Make The Call

Fanny gradually put his argument with Tony aside for the next few days. He understood how Tony felt, but Tony had threatened him with the energy cannon. He had no intention of going along with Tony's humiliation.

As a result, he had little information on the events in the past few days. Tony took revenge on the terrorist and destroyed his weapons in complete secrecy, as the original timeline dictated.

Meanwhile, the surviving terrorist from the cave that Tony escaped had contacted Obadiah, allowing him to construct the (currently unpowered) Iron Monger.

Tony continued to investigate the weapons department with haste. He personally confirmed that his company had supplied the terrorist with his weapons.

The company records pointed toward Obadiah as the primary mastermind, but Tony lacked conclusive evidence.

As his direct assistant, Pepper had to report to Tony every day after she finished her work and bring documents that Tony had to sign that day. She usually did this in his mansion.

Their relationship seemed to have changed after the last party, but the gap in their status made them awkward in each other's presence, unable to open their hearts to their own feelings.

Tony was busy making various adjustments to the parts of Mark II in his workshop. He had found much room for improvement after the recent combat test.

Pepper felt a lot of conflicting feelings when she saw Tony's focus on the armor. She didn't know what had happened to him, but she felt uneasy

, especially when she saw the scorch marks and bullet holes on the armor that day. She was afraid that she would really lose Tony if this continued.

She was caught in thinking about how to persuade Tony not to continue his dangerous project. Tony noticed her arrival and stole the first turn to speak. "Hey, are you free right now? Can you do me a favor?"

"You will go to my office; you hack into the mainframe and get me a copy of the recent shipping manifests."

He handed over a black USB as he spoke and explained, "This is a lock chip; you can use it to enter the system. The list should be in the Executive Files; if it's not there, it's probably in a ghost drive."

Tony actually wanted to do it on his own, but it would be difficult for him to act in secrecy when Obadiah was watching him. Happy and Pepper were the only people he could trust with this.

But Happy was computer-illiterate. He might not even know how to copy and paste, and he didn't have any good reason to go into his office. Thus, Pepper was the only person left to help him.

"If I get you this, what will you do with it?"

Pepper asked hesitantly after receiving the USB.

"I will find my weapon and destroy it!" Tony replied, resolute. The memory of Gulmira made him feel that this was something he had to do.

"Tony..."

Pepper recalled the scene from a few days ago again. Worry filled her eyes. "You can't continue messing around like this. I can't help you."

"You don't understand. There's nothing other than this. There's no art exhibition, there's no benefit, there's nothing to sign!" Tony looked straight at Pepper. "There's the next mission and nothing else."

"Is that so?!"

Pepper laughed, anger in her tone. She faced Tony's eyes with complicated feelings. Finally, after a deep breath, she said, "Well, then, I quit."

Tony obviously didn't expect Pepper to say that. He stepped forward as Pepper threw the USB into a pile of tools on his desk. "You stood by my side for all these years while I reaped the benefit of destruction. Now that I want to set things right, you'll quit?!"

"You're killing yourself, Tony. I can't be part of it."

"I shouldn't have lived." Tony once again thought of what Yinsen said to him when he died in the mountain cave. He sat on a chair and said with a complicated expression, "Unless I have a reason to live."

"I am not crazy, Pepper. I just finally found what I was supposed to do. I know it's right in my heart!"

Pepper finally sighed and picked up the USB key again. She couldn't bear to see Tony's helpless and lonely appearance. "You're all I have, too, you know?"

If Fanny were here, he would definitely complain about the sappy atmosphere.

"Oh right, wait a minute." When Pepper was about to leave, Tony suddenly thought of something and called her. He rummaged around the table and produced a note. He said, "If anything happens, and you can't call me, you can call this person for help. Apologize to him and tell him that I owe him one."

For the sake of his beloved Pepper, Tony could bear to give up his pride. Fanny's abilities were strange and unpredictable, and that teleportation portal allowed him to be the perfect backup force.

"Who is he?"

Pepper was very surprised that Tony would trust someone to the point of letting down his pride.

"A little boy who knows magic tricks."

They had only met twice, but Tony felt that he already understood Fanny's character. He would definitely come to help if he humbly apologized and admitted his mistake.

Worried that Pepper would misunderstand the short answer, Tony added, "It wasn't just any ordinary trick. In any case, if there is any danger, you can call him for help."

Pepper was still confused, but she obediently added the number to her phone contact. She then prepared to fulfill the mission Tony had given her in the company.

According to the original plot, Pepper would've found evidence that Obadiah's client had kidnapped Tony and secretly built the Iron Monger armor.

However, an accident had quietly occurred.

Perhaps because of Fanny's appearance and intervention, Tony didn't have the time to open up his heart properly to those around him, including Obadiah. As a result, his relationship with Obadiah worsened, and Obadiah watched him closer than he originally should.

Thus, Obadiah caught Pepper while she was copying the files from Tony's computer.

"You ordered the terrorists to kidnap Tony!" Pepper accused Obadiah angrily in the office, "How could you?! He always thought of you as a family!"

"But you saw how he treated me now," Obadiah sneered in a cold voice, "I built this company up from the ground. Tony was just an inventor; what does he know about running a company? Now he wanted to take everything away from me, to ruin the entire company!"

"Pepper, you're a good woman. You're wasted on someone like Tony. With me, you can rule the world. You only need to get me the reactor technology from Tony's hands."

Ptui!

Obadiah tried to persuade Pepper to his side, but Pepper was very different from Kaecilius, who readily switched his allegiance. Pepper took a few steps back after spitting at Obadiah in disgust.

She also discreetly reached for her bag, trying to call the police.

Unfortunately, there were only two of them in the room. Obadiah could clearly see her every move. He thought that Pepper had concealed some weapons in her bag, so he immediately rushed forward to gain the initiative—although it didn't seem that he was trying to kill Pepper.

Obadiah's actions made Pepper abandon any notion of secrecy. She reached into her bag and grabbed her phone, immediately pressing the dial button without looking at which contact was displayed on the screen.

She had dialed Fanny's number, which she had recently saved!