Reporter

After seeing Coulson off, Tony was eager to deal with his own little problem and quickly went to Pepper's side.

Pepper was surprised to see Tony at the charity gala.

"I didn't expect you to come here?"

"If I hadn't come, I wouldn't have seen how beautiful and charming you are." Tony made no attempt to hide his admiration.

"Thank you for the compliment. This is still the clothes you gave me."

"Oh right, I remember now. I paid for the birthday present you picked out. Looks like I have good taste." Tony remembered. The two of them really had a very easy relationship. He had to win over Pepper Pepper.

"Is this a compliment to you or to me?" Pepper was also somewhat speechless.

"It's mainly a compliment, praising me for finding such a smart, capable, and beautiful assistant." Tony said, extending his hand in invitation, "Would you like to play a song?"

"Of course." Even if Pepper didn't like Tony, let alone have feelings for him, she couldn't possibly refuse her boss in this situation.

As the music played, Tony and Pepper slowly began to dance on the dance floor. Ballroom dancing wasn't very difficult, and Tony danced very steadily based on the information he remembered. The challenge was not to touch anyone indiscriminately. Fortunately, after these few days of training, Tony had temporarily detached himself from base physical desires and was now mainly pursuing spiritual harmony, such as winning over the various beautiful female characters in the original work.

Tony can enter a saintly state, but it's a bit difficult for Pepper. Tony was already good-looking, and now with the T-virus enhancement, he's even more handsome. During the occasional physical contact while dancing, Pepper can clearly feel Tony's muscle definition.

Feeling the male hormones emanating from Tony up close (mainly based on his model attributes), Pepper couldn't help but imagine what Tony's hard abs looked like under his clothes, each one so angular and distinct.

Damn it, how come I never realized Tony was so handsome before?

"What's wrong? Are you a little hot?" Tony noticed that Pepper's face had turned a little red, and with his powerful telekinetic senses, he could also feel that Pepper's heart was beating a little faster.

Pepper couldn't very well say that she had been thinking about something stimulating, so she could only go along with Tony and say, "It is a bit hot."

"Shall we go to the terrace? It's quieter there," Tony suggested, remembering something from the movie.

Tony led Pepper to the terrace. Pepper was clearly excited and stammered, "I really don't know what I just did, dancing with you in front of so many people, in front of my colleagues, and wearing this dress."

"Calm down, it was just a dance," Tony tried to reassure Pepper.

"You don't understand. No, you know what kind of person you are. You've had so many girlfriends before, and even those who weren't girlfriends. What will the people at the company think of me?" Pepper was thinking more deeply. Given Tony's history of womanizing, Pepper didn't want to become one of them.

Tony didn't want things to go this way either. He wanted more than just Pepper's people; he wanted Pepper to manage the company. After all, the original movies had already proven Pepper's management skills. Tony didn't want to manage the company, and he didn't have the ability to do so.

"Pepper, I've told you before, I've changed this time. Ethan told me not to waste my life, and I've thought it through. You're the one I should truly love, not some one-night stand or anything like that." Tony finished speaking and stared at Pepper.

Pepper listened in shock to Tony's renewed confession. Their eyes met, and they drew closer and closer.

Just as Pepper was hesitating and calming down, Tony kissed her without hesitation. "Do you think you can get away with this? I'm not the Tony from the original story."

After a long while, the two separated. Pepper's face was even redder, and she said somewhat dizzily, "I need to calm down."

"Want a drink?" Tony suggested, thinking to himself, "This should be a sure thing now. I can't build a mech, but I'm faster than Tony Stark, right?"

"A vodka martini, no water, lots of olives, at least three."

"Okay, no problem, just a moment." Tony turned to the bar to order drinks.

At the bar, after Tony finished giving instructions to the bartender, he waited for the bartender to make the drinks, wondering whether he should keep up the good work and work overtime tonight.

Just then, another beautiful woman walked over and greeted Tony.

"Hello, Mr. Tony Stark, do you remember me?" It was obvious that the beautiful woman knew Tony Stark's nature; he would forget about any woman he had interacted with as soon as he turned around.

However, Tony remembered that he had cursed the reporter while being tortured, and if he had come earlier, he could have spent a pleasant night with the beautiful reporter.

"Of course I remember, Christine, my beautiful reporter, I have a very deep impression of her." Tony had something else he didn't say, and he was quite regretful that he couldn't come and have a more in-depth conversation with her sooner.

"I never expected to see you here!"

"What's wrong? I'm attending my own family's charity gala? Is there a problem?"

"How could they still appear after such a tragedy?" Christine asked seriously.

Tony clearly doesn't remember the plot here, which is normal. When he watched the movie, he only remembered Iron Man's transformation and fighting scenes, and maybe a few beautiful women. He really couldn't remember the details.

"What kind of tragedy?" Tony asked.

"You don't even know that this is what you call running a company for peace? Your weapons are being used to attack civilians and commit massacres." As she spoke, Christine took out a stack of photos. She had originally intended to question Obadiah, but now it was better to ask Tony. After all, Obadiah would probably have security kick him out, while Tony at least had some connections, even if it was just a one-time relationship.

Tony flipped through the photos. In one photo, a group of Ten Rings soldiers were carrying boxes with the Stark Industries logo on them. Behind them were several photos of residential areas being bombed. Tony seemed to remember where this was.

"Is this Gemila?"

"Yes, genocide is happening there, using your very weapons. Is this what you call peace? This is what you call a sense of responsibility? That's not what you said that night."

Upon hearing about that night, Tony quickly said, "Let's not get off topic. I didn't approve this arms shipment. It wasn't a deal I authorized."

"The white glove operation? I know your big company wouldn't openly violate international conventions. You have secondary wholesalers, and plenty of people to help you sell," Christine said aggressively.

Tony glanced back and saw Pepper staring at him. His mind raced, and an idea struck him. He said to Christine, "Let me put it this way, there are some people within Stark Industries who smuggle weapons for profit, and even my kidnapping is related to this."

Christine sensed a major news story and moved even closer to Tony. She was also wearing a formal dress, and a quick glance downwards revealed her soft, white breasts. "What do you mean? Is there some inside story behind the kidnapping? Can I do an interview? Can you publish an exclusive report?"

"Can I have these photos? I'd like to take a closer look." Tony didn't give a direct answer.

"Of course, I can help if you need it." As she spoke, Christine moved closer to Tony.

"So, do you have time tonight? I'll send someone to pick you up."

"sure."