Thanks to the appearance of the diary, Tony Stark became Iron Man ahead of schedule, while Obadiah never had the chance to carry out his plans.
So far, Obadiah had maintained a perfect image as Tony Stark's beloved uncle.
But now, it was revealed that he had been the evil mastermind pulling the strings behind the scenes. This revelation shook Tony Stark to his core, and he couldn't accept it. It felt like a betrayal from his parents all over again—an unbearably uncomfortable sensation.
In particular, Tony had previously ordered a thorough investigation to uncover any traitors who might have been selling weapons to the warlord leaders. Now, the answer had surfaced: it was none other than Obadiah.
No wonder the warlords had managed to acquire so many weapons, including unregistered ones. It turned out that Obadiah was the one behind it all.
It was easy to imagine how much money Obadiah had made off the black market using Stark Industries' channels over the years.
The money itself wasn't Tony Stark's primary concern. What truly mattered to him was the betrayal of his uncle. From this moment on, he had no more family.
"So it was him!" Tony Stark let out a long breath, gradually coming to terms with the reality. "No wonder I couldn't find anything, no matter how hard I searched. It turns out that the director of our Stark Group sold us out himself. Heh!"
Tony Stark sneered. As a decisive capitalist, he found it hard to fully accept the situation at first, but now, he was ready to face it.
Since Obadiah had betrayed their relationship and even plotted to kill him, Tony Stark would have no hesitation in taking action.
"J.A.R.V.I.S, mobilize all resources to investigate Obadiah's actions. I want my dear uncle locked up in prison!" Tony Stark said with a sneer.
He would use J.A.R.V.I.S to uncover every shady deal Obadiah had been involved in and send him to prison.
As for the possibility of Obadiah dying suddenly in prison? That seemed entirely plausible.
In the Lighthouse Country, it was common for people to die in prison.
It was perfectly normal for an old man to pass away under such circumstances.
"Understood, sir," J.A.R.V.I.S replied without hesitation. As Tony Stark's AI assistant, J.A.R.V.I.S didn't ask any further questions.
"Whitewashing? He didn't wash himself clean!" Tony Stark glared at the diary. Luo Chen had used the term "whitewashing" to describe Obadiah's situation, and Tony couldn't help but sneer in disdain.
Now, he found Obadiah even more repugnant.
Then, he turned his attention to other details. Tom Cruise's version of Tony Stark?
Although Tony had known for a long time that there were many versions of himself across different timelines, hearing Tom Cruise's name for the first time was still a surprise.
The actor who portrayed him outside the fourth wall was Robert Downey Jr., but this was clearly a different version of the character from some other film or TV show.
Though Tony didn't know what that version of him looked like, he was confident that he was the most handsome one.
"Also, this Vanko..."
If Obadiah was the villain of the first installment of the series, then Vanko should be the villain of the second or third film. But Tony wasn't sure how many installments the story would have.
"I think it should be pretty popular, at least dozens of films will be made!" Tony said confidently.
"Sir, based on the current Hollywood filming schedule, if you want to make dozens of films, your actors from outside the fourth wall would have to live to at least two hundred years old!" J.A.R.V.I.S remarked, seizing the opportunity to tease Tony.
Tony Stark paused for a moment, a bit speechless. He knew J.A.R.V.I.S was right, but he couldn't refute it.
A normal human living to two hundred years old? That would be a miracle.
"J.A.R.V.I.S, create a file named 'Vanko.' Search for any information about this Vanko, and find all possible candidates. We need to narrow it down, so let's focus on Russia—specifically, Ross!" Tony ordered.
"Judging by Luo Chen's words, this Vanko might come to the Lighthouse Country and become my new enemy, so we need to monitor every Vanko from Russia!" Tony added.
He narrowed the search parameters. There were too many people named Vanko in Russia to sift through, but if they were coming to the Lighthouse Country with the potential to become his enemies, the scope of the search would be much smaller.
"Yes, sir," J.A.R.V.I.S acknowledged.
Meanwhile, in S.H.I.E.L.D...
"I can't believe it was Obadiah! I never saw him as a good person," Hawkeye Barton said, shaking his head.
"It seems that once Tony Stark got the news, he's determined to clean house," Phil Coulson remarked. "I think Tony Stark must be feeling incredibly uncomfortable right now. I can't imagine he ever thought the biggest traitor would turn out to be his closest relative."
"It's just another capitalist feud," Widow Natasha Romanoff said with a sneer. "I just don't know what choice Tony Stark will make in the end."
[Please support me at my patreon if you want more: patreon/OGCrafter for 20+ chapters]