The movie premiere had come to an end.
"Not bad," Tony said.
The ever-proud Tony Stark actually walked up to Anton and spoke first. "Next week, I'll make good on my bet. I'll throw a party for you in Los Angeles."
With that, he gave a small huff and turned to leave.
Anton blinked in mild surprise, then watched Tony get into his car and drive off, a faint smile curling on his lips.
A bet?
Right—that bet with Tony!He'd almost forgotten about it. But since Tony himself brought it up, there was no reason to pretend it didn't exist.
"Speaking of which," Anton murmured to himself, "around this time Tony should've already upgraded his armor—the Mark II—and even field-tested the Mark III."
He thought back to the recent news from Gulmira.
If he wasn't mistaken, Iron Man had already been born.
Of course, Tony Stark still hadn't dealt with Obadiah Stane—he might not even know that his trusted partner was a traitor yet. The real iconic showdown hadn't happened.
At least for now, the world had no idea what "Iron Man" even was.
"Anton, the audience feedback for Cyborg is very positive."
Jim's voice suddenly came through beside him.
"Also, the Cyborg novel and comic were released over a month ago, and both are doing great. We've built up a good amount of popularity already! I can say with confidence—this will be another box office hit!"
Jim looked genuinely thrilled. "Even Tony Stark, who rarely shows up in public these days, attended the premiere. That alone is huge news."
He grew more and more excited as he spoke, clearly pleased with his decision to join DC Studios.
It might just be the best decision of his entire career.
"Good. Increase the marketing push," Anton instructed calmly. "I want to see results by tomorrow."
After giving the order, he had no further interest in staying. He turned to leave, heading back to New York.
Betty was, as always, right beside him.
In the car, Betty handed him a file—a few resumes attached, each with a photo.
"These are the candidates applying for your personal assistant position."
Technically, Betty had always been his personal assistant.
But since Anton had a habit of acting like a hands-off boss and rarely handled DC's day-to-day affairs, Betty had ended up buried in company work—managing the duties that should've been his.
Naturally, she no longer had time to serve as his personal assistant. After some discussion, they'd agreed to find someone else to fill the role.
Anton flipped through the resumes casually—then stopped when he saw a stunningly beautiful face.
He studied it for a few seconds, then suddenly smiled.
"She'll do."
He pulled that particular resume from the stack and handed it to Betty. "Tell this woman—Natasha—to start work tomorrow."
Betty's expression didn't change.
She looked at the photo, and though she said nothing, she'd already expected this choice.
Ever since the Green Goblin incident—after his confrontation with Hawkeye, where he'd taught the archer a painful lesson—Anton had been wondering when S.H.I.E.L.D. would come knocking again.
Sure enough, it only took a few days.
This time, they sent none other than the famous Black Widow.
Anton couldn't help but feel a bit flattered.
Realistically, S.H.I.E.L.D. might not have absolute proof that he was Batman, but they could narrow it down with high probability.
After all, following the Life Foundation incident, Coulson himself had approached Anton directly on behalf of S.H.I.E.L.D.
And during that conversation, Coulson had already treated him as Batman.
Later, thanks to the global success of the Batman movie—six hundred million at the box office—Anton had managed to distance his public persona slightly from Batman's identity, weakening that association. But he doubted that S.H.I.E.L.D.'s suspicions had actually lessened.
Even if they were ninety percent sure Anton was Batman, that still left a ten percent margin of uncertainty.
After all, since the Life Foundation incident, Anton had never once directly revealed his dual identity to them.
Even during the Kingpin affair and the Green Goblin attack, every time he contacted S.H.I.E.L.D., it was as Batman, never as Anton.
There existed a kind of unspoken understanding between them.
Now, with S.H.I.E.L.D. sending Black Widow to apply as his "personal assistant," their intentions were clear—get close to him, observe him, and maybe… recruit him.
Just like in the original timeline, when Black Widow infiltrated Stark Industries by becoming Tony Stark's assistant.
"One more thing," Betty said suddenly. "Stark Industries' stock price has gone up. We've made quite a bit already—should we sell everything?"
"It's gone up?" Anton asked lazily. "So what? How much higher can it go? It's not the right time yet. Keep holding. Like I said before—think long term."
"It's already recovered almost half of its value. You're sure you don't want to sell?" Betty looked puzzled.
She really couldn't understand where Anton's confidence in Stark Industries came from.
Anyone keeping an eye on the company knew that Tony Stark had already been sidelined by the board of directors.
Obadiah Stane—one of the company's founding figures—was now in full control.
Without Tony Stark, the company's stock might rebound a little, sure, but it would never return to its former glory.
"How did it recover that much?" Anton asked, frowning slightly. "What's Stane been up to lately?"
"He announced that Stark Industries would not shut down its weapons division. At the same time, he's investing in the energy sector. He's partnered with Dr. Otto Octavius of OctoMax Technologies to pursue artificial-sun research."
Betty explained, "Dr. Octavius is one of the leading figures in energy science. His 'artificial sun' project has been in development for years. If successful, it could free humanity from its dependence on fossil fuels and usher in a whole new era."
She paused. "That plan has made investors very optimistic about Stark Industries' future. If Octavius succeeds, the company could dominate the global energy market—even without its weapons division."
"Dr. Octavius? Artificial sun?" Anton's expression grew strange.
He never would've thought that Obadiah Stane would actually team up with Doctor Octopus.
Those two had nothing in common!
Wait—
A realization flashed through Anton's mind.
In the original storyline, Stane had recovered Tony's Mark I armor from the desert but couldn't replicate it because of the missing power source—Tony's arc reactor.
Now it all made sense.
Obadiah Stane had gotten smarter.
-----------------------
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(End of Chapter)