The security guards, unable to listen any further, prepared to rough up Chen Long to make him talk. Just as they were about to act, the captain stopped them.
The captain, remaining rational amidst his agitated subordinates, understood they were merely Stark Company security, not police. They had no right to inflict vigilante justice on civilians, and even the police wouldn't openly assault someone.
If the bomb wasn't actually planted by Chen Long, any lawsuit would result in their certain defeat. Therefore, it was best not to go too far before the facts were established.
Despite his words, the security captain was well-versed in interrogation tactics. He pulled Chen Long forward, his face grim. "Mr. Chen, I believe you're well aware that your current actions constitute a crime. Regardless of whether you planted the bomb, your presence near the bathroom explosion ties you to it. Even if you didn't plant it, your infiltration of Stark Tower disguised as a security guard could lead to a charge of corporate espionage, resulting in four to five years in prison. If you don't want to go to jail, just tell me honestly what you're here to do."
Chen Long pondered for a moment, considering whether to reveal his true intentions, when he saw a security guard approaching with his father's devil tracker.
It turned out that to prevent the tracker from being damaged by the explosion, Chen Long had used all his strength to throw it away at the moment of detonation, thus avoiding the blast.
However, the devil tracker his father had made was exceptionally distinctive. It stood out wherever it was placed, with its strong retro style that made the security guards immediately recognize it as something not produced by Stark Company.
The reason for this was its sheer ugliness. Even a low-level security guard felt the company wouldn't produce something so unsightly.
Upon seeing the devil tracker in the security guard's hand, Chen Long became agitated. Although it was only for a fleeting moment, the security captain beside him caught it precisely.
With a knowing smile, the captain waved his subordinate over, holding the tracker. He said to himself, "Ah, who would own such an ugly thing? I think we should smash it. Otherwise, keeping it just hurts my eyes."
With that, he raised his hand to smash the tracker on the ground. At the critical moment, Chen Long couldn't stay still and quickly cried out, "Don't, don't drop it."
Chen Long's plea was exactly what the security captain had hoped for.
"Tell me your purpose for being here, and I'll return it to you and guarantee your safe exit from the tower. How about that?"
Chen Long looked at the smiling security captain and the tracker in his hand, then sighed helplessly. "Alright. I actually came here to find a demon. There's a demon hidden in this building, and the tracker you're holding is used to track its movements."
After hearing Chen Long's words, the security captain wore an expression of "I knew it."
"Honestly," he thought, "this guy is just a deranged magic worshipper. Why am I wasting my time on this nonsense? This so-called tracker is probably just a fake, assembled from who knows what junk."
He glanced at Chen Long, a grown man acting so childishly.
Just as the security captain was about to lose his temper again.
Boom!
Boom!
Boom!
Three massive explosions rocked the building, causing it to shake violently. Fortunately, this was Stark Tower, strong and sturdy enough to prevent collapse.
This time, the explosions occurred in a lounge on the seventh floor, originating from a suitcase placed next to a sofa. Following that were explosions in the power distribution room on the fifth floor and a laboratory on the eighth floor.
The explosion in the power distribution room caused a complete power outage in all floors below the fifth.
The security captain could no longer sit still. He hurried his subordinates to search floor by floor.
It was ridiculous. More explosions so soon? If they let this continue, who knew how many more bombs the bomber would plant. Furthermore, who knew if there were only four bombs in the entire building? If there were others, and they didn't address them quickly, another few blasts might indeed bring the tower down.
The three explosions now effectively cleared Chen Long of any suspicion.
Chen Long had been knocked unconscious by the bomb in the bathroom and then tied to a chair. He had no time to set any other bombs, and in such an emergency, there was no extra time for interrogations.
"Hey, can anyone help me untie this?"
As the security personnel rushed past, Chen Long wriggled and shouted, but unfortunately, no one paid him any mind; everyone was busy.
The security captain, in particular, rushed towards the stairwell after the explosions, casually tossing aside the toy he called a devil tracker.
"Hey, don't throw it away!"
Chen Long shouted, but it was too late. He watched as the tracker hit the ground. Chen Long felt terrible, already imagining his father scolding him with the broken devil tracker.
The multiple explosions caused considerable commotion throughout the building. Combined with the security captain locking the main doors, employees on the affected floors were unable to leave from the ground floor. For their safety, they could only climb the stairs to higher floors.
As they reached the stairwell, they saw a crowd of employees surging upwards like a tide, almost filling the entire corridor. The security captain, with a few of his men, had to slowly move downwards against the flow of people.
However, they failed to notice that as they rushed downstairs to assess the situation, a man in a tracksuit and a black baseball cap was blending into the crowd, heading upwards.
Stark Tower had fifty floors. Floors forty and above were off-limits to employees. Floors forty to fifty were Tony's private domain. Employees typically stayed between floors twenty and thirty. Even if they went higher, they stopped at the thirty-ninth floor.
It wasn't that they didn't want to go higher; quite the contrary. The ten floors from forty upwards were built under Tony's supervision and, with significant investment, were even harder than the combined thirty-nine floors below.
But unfortunately, as a staunch defender of his personal space, Tony had installed a heavy alloy door that completely blocked anyone from ascending from the thirty-ninth to the fortieth floor.
Only Tony himself, Pepper, and a few trusted old friends like Happy could open this alloy door. For everyone else, it was impossible, as even Jarvis wouldn't grant access.