Chapter 204 - 186: If... The War Merchant is Dedicated to His Job

"Mr. Stark, were you injured in the attack?"

"No, but my drink was spilled, and it was a 26-year Macallan, so I guess that counts as a war crime."

"Hello, I am Harry Whittington from the British Post. What have you learned from your experience in Afghanistan?"

"Of course—never travel to a place that doesn’t have a Four Seasons hotel."

"Mr. Stark, how has this experience changed you?"

"Well... seeing American youth die because of the weapons we manufactured—I realized I had to do better for them.

Bigger, fiercer, stronger! So I will appoint Lieutenant Eric Stevenson as the new head of industry at Stark Industries.

And I promise to double the capacity of the military weapons production department within the next year!"

The genius, millionaire, CEO of Stark Industries was saved by a Marine Corps lieutenant from a terrorist attack, and he immediately announced an increase in production capacity and expressed his support for continuing the war.

The stock market went crazy—

I’ve never seen a company’s stocks soar like this before.

In front of his computer, Lille frowned deeply—this was a major sign of war.

A slight alteration occurred in the trajectory of this "Superhero," who was now quickly becoming a "national hero."

No matter how arrogant and conceited the original Tony Stark was, he was a self-damaging, self-defeating arms manufacturer, but not here.

If the war in Afghanistan continued... the situation would complicate even more.

And there was an even more exaggerated scene at the press conference:

On television, a blonde female reporter raised her hand to ask a question to Lieutenant Stevenson: "Lieutenant! Lieutenant! I am Kristen Everhart.

Why were you in Kurana Province in Afghanistan?"

Tony didn’t care: "Of course to save me, I’ve already said that."

"There’s something strange." The reporter looked at her notes and said, "On the day of the raid, his troops were supposed to be stationed four hundred kilometers away."

"If you are implying that he had foreknowledge of the raid..."

"She’s right," Lieutenant Stevenson stood forward.

He was a typical black man, his curly hair braided, but indeed he had the demeanor of an American elite non-commissioned officer—taciturn, with a resolute gaze.

Stevenson explained, "In my undercover operation within the terrorist organization, I uncovered the plan to assassinate Tony Stark."

"Oh, oh, oh!" Tony’s companion, Obadiah, instantly got excited, "Let’s leave that issue here..."

"Right, you certainly don’t want to mention it, do you?" Stevenson squinted his eyes towards the bald man, "Because the investor behind those plans is Obadiah Stane, the COO of Stark Industries."

Obadiah still tried to argue.

Just then, Stevenson pressed a button in his hand, and the big screen at the press conference displayed all the evidence instantly.

Wire transfers, bank statements, call records... everything was there.

"...Just look it up online, I’ve posted everything on the internet."

Quite a bold move, Lille also casually looked it up online, and indeed it could be found.

The press conference ended with the arrest of Obadiah, but the social reaction that erupted was enormous.

Back in the office area of Hammond Laboratory, Lille pinched the bridge of his nose; the implications of this matter were profound.

Not easily discerned, but by the time ordinary people realized the change, it would be too late.

Martin organized his thoughts and said, "Military stocks have skyrocketed—not just Stark Industries, but other companies involved in the military industry as well."

"...Do you want us to join in?"

Artificial blood is a medical product, available for civilian use, but of course, it could also be supplied for military use.

"It’s good for business."

"Only in the short term; if the world falls apart, we won’t be able to protect anything."

As the situation deteriorated, both parties in the conflict tore off their masks of kindness.

Violence is the underlying logic supporting power; the combatants gamble everything to shatter the power structure of the opposition and assimilate it.

As social order crumbles into chips for betting, they, like gamblers, recklessly stake everything around them.

How could an organization without an army protect its means of production?

Outside the office window, the leaves trembled in the breeze.

Didn’t Martin understand?

He understood very well, but to be honest, the only thing he wanted to do was to crush the Osborne Group — he didn’t really care about anything else.

However, he hesitated — not because Lille had convinced him with a few words.

Instead, he had been observing Lille: the first time they met, out of curiosity, he used negative energy to sense Lille’s negativity.

What he perceived was a soul that couldn’t be described with words: it was a monster built from an accumulation of pain, frenzy, coldness... among other emotions.

Every time Martin killed someone, or released someone’s negative emotions, turning them into pure evil, he also accumulated a certain amount of negative energy.

If calculated by that standard, the amount of negative energy in Lille must have come from consciously killing millions of people...

What had he done? Dreamed about dropping nuclear bombs while lying in a hospital? It was just a dream, but did he take it seriously?

Regardless, Martin didn’t want to release someone with that level of mental distortion — he genuinely believed Lille had such capability.

The evil and good, theoretically, do not mean two sets of memories, just like Martin himself — philanthropist Martin and the mob boss Mr. Negative are the same memory, and both his good deeds and misdeeds are genuine.

If even this kind of mental disorder felt the world being destroyed was terrifying, then it was best he took it seriously too.

Lille didn’t know what Martin was thinking as he tapped on the table, "We should still focus on the commercial market, and we need to promote anti-war as well.

It’s not surprising that Stark Industries took the mainstream position, but if our medical industry also took the other side, things would become uncontrollable.

Civil industries naturally do not advocate for war; we could collaborate with civil hospitals, schools, and other industries that are inherently distant from warfare.

Then we would try to gain the support of construction workers, transport truck drivers, and other workers with a lot of leeway, trying to control Congress and the Pentagon from recklessly deciding to strike wherever they want," he said.

"So overall, we are anti-war — but from a profitability perspective, people think we should prefer more casualties, the better.

Of course, I am just joking."

This was no joke.

Lille thought of the biotechnology in the Cyberpunk World — just for dealing with some nearly expired drugs and vaccines, they could directly release viruses into the population.

Although things were not that bad in this world,

during outbreaks, it was not uncommon to see pharmaceutical companies make false claims under the guise of curing all illnesses, and more egregious acts were not unheard of —

Lille slowly said, "There are definitely such companies, but we are not — we will use noble means to defeat these corrupt companies; you can trust me and Professor Conners’s technology."

Martin was silent for a moment, then said, "Osborne Group is that kind of company. Do you believe me?"

"Just between the two of us — I can tell you that I tend to believe you.

Actually, I am planning to visit the NYPD to check on Peter’s progress. Join me?"

...

In the eastern United States, within an abandoned, unnamed military bunker, an entire bunker’s worth of computers flickered with light.

"Lieutenant Stevenson’s mission was very successful, but tell Lieutenant Stevenson that his priority level is to be adjusted backward," said a voice.

"There is a company, Bloom Company in New York, whose threat level is significantly increasing — they plan to implement a computer system very similar to the Insight Algorithm."

"The company’s founder, Lille Lee, increase the monitoring level," said another.

"He also owns a company called International Gene Cooperation Ltd., which has recently been embroiled in disputes; you can approach from these angles," they noted.

"... Yes, the threat level is rising sharply. Tony Stark and his AI have been locked in an information cocoon room, strictly following regulations, and there won’t be any issues."

"You have my assurance —"

"Everything, is under control."