"This was just an accident," Tony said, taking off the device with lingering fear. "You go up first, I'll be right there!"
Pepper walked up angrily. John walked to Tony's side, his fingers moving slightly. All the buckles on Tony's arm came off, and the screws quickly spun out and flew to the side, landing neatly in place.
The entire device fell from Tony's hand and flew onto the iron frame automatically.
"Mr. Stark, there is a problem with the frequency of this energy output. We can control the amount of energy output; it doesn't need to be too large. It's just meant to be an auxiliary flight device."
"But this frequency setting can be used as a weapon!" John said, looking at the broken table opposite.
"John, how did you get your abilities? It's so supernatural!" Tony asked, moving his body and drinking the cup of coffee.
"Mr. Stark, the universe is very big. I don't know. When will you give me a blood test? I also want to know."
John looked at the packed square gift box and smiled at Tony. "Obadiah is upstairs. Can you guess why he's here to see you?"
"It's probably company business. When my real research results come out, everything will be fine."
The two walked upstairs.
The first thing they saw was Obadiah sitting at the grand piano in the living room, playing a piece of music. The sound of the piano reached John's ears, and he couldn't help laughing.
The piece is called Piano Concerto in C Major, composed by Antonio Salieri. He was Italian and a master in the field of music alongside his contemporary Mozart.
It is rumored that he was jealous of Mozart's achievements and talents, so he designed to kill Mozart. Although the official report did not confirm this, and it is mostly fiction, the rumor has persisted for hundreds of years.
It's similar to Obadiah's relationship with Tony.
But John quickly stopped smiling, not wanting to stand out. He wanted to remain inconspicuous.
"How is the company?" Tony asked, walking over to the table and seeing a big box of pizza. "Oh, it's bad news, right?"
Obadiah didn't stop playing the song. "I just brought pizza back from New York, and it doesn't mean it's bad."
Tony, who was very hungry, opened the pizza box. "That's right, the pizza is awesome!" Looking at the delicious pizza, he sighed, picked up a slice, and ate it.
"If you were there, the result might be better!" Obadiah left the piano and walked over.
"You told me to act low-key. I did it! I kept a low profile, and you handled it!"
"I meant for the board meeting." Obadiah sat next to Tony.
"Board meeting?" Tony frowned and asked.
"Where does this kid come from?" Obadiah asked, noticing John.
"Don't worry about him. He is my assistant. You keep talking," Tony said.
"The board feels that your post-traumatic stress symptoms are severe and are ready to issue an injunction."
Obadiah ignored John, who was only eleven years old and 1.2 meters tall, and continued talking to Tony.
"What do you mean by that?"
"They are going to kick you out," Obadiah replied.
Tony looked incredulous. "Why? Just because the stock fell forty points? Didn't we expect that?"
"It fell 56.5 points," Pepper interjected.
Tony turned around angrily. "That's not important; we have the controlling stake!"
"Tony, the board also has rights. They are looking for an excuse to fire you, saying that you and your new research direction are not in the company's best interests!" Obadiah said.
"This is my new responsibility!" Tony said loudly. "This is my new goal, and... also for the company!"
Looking at Obadiah with a mocking expression, Tony tried to explain.
"I mean, I take responsibility on behalf of the company..." Seeing Pepper's disappointed look, Tony collapsed.
"You guys did a great job!" he sneered, getting up and taking the pizza with him. "I'm going to the studio!"
"Don't do that, Tony. Tony, hey, listen." Obadiah rushed over, putting his hand on Tony's shoulder.
"I'm trying to help you turn things around, but you have to give me something to work with!"
Obadiah's true intentions finally surfaced, as he pointed to the reactor on Tony's chest.
"Let me find a few engineers to analyze that thing, draw a sketch or something."
"No, that's definitely not happening!" Tony refused firmly.
"So I can use it to convince those guys in New York."
"I will do this project myself. No discussion, Obi. Forget it, and don't push this idea!" Tony said, ready to leave.
Obadiah snatched the pizza box from Tony's hand. "Fine, I'll eat the pizza myself!"
"Here, I'm giving you one slice, or two!" Obadiah opened the pizza box.
"Thank you!" Tony took the two slices, turned, and walked downstairs.
"Do you mind if I come down and see what you're working on?"
"Good night, Obi!" Tony walked on without turning his head.
John walked toward the studio step by step, looking at Obadiah standing there with a pizza box. He walked past him, "Mr. Obadiah, can I have a slice?"
Obadiah looked at John and suddenly laughed. "Oh, I saw you last time in the factory. You are so cute. Of course, you can have a slice!"
He took out a slice of pizza for John and continued asking with a smile.
"Tony asked you to follow him, so you must know what he's doing, right? Tell me, and I'll give you all this pizza, okay?"
"I'm sorry, I can't say." John looked at Obadiah, who immediately changed his expression, and ran off quickly.
Obadiah looked at Pepper. "What's the matter with that kid?"
Pepper shrugged. "I don't know. Who knows what Tony is thinking."
...
With a slice of pizza in his mouth, Tony started busying himself in front of the computer again, as if he didn't care about what had just happened.
"Mr. Stark, from the conversation just now, do you understand Mr. Obadiah's purpose?"
"What purpose? I never thought about what to do with this?" Tony swallowed the last bite of pizza.
"Can you make one for me? I want to know what it feels like," John said, staring at the shiny reactor on Tony's chest.
"What? The Arc reactor?" Tony looked back at John incredulously.
"Yes, Mr. Stark. And have you thought about what you would do if one day this reactor on your chest was taken away? There must be a contingency plan, right?" John's desire for the reactor was growing stronger.