Having just resolved the trouble with Erik, another one came knocking. As Pepper was upset, Stark didn't dare provoke her. After he finished the preliminary work on the first-generation battle armor, he drove back to his place to pick up some clean clothes.
Upon unlocking the door of his own villa, he turned to see a man in a sweater standing at the mailbox. He seemed like a passing neighbor.
After Stark glanced at him, he retracted his gaze, but to his surprise, the man took the initiative to step forward and rested his hand on the open villa door, saying, "Mr. Stark, wait a moment, could you spare me two minutes?"
"You're not an insurance salesman, are you?" Stark took off his sunglasses and surveyed the man, "You should know who I am. I won't buy whatever trash you're selling."
"We've met once before, Mr. Stark." The man revealed a smile.
Stark thought he was an opportunistic investor from some banquet running over to solicit investment, so he turned quite impatient and was about to close the door, but suddenly heard the man say, "In the base in Afghanistan, I was standing in the crowd at the back. How have you been recently?"
"You are a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent?" Stark immediately became tense, gazing intently at the man's face.
The man cheerfully nodded and pulled out a business card from his pocket and handed it to Stark, saying, "Nice to meet you, Mr. Stark. I'm Phil Coulson, Level 7 S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent."
Trying not to appear overly cautious, Stark hung one arm on the door, with his usual swagger, took the card to look at it, and tucked it into his pocket casually, then said, "I've been waiting for you guys. After all, flying to Afghanistan isn't cheap. Just send the bills directly to my company. I have other things to take care of, so I'll be leaving."
As he turned to leave, Coulson, as expected, stopped him. Stark paused, but he opened the door, invited Coulson in and said, "If it weren't for you rescuing me, I wouldn't be entertaining an agent. You guys just make unnecessary trouble."
"Hopefully, you can change that perspective after interacting with S.H.I.E.L.D." Coulson wasn't fazed and after a smile, he said, "I am simply acting on the orders of the director to confirm your recovery status."
"I wasn't really injured." Stark shrugged off, "I'm fine, but I am curious how you guys deal with Hydra?"
Coulson's gaze flickered, he said, "In fact, ... it's not very smooth. After grasping Hydra's foothold in Afghanistan, the director immediately launched a crackdown operation against the Hydra organization in Eastern Europe, but they're quite cunning, and we're short-handed."
Upon hearing the phrase "short-handed," a light bulb went off in Stark's mind. He remembered the unmanned robot he created in the cave in Afghanistan.
Stark wasn't an expert hunter, but he knew the principle of setting a trap needing bait. He casually coughed twice and said, "That's really a pity. Is there anything I can do to help?"
Stark purposefully used irritated, perfunctory tone, demonstrating that he didn't want to repay their favor and had no interest, a true portrayal of an ungrateful wretch.
Indeed, Coulson became somewhat embarrassed. Seeing his expression, Stark knew that S.H.I.E.L.D. actually needed his help. He turned his eyes and switched his tone, saying, "Those Hydra bastards dared to kidnap me, I have to show them a lesson. You're saying you have operations against them in Eastern Europe, can I go see?"
Coulson looked surprised at Stark and said, "That's a warzone right now, with agents in fierce battles..."
"I've never seen agents fighting. Even if you need weapons, you have to let me see how you guys fight Hydra, right?"
Stark tried his best to maintain his business demeanor and said, "Isn't your goal Stark Group's Arsenal? Let's be straightforward, you help me take revenge, and I'll give you the weapons. That's it."
Coulson slightly relaxed, then began rubbing his wrist nervously and said, "Then, I won't hide it anymore. The front line is indeed tense right now, and the agents require different weapons than the army. We may need smaller but more deadly weapons..."
"By the way." Stark spoke as if he just remembered, "What about that Hydra that almost killed me? Have you set up the jury? I think Stark's legal team must step in. He nearly snapped my neck!"
"Uh..." Coulson seemed a bit awkward, but he still said, "The Hydra member has important information related to the Hydra organization in Eastern Europe. We're still interrogating him."
"Are you kidding me? You haven't sent him to jail yet?!" Stark was very displeased. He raised his voice, "Is this how S.H.I.E.L.D operates?!"
With that, he crossed his arms over his chest, pointing somewhat angrily outside and said, "Let me tell you, just because you saved me doesn't mean you can command me. Do you know how much I pay in taxes to the federal government each year?! This is what you should be doing!"
"Tell your boss I want to see that guy in court within three days. Otherwise, I won't lift a finger to help! Get out of my sight!"
After Coulson had left, Stark breathed a sigh of relief. He believed that Pierce would agree to his terms because if Pierce was really Hydra, even if Shiller was sent to jail, he would find a way to get him out.
But appearing in court always takes time, whether it is to gather evidence, hold trials, or allow the jury to discuss. The timing can be as short as a month or as long as half a year, which can at least buy Shiller some time.
Still, this is a challenging task for Stark because he must overthrow Pierce during this time. Otherwise, Shiller would still end up in his hands.
After Stark took his clothes and returned to the Stark building, he found Erik waiting at the entrance of the laboratory.
For some reason, every time Stark saw Erik now, he felt a headache forming and a subtle fear tugged at his subconscious. Not fear of Erik, per se, but the knowledge that Erik's presence usually signaled trouble.
Stark had always been a relatively simple scientist, prone to avoiding complexities, especially when it came to the tediousness of worldly affairs.
Lately, he had encountered more of these issues than he could handle. Each disruption drained what little patience he had left, pushing him one step closer towards a worsening bout of anxiety.
Erik walked up with an eager smile, slapping Stark's arm as he said, "I've been waiting for you for a while."
The intent behind his words was to elicit guilt from Stark. However, Stark, in the midst of an anxiety attack, only wanted to hide away. Interrupting Erik's intent to follow him into the lab, he gently steadied Erik by the shoulders, saying, "Erik, I've got an important project that needs to be done tonight. Can you visit tomorrow?"
Erik failed to notice Stark's unease. He simply shrugged off Stark's restraining hand and proceeded into the lab, declaring, "To be honest, I've never cared much for the position at Stark Group. That's not what I like doing."
With these words, Erik brought out a roll of blueprints from inside his jacket and spread them out on Stark's workstation. A glance revealed to Stark that it was, indeed, blueprints for a robot."
"This is my robot design, drafted in my spare time after I left Wakanda."
Erik imitated a sorrowful expression, hinting at an underlying layer of the story. But his attempt was wasted on Stark, whose attention was riveted to the blueprints.
After a cursory glance at the actual design, Stark dismissed it quickly. To him, it was old tech; barely comparable to Iron Wall 1, his cobbled-together robot from his days in captivity.
His experience in Afghanistan had already made him discard any potential use of drones in security. Otherwise, he wouldn't be frantically constructing battlesuits. What caught Stark's attention was the special paper used for the blueprints.
Stark was unsure whether Erik knew about the technical partnership between Stark Group and Wakanda, but he had seen such paper in the possession of Wakandans.
Apparently, this special paper was a Wakandan invention. It could be used as confidential document paper, revealing its content only under specific lighting.
But Erik claimed he drew this design after leaving Wakanda. Had he purposefully brought some of this special paper with him?
Erik, however, started into a verbose explanation of the robot's design.Upon evaluating Erik's discourse, Stark could only conclude that his grasp of mechanical engineering was mediocre.
To a leading scientist like Stark, any discussion on his field of expertise was an amateur's labor. Even experts in the field fell short when compared to Stark's advanced technological proficiency.
Erik's interpretation of unmanned robot technology was not even on expert level. To Stark, it was like hearing a baby talk.
If this had happened before, imagining a robot might have aroused a spark of interest, given his previous fascination with weaponry. But now he himself had already created one, he understood the concept wasn't so spectacular. He had even managed to knock one together with a hammer in a dingy cave. Overemphasizing the technical aspects now seemed rather overdramatic.
Regardless, not wanting to dampen Erik's spirit, Stark nodded and said, "I'll talk to the shareholders. Maybe the military will be interested in these unmanned security robots."
Erik froze. He could tell that Stark wasn't excited or enthusiastic. He even suspected that Stark had not looked at the blueprints properly. These were supposed to be secret designs from the Wakandan Royal Research Institute.
Erik gathered his blueprints, aware he had reached his limit. Even though he had expressed interest in research collaboration with Stark, his exit with the blueprints heightened Stark's suspicion.
Stark's doubts breached a critical point. Academic fraud was considered a blasphemous act among the scientific community. Academic impersonation was even more scandalous.
Stark was beginning to seriously doubt whether the blueprints Erik held were his own. On one hand, the paper did not match; on the other, Erik's skill wasn't up to standard.
Besides, Stark knew researchers usually carried around a rough idea of their projects in their minds, some could even sketch out key parts of the design off the top of their heads, with sufficient detail to allow any graduate student who had been involved in the project to recreate it. Yet Erik was possessive over this blueprint.
Something felt off. Stark had been reluctant to investigate Erik, but this time Erik had stepped on his tail.
With a sigh, Stark picked up his phone and said to Pepper, "I'm sorry, Pepper. Erik has caused you a great deal of trouble. Could you help me investigate him?"
Meanwhile, the audience in the Star Devouring Engine could only glance anxiously at Nick. He spread his arms and said,
"Always remember this, friends. In relationships, Exhaustion Methods are the worst option."
"In the face of danger, it's best to walk a straight line without looking back. Attempting to carefully tread around it and running into a bomb in the process is certain doom."