Monte Carlo, scene of an impromptu press conference.
The makeshift stage was surrounded by dozens of cameras, flashes going off incessantly. The reporters were all incredibly excited, practically shoving their microphones in Tony's face. After all, just eight hours earlier, a madman wielding Electric Whip had stormed onto the track, smashed several multi-million dollar race cars into scrap metal, and nearly cremated the head of Stark Industries on the spot.
Tony stood on the stage, sunglasses obscuring half his face, impeccably dressed in a suit, a signature smug smile playing on his lips. He looked nothing like someone who had just experienced a life-or-death race. He raised his hand and gestured for silence from the audience.
"Alright, alright, I know you have a lot of questions. Let's take it one at a time, don't rush, I'm not in a hurry today."
A blonde female reporter in the front row was the first to grab the microphone. " Mr. Stark! Who was that person who attacked you on the track just now? Why did he attack you?"
Tony tilted his head. "That's a good question. That man's name is Ivan Vanko, the son of the former Soviet physicist Anton Vanko. His father used to work with my father Howard Stark, but they parted ways for some reason. Ivan obviously feels that I should be held responsible." He paused, his tone becoming more serious. "I can understand his anger. But I cannot accept him venting his anger at the lives of innocent spectators. Today, besides him and me, there were twenty drivers, hundreds of staff members, and tens of thousands of spectators at the race."
Another reporter chimed in, " Mr. Stark! How is Ivan Vanko doing? Reports say his injuries are serious, and he's paralyzed!"
Tony removed his sunglasses, revealing eyes that held just the right amount of weariness. "Yes, he's badly injured. Our security personnel had to use considerable force to subdue him, after all, those two Electric Whip he had—" He tilted his head, sighed, and continued, "Could split a race car in two. Ivan Vanko is currently receiving top-notch treatment at the hospital, and I've arranged for Stark Industries ' medical team to cover all his medical expenses."
A murmur rippled through the audience. Several reporters, who had prepared a host of pointed questions, exchanged glances, their pens pausing in their hands.
After the murmurs subsided, Tony continued, his tone now more earnest. "I know you'll ask, why not hand him over to the police? My answer is: this man is ruined. He can never stand up again. What's the point of putting him in jail? So today I'm announcing that Stark Industries will establish a charitable fund called 'Rebirth,' specifically to help people like Ivan Vanko, who are blinded by hatred, to receive treatment and psychological counseling, and to help them break free from their incorrect psychological values as soon as possible."
He pulled a piece of paper from his inside suit pocket and unfolded it. It was the first page of a foundation's bylaws, densely covered with clauses. Flashbulbs went off again, all the cameras were pointed at the document, and several financial reporters were already frantically taking notes.
" Stark Industries will initially donate five million dollars as seed funding. The foundation's mission is to give everyone blinded by hatred a second chance." He put away the documents, put his sunglasses back on, and his tone returned to its usual ease. "After all, one less person in the world who wants to kill me is a good thing for everyone. What do you think?"
A burst of laughter erupted from the audience, followed by enthusiastic applause. The flashbulbs continued to pop, and the reporters' expressions shifted from initial excitement to a look of convinced admiration. Several reporters who had initially intended to press the issue quietly put their recording pens back in their pockets.
Tony left the stage to the applause and turned to walk down the side steps.
Happy was already waiting at the entrance of the passage. He had rushed to Morocco after receiving Tony's message, and was now holding a tablet filled with real-time news updates from various media outlets during the press conference. The headlines were increasingly positive: " Iron Man Repays Evil with Kindness by Establishing the Rebirth Foundation," " Stark Shows Philanthropic Demeanor," "Paralyzed Attacker Receives Free Medical Care." Tony glanced at the tablet, a smirk playing on his lips, but said nothing and continued walking. After turning the corner of the passage, he suddenly stopped.
Lin Xiao leaned against the wall, hands in his pockets, a lollipop dangling from his mouth, looking at him with an extremely loving gaze. How to describe that gaze? It was like that of an old father seeing his good-for-nothing son finally get first place in the class, filled with both relief and pride.
"Great, Tony." Lin Xiao took the lollipop out of his mouth and gave him a thumbs up. " Rebirth Foundation," "Second Chance," and someone will take care of him for the rest of his life, 24-hour personal care—tsk tsk—you played your hand brilliantly. The care is genuine, but you also conveniently monitored him, thoroughly investigated his background, and silenced all the reporters. A triple win, you're something else."
Tony took off his sunglasses, his expression incredibly interesting. "Are you praising me or insulting me?"
"I'm pleased with you." Lin Xiao straightened up, patted Tony on the shoulder with just the right amount of force—enough to make Tony's shoulder sink half an inch. "You've finally learned how to be a proper capitalist. I'm very pleased."
Tony slapped his hand away, unable to suppress a laugh, but then realized something was off and straightened his face again. "Don't give me that. Every time you praise me like that, it's never good."
"Really, nothing this time." Lin Xiao pulled two things out of his suitcase and waved them in front of him. "I just brought you some local specialties."
Those were Ivan Vanko's two Electric Whip. Lin Xiao was holding them in his hands at the moment, the whips still emitting faint blue-white arcs of electricity, the crackling sound particularly jarring in the narrow passage. Lin Xiao twirled one of the whips like a pen, the electric arcs drawing circles of blue light in the air, illuminating the bright smile on his face.
"This thing is fun. I played with it for a while while you were in the meeting. I discovered it has three power settings and can also be used as a stun gun. You know, that Ivan is quite the genius, using such a thick cable, wrapped around it several times. It must have taken a lot of effort." He pressed a button on the whip handle, and the electric arc power suddenly increased, making the whole whip as bright as a fluorescent light tube. "See? It can even be adjusted. I'm planning to hang it in the lobby on the first floor of Stark Tower as a decoration. What do you think?"
Tony took a half step back, his expression extremely complicated. "... Didn't you just say you had something important to discuss?"
"Right, right, business." Lin Xiao wrapped the whip around his waist, the electric arc crackling a few times before he casually extinguished it. He leaned against the wall, picked up his lollipop again, and his tone shifted from nonchalant to semi-serious, "You've taken care of Ivan Vanko, but the people behind him are still alive and kicking. Do you know who it is?"
Tony leaned against the opposite wall, arms crossed, his expression slightly less serious. "It's Justin Hammer. I've never gotten along with him. JARVIS just found out. His employment records, financial statements, and the guarantor information Ivan filled out when he entered the country all point to Hammer Industries. The repair area Ivan went into is Hammer Industries ' exclusive repair station. That underground passage was also opened for him by Justin Hammer people."
So what do you plan to do?
Tony remained silent for a while, then his shoulders slumped slightly. "It's not easy. He's a legitimate businessman with a lobbying team and contracts with the Department of Department of Defense. I don't want to mess with him, and he shouldn't mess with me either. That's my bottom line."
Lin Xiao tilted his head, scrutinizing Tony, then slowly smiled. How to put it... Tony was all too familiar with that smile. Every time Lin Xiao showed that smile, it meant what he was about to say was anything but mildly sarcastic.
"It's not good to act openly, so let's lure him out. He wants to kill you, which means he's desperate. A desperate person will pounce on you if you give him a bone." Lin Xiao took the lollipop out of his mouth and pointed the stick at Tony. "I remember you also had the Mark I Blueprint. You said it was your life's work. Send the complete set of Mark I blueprints to Justin Hammer tomorrow."
Tony's expression shifted in a split second, from confusion to shock to rage. "Send it to whom? Are you crazy? That's armor I spent ages building, and you want me to give it to some arms dealer?!"
"It's not a gift, it's a bait." Lin Xiao held up one finger, his smile unwavering. "Think about it, you could have modified the drawings you gave him yourself."
"Change it?" Tony's voice rose a half octave. "How? Give him fake blueprints? He's the CEO of a military-industrial company, with hundreds of engineers under him. He can spot a fake blueprint in five minutes!"
"Who said I gave him fake blueprints? Really, everything's real. The propulsion system is real, the weapon system is real, the flight stability system is real too. You only need to change two minor things." Lin Xiao raised a second finger, the corner of his mouth curving deeper and deeper. "First, lower the overload threshold of the energy shield by 30%. Second, streamline the heat dissipation module of the thrusters."
Tony paused. He leaned against the wall, tapped his fingers twice on his arm, and his furrowed brow slowly shifted from anger to thoughtfulness, then from thoughtfulness to a Stark smirk that Lin Xiao knew all too well.
"Lower the overload threshold, the thrusters aren't cooling properly." He muttered these words to himself. "Then the mechs he builds will overload their energy shields after firing a few shots, and their engines will overheat and shut down after flying for a few minutes."
"Yeah, right." Lin Xiao shrugged, his tone nonchalant. "You build him a tin turtle, he drives one to bite you, you slap it flat, the whole world's watching, that's self-defense. By the way, he was watching the live stream when Ivan attacked you, his expression was priceless—you didn't see it, but I did."
Tony leaned against the wall, his fingers tapping faster and faster on his arm. After about ten seconds, he suddenly stood up, paced back and forth in the narrow passage twice, then stopped, turned to look at Lin Xiao, and a wicked smile fully bloomed on his lips.
"This has to be done in Ivan's name," he said, his speech a beat faster than usual, clearly his mind was racing. " Ivan is in my hands now. I have his private email, encrypted communication channels, and the In-Betweener he used to contact Justin Hammer. I'll make Justin Hammer think Ivan is still alive, secretly sending out the blueprints to get revenge on me. He'll definitely take it. Not only will he take it, he'll be so happy he won't be able to sleep, thinking he's gotten a huge bargain."
Lin Xiao nodded in satisfaction, put the lollipop back in his mouth, and said in his usual lazy tone, "By the way, if you can't handle this by yourself, you can think about bribing the people around Justin Hammer. You capitalists are better at poaching talent and using coercion than I am."
Tony snorted but didn't argue. He leaned back against the wall, tapping his fingers on his arm again, this time faster, like he was typing Morse code. Lin Xiao knew he was planning how to carry out the plan, so he didn't disturb him and just leaned against him eating a lollipop.
After a while, Tony suddenly stopped what he was doing and turned to look at Lin Xiao. His expression was no longer the excited, mischievous grin from before, but a quieter one, with something indescribable.
"Do you have a grudge against Justin Hammer?"
"No grudge." Lin Xiao crunched his lollipop loudly. "But he blocked my way and messed up my people. Besides, my team— Peter, Gwen Stacy, Ned —has been training for so long, they deserve a chance to shine, right? That old bastard Justin Hammer jumped out and caused trouble, so we all went out in and resolved the issue in front of the whole world. Didn't that solidify our position?"
Tony raised an eyebrow. "Are you so sure Justin Hammer will cause trouble?"
"Yes." Lin Xiao tilted his head, looking at Tony with an all-knowing gaze. "Think about it, all those metal shells he'll build, someone has to open them. He'll release them all, smash the streets of New York to pieces, then Peter smear them with sand, Gwen Stacy will wrap them up like mummies with spider webs, and you'll bombard them from the sky while I cheer from behind—just imagine how explosive that scene would be."
Tony was silent for a moment, then let out a short laugh. The laugh was brief, carrying a hint of helplessness at being amused, and a resignation of "how did I end up on this pirate ship?"
"Your division of labor in this plan is quite reasonable," he said. "You're just cheering from behind. Aren't you really planning to make a move?"
"If I intervene, wouldn't that be bullying the child?" Lin Xiao nodded confidently.
Tony's lips twitched, he closed his eyes, and rubbed his temples. He rubbed for a while before putting his hand down and putting his sunglasses back on. Just as he was about to say something, Lin Xiao suddenly spoke up.
" Tony."
"What's wrong now?"
"Your reactor," Lin Xiao poked the blue-glowing spot on Tony's chest with his finger, not hard, but Tony still instinctively took a half-step back, "Is what's keeping you alive. Did you examine the vial of blood I gave you last time?"
Tony's expression changed slightly, then returned to normal. "Not yet. It just feels a bit strange; I'm not Dracula."
Lin Xiao was speechless for a moment, then sighed softly:
"Then keep thinking of ways. Go through everything your father left you. Don't always think you know everything; your dad is much smarter than you. There's definitely something he left that could save your life." Lin Xiao paused, his tone suddenly becoming extremely serious. "I'm still looking forward to having a blast at your birthday party."
Tony fell silent, something else appeared in his eyes, and he turned his head and softly murmured, "Hmm."
Lin Xiao heard this, and the corners of his mouth curled up again. He took out a White Rabbit Creamy Candy from his pocket, held it in his palm, and handed it to Tony.
"Have a candy, don't make a face. My candy diplomacy is famous now, even Coulson who's tried it raves about it. Storm even wanted to learn from me last time, but I didn't teach her."
Tony looked down at the candy; the wrapper was creamy white, with a picture of a white rabbit munching on a carrot. He stared at it for several seconds before reaching out and taking the candy.
"I'm not a child, that trick won't work on me." He unwrapped the candy, popped it into his mouth, chewed it a couple of times, and then muttered to himself, "... Too sweet."