Since they were mass-producing the armor, Hammer Industries couldn't use the same precious gold-titanium alloy as Tony.
Hammer Industries' warehouses were well-stocked with common alloys.
However, manufacturing Miniature Arc Reactors required a large amount of palladium. Each missile only used less than 0.2 grams of this precious metal, and he didn't have a large stockpile.
Moreover, although Ivan Vanko couldn't create new elements, he had adjusted the rotation speed to match Tony Stark's reactor performance, just like in the movie. This upgrade to the Arc Reactor required even more palladium.
Hammer Industries' existing palladium reserves were only enough to fulfill this year's defense contracts.
So, Hammer began purchasing large quantities of palladium through shell companies registered under his name.
Despite his careful attempts to disguise the purchases by splitting them among different companies and spreading them out, Jarvis, who was constantly monitoring the market, immediately detected the activity.
Soon, the true owner behind these shell companies was exposed.
Then, details of Hammer Industries' palladium purchases over the past five years and their weapon orders came to light.
The data laid out before Tony included the palladium required for orders already signed this year, as well as the estimated amount and palladium needed for potential Department of Defense orders next year.
The numbers were laid out in complete sets.
"Justin Hammer... could it really be you?" Tony muttered, reopening the data Jarvis had sent to his phone yesterday. Justin Hammer didn't seem like the type to have the guts for something like this.
"Hey! Fish Finder, what do you think?"
Qin Xiao was standing by the floor-to-ceiling window, watching the schools of fish in the river below.
The New York base had originally been planned for a farm in the suburbs. However, after Qin Xiao donated a billion dollars to the Avengers Initiative, he'd been relentless in his efforts to secure this secret underwater base.
His reasoning? A billion-dollar secret organization deserved a base with a certain *style*.
Yes, *style*. To maintain this style, he often imitated Nick Fury's pose—hands clasped behind his back, staring silently at the fish outside.
This had earned him the nickname "Fish Finder" from Tony.
"What do I think? I'm not Yuanfang. Let's wait until Natasha gets back. She's at Hammer Industries for an interview today."
Qin Xiao rubbed his eyes and returned to the table to sit down.
"Who's Yuanfang?" Tony asked, pulling out a bag of chips from somewhere and eating them as he spoke.
"He's the Chinese equivalent of Watson, the sidekick to China's Sherlock Holmes. They've solved a lot of big cases together. Speaking of Sherlock Holmes, Tony, I just remembered a movie I saw, *The Great Detective Holmes*. The guy who played the lead, Sherlock, looks a lot like you. Do you have any relatives in Hollywood who are actors?" Qin Xiao said with a sudden, mischievous glint in his eyes as he looked at Tony's face.
"No!" Tony thought seriously for a moment before answering.
"You really need to improve your taste in movies. Any film I've never heard of is bound to be a disaster!"
"Exactly! Especially the lead actor—he's a total buffoon! I've never seen a worse actor!" Qin Xiao said with a wicked grin.
Tony instinctively felt something was wrong, but he couldn't pinpoint what it was. Finally, he grumbled at Qin Xiao, "You should see a doctor. Spending all day with these people is making your brain go wonky!"
Qin Xiao was about to retort...
The base's gate swung open.
Natasha, dressed in a striking red dress, strode in with long, purposeful strides.
Qin Xiao quickly stepped forward, pulled out a chair, and gestured for Black Widow to sit.
He even thoughtfully poured her a glass of water.
Ever since his few days of "fooling around" with Daisy in Monaco, he felt an inexplicable sense of guilt whenever he saw Black Widow.
"Look at her, look at her! My God, how can a woman be so beautiful? I bet a dollar that bastard Justin Hammer would want to keep her as his personal secretary!"
Black Widow was an agent, especially after the major incident in Monaco.
Though she didn't know Qin Xiao had made such rapid progress on the plane, she was certainly aware he had been accompanied by a woman in Monaco.
However, she didn't press the matter. Instead, she gave Qin Xiao a pointed look, sat down, took a sip of water, and said,
"Actually, I didn't see Hammer today, but I spent the morning at their company and found quite a few things. Tony, do you have the floor plans for the Hammer Building in your computer?"
Tony quickly tapped a few keys and turned the screen toward her.
"Here!"
Black Widow pointed to several locations on the floor plan.
"These underground sections were originally built as a research base for the armor project we're developing with the military. Hammer Industries invested a massive amount of scientists and resources here."
"But a few days ago, he suddenly evacuated all personnel—researchers, security, everyone—making this place a Hammer Industries restricted zone."
"I slipped into the building's surveillance room with two cups of excellent coffee and discovered that all surveillance footage from that afternoon—covering every entrance and exit to the underground lab, the elevators, even the parking lot—had been wiped clean!"
"Combined with the list of palladium-purchasing companies Jarvis found, I'm certain he's building an Arc Reactor, or rather, Ivan Vanko is inside the Hammer Building. The problem is, we need special clearance to get down there now. Only Justin Hammer knows who has this authority."
Black Widow rattled off her findings in one breath, all but confirming that Ivan Vanko was indeed inside the Hammer Building.
"So what are we waiting for? You're the world's most powerful intelligence agency! Contact your informants, agents, strike teams, special forces—whatever it takes! Raid the place right now and catch them red-handed!" Tony spread his hands wide.
Black Widow rolled her eyes in exasperation. "That's a military-collaborated experimental base. You know better than anyone what that means. Or are you going to convince two-thirds of the Senate to approve this?"
"Then what? Should I just suit up and blast my way in?"
*We've already locked onto the target. Why get bogged down in formalities? Once we confirm Ivan Vanko's here, it's game over!*
"That's not impossible," Black Widow conceded, "but I've vetoed it."
"We have smarter ways to achieve the same result!"
"What ways?" Qin Xiao and Tony asked in unison.
"We'll need two superheroes to... *make a scene*," Black Widow said with a smile. "A big, action-packed spectacle."
-----------------------
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