Scheming and a Promise Made

"What do you think the price of a phone like this should be?" Tony toyed with the device, which radiated a silvery-white metallic luster from every angle, and asked Fang Bie, who stood nearby.

After spending three hours, they had finally produced this laboratory prototype.

Even for someone as accustomed to high-tech products as Tony, he had to admit that this phone truly scratched an itch in his heart. This kind of sleek, efficient, and cool-looking device was truly one of a kind in the world.

"600 dollars, I think it should sell for at least 600 dollars!" Fang Bie blurted out without hesitation. Based on the exchange rates of this world, the smartphone he had named M1 was absolutely worth 600 dollars.

He remembered that the price of Apple products in his previous life hovered around that mark, eventually climbing to over a thousand dollars. It was precisely because of this that Apple successfully became the company with the highest cash flow and the highest market value in the world.

It was the first company in the world to break a trillion-dollar market cap, dozens of times higher than the tens of billions of dollars in net worth Tony Stark publicly held!

"Good! Then let's set the price at 599 dollars!" Tony clapped his hands. "Jarvis, what is the cost of this phone?"

"Sir, based on the prototype calculations and your chip costs, the price per unit is currently around 3,000 dollars. However, if scaled to mass production in a factory, producing 100,000 units, the cost per phone should be compressed to under 50 dollars!"

This terrifying profit margin not only shocked Pepper Potts, who had just walked down with a cup of coffee, but also startled Obadiah, who had come over with her. The two could not suppress the excitement in their hearts and hurried over to take a closer look.

"Tony, have you stopped working on your reactor?" Obadiah asked quickly, though his eyes were locked firmly on the silvery-white prototype.

"That's my business. You two arrived just in time; this is our company's next flagship product, a truly epoch-making technology: the M1 smartphone!" Tony repeated what the three of them had been studying to the newcomers.

The two had different expressions, but the joy in their eyes was evident.

Unlike Tony's previous, somewhat unreliable Arc Reactor, such an epoch-making mobile device represented something akin to the invention of the computer. Anyone with a discerning eye could see exactly what kind of revolution this meant!

"Good! Good! Good!" Obadiah exclaimed three times, his voice even distorting slightly as he refused to let go of the prototype.

"Pepper, go notify the media. I'm going to hold a press conference. The arrival of this phone is the perfect way to slow the decline of Stark Industries' stock!" Tony said, taking the phone from Obadiah's hand.

His conversation with Fang Bie had made him realize the infinite business opportunities contained within such a device, so he naturally had to make the most of his time—at the very least, he had to use this new device to stop the freefall of Stark Industries' stock.

"Obie, go contact the contract manufacturers now. As soon as the press conference ends, start production immediately. I want to see the first batch of one million phones off the assembly line within three months!" Tony told Obadiah.

The resentment Obadiah had brought with him earlier had long since vanished from his face, and the words he had intended to say were forgotten. He nodded excitedly and hurried out of the room.

However, he did not see the cold light flashing in his nephew's eyes, nor the strange expressions shared by the three people left behind.

"Obadiah is definitely suspicious!" Yinsen, having played the role of a tool for so long, had finally caught on. He tapped his tablet in the air, pulling up a string of information.

"Using this news will ultimately cause a kink in his plans. Tony, did you find the evidence?" Fang Bie had also shed his previous excitement, speaking with extreme calmness.

Tony's fingers flew across the keyboard, lines of code appearing beneath his touch. As a stream of data flowed, photos began to appear before them.

"When his fingers touched the phone, I intercepted his fingerprints and compared them to the weapons we recovered earlier. Every time the company produces goods, Obie goes to inspect them. These are his fingerprints!" Tony took a wooden box from his personal space, which contained the very weapons he had retrieved from the terrorists' base.

"He has been selling weapons to those terrorist organizations behind my back the whole time. Fang Bie, if you hadn't reminded me, I might not have discovered it yet!" Tony said gratefully.

"It's fine. We're in the same boat now. You'd better be careful; since he could send terrorists to take you out, he's capable of anything. Now that you've given him such a massive tool for wealth, I think he might not be able to hold back much longer," Fang Bie said.

He had successfully cast a lure, and the target had bitten the hook; everything was going according to his plan.

He felt even more excited that a product that had only existed in his memories was now being introduced to this world through his own hands. That was the truly incredible part.

"You're coming to the press conference with me later. You're the true designer of this phone; you have the highest authority to speak," Tony said, but Fang Bie shook his head immediately.

"No, no. I've never seen such a big stage; I won't embarrass you." Fang Bie tried to refuse, but Tony dragged him into the car anyway.

"Don't worry. With me here, what do you have to worry about? Do you think I won't be there to make a fool of myself with you? Just speak your mind boldly. Whether we make money or not depends on your performance!" Tony seemed to trust his previous claims implicitly and pulled him into the car without room for argument.

Fang Bie felt a moment of helplessness. How exactly had he ended up on this pirate ship? And why, when he tried to get off, did he find the doors had been welded shut?

"Hey, don't make that face. You were the one who proposed this company. How about this: I'll give you 20% of the shares," Tony said.

"20%? Are you sure?" Fang Bie perked up instantly. For a newly founded phone company destined to reach the heights of Apple, 20% of the shares would be an unimaginably large number.

Moreover, Stark Industries was not short on cash; almost all financing could be completed in-house. By that calculation, 20% of the shares would be a sum so vast it was hard to fathom.

Although he wasn't from this world and wouldn't be staying for long, as an ordinary person, the thought of possessing such a massive fortune was enough to make his blood boil.

"Deal! It's a promise!" Fang Bie agreed quickly, fearing the other party might change his mind.

And at that moment, their car had just pulled out of the driveway...

ps: The contract has been sent out, but due to the holidays, it is estimated that a reply won't be received until work resumes.