Chapter 1843

About two hours later, Stark saw Obadiah in the ward. Looking at this familiar old man, Stark said straight to the point: "Can you help me take out the things in the pocket of the coat hanging on the coat rack?"

Obadiah was stunned for a moment. He was shocked by the complexity in Stark's tone. A kind of bewilderment and guilty conscience rose from the bottom of his heart, so he instinctively followed what Stark said and helped him get the coat. And when his hand reached into the pocket, the peculiar feel of that thing made his fingertips pause for a moment.

Obadiah took the thing out. It looked like a small piece of fabric, but the texture on it told him it was human skin. And at the moment of seeing that tattoo pattern, Obadiah's hand trembled violently.

He had seen the exact same pattern on that black woman—Tony Stark knew.

Obadiah took a deep breath. After stiffening in place for half a minute, he slowly exhaled. He put that small piece of human skin back into Tony's pocket and turned to look at his nephew lying on the hospital bed.

"Tell me what exactly is going on, Obadiah." Tony looked into Obadiah's eyes and said: "I thought you were my only relative."

"I am, Tony." Obadiah's breathing was a bit shaky. He let go of the hand clutching the coat, placed the coat on Stark's bedside, sat by the bed, looked at Stark, and said: "I thought that after you grew up, the situation would improve, but you didn't. The situation is getting worse and worse."

Stark frowned deeply. He didn't quite understand what Obadiah meant.

"The Stark Group is about to be unable to protect you, Tony." Obadiah looked at Stark with a serious expression and said: "Or rather, because of you, the military must sanction the Stark Group. They want to get you."

Obadiah turned his head away and said: "Don't naively think that they will let that brain of yours, which possesses the richest wisdom in the world, make some pistols and missiles in a private enterprise. They want something more lethal."

Obadiah's Adam's apple moved and he said: "About three years ago, the military began to gradually shrink orders for Stark Industries and turned to the Osborn Group and Hammer Industries. You know, Hammer is completely fostered by the military."

"They are constantly weakening the power of the Stark Group in order to make a move on you, or at least coerce you into making some more valuable things for them."

"And you intend to kill me."

"Because I don't want the military to get what they want, and not just for you." Obadiah's tone was shockingly indifferent. He said: "If the era of superweapons arrives, the military will no longer buy ordinary arms, and Stark's military industry will completely decline."

"So you would rather kill me?"

Obadiah shook his head and said: "Tony, I don't have the great ideals that you and your father have. I just want to be a successful businessman, and any good businessman will not give any buyer the chance for a one-off deal."

"With you here, they are willing to pay any price, but without you, they can only choose me." Obadiah's hand rubbed the armrest and said: "And I will make them pay the price for the previous sanctions."

Stark's hand clutching the sheet tightened. Obadiah looked at Stark and said: "You showed your value too early, Tony. I don't remember how early I warned you. Do you think the terrible state your father was in before he died was a coincidence?"

"Why are they never satisfied?!" Stark gritted his teeth and said: "They didn't think about letting talented people do their jobs and letting people live better lives, but just kept forcing them, either to build weapons or to become weapons."

"This is the country, Tony. Any cutting-edge technology in this world will be first applied to military and medical fields, and the cutting-edge technology of medicine is ultimately also to serve the military. This is humanity, and you can't change anything."

Stark took a deep breath, and then, as if thinking of something, he tried his best to suppress the anger in his heart, looked at Obadiah, and said: "Your attack didn't cause me a fatal injury. A mercenary saved me."

Obadiah immediately showed a suspicious expression, but the point he suspected made Stark somewhat confused. Obadiah asked: "A mercenary saved you? Who is he? Which mercenary organization does he come from? Have you seen each other since?"

"Is this important?"

Obadiah was silent for a while before he spoke: "In the period before and after you were attacked, I received a phone call. The other side only said one sentence: 'He knows'."

Stark stared wide-eyed. He could certainly understand what this sentence meant. At that time, Obadiah wanted to kill him, and the person who made this call was telling Obadiah: You failed, and the plan was exposed. Hurry up and prepare for the second action.

Stark was stunned in place. Suddenly, he sat up straight, stared at Obadiah's eyes, and said: "Do you know Alexander Pierce?"

Obadiah was startled by his question. He pondered this familiar yet strange name for a moment and then said: "Director Pierce, isn't he the director of S. H. I. E. L. D.? And he's about to step down and retire. What's wrong with him?"

"He is the one who saved me."

Stark sighed somewhat helplessly. It wasn't that he wanted to tell Obadiah everything, but the problem was that he really couldn't figure out the mess of relationships in the upper class.

He knew Alexander Pierce was the director of S. H. I. E. L. D., but he didn't know which faction he belonged to or whose person he was. Only Obadiah could figure out this kind of thing.

Sure enough, Obadiah seemed to be shocked by this news and didn't speak for a long time. After a while, he said somewhat cautiously: "As far as I know, Director Pierce is not a person who likes to meddle in other people's business."

Stark was almost about to blurt out his dangerous speculation, but it was too shocking, and in the end, he didn't say it.

Because if you look at the timeline, Pepper received the address in the email but didn't go to save him. There was no abnormality in the access records of the mailbox website. Stark trusted his technical level very much, so it was impossible for anyone to hack or intercept the email.

Then where did Pierce know the address of the abandoned base from?

If there was no problem at the receiving end, then the problem must be at the sending end. The person who sent this email was Shiler. Shiler was a Hydra, and Shiler also had a teacher and superior with high status.

If someone could monitor the messages Shiler sent out, then it must be that teacher and superior who restored his identity and had been giving him orders.

Then Pierce appeared.

At the moment Shiler was pinned down, this speculation had already formed in Stark's heart, which was why he felt fear—that was the director of S. H. I. E. L. D.!

S. H. I. E. L. D. itself was established to deal with Hydra, and developing to today, even the director had become a Hydra. Stark didn't dare to think about how much shock this news would cause if it were released, and it might even change the situation of the world.

But Stark certainly couldn't ignore this. If Pierce was really a Hydra, then the harm he could cause would be too great.

But Stark didn't have any evidence. Pierce only needed to say that they had planted informants among the locals and saw Stark. After all, there were many people during the evacuation, and no one paid attention to everyone's movements. Pierce's sudden arrival couldn't prove anything at all.

Then the only one who could identify Pierce was Shiler.

Stark's brain turned rapidly. He thought that Shiler letting him go at the last minute proved that he was definitely not evil beyond redemption.

Shiler would explain to him his willingness to save people, explaining that at least a part of him also wanted to use the power of the Stark Group to return to civilized society, explaining that he also wanted to get rid of Hydra, so he was very likely willing to be this state's witness.

Stark knew he had to save Shiler.

Shiler gave up executing his superior's plan at the last minute, allowing him to be successfully rescued. Not to mention that without his superb medical skills earlier, Stark might have died of excessive blood loss or infection in the cave long ago. Shiler saved Stark twice. Out of emotion, Stark had to find a way to save him.

And if Pierce was very likely a Hydra and wanted to use this matter of saving Stark to do something, Stark would never let him succeed, and he had to find a way to counter him. Then Shiler, an insider of Hydra, became quite valuable. He very likely had evidence of Pierce's crimes in his hands. Out of interest, Stark also had to find a way to save him.

More importantly, Stark was clear that Pierce didn't bring the police and the army, but let S. H. I. E. L. D. agents take Shiler away, which proved that he didn't want Shiler to go to court to accept trial.

Connecting this to Shiler's powerful strength, what Pierce wanted to do was self-evident.

Even if Pierce was a Hydra, he had been lurking for so many years without causing any trouble, and he wasn't in a hurry to deal with him. But if Shiler lost control, his powerful strength might cause many people to die. By that time, he would never have the chance to get on the right track again.

Thinking of this, Stark became more and more anxious. He made a decision in his heart, so he looked at Obadiah firmly and said: "Listen, Uncle, I can treat your act of attacking me as an out-of-control act you made because of too much pressure, or it could also be that some cult organization lured you. This is not important."

"What's important is that we both know this isn't over. I'm still alive, so the military won't give up, and the person who kidnapped me the second time was Hydra. They are also eyeing me. Besides that, there might be more people lurking around."

"I need you to promise me that the entire Stark Group is united. We must stand together, Obadiah."

Obadiah stared wide-eyed, as if he didn't recognize Stark, staring at him blankly for at least two minutes before sighing lightly and exclaiming: "Tony, you've grown up."

Obadiah stood up and still used an incredulous tone: "If it were before, you would have gone crazy, rushed up to punch me, and then asked me to get out of the Stark Group immediately."

"I also want to punch you now." Stark turned over to sit on the edge of the bed, looked up at Obadiah, and said: "But we both know this is useless. The enemy is much stronger than we imagine. If we can't unite, everything will be over if there is the slightest mistake."

Obadiah frowned somewhat suspiciously. He instinctively felt that Stark hadn't told him everything.

He understood his nephew. If he wasn't facing the huge pressure of life and death, he wouldn't show his mature side.

Obadiah couldn't help but walk up, pressed a hand on Stark's shoulder, looked into his eyes, and said: "Tony, tell me the truth. What exactly did you see in Afghanistan?"

Stark stared at him silently for a while before saying: "I saw a psychologist."