Kamen Rider ZZZ from the American comic book world

“This is just the beginning.” Tony looked up, his eyes blazing, and said firmly, “I will lead Stark Industries to a different future, a future more beneficial to humanity.”

“Then I look forward to that day, Mr. Stark,” Ada smiled.

Having said that, she knew that Tony Stark hadn't made this choice on a whim, and she couldn't persuade this stubborn mule.

"Then you can buy Stark Industries stock in advance."

Tony said confidently as he threw his half-eaten cheeseburger into the trash can and then got up and left the examination room.

"Pepper, have Happy drive the car downstairs. I want to go home now." Tony entered the living room, saw his assistant and a tall young man, and casually said:

"Are you also Dr. Scott's patient? To be honest, the atmosphere here is quite nice."

Chapter 23 That's because you're their cash cow

“Tony, he’s Dr. Scott’s son,” Pepper reminded him.

"You're her child?" Tony raised an eyebrow, asking curiously, "Kids these days are so well-nourished. By the way, how old are you?"

"Seventeen years old," Li Ai replied calmly.

“Okay, I certainly wasn’t as tall as you when I was seventeen,” Tony said with a smile, glancing at the 'serious' Li Ai and casually teasing her.

"To be honest, I think I have a good sense of humor. I can make those old fogies laugh out loud at the shareholders' meeting."

"That's because you're their cash cow."

Looking at Tony Stark, whose arm was secured by an upper limb sling, Li Ai suddenly had an idea.

"By the way, Mr. Stark, why were you kidnapped by terrorists?"

“Because they want my brilliant mind, kid,” Tony said matter-of-factly, “and then use that knowledge to create more killing machines.”

“No, no, no, that’s not what I meant.” Li Ai shook her head and corrected her, “I meant, how did they know the whereabouts of America’s richest man, and you were kidnapped under military protection? Do you think that makes sense?”

Upon hearing this, Tony's smile vanished instantly; he understood what those words meant.

Someone betrayed his whereabouts, and even hoped he would die in that desert... Tony's face grew increasingly gloomy.

Military high-ranking officials? Group shareholders? No, none of them are qualified to know his true whereabouts.

In fact, only four people were qualified to know his whereabouts.

James Rhodes, an Air Force colonel, is the liaison between the military and Stark Industries, and also his classmate from MIT.

Pepper Potts, his personal assistant, has a complicated relationship.

Happy Hogan, his driver and bodyguard, is also a close friend.

Obadiah Stan was a veteran of Howard Stark's time at the helm of the company and a partner who helped the young Tony run the business.

Whoever betrayed his whereabouts, it was a bad thing for Tony.

At that moment, Ida also came out of the consultation room and interrupted, "Li Ai, have you finished your homework for today?"

"I've only been here a short time," Li Ai said frankly.

"You still need to pay more attention to your studies," Ada said.

"Don't worry, my electives and required courses are all good, so I'm sure I'll have no problem with the university preparatory courses next semester," Li Ai said confidently. Then, she changed the subject and asked:

"But what are we having for dinner?"

“Let’s go straight to the Panda Express branch in Times Square; it’ll save us some time,” Ida said.

At this moment, Pepper also finished her call. She noticed that Tony's expression was somewhat gloomy and subconsciously sensed that something was wrong.

"Tony, is something on your mind?"

“No, I’m perfectly fine.” Tony composed himself, turned to look at Li Ai, and said, “Pepper, get me a number.”

"He's just a high school student, right? Why do you remember him?" Pepper asked, puzzled.

“Because I want to chat with someone who won’t hurt me on the weekend,” Tony said meaningfully.

Seeing this, Pepper had no choice but to do as she was told. She took out a business card from her handbag and handed it to Li Ai.

"Mr. Stark said he wants to contact you later and would like your phone number."

My personal phone number is...

As Li Ai took the business card, he recited the phone number. The SIM card for that number was inserted into his Nokia N95; they just needed to know that.

“Alright, Pepper, let’s not keep Happy waiting too long.” Tony had already noted down the boy’s number and then walked towards the door.

Pepper politely said goodbye to Li Ai and the other person, and closed the door behind her as she left.

After Tony and Pepper had walked away, Ada looked at Li Ai and teased, "You're really good at stirring things up now."

“But someone has to be held responsible for Tony Stark’s kidnapping,” Li Ai replied calmly.

"So who do you think is the most suspicious?" Ada asked tentatively.

“If Tony Stark were to die in the desert, whoever benefits the most would be the prime suspect.” Li Ai’s words directly pointed to Obadiah Stan, whose apparent authority at Stark Industries was second only to Tony’s.

Pepper, Happy, and Rhodes are all upright and have nothing to hide, but Obadiah Stan is a different story.

That guy not only orchestrated Tony Stark's kidnapping, but he's also involved in smuggling arms for his own profit. If these things were exposed, Tony wouldn't even need to lift a finger; plenty of people would ruin Obadiah Stan's reputation.

After all, Obadiah smuggled weapons and didn't pay taxes, so the IRS alone would be enough to give him trouble.

“Suspicion alone is not enough to convict,” Ada said, then walked toward the door. “Never mind all this, let’s go eat.”

........................

Meanwhile, in the building's underground parking lot, Tony and Pepper got into a black luxury car.

After the two got into the car, the big, stout driver Happy slowly stepped on the gas and drove them away from there.

Pepper noticed that Tony was staring absentmindedly out the window, and then, remembering what had happened at the therapy clinic, she advised him:

“Tony, that was just something a high school student said offhand, you don’t need to take it to heart.”

Pepper, who was in charge of Tony's life, knew exactly who Tony's friends were. After eliminating a few people who were impossible to be, only one suspect remained.

Moreover, given the current lack of evidence, Pepper doesn't want to see a perfectly cooperative business partnership turn into a life-or-death struggle.

“That’s not how it is, Pepper.” Tony turned his head, recalling a past event, and said earnestly:

“My dad used to say that before he sent the Howling Commandos to the battlefield, he would prepare shields and uniforms for Steve Rogers, and weapons and supplies for the other soldiers, and then they would go to the battlefield to fight Hydra.”

"Tony, what exactly are you trying to say?" Pepper was completely confused.

"It means that if you want to start a war, you have to be fully prepared," Tony explained, then said to his assistant and driver.

"By the way, I don't really want to see any outsiders at the villa these days. Also, Pepper, I think that high school student is quite interesting. Could you arrange for him to come to my villa tomorrow afternoon for a chat? I hope he doesn't have any community service duties. Or you could check which school he goes to and have the company organize an event with his school to help him make up for his credits."

“Okay, Tony.” Pepper did not refuse Tony’s request, and even clearly remembered all of Tony’s requirements.

For Pepper, Tony was more than just an employer; she even felt that Tony had matured after the kidnapping incident and was now able to take responsibility for his actions, which made her very happy.

Chapter 24 The Double Agent in My Dream (1/3, Requesting Monthly Tickets and Reading)

That evening, Li Ai returned to her residence and received a call from Pepper, asking if he had time on Saturday afternoon.

Li Ai had already planned to go out over the weekend, so she agreed.

"Saturday afternoon? I'm free, I can go see Mr. Stark."

"Thank you for taking the time. I'll have someone pick you up later," Pepper said politely on the phone.

"Okay, if there's nothing else, I'll hang up now."

After hanging up the phone, he went to the training area in the operations room and began to use the equipment there to train himself.

Kamen Rider ZZZ's power is not constant; the final power it manifests depends on the user's physique and will. Li Ai did not neglect training because of his extraordinary physique; on the contrary, he used training intensity beyond that of ordinary people to unleash his physical potential.

He started by warming up with a 400-kilogram bench press, followed by barbell deadlifts, a two-minute 1,000-meter sprint, and 135 pull-ups. After his shirt was soaked with sweat, he put on boxing gloves and practiced fighting against a sandbag.

Jab, straight punch, hook, uppercut—each punch caused the sandbag to shake violently, and the chains securing the sandbag rattled loudly.

bang——

With a muffled thud, a large hole was punched in the sandbag, and the chain above it broke. The impact sent the sandbag flying several meters away, scattering sand all over the ground.

"call……"

Li Ai began to adjust his breathing. After a period of high-intensity training, he felt his muscles protesting, so he ended today's training.

He looked at the sand covering the ground, then gently snapped his fingers, making a soft "click" sound.

The sand on the ground, the broken sandbags, and the broken chain—these three things seemed to have been put back on track, returning to their original state within a few breaths.

This is a special space that Li Ai created using his own power after defeating Freddy and the Dream Demon. It exists between reality and dreams, so he can influence things within this space.

Li Ai felt a little tired, so he took a hot shower to wash off the sweat, changed into clean pajamas, and then lay down on the bed to sleep.

As always, he arrived at the transit station in the dream world and found a rather peculiar door relatively close to him.

The surrounding area mostly had small doors for single-person passage, but the door that seemed to be made of black iron could allow at least two people to pass through, which attracted Li Ai's attention.

He lightly stepped forward, flew to the vicinity of the gate, placed his hands on the cold, black iron carvings, and slowly pushed open the gate, entering the dream world of others.

Click, click—

The sound of camera shutters clicking incessantly and the blinding flashes of light made Li Ai instinctively take a step back. She realized that she was wearing a black suit, sunglasses, a miniature pistol hidden at her waist by the suit, and two cell phones in her pocket.

Li Ai quickly accepted the identity of head of security at Stark Industries.

The position actually belongs to someone else in reality, but Li Ai has a stronger influence on dreams, and this is most likely not the dream of that supervisor, so it wouldn't be strange for anyone else that he could take over the other person's identity in the dream.

Since he was appearing as the head of security at Stark Industries, he could deduce that the dream's owner was related to the group's top management.

He looked around and saw reporters from various media outlets, scantily clad women, and business and political figures in suits, as if he had arrived at an important banquet.

"Is our big star here?" a voice called out to Li Ai.

Li Ai turned her head and saw a man wearing a dark blue suit, with a shaved head and a thick beard.

Obadiah Stan, a senior executive at Stark Industries, is highly trusted by Tony and is responsible for the group's business activities.

“He’s already changed his clothes, Mr. Obadiah,” Li Ai replied.

Obadiah said matter-of-factly, "The banquet will start in ten minutes, but there will also be a documentary about the group's development and Howard's personal life. Hopefully, he can make it."

After saying this, Obadiah walked over to several political and business figures and began to chat with them.

If it weren't for the fact that he smuggled weapons to terrorists and plotted to murder Tony Stark to seize control of the Stark Industries, outsiders would easily think of Obadiah Stan as a kind and benevolent elder and a conscientious businessman.

Ten minutes later, the banquet began, and the guests and reporters entered the banquet hall, while Li Ai waited for Tony to arrive.

Nearly half an hour later, a silver sports car stopped in front of Li Ai.

"Help me up, Pepper isn't strong enough." Tony pushed open the passenger door and staggered toward Li Ai.

Pepper opened the driver's side door and complained, "Tony, you drank too much tequila last night."

At that moment, a hotel employee came forward, and Pepper handed him the car keys temporarily so he could park the car.

Li Ai stepped forward and easily helped Tony up, saying helplessly, "Alright, big star, the guests have been waiting for you for a long time."

"It's their right to wait for me," Tony said arrogantly. As soon as he finished speaking, he burped, looking like he had just woken up from a hangover.

"Alright, alright, genius scientist, just don't throw up when you receive the award." Li Ai helped Tony up with one hand, led him into the banquet hall, and sat him in the reserved seat in the front row.

On stage, a huge, seamless monitor is playing a documentary about Howard Stark's life.

The video tells the story of how Howard built the family business, how he helped Captain America defeat the Axis powers during World War II, and how he developed the business after the war. The video also features a model of the 1974 Stark Expo to promote the group's visionary approach.

However, it didn't involve anything about S.H.I.E.L.D. in Howard's life, which probably means the dreamer was unaware of those things.

After the documentary finished, the female host, dressed in a red evening gown, went on stage to speak. Then, a Pentagon officer came on stage with a trophy, and Tony, who seemed not to have fully recovered from his hangover, also went on stage to speak to the guests and accept the award.

At that moment, Li Ai's phone vibrated slightly in his pocket. He took it out and saw a text message.

[O.S.: How did he perform?]

The phone had only one contact named 'O·S', which was clearly an abbreviation of his full name. At the scene, only Obadiah Stein had this abbreviation in his English name.

Li Ai casually replied, "As always," then put away her phone and watched Tony on stage accept the medal.

The banquet ended quickly, and Li Ai, Tony, and Pepper went to the underground parking garage to retrieve their car keys from the hotel manager.

Pepper squeezed into the narrow back seat of the sports car thanks to her size advantage, while Li Ai drove and Tony sat in the passenger seat.