"Mr. Stark has returned. I need to go to the airport to pick him up. The Military doesn't like too many people going there, so I'm very sorry. But you can wait here."
Pepper Potts, Stark's female assistant, would later be appointed by Stark as the CEO of Stark Industries.
Harry certainly didn't mind.
"Of course I don't mind, but I'd better wait in the waiting hall. After all, this is your CEO's office." Harry acted like a law-abiding citizen.
This made Pepper think even more highly of Harry.
Some time ago, the Osborn Group began acquiring stocks of Stark Industries, which made her vigilant—she considered many scenarios, such as hostile takeovers, malicious short-selling, and other common attack methods.
However, the acquisition stopped quickly. The Osborn Group put the funds into the renovation plan for Hells Kitchen. Now that place has built several brand-new schools and welfare institutions, and the public security has improved a lot.
And a new shareholder with a 7% stake was not a problem at all for Stark Industries.
In reality, Harry had long used hidden cameras to film every part of the physical model Howard left behind—who told them to enjoy showing it off?
But then again, if it weren't for Harry, the transmigrator, who could have guessed that the mystery of this brand-new artificial element was hidden inside this crude model?
"So, are we just going to wait here?" Hurley asked while handling official business on her computer.
"Of course. Otherwise, what else do you want to do? This isn't the Osborn Group's office building; there is surveillance everywhere."
"That's not what I meant!"
That's not what I meant either, Harry shrugged.
"Stark is going to hold a press conference, right now." Hurley closed her computer.
"Holding a press conference as soon as he returns; it seems he's going to announce some bombshell news." Harry stood up. "Where is their company's board meeting room? I want to go take a look."
"So I have decided to shut down the weapons manufacturing division of Stark Industries! Effective immediately!"
Stark's press conference turned into a mess, just like in the plot. Obadiah's impromptu explanation did not succeed in diverting people's attention.
The news spread immediately, and society was in an uproar.
The board members of Stark Industries hurriedly convened a board meeting.
"Does he understand what he is doing!" one board member was almost shouting, "What is an arms dealer supposed to do if not deal arms?"
"Does he not understand that he is the company's CEO and that everything he does must be responsible to the company!"
"We can't let him continue to be so willful!"
"If he cannot continue to bring profits to the company, perhaps we should replace him!"
Harry sat on the side, watching them argue as if he were watching a play.
Hurley carefully observed the expressions of the board members on the side. Harry had instructed her that they needed to continue increasing their stake in Stark afterwards, and she needed to judge which board members might accept a share transfer agreement.
Under the gaze of the many board members, Obadiah spoke slowly.
"No, we still need Tony. It's impossible to replace him at this critical juncture. The news has already been released, so now we should consider what to do next."
Obadiah obviously had his own plans; he knew more things.
And what he said was not false; the future was what the board members cared about.
"Obadiah, you have the best relationship with Tony. What exactly is he thinking?"
"Maybe he was scared out of his wits after taking a trip to Afghanistan, or maybe, just as he said, he suddenly turned into a humanitarian. To be honest, I'm not quite sure."
Obadiah's words sparked another discussion among the board members.
"But Tony is a smart person. You all should have heard what he said today."
"A new direction for development, one that is suitable and consistent with the country's highest interests? Bullshit." A board member said disdainfully.
"But his brain has never disappointed us. Let me go and make contact with him; I will figure out what he wants to do."
"Hmph, then you'd better be quick!"
Harry stretched and looked over at Hurley.
"How is it? You've got it all written down, right?"
"Yes, it seems quite a few of them are truly disappointed. Stark's stock will plummet tomorrow." Hurley said standing to the side, "Does the plan need to change?"
"No. Wait for the stock price to drop fifty or sixty points, then operate."
"I think it might drop even more, but it seems you really think highly of this Mr. Tony Stark." Hurley shrugged and wrote down Harry's words.
Harry remembered that in his previous life, Stark's stock price dropped more than 50 points the next day. He didn't know if Obadiah had secretly released news about the reactor, but in this life, Stark's stock price would only fall even more miserably.
Because nuclear fusion had already been commercialized by the Osborn Group.
The meeting ended, and the board members went offline. Just as Harry was planning to leave, Obadiah walked over.
"Mr. Osborn, I'm very sorry that you encountered this kind of thing at your first board meeting."
"Don't mind it. No one could have predicted such a thing."
Harry was waiting for what came next, only to see this bald man start thinking instead.
After a moment of silence, he said:
"Mr. Osborn, do you think it's possible to build an arc reactor by hand?"
"Unlikely. You know, Dr. Otto and I did a lot of preliminary work to make this technology a reality. If you followed our completion ceremony, you would find that thing is very large and very precise."
"And if I remember correctly, Stark Industries also has an arc reactor."
Stark Industries did indeed have such a reactor, but the energy output was less than the energy input, and its significance for decoration and fooling investors was greater than its practical significance.
Harry wasn't quite sure what Obadiah wanted to probe. Perhaps he suspected that he had obtained news about the reactor?
His own behavior indeed gave him reason to be suspicious.
It's a pity that he would never guess that he had invested in Tony Stark just to be safe and to suck blood from Tony.
If not for Tony Stark, Harry would have long ago bankrupted this company.
Obadiah fell silent for a while longer, and then said something that Harry had not expected.
"Does the Osborn Group have any intention of buying Stark Industries?"
Regarding this, Harry really wanted to say that he did! If buying ownership of the company could make Tony work for him for free, he would really do it.
But a pure company acquisition might not necessarily make him submit. If he ran off and started some other company, the value of this acquisition would be greatly reduced.
As for why everyone currently thinks the Osborn Group wants to acquire Stark Industries, in Harry's view, his actions really had nothing to hide. If others insisted on thinking that way, he couldn't stop them.
"Mr. Stane, this is corporate strategy, please forgive me for not being able to answer you." Harry stood up, his height surpassing the bald man by a head, and said condescendingly, "But I really hope Stark Industries can overcome this difficulty. I bought your company's shares under pressure at the time."
"Now, I have to go back to deal with issues. If the company has financial difficulties, I think I can give you some help."
Now the Osborn Group could be said to be making money hand over fist, and they were worried about having nowhere to spend it.