanism of the attack."

As Tony heard the words, in the next moment, Tony felt his back being pulled, followed by his whole body being dragged out of his armour as if he was undressed.

[Reputation points from Tony Stark +410]

Turning his gaze from the fading zipper on the back of his armour to Bruno, Tony tugged at the corners of his mouth to put on a forced smile to hide his inner panic, "I suddenly thought I should thank you in person. Then again, how in the world did you place zippers on anything?"

Although ordinary people couldn't see the Stand, they could see the effect.

"This is the ability of a Stand." Bruno conveniently threw out the Stand as one of his setups in passing.

"A Stand?"

Silently nothing down the term, Tony collected his smile, "Okay. You said you were following clues for an item, right? What does it have to do with me?"

"Phantom Thief Kid," Bruno spoke up, mentioning a name he was quite familiar with.

"Phantom Thief Kid?!"

When Tony heard the name, his expression drifted off for a moment. After spending 3 months in Afghanistan, and everything that happened recently, he almost forgot that there had ever been such a presence that annoyed him in New York.

"I was tracking down his whereabouts, and I found out he had contacted you before. So, Tony Stark, did he give you anything? Or something strange?"

Shaking his head, Tony replied back, "Sorry, although I don't like that guy and wish I could help you, I haven't been able to find any traces of him since the encounter a few months ago ..."

"..."

In response to Tony's reply, Bruno didn't respond but started to stare at him in silence with an expressionless face.

"Gulp..."

Under the invisible pressure, Tony couldn't help but gulp.

"You know, I can tell if someone is lying to me. You should be glad you didn't even think of lying to me."

Bruno's words were grandiose, but the key fact was that Ryan knew that there was no possibility of tracking the Phantom Thief down. Since it didn't exist, Tony wouldn't even need to lie.

Releasing his grip on Tony, Bruno replied, "Hmm, I believe you. That's all I need. Well then, excuse me, Tony Stark."

"Wait a minute!"

Looking at Bruno's back as he was leaving, Tony subconsciously spoke up and shouted, "Can you tell me what that Phantom Thief stole?"

Stopping in his tracks, Bruno struck a sideways pose, "Stone Mask, an evil and dangerous object."

"Stone Mask?"

Hearing that, Tony looked down and muttered the words. When he looked back, he found that Bruno's figure had disappeared.

"Tony!"

Just then, from a distance, Pepper's voice brought him back to his senses.

　　...

"The truth is ... I am Iron Man."

In the antique shop, Ryan raised an eyebrow as he looked at Tony's image at the press conference and the large headline placed by the media below it.

Tony's acknowledgement of his identity as Iron Man in front of the media and on live TV also signified that certain big events were starting to kick off. As he thought about it, he turned his gaze over to the system's data panel.

[Reputation points]: 18765

Bruno gained a lot of reputation points during this trip, but obviously, no one could have too much of these points.

He had intended to continue to save up some more points, but the situation at hand didn't seem to suit that idea.

If Tony's announcement of his identity as Iron Man was regarded as a beginning, then there would be more and more extraordinary events that would happen in New York. At the same time, it also meant that Ryan needed to prepare even more. In short, he needed open a treasure chest to increase his combat power.

　　...

"Jarvis?"

After the controversial press conference, Tony returned to his cliffside villa, but the intelligent butler didn't light up the room as he normally did.

"Welcome home, Sir~~" Jarvis's voice wavered as if he was tampered with.

In the dim light, Tony saw a figure standing at his window.

"I am the Iron Man..." Sensing the movement behind him, Nick Fury spoke up with a low voice, "You think you're the only superhero in the world?"

"I never thought so ..."

Tony opened his mouth, interrupting Fury's words. Bruno's appearance made it clear to him that he wasn't a special being, and there were a lot of amazing figures out there in the world. That so-called Stand's ability to make a zipper appear on any object at will was a great threat to him.

After all, without the protection of their armour, he and Obadiah were essentially just ordinary people who couldn't even withstand punches from the other party.

Thinking of that, Tony's sense of vigilance grew a little more noticeable.

Perhaps, he should make some preparations to avoid meeting that guy Bruno again in the future and being defenceless like he was before.

"..."

The unexpected answer silenced Fury for a moment. Fortunately, the well-informed Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. wasn't flustered because of Tony's reaction, but he still maintained his mysterious tone, "It seems like you've noticed the bigger universe, Mr Stark. This world is dangerous and fragile and by no means as safe as we thought."

"Who the hell are you?"

This guy came out of nowhere and suddenly entered his home to deliver a long speech. Tony already felt his temper had changed for the better when he didn't just kick the other guy out.

"Nick Fury, Director of S.H.I.E.L.D." Turning around, Fury revealed his trademark eye patch and spoke to Tony, who looked impatient, "I'm here to talk to you about the Avengers Initiative."