Chapter 84: Congratulations on Your Fortune

Nalan Bai's side has already started the layout of the fortune-making plan, and Clark, on his part, hasn't been idle either. After encountering the symbiote, his life once again returned to a state of busy tension.

Exercising martial skills, researching the quantum realm with Hank Pym, and even finding time to write his second novel, his days were incredibly fulfilling.

Clark's efforts were so flawless that even the strict Hank Pym couldn't find any faults. However, when it came to gains, things weren't as satisfying.

Firstly, in terms of strength, his trip to the quantum realm allowed him to reach the maximum level possible under his current life mindset, once again hitting a bottleneck. Even after two months of relentless training, he couldn't make any further progress in his physical fitness.

However, it wasn't like he was just treading water.

Though there was no essential improvement, after spending a lot of dollars, he managed to collect numerous martial arts secrets and related materials from around the world.

Clark, with Tan Leg as his foundation, sifted through the collected secrets and materials to integrate their strengths and weaknesses, preparing to create a set of fighting techniques suitable for his current physical condition.

Tan Leg is good, but after all, it was designed for ordinary people.

For the current Clark, it was no longer possible to maximize his strength and speed. Not just Tan Leg, but all known martial arts from around the world were insufficient! After months of effort, this set of martial arts began to take shape.

If there were any gains in his personal strength, then the exploration in the field of quantum mechanics was truly at a standstill.

The pursuit of science is a process of sudden inspiration followed by the validation of this insight with a wealth of scientific knowledge, repeated over and over.

In attempting to awaken Hank Pym, Clark's inspirations seemed endless, each new idea striking him spontaneously.

However, now, in studying how to rescue Aunt May from the quantum realm, Clark's brilliance seemed to dim, going from genius to top student.

Hank Pym's nine years of findings were mastered by Clark in just two days. Yet, when Hank Pym sought his opinion, hoping for some inspirational assistance, our hero genuinely faltered.

Inspiration?

Nonexistent!

Looking for good advice?

Beyond his capabilities!

However, the loss of inspiration further confirmed Clark's previous guesses about the reasons for time travel, which were undoubtedly correct.

Shorting Stark Industries' stocks was a surefire success! Then, the unfortunate days for our hero began.

Just like in the movie's original plot, during a weapons sale in Afghanistan, he was kidnapped by terrorists. A huge hole was carved out of his chest, and a car battery was installed to prevent shrapnel from Stark Industries' missiles from entering his heart.

Fortunately, due to the protagonist's halo, even under such poor sanitary conditions and terrifying surgery, our hero didn't die. Instead, under the terrorists' noses, he used the materials provided for missile construction to create the prototype of the Iron Man suit - the Mark I!

With the suit's steel body, Tony finally broke out of the terrorist base, later to be rescued by Colonel Rhodes.

Deeply wounded by his own company's weapons, Tony's first act upon returning to the U.S. was to eat a burger! Okay, the second act is the key point, where he announced at a press conference the shutdown of Stark Industries' weapons manufacturing plants! A single stone stirred up a thousand waves.

A weapons dealer, suddenly claiming he'd go straight and stop making weapons!

Can you believe it? The most direct consequence of this was that Stark Industries' stock plummeted 60 percent overnight!

What?

Was it 40 percent in the movie?

Don't be naive!

Did the movie have a guy with foresight, holding 200 billion dollars, scheming behind the scenes?

Just from this shorting, Clark's funds increased by 1.5 times, from an initial 200 billion to over 500 billion dollars! You think it's over?

Of course not. Clark took advantage of the moment Stark Industries' stock hit rock bottom to buy up shares with his 500 billion, not only clearing out all the circulating shares but also purchasing a large amount of stock from many wavering shareholders.

For this, Clark could only commend Nalan Bai for a job well done! Thus, our hero transformed overnight into a major shareholder of Stark Industries, holding 33% of its shares!

Next, all he needed to do was wait for Tony's clean energy research to succeed, then earn a hefty profit.

This maneuver was simply Venusian... perfection! ......

"Tony Stark shuts down weapons manufacturing, Clark the only winner in this event!"

"Genius author returns to the public eye, 'Stark shutting down weapons manufacturing event' nets billions, who is the ultimate genius between him and Tony?"

"Clark becomes Stark Industries' second-largest shareholder, will he join forces with other shareholders to forcibly restart Stark Industries' weapons manufacturing?"

"Super genius Clark replaces Tony Stark, becoming the dream lover of women across America!"

...

As Clark performed godlike operations in the stock market, he instantly became a headline figure, gaining billions in impressions and pushing this 16-year-old (physically) and 26-year-old (legally) youth into the spotlight.

Not only did he dominate newspaper headlines, but many TV shows also discussed topics about him.

On the other side, our hero, after completing his Mark II suit, finally found time to reflect on the reasons behind his ordeal.

He was attacked right after completing a military arms deal under the protection of the U.S. military, further proving that the attackers aimed for him, the genius weapons developer.

To say there was no conspiracy, Tony would not believe it even if he were beaten to death.

Without an inside traitor, external enemies cannot infiltrate!

So…

There was at least one traitor within Stark Industries! Who could it be?

After much thought, still no clue.

After all, he is Tony Stark, not Sherlock Holmes. When it comes to technology development, he's an expert, but solving cases is beyond his capabilities.

Feeling a headache coming on…

"Tony." As he racked his brain over the case, a tall blonde woman entered the room.

This woman was no ordinary lady; her name was Pepper Potts, also known as "Pepper," Tony's secretary and caretaker. As the saying goes, the secretary does the work, but when there's no work, the secretary takes a break. Tony, as her boss, highly valued Pepper.

Pepper, carrying a fast-food meal, considerately placed it in front of Tony, saying, "Eat something, don't starve yourself."

Forcing a smile, Tony took a big bite of a sandwich from the tray, mumbling unclearly, "If there's a traitor in the company, who do you think it would be?"

Pepper was initially startled, then shook her head with a bitter smile, "How could I possibly know that? But I remember a TV show mentioning a theory: to find out who's behind a conspiracy, you just need to focus on who benefits the most from it."

As the saying goes, the speaker means no harm, but the listener takes it to heart.

Tony's previously puzzled eyes suddenly sparkled with wisdom, hurriedly putting the half-eaten sandwich back on the tray and picking up a newspaper from the other side of the table.

The newspaper headline read: Clark becomes the only winner in Stark's stock market turmoil, what will this genius youth do next?