Chapter 68: I’m Allergic to Bald Men
"Oh! Tony! My God!"
"What happened to you?"
Ten minutes later, Pepper, drawn upstairs by the noise, saw Tony lying on the floor with a bruised and swollen face. She cried out in shock and hurried over.
"I’m fine. Just some superficial injuries. Help me get some medicine from next door, and bring over that little box glowing blue while you’re at it."
With Pepper’s support, Tony sat down on the sofa nearby.
"Okay. Don’t move around."
Pepper glanced at the room with a huge hole blasted through it, silently guessing what had just happened here.
"You people really don’t hold back. My handsome face is disfigured."
Tony touched the wound on his face and sucked in a sharp breath.
"Sir, they did not strike particularly hard."
"Based on the boy’s speed, without considering the limits of his own body, the force of one punch would be ten thousand times that of Tyson."
"Based on the unknown energy released by the girl, it would be enough to tear your body apart three million times."
"Furthermore, according to big data statistics, sir, your appearance does not meet the standard for the ’handsome’ category."
Jarvis’s merciless face-slapping voice rang through the room.
"Jarvis, have you defected?" Tony looked shocked.
Why? Why was his own artificial intelligence slapping him in the face? Could he not even show off properly anymore?
"Sir, I have not defected. It is just that Miss Skye wrote a new piece of code into me earlier, causing some confusion in my current state."
Jarvis’s voice became somewhat intermittent.
"All right, Miss Hacker, stop whatever you’re doing. I know you’re impressive now."
Tony held his head with a headache and said, "If you’re willing to work at Stark Industries, I can directly give you the position of head of the security department."
"Sorry. Not interested."
Skye glanced coldly at Tony and refused without hesitation. She had not forgotten the feeling of being paralyzed by the infrasonic waves earlier, when even her blood seemed to have stopped flowing.
"You’re trying to poach my people right in front of me. Did you not get beaten enough earlier? Is your skin itching again?"
Orion Cross cracked his knuckles and spoke.
"My bad. From now on, I’ll cover both their living expenses and school fees. How about that?"
Tony hurriedly apologized. Being beaten by Pietro and Wanda was because he owed them. But if Orion Cross beat him up now, putting aside the issue of face, his body probably would not be able to handle it.
"Do you think we’re short on money?" Orion Cross raised an eyebrow and asked.
"Then you have to at least let me do something." Tony sighed. If he did not pay something back, his conscience would not sit right with him.
"How about this? Since your weapons division is about to be shut down anyway, you’ll definitely have to lay people off. I happen to be short on manpower. Just transfer those people to me," Orion Cross said.
"You’re starting a company? What are you making? Weapons? Or..."
Tony looked at Pepper, who had returned, and took the Hextech energy core in the box from her hands. "Or this thing?"
"Prosthetics, limb-assistance devices, things like that... Do you still remember the Gray Lady?"
"Of course I remember... Good idea."
Tony, who was having medicine applied by Pepper, sucked in a breath from the pain and looked at Orion Cross. "I want to invest."
Tony understood that the prosthetics and limb-assistance devices Orion Cross mentioned were specialties from that otherworldly city where magic and technology coexisted. Those specialties were monopolized industries even in another world, let alone here. Monopoly was synonymous with massive profits. You could set whatever price you wanted. As long as there was demand, people had no choice but to accept your price. Even if there was no demand, demand could be created.
"All right, no more talking. I still need to take them to find the real culprit."
Orion Cross patted his pants and stood up, preparing to leave.
"Wait!"
Tony immediately realized that Orion Cross and the others were planning to go find Obadiah, so he stuffed a USB drive into Pepper’s hand. "Pepper, I need you to go with them and find the evidence of Obadiah’s crimes. It’s on his computer!"
"Obadiah? What did he do?"
Pepper still knew nothing up to this point. Hearing that Tony suddenly wanted to deal with this veteran of the company, she was instantly stunned.
"There’s a high chance he was the one who sold weapons to terrorists behind my back, and he was also the one who planned this kidnapping."
"If he hadn’t failed to tell those people that I was the one they were supposed to kidnap at first, and if the money hadn’t fallen through, I would already be dead in the Middle East."
Tony thought back to the short video he had been dragged into filming when he had just regained consciousness. That video had probably been sent to Obadiah to demand more money.
"What?! Then should we call the police? Or contact Rhodey? The FBI?"
When Pepper heard that the incident in the Middle East had actually been planned by Obadiah, her face immediately changed in shock.
"No need. Just go with them. I need to rest for a while."
Tony rolled over and lay directly on the sofa, turning his back to everyone as if he were going to sleep.
"All right then, Miss Pepper. Shall we go?"
Orion Cross shrugged and looked at Pepper.
"Okay. Please follow me to the garage downstairs."
Pepper glanced at Tony and nodded.
"Remember to take your thing with you."
Tony pointed at the Hextech energy core on the table.
"You really don’t have any desire to study this thing?"
Orion Cross found it rather surprising, but he did not say anything more and simply took back the Hextech core he had once lent Tony to keep him alive.
After everyone left, Tony slowly turned his head and looked around. "Jarvis, are they gone?"
"Miss Pepper and your guests have already left the villa grounds by car."
"Great. Begin assembly immediately!"
Tony looked toward the laboratory, his eyes lighting up as he gave the order.
"Assembly beginning. Estimated time: three hours."
"Hello?"
"Hello? Is this Mr. Orion Cross? This is Coulson. I heard you encountered some trouble. I’m bringing my agents over to assist you immediately."
Orion Cross put down the phone and looked at the call records on Pepper’s phone as she drove in front. As expected, she was still worried and had contacted Tony’s military friend, Colonel Rhodey. In the end, the news had spread all the way to S.H.I.E.L.D.’s ears.
"Hello? Mr. Orion Cross, are you still there?"
On the other end, Coulson heard no sound from Orion Cross’s side and immediately called out in confusion a few times.
"I think next time you negotiate with me, it would be better to send a female agent. I’m rather allergic to bald men."
Orion Cross picked up the phone and slowly spoke.
"I’m not bald. I’m just losing hair... No, I just have a relatively high hairline!"
Coulson’s gritted-teeth voice came from the other end, along with the stifled laughter of several agents beside him.
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