Sōugo was taken to the Stark Building by car. Tony Stark stayed in his laboratory again, desperately tinkering with those Iron Man Armors.
After seeing this, Sōugo shook his head and said, "If it goes on like this, It wasn't me who became a vampire. But, it was you."
Tony twisted the wrench and said: "The Army came to me. They want my armor. Guess what they want to do with it?"
"..." Sōugo didn't answer him.
Tony Stark was silent for a while, stood up, threw away the wrench, looked at his armor, and said: "You are right, I can't give up what the enemy wants, and now They want to turn my mechs into war machines, so must I dismantle them? Even if I destroy all of them, what will I get? Will The world be at peace? Will there be no wars?"
"You should have rejected them harshly, and then they'll take a step back, and They would say, 'Well, we don't want your armor. Some ordinary weapons will do, too.' Right?"
"..." Tony pursed his lips. He knew that what Sōugo said was right. It was an old trick of those people. "Do I have to choose S.H.I.E.L.D.?"
He walked over from the experimental bench, pulled a chair, and sat down. "What makes me most tired is because I know that every road is a trap. But, I have to choose one."
"Howard knew it would be this way when he built S.H.I.E.L.D. He's smart, as smart as you are, Tony. But, he still chose to Do it."
"You also want me to go to S.H.I.E.L.D.? It indeed will save me a lot of trouble. But I always feel that this decision will bring me more trouble."
"Do you have a third way?" Sōugo asked.
"I don't think I have, but you don't have to say it so directly."
"You don't have a third way, but you have another choice, which is not to choose."
"Can I…?"
Before Stark could refute, Sōugo said:
"You're stuck in a weird circle of thinking, always feeling that you have to choose a side, but that's not the case. You don't realize that this is a complete buyer's market. You can't choose them because they put more pressure on you, but the one who offers better terms."
Stark showed a very complicated and tangled expression. "You mean... I'm going to act like a woman with two boyfriends hanging at the same time, pretending to be with whoever is better, but No one follows, but just enjoy their hospitality as a matter of course."
"Tony, your **** metaphor fully reflects your character"
Instead of being ashamed, Tony spread his hands and said, "Who is the guy who understands women's hearts best? It's me, the charming Tony Stark."
"Jarvis, the surveillance in Pepper's office yesterday should be useful, right?"
"Damn... Jarvis, you didn't break yesterday? Do you still have the camera on?? Hey, don't, don't! Well, I admit, there are some women I don't understand, the most important one, which is Pepper."
Jarvis said, "Sir, Miss Pepper has been connected twenty-three minutes ago."
"..." Stark jumped straight from his chair.
-----------------------------------------
"Doctor, the situation is not optimistic. I went to see Mr. Stark in the laboratory yesterday. Colonel Rhodes was there to persuade him. Although I don't understand these things, I know that if those Iron Man Armors fall to military, it would not be a good thing."
"You're smarter than I thought. I thought you wouldn't understand the current situation."
Peter shook his head and said, "Actually, I don't understand. But I know that everyone wants those Iron Man armor. They are strong."
"No, it's because it's a weapon. If it were just a sweeping robot, even if it could clean New York, the military wouldn't be interested in it."
Peter was a little silent. He asks doubtfully: "I don't think he should agree. I know Mr. Stark is under a lot of pressure. Do you think I should go to comfort him? I can't do nothing, can I?"
"I think you should settle your affairs first. If you can completely control the power of spider mutation, maybe these things are trivial for you?"
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The next day, Sōugo's psychological clinic welcomed an unexpected guest. James Rhodes a.k War Machine.
"The military needs Stark's armor technology, but he has an unclear attitude. I just want to ask you, what is his plan? Does SHIELD play a role in it? some characters?"
"You don't want to come either," Sōugo said. "I can see it."
Rhode twitched the corner of his mouth, "It makes sense for Tony to charge you such an expensive consultation fee."
"Your boss knows that you can't ask Stark this question. If you can, S.H.I.E.L.D. will get the answer faster than you. But it's useless for you to ask me!"
"The military needs Stark's armor. He can give us an advantage in many places. We could save a lot of people from dying."
"You didn't realize that your reluctance has made your words extremely dry. Colonel, I know you are also in a difficult situation. The military has repeatedly persecuted Stark, but he is your friend. So you can only make yourself feel better by deceiving yourself. You know better than anyone how they would use these armors."
"A soldier must obey orders," Rhodes said.
"Indeed, but what about Stark? What about your friend? Repeatedly violated your friend's wishes, forced, and used friendship to kidnap him. You always knew how much Tony values you. Stark doesn't have many friends. You are perhaps the most important one. You know that he is willing to pay these prices for you, Doing what he hates the most - compromise and bow his head."
"Shout up!" said Rhodes.
Sōugo pressed the button of the ballpoint, and the crisp sound woke Rhodes suddenly, "Maybe it's because you have something in him that he is willing to do. Tony's friendship is more precious than the military, and it's not because he's richer—" He pursed his lips tightly into a line." It's the qualities that an arrogant genius sees in you, the qualities that he doesn't even have, and that makes him willing to pay these prices for you, more worthy of your persistence and pride than those false honors, isn't it? ?"
"…" Rhode was silent.
Rhodes walked out with a tense expression on his face.
----------------------
The next day, when Sōugo went to the Stark Building, he met Rhodes. The adjutant's face behind him was happy. Sōugo knows that they have got something they want. But Rhode's face didn't get better at all. He didn't look at Sōugo, so he walked straight over.
"They got what they wanted, right?" Sōugo asked.
"Okay." Tony's first tightened, then suddenly relaxed, dropped his shoulders, let out a breath, and said, "I should have followed your previous advice. I knew it was right. I didn't have to pay any price. I still didn't do it..."
"I knew it wouldn't work." Sōugo sat at the table with the case and wrote in the notebook. He didn't look up but said with a sigh: "Many people are willing to pay a huge price to pursue emotions, especially for someone like you who has never lacked material conditions. You paid the price and bought back his temporary friendship with you. Maybe Rhodes will understand you, but the world won't."
"It's not that I haven't thought about this problem. I know that once I let go, I will keep losing."
Sōugo stood up and walked to the floor-to-ceiling window. The sunset of New York Stark followed his gaze. The kind of dazzling light in front of his eyes. Sōugo said, "What do you do when you have nowhere to go?"
"This is my home. Pepper, Jarvis, and all of Stark's. In the end, no one can force me to hand over here." Tony's eyes stared directly at Sōugo and calmly said: "...Iron Man never backs down."
"So, have you ever thought about overturning this ridiculous and boring negotiating table?"
"You're like a degenerate devil."
"I don't believe in those bizarre tricks, those absurd rumors, and legends..."
But, As soon as he finished speaking, Tony saw that Sōugo was shrouded in blue flames. The flames do not burn, spread, or exude heat as normal flames. Comfortable and relaxing. Everything in his laboratory began to tremble slightly. Then, everything floated up. As it was losing gravity, everything was floating in the air, cups, notebooks, computers, wrenches. The sunset light outside the window shone on the places where these things should not receive sunlight. Sōugo stood in the center of everything, and the light behind him cast a long shadow front of him.