Mercenaries

Holding the photo and a wine glass, Tony hurried to find Pepper, afraid that if he was late, Pepper would get angry and run away, and he wouldn't have a chance to make up a story.

Fortunately, Pepper knew Tony's personality. She was angry, after all, Tony had just flirted with her and then turned around to get a drink and started chatting with a beautiful woman. But she didn't turn around and leave immediately. However, her expression was not very good. She looked at Tony expressionlessly, wanting to see what explanation Tony had or if he would just not mention it at all.

But Tony had already prepared a reason and handed the photo directly to Pepper.

"Look at this, do you remember these weapons shipments?"

Pepper's attention was successfully diverted. Looking at the weapons in the photo and the date marked on it, she exclaimed in surprise, "This is impossible. There have been no weapons shipments recently, and we would never sell weapons to terrorists."

"But that's the truth. Someone used my weapons to commit massacres, and this is Gemila."

"Gemira, Ethan's hometown?" Pepper still remembered the story Tony told about Ethan, and Tony also showed a sad expression at this time. Seeing Tony like this, Pepper's maternal love instantly overwhelmed her, and she wanted to hug Tony, throwing aside her previous anger.

Unfortunately, Tony missed his chance this time and continued, "That reporter just gave me these materials."

"A reporter?" Pepper had initially thought it was some wildflower trying to provoke Tony again, but when she heard it was a reporter, she relaxed a little. Clearly, Pepper couldn't remember the casual partners she had helped Tony get rid of.

"Yes, she immediately questioned me about why I was funding terrorists, but after my explanation, she suspected that someone in the company was smuggling weapons."

Pepper immediately thought of other things and pressed on, "If she reports things recklessly, the company's stock price will drop again, and the CIA might come to investigate." Just thinking about these things gave Pepper a headache again.

"No, she wants to know more. It won't be reported for now. I'll take care of Obadiah before she reports it."

"Speaking of which, what do you plan to do with Obadiah?" Pepper pressed.

"Actually, I have collected a lot of evidence that he smuggled weapons out of the company. Now I just need an opportunity. Once my new company has achieved results and I have established contact with the military, I will kick him out. Before that, I need him to keep the small shareholders in check and prevent the stock price from completely collapsing."

"It's good that you have a plan. The new company has already chosen a location, near Marbury, not far from your villa."

Upon hearing this, Tony couldn't help but shudder. Clearly, Pepper didn't know the main effects of the T-virus or what Tony's new company was researching. Otherwise, she would never have chosen to locate the new company near her home, unless she wanted to change her boss.

"Actually, it would be better for the company to be located elsewhere, away from the city, in the suburbs, or even in a remote, desolate place."

"Is there any special need? Is security required? But with military support and investment later, we can change it." Pepper didn't quite understand Tony's request.

"It's alright, let's leave it at that. Once the personnel are in place, I'll go over and tell them what the research is about, and give them the experimental prototype." Tony thought for a moment. As long as there is strict management, there shouldn't be a biohazard. To put it another way, even if a biohazard does occur, he won't be infected. At most, we can arrange some more Jarvis-controlled automatic weapons at the company entrance to kill them in time, no, to sterilize them in time and prevent the virus from spreading.

After finalizing company matters and diverting Pepper's attention, Tony extended another invitation to her.

"Do you have time tonight?" Tony asked, his eyes lingering on Pepper, the meaning of which was clear.

"Um, Tony, I'm not ready yet. I need more time to carefully consider our relationship," Pepper politely declined Tony's invitation.

"It's okay, I'll wait for you and think it over carefully." Tony wasn't disappointed, after all, there was a backup plan.

The two chatted for a while until the dinner party ended. Tony then called out to Happy, who had come to the party, and asked Happy to take Pepper home first, and then take him home.

Happy didn't have any objections. His job was to be a bodyguard and driver, but Tony didn't like using drivers, so he arranged for him to be a junior manager in the company's security department.

Compared to managing people and being responsible for company security, Happy prefers being Tony's driver. After all, the salary is about the same, but being around Tony means having gossip to read every day. If he could submit articles to newspapers, his submissions could start a new gossip magazine.

After dropping Pepper off at home, watching Tony and Pepper cuddling together for a while before saying goodbye, Happy's gossipy nature couldn't be contained any longer. Slightly violating his professional ethics, he asked curiously.

"Sir, are you pursuing Miss Pepper?"

Tony nodded in agreement, then, as if remembering something, suddenly asked, "By the way, Happy, if someone died saving you, and their hometown was attacked, and of course, their entire family was dead, do you think you should do anything?"

Without much thought, Happy said directly, "If I have the ability, of course I will do something, at the very least to help with the reconstruction of his hometown."

"Will rebuilding even work? We'll just get attacked again."

"Then I'm afraid I can't help you, after all, I'm just a bodyguard, but if it were you, you would definitely have a way."

"Me? But I'm not Iron Man. I can't just fly over there and kill them all." Tony leaned back in his seat, muttering to himself, his voice growing softer and softer.

Although the voice was soft, Happy only heard the first half of the sentence and didn't understand what "iron man" meant, but he knew that Tony was a little discouraged, so he comforted him.

"You are Tony Stark, a billionaire, the largest arms supplier to the U.S. military. If you want, you can manipulate a war or anything like that."

Happy's words gave Tony an idea. "That's right, I'm a billionaire. Even if I went there myself, I couldn't kill all those terrorists, but I can hire people. There are plenty of mercenaries who will work for money. I can also help Gumira rebuild."

"That's right, Happy, you're right! I am Tony Stark." Tony was immediately excited. He had always felt a little regretful for not bringing Ethan back, but now that he could do something for Ethan, he felt much less guilty.

Happy was pleased to see Tony's change in mood. Taking advantage of Tony's good mood, he made a small request: "Um, boss, my salary hasn't increased in a long time. The finance department says that since I'm still your personal bodyguard, my salary and benefits won't be the same as the security department's. So I'd like to ask you to let the finance department know if I need a raise."

Seeing Happy's expression, Tony remembered his past life when he was still a beast of burden, and immediately said, "No problem. I'll have Pepper contact the finance department and give him a raise, a huge raise."

It wasn't that Tony couldn't contact the finance department directly; it was just that Tony didn't remember having their phone number and had never bothered with such trivial matters before.

Happy's expression immediately changed upon hearing Tony's words. Who said Happy couldn't smile? It was just that his smile was a bit awkward: "Thanks, boss."

Looking at Happy's awkward smile, Tony said speechlessly, "Happy, if you can't smile, then don't. By the way, does the security department have any contact information for mercenaries, or reliable security companies? I want to form a mercenary force."