Chapter 100 Genius Sets Off Again (Part 3)_2

"You are now considered part of Stark's staff team, the money's been wired, we'll split it half and half."

Before Peter could say anything else, Stark's voice came through again, "Hello? Hello? The negotiation is about to start, what should I do?"

"Just sit tight, you can zone out for the first 30 minutes, you don't need to listen to a word they say."

"Is that really okay?" Clearly, Stark is in a state of high tension, participating in such an occasion for the first time, he always feels like he should do something immediately to show some results.

"Trust me, you just have to sit there."

After that, Stark skeptically stays put, and quickly, he finds that Shiller's words are very reasonable because the first person to speak starts talking from World War II.

The military representative starts recounting their glorious past from the Pearl Harbor incident, even before 20 minutes in, Stark was already struggling to stay awake. This speaker dispatched by the military managed to make even the classic battles sound boring, always showering praise on the military's merits and history with the same old lofty words.

No one could endure more than 10 minutes of this kind of lecture, by the end of the military's first round of speaking, more than half the audience looked ready to fall asleep.

Up next was the representative from S.H.I.E.L.D, and as soon as he started speaking, Stark wished he could immediately switch off because he started with the Iron Curtain speech.

The S.H.I.E.L.D agent was slightly better than the military representative, well-versed in intelligence warfare and the history of special operations organizations. However, Stark thought, he was there to negotiate, not to learn modern history.

About 40 minutes later, it was Stark's turn to speak. Shiller said, "Open up the first draft, read it as is, finish it and that's it."

As Stark opened the draft, his vision blurred, because this draft started from the industrial revolution.

He read for a whole 20 minutes, finally stumbling through to the end of the script. After finishing, he opened his earpiece and said, "Oh God, this is the first time I've fully understood the development history of Stark Industries..."

What was more despairing for Stark was that the speeches were not over yet, next up was once again the military. They began a long-winded discourse on the evolution of future military organization, the direction of future weapon system development, the possibility of a third world war, going on for another 20 minutes.

It was the same when the S.H.I.E.L.D agent got up, all he talked about was the importance of special agent organizations remaining independent from surveillance systems, future development of single soldier combat and intelligence information warfare, and the establishment path of a global intelligence system...

Stark muttered into his earpiece, "The consulting fee for this part, I request it to be halved, there's no practical significance at all, this is not what I thought it would be at all..."

"What did you think it would be like?" Shiller's voice came over from the headphones, "Starting all sorts of conspiracy theories in a dark room?"

"The most important thing you need to know is that these negotiations are just a formality." Shiller said.

"Everyone knows what chips the other side has, and they also know what chips they have, the result of this negotiation was decided from the start, even if you act like your old eccentric self, not thinking about anything, not listening to anything, the result won't change."

This gave Stark a more ridiculous feeling than learning those theoretical knowledge, it felt as if you had learned various flashy combat techniques, but in the end, you still only need to punch the enemy to knock them out.

Next, it was Stark's turn to envision the future. He had already learned to close his eyes and read from the script, even if he thought the direction of mechanical industry development written on it was complete nonsense.

The script rudely combined some nouns to create some high-sounding jargon that sounded like a tech scam, but Stark still shut down his brain and read through the script impassively.

Then they moved on to the pleasantries. One older general with some white hair said to Stark, "I remember the heyday of Stark Industries, you Starks are all geniuses, your father was, and so are you. His research on hover cars was astounding, but as you know, the military had some conservative needs at the time and didn't cooperate with him. We really regret that..."

Before Stark could respond, Shiller spoke in his earpiece, "He's criticizing your dad for being incompetent, saying you are not as good as your dad, fight back."

Stark was stunned, then echoed Shiller's prompt and said, "Indeed, I believe that most of the military, honorable generals like you, have a long-term vision, it's just that this era is developing too rapidly..."

At this time, Nick Fury, seated at the very end of the negotiation table, said: "In large-scale land battles, conventional weapons still have some usefulness. Although Mecha can significantly enhance individual combat capabilities, in group operations, compatibility must also be considered..."

Shiller's voice came through the headphones: "He's throwing you a lifeline, easing the negotiation atmosphere, you might respond with a smile."

Then Stark smiled at Nick, giving Nick goosebumps. He thought today's Stark was strange, really strange.

The military and S.H.I.E.L.D. both sensed that something was off about Stark, thus they got down to the main point earlier than usual.

Then Stark found out that the key point of this negotiation occupied less than a tenth of the total negotiation time.

Firstly, Nick Fury pointed out the fact that the military might have kidnapped Doctor Connors. The military bit back saying it was a self-directed play by S.H.I.E.L.D., after some back-and-forth, the military slightly conceded and stated that they would interrogate some officers who might have overreacted.

Listening to their argument, Stark asked Shiller in his ear: "Do they really not know we're hiding Connors?"

"The military might not, but Nick definitely knows, he just needs this stance to signal that we should unite to deal with the military. He has already signaled me before, you can trust this and carry on..."

Next, Stark and S.H.I.E.L.D. teamed up, leaving the military somewhat defenseless, especially since they held many bargaining chips—the body of the Red-throated Lizard, the possible serums Connors could've developed, certain evidence held by S.H.I.E.L.D., and the Mecha that Stark Industries delivered to the military etc.

Anyway, this negotiation ended at a very fast pace, and with a quite absurd conclusion—everything just as Shiller had predicted.

A scapegoat was found within the military—the faction of officers led by Robert from Tartu, they were purged, and then the account was closed. The military and S.H.I.E.L.D. joined to fabricate losses, jointly demanding an increase in military expenditure.

Stark Industries would establish a stable cooperation system with both the military and S.H.I.E.L.D., provide some auxiliary single-soldier exoskeletal armors, and restart medical research projects, and they would have a larger part in the results.

Back at the psychological clinic, Stark yanked off his headphones and angrily said, "You goddamn bastard doctor..."

Before he could finish, a voice came from behind him: "You goddamn bastard!!! Stark..."

Stark turned around and Pepper ran in furiously, with tears in her eyes. Stark hugged her, he heard Pepper's fast heartbeat.

Pepper said: "I went looking for you early in the morning, and you were gone! Not even the Mecha was there! I asked Jarvis, he won't say anything, I thought something happened to you! You almost scared me to death, you bastard..."

Stark held Pepper tightly, comforting her softly.

In the dim room, only Pepper's low sobbing and Stark's somewhat unclear low voice can be heard.

The road for a genius is always destined to be harder than others, the sensitive heart of the genius Stark is always more tormented than the average person.

But at least, this fledgling about to leave the nest, when it is swaying in the biting cold wind, still has branches that are willing to let it perch.

He saw Peter standing behind the entrance waving at him with a smile, and likewise, Shiller and Steve were there too.

He saw the TV in the clinic's living room blinking, a smiling face made up of symbols appeared on the screen.

He thought, Stark, you're really a genius.

Not just the smartest genius in the world, but also the luckiest genius in the world.