c32: I Have Plenty of Money to Buy My Life
"Mr. Harvey Ambellacar, please forgive S.H.I.E.L.D.'s previous offense. We have no intention of making enemies with you."
Nick Fury greeted Harvey Ambellacar proactively.
"I don't mind, as long as you don't bother me anymore."
"The responsibility of protecting Earth has nothing to do with someone like me who prefers to stay out of these matters."
Harvey glanced at Nick Fury upon hearing this and said.
"Given your relationship with Tony Stark, it's possible you could become someone who operates advanced armor like Iron Man in the future."
Nick Fury remarked.
According to his investigation, Tony Stark generally only invited women to his private gatherings, rarely extending invitations to other men.
If Tony Stark did invite someone, it indicated a level of trust beyond ordinary acquaintances.
Tony Stark had always been extremely cautious about sharing his core Iron Man technology, especially with the military or government agencies.
However, if it were someone he trusted, the possibility of cooperation or shared use of armor technology could not be ruled out.
Therefore, when Nick Fury said this, he was also observing Tony Stark's reaction.
When Nick Fury noticed Tony Stark's eyes flicker slightly, as if considering the possibility, he understood that his speculation was not entirely unfounded.
"Putting aside whether I would ever use Iron Man armor, who decided that wearing it automatically makes someone a superhero?"
"Nick Fury, the way you frame your words intentionally or not carries a tone of moral coercion. That's enough."
Harvey sensed Tony Stark's reaction but still responded directly and bluntly.
Nick Fury had initially maintained a relatively cooperative attitude toward Harvey Ambella because he believed there was a chance of gaining indirect access to Stark-level technology through him.
He hadn't expected Harvey to respond so directly, which caused a brief surge of irritation within him.
"Harvey Ambéla, I think there may be some misunderstandings between us. Perhaps we can clear them up."
However, his experience and discipline allowed Nick Fury to suppress that irritation, and he continued speaking in a controlled tone.
"I have nothing to discuss with you."
"Last time your agent pointed a weapon at me, I reported it to federal authorities, but the matter was quietly suppressed."
"If I can't confront
you directly, I can at least stay out of your reach." "But if you push things too far next time, I have more than enough resources to ensure consequences you won't like."
Harvey noticed the subtle change in Nick Fury's posture and responded with a faint sneer.
Tony Stark's eyes flickered with surprise upon hearing these words, and he turned to look at Nick Fury.
He knew that S.H.I.E.L.D. had approached Harvey Ambellaca before in an attempt to recruit or evaluate him, but he hadn't expected that their methods would involve escalating to the level of drawing a weapon.
"..."
Nick Fury, hearing Harvey Ambellaca's words and noticing Tony Stark's reaction, felt a slight headache forming.
He hadn't expected Natasha Romanoff's earlier field assessment to leave such a lasting negative impression on Harvey Ambellaca.
At the time, their objective had simply been to evaluate a potentially unknown variable.
However, they had not anticipated that Tony Stark previously viewed primarily as a weapons developer and engineer would create something as transformative as the Iron Man armor.
Even more unexpectedly, Harvey Ambellaca and Tony Stark had developed what appeared to be a cooperative and trusting relationship.
Moreover, Harvey Ambellaca's words clearly indicated he knew about the shadowy global intelligence and assassination networks that even organizations like S.H.I.E.L.D. kept tabs on.
If pushed too far, Harvey Ambellaca would simply pay a hefty sum to have them eliminated; even if they didn't die, they would be severely hunted and targeted across multiple jurisdictions. They
might even die outright, after all, in the underworld that even S.H.I.E.L.D. monitors, there existed terrifyingly efficient assassins and contractors who operated like Grim Reapers for the right price.
Twenty million US dollars would require a lot of authorization and bureaucratic maneuvering for S.H.I.E.L.D. to mobilize, but for a tycoon like Harvey Ambellaca, it was readily available.
And this tycoon was still very young; youthful boldness and decisiveness, much like Tony Stark in his earlier years, made such extreme actions not entirely impossible.
"Mr. Harvey Ambellaca, I deeply apologize for the actions of our agent. I'm sorry."
"We are not enemies. If there's an opportunity in the future, I hope we can truly clear up this misunderstanding."
Nick Fury could only concede, bowing his head in apology.
Then, Nick Fury hung up the video call.
After the video call ended...
"Awesome,"
Tony Stark said, giving Harvey Ambella a thumbs-up with admiration.
Based on the abilities Harvey Ambella had displayed far beyond anything explained by conventional science or even Stark-level engineering, he clearly wasn't afraid of S.H.I.E.L.D.
Yet, Harvey Ambella hadn't considered revealing his identity or aligning himself with any organization, instead choosing to present himself as nothing more than a young, extraordinarily wealthy businessman.
"It's not about being awesome; it's just about maintaining a certain image,"
Harvey said calmly.
"I understand. But Harvey Ambella, are you really not considering wearing the Iron Man suit?"
"I'm already very good at piloting the Iron Man armor—especially after refining systems from the Mark II up through later iterations. If it were you, as long as you understood its functions, you'd probably be even better than me, right?"
Tony Stark understood, but his eyes quickly lit up as he looked at Harvey Ambella and asked.
The Iron Man suits, powered by the Arc Reactor technology embedded in his chest, had similar core performance, but the pilot's combat instincts, reaction speed, and physical conditioning still significantly affected their effectiveness.
Although he didn't know exactly how skilled Harvey Ambella was, his enhanced perception, physical strength, and composure already placed him far beyond an ordinary human pilot.
"If I'm interested later, I'll take one from you."
Harvey glanced at the sleek, gold-and-red Iron Man armor displayed against the wall at the back, its design reminiscent of Stark's evolving combat philosophy considered for a moment, and then said.
"You can take one now, it'll give you some self-defense capabilities and help you better conceal your identity,"
Tony Stark replied.
"Tony Stark, I appreciate your kindness."
"Right now, as long as I don't escalate things or directly challenge S.H.I.E.L.D., they can't move against me openly because they're already in the wrong."
"But if I take it, it won't make it easier for me to hide my identity."
"Instead, it will give people like Nick Fury the justification they need labeling me as someone possessing advanced Stark weaponry to officially intervene."
Harvey shook his head and said.
Because he had repeatedly reminded and helped Tony Stark—especially regarding the palladium poisoning caused by prolonged use of the Arc Reactor—Tony Stark felt he had received help for nothing and wanted to give him something in return.
Harvey didn't lack wealth, influence, or even power, so Tony Stark's gesture itself was enough.
"That seems to make sense."
Tony Stark thought for a moment and understood.
He and Harvey Ambéla were both among New York's wealthiest men, but there were fundamental differences between them.
As long as he lived, Stark Industries would remain one of the world's leading technological powers.
He had developed the Iron Man armor, and despite pressure from the military and oversight from S.H.I.E.L.D., they couldn't directly act against him;
they could only attempt to negotiate, influence public perception, or apply indirect pressure to obtain what he refused to give.
Because they lacked a legitimate justification to seize his technology outright, the Iron Man armor remained under his control.
In any case, the government couldn't push him too far—after all, he was not only a billionaire industrialist but also a once-in-a-generation genius.
However, Harvey Ambéla's public identity was merely that of a wealthy civilian.
Money alone couldn't directly oppose institutional power, and Harvey Ambéla was already on uneasy terms with S.H.I.E.L.D.
But as long as Harvey Ambéla refrained from openly displaying dangerous abilities or possessing recognizable high-threat weaponry like Stark-designed armor,
Nick Fury and S.H.I.E.L.D. would avoid escalating the situation, choosing instead to observe and wait rather than provoke an unpredictable variable.
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