"Sit down, it'll be easier for us to talk a bit. And I can be more comfortable finishing this burger." Watching Tony's flippant demeanor on TV, and Obadiah Stane, who was sitting on the floor beside him with an awkward expression, Zhou Yi, sitting at home, showed a playful smile, enjoying the show.
"Boss, it looks like you know what Tony Stark will say at this press conference?" Seeing Zhou Yi's smile, Ada, who already had some understanding of his character, asked. She was sure Zhou Yi knew something; asking was just to see if he was willing to tell her.
"You'll know soon. See that bald guy? He'll drag Tony away in a fit of rage in a bit." Zhou Yi picked up the cup in front of him, pointed at the awkward Obadiah, and gestured for Ada to pay close attention to that guy.
"Mr. Stane?" Ada, who had taken over most of Zhou Yi's work, had naturally dealt with the second most influential person at Stark Enterprises. She couldn't believe such a mature and steady person would do something like that in front of the media.
"You'll see if you keep watching." Zhou Yi merely smiled without speaking.
Ada stopped talking, focusing on the developments at the press conference.
"You know, I'm actually thinking about my father right now. I didn't say goodbye to him. Yes, I didn't say goodbye to him in his final moments."
"I really have a question I want to ask him now. Did he ever hesitate? Did he ever waver? Did he ever regret it? Creating this company, selling weapons that can take away others' lives all over the World!"
"I really want to ask him, what does it feel like to be a merchant of Death?"
Tony Stark sat on the ground, saying these words to countless media. As soon as he finished speaking, all the media fell silent, then erupted into a huge wave of sound. Almost everyone was frantically pushing forward, trying to get their microphones closer to Tony. At this moment, with their keen professional instincts, they sensed the presence of a big news story.
Not just them, even Obadiah Stane on the side had this strange feeling. He quickly grabbed Tony, wanting to ask him what he was going to say. Why hadn't he discussed it with him beforehand? But it was too late; Tony had already released this explosive news.
"I have decided to cancel the weapons development department under Stark International. This resolution is effective immediately."
As soon as this news broke, not to mention the media, almost everyone who saw the news felt a sense of overwhelming shock. Anyone holding Stark stock at this moment most wanted to quickly dump their shares. Everyone knew that a huge financial fluctuation was imminent.
And the most worried and scared about this great upheaval was Obadiah Stane. He was one of the founders of Stark Enterprises; he valued this company more than his own son. How could he allow Tony to so easily lop off one of its major limbs?
He quickly grabbed Tony, stopping him from continuing to speak. He then took over the microphone on the press conference podium and shouted loudly.
"The main purpose of this press conference is to tell everyone that Tony is back. Everything else is just Tony joking with everyone."
Although he said that, not many people would believe him. Stark Enterprises was named Stark, not Stane. Everyone knew that Tony Stark had the final say, not Obadiah Stane.
Tony was escorted away by Obadiah, and Zhou Yi knew very well that there would be a series of very complex discussions between them. As for now, he no longer had any room to intervene between the two. He was currently the Chairman of Corona Group, and under this identity, he no longer had the right to join the Stark Board of Directors. He would hold shares in Stark, but could only place people inside Stark to be listeners. Unless he completely took control of Stark, he would have no say.
This was the result of a compromise between several major companies. They couldn't allow one of their rivals to sit in a meeting that determined the direction of their own company and spout nonsense. So, under this unwritten rule, Zhou Yi could no longer interfere with Stark's decisions. Naturally, the issues between Tony and Obadiah no longer concerned him.
Without any invitation, Zhou Yi happily lived his comfortable life until the arrival of the next uninvited guest. And judging by Zhou Yi's current state, this uninvited guest shouldn't arrive too late.
The reality was not far from what he expected. Less than a week later, an uninvited guest came to see him. However, contrary to what he thought, this time it wasn't Coulson, the representative of trouble, but the person who came this time was trouble himself.
"Ms. Hill, I really didn't expect it to be you!" Zhou Yi said in surprise, looking at Maria Hill, whom Ada had brought before him. He had thought that S.H.I.E.L.D. would still send Coulson to him this time.
Seeming to guess what Zhou Yi was thinking, Commander Hill frowned and said to him.
"Coulson is currently handling matters concerning your good friend, Tony Stark, so the higher-ups sent me to talk to you."
"Tony, what happened to Tony? Does the stock market fluctuation also affect S.H.I.E.L.D.'s normal operations?" Zhou Yi began to feign ignorance.
"Zhou Yi, don't think you can get away with playing dumb. You should be very clear about the function of that iron man armor Stark developed."
Commander Hill, as always, gave Zhou Yi no pleasantries. Of course, Zhou Yi rarely gave her any either.
"How could I possibly know what Tony is doing? Does Tony need to report to me what he intends to do with some nanometal he buys from me? Besides, I've been staying here recently, and I'm completely unaware of anything about an iron man armor you're talking about."
How could Zhou Yi not know about the iron man armor Tony made? Not long ago, Tony had personally video-called him, asking him about the differences between several nanometal he had, and even personally showed off his newly released suit.
However, regarding S.H.I.E.L.D.'s inquiries, he would absolutely not admit to knowing anything. He and S.H.I.E.L.D. were not on good enough terms for him to betray his friend at any time.
"You're lying, we know that."
"But you have no proof."
The two quickly fell into a stalemate, a situation that made Serana and Ada tacitly choose to observe. They knew that these two wouldn't break off talks. Someone would always break the deadlock first.
Commander Hill's prominent chest rose and fell violently. After a moment, she pulled out a document, placed it in front of Zhou Yi, and said to him with a cold face.
"I don't have time to argue with you. This is why I came to you. Read it, and then we'll discuss future issues."
"How strange. Do some people not even say 'please' when asking for help?" Zhou Yi, with his legs crossed, took the document. He looked at Commander Hill's expression, which, as he expected, was already so cold it could freeze someone to Death. Knowing when to stop, he gave up on teasing her further.
"Alright, alright. We'll talk after I read this." With that, he began to read the document.
The document started with a person's resume: Robert Bruce Banner, a key researcher in a special Military project. S.H.I.E.L.D. had labeled this project as classified. However, Zhou Yi quickly found an introduction to the project on the next page: a sub-project of the super soldier program, an experimental project on radiation-modified humans. This made Zhou Yi sigh, thinking that it seemed this secrecy was dealt with differently depending on the person.
In the subsequent data, Zhou Yi found a familiar figure. Bruce Banner experienced a terrible accident during a gamma experiment. Due to the special nature of his body, the gamma rays caused a terrifying mutation. A terrifying monster was born from his body. And this monster, Zhou Yi was somewhat familiar with. In his memory, people called him Hulk, but here, they called him the Hulk.
He remembered very little about his previous life. And very few things were worth remembering. But the Avengers was definitely one of them. Although he couldn't remember all the members, he had a very deep impression of a couple of them.
One was Tony, another was Captain America, and the last one he could remember was the Hulk.
A powerful, uncontrollable giant who grew stronger with anger. Such a person was already worthy of being remembered by him.
After cross-referencing the information in front of him with his memories, Zhou Yi felt that this Bruce Banner was the Hulk from his memories. And it was very clear that the Hulk had become S.H.I.E.L.D.'s prey. The last few dozen pages of the document were all about his analysis and the various damages he had caused. After quickly flipping through these documents, Zhou Yi tossed them aside and asked.
"Alright, I've pretty much read the documents. Now, can you tell me what you want from me?"
Commander Hill took back the documents. She looked at Zhou Yi and stated her purpose.
"You've seen Dr. Banner's information, so the rest is simple. I hope you can help us capture him!"
"Why?" Zhou Yi retorted. "Is this Dr. Banner threatening you, or is he threatening someone else? I've read the documents. So far, all accidents have been caused by the Military's attempts to contain this giant that Dr. Banner transforms into. From my perspective, Dr. Banner is the victim. So, why should I help you harm a victim?"
"Because he himself is a huge danger." Realizing Zhou Yi's uncooperativeness, Commander Hill immediately raised her voice. "Dr. Banner transforms into that terrifying, uncontrollable monster due to various stimuli. We cannot allow that monster to appear in cities, do you understand?"
"Where did he last appear? Brazil? He has already chosen to live in seclusion, so why would he suddenly run into the city? And he even caused a huge commotion at a university, even destroying an armored unit. Regarding this point, I think you seem to have concealed something from me."