Tony Stark received the news of Justin Hammer's release on bail almost immediately, but he didn't pay it much mind. At this moment, he was busy with a major undertaking—continuing his ex-girlfriend's research into A.I.M.'s Extremis virus.
"The survival rate of the previous batch of test mice has reached one hundred percent, sir. It is time to enter the next phase. The primates ordered from Africa have been delivered to the laboratory."
JARVIS reported the latest progress, and Tony flashed a brilliant smile. "Excellent. Once I become the Extremis Iron Man, Cap won't be able to use his martial arts skills to lecture me anymore."
"There is no evidence proving that the Extremis virus can enhance a person's combat skills, sir."
"I know. What I mean is that even without wearing the armor, it won't hurt as much, and I'll have the physical capacity to contend with a Super Soldier."
The reason Tony wanted to research making the Extremis virus safe and inject himself with it was, on one hand, because the intensity of current battles was growing higher and higher. Forget about Cap; even Tony found it difficult to rely solely on the technological advancement of his armor to deal with newly emerging enemies.
On the other hand, the development of micro-storage technology for nanobots had hit a standstill. The disparity in the sheer number of nanobots required to transition from clothing to a full Iron Man suit was too massive, which had drastically slowed the research progress.
Therefore, Tony decided to take an alternative route—if simple portable equipment couldn't carry enough nanobots, why couldn't he hide the nanobots inside his own body? Places like inside his bones, or within his muscles and blood vessels. Perhaps his current body couldn't achieve this, but that didn't mean he couldn't do it after completing the Extremis injection.
Thus, Tony threw himself into a state of selfless work. He didn't even pick up the phone when Rhodey called. After continuing to work for dozens of hours without eating or drinking, Tony slumped over his desk and fell asleep, only to be awakened by JARVIS's voice.
"Sir, Stark Industries' stock is experiencing severe volatility. Miss Potts is trying to contact you."
"Stock? What's wrong? Did it rise by another few percentage points?"
"Over the course of yesterday, Stark Industries' stock dropped by approximately 8.7%."
Tony froze, then quickly sat up from amidst a vast pile of scrap paper and computers, immediately asking, "Was April Fools' Day moved to September?"
"I am afraid it is related to the energy extraction agreement signed between the United States government and Svartalfheim."
Seeing that Tony was still in a daze, JARVIS continued to explain, "Svartalfheim is the realm of the Dark Elves. Its leader, Malekith, is an enemy of Thor. However, Svartalfheim has now been surveyed to possess oil reserves exceeding ten times those of Earth, and Roxxon Energy has taken the lead in helping them reach an exclusive energy extraction agreement with the United States."
"Stark Industries was put on the unfriendly enterprise list, right?"
"Yes, sir."
Tony pondered for a few seconds, saw the phone call Rhodey had placed earlier, and then stood up immediately. "Notify the Avengers. We have a problem."
About an hour later, inside the Avengers Tower, all the Avengers, including Black Panther, arrived through the newly installed Norn Stone teleportation device. Because Svartalfheim was involved, Thor, who had been offline for a long time, also came along.
Tony first stated the part of the matter he knew, then sat on the table and looked at everyone. "This is the current situation. Furthermore, Potts told me about an even more troublesome matter, which is that Roxxon has begun acquiring Stark Industries' retail shares. Without a doubt, they intend to enter Stark Industries and secure a foothold."
Although Tony Stark was the largest shareholder of Stark Industries, he had stepped away from company management for several years. He poured almost all his energy into his superhero career and spending his spare time creating a few new products for the company. Consequently, it was only after contacting Potts that he finally grasped the general situation.
Because a massive influx of petroleum energy was about to be imported, it had caused national, and possibly even global, energy prices to plummet. Furthermore, every energy company in the United States, except for Stark Industries, had the right to enter Svartalfheim to extract oil, causing the stock of Stark Industries, which currently focused heavily on clean energy, to plummet rapidly.
"There's no need to worry about Stark Industries going bankrupt or a change in equity. No matter how much they hype fossil fuels, it's still... it's still not clean energy. We just need to get environmental organizations to do some publicity, and Stark Industries will survive just fine. Nobody needs to worry about having no place to live tomorrow."
Of everyone present, only Cap looked at Tony and shook his head. Tony then brought up the next issue. "The ensuing problem is that the United States has now become the world's largest energy exporter. Leaving aside whether this will trigger the next oil crisis, just think about what America has done over the years. Could this matter develop to the point where, one day in the future, we might see American soldiers on the battlefields of Asgard?"
"If it comes to that situation, we would need to fight against the very country we live in—"
Cap thought about it for a moment, then nodded. It didn't seem like there was anything inherently wrong with that. It was just going to be highly troublesome, exceptionally troublesome.
"This is truly too despicable. This Roxxon..."
"He isn't named Roxxon," Peter interrupted Thor. "His company is called Roxxon; his name is Dario Agger. Guys, I have to mention something. Strange has also been keeping an eye on Roxxon lately because he discovered that Mephisto purchased a large amount of Roxxon stock, and these shares have now been dumped into the retail market. And stock is a type of contract; demons are most adept at manipulating contracts."
"And right now, Roxxon Energy's stock is experiencing a massive surge alongside this wave of news. What's more troublesome is that the current concept of stock isn't just a simple matter of a share or two."
Black Panther understood the concept behind all of this. "With the circulation of the stock, the entirety of Roxxon Energy's shares is in a state of... a demonic contract. This makes one feel all the more uneasy."
Everyone fell into silence, until Hulk made a sharp tearing sound as he ripped open a bag of potato chips. He then stuffed the chips into his mouth and asked a question, "Hulk thinks... bad guys and bad guys are not friends. They might not be working together."
Everyone looked toward Hulk, and then Tony flashed a smile.
"In other words, Mephisto and Roxxon are very likely two separate matters. We need to confirm this possibility. If it's true, then it becomes simple. Mephisto goes to Strange—Spidey, I'll leave the contacting to you. Roxxon goes to me. It's time for a business war."
As Tony spoke, he jumped down from the table. "A Roxxon-Stark war."
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