The Continental Hotel

"Why would I buy a run-down hotel?" Tony retorted, bewildered by the question.

Henry casually replied, "I don't know. Maybe they want to turn the whole building into a giant robot; or maybe into a love hotel and install hidden cameras everywhere. Okay, what a pipe dream, what a ridiculous idea. What If...? you're really going to do that, don't tell anyone I know you."

Henry, who had been warned, shrugged indifferently, since he had no intention of using the name "Tony Stark" to swindle people anyway.

Do they really think this name brings a good reputation? Kryptonian are actually afraid that if they go out and reveal this name, they'll be attacked by enemies who appear out of nowhere.

"I'm not kidding. Do you remember what happened between us?" Tony asked.

Upon hearing this, Henry immediately said warily, "What about before? We have no past between us, Master Stark. I must emphasize again, I am innocent."

"Fuck! I wouldn't even look at you if I slept with your wrinkled old mom. I wasn't talking about that."

Given that Tony had no chance with his mother in his past life, and he didn't even know who his mother was in this life, Henry didn't take this level of verbal attack to heart at all.

The two of them, without prior arrangement, each took a glass of champagne from the passing waiter's tray to moisten their throats.

Having calmed down somewhat, Tony Stark continued, "The assassins we encountered at the party in Los Angeles... according to my information, those assassins were from the Continental Hotel."

"So?" Henry, who had sensed trouble long ago and tried to gloss over the matter with jokes, had clearly failed. He could only respond with an indifferent attitude.

Tony was naturally unhappy with this attitude, but he knew he had to stay on topic, or he'd be led astray. So he stuck to the point, saying, "I want to come with you to the Continental Hotel to demand an explanation."

"Not interested," Henry said bluntly.

Tony paused for a moment, realizing something, and said softly, "I know that in that situation, you weren't actually in any danger. —Young Master thoughtfully remembered not to expose Henry's special status in public."

"But if someone causes you trouble, won't you respond at all? If you appear weak and easily bullied, even more people will take advantage of you."

Do you really think the Stark Family scion has never experienced school bullying? He skipped grades in school, and he was surrounded by older kids, all from wealthy families.

There were always some clueless brats causing trouble for him. His father didn't care whether he lived or died—that's how Tony saw it—so he had to save himself.

Whenever he encounters bullying, Tony always fights back fiercely with his own strength! Only when he beats the other party so badly that they dare not fight back will the bullying stop.

If the other person goes home crying for their father, then let's see whose backer is stronger! In any case, Howard Stark, who was called in by the school, would never allow outsiders to deal with his only son.

And because doing so would allow Tony to see the Old Man Stark's disgusted expression, he seemed to enjoy it. Fortunately, he still cared about the Stark Family's reputation and didn't go from being the bullied and retaliating character to becoming the bully.

But when it came to the fact that the gunman sent by the Continental Hotel had nearly killed him, he couldn't swallow his anger if he didn't retaliate.

Previously, they couldn't find any clues about Continental Hotel. They assumed that such assassin organizations should be hiding in some stinking ditch. They thought the only way to find them was to ask the rats who were also lurking in the ditch.

It's a pity he didn't know such a person, and that's why he only approached Henry today.

Who knew that all of this was actually a case of the darkest corners of the room! They were openly running their business, and even actually owned a hotel.

Now that Tony knew from Henry that they had been through that gunfight together, he extended the invitation. What If...? he had found the clues himself, he probably would have gone to Henry's house to demand an explanation; he wouldn't have bothered coming to find this coward.

However, Henry dismissed it, saying, "You said those assassins were sent by the Continental Hotel? To me, that sounds like an organization that does things for money. Those assassins, to put it bluntly, are just tools."

"If you're going to cause trouble, you should go after the culprit. What kind of hero takes it out on someone else? I'm not saying we have to just sit back and be bullied just because someone's bullying us."

"If it's just a grudge, it should be resolved immediately. Leaving it overnight won't create interest. The person who shot at us that day..."

Most of them were defeated, some even killed. Isn't that good enough?

"Does the Continental Hotel really have any ulterior motives? Are they going to come knocking on your door and cause endless trouble over the injuries or deaths from that day? What If...? not, what's the point of pursuing the people who ran away or the Continental Hotel organization afterward?"

"It's like being bitten by a dog. If you don't kick the dog away on the spot and it gets away, because you're in a bad mood, do you think you should do everything you can to find the dog and bite it back?"

"Shouldn't we be targeting the owner who condones this dog or instructs it to bite people? The person is the key issue."

What's the point of getting angry with a dog?

"Besides, judging from the final outcome that day, we were just caught in the crossfire; it was purely an innocent disaster. You weren't anyone's target, and no one wanted to silence you. So getting involved in this would only bring more trouble upon yourself."

Tony knew that Henry's words were entirely correct. But what Tony didn't say was that his desire to find the Continental Hotel was actually to uncover the true mastermind behind the execution that day—the controller of that island.

However, according to the warning of the financial tycoon Alex Hart, Josh Hill, who was executed, angered the people behind him by talking about the island, which led to the hiring of an assassin.

That's why Tony didn't directly go around searching for information about the island. Instead, he started with the Continental Hotel, which, while secluded, were not so taboo.

Even if they did find the hotel, Tony didn't yet have a plan for the next step. Without knowing the details of their opponent, making any plan wouldn't be very meaningful.

Tony simply asked Henry, "You really aren't going to help me?"

"Help you with what? You look like you're about to storm into a hotel with a machine gun and start shooting. Do you expect me to be your human shield?" Henry retorted, then added:

"Since they're an organization, I think it would be more useful for you to bring a box of money than for me to bring a gun with you. What If...? you're worried that money won't provide enough protection, how about we get a box of gold bars instead? At least they might be able to stop a bullet if it comes at us."