"Is this Stark Industries? It really does look much more impressive than Hammer Industries..."
The next day, following his appointment, Chen Mu arrived at Stark's industrial park in the suburbs of New York. After submitting his appointment details, he entered the park as he had hoped. Looking at the beautifully landscaped surroundings, he could not help but praise it.
It was the same kind of industrial park, yet Stark Industries was far more upscale than Hammer Industries.
"Ha ha, exactly. How could a second-rate company like Hammer Industries possibly compare with us?"
As Chen Mu followed a "guide" through the park and toured its various facilities, a hearty laugh rang out behind him.
"Mr. Stan, it is an honor to meet you."
Chen Mu turned and saw a striking bald head, followed by an exceptionally thick beard.
It was none other than Obadiah Stane, the current head of Stark Industries.
This man was also the villain in the plot of Iron Man 1. He was Tony's uncle and had looked after Tony ever since Howard's death.
Of course, he was no good man. For profit, he secretly supplied weapons to terrorist organizations. Even Tony's kidnapping this time had been orchestrated by him behind the scenes.
"Ha ha, I read the newspaper coverage about you. What you said yesterday was quite interesting." Obadiah laughed heartily and patted Chen Mu on the shoulder, looking thoroughly appreciative. "Young people really are different. You are truly promising at such a young age!"
"No, you flatter me. It was only because Justin Hammer's remarks were rather inappropriate."
"Exactly. As a public figure, he was stupid enough to attack a sovereign nation in public. Hammer Industries is only capable of that much."
Obadiah agreed with this assessment.
"Justin Hammer has simply disgraced America."
That was indeed true. Super Heroes had not yet appeared, and the various "crises" facing Earth had not yet emerged. Thus, the world's balance of power was still more or less the same as in Chen Mu's previous life.
China was also unquestionably a major power in this world. Its development over the years had earned it a place on the international stage.
Moreover, China's economic, military, technological, and other strengths had long since become impossible to underestimate.
Only an idiot like Justin Hammer would publicly make remarks targeting China.
In Obadiah's eyes, that was simply courting death and making a fool of himself.
Yesterday's events had already spread everywhere after being reported by those journalists who loved stirring up trouble.
Through the rapid spread of the internet, the matter had even reached China, where it was met with widespread applause.
Chen Mu had not feared power. Even while in America, when faced with someone insulting his homeland, he had stepped forward without hesitation. He was beginning to show the makings of a "hero."
Both were arms dealer bosses, yet Obadiah was far more capable than Justin—and his heart was even blacker.
"Mr. Chen Mu, you are young and promising. You had the courage to stand up for your homeland."
Obadiah motioned for Chen Mu's previous "guide" to leave, then continued in a wistful tone, "If the young people in our country could think more about their nation as you do, that would be wonderful."
"You flatter me. I merely did what a Chinese person should do." Chen Mu smiled and said modestly, "I believe that under those circumstances, any Chinese person would have made the same choice I did."
"That is truly admirable. At least among the younger generation, the young people of our country are somewhat behind."
America had only a few hundred years of history. When it came to patriotic sentiment, it naturally could not compare to China. Here, whether young or old, people saw only profit. So-called patriotism was merely driven by interests.
Take attacking other countries, for example. Why would the American public support it? Nothing more than the prospect of gaining benefits. The profits America gained from war could naturally benefit its civilians as well, improving their treatment. That was why it received such broad support.
"Perhaps."
Chen Mu smiled without committing himself. Every country had both good and bad young people, and he truly was not qualified to comment, so he prepared to change the subject.
However, Chen Mu's goal was the "revival of China," and he would naturally make China's young people better as well.
When the youth were strong, the nation was strong. If he wanted his homeland to become powerful, he would inevitably need to make its young people stronger too!
Enhancement serums, external armor, or even "profound magical knowledge"—all of these would naturally be used to arm China's young people.
"By the way, Mr. Obadiah, I came this time in hopes of obtaining your company's authorization to manufacture toy models of Stark weapons, for the production of scale toys. As for the licensing fee..."
Chen Mu wanted to state his proposal directly, but Obadiah interrupted him.
"Actually, I already understand Mr. Chen Mu's purpose."
Obadiah smiled, looking unconcerned. "The toy market is indeed quite large, but I have a new plan. I wonder whether Mr. Chen Mu would be interested?"
"I would like to hear the details." Chen Mu nodded at that.
"I have done some research. Mr. Chen Mu's family has a fairly sizable contract manufacturing factory in China, correct?"
Since the meeting request had been sent by his father in the first place, Chen Mu found nothing strange about this. Besides, it was perfectly normal for Obadiah to uncover such information.
"China is an enormous market. Smartphones are now beginning to rise, and I believe that before long, they will become an unimaginably vast emerging market. With a population of 1.3 billion, China will unquestionably become the largest market."
It was still 2008. Smartphones had only just begun, and most people were still using brick phones like Nokia and Motorola. However, the trend of smartphones beginning to rise was gradually revealing itself.
(PS: Ignore the previous iPhone 11 again. Just treat it as some kind of brick phone from that time.)
"Oh?"
Chen Mu looked at Obadiah in surprise. This old man's grasp of the market was no joke. He had actually already seen the potential of smartphones?
If this old man had not gone around playing schemes and conspiracies, and had honestly worked as a businessman, he probably could have made a fortune.
"The rise of smartphones naturally requires 'intelligence.' Stark Industries has an artificial intelligence project. I hope that in the future, the artificial intelligence used by Chinese users will be provided by Stark Industries."
Stark's artificial intelligence was undoubtedly Jarvis.
But this old bastard actually wanted to implant Jarvis into every person's phone in China?
His intentions were truly sinister!
"If we can reach a partnership on this plan, there will be no problem with giving you the weapon design authorization for free."
Before you continue