Marvel Magic Case Files

Chapter 479 We're All Capitalists (Second Update)

He was, after all, shrouded in mystery, and Wanda felt she had no way of knowing his intentions. But thankfully, he treated the siblings fairly well, and in some ways, it was unbelievable that someone with such immense power could possess such patience (in Wanda's own opinion). She even found it quite relaxing to be around Salomon, and his occasional bursts of dry humor were absolutely hilarious.

She felt that Salomon was like that old lady neighbor everyone had—the one who always talked about the same thing, wore gold-rimmed glasses, and could serve everyone a cake they loved. Her heavy perfume, thick with lies, masked the stench of old age beneath her clothes. But if you accidentally broke the fairy statue on her lawn or the golden plastic star on her Christmas tree, that once-kind neighbor would stretch out her thin fingers, grab your ear, and give you a good scolding.

Wanda wanted to know where the garden sprites were kept; she didn't want to make enemies of Salomon.

Unfortunately, Salomon refused to say anything.

Wanda knew Salomon was hiding something from her, but he never told her. The part of the plan Wanda knew of involved a girl named Lorna Dayne, but she had no idea who this girl was or what role she would play. However, she had no interest in pursuing this now, as Salomon was once again using "revenge" to distract her from her studies.

Tony Stark was a formidable foe; he always managed to ignite her hatred. But at the Archmage's insistence, Wanda managed to suppress her rage and remain calm, continuing to study what she was supposed to learn. At least after her Martian walk, Wanda's attention returned to the lessons Salomon had taught her.

Unbeknownst to her, Salomon went to see Tony Stark immediately after saying goodbye. His abrupt arrival disrupted Stark's normal life, and he was there only to obtain information about the sale of military equipment. Salomon didn't believe the bomb dropped on Wanda's house was a smuggled shipment; missiles capable of carrying miniature nuclear warheads were high-tech weapons.

The White House may sell small arms to the opposition party it supports, but high-tech weapons will absolutely not be leaked.

If you don't believe me, just look at the terrorists the US supports in the Middle East. All they have are outdated light weapons, WWII-era artillery, and the same old RPGs; they don't have a single truly valuable high-tech weapon.

Salomon already knew the missile's serial number and was trying to find out who had sold it through Stark Industries' records. But he already had a hunch that the missile was likely sold directly to the U.S. military, and that former company veteran Obadiah was likely a front man for the U.S. military, using smuggling to secure White House orders.

This also explains why the US military chooses expensive Stark Industries weapons instead of cheaper Hammer Industries. Everyone knows the US Army is a true fourth-class nation; any equipment a soldier in the Middle East would easily overwhelm local terrorists, not to mention that their primary mission is targeting civilians, so they don't really need such advanced weaponry.

After all, government officials also need to take kickbacks. There's a reason why Stark Industries' military equipment is expensive. Obadiah must have offered a price far exceeding the market value, so that everyone in the US military could get a share of the profits.

This kind of tactic could be easily uncovered by a qualified auditor, yet it went undetected for so many years, demonstrating a strong tacit understanding between the US military and Stark Industries. This tacit understanding was only broken when the naive Tony Stark shut down the arms manufacturing division and shifted his focus to the energy industry. However, under the financial influence of Tony Stark, or rather Pepper Potts, Stark Industries invested in numerous high-tech research projects for the military, and the relationship slowly began to repair itself.

It could be said that it was precisely because of Colonel Rhodes that the US military gradually aligned itself with the Stark Industries. This relationship was far less close than before; after all, who knew that Tony Stark, this playboy capitalist, might suddenly develop a conscience?

"Jarvis, get me Stark Industries' arms sales records." Salomon demanded the data as soon as he stepped out of the portal. Just as Tony Stark's non-lethal automatic countermeasures in the research lab were about to activate, a bright blue light rapidly spread around Salomon, cutting off power to all electronic devices except Jarvis, who himself was thrown into chaos by redundant data.

"Whoa! What's wrong with you?" Tony Stark never expected Salomon to be so rude this time. But the sorcerer had neither the mood nor the time for pleasantries. After a concise conversation with Stark, he immediately obtained permission to access the records. In fact, even Tony Stark was curious about where Obadiah had sold the weapons back then. The playboy's transformation was quite evident; he first admitted his mistake, then acknowledged the possibility Salomon had suggested, believing it was his fault, his responsibility.

After Howard Stark's death, Stark Industries found itself in an awkward position. In fact, if Obadiah hadn't used this method to ensure Stark Industries' survival, they would have been crushed by their neighbor, Roxson Industries. The founders of these two companies were sworn enemies. The specific reasons for this can be traced back to the ambiguous relationship between Howard Stark and the wife of the founder of Roxson Industries…

"I don't know why you need this record." Stark deactivated the automatic countermeasures and ordered Jarvis to begin retrieving records from many years ago. He said gravely, "But if you find the victims, please let me know. I will compensate them."

"Very good, I admire you, Stark. You know why? Because you won't call your employees in the middle of the night to ask them to work overtime or make last-minute changes to their requirements, and you, as a capitalist, actually have a shred of conscience." Salomon held up a finger, gesturing with the gap between his fingertips to Stark's chest. "That's all, not much. I'm not trying to belittle you, but your position means you're destined not to care about the lives of ordinary people. No matter how many people you save during a disaster, it's not as valuable as the little bit of resources you slip through your fingers."

Ignoring Stark's grim expression, Salomon continued, "I'm not talking about tax avoidance methods like charitable foundations. Do you think I don't know how much tax you paid last year? Even the mob pays more taxes than you. This is the tragedy of capitalism; the lives of the people depend on the conscience of capitalists."

"Alright, alright, can you stop criticizing me? I don't think I did anything wrong by making money!" Stark blinked. "I'm in the real business, how come you describe me as some kind of despicable financial wolves from Wall Street?"

"Because I recently joined the ranks of Wall Street and became part of the financial world. No, I mean the unofficial Wall Street." Salomon couldn't help but laugh out loud. "Remember to brag about it on Twitter in a couple of days, I've already bought cryptocurrency at the bottom..."

"Which one did you buy? I'll join in and give it a try..."

Please vote for me!

(End of this chapter)