Operation Janitor had begun the moment Killian left the United States.
Under Killian's orders, anyone who had opposed AIM this time, or before, and anyone who had wanted him dead, would be quietly cleaned up by the Blackwatch squad and brought back.
At that moment, Adam rose expressionlessly and headed toward the basement of the villa.
Not long after, he arrived at the coded security door.
To Alex's disappointment, they did not ask him for the password.
Instead, the man in the lead took the rifle off his back, adjusted it with a few quick movements, and fired. The high-strength security door that Alex had spent a fortune building was instantly blasted open with a massive hole.
Then Adam led the squad through the opening and walked straight inside.
What came into view was an underground vault packed with all kinds of valuables.
Adam did not even spare them a second glance.
He went straight to the central safe, opened it the same way, and found exactly what he had come for.
Inside the drive were all the bribery videos Alex had used on various officials, along with the company's black-account ledgers and records.
Adam immediately sealed them up for transfer, then ordered his men to take Alex and return to base without another word.
...
Not long after, the helicopter landed.
When the hatch opened again, both of the Jones men were dragged out and taken forward.
It was only then that they realized, on this island which looked like a military base, there were already numerous transport helicopters parked around the area.
And from each one, people from major companies were being hauled out by armed personnel dressed in identical uniforms.
The only difference was that among those squads, some members were ordinary men and women, while the group escorting them had that gigantic monster among them.
As they got closer, J. Jones felt his heart go cold.
Because he realized every single one of these people was someone who had previously worked with them in the plan to assassinate Killian, the CEO of AIM.
Even one of the division chiefs they had placed inside the CIA had been dragged here too.
Only at that moment did J. Jones truly realize something.
Compared to them, the man behind AIM was far more ruthless.
He had dared to kidnap this many corporate and political heavyweights in one move, people whose influence was enough to shake an entire state if they so much as stomped a foot.
J. Jones simply could not understand it.
Had the man gone insane?
Once something this big broke, the U.S. government would absolutely launch a full-scale investigation the next day.
The CIA, Homeland Security, every major federal agency would tear the country apart looking for answers.
Could AIM's power really have grown so large that it could even control those core state institutions?
J. Jones did not believe that for a second.
And because of that, if he had still felt some panic about being kidnapped along with his son just moments earlier, that feeling now eased quite a bit.
At least in terms of personal safety, he no longer felt real fear.
In his mind, the worst that would happen was this: AIM would force them to agree to compensation terms, make an example of them, and then the matter would end.
He had already made peace with that.
As long as he and his son survived, it did not really matter how much money they had to pay.
With that thought in mind, even his old legs, which had needed to be dragged before, started moving on their own.
But young Jones was not nearly as optimistic.
When he saw so many of his former "friends" dragged here in exactly the same way, his legs almost gave out beneath him.
Because this scene was too familiar.
He had done the same thing countless times before, dragging prey back to the nest.
And as any proper hunter knew, once the prey had been identified and captured, what awaited them afterward was being turned into a trophy.
At that point, the man's legs completely failed him.
He could not walk another step and had to be dragged forward by two operatives like a dead dog.
After all, killing and facing death were two completely different experiences.
He could skin and butcher prey without blinking.
But when it was his turn, even the thought of being shot was enough to fill him with terror.
The group of several dozen captives was then dragged into a massive elevator all at once.
As it descended, everyone felt it dropping deeper and deeper underground before it finally stopped.
A few of the people who understood elevator travel speed were especially shaken.
Based on the distance and the time, they had gone at least a hundred meters down.
In their own companies, that much time would have taken them to the hundredth floor already.
Yet this elevator had taken several times longer.
Soon, the doors opened.
And there, not far ahead, sat the man they had all wanted dead.
Killian.
He was seated comfortably, watching their arrival with obvious interest.
The operatives hauled everyone out of the elevator, lined them up, and threw them onto the floor one by one.
After that, they stepped behind the captives, standing silently with their weapons ready to fire at any moment.
"Hello. Welcome, everyone."
"I do apologize for inviting you all here this way. But I was worried that if I'd sent a direct invitation, some of you might not have been very enthusiastic."
Killian smiled as he looked over the full group, especially the three familiar faces among them: Alex, Rob Modis, and Francis Henry, the CEOs who had caused him trouble before.
The only missing one was Alfred Gerard, the executive CEO of AbbVie Biopharmaceuticals. But Gerard had already been dealt with in advance by Kingpin.
A pity, really.
Killian had not even gotten the chance to settle that score himself.
Still, looking at the people before him, he could not help smiling.
"Mr. Killian, do you realize how dangerous your behavior is right now?"
"How about this, untie us first, and I promise that once I return, I will never have any designs on you again. Would that work?"
At this point, tough talk would not change reality, so Rob Modis was the first to speak up and beg.
And as if to sweeten the offer, he hurried to add, "I'll even give you five percent of our company's shares!"
"Heh."
"Mr. Modis, honestly, if you'd just stayed out of this, I might really have forgotten about you."
"After all, someone as useless as you being alive only adds to the burdens of my enemies."
"But recently, I heard you were working very hard in the underground world, moving heaven and earth to track me down."
"Should I be touched?"
"But even if that had been all, maybe I could have let it slide. Instead, you secretly joined forces with the CEOs of dozens of companies, hired underworld groups to put a bounty on my head, and even dragged in warlords and people from the CIA."
"I have to say, you really do have a talent for organizing group suicide."
Killian rested his cheek on one hand and looked at Modis with amused interest.
Ever since Modis had tried to make trouble for him and pushed that Washington hearing into motion, every communication involving the four ringleaders had been under Killian's surveillance.
Every word they said, every move they made, even when they went to the bathroom, had all been visible to him.
Which meant that from the moment the plan began, Killian had known everything.
What came after had simply been the natural result of luring the snake out of its hole.
"But honestly, I should thank you. Without your efforts bringing everyone together, I would never have had such a good reason to clean up this many people in one go."
Killian smiled.
Even if he killed them all tonight, the government would have little room to say anything.
Because every bit of this had been their own doing.
They had hired massive numbers of foreign mercenaries and warlords to ambush and kill him.
Did they really think the U.S. side could not find that out?
The only reason nothing had happened earlier was because the event had taken place outside U.S. territory.
Now, even if Killian struck back, no one could say much, because they were the ones who had provoked the situation in the first place.
Killian had merely responded.
And besides, from the beginning of the incident until now, none of Killian's people had been exposed. Every area related to the operation had been under Baymax's monitoring. All electronic traces had been wiped clean.
Who could prove anything?
Without evidence, who was going to touch him?
And once he returned to the United States, the military and the government would naturally stand on his side.
Were they really going to come after him for the sake of companies that had already lost their leaders?
Ridiculous.
"W-what are you talking about, Mr. Killian? I need to explain. This is all a misunderstanding. I... I don't understand any of it."
"I was only talking to those people. Yes, just talking."
Hearing Killian expose him, Modis's face changed instantly, and he began stammering in panic.
But no matter how hard he tried to talk his way out, it all became useless when Killian casually tossed out three virtual projection devices that began playing footage in midair.
"Alex, I've already lined up more than ten groups."
"They all agreed to join us in posting bounties on the dark web to assassinate Killian."
"We've already raised eight hundred million dollars. What do we do next?"
"Eight hundred million already? That's enough."
"I've gotten intelligence. Killian's flight path takes him straight to Africa. We've already contacted local warlords. As soon as the money is in place, they'll move."
"Local African warlords? Are they reliable? Hell, even an ordinary guy with an AK over here has better training than most of them."
"That's why I also hired the top-tier Stinger mercenary group. And I've arranged several more as backup."
"This time, he dies there for sure."
"Hahahaha! Once that happens, we can carve AIM up between us."
...
The footage ran for several minutes.
Almost every moment of Modis's coordination efforts was shown in full, not just his voice, but the video itself, including his laughter and the smug, confident look on his face.
"T-this is slander! Outright slander! I've never seen any of this before! Someone is framing me!"
Modis's face had turned white, and he could only continue trembling and trying to deny it.
"Heh. Maybe."
"But it doesn't matter."
"Mr. Modis, for me, you no longer have any use at all. There is only one reason you were brought here."
"To complete my final plan."
Killian spoke lightly.
Modis still looked confused.
Then a man with his exact face walked out from the side.
He was naked, and thick fluid still clung to parts of his body.
For a second, Modis was so stunned that he could not speak at all.
His first irrational thought was that this was some illegitimate half-brother hidden by his father, now back to steal everything from him using the same face.
"Cloning!"
"Damn it, you even prepared a clone of him! No wonder! No wonder!"
This time, it was J. Jones's voice that rang out.
Compared to everyone else's confusion and shock, he had recognized what he was seeing instantly.
And it was precisely because of that that he realized the situation had gone far beyond anything he had expected.
"But how is this possible? Even at the fastest pace, creating a true clone should take more than ten years."
"Have you really been planning all of this for over a decade?"
Jones stared at Killian in total disbelief, his voice full of fear.
In his mind, it was impossible to imagine someone enduring that long in silence, all for revenge.
"So it's you. The CEO of Roxxon."
"You do know a thing or two. Not bad for the head of an old company that's been around since the Second World War."
"I like that."
"No, I'm not nearly as patient as you think. But this world never lacks for creative technology."
"And the clone in front of you is proof of that."
Only now did Killian turn his full attention to the middle-aged man from Roxxon, the infamous power behind one of the Marvel world's most notorious corporate villains.
From what Killian knew, in the original setup, the real force behind the deaths of Tony's parents had actually been Roxxon Oil.
And the reason was simple.
Howard Stark had discovered the groundwork for what Killian himself had now brought into the world: controlled nuclear fusion.
Of course, back in Howard's era, the technology had not yet reached the point where a fully functional fusion reactor could be put into use.
But even now, the model reactor still stood outside Stark facilities as a reminder of what Howard had been reaching toward.
It had only been a shell then.
There were still too many technologies beyond that era needed to make it real, and even Howard would have needed time.
That was why he had hidden his new-element discovery in that model, leaving behind a final treasure for his son.
Even so, Howard's progress toward fusion had still terrified Roxxon.
After all, everyone in that world knew the scale of nuclear power.
Howard Stark had been one of the principal figures behind that entire field.
Roxxon never doubted that if given enough time, Howard would eventually create a real controlled fusion reactor.
And the moment that happened, the energy empire they had built at such enormous cost would be reduced to ash.
So, under the pressure of overwhelming利益, they moved to eliminate Howard and Maria Stark.
And later, in Captain America: Civil War, the conflict among the heroes over Bucky killing Tony's parents had also been manipulated from the shadows by the same forces.
The Winter Soldier had been part of that entire chain.
At first, Roxxon never took Tony seriously.
By the time they finally did, the arc reactor had already entered public view.
And once something like that had reached the public eye, even they could not turn back time.
Of course, by then they had already expanded and diversified. Energy was only one arm of a much larger empire.
That was the true nature of Roxxon in the Marvel world.
Officially an energy company.
In reality, involved in everything.
Weapons, advanced technology, biotech research, cybernetics, superhuman development. If there was profit in it, Roxxon had a hand in it.
That was also why, in the long run, they had not gone after Tony the same way.
By then they had already converted their earlier energy power into leverage across weapons, multinational contracts, and influence structures far beyond a single industry.
But the reason organizations like Roxxon could thrive in the dark for so long was because they stayed hidden.
Low-profile.
Untouched because no one was looking directly at them.
Once stripped of that shadow, they could be crushed in an instant.
Just like now.
The moment Killian had identified them as a target, he had taken the Roxxon CEO and his son without the slightest effort.
Sometimes the world repeated the same lesson again and again.
Keep your head down.
(End of Chapter)
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