Tony Stark Was Kidnapped

Ring, ring.

Early the next morning, Maria Hill's phone rang. She looked at Li Wei, still half asleep, then answered it.

"What?"

The call snapped her wide awake.

She kept talking as she hurriedly pulled on her uniform.

Luckily, S.H.I.E.L.D. made its uniforms to last. Otherwise, she wouldn't have had one to wear.

"Okay. I'll be right there."

Maria Hill hung up, and Li Wei reached over to her.

The call had woken him.

"What happened?"

Fully dressed, Maria Hill leaned down and kissed his forehead. "Something's happened. Your archrival was abducted in the Middle East."

"What?"

Li Wei was wide awake now, too.

Already?

"You'd better prepare yourself. Don't say anything reckless to the media, or people might blame you."

Maria Hill didn't suspect Li Wei at all.

She had no reason to.

Li Wei and Tony Stark had only traded verbal jabs. He wouldn't take it further than that.

Of course, that was also because she trusted him.

The public might not see it that way, though.

Tony Stark had been abducted at such a critical moment. Conspiracy theories were inevitable.

"Thanks."

Li Wei hurried out of bed.

"Don't you want breakfast before you go?"

"No. I'll take a cab."

Maria Hill was in a rush and left immediately.

Li Wei took his time over breakfast while 2B went upstairs to tidy the room.

Every time he came home, everything looked fresh and neat. Just seeing it put him at ease.

He took out his phone as he ate.

Sure enough, plenty of people had tagged him on social media, joking, "Did Li Wei do it? Now he won't have any competition."

Unfortunately, there was no handy "just kidding" emoji to make the joke obvious, so some people believed it.

The controversy around Li Wei was growing.

But he was delighted.

The attack on Tony Stark was huge news. It had shot straight to the top of the trending charts.

A billionaire had been attacked in the Middle East, and no one knew whether he was alive or dead!

With all that combined, how could it not draw attention?

And the more people talked about Li Wei, the more Reputation Points he earned.

Bad publicity was still publicity.

Li Wei checked his Reputation Points. He already had more than eighty million.

"Holy shit!"

And this was only the beginning.

The story would stay hot until Tony Stark returned. Li Wei had to make the most of it.

He had prepared for this long ago.

First, though, he summoned Red Queen. "Red Queen, buy Stark Industries stock once it bottoms out."

Unfortunately, he could only buy shares from retail investors.

He would have to approach Stark Industries' major shareholders later and see whether they were willing to sell.

In a giant like Stark Industries, Tony Stark naturally didn't own every share.

That was how publicly traded companies worked.

Tony Stark held roughly forty-two percent, making him Stark Industries' largest shareholder.

Unfortunately, neither the military nor the other shareholders would let him gain outright control. There was no way he could pass fifty percent.

The second-largest shareholder was Obadiah Stane, who held a full twenty-five percent.

The rest was held by the military and retail investors.

Even Osborn Group owned a 2.5 percent stake in Stark Industries.

Only around thirteen percent was available as publicly traded shares. That was Li Wei's target.

When Tony Stark came back, Li Wei would have quite a surprise for him.

But Li Wei was also doing it to make money.

After all, he knew Stark Industries would be worth far more in the future.

"Understood."

Red Queen immediately began running the numbers.

"Although Stark Industries stock has started falling today, it will take at least a week to reach its low."

That was her assessment.

"I'll leave it to you. Just don't bankrupt the company."

That was Li Wei's only instruction.

Money was meant to make more money.

As for spending it, he couldn't think of much he wanted.

Neither 2B nor Eve spent much of his money, and he had no desire to buy luxury goods.

He already had a house and cars, and his cars were Transformers. Ordinary luxury cars had lost their appeal.

No matter how sleek a luxury car was, Bumblebee could turn into one. A luxury car couldn't turn into a Transformer.

Dating was even easier. He didn't need to throw money around.

His status spoke for itself. Even Maria Hill was influenced by it to some extent.

So Li Wei had little need to spend much.

By the time he finished breakfast, 2B had tidied the room. The three of them then headed out.

That morning, Li Wei rode in Bumblebee, while Eve wanted to ride Arcee.

Sitting astride Arcee, Eve's figure stood out even more.

Master Jin really knew what he was doing. Her proportions looked a little odd at first glance, but she was beautiful.

Li Wei couldn't help admiring her.

Eve's shapely backside, in particular, sent his thoughts in a decidedly indecent direction.

There were far more reporters than usual outside Future Technology Company that day.

Even the paparazzi had come to get in on the action.

With so many people suspecting him, Li Wei should have kept a low profile.

Instead, he got out of the car right in front of them.

"Mr. Li Wei!"

At a female reporter's startled cry, the reporters surged toward him.

The company's security guards rushed over and formed a protective ring around Li Wei.

They were helpless to do much else.

The building had an underground garage, but their boss never used it.

The more reporters there were, the less likely he was to go underground.

Li Wei accepted an interview with a pained expression.

He picked a blonde reporter.

Media outlets knew his preferences by now, so almost all the reporters they sent were women. It was exactly the same with Tony Stark.

Li Wei had a much better reputation than Tony Stark, though.

At least his interviews didn't end in bed...

So the female reporters had no objection to interviewing him.

The blonde reporter asked gravely, "Mr. Li Wei, have you heard what happened to Tony Stark?"

"Yes, I have."

"I never imagined something like this would happen," Li Wei said somberly. "I believe Tony Stark will be all right. God bless him!"

Hearing him invoke God, the reporters who had been ready to stir up controversy held back.

Their questions were still pointed, though.

"Mr. Li Wei, with Tony Stark missing, what are you going to do?"

Li Wei perked up at the question.

"Rest assured, I'll do everything I can to find him," he said. "We don't get along, but I want him to come back."

"Keep an eye on my updates. I'll deploy our most advanced technology. Future Technology Company has already developed the Bionic Eye and a search chip..."

Li Wei turned the interview into a product launch, promoting his company's new products.

It worked, too. Many people with disabilities were interested.

People who had lost their eyes in accidents or disasters, for instance, wanted the Bionic Eye.