Outside the press conference hall at the Stark Industries campus.
Countless flashes made the area as bright as day.
Media reporters from all over New York, and indeed the world, gathered like sharks sensing blood, anxiously waiting for the return of the missing playboy.
A black armored sedan slowly pulled up to the curb.
The door opened, and Levi stepped out, still wearing his well-tailored casual suit with a nonchalant smile on his face.
Ada Wong, dressed in professional office attire, followed closely behind.
And behind them was Natasha, who had followed along on the pretext of “wanting to see her idol.” “Now this is a spectacle,” Levi remarked, looking at the crowded throngs of people.
“That arms dealer who only knows how to build bombs is still as popular as ever.” “Mr.
Landlord, if Stark’s fans heard you say that, you’d probably get lynched,” Natasha joked, her eyes quickly scanning the security layout.
It was lax.
Aside from a few private bodyguards led by Happy Hogan, there was virtually no decent defense.
SHIELD had agents in the shadows, but they clearly hadn’t expected Tony to pull a surprise move and head straight from the airport to hold a press conference.
“Let’s go.
We’re heading to the front.” Completely lacking the self-awareness of an “unrelated party,” Levi began pushing through the crowd with the two women.
Strangely, the originally packed crowd instinctively stepped aside to make a path as Levi approached.
It was as if an invisible field was at work.
Soon, they reached the position closest to the podium.
Just then, a commotion erupted.
Obadiah Stane, the bald, bearded veteran of Stark Industries, walked in with a beaming smile, accompanying Tony Stark.
At this moment, Tony looked like a mess.
His left arm was in a cast, and he held a half-eaten cheeseburger.
His eyes held the dazed look of a survivor mixed with a near-manic determination.
“Everyone sit down, sit down!” Tony sat directly on the steps in front of the podium, indifferent to his image.
He spoke through mouthfuls of his burger.
The reporters looked at each other and followed suit, sitting on the floor.
“I never got to say goodbye to my father,” Tony said, his voice low as he swallowed.
“But I saw young men being killed by the weapons I created.
I saw the tools I thought were meant to protect the world turned into instruments of slaughter.” “I realized that I have more to contribute to this world than things that blow up.” The scene fell silent.
Standing behind him, Obadiah’s grandfatherly smile gradually stiffened, and a flash of malice crossed his eyes.
“Therefore, I am announcing…” Tony stood up, his gaze becoming incredibly sharp, like a blade drawn from its sheath.
“Effective immediately, I am shutting down the weapons manufacturing division of Stark Industries!” *BOOM!* The statement was like a heavy bomb, instantly detonating the room.
The reporters went wild.
Flashes strobed frantically, and some even dropped their microphones in the chaos.
Stark Industries not making weapons?
That was as absurd as KFC announcing they would stop selling fried chicken!
“Tony!
What are you saying?” Obadiah rushed forward, trying to grab the microphone, a smile more pained than a sob plastered on his face as he addressed the cameras.
“He’s exhausted!
Please understand, everyone—he just escaped from a cave.
He’s mentally unstable!” However, Tony ignored Obadiah’s attempts to stop him.
He pushed the microphone aside and, escorted by bodyguards, walked quickly toward the exit.
He just wanted to leave this suffocating place.
Just as Tony was about to walk out the door, while Obadiah was still dealing with the reporters behind him, a young man in a casual suit appeared in his path.
Happy Hogan immediately stepped forward, reaching out to push the man aside.
“Sir, please move.
Mr.
Stark is not taking interviews.” But before his hand could touch the man’s sleeve, his wrist was seized by a slender yet powerful hand that felt like an iron vice.
Ada Wong restrained the burly head of security with one hand, a professional smile on her face.
“Mr.
Hogan, rudeness is not a gentlemanly trait.” “Who are you?” Tony stopped and took off his sunglasses, looking at the young Asian man before him.
In this chaotic moment, the man’s composed demeanor actually gave him a slight sense of pressure.
“Levi.” Levi reached out, but not to shake hands.
Instead, he held a pure black business card between two fingers and offered it to Tony.
“Mr.
Stark, your speech was brilliant.
A prodigal son returns.
However, shutting down the weapons division won’t solve that little problem in your chest.” Levi’s gaze drifted pointedly toward the location of the Arc Reactor in Tony’s chest.
Tony’s pupils constricted instantly.
This was his biggest secret!
Aside from Ho Yinsen, who had performed the surgery, no one knew there was an electromagnet in his chest to keep the shrapnel away!
“Are you with the terrorist organization?” Tony’s voice turned cold, his right hand subconsciously reaching for his waist.
“No, no, no.
Don’t lump us in with those low-level bandits.” Levi chuckled and leaned into Tony’s ear, speaking in a voice only the two of them could hear.
“I’m here to offer you a new possibility.” “That thing in your chest…
while it’s a clever little invention, it’s ultimately just a temporary life-support device.
And…” Levi paused, his eyes turning deep.
“Do you really think your kidnapping was just a whim of those bandits?
Or perhaps someone in New York placed an order?” That single sentence pierced right through Tony’s deepest suspicion.
It was something he had been unwilling to think about, something he had been deliberately avoiding.
Because the person who might have betrayed him was the elder he trusted most.
“Just what do you know?” Tony stared intently at Levi.
“I know all anomalies, and I control all anomalies.” Levi tucked the business card into the pocket of Tony’s shirt.
“When you find yourself betrayed by everyone, or when those tin toys you build can no longer protect you…” “Call this number.” “The Foundation handles any trouble you can’t solve.
Of course, our fees are quite high.” With that, Levi stepped back and Ada released her grip on Happy.
“Ada, let’s go.
The air here is too foul; it reeks of betrayal and lies.” Levi turned and walked away coolly, followed by Ada Wong and a shocked Natasha.
Tony Stark was left standing there alone, touching the business card in his pocket, his gaze gradually turning icy.
*** Back in the car.
Natasha finally couldn’t help herself.
She sat in the back, looking at Levi in the passenger seat.
“What did you say to Stark?
He looked like…
like he’d seen a ghost.” She had been a bit too far away, and with the noise of the crowd, she hadn’t heard Levi’s whisper.
She had only seen the drastic change in Tony’s expression.
“Nothing much.” Levi looked at Natasha through the rearview mirror, the corners of his mouth curling up.
“Just gave him some advice on survival.” “After all, our scope of business is quite broad.
We can contain monsters, and we can contain human hearts.” Natasha fell silent.
She suddenly felt that the most terrifying thing about this Foundation might not be their high-tech gadgets, but this seemingly omniscient control over information.
Even the private secrets of a high-profile figure like Tony Stark were transparent before this man.
*I need to raise the danger assessment level for Levi again,* Natasha noted mentally.
The car drove toward Hell’s Kitchen.
Just then, the system prompt sounded in Levi’s mind once more.
[Ding!
Contact with key plot character: Tony Stark.] [Triggered Mission: The Birth and Fall of Iron.] [Mission Objective: When Obadiah Stane pilots the ‘Iron Monger’ armor to cause havoc, assist or beat Iron Man to the punch in containing or destroying the Iron Monger.] [Mission Reward: Large-scale Arc Reactor blueprints and a lead on a Special Containment Object.] Levi looked at the mission panel, his smile deepening.
Iron Monger?
Wasn’t that just a glorified tin can?
Perfect.
The batch of Class C personnel HUNK was training, along with the Gauss rifles, were just waiting for a decent target to practice on.
“Obadiah, I hope your armor is sturdy enough.”