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Tony Stark's mouth twitched, but he controlled his expression and said seriously, "He probably dropped it because he was too excited."
Pepper Potts said earnestly, "You need to come to the hospital with me right now!"
Phil Coulson silently reported to headquarters that no assistance was needed; he seemed to understand how Tony Stark had escaped from Afghanistan.
"Mr. Stark, I'm Agent Phil Coulson from the Strategic Homeland Security and Logistics Agency. Could I ask you a few questions?" Phil Coulson walked over, smiling.
Coulson, as expected of a top Agent, quickly recovered from the sadness of losing his beloved car.
Tony Stark praised him sincerely, "You're the one who protected Pepper just now, right? You did a really good job, fella!"
"It's our duty."
"Alright, what do you want to ask?"
Since these two Agents had protected Pepper, Tony Stark didn't intend to make things difficult for them. Answering a few questions that didn't involve his interests was no problem.
Meanwhile, with Hakimi and Kuro.
"Cat Cake, how's your filming coming along?"
"Huh? What did you call me? Have you forgotten that I'm the boss?" With the battle between the two Iron Men over, Hakimi, seeing no danger, became bolder and no longer indulged Kuro's strange nickname for him.
Kuro said irritably, "You, filming the video is your task. How's your task coming along?"
Hakimi said confidently, "Why even ask? My hands are steadier than a professional anti-shake camera, and my eyes are like rulers. There's no problem with the filming; all the exciting moments have been recorded."
"That's great, but your task isn't over yet. Lionel said that this 'shit-head' will hold a press conference, and we need to record all the important content during that time," Kuro said very seriously, as if completing a mission of great significance.
To Kuro, Makima's every request was immensely important, a mission he had to fulfill.
"I feel like your brain isn't working too well," Kuro's attitude towards this matter was incomprehensible to Hakimi, but he still accepted it.
"Then let's follow. You can make us invisible, right?" Hakimi asked tentatively.
"Invisibility isn't possible, but King can make them unaware of our existence."
---
The next day, Lionel and Makima sat on the sofa, watching a live broadcast on TV.
Makima looked at Tony Stark, whose right arm was in a sling, standing in the center of the TV screen, and asked curiously, "This is the press conference you said could change an era?"
"Of course, he will usher in an era of superheroes."
Lionel watched the live TV broadcast, while glancing at the computer on the table. He wanted to personally witness Stark Industries' stock soar and his assets double. That feeling would definitely be more satisfying than extorting a Gang.
At the press conference, Tony Stark shook his bandaged right arm and said to the reporters below, "It's an old injury acting up. You all know that bumps and scrapes are inevitable in life, let alone for an inventor like me."
Tony Stark's ability to liven up the atmosphere was always effective, and reporters from major newspapers and TV stations all laughed.
"Alright, let me read my speech. To be honest, I've never liked using these things, but some bald guy still made me read this.
Last night, a not-so-small incident occurred at Stark Park. This isn't uncommon in the field of mechanical product research and development, but it was indeed my oversight. Stark Industries will bear all costs for personal injuries, public facilities, and personal property losses caused by this incident. For injured passersby, Stark Industries will also provide additional compensation, and believe me, it will be very generous. You'll regret not getting a small injury in last night's incident."
A reporter from below went up to ask, "That's not what we want to know. What about the two robots that appeared near Stark Park last night? Someone saw your face inside one of them!"
"Is last night's robot battle related to the New York blackout? Someone noticed a red and yellow robot at the New York power grid center, which looks very similar to one of the two robots at Stark Park. Are they both from Stark Industries?"
"Someone is calling him Iron Man. Is Iron Man a superhero like Spider-Man?"
Tony Stark's lips curved slightly: "There are quite a few questions, I'll answer them one by one.
Some of you are saying I'm Iron Man, but that's impossible. It clearly says here that I was partying on a cruise ship and accidentally injured my arm."
Tony Stark's perfunctory answer made the reporters ask even more vigorously.
Seeing that the atmosphere had been built up, Tony Stark directly threw away the script Phil Coulson had prepared. He wasn't even pretending anymore.
"Alright, I also felt this script was pretty ridiculous. The truth is... I am Iron Man."
Tony Stark announced with a sudden, very formal tone.
The reporters below were first stunned, then erupted into a frenzy, flashlights becoming frequent, like machine gun fire.
Tony Stark also pulled a yellow object from inside his jacket—the Mark III mask.
"I am Iron Man!"
Lionel glanced at the stock market screen on his computer. Less than a minute after Tony Stark announced he was Iron Man, Stark Industries' stock stopped falling and began to rebound rapidly.
---
A few days later, in a high-rise conference room in Manhattan, New York, the lights in the conference room were off, but the projector's light still illuminated half the room and the faces of the few people around the conference table.
The content on the projector was precisely the scene of Tony Stark announcing he was Iron Man, with a chart of Stark Industries' stock trend next to it.
At the other end, facing the projection screen, an elderly man was speaking.
"You see, after Stark's high-profile announcement at the press conference that he is Iron Man, Stark Industries' growth has reached 134%, more than doubled, and even peaked at 251%. I'm sure you all know what I'm going to say?"
"We all know that Tony Stark used his superhero identity to bring huge growth to the company's stock market, but what's the use? This method of growing the stock market is a complete anomaly and cannot be replicated," someone raised a question.
The man presiding over the meeting smiled faintly:
"That's not necessarily true. Have you forgotten what our company does? After seeing the opportunity created by Stark Industries, I had the planning team work overtime to create a complete development and transformation plan. Using this plan, we can replicate what Stark did, and even far exceed him."
"Then where's your plan? Let us see it," someone was a bit impatient.
"Did you hear that, John? They want to meet you," the man suddenly spoke to the air.
"What are you talking about? As far as I know, there's no one named John in this conference room," someone expressed confusion.
"He's talking to me," a voice suddenly sounded from outside the conference room window, but this was the 83rd floor.