Mike immediately picked up his phone, not caring if Stark's press conference had ended or not.
As soon as the call connected, Mike immediately started with an F and ended with a K, unleashing an American curse word, and then for the next ten-odd seconds, it was a full-blown verbal storm.
Forgive Mike's vocabulary, or perhaps the English cursing vocabulary is just limited, to the point that ten-odd seconds exhausted Mike's reserves, forcing him to stop and ponder if there were any missing expletives, or if he should just make do and cycle through them.
"Tsk, as expected, the foundation is still lacking. I remember watching a shrew curse on the streets of Tianchao back then; she could go on for over ten minutes without repeating herself." Mike felt ashamed.
Meanwhile, on the other end of the phone, Stark was stunned.
To let Mike know how dazzling he was right now and to personally experience the atmosphere, Stark, on a whim, turned on the speakerphone.
Who would have thought that what awaited him was a barrage of curses!
He felt wronged!
Taking advantage of the pause while Mike was searching for words, Colonel Rhodes, with quick eyes and hands, turned off the speakerphone, leaned over and said, "Sorry, no insurance." Then he pressed the end call button.
Everyone present was a media person; they weren't fools.
The scene, which had been boiling over with the phrase "I am Iron Man," suddenly seemed to hit a pause button.
The air solidified.
It was so quiet that one could hear breathing.
Everyone looked at each other, wondering if they were hallucinating.
About two seconds later, God pressed the play button.
"No way, no way, someone actually dared to cuss at Stark like that!"
"I can't believe my ears, but the cussing… it really pleased me."
"Second that, I also wanted to cuss a bit, but I'm afraid of Stark Industries' lawyers."
"Don't you think the buzz from this news won't be any less than 'I am Iron Man'?"
"Could it be that Stark provoked a married woman, and now the husband has come knocking?"
"I think it's a father whose daughter was seduced and abandoned by Stark, in extreme rage…"
"I've thought of the title: 'Mysterious Man Accuses Tony Stark at Press Conference, Could It Be Love Turned to Hate?'"
"Oh my God, in that short moment just now, a male version of 'Fifty Shades of Grey' exploded in my mind! My inspiration is flowing like a burst dam, I can't hold it back!"
"…"
Stark was on the verge of tears.
A grand show-off scene instantly turned into a comedic gossip scene.
Not serious at all.
And it was foreseeable that those sensational tabloids, given their character, would definitely make up stories without any integrity.
Stark almost fled the press conference in a state of disarray.
He immediately angrily dialed Mike's number.
The other party rejected the call.
Dial again!
The phone prompted that the other party had turned off their phone.
"Aargh!" Stark angrily threw his phone.
In the supermarket.
Mike calmly put his phone into his pocket, while Peter stood dumbfounded beside him.
"Boss, you, ah, Stark, you guys…" Peter was incoherent.
"What's wrong, can't speak properly? If you're sick, go get it treated quickly. You're young, don't let it become a chronic illness, or it'll be more troublesome when you're old. Look at you, it's bad enough you're homely, but you're also poor. Even if you luckily find a wife, a family of several people squeezed into a small apartment, the hallway is dark, and who knows what perverts live around you, tsk, just thinking about it makes life not worth living…" Mike, with a concerned face, cruelly delivered a million-ton spiritual blow.
"...Boss, you and Mr. Stark actually know each other, and your relationship is really good!" After taking a spiritual blow, Peter's stutter immediately cleared up.
This young man must be a masochist.
The press conference was broadcast live, and the vulgar words broadcast on TV were exactly the same as what Mike said on the phone. Peter was stunned for a moment, then immediately realized—the You-Know-Who who called Stark was his boss.
"We know each other, what's the problem?"
"That's Stark!"
"Tsk!" Mike rolled his eyes, "And, I'm cussing him out. From what bizarre angle did you conclude that I have a good relationship with him, young man? Forget it, I don't want to know, hurry up and clean, okay? There are potato chip crumbs everywhere."
Peter's heart was a bit broken. It was clearly the crumbs you spat out. Can a boss be so shameless, and can a worker be so easily bullied?
Facing the system, Mike also "complained" like this. However, when in the position of a boss, Mike became as dark as the system, showing that one's position absolutely dictates one's thoughts.
Mike lay down and continued watching TV.
After about an hour, the roar of a sports car came from outside the door.
Peter peeked out the door, then immediately puffed out his chest, sucked in his stomach, and lifted his hips, sweeping with a solemnity that had the air of a President's inauguration ceremony.
"Mike!" Stark burst through the door in a hurry.
"Not here!" Mike rolled over, "I'm his twin brother, Tom. Come back tomorrow if you have something."
Stark: "Are you insulting my intelligence?!"
"No!" Mike sat up and said helplessly, "I'm insulting your entire being, from head to toe, from body to spirit. There, satisfied? It was just a dozen seconds of cussing you out, come on, cuss me back, I'll lose if you even frown."
Stark frowned: "Something feels off."
Peter reminded him from the side: "Boss, you were on live broadcast. Now at least half of the World knows. Can it be the same?"
Oh my goodness!
He has an idol but no boss, actually selling out! You are such a Little Spider!
Stark glanced at Peter: "Young man, you have a future. Stark Industries has a… cleaner position suitable for you."
Mike: Pfft!
The legendary one-in-a-million cleaner material.
Peter: o(╯□╰)o.
Stark: "This grudge, I, Tony Stark, have noted. Jarvis, note it down, and remember to remind me when needed."
The latter part of the sentence was spoken to his phone.
"Understood." Jarvis's voice.
Using artificial intelligence to help "remember" grudges, that's ruthless!
"Now, I'd rather know the reason you suddenly started cussing. What did I do?"
"You don't know?"
"I can't figure it out." Stark was completely bewildered.
Presumably, the esteemed readers are also in the same boat.
Actually, it's simple to explain.
From the moment Stark said "I am Iron Man," the stock price of Stark Industries was bound to rise. For ordinary people, the Iron Man Suit was just cool and flashy. But for competitors, their sphincters tightened—a super weapon, it sells for money!
He said he was going to close the weapons division, yet in a blink of an eye, he developed such a powerful one. Regardless of what Stark thought, the outside World would definitely see it that way.
Stark Industries' stock price was bound to rebound strongly.
If Mike had been told in advance…
Now, only a fool would sell Stark Industries stock.
Mike's heart ached.
He felt like he had lost out on several hundred million.
He was careless; he hadn't expected that even without the series of events involving Iron Monger, Stark would still go down the path of "I am Iron Man."
Stark understood and laughed twice.
Seeing you so annoyed makes me happy.
In fact, Stark did have the idea of boosting the group's stock by doing this now.
The World of capitalism is cruel. No matter how much of a genius you are, no matter how close your relationship is with your father, if you cause other shareholders to lose money, even without Obadiah's connivance, other shareholders would unite to kick Stark out.
The pressure was mostly on Pepper, and Stark wanted to share Pepper's burden.
In addition—
After the kidnapping incident and witnessing Gomera's tragic state, Stark had things he wanted to do, but wearing a mask and secretly doing things didn't fit his style.
He might as well go public.
A high-profile, independent superhero was born.