Marvel Magic Case Files

Chapter 1656 Kamar-Taj Kidnapping

"I know, I know." Tony Stark crossed his arms, crumpled up a dirty, oil-soaked towel, and tossed it aside. He called this lifestyle "Debug," a cohabitation that included getting up early to make coffee and sweep the front steps, leaving all work-related matters to his appointed CEO. "I've handed over the relevant authority to you. You have the right to answer this call, Pepper." He clapped his hands, and the garage door closed automatically, concealing what he was building again. "I'm fixing the lawnmower. What could be more important than that?"

"A call from the Pentagon," Pepper Potts said expressionlessly. "And I saw you smeared engine oil on your arm, Tony. If I had any common sense, I'd know a lawnmower doesn't need that much oil. Unfortunately, I do have common sense."

"Just some minor tweaks to the armor." Tony Stark chuckled awkwardly. "You know, I have a lot of inspiration. This is just a small experiment, Pepper, nothing dangerous."

“If you’re getting bored living together in the countryside, you can go back to the lab.” Pepper Potts’s tense expression relaxed, then she frowned again. “I’m not tying you to this place, Tony. Your brilliant mind is just taking a break here. That doesn’t mean I’m asking you to quit all research and development. I’m not asking you to make that kind of sacrifice. All I’m asking is that you don’t waste your time catching street thugs—you can do that, but don’t go to the Middle East or anything like that again—it’s been a long time since there’s been an alien invasion. You should relax a bit, shouldn’t you?”

Tony Stark waved his hand.

"We'll discuss that later. Let's see what new enemies the Department of Defense has. You can listen here, Pepper. You're the CEO of Stark Industries; you have access to this classified information."

"No."

Pepper Potts refused without hesitation. Before Tony Stark could even press the answer button, she had already taken several steps back. Tony Stark had never imagined someone could back up so quickly in high heels, even trampling small holes in the soft grass. He wanted to explain to Pepper that his modified program had watered the lawn in the morning instead of the usual evening, but seeing that she didn't seem to care about the cleanliness of her heels, he abandoned the potentially controversial topic. Let her think it rained last night.

"Get out of the Pentagon's clutches as soon as possible, Tony, or you'll never be free. Don't forget the Pentagon wants your armor, your reactor, and they want to take our clean energy projects. We're not Lockheed Martin, Tony, we can't stand with the Pentagon forever." She paused. "And the Avengers. The Avengers are disbanded, aren't they?"

As the woman walked away, Tony Stark still wore a dry smile.

Pepper Potts's dream is admirable, but he cannot leave the Pentagon, nor can the Stark family, even if Stark Industries refuses to provide weapons manufacturing services. In fact, much of Stark Industries' technology still flows into the defense industry; companies like Lockheed Martin and Raytheon have cross-shareholdings with Stark Industries, and many Stark Industries technology patent licenses continue to circulate among different defense companies. Stark Industries' recent major R&D project is a radar technology; anyone familiar with the project can see it's an airborne radar, and it's highly likely to be installed on an improved version of the F-35.

Stark Industries has never truly left the defense industry; it has simply adopted a more covert approach, becoming a defense conglomerate focused on technological research and development, profiting from other defense manufacturing conglomerates. The Stark family cannot exist outside the entire defense industry system. Without the Pentagon's protection and quid pro quo, Stark Industries exiting the arms trade would not have fared well. Countless intelligence agencies and defense companies worldwide covet Stark Industries' databases; the FBI and Homeland Security find commercial spies daily attempting to obtain information from Stark Industries. Whether it's information leaks or kidnappings and murders targeting him, it demonstrates that Stark Industries' true core lies in its research and development capabilities, not anything else. It is precisely because of these departments that the work of the head of Stark's security department seems so dispensable, which is why Tony Stark appointed his driver, Happy, to such a position that only required obedience and not ability.

Pepper Potts, as CEO, had access to this information, but she declined. She also knew that there were employees within Stark Industries, from government departments, who could handle this information; all she needed to do was be accountable to the shareholders (currently the largest shareholder being Tony Stark himself), nothing more.

"We need you in Houston, Stark." The video call ended, and Colonel Rhodes' face filled the screen. "The Salvation Rider is about to arrive in the Neptune ring to begin salvage operations on the New Territory. The Pentagon and Houston would like to invite you to join us, to assess the New Territory's condition, conduct some on-site analysis, and provide off-site technical support."

“I’ve said it before, I won’t participate in any more work without the data on the hyperspace engine,” Tony Stark frowned. “I don’t understand why Houston is keeping this data so well hidden; we didn’t find any relevant information on Friday. Besides… Roddy (nickname), do you know how much signal distortion and delay there is from Earth to Neptune? Do you know what speed Voyager 2 is traveling right now? Even if I went to Houston, I couldn’t offer any effective help. The only ones who could help the Voyagers are aliens. As far as I know, the aliens we’ve encountered aren’t very friendly; they certainly wouldn’t invite the Voyagers’ crew home for dinner.”

Colonel Rhodes coughed loudly a few times to drown out Tony Stark's voice.

Hacking into NASA and the Pentagon's databases is undoubtedly a serious crime. The last organization to do so was S.H.I.E.L.D. If officials around him heard this, someone in Congress would immediately file charges against Stark Industries. The military-industrial complex is not an unbreakable alliance of interests. Stark Industries' numerous patented technologies are highly coveted, and members of Congress with connections to the military-industrial complex and Wall Street would certainly become pawns against Stark Industries. Stark Industries is not without friends, but no one can guarantee that there are no other forces within the Pentagon. Every general Colonel Rhodes knows is a beneficiary of the military-industrial complex's profit chain, even he is no exception.

"I only found information about Project Pegasus, but I'm sure the data is incomplete. There's no information about Project Pegasus in the documents released by S.H.I.E.L.D.," Tony Stark said, seemingly oblivious to his surroundings. He accidentally stepped into a patch of rotten, procedurally created grass and muttered a few curses under his breath. "I only know that Project Pegasus is related to the Tesseract, but that doesn't explain how the hyperspace engine of the New Territory spaceship was built."

Colonel Rhodes coughed a few more times. "I assure you, we do not have the technology to build a hyperspace engine."

"So the hyperspace engine technology comes from aliens? We don't have the production line, the manufacturing equipment, so we can't replicate it now?" Tony Stark raised an eyebrow. Colonel Rhodes expressed his agreement with silence. Tony Stark noticed him constantly looking off the screen, seemingly finally realizing there was an official standing beside him. "I don't know who you are," he said bluntly, "but if you want me to go to Houston, the Pentagon must give me more information."

"We will share, Stark. The Pentagon isn't as stingy as you think."

The officer in military uniform squeezed into the frame. If Tony Stark's memory were any better, he would recognize him as one of General Ross's former subordinates before Ross ran for Secretary of Defense. It seems that after Ross became Secretary of Defense, his former subordinates also rose to prominence. However, since General Ross was exposed for conducting human experiments on himself and then went out of control during the Avengers Civil War, transforming and disappearing completely, his faction, having lost its political power, began to suffer setbacks; otherwise, it wouldn't have come to Houston.

"If you want to know more, come to Houston to watch the rescue operation of the Couple. I promise you, Stark Industries will be commissioned to reverse engineer the Hyperspace Engine. We must surpass other countries in the aerospace field, and the Hyperspace Engine will be a key piece of equipment for us to maintain our position."

Tony Stark glanced at Colonel Rhodes, who had his head bowed.

"I will go," he sighed. "Remember your promise, General."

"Thank you for your cooperation, Stark." The general gave him a wink in the video. "The nation thanks you for your contribution."

"How should we formulate a plan?" Watching Tony Stark angrily hang up the phone on the screen, Commander Constantine of the Imperial Guard looked at the other Imperial Guards. "Should we intercept him en route, or go directly to Tony Stark's residence? There's reason to believe Tony Stark will be heading to Houston by helicopter, carrying a portable suit of armor. If we force the helicopter to stop outside of US air defense surveillance, the political repercussions of Tony Stark's escape could be unimaginable. Currently, we don't have data on that suit of armor, so we can't take targeted action."

(End of this chapter)