11: Pepper's Request

...

"Stark Industries Chief Operating Officer Obadiah Stane died three days ago after falling from a building at the Stark Industrial Complex."

"According to the official investigation results..."

"Obadiah Stane's death was not caused by another person but was instead a suicide out of guilt."

"The police announced that..."

"Stane had repeatedly engaged in arms deals with foreign terrorist organizations under his own name."

"He committed multiple murders, interfered in the internal affairs of other countries, and committed other serious crimes."

"Among these was the attack on Stark Industries CEO Tony Stark a few months ago, which was also orchestrated by Obadiah Stane."

"For more detailed reports, we now go live to our on-site reporter..."

...

In the hall, Lyon stood in a horse stance, watching the news while shoving a slice of cheese pizza into his mouth.

"Just great... Now that the stock price that had just recovered after my appearance at the company the other day will drop again, like a roller coaster," Lyon muttered sarcastically to himself.

"Even though this doesn't really affect me, I can't help but feel sorry for those Stark investors," Lyon thought to himself. He opened Twitter and posted an update.

— Obadiah's situation was just an unfortunate incident. Stark Industries will never stand alongside evil. To all our investors, please continue to trust in Stark Industries and support our stock. You will surely see great returns one day. Stark has never disappointed its supporters.

He attached a picture of the half-eaten pizza on his desk.

A few seconds later, the comments under his post exploded.

Several angry comments appeared immediately, as if the users had reserved spots on Twitter just to rant:

||"Look at that Obadiah! How could someone like him become COO? Stark Industries is doomed!"||

||"It's all garbage! I bought stocks when Tony Stark returned, and then he shut down the weapons division, causing me to lose half my fortune. Lyon Stark shows up after half a year, I buy stocks again, and two days later, it turns out the COO is a fucking criminal? I can already see myself begging on the streets of Los Angeles in a month! Damn you, Stark! You've ruined me!"||

Then, more comments started popping up every second, all from distraught investors lamenting their decision to buy Stark stock.

Lyon felt a bit embarrassed as he looked at the comments section, which had already reached 999+ in just a few minutes.

"Uh, it seems like Stark's investors have their own thoughts. Well, I hope everyone will have a bright future, peace, and happiness."

At that moment, Pepper walked over with a cup of coffee. "Did I just hear you praying for the investors?"

"Not exactly..." Lyon said, sensing a bad feeling from Pepper's expression.

But Pepper continued, undeterred.

"To be honest, Lyon, if you really don't want them to lose too much, you should go downstairs and drag Tony, who's been locked up for three days, back upstairs!"

"And then you should get back to your own office chair and start making money instead of leaving everything to me!"

Pepper was a bit frantic as she talked about work, likely because the burden on her shoulders was overwhelming.

"Tony's off doing who-knows-what, Obadiah committed so many crimes that he deserved to die, and you're sunbathing at home every day. How am I supposed to handle all this work by myself?"

She vented rapidly, "Stark Industries, Stark Networks, Stark Electronics—I can't manage all of this even if I had three heads!!"

"And you, Lyon, you actually have the nerve to pray for the investors!"

The more Pepper spoke, the angrier she became. She forcefully shoved the coffee into Lyon's hands. "My God, now that I think about it, I realize just how crazy I've been these past few days!"

"Lyon, I demand that you tell Tony that if he doesn't come out of that damned lab soon, I'm quitting!"

"And you! Lyon, my boy, if you don't start managing your own network company, I'm quitting as well!"

With that, Pepper gave Lyon a stern look, warning him seriously, and then turned on her heel, her high heels clicking loudly as she stormed out the door.

She had to go back to that damned job.

Lyon sat on the couch, his mouth slightly open. He wanted to say a few words to calm Pepper down, to ask her to hang in there just a little longer.

But... handing over the decision-making for three companies entirely to Pepper might really have been a bit too much?

He scratched his head. "Maybe I should go back to the company... No, wait, how could I even think about going to work? Damn it."

"What I should do is... get old Joe to stop his vacation and go back to work! Yes, that's it!"

Lyon clapped his hands and asked, "Jarvis, is Mr. Bush still on vacation? Notify him and have him get back to work as soon as possible!"

"Sorry, Master Lyon," Jarvis responded. "In fact, Mr. Bush's vacation just ended yesterday, and he returned to work at the company at 4 a.m. this morning."

"Four a.m.? Four in the morning?" Lyon exclaimed in surprise. "It seems I misunderstood. Old Joe really is the best CEO in the world."

"In the future, I definitely need to establish a 'World's Best CEO Award' and give it to Old Joe every year."

He pondered, "So... since Old Joe is already back at his post, Pepper shouldn't be angry anymore, right?"

This question made even Jarvis pause for a few seconds. "Master Lyon, I'm afraid not."

"Because Mr. Bush only manages Stark Electronics and handles part of the work for Stark Networks. The rest of the work is still being done by Miss Pepper."

Lyon thought for a moment. "I see. That's how it was arranged when I left half a year ago. But at that time, Tony was also involved in company management."

"Jarvis, do you have any suggestions?"

"Master Lyon, to prevent Miss Pepper from resigning, I suggest that you temporarily return to work. Once you've found a suitable CEO to take over, you can go back to sunbathing."

Lyon immediately shook his head. "That's not possible. Sunbathing is the most important thing; it can't be delayed!"

"Besides, I haven't just been sunbathing these past few days—you know what I've been up to."

Three days ago, Lyon had Jarvis gather all the martial arts tutorials available online. After studying them over the past few days, he had already mastered most of the techniques.

Jeet Kune Do, Muay Thai, Krav Maga, Judo, Mixed Martial Arts, Baji Quan...

However, the more he learned, the more Lyon realized that while his control over his strength had improved, his overall combat ability hadn't increased much. This made martial arts seem somewhat redundant.

Considering the world he was in now:

Anyone he could beat, he could simply slap to death with one hit. 

And those he couldn't beat, even if he gave his all, he might not be able to withstand a single move from them.

These martial arts techniques would only be useful in a fight against an evenly matched opponent. But the number of people who could be his equal was very limited.

Odin was one, the Mad Titan (Thanos) was another, Captain Marvel was another, and... there were really just a handful.

"But your combat skills have already reached their limit; continuing to practice won't be of much use," Jarvis noted.

Jarvis suggested again, "So why not return to work? That way, you can make Miss Pepper happy and have a productive day yourself."

"Hey, why does it seem like you're particularly eager for me to go to work?" Lyon paused, then realized something. "Ah, I get it now. You're still upset about how I dragged you into that situation with Tony three days ago, aren't you?"

"Look at you, Jarvis, and you claim you don't have subjective thoughts. You've clearly started to develop the human tendency to hold grudges!"

The light on the screen representing Jarvis flickered slightly. "Master Lyon, I would never do anything that would harm you."

"But you do encourage me to do things that get in the way of me getting stronger and that make me unhappy," Lyon retorted with a shrug.

He thought for a moment, then said, "Alright, I'll go down and get Tony out of the lab, then I'll find a new CEO for the company. That way, all the problems will be solved."

"As you wish," Jarvis replied, ever so attentive.