Tony Stark sneered repeatedly. Many people had been deceived by his identity as a superhero and forgotten that he was also a super tycoon — a top-tier capitalist.
Men like him had their own standards for dealing with things. American capitalists who treated human lives like grass were everywhere. Tony might not be that ruthless, but anyone who thought he was some saint who would stay calm while someone tried to embezzle projects worth billions of dollars was seriously underestimating him.
While he was alive, those people didn't even dare to fart in his presence. Only after his death, during a time of chaos and disorder, did they turn into hungry wolves trying to tear apart Stark Industries.
Tony had experienced this before.
Back when his father was suddenly killed by the Winter Soldier, Bucky, Stark Industries had faced the same situation. Shareholders, employees, and outsiders all swarmed in like starving wolves.
Together with Obadiah, Tony had spent enormous effort stabilizing Stark Industries. Through countless struggles, he transformed from a rebellious playboy teenager into the world-famous young entrepreneur he became.
That was also why he had trusted Obadiah so much. The two of them had truly gone through life-and-death battles together.
Unfortunately, Stark Industries survived the first crisis, but the second time was far less fortunate.
In that timeline, Morgan was still just a child. Even with Pepper and all the wills and backup plans Tony left behind, protecting Stark Industries completely would still be incredibly difficult.
Keeping everything intact was impossible. Morgan was too young. They could only preserve as much as possible.
Yet this Mysterio actually dared to openly steal Stark Industries' technological achievements and use them to impersonate a superhero, even plotting to gain even more power.
Knowing American capitalists as well as he did, Tony understood exactly what would happen to Stark Industries after his death.
That was why he absolutely could not die.
He absolutely could not allow his wife and daughter in this timeline to suffer the same fate as they did in the original movie timeline.
At this moment, not only was Thanos his greatest threat, but the TVA — the Time Variance Authority — had also become a massive danger in his mind. In fact, compared to Thanos, the TVA was even more terrifying because they could erase someone from the source itself.
He didn't want to die. He didn't want his wife and daughter to end up in such misery.
It was absurd.
He was a superhero who saved Earth itself. Without him, the entire planet would have been destroyed.
And yet, how had people treated him afterward?
If Tony Stark didn't possess such strong willpower, just imagining the future problems his wife and daughter would face after his death would have been enough to make him turn evil on the spot and become a villain instead.
Thinking of this, he immediately came up with a plan.
He needed to leave Pepper more trump cards and defensive measures. If he still ended up dying suddenly like in that future, at the very least his wife and daughter shouldn't have to suffer so helplessly.
Whether it was corporate attacks or people trying physical assassination, he needed to prepare in advance.
At his age, it was time to seriously consider the future succession and stable transfer of Stark Industries.
As for Quentin Beck, the so-called Mysterio, although his words were infuriating, Tony viewed him as nothing more than an ant.
While Tony was alive, Beck didn't dare do anything. Only after Tony's death did he emerge to stir up trouble.
Tony had already decided to deal with him personally and let him experience the iron fist of capitalism before dying.
What Tony wanted now was to know who else had participated in this scheme.
"He fired me because he said I was... unstable..." Quentin Beck said on screen with a somewhat aggrieved expression.
But he quickly recovered, raised his wine bottle, and shouted:
"To Tony!"
"To Tony!"
"To Tony!"
Everyone around him raised their glasses and cheered.
All the grievances were in the past now. They believed they had a bright future ahead.
Unlike Tony Stark and the other superheroes who sacrificed themselves for the world almost for free — even paying out of pocket through Tony's charitable foundations to repair damage caused by superhero battles — these people intended to use the situation to make enormous profits.
Every one of them dreamed of becoming millionaires or even billionaires.
In America, falling to the bottom of society was like descending into the eighteen levels of hell.
"Next, a toast to William!"
Quentin Beck turned toward a balding middle-aged man.
"William!"
"William!"
"William!"
The scene shifted to Obadiah yelling angrily at William back when Tony had first become Iron Man.
"Tony Stark built this in a cave! With a box of scraps!" Obadiah roared.
"My holographic technology combined with your weaponized drones is perfection!" Beck said proudly.
A smug grin covered his face.
To him, Tony Stark was a clown king who completely wasted such incredible technology.
What had Tony used it for?
Healing childhood trauma?
What a joke.
Tony simply failed to recognize true genius. He had even shut down Stark Industries' weapons division, which Beck considered utterly ridiculous.
Stark Industries was built on weapons manufacturing, yet Tony closed the department just to satisfy his pathetic conscience.
"A powerful illusion. Real destruction. Works every time," Mysterio said proudly.
Tony, however, wasn't angry.
Everything matched his expectations.
Someone like Peter Parker might lack experience, but he wasn't easy to fool. Simple illusions and visual effects alone shouldn't have deceived him.
Not to mention Nick Fury had also been tricked.
Still, in the end, it was all fake — just deception.
Once you knew the truth, it became laughably pathetic.
A clown, nothing more.
Beck then continued introducing each member of his team one by one, revealing how they manufactured the aftermath of battles between Mysterio and the so-called supervillains.
"At every attack site, we created electromagnetic pulses so Fury's satellites would confirm our lies!" Beck said proudly.
"What a brilliant idea!"
Nick Fury's face turned even darker.
He had just been laughing at Tony moments earlier, and now he himself had been completely fooled too.
The slap to the face came incredibly fast.
Meanwhile, Tony found the situation hilarious.
Watching Fury suffer was deeply satisfying.
As Beck continued revealing his collaborators, the entire scam operation was exposed before everyone.
Tony secretly had JARVIS investigate them immediately.
His expression grew increasingly ugly.
Most of them really were Stark Industries employees.
The remaining few likely hadn't joined the company yet at this point in time.
"And a toast to the rest of you!" Beck shouted.
"Tony Stark is dead. Now there's an opportunity. Someone has to step up."
"But nowadays, even if you're the smartest or most qualified person in the room, nobody cares unless you wear a cape or shoot lasers from your hands!"
"But now," Beck said excitedly, "I have the cape and the lasers!"
"With our technology and EDITH, Mysterio will become the greatest hero on Earth!"
"And then everyone will listen to me — not some drunken giant baby, and not some hormonal teenager — but me and my very wealthy associates!"
"To us!"
"To us!"
"To Mysterio!"
"To Mysterio!"
"To Peter Parker!"
"To Peter Parker!"
"Poor kid. Let's get to work."
Beck clapped his hands.
The footage ended there.
Peter Parker's entire process of being deceived had been exposed completely.
The agents at S.H.I.E.L.D. found it both ridiculous and embarrassing.
They had actually been played so thoroughly by a fraud.
"He's still just a kid," Clint Barton said.
"He may be powerful, but he's still a child."
"You can't really blame him," Natasha added. "Even Fury got completely fooled."
"You really didn't need to say that out loud," Fury muttered helplessly.
Everyone burst into laughter.
"Tony," Steve Rogers asked, "these are your employees or future employees. What are you planning to do with them?"
"I'll handle them myself," Tony replied calmly.
As a qualified capitalist, he intended to teach them what it meant to commit suicide by shooting themselves in the back over a dozen times.
Steve showed a trace of hesitation, but quickly suppressed it.
These people were not innocent.
As a soldier, Steve had seen enough death to understand reality.
Preventing disaster before it happened was not injustice.
Did they really have to wait until everything became irreversible?
As for Peter Parker, this revelation hit him the hardest.
After tricking him out of EDITH, Beck had still mocked him as some pathetic hormonal teenager.
It was utterly humiliating.
A complete psychological attack.
-----------------------
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