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"Uh, sir, I'm sorry, that… sir, please listen to me."
Happy Hogan immediately panicked when he heard his position might be in jeopardy. After all, his eccentric boss was perfectly capable of doing something so absurd.
So he quickly turned his back, cupped his hand over the microphone, and deliberately lowered his voice to explain:
"Sir, I'm currently working overtime at the company… Uh, what I meant to say is, there was an emergency just now."
"Emergency?" Tony Stark's tone softened slightly, and he immediately quipped, "What kind of emergency? Did you harass a female intern?"
"No, no, no, sir, that's clearly in the past."
Seeing his past brought up, Happy Hogan quickly defended himself earnestly: "And that time it also involved you… Because when I told those new interns that I used to be Iron Man's personal bodyguard, do you know what their reaction was?"
"Those rookies actually dared to mock me!"
"I could only leave with my last shred of dignity. Now I have a real job, helping you and Pepper look after all of Stark Industries!"
Happy Hogan's voice was a little agitated, as if he was recounting his grievances.
"Alright, Happy, stop right there…"
Tony Stark didn't want to listen to him ramble on the phone, so he asked directly, "You said something happened just now, tell me now… What happened?"
Happy Hogan immediately reacted and reported, "Just a few minutes ago, three transport vehicles carrying chitauri scrap were accidentally hijacked. Two of them exploded on the spot and were completely destroyed, while the other was blown off the road and severely damaged…"
"So?"
Tony Stark on the other end of the phone frowned again, asking somewhat impatiently, "You're not bothering me just for this trivial matter, are you?"
"If you dare to say yes, then your position as Head of Security will be gone immediately!"
For Tony Stark, let alone three damaged transport vehicles, even three hundred or three thousand wouldn't make him bat an eye.
Because such a small amount of money and such a minor incident were not enough to make this billionaire devote even a tiny bit of his time and attention.
"Ahem, sir, please let me finish… After receiving the distress signal from the convoy, under my command, the company immediately dispatched a small team of Iron Legion to the scene of the incident."
Happy Hogan deliberately paused, trying to pique his boss's interest, "But guess what we saw there?"
Tony Stark on the other end of the phone rolled his eyes, indicating that he didn't want to talk at all… Oh no, he didn't want to deal with this drama queen.
Seeing that his boss on the other end of the phone didn't respond, Happy Hogan felt awkward, rubbed his nose, and very sensibly continued:
"Well, I guess I'll just tell you directly… It was a Spider-Person in a black and white battle suit!"
"Honestly, I didn't recognize him at first, but you know, I'm best at recognizing people…"
Happy Hogan had a hint of pride on his face, his expression as if to say there was no one in this World he couldn't recognize.
However, to hear less nonsense and get the answer quickly, Tony Stark on the other end of the phone sighed helplessly and had to play along with a hint of teasing: "Yes, you are indeed a prodigy in recognizing people!"
"That's true."
Happy Hogan shamelessly accepted the other party's words as praise for himself, not hearing the sarcasm in them at all.
The excitement on his face even grew stronger, and he continued: "So I looked up information on that Spider-Person, and guess what… The other party is actually Spider-Woman, who has been very popular on the internet recently!"
"Spider-Woman?!"
Tony Stark was first stunned by the news, then frowned, and asked somewhat confused, "Although I don't remember this strange fellow, has she had any conflicts with Stark Industries or Damage Control?"
As he spoke, he lightly tapped the table beside him with his hand, his eyes full of thought.
"Of course you wouldn't remember her. After all, from online speculation, she's probably just a little rookie around twenty years old, definitely not the kind of blonde bombshell you like!"
Happy Hogan smiled, his smile containing a hint of self-satisfaction, as if he had long known his boss's preferences.
Then, his tone became a little more serious as he said, "If that person only had this one identity, then I wouldn't have called you at a time like this… What's truly troublesome is her other identity."
"Hmm, another identity? What identity?" Tony Stark pressed, a faint sense of unease in his heart.
"That Spider-Woman officially announced not long ago that she had joined The Seven of the Vought Corporation."
Happy Hogan deliberately emphasized his tone, seemingly wanting Tony Stark to deeply realize the seriousness of the situation.
But then, as if afraid his boss wouldn't remember what The Seven was, he quickly added, "That is to say, that little Spider is now a teammate of the reckless Homelander…"
"And according to the video footage sent back from the scene, she took out two of our Iron robots as soon as she made a move."
"Happy, send me that video." Tony Stark on the other end of the phone abruptly sat up straight, his expression becoming serious.
"How do I send it?"
Happy Hogan was stunned for a moment, then shrugged, looking helpless, even though Tony Stark on the other end couldn't see him.
He spread his hands, his face full of helplessness, "I'm not a genius scientist like you, I don't know how to do that kind of operation!"
"Happy, you must have someone under you who can… Forget it, I'll do it myself!"
Tony Stark shook his head, quite speechless at Happy's performance.
Then, Tony Stark's voice, sounding like he was talking to himself, came from the other end of the phone, "Jarvis, immediately pull up the video footage sent back by the Iron Legion."
"Yes, sir."
Jarvis's magnetic electronic voice rang out, clearly it was much more reliable than Happy Hogan, the Head of Security.
After about a minute or so, after Tony Stark had browsed the entire video, he leaned back in his chair and slowly spoke:
"Relax, Happy, I don't think this video alone proves anything… Because I didn't see that Spider-Woman make an attacking posture."
"She seemed to appear there by accident. I suppose there must be someone else there, right?"
"Sir, are you serious?"
Happy Hogan's eyes widened, and he asked somewhat surprised, "She took out two of our Iron robots as soon as she made a move!"
His voice rose a few octaves, with clear doubt.
"That's not 'taking out'."
Tony Stark corrected seriously, his eyes fixed on the frozen image on the computer screen, "She merely used her webs to control the movements of those two Iron machines!"
"And facing the encirclement of the other Iron machines, she never fought back, only kept running away… I think the person who damaged the convoy wasn't her."
"You know what?"
Happy Hogan clearly disagreed with this point of view. His brows furrowed into a knot, and he stubbornly retorted:
"I think you really should pay close attention to the development of this incident, after all, those are all Stark Industries' property."
"But now you're putting all your energy into that irrelevant project, and you're even building a brand new artificial intelligence for the PPDC Organization for free. In my opinion, this is simply too outrageous…"
But before Happy Hogan could finish complaining, Tony Stark on the other end ruthlessly interrupted: "Alright, Happy, let's proceed with this matter according to the normal investigation process for now…"
"That's it. I'll miss you during my work breaks here."
"I miss you too."
Happy Hogan continued to chatter, his face full of nostalgia, "But I miss the old you. Now you spend all your time with those superhero friends, and I don't even know what's going on with you anymore."
"This World has become weirder and weirder…"
"Sorry, Happy, I have to hang up." Tony Stark interrupted again, "Also, do you have a taser with you?"
"What's wrong? Why do you ask?" Happy Hogan was puzzled and asked doubtfully.
"Jarvis just told me that there's a girl in Human Resources trying to steal leftover print records from the printer. I think you should go teach that corporate spy a lesson right now."
With that, Tony Stark hung up the phone directly, his decisive action as if telling Happy Hogan that the matter was settled.
"Sir?!"
Happy Hogan stared at the hung-up phone, stunned for several seconds.
After thinking for a moment, he called his boss's wife, Pepper Potts… Uh, perhaps he should say 'new boss' instead.
After all, she was now the true CEO of Stark Industries!
So he picked up the phone again, found the number, and dialed it, "Hello, boss, I'm currently working overtime at the company… Uh, what I meant to say is, an emergency just occurred!"
His voice carried a hint of urgency, as if he was hoping that Pepper Potts on the other end of the phone would give him a completely different solution than Tony Stark.
...
…
A few days later.
Under the dark night sky, a cold wind howled through the city, as if to devour everything.
Under the escort of two police cars, a police prisoner transport vehicle, specially used for escorting criminal suspects, slowly drove out of the Queens Police Station.
The convoy drove along the street, all the way into Ravencroft Prison on Rikers Island, located between Queens and the Bronx.
Ravencroft Prison is the largest private prison in New York, covering an area of 200 acres, standing like a dark fortress on this land.
It has a large number of cells, capable of accommodating nearly five thousand criminals.
The interior of this large prison is roughly divided into ten sections, separating prisoners of different genders and ages.
However, even so, many low-risk prisoners, like in other prisons, would still be treated like livestock, forcibly crammed dozens of people into the same small cell.
At most, in a cell less than twenty square meters, there would be as many as 50 beds, and the entire cell was filled with a nauseating smell.
What?
You said dozens of people living together was too crowded?
Always feel like someone is staring at your chrysanthemum when you sleep?
No problem, as long as you have money and are willing to pay, the prison management will immediately arrange a clean and spacious single room for you.
The more you spend, the better the room!
If you are financially strong enough, you can even enjoy a top-tier presidential suite, no different from the outside World!
In the presidential suite, whether it's fine wine or beautiful women, everything you want is available here…
Even if you are an addict and want to take a puff inside, the prison management will proactively provide you with expensive, but extremely pure, genuine good products for your enjoyment.
In short, as long as you have money, being in Ravencroft Prison is almost no different from being outside!
Oh no, it should be said that there are still some differences… After all, here at this prison, there is also a regular armed guard force protecting your safety, which is much safer and more comfortable than the chaotic streets outside!
However, this so-called 'comfort' must be exchanged for money.
"Get out of the car in order!"
Two fully armed police officers opened the car door and waved to the prisoners inside the compartment.
They were dressed in black police uniforms, wearing steel helmets, holding firearms tightly in their hands, and their eyes vigilantly scanned the surroundings.
Immediately after, Adrian Toomes, dressed in an orange prison uniform, with handcuffs and shackles on his hands, walked out first with a gloomy expression.
His face was filled with frustration and unwillingness; his former ambitions had now turned into smoke.
Behind him were all his other subordinates, except for Phineas Mason, the Tinkerer.
However, compared to Adrian Toomes's gloomy expression, the expressions on the faces of the others were all very relaxed, as if they had just escaped a disaster!
They walked out of the car laughing and joking, completely without the tension and fear they had felt during their crimes, a feeling as relaxed as coming home.
Yes, Phineas Mason was finally successfully arrested by the police… But not because of Gwen, but because he was betrayed by these few subordinates in the same car compartment.
There was nothing they could do; those cowardly fellows had already been terrified by Lizard Peter.
So, after being sent to the police station by him, the police didn't even have to try hard; they immediately confessed everything they knew… even the color of Adrian Toomes's underwear.