Los Angeles in Complete Chaos

After causing trouble for the Continental Hotel, Sherlock returned to his rented apartment and waited quietly.

As for what choice the Continental Hotel would make, Sherlock was not particularly worried. Not to mention his alchemical abilities and the title of "Impaler" that irritated him so much.

The S.H.I.E.L.D. logo on the documents Sherlock had provided was alone enough to make the Continental Hotel think carefully.

At present, if S.H.I.E.L.D. was truly determined to go after someone, then aside from the five permanent members of the UN Security Council, probably no country or force could protect them.

It was not as though Sherlock had not intended to borrow S.H.I.E.L.D.'s name to intimidate them. After all, if the matter could be resolved easily, he really could not be bothered to act personally.

Even if, taking ten thousand steps back, the Continental Hotel truly made the extremely irrational choice to oppose him, Sherlock would not mind imitating John Wick and letting those so-called elders properly experience what punishment meant!

I'll refine all your oil into cooking oil and see if you can still act so arrogant!

Sherlock could be said to have made every preparation, simply waiting for the Continental Hotel's response.

What Sherlock had never expected was that while he was actively preparing to deal with the Continental Hotel, something unexpected happened on Tony's side.

That was right. Early the next morning, Stark Industries held a press conference. Dressed impeccably, Tony firmly announced to all the media that Stark Industries' weapons manufacturing division would be shut down! His stated reason was that he had personally witnessed terrorists in the Middle East using his weapons to carry out slaughter.

That reason was practically a direct admission that he already knew someone within his company was "smuggling weapons."

The plot, which had previously gone off course, returned to its original track at that moment. Sitting in his apartment's living room, Sherlock watched Tony's complicated expression on the television as Obadiah pulled him away, and the smile on Sherlock's face grew increasingly pronounced.

If nothing unexpected happened, Tony had probably already uncovered that Obadiah was the mastermind behind the weapons smuggling to the Ten Rings.

He might even have been the mastermind behind Tony's kidnapping.

As for Obadiah?

Tony's half-truths left Obadiah unable to tell whether Tony suspected him or not. Yet compared to guessing whether Tony's suspicions had reached him, Obadiah was more concerned with whether his side business could continue.

Tony shutting down the weapons manufacturing division was absolutely not good news for Obadiah, even if Tony meant it as a warning for Obadiah to stop.

But from the television, Sherlock watched Obadiah struggle to suppress his anger. Clearly, Obadiah would not appreciate the gesture. He might even come to hate Tony for it.

Then again, that was only natural. The cost of maintaining Obadiah's estate was not something Tony's tiny mansion could compare to.

By closing the weapons division, Tony had forcibly cut off Obadiah's "side business," which was enough to severely damage him.

If nothing unexpected happened, the conflict between Obadiah and Tony would soon intensify. Then it would be time for Obadiah to put on the Iron Monger he had recovered and fight Tony.

After watching the news on television, Sherlock stopped paying attention to Tony's affairs. He lay quietly in the living room and played on his phone, occasionally dealing with John Wick while indirectly obtaining news about the Continental Hotel from him.

That was right. Sherlock had not expected that what he had done at the Continental Hotel would actually trigger an earthquake throughout the entire Continental Hotel system.

After Lola reported the full details of the matter to the High Table, nearly every Continental Hotel on Earth received an inspection from an Adjudicator, with information leaks as the central focus of the investigation.

Sherlock did not know how S.H.I.E.L.D. had obtained the Continental Hotel's internal documents. He only knew that his seemingly unintentional move had apparently harmed quite a few people, and he would most likely end up on the Continental Hotel's blacklist.

However, Sherlock did not care much about that. If not for John Wick, then as a transmigrator, Sherlock probably would never have had any dealings with the Continental Hotel in his life.

An entire day passed. During that single day, the outside world had descended into utter chaos. Stark Industries' stock price plummeted, and everyone within Stark Industries was panic-stricken, with no one knowing whether they would be the next person laid off.

The upper ranks began fighting among themselves, gradually forming the "peace faction" led by Tony, which supported shutting down the weapons manufacturing division and transforming Stark Industries as a whole, and the "war faction" led by Obadiah, which firmly opposed Tony's unilateral decision.

In only one day, Stark Industries underwent frequent and major shifts in share ownership.

Tony also displayed the business talent he had not shown in years. Using the reactor in his chest as an example, he slaughtered his opponents throughout the shareholders' meeting.

As a result, after the sun set, Obadiah's gaze toward Tony was filled with venomous hatred.

Of course, the Continental Hotel was not having an easy time either. Aside from the Continental Hotel in Los Angeles, all the others underwent Adjudicator inspections, and quite a few problems were indeed uncovered.

The entire Continental Hotel manager system was therefore facing a major purge. During that process, there would likely be another bloody storm.

The Continental Hotel in New York was no exception. However, the good news was that Winston, that old fox, had concealed things well, and the High Table found virtually nothing wrong with the New York Continental Hotel.

Naturally, the one hit hardest was undoubtedly the Continental Hotel in Los Angeles.

After the Adjudicator arrived, the first thing they did was directly shut down the entire Los Angeles Continental Hotel system and conduct a strict review.

Just how bloody and harsh that process was could practically be guessed with one's heels.

When night fell once more and the Los Angeles Continental Hotel reopened, apart from Christine, the supervisor, only Lola, the manager, could still be considered a familiar face.

Yet whether it was Christine or Lola, both looked deathly pale while working. Lola in particular seemed to have aged several decades in a single day, and both her hands were wrapped in thick bandages.

Unlike the turmoil outside, Sherlock stayed hidden at home all day without stepping outside. Nor did he receive any action from the Continental Hotel. He even slept peacefully through the night until dawn, as though the entire Continental Hotel had forgotten about him.

It was not until broad daylight the next day, while Sherlock was eating breakfast after waking up, that the doorbell to his apartment finally rang.

As though he had long expected the doorbell to ring that day, Sherlock quickly finished the sandwich in his hand before opening the door to his apartment.

A bald woman wearing half a mask and dressed in an elegant outfit stood outside Sherlock's apartment.

After seeing Sherlock open the door, the bald woman spoke to him in a hoarse voice that did not match the half of her face that was visible.

"Good morning, Mr. Sherlock. I am an Adjudicator sent by the High Table to negotiate with you."