"Helicopter! Where's my helicopter?!"
"An hour? No, screw that, half an hour. I'm getting over there right now!"
That was Tony Stark's exact reaction. A man who had originally dismissed AIM with complete contempt had been dragged into watching the live stream by his "dear uncle," Obadiah Stane. But the moment he saw the women on screen, it was like someone had injected him with pure adrenaline. He jumped to his feet on the spot and started shouting.
For Tony, business at Stark Industries was something he barely had to think about. With his uncle Obadiah Stane managing the company, he felt perfectly at ease.
As for his own daily life, aside from occasionally tinkering with high-tech next-generation weapons, his greatest hobby was talking with beautiful women.
And his most direct way of scouting them out had always been through major fashion magazines and cover shoots. After all, any woman who could land one of those covers was almost guaranteed to be exceptional. Ordinary beauties didn't make the cut.
But after seeing the women at AIM's launch event, Tony suddenly felt like the first half of his life had been a complete waste.
How had there been so many incredible women he'd never even heard of before? Women he hadn't met, hadn't spoken to, hadn't spent time with.
It was a tragic loss for both sides.
"Hey, Tony, calm down. We're in New York. Even if you took a fighter jet, it'd still take more than an hour to get there."
"By the time you arrive, the event will already be over. Not to mention you don't even have one ready."
On the other side of the room, Obadiah Stane was just as shocked by the women at AIM's event, but he was nowhere near as unhinged as Tony. Seeing Tony practically lunging for the door like an overexcited dog, Obadiah immediately stood up, grabbed his arm, and tried to talk him down.
"That's actually a great idea, Stane. Looks like our next project should be a new aircraft. Let's start with the engine, maybe?"
"Hmm, power supply is an issue too, but I can figure something out."
After hearing Obadiah's words, Tony finally snapped back to reality. He gave the women on the screen one last deeply regretful look before casually steering the conversation in an entirely different direction.
"Of course, that's fine. But did you forget what really matters here? AIM."
"Tony, I've received intel. The military has been in close contact with AIM lately."
"They even transferred a very large sum of money into AIM's accounts."
"We need to start taking this company seriously. Otherwise, sooner or later, it's going to bite us."
Watching Tony's careless, impulsive, anything-that-popped-into-his-head attitude, Obadiah could only sigh in helpless frustration. Still, he forced himself to stay patient and explained it to him calmly.
Sometimes, he truly felt a headache coming on just looking at this overgrown child.
Doing whatever he wanted in his personal life was one thing. But he barely paid attention to the company either, and whenever trouble came up, it was always Obadiah who had to clean up after him.
Honestly, if not for him, he was convinced Stark Industries would already be surrounded by enemies.
After all, Tony Stark's mouth was in a league of its own. Almost nobody could stand him for long.
"Tch. Stane, trust me. That company's boss might be talented, but if they think they can step into military contracts, then they picked the wrong arena."
"And besides, I've got a new project of my own."
"Honestly, I should thank them for the inspiration."
"Using Baymax as a starting point, I've already developed a brand-new combat machine. The Patriot Robot."
"A real war machine capable of carrying out combat strikes through remote control."
When it came to Obadiah taking AIM so seriously, Tony only responded with a dismissive smirk.
Sure, he admitted the guy running AIM had a few clever ideas. But in front of a real genius, that kind of talent was nothing more than background noise. Inspired by Baymax, he had developed an entirely new class of combat robot, one that, in his mind, was the true future of warfare and eventually humanity's core force in the age of space exploration.
"Yo... seriously?!"
"Like the ones from The Terminator?"
The moment Tony dropped that bombshell, Obadiah's entire mood shifted. Just a second ago, he had been ready to lecture Tony for not taking things seriously. But now? This was no carelessness. This was confidence. The kind that came from already having the answer in hand.
"Of course. Trust me, it's even better than that. Stronger than Terminators, and easier to control too."
Seeing the shock on Obadiah's face, Tony couldn't help grinning smugly. Then he stood up and led him downstairs.
That was Tony's private lab, the birthplace of all his real inventions. Every new piece of technology started there before eventually being handed off to the engineers upstairs to mass-produce according to his designs.
Just like in the movies.
Obadiah was naturally familiar with the place.
Still, he rarely went down there these days. A few times in the past, he had barged in and accidentally interrupted Tony's train of thought, causing his inspiration to vanish. After that happened a few times, he stopped pushing his luck.
Tony was his golden goose. Every one of his flashes of inspiration was worth billions.
And if Tony lost inspiration, Obadiah was the one losing money.
Which was also why Tony's recent robot research had remained completely unknown to him.
Once they reached the basement and Tony entered the password, Obadiah finally saw them.
Three large robots stood inside.
To him, they looked even more intimidating than the machines from The Terminator.
All around them, the floor was scattered with countless parts and components. It was easy to tell just how chaotic Tony's experiments could get.
Tony, of course, had no problem with it. He moved through the sea of parts like he was taking a leisurely walk in a garden.
Obadiah, on the other hand, followed carefully behind, terrified that one wrong step from his aging body might send him crashing to the floor and kill him on the spot.
A short while later, under Tony's guidance, Obadiah finally came face to face with the robot Tony had been talking about.
The moment he saw it, he froze in sheer disbelief, then slowly reached out with his calloused hands, trembling as he touched the machine.
At that moment, it felt to Obadiah like he was standing in front of a gold mine the size of the Himalayas.
With this, AIM, Microsoft, America, all of it would end up kneeling at his feet.
Beside him, Tony was extremely satisfied with Obadiah's reaction.
After all, these robots were his latest creation, developed by using Baymax as a conceptual foundation and building something entirely new on top of it. Every part of them incorporated cutting-edge technology, the best the modern world had to offer.
"All it takes is one soldier at the command console, and they can remotely control dozens of robots at once to carry out long-range strikes."
"Each robot is equipped with overwhelming firepower. I've divided them into three categories: sea, land, and air. Each model is built for a different combat environment."
"The naval unit is built with military-grade steel developed specifically for nuclear submarines. It has specialized internal pressure regulation, allowing it to fight at depths below one thousand meters. Its weapons loadout can also be freely customized, and its top speed can even break the sound barrier."
"The ground unit comes equipped with a dedicated heavy mortar cannon. Its design concept is basically a mobile tank robot. Its artillery is strong enough to blow up a bunker with ease, and it also has flight capability."
"The aerial unit uses specialized aerospace-grade metal throughout its body. It can reach speeds of Mach 2 and is equipped with a six-barrel machine gun system and missile lock-on capability. Its weapon loadout can also be customized. It combines the speed of a cutting-edge fighter jet with flexibility and overwhelming firepower."
As Tony continued explaining the models, Obadiah's entire worldview was being rewritten in real time.
This was real black technology.
He could hardly imagine what would happen if the U.S. military were actually equipped with machines like these...
Wait.
Why did it have to be the U.S. military?
At that moment, a dangerous thought took root in Obadiah's mind like a seed sinking deep into the soil.
For an instant, even the way he looked at Tony and the presidential portrait hanging nearby changed ever so slightly.
"So how mature is the technology now?"
"Can these be mass-produced already?"
"And if I'm not mistaken, machines like this would require an enormous energy supply."
"What's your plan? Aviation fuel?"
After listening to Tony's explanation, Obadiah slowly walked behind him, his eyes unreadable as he casually asked the question.
"Of course. But not conventional aviation fuel."
"Speaking of that, I have to admit AIM actually came up with something impressive."
"They're sitting on a gold mine and don't even realize it."
Completely failing to notice the look in Obadiah's eyes, Tony kept talking with a smug expression.
"...How so?"
Obadiah asked at once.
"Their newest product. The Pioneer smartphone."
"The very first thing I did after getting one was take it apart and study its internal structure."
"And what surprised me the most was that they'd actually developed graphene battery technology."
"And then they used it as a phone battery."
"In my eyes, that's like using anti-aircraft fire to kill a mosquito."
Tony spoke with obvious amusement.
"Graphene battery technology?!"
"Seriously?! Then can you reproduce it?"
The moment Obadiah heard Tony say AIM had actually broken through with graphene battery technology and put it into real-world use, he was stunned. But that shock quickly turned into excitement.
Because that meant Stark Industries could use it too.
"Of course I can. But picking up someone else's leftovers?"
"Stane, I'm Tony Stark. Double-major genius from MIT. I'm not some junk collector scavenging tech off the curb."
"Relax. I'm not interested in copying their graphene battery tech."
"But it did give me an idea."
"I incorporated graphene concepts into aviation fuel. Right now, the energy efficiency of the modified fuel has reached one hundred and forty percent of the previous level."
"In other words, the overall energy output has increased by nearly half."
"So my good partner, don't worry. Even without graphene battery technology, our position in the military industry is untouchable."
Looking at Obadiah, who had become increasingly agitated after only a few sentences, Tony followed up with total confidence.
And after hearing all of that, Obadiah's frustration at Tony's earlier attitude slowly faded away.
After all, Tony was still his nephew.
A few eccentric habits here and there were understandable.
As Howard Stark's old friend and the man who had practically watched Tony grow up, what else could he really do? In the end, the only option was to let Tony be Tony.
That said, the smile pulling at Obadiah's mouth was getting harder and harder to suppress under Tony's gaze.
Graphene batteries?
Stark Industries didn't care about that.
In Obadiah's eyes, Stark Industries was a global arms empire.
The profit from a single missile was worth more than a truckload of graphene batteries could ever bring in.
At that moment, the two men exchanged a brief look, and both of them broke into smiles that came straight from the heart.
...
Meanwhile, back at AIM's launch event...
All of the breathtaking women had already been arranged in advance and guided into the crowd, each taking her place within the red-lined circles that had been marked out beforehand.
What excited the surrounding guests even more was that no matter who greeted them, each woman responded warmly, like a perfectly trained event hostess.
From the way they spoke to the way they walked, every detail was flawless.
Not even the harshest observer could have found a single thing to criticize.
Even the fragrance coming from them seemed to constantly stir the men around them.
Still, with several security guards standing nearby, no one dared turn that impulse into action.
"All right. Next, I'll be introducing AIM's newest product."
"This time, we are bringing you what may be the most revolutionary drug in the history of medicine, and perhaps even in all of human history: the T-1 Viral Antibody Serum."
"At this point, I'm sure many of you already have all sorts of questions. Why did we develop a viral antibody serum? And what exactly is it used for?"
"So allow me to explain."
"It is a true universal serum for major diseases."
"The conditions it can treat include not only viral illnesses such as influenza, parvovirus, and rabies, but also Ebola, AIDS, cancers from early to late stage, infectious diseases, tumors, and other severe terminal illnesses."
"Yes, you heard that correctly."
"And here, I can state it solemnly: for every disease I just listed, our T-1 Viral Antibody Serum can be used as a treatment."
(End of Chapter)
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