Intoxicated by Desire

Mike woke to find a golden-haired beauty curled up in his arms, with a chocolate-skinned beauty resting on his shoulder.

The scene was exquisitely beautiful, in high Qing.

Yesterday... right! The two of them had been testing all afternoon. By evening, Stark had called over a group of female friends for a party, and then Mike had gotten drunk.

Don't ask why Mike, with his Superman-like physique, could get drunk.

The answer was simple: it wasn't the wine that intoxicated him, but the people.

All he could say was that Stark truly had impeccable taste. Whatever kind of beauty you wanted, you could find it in them. The temptation was too great—either refuse, or get drunk.

He had to get drunk!!!

Stark lounged leisurely on a beach chair beside the pool while twin sisters applied sunscreen to him.

Mike had two questions:

First, the sun was barely shining. Was there really any need for sunscreen? Ming made it obvious that he was enjoying the process of having it applied.

Second, was the Arc Reactor waterproof? If so, what was its waterproof rating? If he accidentally fell into the pool, would he need emergency treatment?

The twin sisters were exceptionally beautiful. Mike had seen them on magazine covers. Their expressions were a little strange, and then they went swimming.

"Are they... all right up here?" Mike asked inexplicably, pointing at his head.

"No problem... There's one advantage to having a simple mind: it doesn't develop problems easily."

Stark looked resentful. After spending more than twenty years among women, Tony considered himself quite capable, and everyone who had tried him said he was good. But the two girls in Mike's room had belted out high notes all night, leaving Stark, whose flag had already fallen, in an awkward position. For the first time, he hated the poor soundproofing of the guest rooms.

Stark sighed. Rhodey was still better. He looked fierce, but in reality, he was only a three-second real man.

"Achoo!"

Colonel Rhodey, who had just finished a press conference, rubbed his nose. "Who's talking about me behind my back?"

Then he immediately Lock-Oned the true culprit. "Tony, right? It had to be Tony! It absolutely had to be Tony!"

Rhodey's face twisted as he snorted through his nostrils. He was the liaison between the military and Stark Industries. With Stark announcing the closure of the weapons division, the liaison's position had become awkward.

And Stark showed no signs of changing his mind.

His superiors scolded him like a grandson, while he pleaded earnestly with Tony like a father. Rhodey was miserable and felt like he was developing a split personality.

Obadiah was just as miserable. After all these years at Stark Group, Obadiah still had connections. Those people might not be capable of accomplishing anything, but they were certainly capable of ruining things.

Therefore... aside from being unable to appear publicly, Obadiah still had mansions, luxury cars, fine wine, and beautiful women, living a life beyond the reach of ordinary people.

At that moment, Obadiah was communicating with someone over video.

The person on the other side wore a proper suit, but his face... was covered in Marseille, making it look as though someone was watching an adult video.

Of course, Obadiah was presumably covered in Marseille on the other person's screen as well.

They were both using voice changers.

A perfectly serious large-scale conspiracy scene had become utterly ridiculous.

Why make things so complicated? Ultimately, it was because neither of them trusted the other.

"I have already secured the support of more than a third of the major shareholders and signed a concerted action agreement. The rest do not sincerely support Stark either. They are merely fence-sitters, leaning wherever the profits lie. Justin, you are the chairman of Hammer Group. You know better than anyone—Qing Chu—what shareholders are like. As long as Stark goes crazy again, the shareholders will inevitably turn against him."

In Obadiah's eyes, closing the weapons division had been one of Stark's insane episodes. While hiding and watching the news, he had laughed like a goose on the spot. Stark truly rowed without oars, relying entirely on waves. He was practically handing over a chance to turn things around—at least, that was how Obadiah saw it.

"You're right. The problem is, how do we make Stark go crazy? Although he always goes crazy intermittently, how can a normal person know when a madman will go crazy?" Justin stared at the screen, wanting to laugh because, with Marseille covering Obadiah's features, his entire head looked like an egg. "It would be more straightforward to simply get rid of him."

"I want to do that too, but after returning from Afghanistan, his security became much tighter. I think... this is not the first time you have wanted to get rid of him, and I believe you have acted on it more than once. Have you succeeded?"

The answer needed no explanation. Today's entertainment headline read: "Tony Stark's Malibu Mansion Parties All Night."

Stark was living very comfortably.

At this point, neither person on the video looked particularly happy. They were frustrated, but thankfully the Marseille hid their faces, preventing the scene from becoming too awkward.

"Then what should we do?"

Unless he had no other choice, Justin did not want to resort to assassination.

If you struck first, you could not blame others for striking back harder.

It was not as if other people could not afford professional assassins.

Justin usually just spent money funding Stark's enemies.

"Her!"

Obadiah took out a photograph. "Do you know who she is?"

"Of course I do. Virginia Pepper Potts—Tony Stark's assistant."

At the mention of Potts, Justin gritted his teeth slightly. He had dealt with Pepper many times, and an occasional remark from that blonde girl could leave him too choked up to eat. "So?"

"Haha." Obadiah laughed loudly. "No one might believe it if I said it, but Pepper is Stark's weakness—his greatest weakness. Hahaha... A playboy actually developed genuine feelings for a woman. How laughable, how pathetic!"

"Are you sure?"

"I'm sure. Stark values Pepper more than his own life. I know that with Qing Chu clarity. Unfortunately, I realized it a little late, but late is better than never." Obadiah felt that he had found the key to solving the problem.

"So you want to kidnap Pepper?"

"No, you do." Obadiah said, "You make the move. I'm a wanted criminal, after all. It's inconvenient for me."

After a moment of silence, Justin was tempted. But as a Ming-minded businessman, he always wanted to secure more benefits for himself.

"What would I gain from doing this? Stark Group is Hammer Industries' biggest competitor. Closing the weapons division should benefit me. Thanks to Stark, Hammer Industries' stock has risen considerably."

"Heh." Obadiah laughed. "Let me tell you the truth: once I take over Stark Group... no, Stane Group, I will immediately restore the weapons division and expand it, continuing to compete with Hammer Industries for market share. Are you afraid of competing with me?"

Justin smiled to himself. Afraid of what, exactly?

Obadiah said darkly, "Ming Ming, I am clearly Stark Group's co-founder. I will take back everything that belongs to me."

Justin mocked him inwardly. You were just Howard Stark's lackey. He only pitied you enough to give you the title of co-founder. Otherwise, why wasn't it called Stark & Stane Group?

In truth, how many shares did Stane even own? After Howard died in a car accident, Obadiah took over Stark Group until Tony turned twenty-one. Could Obadiah really have relinquished his position willingly back then?

Obadiah had always comforted himself: "Tony Stark is a hen that lays golden eggs. His existence benefits the Group's development, while I am the true emperor behind the Group."

That self-deceptive mindset persisted until recently. Obadiah felt everything gradually slipping out of his control, which was why he had decided to physically eliminate Stark.

Obadiah continued, "Think about how Stark humiliated you in public. Can you really swallow that insult? Compared to that, what is money?"