While Tony Stark was holding his press conference, Meng Ran and his friends were watching the live broadcast at their base.
After Tony said the words that caused a huge uproar, even Harry and the others were shocked by Tony's words.
Meng Ran, however, looked as usual, as these things were within his expectations.
He directly ordered Xiao Bai, "Mobilize all my available funds and buy into Stark Industries' stock when it drops to the lowest predicted point."
The others, who had been shocked by Tony, were immediately attracted by Meng Ran's words.
"Meng, won't you lose money doing that? Stark Industries' stock will definitely plummet with what Tony Stark is doing," Peter asked, and his question was exactly what everyone wanted to ask.
"It's because it will fall that I'm buying. When it drops to a low price, I'll buy in, and Stark Industries' stock price will definitely rise again later," Meng Ran said with a smile to Peter.
Peter and the others seemed to understand something. Harry already understood Meng Ran's meaning, and he explained it for Meng Ran, then everyone understood Meng Ran's meaning.
"Stark Industries definitely won't just fall apart. As long as Tony Stark is around, their company will always have a future."
"So these few days are the best time to invest. How about it? Interested in joining me?" Meng Ran said to them.
Peter and the others were somewhat tempted, especially Peter. To be honest, Peter's family situation was the worst among them.
Harry, of course, didn't need to be mentioned. He was a super-rich person. Mary Jane and Gwen's families were also relatively well-off. Only Peter's family was an ordinary one.
Therefore, Peter's need for money was the most urgent among them. He, of course, also wanted Uncle Ben and Aunt May to be able to reduce some burdens.
Finally, after careful consideration, Peter, Mary Jane, and Gwen all took out all their savings and gave them to Meng Ran for investment.
At the same time, Tony Stark was talking to Obadiah about the Arc Reactor.
Tony narrowed his eyes, looking at Obadiah in front of him: "You're quite the actor. Who told you?"
Through the previous conversation, he suddenly realized that Obadiah already knew about him miniaturizing the Arc Reactor.
"Never mind, let me see," Obadiah said, gesturing towards Tony's chest.
"Rhodey or Pepper?" Tony still asked.
"I want to see it," Obadiah continued.
"Alright, looks like it's Rhodey," Tony said, glancing around, then pulled open his shirt.
Obadiah also looked around nervously, and then his gaze fell on the blue-glowing Arc Reactor on Tony's chest.
Obadiah took a look, then quickly helped Tony zip up his shirt, and he smiled, saying, "OK."
Tony looked at him, asking, "How is it?"
Obadiah chuckled a few times, glancing around.
Tony said, "It's working. It can do it."
Obadiah smiled with some satisfaction, then put his arm around Tony's shoulder and said to him,
"Listen, Tony, we're in this together, understand?"
"As long as we work together, we can achieve anything, just like your father and I."
Tony also spoke, "I'm sorry I didn't tell you about this beforehand."
Obadiah said to Tony, "Leave this matter to me. This time, our trouble is different from before."
"Tony, promise me, keep a low profile. I'll handle this."
Obadiah walked out with Tony, his arm around him.
The mountain camp in Afghanistan had been blasted into a charred wasteland.
A group of men were meticulously searching the area. There weren't even many intact bodies to be seen on the blackened earth, as everything had been incinerated by the intense heat.
A bald man with tattoos was muttering a name as he searched.
"Tony Stark!" The bald man's eyes were filled with rage. He couldn't understand how that damned arms dealer had escaped.
He had taken a group of men to another location that day, planning to return at noon. But when he came back, he found his camp had been turned into a ruin.
There was only Tony Stark, and at most, another scientist. Those two had managed to wipe out his entire camp, leaving not a single survivor.
Had another army attacked? But an army wouldn't be able to find this place. The bald man was baffled.
He continued searching when he suddenly kicked something hard.
The bald man bent down, brushed away the charred soil, and picked up the hard object.
He held it up to his face. It looked like a steel mask.
At this moment, the other men under him also found some clues. They all found oddly shaped steel pieces in the soil.
The bald man put the mask he was holding onto his face. Suddenly, he seemed to understand how Tony Stark had escaped from here.
A few days later, one night, the bald man was sitting in his new camp tent, waiting for someone to come.
Several black cars suddenly drove into the camp. When the cars stopped, many black-suited bodyguards got out, along with a bald man with a big beard, Obadiah.
Obadiah led the bodyguards to go inside, but the soldiers with guns at the tent entrance stopped them.
Obadiah gestured to the bodyguards behind him, and they stopped, remaining outside the tent.
Obadiah entered the tent, where only the bald man was present.
The bald man looked at Obadiah and said coldly, "The losses I've suffered in the past few days are several times more than before."
Obadiah shrugged and said to the bald man, "If you had killed him earlier, you might have saved some face."
The bald man responded, "The money you gave me wasn't enough to cover the cost of killing him."
Obadiah didn't bother to argue and said directly, "Show me the weapon."
The bald man didn't say anything further, but walked to a nearby rack and pulled off the cloth covering it.
Underneath the cloth was a pieced-together, charred iron armor—Tony's Mark I.
"We only found this at the previous camp," the bald man said to Obadiah.
Obadiah looked at the iron armor and said, "Looks like he escaped using this."
The bald man continued, "This is just the original version. Tony Stark has improved the design. He created a masterpiece of weapons."
"If I had twenty of these iron armors, I could flatten Asia."
"And you could become the head of Stark Industries."
"He is our common enemy."
"If you continue doing business with us, the design drawings for this will be given to you as a gift."
The bald man said as he sat down at the table and poured himself a cup of tea.
Obadiah was carefully examining the armor from the side, and he found that the hole in the chest of the armor looked somewhat familiar.
The bald man poured a cup of tea and handed it to Obadiah, then continued to smile at him, saying, "In return, you only need to give me 20 of these Iron Soldiers."
Obadiah also accepted his tea with a smile, then patted his shoulder with one hand.
Suddenly, a buzzing sound rang out. A small instrument suddenly appeared in Obadiah's hand, which was resting on the bald man's shoulder. It was this instrument that emitted the sound.
The bald man was immediately frozen, his eyes bloodshot and unable to move.
"This is the only gift I'm giving you." Obadiah still smiled, looking at the bald man who couldn't move. He no longer paid attention to the man and walked straight out of the tent.
Outside the tent, the terrorists under the bald man had all been subdued by Obadiah's bodyguards.
"Pack up the rest and take it away."
"Now we can start clearing up."
Obadiah instructed his men as he walked towards his car. Moments later, a barrage of gunfire erupted behind him.
After getting into the car, Obadiah continued his phone call, saying, "Establish a Sector Sixteen underneath the Arc Reactor, do it secretly, and get the best engineers."
"Build me a prototype immediately."
In the days since Tony Stark's return, significant events were unfolding behind the scenes.
Tony had also noticed Obadiah's unusual behavior in recent days, and his initial trust was gradually turning into suspicion.
Meng Ran knew this was the beginning of everything. He had seen Tony flying in the air in his new suit several times at night.
However, he didn't take any action. At the same time, he was explaining the recent anomalies to the people of the Five-Star Alliance.
After rescuing Tony, Meng Ran turned back to blow up the cave camp.
This was partly to conceal his tracks and partly to destroy the Mark I, preventing the terrorists from finding it.
However, Meng Ran wasn't entirely sure. Without that armor, he wondered if the bald, bearded man could still create a suit of armor. After all, the Arc Reactor seemed to be the most crucial component.
Meng Ran didn't know that his high explosives hadn't destroyed the Mark I. Nor did he know that even if the Mark I was destroyed, Obadiah could have engineers build a new suit, as long as he had an Arc Reactor.
Meng Ran had been conflicted at first, but after a few days, he'd come to terms with it.
If the Iron Monger didn't appear, that would be ideal. If it did appear, Meng Ran would minimize the damage. Furthermore, the Iron Monger's existence would be a form of training for Tony Stark.
Meng Ran only needed to ensure that their fight didn't harm anyone else.
That night, while the members of the Five-Star Alliance were patrolling different sectors, Mary Jane suddenly sent a message to everyone.
"An explosion suddenly occurred at the Arc Reactor research facility of Stark Industries, and a huge steel monster appeared inside!"
-----------------------
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(End of Chapter)