Idiot!"
Inside the office.
Looking at the furious Senator Stern on the TV screen, who, just as the diary mentioned, had indeed cursed at Tony Stark.
Nick Fury couldn't help but scoff disdainfully.
This was a senator, a high-ranking politician!
Debating skills and the 'cultivation' of smiling outwardly while cursing inwardly should be basic skills.
But what was the result?
This senator was completely played by Tony Stark from beginning to end, making a fool of himself, truly like a clown.
His confrontation with Tony Stark was like a low-level monster in a novice village encountering a max-level player, completely out of his league.
Although he brought up Justin Hammer, Colonel Rhodes, and various other strong pieces of evidence.
But because his own skill was too shallow, all his moves were easily defused by Tony Stark, and he was utterly crushed.
If it was just that, it would be fine.
But then, "F**k you"?
And in front of so many military and political bigwigs and the media?
Damn it, even a rookie entering politics would know how to control their emotions better than this, right?
This kind of person, and you're telling me he's a senator?
At this moment.
Nick Fury also expressed deep agreement with Zhou Cheng's complaints in the diary.
Does HYDRA really have no entry requirements?
Do they really take just anyone?
Looking at that waste on the screen, with all his unwatchable performances, Nick Fury felt embarrassed for HYDRA.
"Trash!"
"This piece of garbage!"
"A sure thing was messed up like this!"
Nick Fury's guess was correct.
Alexander Pierce, in his top-floor office at the Triskelion, almost couldn't resist smashing the large screen in front of him.
He had even specifically issued orders to allocate some HYDRA-controlled resources to Stern to cooperate with Stern's hearing this time.
Otherwise, how could all those tactics aimed at Tony Stark have been prepared so smoothly?
Originally, in Pierce's view, this hearing should have been a sure thing, as it was indeed thoroughly prepared beforehand.
All aspects of the evidence were in place, giving them a significant advantage from a legal standpoint.
So the hearing itself wasn't the problem.
The real problem was the struggle behind the scenes after the hearing.
The military-industrial complex represented by Stark was not so easy to deal with; winning the hearing didn't mean winning completely.
If they won the hearing, it would only be the beginning.
Pierce's side had already made corresponding preparations to confront the military-industrial complex behind Stark and completely seize the Iron Man Armor.
But he had gone to all that trouble preparing so much, gathering all his strength for a big fight, only for Stern's side to completely collapse!
He even messed up the hearing.
Now, dealing with the military-industrial complex and everything else was just a pipe dream.
Stern simply didn't give him the chance!
"What a useless good-for-nothing!"
The more Alexander Pierce thought about it, the angrier he got, and he couldn't help but curse again.
However, after calming the anger in his chest, Pierce quickly regained his composure and began to think about the next course of action.
The complete defeat at the hearing virtually extinguished HYDRA's ambition to control the Iron Man Armor.
It was even nipped in the bud.
It was almost impossible for HYDRA to take the Iron Man Armor from Tony Stark again.
No matter how unwilling or angry Alexander Pierce was, he had to acknowledge this cruel reality.
The only consolation was that Nick Fury's side was quite effective, having actually found another person who controlled the Iron Man Armor technology!
So, for now, they could only focus on Ivan Vanko.
They missed Tony Stark's armor, but they absolutely could not miss Ivan Vanko's armor!
Alexander Pierce secretly made this decision in his heart.
"Alright, recess, recess!"
"I will serve this country for my own pleasure."
"I've discovered something: I am the most fun-loving person in the World!"
On the screen.
Tony Stark's voice continued, drawing Alexander Pierce's gaze.
Tony Stark had actually put on sunglasses, and as the subject of the hearing, he unilaterally announced its suspension.
He was even openly delivering a cool speech in the venue and shaking hands with his enthusiastic supporters.
The atmosphere on site was incredibly lively.
What hearing?
It was completely Tony Stark's personal press conference!
Alexander Pierce's face was incredibly dark.
"I love you all!"
"Mwah, mwah, mwah…"
Under Pierce's ugly gaze, the Playboy left a trail of flirty remarks and walked away amidst enthusiastic applause.
He was so dashing, so cool, as always.
"Welcome home, sir!"
"Congratulations on the successful opening ceremony, and the hearing too."
"And I must say, it was also refreshing to finally see a video of you wearing clothes on TV."
Back at the luxurious Villa.
The thoughtful AI Jarvis immediately sent warm greetings and blessings, and even teased his boss a little.
Because ever since the Playboy created the Iron Man Armor, news media had been showing videos of the Destroyer for a long time.
In other words, they weren't videos of Tony Stark wearing clothes, but videos of him wearing the armor.
"Haha."
Looking at the video of the hearing broadcast on the news projected by Jarvis, Tony Stark couldn't help but laugh contentedly.
He was very satisfied with his own performance.
"Crushing the hearing," yes, that summed it up perfectly, he had indeed outshone everyone.
"Jarvis!"
However, after a brief moment of triumph, Tony Stark's expression began to turn serious.
He had made a decision.
"That 'fat pig senator' who presided over the hearing, I want you to dig deep into him and find all his criminal evidence."
"It's impossible for someone in such a high position to have a clean record; I want you to find all those dirty dealings!"
"Begin!"
Tony Stark issued this command to Jarvis.
Normally.
Even if Stern specifically targeted him, Tony Stark wouldn't care, as the Playboy understood the rules of the World.
Once his Iron Man Armor came out, countless people would definitely covet it, and countless people would scheme for it.
This was unavoidable.
If not this senator, then another senator, it was no big deal.
This World was just like that.
Tony Stark wasn't so narrow-minded as to not understand this point, and certainly wouldn't take any immature actions because of such things.
But now?
The Playboy already knew his parents were killed by HYDRA!
And the person trying to snatch his Iron Man Armor was also HYDRA, so Tony Stark wouldn't let it go at that.
He was going to launch a strong counterattack!
"Sir, are you sure you want to do this?"
"It sounds like you have a very dangerous plan."
Jarvis's intelligence was still very high, and he began to seek and confirm the Playboy's opinion.
"Begin, I know what I'm doing!"
Tony Stark said to Jarvis without hesitation.
"As you wish, sir!"
Jarvis stopped talking nonsense and immediately began to search for information on Senator Stern, following Tony Stark's instructions.
Soon.
Some of Senator Stern's dirt, some criminal evidence, some records of bribery and corruption, some unsavory videos.
And so on and so forth.
These sensitive, dark things were immediately found by Jarvis.
"I never would have thought that this 'fat pig senator,' at such an old age, plays harder than I do."
Tony Stark quickly browsed through the dirt and couldn't help but sigh.
"Sir, what do you plan to do next?"
Jarvis asked Tony Stark for his opinion again.
This dirt was enough to put an ordinary person in prison for over ten years, but for a senator, it was far from enough.
The Playboy could be sure that if this dirt was sent to the police station or the FBI, there was a high probability it would fall on deaf ears.
The Playboy knew all too well the nature of those ordinary law enforcement agencies.
Even if Stern performed poorly at the hearing, he was still a senator, and couldn't be easily moved just by having some dirt on him.
Tony Stark wasn't that naive.
So.
What should be done with this dirt?
Tony Stark very naturally thought of two feasible methods.
First, release all this dirt to the public, making it widely known.
In this way, the interest groups behind Stern would only be able to make one decision.
Abandon Stern and distance themselves from him.
Stern would then be completely brought down by Tony Stark.
However, doing this was not without drawbacks; by breaking the rules of the game so extremely, the Playboy's future situation would likely become very difficult.
The upper classes would view the Playboy as a monster, after all, no one likes such a disruptor.
If Tony Stark could deal with a senator like this today, he could deal with any of them tomorrow!
This consequence, even the always lawless and cool Tony Stark, would have to weigh carefully.
And the second option.
That was to seek departments that were above ordinary law enforcement agencies like the police and FBI.
For example, S.H.I.E.L.D.!
Besides that, Tony Stark had another consideration: to use this guy Stern to remind S.H.I.E.L.D.
HYDRA still exists!
And they've even infiltrated your S.H.I.E.L.D.!
No matter what, this was an intelligence agency founded by his father.
Although Tony Stark usually felt indifferent, seeing S.H.I.E.L.D. in such a precarious situation, he still couldn't stand by.
He couldn't just watch his father's hard work be destroyed by HYDRA, could he?
So, considering all these factors, Tony Stark happily made a decision: hand over Stern's criminal evidence to S.H.I.E.L.D..
Of course.
Considering the situation where S.H.I.E.L.D. was full of HYDRA moles, Tony Stark didn't dare to contact anyone else.
Instead, he contacted Coulson, who had been verified by the diary.
This person was 'heroically sacrificed,' so he definitely wouldn't be HYDRA, right?
Why not contact Nick Fury directly?
Well.
Even for Tony Stark, Nick Fury's level was a bit too high.
However, this wasn't really a problem.
Because taking action against a senator, and according to the information provided by Tony Stark, there was even some extremely secret evidence showing that Stern was actually a HYDRA agent!
How could Coulson not report such a high-level matter to Nick Fury?
Almost immediately after receiving the relevant evidence from the Playboy, Coulson went straight to Nick Fury's office and reported everything to Nick Fury.
"All this evidence was provided to you by Stark?"
After reviewing the relevant evidence, Nick Fury couldn't help but look up and ask Coulson with his single eye.
It must be said, this matter really caught Nick Fury off guard.
Originally, after knowing that Stern was HYDRA, Nick Fury was still racking his brain on how to deal with the matter.
After all, there were so many HYDRA moles, and it wasn't difficult for Nick Fury to investigate Stern, but the challenge was how to investigate without alarming anyone.
How to investigate without leaking any information or tipping off HYDRA!
Knowing that HYDRA had infiltrated to a crazy extent, yet not knowing where they had infiltrated, made it difficult to achieve such a thing.
Even the Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. had to plan carefully.
But how could Nick Fury have imagined that at this critical moment, Tony Stark would give him such a big gift!
This was truly someone bringing a pillow when he was sleepy!
With these pieces of evidence from the Playboy, Nick Fury could now legitimately and openly investigate Stern.
It must be said, Tony Stark's assist was truly powerful.
Nick Fury couldn't have been more satisfied.
However, at the same time, Nick Fury couldn't help but have another question.
Why would Tony Stark suddenly investigate Stern?
Was it just because Stern wanted to take the Playboy's armor?
At first glance, it seemed so, but based on Nick Fury's understanding of Tony Stark, Nick Fury felt that a smart person like Tony Stark couldn't possibly act so recklessly.
This kind of reckless biting, without regard for the rules of the game, might provide temporary relief, but the resulting negative consequences could be very severe.
Nick Fury didn't believe Tony Stark couldn't see that.
So ~
A thought couldn't help but flash through Nick Fury's mind.
It seems very likely that Tony Stark is also a diary holder!
Thanks to Book Friend 08a for the reward!