The agent knew that Greed's last sentence was the key point. If the White Can was promoted this time, it would inevitably cause even greater trouble next time, making it even harder to live in peace.
This time, letting him suffer a setback, even if he doesn't change, he likely won't reach the height he should have, which would greatly reduce the level of trouble caused.
"Moreover, I sincerely advised him," Greed said, "I explained all the pros and cons to him, including the benefits of my every step and the disadvantages of his every move. But as the saying goes, old habits die hard."
"He might have dealt with the Rebirth Alliance out of fear of retribution." The agent said.
Greed shook his head again and said, "The best way to avoid retribution after causing trouble is not to eliminate others, but to make yourself more important. Don't I have a say in this?"
The agent agreed deeply. Greed was constantly involved in grand schemes, and far from talking about retribution, the Central Universe protected him fiercely, to the point where some people had already started turning a blind eye, just because Greed was important enough.
All his plans could make Earth and the cosmos better, and no matter how difficult the process, the result was good, very good even, bringing benefits to everyone and fulfilling their dreams, so it's not surprising there's support.
But the approach the White Can adopted was to suppress the opponent, leaving them unable to pursue. This tactic probably used to work well, as with the White Can's talent, suppressing others was too simple.
But this time he happened to come across Thor, unable to match him in strength, and unable to play any tricks, so naturally, he was overturned?
If he followed Greed's plan and took the path of animal husbandry and agriculture, then even if Thor wanted to settle accounts with him, all Earth's governments and ordinary people would unite to protect him because he would be important enough.
Pamela was busy for days, tricking so much budget from All Things Green, and all she could influence were plants, at most creating some gigantic plants, and even so, they were Brainiac's darlings, and Brainiac would love to preserve her, not even caring about her secret plant experiments.
The Extremis Virus produced by the White Can worked on anything with a physical form, be it human, animal, or plant. With this in hand, Thor would have to stand down.
Needless to say, mutants definitely want this thing: on one hand, many mutants have flawed mutant abilities, and if these could be modified or even slightly weakened, mutants would treat him as a VIP. On the other hand, Professor X's legs still needed treatment, just for that, Magneto would firmly take a stand.
Actually, even at this stage, there's still room to maneuver. The White Can didn't notice when Professor X wanted to say something during the press conference but was stopped by Magneto.
In that situation, they should have spoken on behalf of the Rebirth Alliance, but it's likely that Professor X saw something about the Extremis Virus in the White Can's mind and transmitted it to Magneto via telepathy. Magneto recognized the value of the virus, therefore intending to play both sides and not wanting to offend the White Can too harshly, so they remained silent throughout.
Even the agent suspected that high-ranking members of the Rebirth Alliance, like Nick, were aware of the value of the Extremis Virus, which was why they didn't push things to the brink. Otherwise, they wouldn't have avoided isolating the two but instead tried to reconcile them.
The agent stood up, walked to the door, and listened through it. It was a bit quieter outside, indicating that the climax of the argument was likely over.
Logically, one of them should have stormed out, but since this office belonged to Greed, and the two were there looking for him, neither was willing to leave first, so they just stood there awkwardly after the argument.
The agent opened the door and looked out. Iron Man was sitting on the sofa wearing his battle armor but without his mask, his face cold. Pepper was sitting on Greed's office chair, wiping her tears with tissues.
The agent turned to look back, Greed had no intention of coming out. He had to step forward, extend his hand to Pepper, and say, "I'm the agent sent to protect you, ma'am. Nick Fury sent me."
"Ha, another one." Iron Man's mocking voice came, "After Happy dies, you can marry a bodyguard again."
The agent couldn't be bothered to argue with him, grabbed another stack of tissues to hand to Pepper, and then said, "My mission is to protect you from any violent acts. Normally, it should involve close protection, but that might be inconvenient for you. I'll give you an emergency contact device, just call me if there's any trouble."
"You think you can stop me?" Iron Man scoffed again, almost implying he intended to use violence.
Earlier, during their heated argument, Iron Man hadn't noticed the agent who had been stuffed into the bathroom. When the agent came out, he had his back to Iron Man the whole time, so Iron Man had no idea what he looked like.
Upon hearing this, the agent turned around immediately, and Iron Man's next sarcastic comment got stuck in his throat.
"Cough, cough, cough, cough, cough!"
Evidently, that face carried significant intimidation. Nick Fury had this intention, knowing that whoever he sent, Iron Man might dare to act, but not with Shiller.
"So what are you trying to do?" Iron Man glared at Greed coming out of the bathroom, "Two Shillers? Planning some proxy war against us?"
"You're mistaken there." Greed shook his head, and Iron Man thought he was going to make excuses, but instead, Greed began picking glass shards from his hair and said, "A proxy war requires one person to manipulate each side, and I may not necessarily stand on your side."
"What do you mean!" Iron Man stood up again, "Can't you see which one of us..."
"Doctor Shiller." Pepper collected her sorrowful expression, stood up, and looked at Shiller, "Happy's condition isn't good. I hope you can help him, you must have a way, right?"
Clearly, this was her reason for coming to find Greed. But before Greed could speak, Iron Man chimed in again: "Solving Happy's problem is simple, just give him a shot of the Extremis Virus. You know where I keep all my stuff, just go get it. Surely, your husband's life is worth you putting aside your dignity and doing some petty theft, right? Mrs. Hogan?"
The agent couldn't prevent himself from glancing at him. The White Can knew how to argue, but somehow the words seemed... like there was something personal.
"When you use our past feelings as a weapon, especially when you exploit the mutual trust we once had, I can only feel pity for you, Anthony." Pepper shook, but her tone remained cold and heavy.
"Do you think I could easily obtain the Extremis Virus because I'm still the only one who knows where you keep your precious virus, and you dare not let anyone else know about the location of the prototype, not even daring to arrange security there?"
The agent couldn't help but look at Pepper again, this one was better at arguing, really hitting where it hurts. He turned around to see Iron Man's shattered expression—so it really was only Pepper who knew?
The agent gave Greed a look, as if to say that if they continued attacking each other like this, there wouldn't be any targets left to protect when they were done.