"I am Iron Man!"
New York's gossip reporters went completely wild!
The day after Tony's press conference, nearly every newspaper in New York ran that headline on their front page.
Even the summit held in New York was pushed to the second page.
The impact this rich heir had caused was simply staggering.
Compared to official newspapers, which still had to balance other news,
the tabloids went completely unrestrained.
From Tony Stark sleeping with cover models,
to allegedly sleeping with reporters,
to rumors involving all kinds of high-society figures—
endless gossip flooded the dia.
In the past, Tony was just a genius playboy and wealthy heir.
Now, he had an additional identity—
Iron Man!
So outrageous "real-person fanfics" even started circulating online.
Stories about Iron Man saving a celebrity and spending a passionate night together.
Or secretly flying into the hos of wealthy socialites for midnight affairs.
After all, tabloids weren't exactly known for responsibility—
they published whatever got attention.
Compared to the chaos of entertainnt dia, financial outlets were slightly more restrained.
At the very least, they didn't cover scandalous affairs.
Instead, they conducted in-depth analyses of Tony Stark, Iron Man, and Stark Industries.
"The Iron Armor: Stark Industries' Next-Generation Super Weapon!"
"Iron Man: Tony Stark Personally Endorses His Own Weapons!"
"Did Stark Shut Down the Weapons Division Because of the Iron Armor?"
"From Iron Armor to the Future of Advanced Weaponry!"
"When Will Stark Industries Launch Its New Weapons Division?"
"Rumor: Iron Armor Shoots Down Military Aircraft!"
"Stark Industries Remains the King of Weapons Manufacturing!"
One headline after another reinforced a single idea—
Stark Industries was still the most powerful weapons developer in the world.
Tony's shutdown of the weapons division?
rely paving the way for sothing even greater.
Now, that "greater weapon" had descended from the sky in the form of Iron Man.
The first to benefit from this narrative—
was Stark Industries' stock.
Overnight, its share price skyrocketed.
Tony glanced at the newspaper in his hand and took a sip of coffee.
"Pepper, why do they all think we're going to restart the weapons division?"
He looked at Pepper, who was busy working beside him, a teasing expression on his face.
"Because, as Iron Man, you just proved to the world how powerful Stark Industries' weapons can be."
Pepper sighed helplessly.
Ever since she learned Tony had built the suit, she knew this day would co.
She just didn't expect it to hit this hard.
"That doesn't make sense. I literally got shot down into a crowd this ti.
Shouldn't they think our weapons have problems instead?
Why does everyone think they're even stronger now?"
Tony genuinely didn't understand.
"Just the fact that you could fly straight into the summit is enough to shock people.
And previous rumors—like you shooting down military jets—are now seen as confird.
That's why they're saying this."
Pepper paid far more attention to these trends than Tony did.
"Alright, I'll give them that.
How's the stock buyback I asked you to handle?"
Tony shifted to sothing he actually cared about.
This had been part of his plan ever since shutting down the weapons division.
Originally, Obadiah and a group of shareholders had stood in his way.
But Frank had… solved that problem rather directly.
With them gone, the acquisition beca much easier.
"We've bought back 58% of the shares.
You now have absolute control of the company.
The board mbers led by Obadiah dumped all their shares a few days ago.
They've completely given up on Stark Industries—they thought we were finished.
That made the buyback much easier.
Retail investors couldn't withstand the pressure either and sold early.
But… I found sothing unusual."
Pepper summarized their recent progress.
Fifty-eight percent.
Tony was now the largest shareholder—
with absolute control over Stark Industries.
From now on, his word would define the company's direction.
"You said sothing unusual—what do you an?"
Tony was more interested in that detail.
"When Stark Industries' valuation was collapsing, everyone was selling.
But besides us, there was another force buying—constantly.
Right now, they hold 11% of the shares.
They're the second-largest shareholder."
Pepper revealed sothing that caught Tony off guard.
"Eleven percent? That's more than I gave to the demo—uh, Qin Xiao?"
Tony was genuinely surprised.
"No. The ultimate beneficiary of those shares is Qin Xiao.
That ans—he took 5% from you,
and bought another 6% from the market.
It's almost as if he knew from the beginning that Stark's stock would rise again.
I'm worried there's sothing… off about this.
Just like how he hired Frank to save you—
how did he know all of this would happen?"
After saying that, Pepper looked at Tony with concern.
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