The Mastermind

"Obadiah Stane..." Pepper Potts murmured the name. Obadiah was one of the veterans of Stark Industries and had been Howard's good friend and business partner.

After Howard's death, Obadiah had guided the young Tony, helping Stark Industries flourish.

On the surface, Tony was the president of Stark Industries, but in reality, he was a hands-off boss who spent his days eating, drinking, and having fun, rarely going to the office. Obadiah was the one who ran the company and kept it operating.

Of course, Tony was extremely smart. He had personally helped develop many of Stark Industries' weapons, such as the Jericho Missile, which had nearly cost him his life.

This made Obadiah deeply jealous. With Tony around, no one noticed him or cared about his contributions. He would forever live in Tony's shadow.

Pepper quickly copied all the files onto Tony's unlocking chip. Just then, someone coughed outside the door. She jumped in fright, because that person was none other than Obadiah Stane!

"You know, I watched Tony grow up," Obadiah said, holding an empty glass.

Pepper's expression stiffened, and her breathing grew heavy with nerves. The files were still copying, and all kinds of documents and images flashed rapidly across the screen.

If Obadiah came over, she'd be caught!

"I'm very glad he managed to come back from the brink of death this time." Obadiah poured himself a drink and walked toward Pepper. By the time he reached the computer, the copying was complete, and only the screensaver was scrolling across the monitor.

After exchanging pleasantries, Pepper hurried off with the USB drive. Obadiah went over to the computer and opened his documents, only to discover that all the files inside were gone.

Honestly, what was Pepper thinking? Why hadn't she copied the files with one click instead of cutting them?

The night before, Obadiah had seen the news on TV about the midair demonstration crash and the unrest in Afghanistan. He had begun to suspect that Tony was involved.

He had rushed to Afghanistan in the middle of the night, eliminated the terrorists who had been working with him, and then prepared to start building his Iron Armor.

Today, it had suddenly occurred to him that information about the Iron Armor and some important files were still on the office computer. He had wanted to delete them, but hadn't expected Pepper to be sitting in the office.

The moment Obadiah entered, he'd sensed something was wrong. When Pepper saw him, she'd looked like she'd seen a ghost, her expression stiff as she kept glancing at the computer screen. Now the files were gone. It seemed his conspiracy had been exposed.

Obadiah's expression turned utterly grim. He couldn't let anyone learn his secret. That woman had to die!

Two men sat on the waiting chairs in the lobby of Stark Industries. Both wore suits. One lounged with his legs crossed, looking relaxed, while the other sat rigidly, his eyes darting about as if searching for someone.

"William, we've been waiting here for three days," Coulson said helplessly. "Is Miss Potts really going to come?"

William straightened his brand-new suit and smiled. "Agent Coulson, be patient."

This suit wasn't borrowed from another agent anymore. S.H.I.E.L.D. had it specially tailored for him, and it even had a pin bearing the organization's emblem on the lapel.

As the saying went, clothes made the man. Today, he'd put mousse in his blond hair and combed it back into a slick style. With a pair of black sunglasses, he really did look a bit like an agent.

William remembered the movie's plot. Obadiah's secret conspiracy was gradually coming to light, and all they needed now was solid evidence. That evidence was hidden in the computer in Tony's office. Now, all they had to do was wait for Pepper to show up.

But William didn't know exactly which day it would happen, since the movie hadn't made that clear either. There was nothing they could do but wait for Pepper to come to them.

A quick series of footsteps came from the nearby staircase. The sound of high heels. William looked up and saw a blonde woman in a black dress hurrying down, her expression tense. Coulson saw her too and immediately stood up.

"Miss Potts, I'm Agent Coulson with S.H.I.E.L.D. Do you remember me?"

To his surprise, Pepper grabbed his arm as if he were a lifeline. "Yes! Come with me. I need to talk to you. Let's go to your office. I promise you'll never forget this!"

Coulson was completely baffled. Pepper looked as if a monster were chasing her. He hurriedly turned around and saw the burly Obadiah standing on the second floor, watching them coldly.

Just then, William stood up from his chair too. He turned around, shaped his hand like a pistol, and smiled. "Pew!"

"Old fox, we'll meet again."

Pepper didn't come back to her senses until she was in the car. She took out the unlocking chip and said anxiously, "Obadiah Stane's gone crazy! He hired people to kidnap Tony. He wants him dead. These are the records of his crimes. Aren't you with S.H.I.E.L.D.? Hurry up and send someone to arrest him!"

"Don't panic, ma'am. Take a deep breath and relax," William reassured her. Coulson inserted the unlocking chip into the computer, and a flood of files and data appeared, including a video of Tony's kidnapping and the plans for a gigantic Iron Armor.

"The Section 16 project," William said gravely. "If something like this is built, it'll be extremely dangerous. But Obadiah probably isn't as smart as Tony. He definitely can't build a core that will power the armor on his own."

"According to our investigation, Stark Industries has a lot of highly skilled engineers," Coulson said. "He may have already managed to develop a core."

"That's only one possibility." William smiled and coaxed, "If Obadiah fails to develop an energy core but still wants to power his armor, what will he do?"

Coulson froze for a moment. A moment later, he reached a terrifying conclusion. "Steal it! He might take the core from Stark's chest and then kill him to cover his tracks!"

"Hmm, you're pretty smart after all." William patted him on the shoulder.

Pepper heard their conversation. She didn't understand most of it, but she understood that Tony was in danger. If Obadiah really tried to steal the core from Tony, he might die.

No! She had to warn him!

"Tony, are you there?" Pepper quickly called him. But after she'd said just one sentence, he hung up. When she tried again, the call wouldn't go through at all.

Panicking, Pepper quickly called Tony's good friend Rhodey and asked him to check whether anything had happened to Tony. Coulson also immediately reported to his superiors. S.H.I.E.L.D. would send agents to protect Tony.

"Looks like Obadiah's already made his move." William knew a major battle would soon break out. "Ms. Potts, do you know where this Section 16 is?"