Coulson

After leaving, Meng Zu went to a real estate company in Queens. He had previously spent seventy million dollars on Stark Industries stock, leaving only thirteen million dollars in his bank account. To avoid being caught in another sudden attack, Meng Zu planned to buy a villa in Forest Hills, which was known for its safety.

With the real estate agent's introduction, Meng Zu quickly took a liking to a two-story detached villa. It had front and back yards, as well as a basement, and it was fairly spacious. The only issue was that it had no furniture, but that suited Meng Zu just fine. Even if the house had come furnished, he would not have kept any of it. He had the agent handle the furniture and all the miscellaneous matters as well.

"When can I move in at the earliest?"

"You can start arranging furniture in the rooms today, and you'll be able to move in tomorrow afternoon."

In the end, Meng Zu spent eight million dollars signing the purchase contract. By the time he returned home after handling everything, it was already past one o'clock. Since he planned to move, he needed to retrieve the Teleportation point marked in the basement and place it in the basement of his new home later. Not only that, but he also needed to sort through the things in his basement and hidden compartment to bring with him.

While Meng Zu slowly began packing after lunch, Tony was in his office discussing the upcoming press conference with Pepper. Tony and Obadiah's battle in the street last night had been witnessed by many people. Some eager bystanders had even filmed it and uploaded it online. The major newspapers immediately learned of the incident and worked overtime through the night to publish it.

Ever since Tony announced the closure of Stark Industries' weapons division, Stark Industries had been standing at the center of public scrutiny. Even the slightest news related to Stark Industries drew the attention of the general public.

S.H.I.E.L.D. naturally discovered that the newspapers already knew about the incident, so they provided them with an altered account in advance. The major television news programs that morning were also discussing it, and some people had even called him Iron Man. But the newspapers naturally would not believe that so easily. Many reporters were sent to Stark Industries early in the morning, hoping to personally ask Tony Stark about the truth behind the two robots fighting. Nick Fury knew Tony needed to respond to this himself, so he handed the matter over to Coulson.

The office door was pushed open, and Coulson entered with Colonel Rhodey. Coulson walked up to Tony and handed him a sheet of paper. "Tony, this is the statement we prepared for you. Just say it was a new product from your company that went rogue, and that the two people inside the armor were employees of your company."

Tony glanced at it without reaching out to take it. Instead, he looked at Pepper, who stood beside him. Pepper helplessly gave Coulson a smile. "Sorry, he doesn't like taking things people hand to him. Give it to me."

At three o'clock in the afternoon, it was time for the press conference. Tony and Pepper arrived at the venue, and Coulson stepped forward to remind Tony before he went onstage. "Tony, remember to read from the statement. We'll remove you from this incident, and things will settle down soon."

"I know." Tony nodded, then walked onto the podium.

"Good afternoon, everyone."

Tony stood on the podium with a relaxed expression and waved at the reporters from dozens of different media outlets below.

The reporters instantly became restless. Before Tony could continue, they began firing off questions about the humanoid robots, all wanting to know what had happened with the two machines.

Seeing the chaos below, Tony raised both hands to signal for quiet. Once they had settled down, he adjusted the microphone and looked at the reporters. "Welcome to this press conference. I'm sure everyone is curious about what happened with those two robots last night. Now, I'll tell you the truth."

Tony picked up the note in his hand and had only read two sentences when a reporter below interrupted him, saying no one would believe the official wording. Tony began arguing with the reporter.

Seeing this, Colonel Rhodey hurried over and whispered, "Tony, read from the statement."

"Okay."

Tony picked up the statement again, but after reading only a few words, he stopped. He looked at the crowd of reporters below and began to think, while Coulson immediately had a bad feeling.

Tony put down the note in his hand and looked at the reporters below. "The truth is, I am Iron Man."

Coulson and Rhodey sighed helplessly. Wanting Tony Stark to follow the plan properly had been asking too much.

The moment Tony said that, the reporters below erupted. They had assumed Tony would use some other excuse to cover up last night's events, but they never expected him to directly admit that he was one of the robots from yesterday.

After saying that, Tony stepped down from the stage to leave, but the reporters were unwilling to let him go so easily and crowded around him. However, with Happy the bodyguard blocking them, Tony left with Pepper. After urgently discussing matters with Coulson, Colonel Rhodey hurried onto the podium and began explaining the truth of the incident to the reporters.

By the time Meng Zu finished sorting through everything in the basement, night had fallen. As soon as he came upstairs, he noticed that quite a few people had surrounded his house, and there was someone in his living room.

Damn it! I need to move out sooner. Meng Zu cursed inwardly. A pistol instantly appeared in his hand, and he pressed himself against the wall as he slowly approached the living room.

The moment he entered the living room, he saw an acquaintance with a receding hairline that was practically breaking through the sky—Coulson—sitting on the sofa and watching television. The instant Meng Zu saw Coulson, he thought, Did Tony sell me out last night?

Meng Zu pretended not to know Coulson and pointed his gun at him. "Who are you?"

Though Meng Zu had a gun pointed at him, Coulson smiled without changing expression. "Hello, Mr. Meng Zu. Or should I call you Evan?"

Meng Zu said nothing and simply watched Coulson silently. "My name is Phil Coulson. I'm from the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division. I'd like to talk with you."

Meng Zu lowered his gun and asked Coulson, "An agent?"

"Yes."

"You really should change that name."

"We're considering it. A lot of people say that."

Meng Zu sat down and looked at Coulson. "All right, then. What do you want to talk about?"

"Take a look at this first." Coulson changed the television channel. Tony's press conference from earlier that day was playing on the screen.

After watching it, Meng Zu said calmly, "Wow. I didn't expect Tony Stark to be Iron Man. But why are you showing me this? It has nothing to do with me."

"Does it really have nothing to do with you? You were the one who froze Obadiah last night, weren't you?" Coulson spoke while observing Meng Zu's expression.

Meng Zu frowned. "I don't understand what you mean."

Seeing that Meng Zu refused to admit it, Coulson said, "According to our investigation, you were attacked by the Ten Rings last night. After dealing with them, you went to the Stark Industries campus. After Tony Stark and Obadiah returned there from their battle, you acted and froze Obadiah, then went home."

Meng Zu raised an eyebrow at Coulson. "Don't make accusations carelessly. Do you have evidence? Otherwise, I'll sue you for slander."

Coulson smiled. "Of course we do. We have video footage."

"What?"

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