Military Movements (Part 1)

"I repeat, I am Doctor, not God." Strange said, standing in front of Obadiah's bedside. "He is the first patient I have ever seen to be readmitted less than a week after being discharged. At this rate, not even God can save him, let alone newly developed drugs."

Stark, standing on the other side of the hospital bed, sighed deeply. Schiller, standing beside him, asked, "I'm sure all his health indicators were perfectly fine before he was discharged, even far above normal. How did you manage to make him suffer a high blood pressure attack and be hospitalized again within a week?"

Stark said, feeling wronged, "I didn't do anything. It's just that after he was discharged from the hospital, he saw Stark Industries' recent financial statements and the contract with Stark-Osborn United Pharmaceuticals Group, and that's how it turned out..."

The incident began when Obadiah woke up after the last course of treatment. Just as Connors and Schiller had predicted, the brain-stimulating agent extracted from the Fear Gas, combined with the healing agent in the Lizard Serum, not only awakened Obadiah but also improved his physical condition.

After a short rest, Obadiah threw himself back into work. That's right, the first thing he did after waking up wasn't to have a heart-to-heart talk with Stark. Stark watched as Obadiah walked past him and sped off to his beloved company.

Clearly, in Obadiah's view, Stark Industries is more important than Stark.

Despite having mentally prepared Obadiah as much as possible before returning to the company, the situation there still left him feeling overwhelmed.

Stark Industries' original businesses were fine. Although Pepper went through a long adjustment period when he took over, and things were a bit chaotic at first, he did a good job of wrapping things up in the end. Although the profits were not as good as when Obadiah was there, they were still acceptable. Although Obadiah was a little heartbroken, he accepted the result.

What Obadiah truly overcame were his recent new businesses, namely Stark - Osborn Pharmaceuticals and the Immortality Factor Foundation.

It's no exaggeration to say that the entire Stark Industries was built by Obadiah. Without Obadiah, Howard's brilliant ideas would have remained just empty talk, never translating into real profits. Obadiah's business acumen is unparalleled.

Upon returning to the company, he heard about the Immortality Factor industry and was initially delighted by this brilliant idea. However, after seeing the contracts between Stark and the Osborn Group and the Immortality Factor Foundation, he suffered a stroke and was hospitalized again.

The phrase "heart bleeding" is no longer a good way to describe Obadiah's feelings. His current situation is that his heart is empty except for blood; he is on the verge of a stroke.

Stark felt he had negotiated very favorable terms, but to a business tycoon like Osborn, Stark was simply squandering his inheritance. Why was he even negotiating profit sharing with the Osborn Group? Shouldn't he be the one paying out of pocket? Giving up a full 3% of his share just for the order of company naming rights! What a spendthrift!

Obadiah was furious. "I'm so disappointed in him!" couldn't even begin to describe his feelings. He wanted nothing more than to dig Howard out of his coffin and show him just how wasteful his son really was.

Stark felt wronged, because objectively speaking, he had indeed done his best.

Stark sighed and said, "Pepper and I both thought we'd done a good job, but the result..."

"You may not be unintelligent, just not Greed enough," Schiller concluded.

Stark spread his hands and said, "It doesn't matter anymore. I can finally stop worrying about those annoying things and go back to my happy life."

Schiller shook his head and said, "I'm afraid you're getting ahead of yourself."

"Are you aware of the military's recent movements?"

"The military's movements, oh..." Stark said, "Let me guess, they definitely have a ton of questions for me, maybe they'll even want to hold some kind of hearing, and then have me hand over the technology to transform into Cosmic Demons and conjure countless mechanical armies out of thin air..."

"Nick wouldn't let them do that," Schiller told Stark directly. "He even prepared a speech denouncing the military."

Schiller was right; Nick was currently at odds with the military.

Stark's attitude is currently more inclined towards S.H.I.E.L.D.. They share common interests in the Immortality Factor and the Cosmic Demons, and they are cooperating very well. Neither side wants a spoiler to come in. Stark would never fully cooperate with the military, but even if Nick were to lose a little bit of his share, he would be heartbroken.

Human habits are hard to change. If Stark were still just a scientist who had mastered Jaeger technology, like in the movies, he would probably still be coerced and tempted by the military, just like in the movies.

But now, he has far exceeded that standard. The appearance of the Iron God has made the military and the Security Council consider living on a different planet. The Wandering Earth plan is already on their lips. If Stark, who had transformed into Demon God, hadn't disappeared into thin air, things would have been in chaos long ago.

Even though the Iron God who conjured the mechanical army disappeared, the military still had a lot of questions for Stark, but because Stark's power was too overwhelming, they dared not use any forceful means.

Since Stark has not yet publicly revealed that he is Iron Man, the military believes that he is unlikely to participate in a public hearing. Therefore, they have tried to invite Stark to a private meeting with the military.

However, the plan faced too much resistance. On the one hand, in order to prevent Stark from contacting the military and disrupting their cooperation, S.H.I.E.L.D.. would definitely interfere. On the other hand, after Obadiah returned, Stark Industries seemed to have a backbone. Obadiah was very resistant to cooperating with the military, and the military also found it difficult to bypass him to contact Stark.

Now, Stark isn't a hedgehog, but he's surrounded by a bunch of hedgehogs, leaving the military somewhat at a loss.

But it's impossible for them to just stand by and do nothing. They won't let such a powerful force slip out of their control. Even if they know that what's in front of them is a nuclear bomb, before it finally explodes, someone will always want to squeeze some profit out of it.

Ultimately, the military approached the World Security Council.

It has to be said that they found the right person. As Nick Fury's power grew stronger and stronger, and the superheroes around him became more and more powerful, Alexander Pierce couldn't sit still.

Originally, he and Nick shared common interests, such as the Immortality Factor industry. However, through a series of operations, Nick grew stronger and stronger, becoming less and less dependent on Pierce. Seeing that his chosen agent was gradually becoming out of control, Pierce also wanted to weaken Nick's power and regain control of him.

The shift in interests led to a change in stance, and soon Nick received a call from the World Security Council.

On an ordinary weekend morning in New York this fall, the Global Times published a bombshell story. "Tony Stark - The Secret Behind Iron Man's Metal Mask."

Stark put down his newspaper, placed his coffee on the table, and said in a light tone, "That's great, I don't have to announce it myself, they've said it for me."

Pepper, sitting opposite him, said helplessly, "This has a huge impact. Many people have been misled by the military, who believe that you have a responsibility to hand over this advanced technology to the military to maintain world peace."

"To hell with world peace!" Nick yelled into his office, phone in hand. "Don't try to fool me with your three-year-old nonsense!"

"When will you stop playing this game? Constantly testing, pushing your luck, pressuring with public opinion, and imposing economic sanctions—have your brains completely rusted?"

"Why don't you understand? This trick can no longer trap Stark. And if we anger him, the entire Earth will be in danger. In the end, S. H. I. E. L. D. will have to clean up the S.H.I.E.L.D.!"

After hanging up the phone, Nick sighed and said to Hill beside him, "What was the name of that black Symbiote's host again? Wasn't he a reporter for the Global Times? Contact him right away..."

At this moment, Eddie was arguing with Venom in front of the hot dog stand in Hell's Kitchen: "I warned you last time that the Mexico are really spicy, but you still insisted on buying the extra spicy hot dog. I almost died from the spiciness. This time, I definitely won't..."

"You're the most cowardly human I've ever met. A little bit of chili pepper and you're screaming."

"Extra spicy, Thank you." A hoarse, deep voice came from Eddie's throat, then he twitched and said, "No! Not extra spicy, just mild will do..."

"No! Extra spicy!"

"No..."

"Hey, wait a minute, there's a beautiful girl over there!"

"Don't try to interfere with me, this trick doesn't work anymore."

"Hello, my name is Hill. Are you Eddie Brock?"

Eddie turned around and saw Hill, dressed in a business suit, standing behind him.

"What is wrong with me?"

"Hello, I'm S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Hill from S. H. I. E. L. D. I need your cooperation on some tasks." Hill flashed her badge.

"Hello, Phantom Demon, it's been a long time. I was too busy on the battlefield last time. Do you have some free time lately?"

"Wait!" Eddie interrupted Venom, cutting him off before he could finish. He whispered, "Didn't you hear what she said? She's an S.H.I.E.L.D.. agent ..."

Meanwhile, Phantom Demon was also saying to Hill in his mind, "I told you before, Venom is really crazy, he actually wants his host to seduce you!"

"I don't think he wants his host to seduce me. Don't you think he wants to seduce you?"

"Don't joke around," the Phantom Demon said. "Symbiote don't have genders at all, because we don't need to reproduce like humans. My form is female only because the human hosts I've parasitized were female..."

At this point, a very subtle relationship developed between the two pairs of Symbiote and their hosts. Eddie thought Venom definitely wanted to seduce Phantom, while Phantom thought Eddie wanted to control his host to seduce Hill. However, Hill thought the same as Eddie, believing that Venom was definitely after Phantom...

This resulted in the two of them being face to face, yet not knowing what to say, and could only communicate with their Symbiote in their minds.

Gonzalez, the hot dog vendor, tapped his tray and asked, "Do you want more hot dogs?"

Eddie didn't know how to start, but before he could speak, Venom said first, "Two servings, one extra spicy and one mild, and two juices, one without ice, Thank you."

Once the hot dogs were ready, Eddie and Hill sat down at a table under a parasol next to the hot dog stand. Phantom said to Hill, "Are you really going to eat what Venom ordered? I'm really worried I'll get infected..."

Hill didn't touch the food in front of him, but said to Eddie, "You must have read that recent report in the Global Times, right?"

Eddie took a bite of his hot dog and said, "You mean that article that revealed Stark is Iron Man?"

What's your opinion on this?

"Although journalists sometimes need to repeat obvious facts, this report said something that anyone with a brain could guess, yet it received such a huge response, which made me think deeply about the meaning of my career."

"S.H.I.E.L.D.. suspects this is a tactic by the military to put pressure on Stark again."

"It seems I misunderstood my former colleagues. The stupid ones are not the journalists, but the military."

Hill asked the Phantom in his mind, "Is your kin, Venom, always so sharp-tongued?"

"How should I know? I'm not interested in understanding a madman."

"Here's the situation," Hill's Eddie explained. "We don't know exactly what the military did, but in any case, they persuaded the World Security Council, and the Security Council and the military sided with each other, claiming that Stark's technology could better maintain world peace."

"They wouldn't be trying to get Stark to hand over his technology, would they?"

"Perhaps not all, but at least some." Hill paused for a moment. "If we consider the power Stark displayed that day, the Security Council and the military's target is at least his latest generation of Jaegers, and they might even want the power that makes Stark a god."

"In order to achieve their goals, they will try every means to harass Stark. Even if Stark is not afraid of them in terms of force, they have many ways to cause trouble for Stark and Stark Industries in order to live in this society."

"S.H.I.E.L.D.. wants to prevent this from happening, but the problem is, we are an organization under the World Security Council."

Hill gestured and said, "Obviously, we're in an awkward situation right now. The World Security Council wants us to stay out of it, and Director Nick is under a lot of pressure, so we can't openly help Stark."

"But we don't want them to succeed, so we're hoping you can do us a favor."

"I used to be a reporter for the Global Times, but that's all in the past." Eddie took a couple of sips of juice and said, "If you're looking for me because of my past profession, you're probably going to be disappointed. I have no credibility left in the industry."

Hill told Eddie, "The military won't stop there. Next, they'll probably use the same old tricks again, manipulating the major media outlets to target Stark, accusing him of having such advanced technology but being unwilling to contribute to human peace, and even bringing up old accusations of him selling arms."

"We hope to obtain evidence that the editor-in-chief of the Global Times accepted bribes and manipulated public opinion. You should know that editor-in-chief very well, right?"

"Furthermore, due to pressure from the Security Council, it is currently inconvenient for S.H.I.E.L.D.. and S.H.I.E.L.D. agent to come forward. Therefore, we hope to hire you to help us fend off the military's offensive and stop them from smearing Stark."

"I heard from Phantom Demon that you have a grudge against Riot. S.H.I.E.L.D.. is currently using Riot for experiments. We can give him to you, along with some of the residual energy in him. How about that?"

"...make a deal."