This Is a Setup

After transmigrating, Luo Xia had wondered whether he would have a major impact on the plot. It wasn't until yesterday that he realized his only impact so far was that Tony hadn't hammered together his Mark I in a cave.

Without that prototype, Obadiah Stane's knockoff armor shouldn't be so easy to build.

But that was all.

Tony still seemed to have had a great revelation, halting Stark Industries' weapons production and burying himself in the development of Iron Armor.

And Obadiah Stane was just as indignant as ever, still planning to make trouble.

As for Tony's security measures, Luo Xia had already lost all hope when Obadiah Stane pulled out the Pulse Pistol.

No matter when Tony's Iron Armor was completed, as long as Obadiah Stane continued playing the role of his "uncle," getting some of the technical data to copy it would be no problem at all.

The only difficult part was probably the Arc Reactor.

That was why Luo Xia had always felt that the plot of Iron Man 1 hadn't changed much because of him. Instead, the sheer inertia of history made him think this world was "resilient" enough for him to "mess around" at his leisure.

But when he heard Norman Osborn's reasoning and learned that the AI Company had set its sights on those Stark contracts, Luo Xia realized that major changes had already been taking place, little by little, in places he knew nothing about.

The Extremis Virus didn't appear until Iron Man. Even if the AI Company had been operating for a long time, it should still have kept a very low profile.

It wasn't until after the Chitauri invasion that Dr. Killian came out to make trouble, planning to use Pepper to work with Stark Industries on developing weapons.

If the kidnapping was part of the real story but hadn't appeared in the movie, then after the AI Company had caused such a huge mess, it couldn't possibly have stayed hidden for so long before showing up in Iron Man. Osborn and Hammer would have exposed it long ago. How could they then have created a fake Mandarin to muddy the waters?

Now that there was this grudge between them, there was no way Osborn and Hammer wouldn't go all out against AI. In the United States, where capital ruled everything, fooling the president wasn't hard—but fooling a massive corporation like Osborn was another matter entirely.

Therefore, there was a very good chance that this kidnapping had set off a chain reaction because Luo Xia had appeared.

Of course, this was only Luo Xia's speculation. He didn't have any actual evidence yet. But it was enough to remind him not to assume he could keep playing the prophet forever.

If he kept following the plot, he might get killed by this kind of butterfly effect at any moment.

I have to gain power of my own as soon as possible, Luo Xia reminded himself.

That power wasn't just combat strength. It was true that the AllSpark's energy was formidable, capable of creating many powerful machines. But becoming truly strong took more than just being powerful oneself.

Who had the easiest life in the Avengers? Without a doubt, Tony, followed by Thor. Not only did they have tremendous fighting power; one was a billionaire, and the other was the heir to Asgard.

With a business empire and a mythical kingdom backing them, they could solve a lot of problems with ease. The Hulk, on the other hand, could be a one-man army and punch his way through the world, yet General Ross still hunted him like a stray dog.

If Dr. Banner had Tony's wealth, he could easily hire a top-notch legal team and enlist the news media to give the military trouble. Would General Ross still dare chase him with tanks and helicopters?

Sometimes, besides fighting power, money was a very powerful force too. Especially in this country, money really could buy you anything.

Luo Xia didn't care much about living in comfort. But if he wanted to realize his grand ambitions—to crush the Chitauri underfoot and lead humanity into the space age—the importance of money was obvious.

It was just that making money in this country wasn't easy. Even though Luo Xia had some decent products on hand, he could make a quick buck, but becoming a billionaire like Tony wasn't something he could manage all by himself.

Ah, what a shame. If only I had a robot specialized in business. Maybe I should check out Wall Street. Perhaps activating that stock-market-index display could work wonders, Luo Xia thought wryly.

But there was no point rushing. The Chitauri invasion was still years away; he couldn't expect to get rich overnight.

Just as he was reassuring himself, Luo Xia's phone rang. He checked it and saw that it was Obadiah Stane calling.

It was nearly eleven at night. He had no idea what Stane wanted. The palladium had only been delivered halfway, so it wasn't as if Obadiah Stane would already be demanding an answer from him.

Luo Xia had no intention of pretending he hadn't heard the phone. Obadiah Stane probably wouldn't be around much longer, so there was no need to be too wary of him.

The call connected. Before Luo Xia could speak, Obadiah Stane spoke first. "Luo Xia, about the partnership I mentioned—what do you think?"

He sounded so anxious, not at all like a successful businessman. In business negotiations, if someone saw through your emotions and knew what you desperately needed, you would end up at a disadvantage.

As the CEO of Stark Industries, Obadiah Stane shouldn't have been acting like this.

Curious, Luo Xia tested the waters. "Mr. Stane, what kind of partnership are you looking for? I provide the technology, and you pay me? Would it be a one-time deal, or do you want to hire me long-term for a high salary?"

"No, no. I've thought it over, and neither of those arrangements is right. I have another suggestion. How would you feel about becoming the owner of a company? A company like Stark Industries." Obadiah Stane said.

"Mr. Stane, you must be joking. There's no such thing as a second Stark Industries," Luo Xia replied.

"There will be soon. Stark Industries was built on weapons production, but Tony has forgotten what the company is about and thrown away the most important part of it. I won't let him destroy everything Howard and I worked for. So I'm going to set up a new company and take over those military contracts. If you're willing to join me, I can give you a certain number of shares—even more than fifty-one percent." Obadiah Stane said.

Hearing this, Luo Xia would've sworn that if Obadiah Stane wasn't trying to set him up, he'd eat his old enlistment notice.