Press Conference

Meng Zu had nothing to do, so he stayed home playing video games until 11:00 p.m. before going to bed. Unexpectedly, at two in the morning, while he was asleep, he was suddenly awakened by banging sounds coming from the neighbors next door. At first, he did not pay much attention, but the noise grew louder and louder, accompanied by occasional gunshots.

Meng Zu tried covering his head with a pillow to block out the noise, but nearly twenty minutes passed and the banging continued. "Seriously, what are they doing in the middle of the night?"

Meng Zu got up, put on his pajamas, left his second-floor bedroom, and went to the neighboring house. Although the noise inside had stopped, he still knocked on the door. "Bang, bang, bang!"

After a while, a buzz-cut man with a bare upper body opened the door halfway and looked at Meng Zu. "What is it?"

Seeing that the man before him bore a slight resemblance to Brad Pitt, Meng Zu frowned. "John, can you two keep it down? I was sleeping, and you woke me up."

John said apologetically, "Sorry, there was a little problem."

"If the two of you have a problem, there's no need to use guns at home, right? Where's Jane? You didn't kill her, did you?" Meng Zu craned his neck to look inside.

"No, we were just playing around." John opened the door wider, revealing Jane, who was covering her chest with a bath towel.

Jane, whose face resembled Jolie's, greeted Meng Zu. "Good evening, Meng Zu."

Seeing the state they were in, Meng Zu immediately guessed that they had just engaged in some indescribable hand-to-hand combat. "Uh! Good evening, Jane. Could you two keep it down next time? Don't use guns. The sound is way too noticeable at night."

"Sorry, we'll be more careful."

"That's fine." Hearing footsteps, Meng Zu turned and saw John's other neighbors, the young married couple, approaching with the police. "Susan and Martin were woken up by you two as well, and they even brought the police. Looks like you'll need an excuse to send them away. I'm going back to sleep."

"Good night, Meng Zu."

"Good night, John, Jane."

Meng Zu ran into Martin and Susan head-on. Seeing that he had just come from John's door, they asked, "Meng Zu, did something happen to John and Jane?"

Meng Zu shrugged. "Uh! Nothing happened. They just got a little passionate and were a bit too wild. I'm going back to sleep. Good night."

"Good night."

Martin and Susan took the police to John's door to ask questions, while Meng Zu returned to his bedroom and continued sleeping.

When Meng Zu had first moved here, he had not known who his neighbors were. It was only when the surrounding neighbors came to visit that he discovered the people next door were actually Mr. and Mrs. Smith. Both of them were assassins. Meng Zu had encountered them during mercenary missions before, and he had fought both of them at first. Unfortunately for them, he had subdued them both. Since they were neighbors and had no conflicting missions, Meng Zu had not killed them.

That was how Meng Zu and the Smiths learned each other's identities. After getting to know them better, he discovered that the husband and wife had both been hiding the fact that they were assassins from each other. Meng Zu found them quite bizarre. They asked him not to reveal their identities to one another. Meng Zu still remembered the movie Mr. & Mrs. Smith somewhat. He remembered that the two had hidden their identities from each other in the film, though they eventually discovered the truth anyway. Since they would find out eventually, Meng Zu agreed to their request and did not expose either of them.

However, judging from the commotion tonight, they had probably already discovered each other's identities. Meng Zu had no idea how they had resolved the matter, but it had nothing to do with him. He had no conflict with them, so he might as well keep sleeping. If they had not made such a huge racket and woken him up, Meng Zu would never have gone over to ask.

At ten in the morning, Meng Zu arrived at the company. The moment he entered, Yang Hai complained to him angrily, "Yesterday, you told me to watch the news about Tony Stark. Last night, the media reported that as soon as that guy came back yesterday at noon, he announced he was shutting down Stark Industries' weapons manufacturing division. Did terrorists knock the sense out of him? What is an arms company supposed to live on if it doesn't sell weapons?"

Seeing Yang Hai like this, Meng Zu could not help asking, "What, did you buy Stark Industries stock?"

"Yeah. Stark Industries stock had been rising the whole time. Half a year ago, I used half my money to buy their stock. Now I'm going bankrupt." Yang Hai slumped on the sofa listlessly.

Meng Zu patted Yang Hai on the shoulder and smiled. "You're exaggerating. Come on, it's only half your money. Hurry up and sell the stock."

"Early this morning, I went to the securities exchange to sell my Stark Industries shares. Who knew everyone was selling? No one was buying at all. Stark Industries stock has already dropped twenty-five points."

Meng Zu did not know much about the stock market, nor did he trade stocks himself, so he comforted him. "In that case, don't sell. Just hold onto them."

Yang Hai smiled helplessly. "Brother Zu, I can't hold onto them. Stark Industries stock is only starting to fall. The longer this goes on, the further it'll fall, and the more money I'll lose. Unless he reopens the weapons manufacturing division, Stark Industries stock won't rise again. I should have sold my shares on the day the media announced Tony Stark had gone missing."

Meng Zu sat beside Yang Hai, put an arm around his shoulders, and said, "Xiao Hai, listen to me. Stark Industries stock will definitely rise. It's only a matter of time. If you really don't want those shares, sell them to me."

Yang Hai looked at Meng Zu in confusion. "Brother Zu, I remember you never trade stocks. Why are you so sure Stark Industries stock will rise? If I really sell them to you, you'll lose money."

"Because he's Tony Stark. He's a genius. Even if he stops selling weapons, he'll definitely invent something else important." Meng Zu pointed at Tony Stark, who had appeared on television.

Seeing that Yang Hai still wanted to say something, Meng Zu cut him off. "All right, trust me. My total assets are eighty-three million dollars right now. I don't understand stocks very well, so help me open an account. I'll give you seventy million dollars. Keep an eye on Stark Industries stock for me, and when it hits bottom, use all seventy million to buy Stark Industries shares."

Yang Hai said in shock, "Brother Zu, are you serious?"

"Of course. Everyone selling Stark Industries stock right now will regret it in the future."

Hearing Meng Zu speak so confidently, Yang Hai could not help wavering. He immediately thought of something and asked, "Brother Zu, you saved Tony Stark. Did he give you some insider information?"

Meng Zu said nothing and merely smiled at him. Seeing that expression, Yang Hai, who knew Meng Zu well, decided not to sell his Stark Industries stock. He even planned to buy more once the price hit bottom.

Meng Zu looked at the replay of Tony Stark's press conference on television. Tony Stark sat on the floor, took a bite of a hamburger, and said to the reporters, "I didn't get to see my father one last time. Actually, I really wanted to ask him what he thought about producing weapons. Did he ever feel conflicted? Did he ever hesitate? Did he ever have doubts deep in his heart? Or was he really the tough guy every media outlet described?"

"I saw with my own eyes those young soldiers being killed while protecting me. They died because of weapons I made, weapons that were meant to protect them. They died, yet no one took responsibility for it. Not only that, I realized I had become part of this system, and I had grown comfortable with not taking responsibility."

"Mr. Stark," a reporter below raised his hand and called out.

Tony Stark pointed at one of the reporters. "Ben, you speak."

"What exactly happened to you over there?"

Tony Stark did not answer the question. Instead, he stood up and walked to the podium. "I've completely woken up. I realized that what I should do for this world is contribute more, instead of merely making weapons that explode. So I have decided to shut down Stark Industries' weapons manufacturing division, effective immediately, until the day I determine what kind of future this company should have, what direction it should take, and make it a company that satisfies me—a company devoted to the highest interests of this country and this world."

After watching Tony Stark's press conference, Meng Zu smiled. It seemed that even though he had changed the future a little, and even though Ethan had not died, Iron Man was still destined to be born.