Chapter 53: Borsalino Taking Advantage of the Situation

Tony’s Stark Industries was the United States military's premier arms supplier. Upon witnessing such an astonishing "laser" weapon, Tony's instinctive reaction was to analyze its performance.

"That's how it's done. Now, shall we leave, or should I casually wipe out the kidnappers for you?"

Borsalino suddenly thought of something: if Stark were rescued this easily, would he still change his mind and become the future Iron Man?

However, Borsalino immediately cast the thought aside.

Whether Tony could become Iron Man was none of his concern; he was not Howard Stark.

"Help me wipe out those bastards!"

Tony touched the device on his chest that was keeping him alive. Dr. Yinsen had used an electromagnet to keep the shrapnel inside him from piercing his heart; otherwise, he would be on his way to heaven to meet Howard right now!

Of course, this was just Tony's wishful thinking. Considering the reality of his career as an arms dealer, a one-way ticket to hell would likely be presented to him the moment he died.

"Fine then..."

Borsalino's palm lit up facing the ground once more.

Down in the underground base, the terrorists were still peeking over the edge of the massive skylight that had just been blown open, seemingly unable to comprehend what had happened.

Seeing this, Tony felt a rush of gratification.

As the mastermind behind the US military's largest weapons supplier, Tony Stark was certainly not a soft-hearted man.

Especially when faced with a bunch of terrorists who had almost killed him and dared to force him into manufacturing weapons for them.

If not for Yinsen... Yinsen?

"Wait! Stop! Yinsen! Yinsen is still down there!"

Tony was nearly frightened out of his wits and hurriedly shouted. That was his savior! If Yinsen died just because of a word from him, Tony reckoned he would regret it for the rest of his life.

"You're way too much trouble! Do you want them killed or not?"

Borsalino spoke with mock annoyance, though inwardly he was laughing his head off. Even Iron Man had such foolishly adorable moments.

"Help me rescue Yinsen too! I'd be dead without him!"

Tony still knew how to be grateful, and his time spent with Yinsen lately had deeply moved him.

"I only agreed to come and rescue you, I didn't agree to save a second one..."

Borsalino's Observation Haki quietly spread outward, swiftly locking onto Dr. Yinsen within the underground base.

At this moment, Dr. Yinsen had yet to realize what had transpired. Like the terrorists in the base, he stood dumbfounded, staring blankly at the giant skylight above.

Such a spectacle hardly seemed capable of being manufactured by human hands. Aside from the terrorists who had happened to stand within the radius of the skylight, the entire underground base had suffered zero casualties.

"I'll give you another hundred million dollars! That makes two hundred million including the one for saving me. You'll instantly become a sought-after billionaire!"

Tony offered without a moment's hesitation.

To anyone else—even Yinsen himself—he would never have deemed himself worth one hundred million dollars.

In a country like Afghanistan, the price of a human life was often less than one hundred dollars.

And in Africa, one hundred million dollars was enough to launch a hundred coups in more than half of the African nations.

Even for Stark Industries, one hundred million dollars in cash was not something that could be produced on a whim.

Especially given that Tony had been missing for so long and already owed Borsalino one hundred million dollars.

"Sounds rather nice, but I'm not interested in too much money. Let's forget about this extra hundred million. If I help you rescue Yinsen, how about you dress up in a bunny suit and dance a pole dance for me later?"

Recalling the incident where Tony had dragged him into the restroom out of nowhere, Borsalino quite bluntly offered a proposition that left Tony stunned.

"You... you... what are you trying to do?! Let's get one thing straight, I don't discriminate against that sort of thing, but I'd rather die than bend!"

Tony stammered. Though he was a notorious playboy, his tastes had always been exceptionally focused; he only liked beautiful women and had zero interest in any other messy nonsense.

"Bah, I suggest you take a piss and look at yourself in the mirror. If you won't dance, you can have Pepper Potts do it instead."

Borsalino retorted quite flatly.

If not for the fact that they were fellow chat group members, had someone in the One Piece world dared to question his sexual orientation, Borsalino would have thrown them into the Newhalf Kingdom for "education" within a minute.

"Bah! In your dreams! It's just a pole dance, right? I'll do it!"

Tony said with grief and indignation. For a fleeting second, he tried to wrestle with his conscience, but alas, his sense of shame still lost out to his conscience.

Dressing up as a bunny girl in a pole dance might mean never being able to show his face in public again, but... if he let Yinsen die just to avoid that, he might as well never show his face in public ever again!

"Very well, it's a deal then!"

Borsalino finished speaking, let go of his grip, and amid Tony's miserable screams, transformed into a beam of light that plunged straight into the underground base.

A moment later, he hoisted Yinsen up using the Moon Walk and conveniently caught the falling Tony.

"What are you panicking for? With me here, you definitely won't fall to your death."

Borsalino hovered mid-air, holding both of them. To the three-meter-tall Borsalino, carrying Tony and Yinsen simultaneously didn't look out of place at all; at a glance, it looked like an adult carrying two primary school students.

"Bastard! I'm not a superman like you! Any normal person would be scared, okay?!"

Tony angrily cursed.

Though they had only met a few minutes ago, the awkward barrier between strangers had already vanished completely between him and Borsalino.

"Tony? What is going on here? And who is this?"

Dr. Yinsen, hoisted into mid-air by Borsalino, was still shaken with fear. Tony had known from the very beginning that Borsalino was there to rescue him.

Though he still held some degree of caution, at least he had a mental heads-up and wasn't entirely lost.

Poor Dr. Yinsen, however, didn't even know whether Borsalino was friend or foe before being snatched into the sky, knowing full well that a single slip of the hand would cause him to plummet and shatter into pieces.

The fact that he could still remain calm enough to ask about Borsalino's identity under such circumstances proved that Dr. Yinsen possessed a remarkably strong psychological fortitude.

"Hello, Dr. Yinsen. I am Borsalino, invited by Mr. Tony Stark to come and rescue you."

Borsalino spoke with an utterly solemn expression.

At this moment, he looked precisely like a righteous companion of justice and a scourge of evil, exuding an aura of pure integrity.

No matter who came along, they would never have guessed that the person who had just asked Tony to dress as a bunny girl and pole dance was the very same Borsalino standing before them.

"That's enough now! Go wipe out those damn terrorists for me!"

Tony said through gritted teeth, unable to tell whether he harbored more hatred for the terrorists who had kidnapped him, or for the bastard who had taken advantage of his predicament to force him into a bunny suit pole dance!