The hearing was heated from the start.
Tony Stark was arguing with Senator Stern, and the sparks between them were about to become reality.
"You have been deceiving yourself and the citizens! Your iron armor is a weapon!" Although Congressman Stern still had a smile on his face, the veins on his forehead were throbbing faintly.
"Whatever you say. As its creator, I define it as a high-tech prosthetic limb. I will not tolerate any questions or rebuttals." Tony Stark said calmly, "Instead of arguing about this, if you are truly acting in the interests of the citizens, then the first thing you need to do is..."
"It's to hand over your Iron Suit!"
Congressman Stern's words brought a moment of silence to the hearing room.
"Oh my god! Look at what horrifying words came out of this congressman's mouth!" Tony Stark jumped up from his seat in surprise. He opened his arms and turned to look at the group of distinguished people sitting behind him. Then he turned back and looked at Congressman Stern with cold sweat on his forehead. "Private property is sacred and inviolable. I don't think you have the right to ask me to do this, Congressman! If you had the right to do this, you could make me lose Stark Industries with just a word. You could also deprive my friends behind me of all their wealth with just a word."
"I didn't!" Senator Stern saw the silent gazes on him, and cold sweat broke out on his forehead. He shouted at the top of his lungs to stop Stark from continuing to accuse him. This kind of thing was not something that could be said in public. If he dared to admit it, the hearing would be over, and he would be in big trouble.
"You have!" Tony replied firmly.
"I don't want to argue with you..."
"Actually, I don't want to argue with you!" Tony Stark interrupted Senator Stern forcefully. "Technology can help people live better lives, creating more jobs, more new products, and more profits! Especially with the advent of the new energy era, none of us should be fixated on this planet anymore."
"What do you mean?" Senator Stern was caught off guard by Tony Stark's turn of events.
"My partner, a genius who's about to turn twenty-one and the founder of a high-tech company with a market capitalization of hundreds of billions, told me something I really agree with. The future belongs to the stars!" Tony Stark declared loudly, "We have countless resources outside of us. We can use them to eliminate resource disputes in the world for decades! We can also make people's lives better, create more job demand, and a large number of new wealthy people who will seize the opportunity to rise to the top!"
"Mr. Stark, Mr. Stark, please don't change the subject!" Congressman Stern angrily slammed the table with a hammer, and the wooden handle of the hammer looked like it would be broken in the next second.
"Stark Industries and Heberon are about to complete projects such as the space elevator, and a new world is just around the corner! I may not be able to make the world more peaceful by myself, but Luke and I are working hard to make it a better place! Who is working for the better of the world and its citizens? Is it the congressman on the stage who talks about weapons all the time but never about war?" Tony Stark pointed at the gloomy-faced Congressman Stern on the stage, turned his finger, and pointed at himself and Luke and Ina who were sitting behind him.
"Or is it Stark and Hebron Industries, who are dedicated to providing citizens and businesses with cheaper energy, more jobs, more cooperation, more money, and more opportunities?"
Tony Stark's words spread outwards through the cameras in the conference hall.
"Mr. Congressman, as someone who governs this country, you don't even have the foresight and vision of a child. If all the congressmen are like you, then I have no hope for the future."
Senator Stern, enraged by Tony Stark's venomous tongue, breathed heavily on the stage. His mind was momentarily at a loss as to what to do. According to procedure, he should have summoned helpers, such as Justin Hammer of Hammer Industries and Air Force Colonel James Rhodes, to deliver the final blow to Tony Stark, leaving him with no chance of a comeback.
But now, watching the scattered chatter from the audience, Tony Stark's smug face, and the occasional raised thumbs-up from the crowd, he understood clearly that calling Justin Hammer and James Rhodes out was now meaningless. The atmosphere and the public's focus had shifted from the question of whether the Iron Man suit was a weapon to the grand vision of Tony's space program.
So what if Tony Stark was nailed to the Iron Man suit?
The public won't care or pay attention to these things at all.
They successfully held the hearing, but before they could even use their trump card, they were completely defeated.
Many of them may not care much about whether the Iron Man suit is a weapon or a high-tech prosthesis.
But they will definitely care and pay attention to whether they can participate in the future described by Tony Stark and get a piece of the pie!
Stark has no shortage of official connections.
Citizens' will should now also lean towards Stark.
Furthermore, the hearing, which had been so hard to get off to a bad start, had previously been full of ambition, with Senator Stern only wanting to raise his middle finger, spit in Tony Stark's damn face, and curse him out before everyone.
In this situation, the hearing naturally did not need to continue. A triumphant Tony Stark flashed his famous victory sign to everyone and left the venue surrounded by people.
Things seem to be resolved.
But the information revealed by Tony Stark at the hearing became the headlines in the following days.
Countless netizens expressed their opinions online, demanding that Tony Stark and Luke quickly implement the project. Related companies also sent invitations to meet with Stark and Hyperion Industries, hoping to secure a partnership before everyone else. Officials, uncharacteristically silent, fell silent. While some still held on to the Iron Man suit, no one mentioned it anymore.
It was in this situation that Luke and Tony Stark each received an invitation to a cocktail party.
An invitation to a cocktail party hosted by Dario Aguer, the head of Roxxon Oil.