I’ll Maintain World Peace!

Los Angeles, Stark Industries headquarters.

Chairman’s office.

Sitting behind his desk, Tony looked at Obadiah and the dozen or so men advancing with guns in hand. He wore a grin on the surface, but internally, he was cursing up a storm.

Master Wang, can you actually do this or not? A man doesn’t just need to be hard, he needs to be fast too! Get here already, don’t stop!

I can’t rely on anyone else now. I can only rely on you!

In truth, he knew there was little hope. No one could possibly cross more than four thousand kilometers to get here. Even by plane, it would take several hours, and not even Mark 2 was that fast.

To arrive within ten minutes, they would have to ride the fastest intercontinental missile…

"Tony, are you stalling for time? It’s useless. No one is coming to save you."

Obadiah had completely immersed himself in the role of "chairman." He slapped the desk and looked around. "Howard is dead. This office should have been mine! I worked for this company for thirty years. Why should a playboy like you be chairman? Without my support, which shareholder would have accepted you?"

"Obadiah, you’re a traitor." Tony remained unmoved and did his best to stall for time.

Though there was little hope, it was still his last hope.

Master Wang might not make it in time, but he was a special consultant for S.H.I.E.L.D. He could notify them and have someone come help, such as that Agent Coulson who had come before. That would be better than waiting for the military or police.

"A traitor? Tony, you’re the traitor."

Obadiah stared at Tony and shouted, "Stark Industries sells weapons, yet you suddenly don’t want to sell them anymore? Fine! You’ve mastered new technology—the miniaturized Arc Reactor and that suit of armor. Why won’t you hand them over? They could increase Stark Industries’ market value tenfold!"

"Because I don’t want things like that to be used by people like you." Tony activated his "Grand Summoning Technique" and silently recited, Immortal Iron Fist.

Being kidnapped had made him question his life. He had spent the first half of it manufacturing weapons that hurt people; in the second half, he wanted to destroy weapons and atone for his sins.

If he even had a second half left.

"Listen to that. A weapons dealer has a sense of justice now? Tony, do you really think I could remove you from office so easily? You’ve angered everyone. I’m merely following the will of the people. I’m doing this for world peace!"

A brilliant halo seemed to appear above Obadiah’s head. "You’re not as good as your father. Howard helped make the atomic bomb. If he hadn’t handed over the technology, how many more years would World War II have lasted? How many more people would have died? Come on, hand over the technology. Let’s reshape the world’s order and make it a better place!"

"I alone am enough to maintain world peace," Tony said.

"Heh. You’re still as arrogant and conceited as ever."

Obadiah had run out of patience. Straightening up, he said, "Your armor and your miniature Arc Reactor are at the villa, right? No matter. Once I get them, I’ll have people analyze and study them. Ordinary scientists may lack the ability to invent, but they can still copy."

"That’s about the only ability you have." Tony nodded in agreement.

"Enough. Kill him." Obadiah waved a hand.

Since they could not come to an agreement and he could not trick Tony into giving up the technology, he would just take it himself.

This had to be settled quickly. Delays bred complications.

"Won’t you reconsider?" Tony was slightly taken aback, then a smile suddenly appeared on his face.

Because he had heard a voice.

Not through his ears, but directly within his mind—that familiar yet unfamiliar voice.

"I’ll give you one more chance. Leave now. For the sake of our thirty years of friendship, I won’t kill you." Tony had victory in hand. His face was icy, but inwardly, he was grinning.

Seeing that expression, Obadiah felt that something was off.

Had he talked too much?

"Do it!" Obadiah ordered.

More than a dozen subordinates raised their weapons to fire.

Suddenly,

a slightly plump figure appeared.

Like a gust of wind, he darted around the office. Then the dozen or so men were sent flying one after another, while all their pistols and submachine guns were twisted into spirals of scrap metal.

How was that possible?

What kind of person possessed such terrifying strength?

His vision blurred,

and the slightly plump figure appeared before him.

"Y-you, who are you?"

He clearly did not know Old Wang, nor did he know that Old Wang had once saved Tony. The man who had appeared like a ghost filled him with unprecedented fear.

"The one who’ll kill you."

Old Wang could not be bothered with nonsense. He did not know whether there was a second missile at The Laboratory, so he had to hurry back.

Without the Iron Monger, Obadiah did not even count as a minor boss. At most, he was an elite monster below level ten, not worth wasting time on.

One hand pressed against Obadiah’s chest.

A stream of True Qi entered his body, vibrating rapidly like Skye’s shockwaves.

Obadiah felt his heartbeat accelerate, faster than it had when he first met a girl who made his heart race.

That vigorous pulse of life made him vividly feel how wonderful life was. At that moment, he wanted nothing else. Wealth and status no longer mattered.

He only wanted to live.

Yet that was the greatest extravagance of all.

When his heart rate exceeded its limit, Obadiah began to feel palpitations and shortness of breath, followed by chest pain. Then he started coughing uncontrollably, coughing up nothing but blood.

Suddenly,

his heart stopped.

Obadiah’s pupils dilated. His limbs thrashed violently, but it was utterly useless.

At last, he breathed his last.

"What a healthy old man. To think he actually suffered a heart attack." Old Wang withdrew his hand and shook his head with a face full of regret.

Tony’s gaze shifted repeatedly between Old Wang and Obadiah. He still had not recovered from the shock.

Master Wang had suddenly appeared right before his eyes, truly crossing more than four thousand kilometers to save him. Tony was both astonished and moved.

Without a word, he had killed Obadiah and more than a dozen others as easily as crushing ants. That decisiveness and calmness made Tony feel both unfamiliarity and fear.

But one thing was certain:

Master Wang was not an enemy.

Thankfully, he was not an enemy.

"Yeah, Obadiah always had heart problems. I didn’t expect him to have an attack at a time like this."

Tony stood up, kicked Obadiah a few times, then looked at Old Wang. "Master Wang, what should we do about these people?"

"A group of terrorists tried to abduct the chairman of Stark Industries. It’s not the first time. Obadiah was frightened into a heart attack, while Mr. Stark fought to hold them off and eliminated the terrorists with the help of the security guards. Unfortunately, several guards died heroically."

Having once been an online troll in his life before last, Old Wang came up with the script in the blink of an eye. "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. will arrive soon. They’ll help you take care of everything."

Tony let out a sigh of relief.

It was finally over.

Everything today had felt like a dream.

Unfortunately, it had not been a pleasant dream. It had been a nightmare.

"Mr. Stark, are you interested in brain mapping and memory-upload technology?" Old Wang suddenly asked.

"Huh?"

Tony had not expected Old Wang’s train of thought to jump so wildly. He had suddenly changed the subject, and to something so advanced at that.

"Master Wang, you can call me Tony."

After thinking for a moment, Tony said, "That’s cutting-edge technology. No one has perfected it yet. As far as I know, some laboratories can perform a certain degree of brain mapping, but the results are poor, and it can easily damage the brain."

"These issues will be resolved soon."

Old Wang found some paper and a pen, wrote down an address, and handed it to Tony. "If you’re interested, come here sometime."

"Uh… all right." Tony took the A4 sheet without saying much.

Master Wang seemed to be in a hurry. He would not even let Tony get a word in.

"Pretend I was never here. You dealt with Obadiah yourself. Goodbye."

Old Wang exchanged for Teleportation once more and left.

Knock, knock, knock!

The doors opened again, and Pepper ‘Little Chili’ Potts and Happy rushed in with a group of people.

Pepper ‘Little Chili’ Potts was dumbfounded when she saw Obadiah lying on the floor and the pile of corpses beside him.

That was it?

"Tony, are you okay?" Pepper ‘Little Chili’ Potts hurried over, her high heels clicking as she ran.

"Boss, did you… do all this?" Happy stared wide-eyed.

"Uh… I did."

Remembering Old Wang’s instructions, Tony decided to take this Titanium Alloy burden upon himself.

Seeing the worshipful look in Happy’s eyes, the guilt in Tony’s heart instantly vanished.

Being a Super Hero felt…

pretty good?

"Mark 3 is almost finished. Wearing it to fight criminals and wipe out terrorist organizations wouldn’t be bad. Maybe I really can maintain world peace all by myself!"

Thanks to BeatYourLittleDD for the 12,000 tip, I Can’t Quit Your Poison for the 1,000 tip, and Book Friend 20190101141049506 for the 100 tip. This Friday, the story will be going premium. There will be bonus chapters for large tips; the specific rules will be announced then. I’ll note down today’s ones for now. Thank you, thank you.