Selfless

Chapter 366: Selfless

"Tsk, why is it these guys?"

Xu Yue spotted the Beiyang Society long before they spotted him.

They were supposed to be the witnesses arranged to observe his "growth." Having them here somewhat went against the original plan.

Still, it would not have much impact. At most, there was only Chen Hang, an Elite Reincarnator. Their will did not require much consideration, nor were they worth altering his plans for. At most, he would need to put in a little extra work when wrapping things up.

Dealing with this sort of trash did not require much effort.

"Newcomer, let me tell you this. No matter what methods you used or what reasons you had for getting close to Tony Stark, it is not advisable. Once the vacancy in the trio is filled, you will inevitably be dealt with. So now, you must cooperate with our society’s operation…"

A close-range authorized communication from the team rang in Xu Yue’s ear. It was a rental service provided by the space, usable within a certain range by those with the proper clearance.

The speaker was clearly their leader, Chen Hang.

Although his tone was unpleasant, he was indeed capable. In just a few words, he had laid out the stakes clearly. He was not simply pressuring Xu Yue, but also using benefits and risks to persuade him from the side.

Xu Yue, however, did not show the slightest expression, as if he had heard nothing. He offered no acknowledgment or response whatsoever.

Chen Hang even began to wonder whether the transmission had failed, and then repeated the exact same words all over again.

It looked slightly ridiculous.

Only when the hearing began did he have no choice but to stop replaying himself and turn his attention to the hearing itself.

"Tony Stark, according to relevant intelligence, Stark Industries has developed a highly dangerous weapon."

The Department of Defense official presiding over the hearing began questioning Tony Stark with a stern expression.

"No, we have not. As everyone knows, we have already discontinued all operations related to the weapons division."

Tony denied the accusation without the slightest hesitation, leaving the moderator momentarily speechless.

"Then can you tell me what this is?"

As he spoke, he replayed the video of Tony casually admitting in an earlier interview that he was Iron Man.

"Oh, you mean the Iron Man suit? You can actually think of it as a kind of prosthetic product. Mm, medical equipment, meant to help disabled people."

Tony’s words immediately triggered laughter from the audience seats behind the hearing.

There were plenty of people who disliked the government.

"All right. Whether it is medical equipment or a weapon, we will have it assessed. Next, we will invite a weapons expert to explain."

Clearly, the people above did not want to keep arguing with Tony. They seemed unable to outtalk him, so they could only force the issue.

Soon afterward, Justin Hammer of Hammer Industries took the stage with Li Hui.

"Weapons expert? Sorry, I don’t see one."

Tony Stark had always disdained the standardized weapons made by Hammer Industries. They had not the slightest originality or flagship product of their own, and he did not even consider them competitors.

They were merely puppets propped up by the military to compete with him. It was beneath his status to even acknowledge them.

Such a blunt mockery made Justin Hammer somewhat embarrassed. But thinking of his helper, he quickly launched into a series of rebuttals and evidence.

Moreover, based on Li Hui’s suggestions, he knew Tony might use the hearing to seize control of the electronic screens and expose some dirt. He had a switch that could physically cut the screens’ power, so he was not afraid of Tony causing trouble.

Not only that, to block Tony’s rebuttal, they had specifically used a military order to make Tony’s friend, James Rhodes, who would also possess an Iron Man suit in the future, take the stage and read out the relevant assessment documents.

That made Tony’s expression turn somewhat displeased. He was not unhappy with James Rhodes, but with the military for coercing his friend.

Just as he hacked the projection screen in front of him and prepared to expose some military secrets, Justin Hammer decisively pressed the control button that physically cut the power.

His face was full of a smile that said everything was under control.

When he looked at Li Hui beside him, his eyes were also filled with satisfaction. It had truly not been easy for him to predict Tony’s choice in advance. Otherwise, if Tony had really exposed all that dirt, they might have been turned around completely!

Even Tony was somewhat surprised by this move. Their response had been that quick?

Then Li Hui, who had remained silent all this time, stood up and used his high-clearance "Negotiation" ability.

An Aura resembling suggestive hypnosis, yet completely different from it, radiated from him. It made people feel, for no apparent reason, that he was trustworthy.

"Everyone should know that over the past ten years, more than 4,500 of our soldiers have died in Iraq, and more than 2,000 have died in Afghanistan. Every name on those casualty lists represents a shattered family. But if we had these Iron Man suits, which should have belonged to the people of the United States in the first place, that number would directly become zero. Take note: directly become zero!"

"Furthermore, while the unit cost of an Iron Man suit is very expensive, we would not need many of them. They would also reduce the need for other weapons. Overall, they could even cut a huge amount of military spending. This is something with a hundred benefits and no drawbacks. It is in the interests of all Americans."

The words sounded simple, but under the influence of the "Negotiation" skill, both the audience and the higher-ups at the hearing felt that his reasoning was sound and entirely correct.

The method of "Negotiation" was gentle. It was not a violent mental attack, but a highly practical skill in situations like this. Especially when most people were ordinary people, it would not even be judged as carrying hostile intent.

Ordinary people with firm wills would not be greatly affected, but clearly, there were not many people present who could be called strong-willed.

This also meant there was no need to worry about drawing S.H.I.E.L.D.’s intervention.

After all, there was nothing wrong with the information in his words themselves.

"Ahem, I have something to say as well."

Just when everyone believed the outcome had been decided, Xu Yue cleared his throat and spoke, immediately giving Chen Hang a faint sense that something was wrong.

The situation was going extremely well. It would benefit them if Xu Yue simply kept his mouth shut. If this guy was speaking up, it was very likely not going to be good news!

If he wanted to ruin things and drew S.H.I.E.L.D. over, that would be a huge problem.

That was why Chen Hang had spent points renting the space’s communication service.

He did not expect Xu Yue to help. He only wanted him not to sabotage things!

Clearly, Xu Yue had no intention of drawing out the "S.H.I.E.L.D. faction" either. He merely said in an even tone,

"Speaking of military death tolls, then we have to discuss the suicide rate among veterans. On average, twenty-two veterans commit suicide every day—one every sixty-five minutes. And since those wars began, the crime rate among veterans has increased by ninety percent. So rather than using more advanced equipment to protect soldiers, it would be better… not to wage wars in the first place."

Li Hui possessed the "Negotiation" skill, which could subtly influence others. But clearly, compared with Xu Yue, there was far too great a gap in this kind of mental application.

Xu Yue did not use his abilities to completely overwhelm the other side, however. After speaking, he looked at Li Hui with sympathetic eyes and sighed.

"Besides, Tony Stark has already become a consultant for the Logistics Support Bureau. In theory, the military should have no jurisdiction over him."

That casual tone left Chen Hang, Li Hui, and the others utterly horrified.

How could this be?!

Tony Stark would indeed join S.H.I.E.L.D., but that was supposed to happen later. It seemed he would only be approved after becoming Iron Man and passing layer upon layer of evaluations.

Why had he joined so quickly?

If they had known he was already a S.H.I.E.L.D. consultant, how could they possibly have dared to pluck the tiger’s whiskers!

They had to change the plan. They absolutely had to change it!

Then Li Hui saw Chen Hang’s gloomy stare and heard the roar-like voice in the team communication.

Fine, it was time to activate the "Negotiation" skill again. And this time, it was to help that newcomer who had taken an enormous risk to kindly warn them.

It seemed they had truly misunderstood him. Who would have thought he was such a selfless, good person…