"I got set up? Then tell me exactly what happened."
Qin Xiao calmed down instead.
Frank had the Swamp-Swamp Fruit—a Logia-type ability.
Unless special methods were used, he was extremely hard to kill.
Once he broke free, he could survive just fine on his own.
In fact—
a Punisher who wasn't tied down protecting Tony…
was far more terrifying.
Whoever pushed him into this situation had just unleashed a monster.
"This call might be monitored. I'll head to Safehouse No. 3."
"Understood."
Qin Xiao hung up.
Then, he stored his phone inside his swamp body—
a simple way to avoid tracking.
At Safehouse No. 3—
Frank began recounting everything from the past few weeks.
After Tony announced the shutdown of the weapons division,
Stark Industries' stock price dropped over 55% the very next day.
Media outlets went into a frenzy, criticizing Tony's recklessness.
And Tony himself?
He stayed inside his villa.
No interviews.
No meetings.
Not even the board could see him.
Obadiah tried repeatedly—
but was always brushed off.
Until two days ago.
Obadiah arrived at Tony's villa again.
"Tony, the company needs something new to shift attention."
This time, he didn't beat around the bush.
"What do you mean?" Tony asked cautiously.
"The arc reactor in your chest."
Obadiah pointed directly at him.
Tony's expression changed.
"How do you know about that?"
Thanks to Qin Xiao's earlier warning,
Tony hadn't revealed anything about it.
Yet Obadiah knew.
"Tony… whether it's Pepper or Colonel Rhodes—
we have ways to make people talk."
A group entered behind him.
Board members.
Military personnel.
Tony felt a headache coming on.
During this time, he had already built a new arc reactor.
With Pepper's help, he replaced the old one.
The old reactor was boxed up and stored in his underground lab.
Still—
he had expected this secret wouldn't last forever.
If they knew, they knew.
Obadiah's expression turned colder.
"Recently, there's been a flying armored figure attacking terrorist groups around the world.
It even shot down a military jet.
Did you really think no one would notice?
Now the military wants an explanation."
Inside, Obadiah burned with greed.
A weapon capable of defeating military aircraft—
that was true power.
He had already reverse-engineered the old armor Tony left behind.
A stronger suit was nearly complete.
The only missing piece—
was a powerful energy source.
The miniaturized arc reactor.
Everything else had been solved.
Today—
he was determined to get it.
That was why he had gathered both military allies and board members.
This was a full-blown power play.
"Fine. So you know," Tony said calmly.
"But I'm keeping it.
I won't share the technology.
Once it's perfected, I'll use it to build clean energy for Stark Industries.
That alone will shift public attention.
As for the military—Colonel Rhodes already gave an explanation.
What more do you want?"
Tony refused outright—
but offered a compromise.
Even now—
he still hadn't fully committed to taking down Obadiah.
In the meantime, the Mark III armor had already been completed.
He had even gone out to "play hero,"
which led to that clash with the military—
and the destruction of a jet.
The incident had been covered up as a training exercise.
But clearly—
Obadiah had uncovered the truth.
Today's confrontation—
was inevitable.
What surprised Tony most—
was the military's involvement.
Rhodes had already smoothed things over.
Which meant—
there was a power struggle within the military itself.
Tony understood immediately.
Then—
Obadiah spoke again.
"Since you've shut down weapons development,
that arc reactor becomes the company's most valuable asset.
As a corporate achievement—
we need to study it.
Thoroughly."
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