Chapter 563 - 534: You Don’t Want Him Either...

"Is this your idea of hospitality, leaving us hanging for two hours?!"

Normally, leaving representatives from rival companies in the waiting room would be accompanied by some kind of psychological assault—videos, scenes, or something like that. Lille had seen plenty of those.

For example, when Johnny Silverhand bombed Arasaka Tower fifty years ago, and he was brought before Arasaka Saburo, they showed him the casualty reports from Night City and had him speak to an Arasaka employee whose husband had died in the bombing.

On Marvel’s part, Lille could have shown these two executives from Stark Group some footage of Somali victims being indiscriminately bombarded by the Iron Soldier; however, Lille didn’t do that.

There really was no point. They weren’t Tony Stark; they wouldn’t get anything from seeing it.

So they just sat there in the basement for two hours. Although the reception room wasn’t a cold and silent place, it still felt like being in prison.

Lille walked into the room and sat down on the sofa, waving a dismissive hand at the infuriated Pepper,

"Let’s cut to the chase; we are competitors, and Stark Industries’ weapons have hit our friends in Africa pretty hard."

"You also attacked an American aircraft carrier..."

"Madam, I don’t wish to argue about this, but you use weapons produced by advanced industry, supplied to professionally trained armies, and then kill unarmed civilians.

We use ships cobbled together with outdated industry, supplied to makeshift militias, attacking soldiers who knew they were in a war."

"So you’re admitting it?"

Pepper’s demeanor was quite professional, professional like all corporate types who seize upon any loophole in words to counter, to probe, to engage in aggressive conversation.

This was quite the opposite of what Lille usually saw in films and TV shows.

But Lille could also see the fatigue and bravado in her eyes.

So he waved his hand again, "Let’s end it here for today; I thought you came to discuss something substantial... Get lost."

As the word "get lost" slipped out, Lille realized he had been spending too much time with V, Jack, and the other rough folks in Night City.

"Get lost" was a mild term over there, but here, Pepper’s face turned red with anger, and Happy immediately stood up, looking hostile...

Pepper took a deep breath, suddenly realizing Lille was either a hothead or quite a tough nut to crack:

She indeed had been impatient from being kept waiting, so her words had a touch of gunpowder to them. Usually, however, the conversation would still go on.

But Lille had abruptly cut her off, leaving her no way out.

Logically, with no way out, one would simply turn and leave, but she really couldn’t do that...

Because she had come to New York, to the Atlas Group headquarters secretly for a very important matter.

Therefore, she could only choose that hidden option...

Normally, people at this level don’t speak definitively; they always leave some leeway for the other party, but Lille destroyed the steps down, so if she wanted to talk about the issue, she would have to jump down herself, placing herself a notch below the other side.

Pepper, clearly embarrassed, gently moved Happy aside and lowered her head to Lille, "I apologize; I was too abrupt. I really have an issue, and... I would like to ask for your help."

"Speak."

Lille tapped the table, and a large screen popped up in the center with data ports uncovered.

Pepper plugged in the USB drive she had brought with her, quickly saying, "It’s been a long time since I’ve seen Tony, and the public hasn’t seen him for a month either. He’s been locked in his lab for an entire month."

Lille nonchalantly picked up the tea that the service robot had brought over,

"That’s normal; he’s getting on in years. From a playboy to a mad scientist, that transformation is normal."

"It’s not normal! During this time, Stark Industries has also begun laying off employees globally. Currently, I’m almost unable to receive reports from subordinates, and it’s difficult to hear any news from other divisions..."

"A geek using information technology for centralized management is normal. Our company has such a system too—it’s not a trade secret."

Pepper was taken aback, because she wasn’t really tech-savvy.

This kind of speculation had crossed her mind before.

Lille looked at her demeanor and said, "So your unease is completely from... the CEO hiding in the lab and not seeing anyone, quietly initiating a layoff storm? You feel like you’ve become useless?"

The situation could be normal, or it could be abnormal. Lille put down the tea in his hand, relaxed his hands and started to look through the contents of Pepper’s USB drive.

This little gadget contained Stark Industries data Pepper had recently managed to collect, along with Stark Industries operational data from before.

Comparing the two, it was indeed evident that lots of information had disappeared. The company seemed to have cut off many essential information channels for employees, and many details about the funding flow and production transport process had become secrets—

Military secrets.

And looking at this data, Pepper had come to a conclusion: despite the large-scale layoffs, the company’s efficiency... seemed to have increased.

Normal? More decisive evidence was needed.

Lille knew that Tony also had an AI, the butler Jarvis paired with his own brain, could indeed achieve increased efficiency amidst layoffs.

Where was the decisive evidence?

"No!" Pepper grew agitated, "It’s not because of that... that I’m uneasy! I know you’re full of malice toward Tony, toward us, but the current situation is definitely not what Tony wanted to see..."

"Don’t make me laugh, ma’am. Stark Industries’ turnover skyrocketed last year, and the military, with those gadgets, completely dazed the oil barons."

"He was just deceived! I have a feeling!"

Pepper organized her words and said, "Tony originally had plans to develop new energy, but they were put on hold. Rocksen hoped he wouldn’t deal with it for now, but he still researched it, which shows he originally didn’t want to tie himself to Rocksen."

"Not very compelling evidence. What else?"

Pepper became frantic, this wasn’t working, that wasn’t working...

It’s so suspicious! Why won’t you believe me?!

"Also... you’re such an impenetrable jerk! That’s all! Intuition! I’ll just say it straight, yes, this is a woman’s intuition, Tony is definitely not the kind of person who can squat in the lab for over a month, I understand this better than anyone, there must be something wrong with him!"

After Pepper shouted, she took a breath and calmed herself down, "I know you think of us as warmongers, as scumbags, but I assure you, Tony is definitely not the kind of person who would support bombing civilians! He and Rocksen, we and Rocksen..."

"Are in cahoots, at least when it comes to bombing," Lille interjected.

Lille crossed his legs, "I must say, Ms. Potts, you really are in a rush. Even if I were willing to act on your... ’feelings’, you’d still have to present something more sincere, right?

Let’s assume Tony Stark is tied up in his own lab, who kidnapped him, and why they kidnapped him remains a mystery...

Let’s assume this is the case, bring out something concrete, Ms. Potts, you don’t want him to continue being tied up in the basement, do you?

Please, you must have something you can give me, rather than just relying on words."

Pepper’s face turned red, and she slowly pulled out another hard drive from her bag, seemingly hesitant about whether to take it out or not.

"What’s that?"

"This is data I’ve secretly copied from the company..."

Stolen? You dared to steal from Tony Stark’s database? It must be full of viruses.

Lille stopped Pepper from inserting the hard drive into the mainframe, and she looked into Lille’s eyes and said:

"But this is the sincerity I can offer. You can see what research Tony has been working on lately, which companies Stark Industries has had dealings with, what projects there are... Maybe it could help you? And it might make you believe me a bit more."

Lille took the USB drive, "If you were a hacker, this move would be very clever. I’m already struggling to restrain myself from looking at what’s inside.

Things are getting more and more interesting... Stark Industries’ supporters call me a traitor, and him a hero, a war hero, a superhero.

Now you want a traitor to save a hero..."

"Please believe me," Pepper said sincerely, "Tony... he’s just gone astray."

"This detour seems a bit costly, ma’am, for everyone, it’s a bit much. I’ll see what I can do, but don’t get your hopes up too high."