Chapter 807 - The Tycoon Sets Out
Since the end of June, Tony had been at the Malibu villa every day, tinkering with his new armor. He had left everything to Pepper, which made many of the company’s old leaders unhappy.
Pepper was only thirty years old, but already wielded the power of the CEO of Stark Industries. It was impossible for the old guys to not object.
Tony’s enormous research expenditure in the last two months was even more shocking.
Furthermore, Tony never showed his face, which made them wonder all sorts of things.
For example, had Tony gone crazy? Top scientists were like top artists; mental illness was a common problem for this highly intelligent group.
It could also be that Tony, who hadn’t shown up for a long time, was seriously ill, and Pepper was taking advantage of this transfer of high-end company resources to stuff her own pockets.
Under this pressure, Tony couldn’t resist Obadiah’s repeated pleas, and finally left the villa to go to Afghanistan in person to obtain the military’s purchase order.
After spending more than two billion dollars of Stark Industries’ research funds in two months, he really did need to show the shareholders that there was hope of making money.
It would be more convincing if he obtained this first order himself.
In any case, Tony determined that the trip to and fro would only take a day at most on his private jet, and a live demonstration would take half a day; he would be able to return to Los Angeles in two days.
With this revenue, the shareholders would be obedient for at least several months.
As for why he was still using the company’s research resources after he finished manufacturing the Jericho missiles, he would find another project to fool them.
After this hard work, Tony felt that he would get blessed silence for another two to three months.
Everything proceeded normally in the beginning.
Tony flew to Afghanistan and hurried over to the test site to shoot off his mouth, then shoot off the missile.
Looking at the faces of the representatives, Tony knew that he had successfully swayed this bunch of bureaucrats who didn’t know anything about science; he would be able to sell this third-rate missile which he had put together in a hurry for a good price.
As expected, there were no surprises with the purchase order.
After confirming that the Defense Department would be placing an order, Tony opened a large cooler and gave the representatives a bottle of famous iced wine that was stored inside. He didn’t forget to say, “I’ll throw one box of wine in for every purchase of 500 million. This one is on me.”
He raised his glass. “To peace.”
At that moment, his phone rang. It was Obadiah, who was calling to say that there were some things at the company which Tony had to deal with online.
Of course, Tony wasn’t going to deal with company matters in the middle of nowhere in Afghanistan, so he returned to the base early.
In any case, the base wasn’t far from the test site. If anything happened to the convoy, they could call for reinforcements at any time.
The generals had to stay at the test site and use the remaining two Jericho missiles to test the damage output. Most of the two hundred soldiers at the test site naturally stayed to protect the delegation and the two Jericho missiles.
Thus, only thirty American soldiers in ten cars escorted Tony back to the base.
Tony had successfully obtained the purchase order. He was cheerful when he thought about how he could return to his workshop in a day to continue tinkering with his big toys.
A young soldier in the car asked him if he had really gone out with all the cover girls from last year’s Sports Illustrated, and Tony answered him with a smile.
There was widespread gossip about this tycoon, and nobody thought that he was despicable. Conversely, they talked about him like he was a celebrity.
How could a tycoon be considered a degenerate?
In any case, Tony wasn’t married and didn’t have a girlfriend. It was up to him how many women he wanted to be intimate with.
This could be seen from the expression of the female soldier in the backseat with Tony.
In the face of Tony bragging about dating so many beauties, not only wasn’t she angry, her lips curved upward and she looked at the tycoon like a little fangirl.
It seemed that if the tycoon wanted to get to know her better after they returned to the base, she wouldn’t refuse.
The young soldier in the front passenger seat was excited. He took out a small digital camera and asked, “Mr. Stark, can I take a picture with you?”
Tony nodded. “Sure, but don’t post it online.”
Grinning from ear to ear, the young soldier turned the camera around and raised it high with one hand. He made a V gesture with his other hand and was about to take a photo of the both of them.
Tony quickly stopped him. “No, no gang signs.”
The young soldier immediately put his hand down, but Tony suddenly smiled. “Alright, I was kidding. Treat it as ‘peace.'”
He then murmured, “I love this kind of ‘peace’. If there really was world peace, I would be out of a job.”
The three soldiers in the car all laughed. The female soldier even leaned in closer to Tony, planning to take the lead role as the girl in this group photo. When she went back, she would ask the young soldier in front to make a copy for her as a memento of this temporary assignment.
After this assignment was over, she could bring the photo back with her and brag to all her colleagues.
Thinking about their possible reactions, she was secretly amused.
In this relaxed atmosphere, the convoy reached the middle between the test field and the base.
Suddenly, there was a loud explosion. The two cars at the front of the convoy were directly sent flying, and the entire convoy was covered in dust.
The female soldier next to Tony reacted swiftly and yelled, “Left! They’re on the left!”
Tony was stunned.
The female soldier next to him, however, didn’t hesitate and pushed him down, and no longer looked as soft as before. Her face was solemn, and she didn’t panic at all as she shouted in his ear, “Get down, get down, lower your body.”
Even though his ears were ringing, Tony could clearly hear her loud bellow.
At that moment, his senses were addled.
Although he was one of the most famous arms dealers in the world, he had never been in a real battle.
The time he had spent with Batman had been nothing more than a game. Fighting some gangsters with guns was completely different from a battlefield with gunfire and bullets everywhere.
The attack was sudden and fierce.
The soldiers, who had always suppressed others with their firepower, tasted the pain of being suppressed themselves.
The attackers had more firepower than the convoy, and with RPGs and mortar weapons as support, they instantly destroyed half of the convoy vehicles.
The machine guns on the other cars were also the focus of fire.
If any of the soldiers wanted to go up, the car would instantly be attacked.
“Call for backup, call for backup.” Tony heard the frantic yells of some of the soldiers.
But he also heard someone yell miserably, “Electronic interference! They have electronic interference!”
Tony’s heart sank.
