Tony, despite being frustrated, decided to take care of business.
He waved his hand, and Black Widow, dressed like a secretary, came over. She opened a folder in front of Atreus, showing him the documents inside.
Atreus quickly skimmed through the documents with his enhanced vision and senses before signing them.
It was about the transfer of shares in Stark Industries, where Tony offered to buy out Atreus's shares with a 10% premium.
*Sigh!* Tony's offer was generous, though not as extravagant as those from Saudi Royal, who once bought shares of a top company with an 88% premium. Of course, there were some additional terms, but that's a true win-win.
Though Atreus had some complaints internally, he didn't mind too much, since he knew what Tony was dealing with in the plot of *Iron Man 2*.
It was just a formality.
He snapped his fingers, and Black Canary came over to serve them champagne.
Tony curiously looked at Helen, who stood a bit stiffly in the distance, and asked Atreus, "Where did you find her?"
"I picked her up in Greece. She doesn't even speak English."
Tony made a puzzled face. "No trouble?"
"No trouble."
Tony nodded, as if he understood, and took a sip of the champagne before sitting down properly.
Seeing this, Atreus gestured for Black Canary and Black Widow to head to the adjacent lounge.
Once they were alone, Atreus finally asked, "Is there trouble?"
Tony's expression became complex. "Yes. You know about the thing in my chest."
He unbuttoned the collar of his shirt, revealing a disturbing sight. The arc reactor embedded in his chest was there, but the surrounding skin was laced with bulging blue veins, like an octopus clinging to his chest, its tentacles spreading outward.
"Poisoned?"
"Palladium poisoning. I'm probably going to die." After all, Atreus had been the one who saved Tony in Afghanistan, so Tony didn't feel the need to hide anything from him.
"You asked Yinsen?"
"We have no solution."
"I'm not good at this kind of thing," Atreus said, shrugging. "How about I ask Batman for help?"
At this, Tony's face twisted in reluctant frustration. As the saying goes, rivals are enemies. Not knowing Bruce Wayne's identity, Tony felt conflicted. "Let's leave him as a last resort."
"Then why are you here?"
Tony intertwined his fingers. "If I really die, I want to leave my wealth to Pepper."
Atreus was a bit taken aback and raised his glass. "To love."
For someone who used to party every night, the decision to leave his fortune to a woman he wasn't even married to could only be described as true love.
Tony clinked glasses with Atreus. "I... I know I've made a lot of enemies. If I die, some people might come after Pepper. Can I count on you to handle them?"
Atreus couldn't help but laugh. Who would've thought the famous Iron Man would come here to ask him to look after his loved ones?
But given Tony's current condition, it wasn't surprising.
Atreus had intended to punch Tony's chest, but he stopped and instead gently patted him on the shoulder. "You should have a two-pronged approach. First, leave some money behind that no one but Miss Potts can touch, and prepare an escape plan. Second, try your best to survive. You managed it in Afghanistan; you can do it again now."
"What if?"
"If it comes to it, come to me. I can try to extract the toxins from you. But no guarantees—your life will be in your hands." Atreus flipped his right hand, and a mysterious force began to coalesce into a slowly rotating sphere in his palm.
Tony's expression was priceless. "Is this that whole 'science ends in mysticism' thing you're always going on about?"
Atreus sheepishly rubbed his nose. Oops, looks like he was spreading his own culture again.
No matter how it went, having a backup plan was always a good thing, and Tony's sense of dread lightened considerably. They began chatting about other matters.
"Atreus, I've been swamped lately. Between congressional hearings and Hammer Industries taking potshots at me, they're even developing their own robotic Iron Man army. Never mind that they're terrible at it—their tech is way too low-grade. If it weren't for this recent zombie incident, Congress wouldn't even be so interested in their soldier robots."
Atreus rolled his eyes, suddenly thinking it might have been a blessing to sell his shares in Stark Industries. Otherwise, he'd be the one dragged into Congress to testify.
As for the congressmen backed by the major financial groups, Atreus had serious doubts about their intelligence.
*"Does your TikTok automatically connect to your home Wi-Fi?"*
These politicians ask questions this dumb? What's the point of a social media app if it doesn't connect to the internet?
In the end, they just didn't like Tony. They decided that Iron Man, as represented by Tony, was inherently guilty for not freely sharing his tech with the U.S. military, so they went after him.
"Hammer? He's just a clown. Instead of worrying about him, you should worry about whether some smarter villain might use him. After all, his factories are pretty valuable." Atreus didn't hold back, belittling Tony's rival, which put Tony in a much better mood.
Tony clinked glasses with Atreus again, downing his drink. "You're right. Here's to our dumb rivals."
Tony's sharp, sarcastic remarks were just so... Tony.
"By the way, about your secretary..."
Atreus had barely started when Tony cut him off. "Hey, just because I love Pepper doesn't mean I can't appreciate a beautiful woman. I'm not handing her over to you."
Atreus rolled his eyes and leaned in. "Be careful. I can smell a spy on her."
Tony, who had been slightly tipsy, suddenly sobered up. "What? Are you serious?"
"My instincts tell me she's more skilled than my Lance sisters. That's not normal for a secretary."
Tony knew about Kratos and the two robot sisters who pretended to be human. From the intelligence leaked after the Empire State Building battle, Tony knew that the Lance sisters were quite formidable.
This news gave Tony a real scare.
Seeing Tony's expression, Atreus resisted the urge to expose S.H.I.E.L.D. and instead tried to ease his mind. "Don't worry. I don't sense any hostility from her. I think she's probably just here from some domestic government agency to keep tabs on you."
Tony winced, recalling how he'd recently antagonized Congress with his "bring it on" attitude. How could those self-important officials not resent him?
Tony suddenly felt a bit more at ease. "Alright, I'll deal with the 'Natalie' situation later."
After chatting for a while longer, Tony left satisfied. However, as soon as his secretary finished her shift and returned to her safe house, she immediately made a call: "Boss! Tony's discovered my identity."
(End of chapter)