He Was the Symbol of Peace

Chapter 213: He Was the Symbol of Peace

Tony’s question sounded more like a request for guidance from an elder.

Not to mention Pepper and Happy, who knew him incredibly well—even Tony himself was stunned after voicing the words he had kept bottled up inside.

For a moment, the business car fell silent, with only the subtle sounds of high-speed travel audible.

"When you asked that, you already had a rough answer in your heart, didn’t you?"

Kyle smiled. Without giving it much thought, he said directly, "No matter how powerful military weapons are, they’re only inanimate objects. What truly puts them to practical use is people. In the hands of good people with justice in their hearts, they can naturally benefit society. In the hands of bad people with malicious intentions, they are undoubtedly instruments of devastating disaster."

He paused, then said meaningfully, "But the good person I’m talking about can’t simply be a good person. He must also possess sufficient strength and willpower—without strength, even if he possesses powerful weapons, having them taken and used by others would still make him an indirect source of disaster. Without willpower, if he cannot persist on the path of justice or stand firm against evil, then it is all in vain."

Hearing this, Pepper could not help but speak up. "Mr. Karr, the ‘good person’ you’re talking about should be a ‘hero,’ right?"

The word hero stirred Tony slightly. A bright light shone in his dim eyes, and something blocked within his heart suddenly cleared.

"If I had to make another comparison, I would compare Captain America and Red Skull," Kyle concluded.

He did not lecture just anyone, aside from his own people. If it had not been Tony, he would not have bothered at all.

After all, some guy in the past had constantly nagged him and forced him to become the godfather of his future son.

"I understand. Thank you, Mr. Karr." Tony offered a rare, sincere expression of gratitude.

"By the way, I have another question—have I seen you somewhere before? Did we know each other?"

Tony raised his head solemnly and looked at the rearview mirror ahead. Kyle’s face was reflected there. Though it was aloof and cold enough to keep others at a distance, Tony felt an increasingly strong sense of familiarity from it.

"How could you possibly have seen me?" Kyle smiled faintly and did not explain further. Tony did not press the matter.

After hearing Kyle’s words, Tony became even more determined to attend the press conference. Unable to dissuade him, Pepper could only arrange a press conference by phone and have the business car head toward the exhibition hall plaza.

By the time the business car arrived at the plaza, dozens of media reporters carrying boom microphones and cameras were already waiting there. Obadiah Stanny, a Stark Industries shareholder and agent, approached with a smiling face. He was bald, elderly, and had a fully white beard as he opened the rear door.

"Mr. Karr, I’ll go in and handle something first. I’ll be right back." Tony said this before the crowd outside escorted him away, with Pepper dutifully following behind as his secretary.

Once the group entered the temporary press conference venue, the outside of the hall immediately became empty and quiet. Only the business car remained parked silently by the roadside.

As if he had unexpectedly noticed something, Kyle opened the car door and got out on his own. Happy, seated in the driver’s seat, merely glanced at him and did not stop him.

At the center of the plaza near the building stood a massive humanoid stone statue.

The stone sculpture stood three stories tall. Its hair was wild, and its young, handsome face carried a hint of coldness. Its tall, perfect physique stood proudly upright, clad in combat armor and holding a one-handed longsword. Its vivid eyes looked imperiously ahead with majesty and dominance.

Through wind and rain, as the years passed, no one knew how long this statue had stood here.

Kyle stopped directly in front of the statue and looked up at it quietly. The statue was still extremely similar to how he had once looked, lifelike in every detail.

Unfortunately, after the Gene Disease and his transformation, his short golden hair had become shoulder-length silver hair. Though his physique had become ten times stronger, he looked somewhat leaner and more robust than before, when his body had been covered in muscles.

As Kyle gazed at the statue, a voice suddenly sounded behind him. "The statue you see is the greatest legendary hero of World War II, and also the current Symbol of Peace."

Kyle turned around and saw a fake-fat man in a suit walking over while nodding to him.

"My name is Phil Coulson. I’m an agent of the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division." Coulson took out a business card and handed it to Kyle.

Kyle accepted the card. That long-winded bureau name could be simplified to S.H.I.E.L.D.

"I want to know the details of how Tony was rescued, as well as your specific identity and background." Coulson stared at Kyle and spoke in a low voice.

"Why didn’t you ask Tony himself?" Kyle asked in surprise.

Coulson helplessly spread his hands. "I was just stopped by Miss Pepper, so I thought I’d ask you…"

Kyle raised a hand to interrupt him and asked, "Is Nick Fury doing well these days?"

"You!" Coulson’s fat quivered as his eyes widened in shock. "How do you know the former director’s name?!"

S.H.I.E.L.D. was a secret agency. Its director, and even its elite internal agents, were classified information unknown to ordinary people!

"Former director?" Kyle frowned, then quickly relaxed.

Fury should originally have become Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. in the twenty-first century, but since he had taken the position more than sixty years early, it was perfectly normal for him to have stepped down by now.

After thinking for a moment, Kyle took a card from his pocket and handed it to Coulson as though it were a business card. "Give this to Nick Fury. He’ll understand when he sees it."

Coulson accepted it with both hands. It was a card that was pure black on both sides, with no other patterns whatsoever.

After Stark Industries’ press conference ended, the media went collectively insane, leaving quickly with ecstatic expressions and their footage in hand.

Tony, chairman of Stark Industries, had decided to shut down Stark Industries’ weapons manufacturing division and cancel weapons production!

This could no longer be described as merely major news. It was a monumental event sufficient to shock the entire world. Once the news was published, it would undoubtedly sell out like crazy!

Pepper remained at the press conference venue to handle the aftermath, while Tony had already returned to the car alone. He told Happy to drive to Stark Industries, which was also Kyle’s first destination of choice.

New York, Stark Industries.

Compared to the lone skyscraper of the past, the old building was now the center of a large outwardly expanded complex. It encompassed development buildings, manufacturing facilities, employee dormitories, and other integrated modern areas.

The business car stopped in the company’s parking garage. Tony got out and eagerly headed straight for the weapons research and manufacturing division to shut it down.

When Tony remembered that Kyle had been following behind him, he turned around in surprise and discovered that Kyle had vanished at some point.