Chapter 12: Obadiah! Press Conference!
In this era, Tony Stark was the key to traffic. Any news about him would generate unprecedented heat, as long as his name, Tony Stark, was mentioned. There was no need to worry about traffic. All reporters moved at the news, gathering at Stark Industries Tower, waiting for Tony Stark's arrival.
News had already spread online that Tony Stark had returned to New York and was preparing to hold a press conference at Stark Industries. As soon as this news came out, Stark Industries' stock began to rise! Martin looked at the news on his computer and looked upstairs with a surprised expression.
He hadn't expected it to be true, just as the young master had said, Tony Stark had returned! He immediately found the news channel that was already live streaming and began to wait for Tony Stark to appear. The moment Stark Industries' stock reached its peak, he would sell all of his shares.
On the other side, Obadiah Stane had also received the news. Upon learning that Tony Stark had returned to New York unharmed and was already on his way to Stark Industries, his face turned incredibly grim. He hadn't expected those damned Terrorists to fail to kill Tony Stark.
He even managed to escape, and Obadiah had already cursed the Terrorists' ancestors eighteen generations over in his heart. He got up and left his office, his face changing to another expression, a cheerful look with a hint of anticipation and surprise in his eyes, as if he was greatly looking forward to and surprised by Tony Stark's return.
Obadiah Stane was one of Stark Industries' veterans and had long intended to replace Tony. He had initially contacted the Terrorists, planning to use Tony's trip to Afghanistan as an opportunity to kill him. However, he failed to reach an agreement with the Terrorists, who did not kill Tony but instead made him manufacture missiles.
He was also Tony Stark's only remaining relative after his father, Howard, and mother passed away, despite having no blood relation. However, he was Tony Stark's life mentor and had always helped Tony Stark manage Stark Industries, while also helping Tony Stark clean up his messes and resolve some of the troubles and chaos he caused.
Soon, as the Rolls-Royce drove into Stark Industries, a large number of reporters and various government personnel had already gathered at the building's entrance. The reporters were there to interview Tony Stark about his kidnapping ordeal and so on, while government personnel wanted to ask Tony Stark how he escaped.
Among them was S.H.I.E.L.D. member Phil Coulson, following his Director's orders to investigate how Tony Stark escaped from the Terrorists. Of course, at this time, S.H.I.E.L.D. was not yet called S.H.I.E.L.D., but rather the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division.
Tony: "Hey, wait, can you interview me after I go inside? OK, OK, follow me!"
Obadiah: "Tony! Welcome back, you don't know how much we've lost at Stark Industries without you!"
Tony: "Alright, alright! Stan, we'll make it back soon!"
Reporter 1: "Mr. Stark, how did you escape from the Terrorists?"
Reporter 2: "Mr. Stark, were you rescued by the Military from the Terrorists?"
Reporter 3: "What are Stark Industries' next plans?"
...
After opening the car door, Tony was instantly blocked by a large number of reporters at the car door, and then Obadiah arrived with bodyguards to rescue Tony from the crowd of reporters. Then, with a smiling face, he hugged Tony and spoke. Tony casually took two hamburgers from a nearby bodyguard.
After taking a bite, he said to Obadiah, leading all the reporters into the Stark Industries Tower. Obadiah also followed behind with a smiling face, without a trace of dissatisfaction, as if his previous demeanor inside the Stark Industries Tower had never existed.
"Tony, do you have one for me? You have two, quick, give me one!"
"No, I don't. Really, trust me, there's only one, and I'm already eating it."
Obadiah even joked with Tony in good spirits. Facing Obadiah's request to eat his hamburger, Tony directly lied, saying he didn't have one. Obadiah looked at the second hamburger in his hand with a speechless expression and said nothing more, leading a group of people into the Stark Industries Tower.
They went directly into the Stark Industries Tower, walking to the prepared podium. Feeling a bit uncomfortable, Tony sat directly in front of the podium and asked all the reporters to sit down with him. However, they did not sit directly on the floor, but instead all squatted on the ground, pointing their cameras and microphones at Tony, waiting for his speech.
On the other side, Martin looked at Tony Stark on the screen. When he turned to look at Stark Industries' stock, he was very surprised, because as soon as Tony Stark appeared on camera, Stark Industries' stock began to rise sharply!
"You know, ever since my father, Howard Stark, we started manufacturing weapons to protect our country... This experience has made me realize that many people used to call me a warmonger, a butcher, and so on. So... I've decided, starting today, Stark Industries will close its weapons manufacturing department, permanently!"
Martin, who was watching the live news broadcast, was shocked by Tony Stark's words. After recovering, he immediately began to sell Stark Industries' stock, taking advantage of its current high value! After all the stock was sold, the original investment of 1.3 billion U.S. dollars had now become 3 billion U.S. dollars!
He earned a full 1.7 billion U.S. dollars, which even the experienced Martin couldn't help but marvel at. This was even faster money than robbing a bank; even the largest bank in America didn't have 1.7 billion U.S. dollars in cash!
"Hey, he's drunk! These are drunken words... This press conference ends here. For specific news, please refer to Stark Industries' official announcements!"
Obadiah was completely stunned when he heard about the closure of the weapons manufacturing department. He then rushed to Tony, pulled him aside, and told the reporters that everything Tony had just said was drunken nonsense, and that for specific news, they should refer to Stark Industries' official announcements.
Even Pepper looked at Tony with disbelief. Stark Industries' main project was manufacturing Military weapons. Now he was actually closing the weapons manufacturing department, wouldn't that be cutting off his own path? This greatly puzzled Pepper, but a hint of brilliance flashed in Ethan's eyes.
Obadiah pulled Tony to the underground research lab at Stark Industries, which was where the large Arc Reactor was stored. This large Arc Reactor was researched and manufactured by Tony's father, Howard Stark, and Anton Vanko.