Chapter 58

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Black Widow: Does Stark Keep a Diary Too?

SHIELD acted swiftly, a rapid response certainly due in part to the substantial assistance provided by Tony Stark.

After all, the evidence he'd given to Coulson was so thorough and conclusive that SHIELD was able to immediately initiate the arrest of Obadiah Stane.

And that's exactly what they did—just three days after Tony Stark's return, Coulson, leading an armed team of SHIELD agents, burst into Obadiah Stane's office.

"Stane, you've been secretly selling weapons to various terrorist organizations in massive quantities," Coulson declared.

"You also hired the Ten Rings to assassinate Tony Stark."

"You're under arrest!"

After delivering his imposing statement to Obadiah Stane, Coulson gestured with his hand.

The agents behind him wasted no time.

In an instant, they surged forward and apprehended Stane.

Obadiah Stane was utterly dumbfounded.

Even as he was being held, he just couldn't fathom what was happening.

What the hell?

He had been certain that his dealings were meticulously concealed, leaving no trace.

He had been selling weapons to terrorists in secret for years without a hitch.

Why did it all come to light so suddenly?

The fact that he had hired the Ten Rings to kill Tony Stark caught Obadiah Stane completely off guard.

Especially since all the mercenaries he had hired from Raza had been wiped out, not a single one left.

Obadiah Stane had his sources and knew all of this.

So, this should have remained a secret forever.

Yet somehow, it was all exposed?

Stane was truly perplexed.

"Wait a minute, is there some kind of misunderstanding?"

"Do you realize how absurd the allegations you're making are?"

"Which department are you from, who authorized this?"

But Obadiah Stane quickly regained his composure and began to interrogate Coulson, obviously the man in charge.

"Don't bother."

But Coulson just smiled, that honest, straightforward kind of smile.

"Do you think your friends in the military will protect you, or your friends among the senators? Not this time."

"Stark provided evidence that will force them all to abandon you."

"Stane, face reality. You're going to spend the rest of your life in a 'single room.'"

At Coulson's command.

The SHIELD agents stopped the chatter, forcefully escorting Obadiah Stane out.

"Wait! Tony?"

Obadiah Stane was even more befuddled.

Could it be that his arrest wasn't the result of some discovery by this so-called Homeland Strategic Defense agency, but rather something Tony had found?

That's a joke!

Tony had only just escaped that cave!

As for Tony Stark's dear Uncle Obadiah, his mind was riddled with question marks.

Unfortunately, no one was left to clarify his confusion.

Stane's arrest also caused a sensation that was neither too big nor too small.

It further added to the turmoil of Stark Industries, already battered by the storm.

After all, Obadiah Stane was a super-general at Stark Industries, second in importance only to Tony Stark himself.

At the crucial moment when Tony Stark had dealt a severe blow to Stark Industries, such an important figure was taken away by law enforcement!

No one knew why.

Stark Industries remained tight-lipped, revealing nothing beyond superficial official statements.

But this didn't stop shareholders from continuing to sell off Stark Industries' stocks in a frenzy.

As a result.

The stock price of Stark Industries, after a precipitous drop of 56 points, continued to plummet, eventually falling by a staggering 62 points! Stark Industries was on the verge of losing its pants.

Stark Industries faced its darkest hour in history.

To say it was teetering on the brink would not be an overstatement.

Of course.

How badly Stark Industries was doing didn't concern Zhou Cheng much, and he didn't care much about it.

But the sudden arrest of Obadiah Stane definitely drew Zhou Cheng's full attention.

Why?

"This is not right!"

"Even if Obadiah couldn't become the Iron Lord, he shouldn't have been caught at this time?"

Zhou Cheng was truly caught off guard, and after much pondering, he still couldn't understand.

How long had it been since Tony Stark was rescued by him?

It couldn't have been long enough for Tony to discover Obadiah Stane's covert actions, right?

According to the original storyline.

Tony Stark only discovered everything by chance when he was investigating Stane's weapons sales after having acted as a knight in shining armor for a good while in his Iron Man suit.

Now, the deviation was a bit too significant, right?

What exactly was off?

"Could it be... this universe isn't the 199999 universe?"

Without a god's-eye view, Zhou Cheng couldn't guess that it was because Tony Stark saw the diary, which led to the change in the storyline.

The most reasonable explanation he could think of was a parallel universe.

After all, with so many parallel universes in Marvel, the existence of one highly similar to the cinematic universe wouldn't be strange, right?

That must be it.

After mulling it over for a while and convincing himself that he found the answer, Zhou Cheng didn't dwell on it any further.

Just one thing.

It seemed that he would have to pay more attention to the major events of this universe.

See how much it deviates from the 199999 universe!

"Agent Coulson managed to arrest Obadiah so quickly?"

"Was it with evidence provided by Tony Stark?"

"This…"

The one equally baffled and confused was the owner of the diary, Black Widow.

After learning about the situation, Black Widow was also taken aback.

No wonder.

This situation deviated significantly from the diary's records and was illogically inconsistent.

No matter what, Tony Stark couldn't have discovered Stane's involvement so quickly.

Let's not forget, Iron Man had just escaped!

Moreover, according to the diary, Tony Stark shouldn't have had evidence of Stane's crimes.

Otherwise, why didn't he send him to prison straight away like now, instead of almost getting killed by Stane twice?

Could it be...

That the records in the diary were off from the start?

Previously, Black Widow indeed had her doubts.

But now?

The diary's events were verified one after another!

Whether it was Tony Stark's kidnapping, his decision to shut down the weapons manufacturing, or the reveal that Obadiah was the puppet master behind the scenes.

Each was accurately "foretold."

Black Widow now had little doubt about the diary.

But at this moment, the diary seemed inaccurate!

So~

Where did it all go wrong?

Black Widow fell into deep contemplation.

"Wait a minute!"

Just as Black Widow's brows furrowed for a moment, they suddenly smoothed out.

Could Tony Stark be, like her, a holder of the diary?

If that were the case, his "abnormal" actions would make complete sense.

Initially, he indeed didn't know Stane was the man behind the curtain, so the original course of events was that he was nearly killed by Stane three times.

But now?

He knew everything through the diary!

So, he took preemptive action and sent Stane to jail ahead of time!

With that, the logic became clear.

The only problem was.

This was all Black Widow's speculation, and that's all it was.

Besides her, could there really be other holders of the diary?