American comics: Starting with Luke the Maker

The Malibu villa houses Tony's underground laboratory.

"You're saying Ina Sandra gave this to you?" Tony Stark, taking a break, twirled the black USB drive in his hand, looking at Pepper Potts, who was still wearing her gala dress and had rushed over, asking with doubt.

Pepper Potts nodded. Ina Sandra left the gala shortly after handing her the USB drive. Pepper pondered, voicing her speculation, "She must have known I would be at the gala and specifically obtained an invitation beforehand."

"She said only I could see it, and this USB drive is only for the two of us to know about?" Tony Stark asked again.

"Yes."

"Is she trying to tell me someone is watching me?" Tony Stark quickly came to a conclusion. "Afterward, did anyone approach you, Pepper?"

Pepper Potts thought carefully again and shook her head affirmatively. "After I received the USB drive, Happy quickly escorted me back here. However," Pepper suddenly remembered something and added, "I said goodbye to Obadiah when I left, and he asked if Ina had chatted with me about anything. I brushed him off with a few casual words."

Tony Stark looked thoughtful.

After waiting for a while, Pepper looked at Tony Stark, who was deep in thought with the USB drive, and couldn't help but ask, "What's inside?"

"We'll find out when we look." Tony was awakened from his thoughts by Pepper's voice. He stood up, took the USB drive to his workbench, inserted it into a port, and ordered Jarvis to read the stored data.

Inside were records of arms deals, especially in the period leading up to Tony Stark's kidnapping. The kidnappers, known as the Ten Rings, had arms deals with Stark Industries with transaction flows. Of course, in Tony's opinion, the prices on the records were much lower than their actual value.

"I didn't know about any of this." Pepper Potts covered her mouth in shock as she looked at the projected order records. Even though she had previously served as Stark's assistant and representative in the company, helping him understand all the information related to the company, she was certain that she had never seen these order records.

"You're just an assistant, Pepper. The information you have access to is only what's openly available. Of course, they wouldn't let you easily know the company's real secrets." Tony Stark's face was calm. "They're even hiding things from me, aren't they?

This order record, that kid Luke is trying to tell me that someone in my company wants to get rid of me! Someone with a high position and great power, who is certain that they can handle everything and obtain the greatest benefit after I'm gone. The turmoil in the board of directors these days may have been caused by them."

"Who is the most likely person with this kind of status?"

Tony looked at Pepper, and they both said a name together: "Obadiah Stane."

After saying the name, shock appeared on both Tony and Pepper's faces at the same time.

"Clap, clap, clap!"

A round of applause came from the stairwell of the underground laboratory. Tony and Pepper looked up and saw Obadiah Stane in a black suit, walking down with a smile on his face, accompanied by others.

"You've finally grown up, Tony," Obadiah said with emotion as he looked at him. Tony and Pepper, however, raised their hands under the gun barrels of two subordinates, standing in place, afraid to move.

"Why?" Tony's eyes rarely showed a hint of sadness. Since his father passed away, he had indeed regarded Obadiah and Jarvis as elders. Jarvis had left early, so Tony created an intelligent system named Jarvis as a remembrance. But now, the other person he regarded as a family elder seemed to be drifting away from him to some extent as well.

"Why?" Obadiah approached, opening a miniature sonic neural weapon in his hand. He took a step forward, supporting Tony Stark, whose nerves were disrupted by the weapon, making him unable to control his limbs, and gently sat him down. "You're still so naive, Tony. Why ask why?

You're so smart, can't you figure it out?

Of course, it's for Stark Industries! For profit! This company was co-founded by me and your father, Howard. I started assisting him from his era, and then I had to assist you. I don't think that's fair. Stark Industries should be mine! Without me, it wouldn't have developed to this point.

I was the one who sold the technology of you and your father, and I was the one who connected the contacts to develop Stark Industries. But everyone only remembers Howard and Tony, is that fair?

Why couldn't you just die in the hands of the kidnappers?

Why did you have to escape?

Perhaps, the reason why God let you escape is to bring this thing on your chest to me."

As he spoke, Obadiah Stane, under Tony's dazed and Pepper's horrified gaze, removed the arc reactor from Tony's chest.

Carefully placing the temporarily paralyzed Tony on the ground, Obadiah Stane stood up and looked down at Tony lying on the ground. "I want to thank you for giving me the open whitelist, otherwise it would have been a little troublesome to come in silently. Don't worry, I won't do anything to you, you just died from your own injuries. As for you," Obadiah pointed to Pepper Potts, "I won't be violent with you here, after all, this is not a good place to do it. But you can choose to end your life after Tony dies. Don't worry, my people will help you. Take her away and deal with her somewhere else."

Obadiah waved his hand to the subordinates behind him. Pepper Potts only let out a scream before someone covered her mouth and dragged her out.

"Goodbye, Tony."

Obadiah raised his finger to his forehead to salute Tony Stark, then turned and walked away without looking back.

...

"Sir, you asked me to monitor Tony. Obadiah just took people into the villa. Now he's out, but things have become a little troublesome. I think I need some support here at Tony's place." In the darkness, Coulson watched Pepper Potts being taken away by Obadiah in an abnormal state, and picked up the phone in his hand, which was in communication, and roughly explained the situation.

"Your mission is to see if Tony Stark is dead or not. The other side, you don't need to worry about it." Nick Fury's calm voice was transmitted through the earpiece, giving Phil Coulson orders.

...

"I have already handed the USB drive to Pepper Potts within Obadiah's sight," Ina Sandra said to Luke after returning to Hebron Technology.

"Well done." Luke was wearing his prototype armor. Next to him was a projection screen showing Pepper Potts being held hostage and the convoy about to arrive at Stark Industries.

"You deliberately leaked the information about investigating Obadiah and Stark's secret arms deals, arousing Obadiah's hostility and vigilance, just for this show today?" Ina Sandra looked at Luke strangely.