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*****
After digging through the deep accumulation of snow, the two discovered the Iron Monger frozen into a block of ice. This caused Fini to involuntarily think of Captain America, who was in a similar state elsewhere.
However, Obadiah hadn't been injected with Super Soldier Serum like Cap; he couldn't survive being flash-frozen.
After a considerable amount of effort, the two finally extracted Iron Monger from the ice. Opening the armor's faceplate and looking at Obadiah, whose mouth was still stuffed with a 'Violet Sauce Fried Chicken Roll,' Tony was momentarily speechless.
"To be able to eat such good food before death, he didn't lose out."
Not knowing quite what to say, Tony made that single comment and closed the faceplate. Together with Fini, he brought Iron Monger back to the villa.
The moment he saw that Obadiah was truly dead, Fini felt a slight complexity in his heart. This was the first person he had killed. Truth be told, Obadiah seemingly died without even knowing Fini's true identity.
"I suppose he died with grievances unaddressed," Fini thought secretly.
He didn't dwell on it too much. Even though the Marvel Universe had plenty of miraculous methods, Obadiah's status certainly wouldn't grant him access to them. This time, dead meant dead.
After removing the miniature arc reactor from Iron Monger's chest, Tony set the suit aside and asked Fini, "An agent wanted to meet you last night. Do you plan on getting in touch with him?"
"S.H.I.E.L.D.!?" Fini asked, raising an eyebrow.
"That's a good name, easy to remember." Tony nodded in agreement, then said, "Probably. Anyway, it's the Strategic... Homeland... something Bureau. A guy named Phil Cornison!?"
"It's Phil Coulson, right!?"
Fini gave Tony an exasperated look, then asked curiously, "He came to see you yesterday? What did he say?"
With Fini's involvement this time, S.H.I.E.L.D. hadn't had much contact with Tony yet, so he was somewhat concerned about how things were developing.
"Asked about yesterday's events!"
"You admitted it?"
Seeing Tony's expression, Fini guessed he must have said something.
"I have to give the military a baseline." Tony shrugged, then said with a serious face, "What about you? Are you going to keep going like this?"
"???"
Fini wore a face full of question marks. "What do you mean 'keep going like this'?"
"Since you sorcerers exist to protect the world, why not do it through a more formal channel?"
"Cough..."
Fini nearly spat out the tea he was drinking. Was Tony asking him to make a public debut!?
Speechless, he looked at Tony and explained, "You've spent your whole life as a billionaire genius. You're used to the fact that danger is everywhere and you're used to the world watching you."
"But I'm just an ordinary little sorcerer. I get nervous just standing on a school podium. Besides, our responsibilities are different. Ordinary people can't even perceive things like dimensional invasions, so why publicize it and cause mass panic?"
"Also, you're pretty much a loner; you only have Miss Potts to keep you company. I have plenty of relatives, not to mention my master and fellow disciples. If an enemy can't find me and retaliates against them, what then?"
"So, stop it. The world needs heroes, but that person doesn't have to be me!"
Of course, Fini knew in his heart that most of this was nonsense. The primary reason was simple: he wasn't strong enough. If he had the kind of strength to ignore all danger and solve every problem, he wouldn't care about hiding his identity at all.
Tony remained silent. Yinsen's dying words echoed in his mind. His life, perhaps unlike Fini's, no longer belonged solely to himself; he had too many mistakes to make up for.
"Alright, this matter is pretty much settled. I should get going!"
Seeing Tony lost in thought, Fini stretched lazily. Then, he suddenly remembered something. "Regarding that S.H.I.E.L.D. organization—you can actually have some contact with them for now. They have some connection to your future."
Because of Fini, Tony didn't have much of a link to S.H.I.E.L.D. yet. This made Fini worry about what would happen if Nick Fury couldn't recruit Tony into the Avengers. Before he was confident enough to handle future threats, he still wanted these superheroes to grow.
Their relationship was currently quite good, and Fini was still counting on Tony's Iron Man suits to farm experience in the future, so a little spoiler didn't hurt. Consider it nudging the plot back on track.
"My future!?"
Tony snapped out of it, not quite understanding the phrase. He frowned and asked, "Are they coming for my technology too?"
"Er..."
Fini paused in his tracks. This was the downside of spoilers; you might change the future beyond recognition. If he didn't explain, the next thing he knew might be Iron Man vs. S.H.I.E.L.D. and HYDRA.
"Not exactly. You remember that poisoning issue? Some clues to the solution I know are with them."
Left with no choice, Fini revealed a bit more.
Tony finally remembered that he still had a major problem to solve. However, he didn't feel a sense of urgency yet. First, he hadn't tested the solutions yet, and second, having Fini as an insurance policy made him feel somewhat relaxed.
"In short, you can deal with them, but don't trust them too much."
Ultimately, Fini offered a careful reminder. S.H.I.E.L.D. was heavily infiltrated by HYDRA—even the previous Director was a HYDRA agent. That showed just how deep it went.
Therefore, Fini didn't want Tony to trust S.H.I.E.L.D. too much; that would essentially be giving HYDRA an opportunity to grow.
"Grown-ups are working; kids shouldn't worry so much."
Seeing Fini acting like a nagging mother with his warnings and reminders, Tony couldn't help but be snarky again. Although people usually forgot Fini's age when interacting with him, for some reason, that effect always failed with Tony.
After giving Tony a universally recognized hand gesture, Fini opened a portal and returned home. Iron Man was born, and the other future dangers were already on their way.
Shortly after Fini left, Pepper, who had been harassed by Coulson and reporters for a long time, finally broke under the pressure and called Tony.
"Mhm, then hold the press conference. I'll be there in a bit."
Hearing the questions over the phone, Tony gave a clear answer.
Hanging up, Tony looked at the bullet-scarred Mark II and the Iron Monger beside it. He let out a soft breath, changed into a new suit, found his bodyguards outside, and headed to the conference site.
Upon arriving at the press conference, Coulson came over immediately and handed a card to Tony, saying, "You were on your yacht. There will be proof that you were drifting in Avalon Harbor all night, along with testimonials from 50 guests."
Looking at the script in his hand, Tony twitched his lips and replied, "Might as well say it was just me and Pepper on the island."
"We can't fake that!"
Coulson played along with a joke, then instructed, "Just read it as it is."
"Why is there no mention of Obadiah?"
Scanning the script, Tony found no information regarding Obadiah.
"We arranged for him to go on vacation," Coulson said with a slight smile. "You know, the safety record for small planes has never been very good."
"But do you think they'll believe this? This... flimsy explanation!? And the bodyguards!?"
Tony continued reading the script with a frown.
"Trust me, this isn't the first time I've done this. Just read it," Coulson said with a face full of confidence. "None of it will be an issue."
And so, a few minutes later...
"I am Iron Man!"
(End of Chapter)