"This is Tony Stark—I don't think there's anyone here who doesn't recognize him."
Darren then turned to introduce Pym to Tony.
"This is my mentor, Dr. Hank Pym, and the founder of this company."
Of course Tony knew who Pym was. He was a scientist from the same era as his father, the inventor of Pym Particles. Although he had fallen out with Howard back in the day, Tony still admired him—especially for his achievements in quantum theory. Besides, with Howard's flamboyant personality, it would've been stranger not to fall out with people.
Like father, like son—Tony wasn't exactly low-key himself.
"Dr. Pym, I've read your paper on quantum mechanics and the quantum realm. Very impressive~~"
Tony truly was Howard's son. Whether it was his demeanor or his tone, it made Pym feel as though Howard himself was standing right in front of him again.
Pym, however, didn't give him the time of day. He didn't even nod, completely ignoring Tony. The moment he saw him, he already knew the Avengers were involved. As long as they didn't interfere with his plan, he couldn't care less what they did.
Tony, no longer the shallow playboy he once was, didn't take offense.
"Tony, a helicopter just landed on the helipad."
Barton was seated in a blind spot; the people disembarking hadn't noticed him at all.
"That should be the real buyer."
Tony spoke quietly. On the surface, this press conference looked grand—top figures from New York's scientific community were present, along with a swarm of reporters. But their investigation had revealed Darren's true goal wasn't unveiling new technology—it was finding a buyer.
Meanwhile, Scott wasn't idle either. Through the ventilation system, he had entered the server room where data was stored. A swarm of ants followed him, each carrying a small electrode. When grouped together, they could generate high-voltage electricity—enough to destroy every server.
Standing atop the towering racks of servers, Scott looked down like a general surveying a battlefield.
"Alright, guys, everyone in position. I'm about to fry the server room."
He spoke through his comms—unaware that Skye had already hacked their channel. Every word from Scott, Hope, and Pym was being heard loud and clear by Tony's team.
"Form up!"
At Scott's command, the ants spread out across the servers, positioning themselves at intervals.
"My little maniacs—now! Burn it all down!"
As he gave the order, small spheres rose from the devices on the ants' backs. In the next instant, powerful currents surged through the entire room. Within seconds, the central systems lost power, and the blackout rapidly spread outward.
"Anthony, let's go!"
Seeing the servers destroyed, Scott leapt onto Anthony's back and made his escape.
With the server room gone, all of Darren's experimental data and backups were effectively erased.
"The server room's been fried by electrical overload."
Aboard the Quinjet, Skye had already detected the outage. Combined with Scott's earlier words, the conclusion was obvious—the server room was finished.
"Did we get the data backed up?"
Natasha asked. Tony was still chatting with Darren, Pym, and other scientists—keeping up appearances—while Natasha moved freely.
"Relax, everything's backed up. Uploading to the Avengers' servers now. Coulson should've received it already."
Sure enough, the Avengers' base soon received all of Darren's research data.
"Now the real show begins."
Natasha glanced toward Pym and Darren. Tonight, the Avengers' mission wasn't just to secure the research—it was also to destroy Darren's suit and detain him.
After all, his technology could equip an army of super soldiers. If it fell into the wrong hands, it would throw the world into chaos.
At that moment, the buyer finally revealed himself. Darren promptly announced the start of the presentation, leading everyone toward a laboratory.
After fingerprint, retinal, and voice verification, the doors slowly opened, revealing the lab inside.
It was spacious, and everyone filed in—including the buyer.
"Just as we thought—the buyer really is this guy."
Natasha stared at the man leading the group. His profile had already appeared in their displays. Natasha and Barton wore contact lenses projecting the data, while Tony had his usual pale blue glasses.
The file identified him as Carson, former head of security for S.H.I.E.L.D.—and a surviving member of HYDRA, still at large.
No one knew just how many members HYDRA had left. They were spread across the globe. Figures like Alexander Pierce and Strucker—the one Carl had taken down—were only two of its leaders.
"So it really is him. We can't let him escape this time."
Barton's tone turned cold. HYDRA daring to resurface—it was practically a death wish.
There was one more person present who knew Carson's identity—Dr. Pym. Carson had once been his colleague, and their relationship had ended badly.
"Mr. Cross, my associates have agreed to your terms."
Carson shook Darren's hand as he spoke.
"Mr. Carson has introduced me to several associates," Darren said to Pym. "They belong to a very ancient organization."
As he spoke, Carson's gaze shifted toward Tony and Natasha.
"Mr. Stark, I didn't expect to see you here. Time flies—your father and I were once partners. Hard to believe it's been so long~~"
Carson extended his hand, but Tony didn't move. Everyone present—especially the reporters—knew Tony had a particular quirk: he disliked physical contact with strangers, especially men.
Sure enough, Tony simply smiled, making no move to shake hands.
"I'm curious—what's this 'ancient organization' of yours? Don't tell me it's HYDRA?"
The moment Tony said the name, Carson and the people behind him visibly stiffened. The feud between the Avengers and HYDRA was well known—especially after the mysterious Carl had blown up S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters because of them.
"Mr. Stark, you must be joking. HYDRA no longer exists—it was wiped out by the Avengers themselves. Surely you haven't forgotten?"
Carson recovered quickly, his smile returning in an instant.
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