The Undercurrents

"So you admit who you are?" Coulson asked meaningfully.

"No. I'm just a traveler who happened to come to this world. If Tony hadn't warmly invited me, I wouldn't have come here." Fang Bie flatly denied it.

There was a world of difference between coming to this world on his own and being invited by someone else. It was the difference between being a guest and an invader.

"Right, I invited him!" Since Fang Bie had already admitted it, Tony saw no reason to hide it and readily confirmed it.

The two sides calmly met each other's gaze. Neither showed any sign of backing down.

"Very well. I hope you won't do anything to endanger Earth. Here's my card. If you have any problems, you can call me!"

Out of the two men's expectations, Coulson really had only come to get a sense of the situation. After handing over his card, he left without looking back, taking his team of agents with him and leaving three people sitting in disarray on the sofa.

"Why did you suddenly reveal your identity and background?" Yinsen asked in confusion. They had clearly agreed beforehand to avoid revealing Fang Bie's origins as much as possible, yet Fang Bie himself had been the first to break that rule.

"What did I say? I didn't say anything!" Fang Bie grinned mischievously, and Yinsen finally caught on.

They were all clever people. Sometimes there was no need to spell things out.

The two of them knew where Fang Bie came from, but that didn't mean anyone else did. Besides, people's imaginations were limitless. Fang Bie had only admitted to being a visitor from another world; he hadn't revealed a single secret of his own.

At most, S.H.I.E.L.D.'s files would gain a record with his name and photo. Everything else would remain blank.

Even if Fang Bie said nothing, S.H.I.E.L.D. would classify his identity as top secret. The moment he and Tony returned, he knew he had already caught the attention of this massive organization.

"It's just a routine warning. Don't worry about those annoying agents. As long as Stark Industries is still standing, they won't dare cause you trouble!" Tony, for his part, took it in stride.

After bluffing his way past Obadiah Stane with a few words, he still had control of all Stark Industries. But because he'd been set up, he no longer trusted anyone in the company.

Anyone who knew about the company's operations might be the person trying to kill him. Tony had even decided that until he found the traitor or gained the means to protect himself, he wouldn't attend any dangerous meetings or waste time dealing with the company's shareholders.

But that raised another problem—the one Fang Bie and the others had heard Pepper Potts mention.

In just a few days, because of what Tony Stark had said at the press conference, Stark Industries' stock had been plummeting almost vertically.

Even Fang Bie, who knew little about the situation, understood that if the Nasdaq index fell past a dangerously low threshold, Tony's entire company could collapse.

After all, for a company founded on the arms trade, stopping weapons production meant losing half its supply chain.

Of course, Stark Industries was a true commercial empire. Aside from weapons, it also had its hands in mobile phones, home appliances, ships, steel and machinery manufacturing, and all kinds of consumer goods. Even so, none of that could ease the crisis they faced.

Several days had passed. Just as he had in the cave, Yinsen was accompanying Tony in the laboratory, continuing to build the robot they had envisioned.

Tony had named it Mark I. After extensive modifications in the laboratory, the robot had long since shed its bulky, unfinished appearance and become light and sturdy.

It was no longer pieced together from rough-hewn steel, but made of high-density Vibranium reinforced into armor. In terms of impact resistance alone, the two materials were in completely different leagues.

Fang Bie, meanwhile, was still lying on the sofa, constantly watching videos and TV shows and improving his learning ability.

This really was a miraculous learning tool. Fang Bie hadn't deliberately memorized the words, but after just a few days of reading, he could already process them very quickly.

He could also manage simple conversations and basic writing in English. In fact, knowing just 3,000 English words was enough for everyday conversation in the United States.

With 30,000 words, a person could get by almost anywhere in the country. Fang Bie now knew nearly 10,000 words, and even without the translation device, he could still talk with the other two.

"Tony, Stark Industries' stock has plunged 46.7%. If you don't come out and explain things soon, a lot of our business could be shut down!" Pepper shouted anxiously from outside his laboratory.

"No need. Obie told me to keep a low profile for a few days. I haven't even left the house. Isn't that quiet enough?" Tony replied in a slightly innocent tone, without putting down the laser welding equipment in his hands.

"That's not what I mean, and you know it! If you don't come out and confirm that you haven't disappeared or been kidnapped again, the stock could plunge even further. If the shareholders start making a fuss, we're finished!" Pepper said anxiously.

"Don't worry. We're the company's major shareholders. Until their voting power exceeds ours, nobody can override my decisions." Tony shook his head. He had a patent for an invention that could shock the world. Once it was fully developed, putting Stark Industries at the top of the world wouldn't be difficult.

"But..." Pepper was still very worried, but as his personal assistant, she had no way to make Tony do anything.

She also couldn't stand Fang Bie, who was sitting on the sofa continuing to study English. She had always thought the two men were parasites living off Tony. At least Dr. Yinsen was useful—he could help Tony with experiments that weren't too dangerous.

Fang Bie, on the other hand, did nothing all day, holding a translation device and talking animatedly at the television.

She placed a takeout meal in front of him with an irritated look. "Tony ordered this for you. You'd better keep it down. If Tony carries on like this, I can't promise Mr. Stane won't throw you out!"

With that, she left the villa in a sharp clatter of high heels, leaving Fang Bie staring blankly at the television in front of him.

Fang Bie wasn't shocked by what she'd said. The reason he had stayed in the villa was that Tony had asked him to.

Having truly experienced the Minecraft world, Tony couldn't help being amazed by it—its physical laws were completely different from those of this world, and Fang Bie could build with blocks as if he were a creator god.

If he hadn't needed to deal with matters in this world and find the person who had set him up, he would have gone back with Fang Bie long ago to continue making progress in that world.