After hanging up with his superior, Ross immediately realized someone was trying to push him out of the lunar program. And he didn't need to guess—the mastermind was undoubtedly one of the human traitors bought off by the Decepticons.
Obadiah Stane, who had originally agreed to help Ross make contact with Tony Stark, lost all interest in cooperating the moment he sensed things weren't going Ross's way.
Ross glanced at Obadiah, who was still smiling pleasantly, then gave a cold snort, picked up his phone, and dialed William.
Despite having tried to keep William in the dark about the Transformer ship, Ross now had no choice but to turn to the very man he had once planned against—especially since it was William himself who had just derailed Ross's plan.
It just goes to show: in this world, there are no eternal allies, only eternal interests.
As soon as the call connected, Ross put on a pleasant tone and asked warmly, "Good afternoon, William. It must be lunchtime in London. I hope I'm not interrupting?"
"No worries," William said cheerfully, setting down his fork and knife. "We're friends, no need to be so polite. Though, if you're calling about Banner, I'll have to disappoint you. But if you want to know what's on the Moon... I can tell you."
"How do you know what's on the Moon?" Ross asked instinctively, then instantly remembered that William had once been on the Moon—and was later chased all the way to Mars by the Decepticons. It hit him immediately. "You installed surveillance on the Moon?"
"What do you think?" William sneered. "I know more about what's in that ship than you do. If there was a prize to claim, do you think I'd have left it for you?"
Damn it. Ross paled. "What the hell is up there? And if you knew it was dangerous, why didn't you destroy that ship?"
"Destroy a ship that isn't even worth salvaging? Then how would I lure out all the Decepticons and wipe them out in one go?"
With Ross now seemingly being pushed out of the lunar mission, William wasn't worried about the Americans pouring time and effort into researching the Transformer ship. Whoever replaced Ross would have no idea what was really on the Moon. The moment they saw The Fallen inside that ship, they'd be scrambling to get it back to the U.S.—fearing that William might beat them to it with his own spacefaring tech.
Researching the ship could wait for the next moon landing.
So now, with Ross having lost control of the mission, William didn't mind throwing him a bone.
"Instead of trying to regain control," William said smoothly, "why not use this opportunity to rack up some serious credit? If you can destroy most of the Decepticons in one blow, that should be enough to earn you a promotion."
"I won't let aliens threaten my country," Ross replied stiffly. "I'll report this to my superiors."
William wasn't bothered in the slightest. Ross had to say that—especially in case the call was being recorded. As for William, he had nothing to worry about. The phone Ross was using had been manufactured by Sunday's company—no leaks possible.
"I'll send the Autobots to support you," William added casually. "Just in case things go sideways. Whether you use them is up to you."
William's real motivation for sending the Autobots was simple: The Fallen couldn't be awakened without the Matrix of Leadership, which was now in Optimus Prime's possession.
"Thanks," Ross said curtly. "I'll send you the base coordinates. I'll be in touch if anything comes up."
As soon as the call ended, William gave a cold chuckle. "And here I thought you were a noble patriot. Turns out you're just another hypocrite who says no but acts yes."
Back on Ross's end, Obadiah Stane's smile became a shade more sincere.
Ever since forming a secret deal with William in London more than two years ago, Obadiah had been acting as a broker—connecting William to various shady factions in the Middle East, helping smuggle in weapons that William supposedly manufactured. Obadiah had earned over $500 million in cash from those deals alone.
Whether those weapons made the war bloodier, or cost the U.S. more lives and money, Obadiah didn't care. If anything, the more intense the conflict, the higher Stark Industries' market value—and the more cash he could stash away.
To him, William wasn't just a business partner. He was practically a money-printing godsend.
Seeing how chummy Ross was with William now, Obadiah briefly considered roping Ross into the operation. But that idea lasted barely a second.
He cursed himself for letting greed cloud his judgment.
Forget the fact that those shadowy Middle Eastern buyers weren't exactly rich—just splitting the $1 billion they'd already earned had been enough to make them struggle. Many had resorted to squeezing civilians or looting ancient relics to pay their debts. Obadiah himself had even accepted several priceless antiquities as payment.
And besides, Ross wasn't the type to betray his country over money. If Obadiah even hinted at the plan, Ross would probably report it immediately—exposing Obadiah as a criminal and dragging William into the spotlight.
Obadiah knew the stakes. If their weapons deals were ever exposed, William would be untouchable. He, on the other hand, would be the fall guy.
Despite working together for over two years, Obadiah still had no idea where William's weapons were manufactured, or how they were smuggled into conflict zones. The $500 million William earned had simply vanished. It was as if the whole operation had never been about money—but just to screw over the Americans.
It made Obadiah deeply wary of William.
Sure, he had his own security, but compared to William's resources, his mercenaries were a joke.
Still, just because the arms trade had to stay secret didn't mean they couldn't work together on other things.
Ross, meanwhile, had long known that Obadiah and Justin Hammer had once met with William. That meeting had happened right after William returned from Mars, during his first high-profile banquet.
Whoever met with William that night, the entire intelligence world knew by morning.
So now, these two foxes with shared interests hit it off immediately.
After striking a new deal, Obadiah changed back into his pajamas and called Stark via video phone.
"Hey, Tony. Where the hell are you? I woke up and heard our office building got trashed—yet you, the big boss, didn't say a word about cleanup and just vanished?"
Seeing that Tony was at his Long Island mansion via the screen, Obadiah's heart leapt with joy—but he kept his tone concerned.
"Come on, man. Let this old guy enjoy his weekend in peace, will you? Just make sure everything's fixed by Monday, okay?"
"Okay, okay," Tony mumbled, slightly embarrassed. "I'll have Pepper sort everything out in two days."
But Tony had no idea his location had just been exposed to Ross.
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