Hawking, the Mind Mentor (Second Update)

"I have no reason to lie to you, because these are all my personal experiences."

If you don't believe me, you can fly to Sokovia. Everyone there has had the same experience as me, and many of them hate Stark Industries and you because of it.

They believe you invented the weapons that killed their family members.

Hawking's words were like knives, stabbing Tony's heart again and again.

He knew Tony; besides spending his days in the lab doing research, he attended parties and dated all sorts of Hollywood actresses and models. He certainly wouldn't have any extra time to pay attention to these things.

Even if reporters remind Tony or news reports that Tony is an executioner, Tony won't take it to heart.

Because Tony was arrogant at this time, he thought those were just jealous remarks. Tony always believed that the weapons he developed were protecting the country and the people.

What he needs to do now is to expose this lie in advance and make Tony face reality.

This would both prevent the military from acquiring the Iron Man Armor and do Tony a favor, and later allow him to win Tony over to help improve the gravity device.

"Or, you could go to Afghanistan and some war-torn regions and take a look. Most of the better weapons there are made by Stark."

For some politicians, the number of deaths doesn't matter as long as they can gain benefits, which is why I said that at the White House today.

Seeing Tony fall silent because of his words, Hawking decided to add fuel to the fire.

He grabbed Tony's arm and then Apparition away.

When they reappeared, they were on a main street in Sokovia.

Where is this?

When Tony came to his senses, he looked around at the unfamiliar surroundings and was completely bewildered.

Hawking pointed to the wall on the street and said:

"This is Sokovia. Look over there."

"Tony Stark, the murderer! Tony Stark, die!"

Tony turned his head and saw that the wall was covered with profanities cursing him and his country, as well as pictures of him and himself in Iron Man Armor, except that they were marked with big red X's.

"How so!"

"If you walk around, you'll find that many walls nearby are like this."

Hawking patted Tony on the shoulder.

Just then, a passing man glanced at Tony and immediately stopped in his tracks.

"You are Tony Stark!"

"Me, me."

Tony looked at the man whose eyes had suddenly turned fierce and, for the first time, hesitated to admit his own name.

"It was you! It was your missile that killed my wife and children! I'm going to kill you!"

The man's angry roar instantly attracted the attention of other passersby, and when they saw Tony's appearance, they immediately surrounded him menacingly.

Seeing this, Hawking reached out and grabbed Tony, then used Apparition again to disappear from the spot.

This time, they arrived at a military base in Sokovia.

"As far as I know, after the war, a lot of the rebels' weapons were collected here."

With a wave of his hand, Hawking cast the Disillusionment Charm, making the two invisible, and walked towards the military base's weapons depot.

"The Alohomora."

The metal door deep inside the warehouse slowly opened, revealing a variety of advanced weapons and equipment.

Tony looked at the missiles and weapons bearing the Stark logo, his legs went weak, and he almost collapsed to the ground.

"It's all true. I... I didn't expect this."

"I'll take you somewhere else."

Hawking stepped forward and disappeared with Tony once again. This time, he was going to take Tony to see the terrorist base.

Half an hour later, inside the Malibu Stark family's ocean-view villa.

Tony Stark was no longer the high-spirited man he once was. Instead, he sat on the sofa, covering his head, lost in deep self-blame and guilt.

"Hawking, do you hate me? If it weren't for the weapons I created, you wouldn't have lost your family."

After a long while, he finally raised his head and looked at Hawking again.

No matter how arrogant or self-righteous he was, he eventually realized his mistake in the face of irrefutable facts.

Hawking raised a finger, and the red wine in the decanter automatically flew out and poured into Tony's glass.

"If I hated you, I wouldn't have taken you to see those things."

In reality, even without the weapons you manufactured, they would have weapons from other arms dealers, so the outcome would be no different.

I just want to tell you that you shouldn't completely trust either the government or the military.

Because you can't control them, they might use the weapons you create to protect their lives, or they might use them to kill.

This is the answer to the first question I asked you.

"Thank you, I understand."

Tony downed the glass of red wine in one gulp.

He is thirty-five years old this year, not a teenager or young man in his twenties, and he will not give up just because he made a mistake.

Since he made a mistake, he should try his best to correct it and make amends; that's what he should do.

However, he was still very grateful to Hawking, because if Hawking hadn't let him know the truth today, he would have made even more mistakes.

"Just a side note, Sokovia's weapons are provided by the military, but the terrorists' weapons are not."

So there are problems within your company too. Take some time to investigate.

He believed that Tony would never sell the Iron Man Armor to the military again at this point, but that would definitely provoke Obadiah Stane's dissatisfaction.

To prevent Tony from being killed by Obadiah Stane, he thought it would be better to remind Tony.

"I understand. I will thoroughly investigate the company's transaction records."

Tony froze, instantly realizing the problem.

Providing weapons to terrorists would not benefit the country in any way, so it couldn't have been done by the military. Therefore, it must be someone in the company who privately sold the weapons he invented for profit.

To achieve this, he only has one person in his heart.

"It's getting late, I'll head back now. Feel free to visit me sometime."

Seeing that things were almost done, Hawking prepared to go back.

He also needs to go to headquarters to talk to Bruce Banner.

Upon hearing this, Tony immediately stood up from the sofa:

"Hawking, thank you so much for what you've done today. I heard you're organizing the World's Greatest Ability User Tournament?"

Yes, that's true.

Hawking paused for a moment, wondering why Tony had suddenly brought up this topic.

Tony took a deep breath, as if he had made a very important decision:

"This is a conference that everyone in the world will be paying attention to. Can I attend?"

I will take this opportunity to apologize to those who have been hurt because of me, and to formally announce the closure of Stark Industries' weapons division.

Stark Industries will no longer sell any weapons.