Bab 94: Chapter 94 Natasha! A New Assistant!

The premiere ended.

"Good movie," Tony Stark said, uncharacteristically approaching Anton. "I'll fulfill the terms of our bet next week and throw you a party in Los Angeles."

With that, he gave a dismissive hum and turned to leave.

Anton stood stunned for a moment, watching Tony get into his car and drive away. A smile crept across his face.

The bet?

Ah, the bet he'd made with Tony a while back! Anton had almost forgotten about it. But since Tony brought it up, there was no way he could ignore it.

"Come to think of it, this is around the time Tony should've upgraded his armor to Mark II and started field-testing Mark III…"

Anton mused, recalling the recent news about Gomira.

If he wasn't mistaken, Iron Man had already been born.

However, Tony Stark clearly hadn't dealt with Obadiah Stane yet. In fact, he probably wasn't even aware of Obadiah treachery, so the iconic confrontation had yet to play out.

At this point, the world had no idea what "Iron Man" truly was.

"Anton, the audience response to Cyborg has been great," Jim voice suddenly broke through his thoughts.

"Plus, the Cyborg novel and comic series were released a month ago and have been gaining traction, building a fanbase. It safe to say this movie will be another box-office hit!"

Jim was practically buzzing with excitement. "Even Tony Stark, who hasn't been seen in public for ages, showed up for the premiere. That alone will make headlines."

The more he spoke, the more pleased he seemed, clearly proud of his decision to join DC Studios.

It was probably the best career move of his life.

"Good. Increase the marketing push—I want results by tomorrow," Anton instructed before losing interest in lingering. He left the venue, heading back to New York.

Betty had been by his side the entire time.

In the car.

Betty handed him a file containing several resumes, complete with attached photos.

"These are the candidates for your personal assistant position," she explained.

Originally, Betty was supposed to be Anton personal assistant.

But given Anton hands-off approach to DC Studios' day-to-day operations, Betty had been busy handling the workload he'd neglected. As a result, she no longer had the time to serve as his personal assistant. After some discussion, they decided to hire someone to fill the role.

Anton flipped through the resumes absentmindedly until his eyes landed on a strikingly beautiful face.

He paused, a smile tugging at his lips.

"She the one," he said, pulling out the resume and handing it to Betty. "Tell this Natasha woman to start tomorrow."

Betty expression was emotionless.

She glanced at the beautiful face on the photo, unsurprised by Anton choice—it was exactly what she had expected.

…

Ever since the Green Goblin incident, when Anton clashed with Hawkeye and gave him a thorough lesson, he had been pondering when S.H.I.E.L.D. would approach him again.

Sure enough, it took only a few days before they made their move.

The operative they sent? None other than the infamous Black Widow herself!

Anton felt slightly flattered.

Logically, S.H.I.E.L.D. couldn't be entirely certain that Anton was Batman, but they could very likely narrow down their suspicions to him with a high degree of probability.

After all, back during the Life Foundation incident, Agent Coulson had already approached him on behalf of S.H.I.E.L.D.

In their conversations, Coulson had practically treated him as Batman.

Although Anton had managed to distance himself slightly from Batman by leveraging the global $600 million box office celebration party for The Batman, there was still a lingering first impression that S.H.I.E.L.D. likely hadn't shaken.

Even if S.H.I.E.L.D. was 90% sure Anton was Batman, the remaining 10% uncertainty remained.

It was worth noting that in all his interactions with S.H.I.E.L.D. since the Life Foundation, Anton had never actively revealed his identity as Batman.

Whether it was during the Kingpin incident or the Green Goblin incident, Anton had always reached out to S.H.I.E.L.D. as Batman, not as himself.

There was a tacit understanding between them.

Now, S.H.I.E.L.D. sending Black Widow to apply for the position of his personal assistant was clearly a strategic move to observe him up close—and perhaps even recruit him.

It mirrored the original storyline where Black Widow infiltrated Tony Stark life as his assistant.

"By the way," Betty interrupted his thoughts, "Stark Industries' stock has been climbing. Based on our holdings, we've made a decent profit. Should we sell everything?"

"Climbing?" Anton replied nonchalantly. "How much higher can it go? It not time yet—hold on to it. I already said we should consider a long-term position."

"It recovered nearly half its value. You're sure you don't want to sell?"

Betty sounded skeptical.

She couldn't understand Anton confidence in Stark Industries.

Anyone paying attention to Stark Industries knew that Tony Stark had effectively been sidelined by the board.

Currently, the company was under the control of Obadiah Stane, a senior figure who had maneuvered the board to become Stark Industries' de facto leader.

Without Tony Stark, Stark Industries' stock might recover somewhat, but it was unlikely to ever return to its former valuation.

"What caused the recovery?" Anton asked, his tone curious rather than defensive. "What Obadiah Stane been up to?"

"He announced that Stark Industries would not be shutting down its weapons division and has also invested in the energy sector. He partnered with Dr. Olivia Octavius of OctaMax Industries to pursue the development of artificial sun technology," Betty explained.

"Dr. Octavius is a leading figure in energy research. Her 'artificial sun' project has been in the works for years. If successful, it could potentially free humanity from reliance on fossil fuels, ushering in a new era," she continued. "This plan has boosted confidence in Stark Industries' future. If Dr. Octavius succeeds, Stark Industries could dominate the energy sector, even without its weapons division."

"Dr. Octavius? Artificial sun?"

Anton expression turned odd.

He hadn't expected Obadiah Stane to team up with Doc Ock.

The two seemed to have no common ground!

Wait!

Anton paused, recalling how, in the original storyline, Obadiah Stane had recovered Tony Mark I armor from the desert but lacked the energy source to power it, leading him to steal Tony arc reactor.

Now, it all made sense.

Obadiah Stane was playing it smart this time!