Tony spoke as he watched Kingpin's reaction, but Kingpin remained utterly impassive.
"I can get weapons myself. I don't have to work with you. If that's all you're offering, you haven't convinced me."
Kingpin met Tony's gaze and shook his head, making his dissatisfaction with the offer clear.
Tony raised an eyebrow.
"Really?"
"You can get the military's latest weapons, too?"
"You can get rockets, tanks, and missiles?"
"You can get cutting-edge equipment straight out of military laboratories?"
Tony fired off a string of questions, and Kingpin's impassive expression finally changed.
"What are you planning?"
He had thought Tony wanted to offer him conventional weapons in exchange for his cooperation. He wasn't some rebel leader, and he didn't need that many weapons.
But judging by Tony's tone, he intended to supply him with advanced, state-of-the-art weaponry.
The military kept those things under strict lock and key. No matter how powerful he was, he couldn't get his hands on them without special connections.
So, despite his earlier indifference, he finally began to take the conversation seriously.
Seeing his reaction, Tony smiled and tilted his head from side to side. "I'll supply the weapons, and you'll supply information on certain people."
"Of course, if you can deliver those people directly to me, I won't mind that, either."
"What people?" Kingpin pressed.
"People with special abilities. You'll be dealing with them a lot in the future. You'll understand when the time comes."
Tony didn't spell it out, but he believed Kingpin would understand what he meant once he encountered those people.
Kingpin asked no further questions and instead sank into thought.
Tony's terms were simple for him to fulfill-almost too simple.
Had the offer involved something else, Kingpin might not have agreed to cooperate. Who knew whether Tony had some greater scheme in mind?
But access to cutting-edge weapons was too rare an opportunity for him to pass up. After weighing it over and over, he finally agreed to cooperate.
Kingpin had also considered forcing Tony's hand through other means, but he quickly discarded the idea.
Stark Industries was a giant in the defense industry, with immense influence in the United States. If he made a move against Tony, he would truly have nowhere left to hide in the country. Forcing Tony to cooperate through other means simply wasn't realistic.
With Kingpin's agreement, the two formally struck a deal. Tony didn't linger and promptly took his leave.
The bait had been laid. Now all he had to do was wait for those superheroes to bite. At last, he could stop running all over the place and enjoy his life.
That night, Tony invited a whole crowd of Hollywood actresses to a party and began living the life of a tycoon.
While Tony enjoyed himself, elsewhere, inside an agency called the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division, Alexander Pierce was studying Tony's file.
It included information on Tony's disappearance and sudden return, as well as Obadiah's mysterious death.
Both incidents were shrouded in mystery and had piqued Pierce's interest.
Just then, someone knocked on the office door, and a stunning woman walked in.
With long, wavy hair and a black leather outfit, she looked seductive and captivating.
"Director, you wanted to see me?" the woman asked.
Pierce answered at once, "Natasha, you're just in time. I need you to investigate something. Here's the target's file."
He pushed the file across his desk toward Natasha.
Natasha quickly lowered her head to read it, and silence settled over the office.
Soon, Natasha finished reading, a flicker of curiosity crossing her eyes. "Tony Stark? What did that playboy do to warrant an investigation from us?"
With him appearing so frequently in entertainment headlines, it would have been difficult for Natasha not to know who he was.
That was precisely why she found it strange.
He was just a playboy. Wealthy, certainly, but surely not worth their attention.
Faced with Natasha's confusion, Pierce wasted no words and handed her the documents he was holding.
"That playboy certainly wasn't worth our attention before, but things may be different now."
"Not long ago, he disappeared in the desert. Before anyone could rescue him, he came back on his own. After his return, Obadiah, the second-in-command at Stark Industries, disappeared."
"The FBI has already examined the scene. Apart from traces of blood left behind, they found nothing."
"What's more, on the very day Obadiah disappeared, the ownership of Stark Industries shares changed."
"Tony bought out the other shareholders, including Obadiah's holdings. He now controls ninety-eight percent of Stark Industries."
As Natasha read through the documents, Pierce continued explaining.
"So I have reason to suspect that Obadiah's disappearance is closely connected to Tony."
"It may even involve some mysterious power."
"Your mission is simple. Get close to him and find out what he's hiding, or what power is behind him."
With that, Pierce quietly waited for Natasha's response.
After quite a while, Natasha finally finished reading and spoke. "Understood. Leave this mission to me."
Natasha soon left the office. Pierce then took out his phone and dialed a number.
"I've already assigned someone to investigate. Keep him under close surveillance. Once we have results, move in and take him into custody."
"Yes, sir."
The person on the other end acknowledged the order, and Pierce hung up.
Once everything was done, his gaze settled on Tony's photograph, his expression turning contemplative.
While the various parties set their plans in motion, a bespectacled young man lay on the floor of a home somewhere in Brooklyn, his face contorted as his body convulsed.
His name was Peter Parker, and he was a university student. While visiting an exhibition at a biology museum that day, he had accidentally been bitten by a spider. After returning home, he had ended up like this, and no one yet knew what was happening. The night soon passed, and when the sun rose the next morning, Tony woke up amid a bevy of beauties.
Looking at the disheveled bed, Tony stretched, his face full of satisfaction.
He went downstairs in his pajamas and found Potts sitting stiffly on the living room sofa, her expression icy.
At the sight of her, a flicker of embarrassment crossed Tony's face, only to vanish an instant later.
"Hey, Potts. What brings you here?"
Potts glanced at Tony in his pajamas and answered coldly, "The share purchases are almost complete. I came to ask when you plan to hold a press conference and announce your return to the public."
"Also, the tax authorities have invited you in for a chat. They want to discuss taking the company private."
Her voice brimmed with resentment.
I work myself to the bone for this bastard, and here he is, drinking and fooling around with women. It's infuriating!
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