c12 – Tony's Investigation
Harvey knew that someone as proud and self-assured as Tony Stark could never be persuaded to embrace the Void directly. A man who relied entirely on his own intellect and inventions would never submit to an external power so easily. What Harvey needed was patience—guidance, subtle influence, and the right opportunity at the right time.
At present, Tony hadn't even fully accepted his identity as Iron Man. The transformation from weapons manufacturer to protector had only just begun. Harvey understood that the true turning point would come when Tony discovered the fatal flaw in the Arc Reactor embedded in his chest, the palladium poisoning that would slowly kill him.
In the original timeline, Tony would later rely on S.H.I.E.L.D. to access research left behind by his father, Howard Stark, eventually synthesizing a new element to replace palladium. That moment when Tony stood at the edge of death yet found a way to overcome it—would be the perfect opportunity for Harvey to intervene.
Harvey knew that moment wasn't far away. For now, there was no need to rush. Acting too early would only disrupt the natural course of events and reduce his chances of success. Instead, he chose to wait, observing and preparing quietly.
Before being reborn into this Marvel world, Harvey had lived an ordinary life. Growing up in an orphanage, he had experienced subtle discrimination due to his Asian identity. However, with the mindset of an adult from another life, he never allowed those experiences to define him. Instead, he focused on adapting and understanding the rules of this world.
At one point, he had even planned for a completely ordinary future. If he never gained any extraordinary power, he intended to rely on foresight alone returning to a more stable environment and investing everything into Stark Industries before its rise. In the Marvel world, there was a saying: the rich rely on technology, the poor rely on mutation.
Harvey had neither Tony's genius nor the reckless courage to gamble on mutation, which often came with fatal risks. Without certainty, such a path was equivalent to suicide. His safest plan had always been to use knowledge of future events to secure financial stability and live comfortably.
However, the awakening of the Void System had completely changed his fate. Now, wealth was no longer his ultimate goal, it was merely a tool. Even so, Harvey remained as patient as ever. Power required time, and he was willing to wait.
At present, he had a new objective: to raise as much capital as possible. By temporarily mortgaging his properties and consolidating his assets, he intended to prepare for the next major financial opportunity. Timing, as always, was everything.
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On the other side, after explaining his decision to shut down weapons manufacturing to Obadiah Stane, Tony quickly returned to his mansion. The chaos at the press conference hadn't distracted him from one thing Harvey Ambellaca.
"J.A.R.V.I.S., run a full investigation on Harvey Ambellaca," Tony said as he entered his underground workshop. His tone was calm, but his mind was already racing. The anomaly Harvey represented was too significant to ignore.
"Of course, sir," replied J.A.R.V.I.S., the artificial intelligence created by Tony himself. Within moments, vast amounts of data began appearing across the screens in front of him.
Tony had only known Harvey through rumors before, but now things were different. Harvey had somehow hinted at the Arc Reactor something that should have been completely confidential. That alone made him worthy of deeper scrutiny.
The data revealed that Harvey Ambellaca was a genuine prodigy. Despite growing up in underfunded public schools, he had skipped multiple grades and entered MIT at just fifteen, eventually graduating at the top of his class. By conventional standards, he was undeniably brilliant—though still not on Tony's level.
His early life, however, was far from smooth. His background and identity made it difficult for him to integrate socially, shaping a quiet and reserved personality. Then, three years ago, everything changed, he won the lottery.
That single event marked the beginning of his rapid rise. From there, Harvey's wealth grew at an astonishing pace, becoming one of the most talked-about financial success stories in New York. What others saw as luck, Tony now viewed with suspicion.
Tony carefully analyzed every recorded transaction. Around a year and a half ago, Harvey began heavily investing in Stark Industries, eventually accumulating over 800 million dollars' worth of stock. It was a bold move one that showed strong confidence in Tony's company.
But what truly caught Tony's attention was what came next.
Harvey didn't hold onto those shares indefinitely. Instead, he began selling them in batches strategically, methodically. These weren't moves visible to the average investor, but to someone with Tony's access, the pattern was crystal clear.
"He sold everything… more than two months ago," Tony muttered, his brows furrowing. The timing was too precise to be coincidence.
Even more astonishing was the scale. Harvey had initially invested around 800 million dollars, yet managed to exit at peak value, securing massive profits before the crash triggered by Tony's own announcement.
Tony stared at the data, his mind racing.
This wasn't luck.
This was something else entirely.
During this period, when factoring in the steady rise of Stark Industries stock, its consistent dividends, and Harvey Ambellaca's timely exit, he had earned hundreds of millions of dollars in just over a year and a half. What made it more astonishing was that he hadn't relied on a large financial team or complex corporate maneuvering; he had simply invested heavily in a company he believed in and exited with near-perfect timing. To Tony Stark, this kind of precision wasn't just skill, it bordered on something he couldn't logically explain.
Tony Stark couldn't understand why Harvey, who had once shown unwavering confidence in Stark Industries, would suddenly liquidate his holdings. The explanation Harvey gave that he had made enough money sounded absurd, even insulting to Tony's intelligence. The decision to shut down the weapons manufacturing division had been made privately after his return from captivity in Afghanistan, and even Pepper Potts hadn't known until the press conference. Without that announcement, Stark Industries' stock would have continued its upward trajectory, making Harvey's perfectly timed exit deeply suspicious.
Ordinarily, such a massive financial decision would be backed by insider knowledge, political connections, or at least market indicators, yet Harvey had none of these. He had no ties to the U.S. military, no backdoor access to classified decisions, and no visible network that could have tipped him off. More puzzling was the timing. Harvey had begun selling his shares in batches two months before Tony's kidnapping by the Ten Rings, carefully exiting at peak value. This wasn't reactionary behavior; it was calculated foresight that defied conventional financial logic.
Rumors had circulated in New York's financial circles that Harvey Ambellaca possessed some form of predictive ability, but Tony Stark, a firm believer in science, engineering, and empirical evidence, dismissed such ideas outright. Still, the deeper he analyzed the situation, the harder it became to ignore the pattern. It wasn't luck—no one could repeatedly achieve such results through luck alone. There was a hidden variable, something Tony hadn't yet identified, and that uncertainty began to irritate him more than he cared to admit.
"JARVIS, pull up all media coverage related to Stark Industries from the start of the year up to July," Tony ordered, pacing slightly in his workshop beneath the mansion. The calm, synthesized voice of J.A.R.V.I.S. responded instantly, compiling news reports, financial analyses, and public sentiment data. Tony reviewed everything carefully, weapon controversies, political pressure, minor scandals but nothing significant enough to justify Harvey's early withdrawal appeared.
The conclusion only deepened the mystery. Even with negative press, Stark Industries' technological dominance ensured its stability. The Jericho missile demonstration prior to Tony's capture had reinforced the company's position as a leader in advanced weapons systems, meaning its valuation should have remained strong. Yet Harvey had exited before any real downturn occurred, avoiding losses that hadn't even materialized yet. The more Tony examined it, the clearer it became—Harvey Ambellaca was no ordinary investor operating on standard logic.
"JARVIS, calculate Harvey Ambellaca's current net worth, including liquid assets, properties, and holdings," Tony said, his curiosity now fully engaged. After a brief pause, JARVIS responded with precision, estimating Harvey's total wealth at approximately 4.827 billion US dollars. Hearing that figure, Tony's expression shifted slightly—not shock, but recognition. In under three years, Harvey had multiplied a modest fortune into billions without building technology, leading a corporation, or inheriting power. That alone demanded respect, even from someone like Tony Stark.
Despite that, Tony quickly suppressed any growing admiration. He recalled Harvey's earlier words that one day he might need his help and a trace of annoyance returned. Tony Stark had built his identity on self-reliance, innovation, and control over his own destiny. The idea that he might one day depend on someone like Harvey, a man whose success he couldn't even fully understand, was something he refused to accept.
Still, uncertainty lingered in his mind. As he stood in his workshop, arc reactor humming faintly in his chest, Tony gave one final command: "JARVIS, monitor Harvey Ambellaca's movements. Notify me of any significant activity." The AI acknowledged instantly, and Tony turned back to his work, though his thoughts remained divided. For the first time in a long while, there was someone he couldn't fully analyze and that alone made Harvey Ambellaca worth watching.
...