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Coulson had long since figured out the dynamics of Tony Stark and Pepper Potts's relationship, but George was clearly a new face he had never encountered before. The instincts of a veteran agent with twenty years of experience told him that this new person might not be ordinary.
The aura and demeanor of this individual didn't seem to match that of Pepper Potts's staff.
"Investigate the man who just entered with Pepper Potts," he ordered quietly into his small radio, waiting until George and Pepper had completely vanished from view.
The response came swiftly.
"No information was found on this person."
"No information? Are you sure?" Coulson's face instantly showed a look of confusion.
Given S.H.I.E.L.D.'s intelligence capabilities, there should be records of anyone registered in any country.
Could he be undocumented?
Meanwhile, George and Pepper took the elevator to Tony's office on the top floor.
"I'll stand guard at the door; you take care of the operation," George said, closing the door behind him and signaling for Pepper to breach the system.
Nervously, Pepper nodded and hurried over to the desk, her high heels clicking on the floor as she plugged in the special USB drive Tony had given her into the computer's main unit, starting the intrusion into the company's system.
True to form, within less than five seconds of inserting the USB, Tony's system was silently breached, and all the security protocols were disabled.
"Oh my God, it really is him!"
Looking at the extensive database filled with illegal invoices and videos from the Ten Rings demanding money from Obadiah, Pepper couldn't help but cover her mouth in shock.
If this evidence were submitted, it would be enough to lock Obadiah away for a long time.
At that moment, the office door swung open.
"Pepper, what do you think I should do? Tony is already this old, and sometimes he's still so hard to manage. You need to help me talk to him," Obadiah said, having come specifically to stabilize Tony's situation through Pepper, knowing she was in the office.
Upon seeing Obadiah, Pepper, who was in the midst of downloading evidence, felt her heart leap into her throat.
"Confusion spell!"
At that moment, George stepped forward from behind the door and cast a confusion spell directly at Obadiah.
Obadiah trembled all over after being hit by the spell and then fell into a daze.
"Don't worry, just keep going; he'll be dazed for a while."
The confusion spell can mislead and confuse enemies, leaving them in a state of distraction. When they regain their senses, they won't realize anything is amiss, assuming they simply spaced out for a moment.
The little wizards of Hogwarts loved using this spell to play pranks on their classmates, while wizards outside the school frequently used it to handle Muggles, preventing them from discovering the existence of magic.
George was still somewhat inexperienced with this spell, and his ring wand couldn't amplify its effects. Even when casting it on a regular person like Obadiah, it only lasted about a minute.
But that was fine; he could cast it once every minute to keep Obadiah distracted until Pepper finished downloading all the evidence.
"Good."
Seeing Obadiah standing at the door with a wine glass, seemingly under a trance, George felt relieved.
Approximately five minutes later, all the evidence was successfully downloaded.
"Check everything to ensure there are no loose ends," George reminded as Pepper got up.
He recalled that in the movie, it was because Pepper had rushed out, leaving behind a "download complete" label, that Obadiah discovered something was off and took the risk of trying to seize Tony's arc reactor. Although Obadiah didn't have the Iron Monger suit this time and wasn't aware that Tony had built the Iron Man armor, if he discovered what Pepper was up to, he would undoubtedly take action to protect himself.
Once George confirmed that there were no traces left on the computer, he ceased using the confusion spell.
When Obadiah came to, he didn't notice anything unusual; he simply felt a moment of blankness and continued forward to chat with Pepper.
Fearing that she might betray her emotions and give herself away, and now that she had secured the evidence, Pepper quickly said, "I'll talk to Tony about this. I just remembered I have something else to handle, so I'll take my leave."
"Alright, then go ahead and take care of it," Obadiah replied, slightly taken aback, but he said nothing more and waved her off with a smile.
However, once Pepper and George left the office, his brows began to furrow in thought.
"Why does it feel like something's off?"
Years of experience in the business world had honed his keen instincts, particularly when it came to reading people.
He felt that Pepper's expression had been odd, her eyes were not quite right, and that bodyguard also seemed suspicious.
Putting down his drink, he quickly moved to his desk to check the computer. After seeing no signs of tampering, he let out a quiet sigh of relief.
Yet, a lingering unease remained in his mind, prompting him to pick up the phone rapidly:
"When did Potts enter the company, and where did she go afterward?"
"Ms. Potts entered the company twenty minutes ago and has since left, accompanied by that agent who claims to be Coulson," came the response from the other end.
Obadiah's pupils constricted as he jumped to his feet and rushed toward the monitoring room.
Twenty minutes just to visit the office, and she left without taking anything with her? That clearly indicated something was wrong.
Fortunately, he had installed hidden surveillance in Tony's office long ago. Now, he could check the footage to see what Pepper had been up to in Tony's office.
"What's going on here? Hypnosis?"
Moments later, in the monitoring room, he watched as Pepper diligently worked on downloading files while he stood there, motionless, as if under a trance. Obadiah felt a bit dumbfounded.
But he quickly grasped the severity of the situation: Pepper had obtained incriminating evidence against him and was now mingling with the agent.
Even if he sent people after them, he wouldn't know where to find them now.
After pacing back and forth in the monitoring room and calming himself, he immediately made a call.
"I agree to your collaboration, but you need to take out Pepper Potts and her bodyguard, along with that agent who just left the company. I can't let the evidence of my crimes fall into the government's hands."
This was a mysterious client he had been collaborating with for a long time, who always requested a vast array of weapons and had considerable power.
Recently, he wanted to deepen their cooperation, but he hesitated to agree for fear of being taken over.
"Not a problem. They'll soon meet with an accident," came the reassuring reply from the other end.
After hanging up the phone, a sense of worry still lingered in Obadiah's mind. He quickly began to gather his men, urgently heading to Tony's mansion in Malibu.
What Pepper had done was undoubtedly under Tony's orders.
Since Tony had begun to suspect him, there was no time to waste. It would be better to eliminate the threat and then claim it was retaliation from the terrorists who had previously been kidnapped.
"You were lucky last time; this time, I'll personally ensure you meet your father!"
(End of chapter)