Three days later.
Stark Industries Tower, top-floor strategic conference room.
The atmosphere was as oppressive as a steel cable about to snap.
At the head of the conference table, Tony Stark sat with his arms crossed, a customary confident smile on his face, but a slightly tightened jawline betrayed his suppressed impatience.
Opposite him sat Stark Industries' core technical executives—the head of the Ocean Engineering Department, the chief sonar expert, the 负责人 of the deep-sea submersible project... each a top-tier engineer he had personally recruited from around the globe, capable of handling any challenge independently.
On the holographic projection in their midst, an action plan code-named "Deep Sea Fishing," personally drafted by Tony, was being displayed.
"Tony, this is not feasible."
The head of the Ocean Engineering Department, a meticulous German, was the first to break the silence. He pushed up his glasses, his tone filled with bewilderment.
"The sea area you've marked is the Bermuda Triangle's famous 'Silent Zone.' Intense geomagnetic anomalies will turn our equipment into scrap metal. Our poseidon, built at a cost of tens of billions, will become blind and deaf there."
"More importantly, what is our target?" the chief sonar expert added. "A 'Lava Octopus'? That name doesn't exist in any biological database. No sonar signature, no ecological habits, no active depth... Tony, we can't just sail out there and shout its name at the ocean, can we?"
Everyone's gaze was fixed on Tony, filled with confusion.
They could accept any of their boss's wild, fantastical plans, as long as that plan was based on data and the laws of physics.
But this time, the foundation of the plan was... "legend says there is such an octopus"?
"I know what you want to say."
Tony finally spoke. He stood up and walked to the massive floor-to-ceiling window, looking down at New York City below.
"You want to say that from any scientific, engineering, or statistical perspective, the success rate of this operation is infinitely close to zero."
He turned around, his gaze sweeping over everyone present.
"But you've got one thing wrong. I called you here not to prove whether it 'exists,' but to have you solve the technical problem of how to 'capture' it once we find it!"
"I'm here to have you solve problems, not to question me."
"Remember, I am the boss."
The conference room fell into a stalemate.
This was pure, utterly unreasonable "boss's will."
This wasn't like Tony.
"You'll regret this, Tony." With a bang, the German old man left the conference room.
"What about the rest of you? He gave up his status as a Stark employee. What about you?"
"But what about navigation?" the person in charge pressed, unwilling to give up. "Without navigation, we'll be like headless flies!"
A mysterious smile quietly curved at Tony's lips. He returned to the main seat, leaning forward, hands clasped on the table, as if announcing a shocking secret.
"Regarding navigation, you don't need to worry."
He looked at everyone's astonished expressions and said, enunciating each word carefully.
"I have already found a... unique 'fish finder' for this voyage. You just need to be ready to depart; don't worry about anything else. I think you understand what I mean."
As his words fell, the room was silent.
Of course, they understood the metaphor. But precisely because they understood it, they felt that the boss might truly be insane.
When the navigation system of a scientific project needs to rely on a metaphor to describe it, the project itself has already deviated from the realm of science.
"Meeting adjourned."
Tony stood up, giving no one a chance to ask further questions.
"Prepare as planned. Three days from now, the poseidon must depart from port."
He ended the dispute with his autocratic decision. The engineers dispersed, filled with doubts and unease, knowing only that their boss seemed to have been completely brainwashed by some "charlatan"... Almost simultaneously.
In another office at Stark Industries, Obadiah Stane hung up the phone, a cruel, Beast-like smile on his face.
"Bermuda? Going to such a godforsaken place with no signal for a scientific expedition?"
"Tony... my dear nephew, you always create the best opportunities for me."
He walked to the liquor cabinet, poured himself an expensive brandy, and raised his glass to the gloomy sky outside the window.
"May you find eternal peace in the deep sea."
...Triskelion Building, Nick Fury's office.
"Officer, we just received intelligence that Stark has launched a top-secret deep-sea scientific research project, code-named 'Deep Sea Fishing,' with its destination being the southern waters of the Bermuda Triangle."
Agent Coulson placed a report on the table.
"According to intelligence, Stark overruled all objections and forcibly approved this plan, which lacks any scientific basis. The list of accompanying personnel, besides himself, includes... Lin Huai, whom you have designated as an 8-level observation target."
"Fortune Teller..." Fury stared at the name on the report with his single eye, falling into a prolonged silence.
That name again. This "X" factor that, ever since its appearance, had made all of Tony Stark's actions increasingly strange and unpredictable.
"His position within Stark Industries has been confirmed... 'Occult consultant.'" Coulson added. "An unprecedented position."
"Have Agent 17, who is undercover in Stark Industries' aerospace department, keep an eye on it. I don't care what they're going to fish out of the seabed; I want to know every move the 'Fortune Teller' makes in that sea area." Fury's voice was devoid of any emotion.
"Yes, Officer."
...Two days later.
Early morning, California coast, a secret military port belonging to Stark Industries.
A deep-sea submersible carrier, massive like a moving island, lay quietly docked. Its hull was a deep matte black, full of futuristic sci-fi aesthetics, with a striking white hull number and name painted on its side—
The poseidon.
Lin Huai, dressed in casual attire, stood on the dock. The sea breeze ruffled his hair as his gaze calmly fixed on the steel behemoth that was about to carry his hopes.
"How is it, consultant?"
Tony Stark, wearing a flashy bright suit and sunglasses, walked up to him.
"Does my 'fishing boat' still meet your requirements? It can dive to any known corner of Earth, and I guarantee you can comfortably enjoy a martini inside."
Lin Huai withdrew his gaze, turned to look at Tony, and a faint smile appeared on his face.
"The ship is very good."
"Now, it's time to see if my 'fish finder' is worth the price."
As the long, low whistle sounded, the poseidon slowly left the port, cutting through vast waves, and sailed towards the boundless, deep blue.