บท 99: Chapter 93
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"Fool!"
Inside the office.
Watching Senator Stern on the TV screen becoming increasingly frustrated and cursing as predicted in the diary, being utterly outsmarted by Tony Stark.
Nick Fury couldn't help but utter a disdainful curse.
To think this was a senator, a high-ranking politician!
One would expect basic skills like verbal cunning and maintaining a smile while cursing internally.
But what happened instead?
The senator was played by Tony Stark from beginning to end, making a complete fool of himself, just like a little clown.
Their confrontation seemed like a newbie monster encountering a fully-leveled player in a game, not even on the same level.
Despite employing Justin Hammer, Colonel Rhodes, and various other strong pieces of evidence.
Due to his own lack of depth, all his moves were effortlessly countered by Tony Stark, completely trounced.
And if that weren't enough,
"F**k you"? And in front of so many military and government leaders plus media?
Even a political rookie would know better than to lose their cool like that, right?
This is what you're telling me, that he's a senator?
At this moment, Nick Fury greatly agrees with Zhou Cheng's criticisms in the diary.
Does Hydra have no standards for recruitment?
Are they just taking anyone?
Seeing that wretched performance on the screen, Nick Fury felt second-hand embarrassment for Hydra.
"Waste of space!"
"This piece of trash!"
"A surefire plan ruined by incompetence!"
Nick Fury's speculations were correct.
Inside the top-floor office of the Triskelion, Alexander Pierce was close to smashing his screen in frustration.
To think he had ordered resources controlled by Hydra to be tilted towards Stern in support of the hearing.
Otherwise, those tactics targeting Tony Stark couldn't have been prepared so smoothly.
Pierce had thought the hearing should have been nearly guaranteed, as the preparations were indeed very thorough.
The evidence was also in place, with a strong advantage from a legal standpoint.
So the hearing was not the issue.
It was what happened after the hearing that mattered.
Stark's military-industrial complex was not easily dealt with; winning at the hearing was not equivalent to a real victory.
Winning the hearing would have been just the beginning.
Pierce was ready for a confrontation, to take on Stark's military-industrial might and seize the Iron Man suit for good.
Yet with all his efforts, Stern had completely collapsed on his end!
He even botched the hearing.
Now, any plans against the military-industrial complex were pure fantasy.
Senator Stern didn't give him the chance!
"A total waste, capable of ruining but not achieving anything substantial!"
Alexander Pierce grew increasingly angry, but once calming his rage, he quickly regained composure to consider the next strategy.
The complete failure of the hearing effectively extinguished Hydra's ambitions to control the Iron Man suit.
It was almost impossible to pry it from Tony Stark again.
Despite how unwilling and furious he was, Pierce had to face this harsh reality.
The only consolation was that Nick Fury proved reliable by finding another individual who controlled Iron Man suit technology.
So now, the only option was to keep a close eye on Ivan Vanko.
Stark's suit was out of reach, but Vanko's technology could not be missed!
Alexander Pierce silently resolved to do just that.
"Alright, recess, recess!"
"I serve this country at my pleasure."
"I've discovered something; I'm the best at finding fun in the world!"
On the screen.
Tony Stark's voice continued, capturing Alexander Pierce's attention.
There was Stark wearing sunglasses, unilaterally declaring an adjournment of the hearing as the one being scrutinized.
He was making a flashy speech in the hall, shaking hands with his fervent supporters.
The atmosphere was explosive.
What hearing?
It was more like Tony Stark's personal press conference!
Alexander Pierce's expression darkened further.
"I love you all!"
"Mwah mwah mwah…"
Under Pierce's sour gaze, Iron Man left behind a trail of banter, departing to enthusiastic applause.
So effortlessly cool, just as always.
"Welcome home, sir!"
"Congratulations on the successful grand opening and the hearing too."
"And I must say, it's refreshing to finally see you on TV wearing clothes."
Back at the lavish villa.
The thoughtful AI Jarvis immediately offered warm greetings and congratulations, playfully teasing his boss.
Ever since Iron Man created the suit, the media had mostly featured videos of the Destroyer.
In other words, not Tony Stark in clothes, but in armor.
"Ha ha."
Tony Stark laughed contentedly at the hearing footage projected by Jarvis.
He was very pleased with his own performance.
"Stealing the show at the hearing," yes, that summed it up perfectly; he truly outshone everyone else.
"Jarvis!"
However, after a brief moment of pride, Tony Stark's demeanor turned serious.
He had made a decision.
"That 'fat pig senator' leading the hearing, I want you to dig deep, find every last piece of dirt on him."
"He can't be clean with the power he's got; I want you to unearth all his dirty dealings!"
"Start!"
Tony Stark gave Jarvis this order.
Usually, Tony Stark wouldn't be bothered, even with Senator Stern targeting him directly, because Iron Man knew the rules of the game in this world.
Once the Iron Man suit was unveiled, countless people would covet it, and countless would scheme against it.This is inevitable.
It would have been some other senator if not this one. It's nothing special.
That's just how the world works.
Tony Stark isn't so petty as to be unable to see this, let alone make an immature move over something like this.
But now?
Iron Man has learned that Hydra killed his parents!
And the one trying to steal his Iron Man suit is also from Hydra, Tony Stark certainly won't let that slide.
He's going to strike back hard!
"Sir, are you sure you want to do this?"
"It sounds like you have a very dangerous plan."
Jarvis's intelligence is indeed high, as he began to seek and confirm Iron Man's intent.
"Start it up, I know what I'm doing!"
Tony Stark told Jarvis without hesitation.
"As you wish, sir!"
Jarvis didn't waste words and immediately began searching Senator Stern as instructed by Tony Stark.
Soon enough.
A bunch of dirt on Senator Stern, a load of criminal evidence, records of corrupt transactions, some shady videos.
And so on and so forth.
All these sensitive and dark items were promptly uncovered by Jarvis.
"Who would have thought this 'porky senator' could still lead such a flamboyant life at his age, even more so than me," Tony Stark remarked with a sigh after skimming through the dirt.
"Sir, what are you planning to do next?"
Jarvis asked Tony Stark's opinion once again.
This dirt could easily land an average person in jail for over a decade, and for a senator, that's far from enough.
Iron Man is certain that if this dirt were to be delivered to the police or the FBI, there's a high chance it would sink without a trace.
Iron Man knows all too well what the nature of those ordinary law enforcement agencies is.
Even if Stern performed poorly at the hearings, he was still a senator, not someone you could easily move against with just some dirt.
Tony Stark is not that naive.
So.
What to do with this dirt?
Tony Stark neatly came up with two viable options.
Firstly, to make all this dirt publicly known, creating a widespread scandal.
This would force the interest groups behind Stern to make a decision.
To abandon Stern and disassociate from him.
Senator Stern would be outright pulled from his position by Tony Stark.
However, disrupting the rules of the game to such an extreme extent wasn't without drawbacks; as Iron Man, this would likely entail a very difficult future.
The upper class would see Iron Man as a threat, as no one likes a troublemaker.
If Tony Stark could go after a senator today, he could go after any one of them tomorrow!
Even the usually bold and brazen Tony Stark would have to weigh the consequences.
The second option.
That would be to seek out agencies above the ordinary law enforcement, like the FBI.
For instance, SHIELD!
Moreover, Tony Stark had another thought: using Senator Stern to remind SHIELD.
That Hydra is still around!
They've even infiltrated SHIELD!
Anyway, it's the intelligence agency his father founded.
Although Tony Stark is usually indifferent, seeing SHIELD in such a precarious situation is somewhat unbearable.
He couldn't just watch his father's legacy be destroyed by Hydra, could he?
Thus, considering all these factors, Tony Stark happily made a decision: to hand over Stern's incriminating evidence to SHIELD.
Of course.
Considering the extent of Hydra's infiltration into SHIELD, Tony Stark didn't dare contact anyone else.
Instead, he reached out to Coulson, who had been certified by the diary.
This man "heroically sacrificed" himself; he couldn't possibly be Hydra, could he?
Why not contact Nick Fury directly?
Well.
Even for Tony Stark, Nick Fury was still slightly out of reach.
But this wasn't really a problem.
Because acting against a senator and, according to the evidence provided by Tony Stark, finding incredibly secretive evidence that Stern was indeed a Hydra operative was a matter of great importance!
How could Coulson not report such a thing to Nick Fury?
Coulson almost immediately went to Nick Fury's office with the evidence from Iron Man and reported everything to the director.
"All these pieces of evidence were provided by Stark?"
After reviewing the evidence, Nick Fury couldn't help but look up and ask Coulson with his one good eye.
It must be said that this caught Nick Fury completely off guard.
Originally, upon learning that Stern was Hydra, Nick Fury was troubled about how to handle the matter.
Considering the massive number of Hydra moles, it wasn't difficult for Fury to investigate Stern, but the challenge was to do so without alerting anyone.
How to investigate without leaking any tips and keeping Hydra completely unaware!
Knowing the extent of Hydra's infiltration but not knowing where exactly they had infiltrated made such a task far from easy.
Even the Director of SHIELD had to tread carefully.
But Fury could never have anticipated that, at this critical moment, Tony Stark would present him with such a gift!
It was like someone offering a pillow when he was longing for sleep!
With Iron Man's evidence, Fury could now investigate Stern publicly and legitimately.
It had to be said that Tony Stark's assistance was incredibly timely.
Fury couldn't be more satisfied.
However, at the same time, Nick Fury also couldn't help but wonder about another question.
Why would Tony Stark suddenly investigate Stern?
Simply because Stern wanted to take Iron Man's suit?
At first glance, it might seem so, but according to Nick Fury's understanding of Tony Stark, he believed that someone as smart as Stark wouldn't act so rashly.
Seemingly satisfying in the moment, such rule-breaking could lead to serious consequences.
Fury couldn't believe that Tony Stark would fail to see this.
So~
A thought involuntarily crossed Nick Fury's mind.
It seemed quite likely that Tony Stark might also be a holder of the diary!
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