Chapter 221: Tony Stark’s Fury
Regardless, after gritting her teeth and enduring the past few days of training, Wanda was basically able to keep up with the others.
Of course, there was still a clear gap in physique.
Although she had been injected with the latest iteration of the serum, the other soldiers had received it as well—and earlier than she had.
When everyone started from roughly the same level, those who had trained longer were naturally stronger.
But once Wanda came into contact with magic, things became completely different.
The moment she touched magic, she shot forward like she had been strapped to a rocket. From basic introductory magical theory to hands-on spell practice, in just a few short days, she had already surpassed her companions.
Even Needy, the Commander of the Grey Knights, and Mordo, who was training alongside them, could not help calling it absurd.
Especially Mordo. He found it almost unbelievable.
After coming here, Mordo had already discovered that this group of people were all monsters. Forget their physiques—even their magical talent was among the best he had ever seen.
In the past, Kaecilius had been an outstanding genius, yet he was vastly inferior to this group. Now, Wanda showed Mordo that there was an even greater height.
After closely observing Wanda for a time, Mordo fell into a state of self-doubt. He had identified the exact nature of the power residing within her—a power that all sorcerers yearned for.
Chaos Magic.
This was not some secret in Kamar-Taj's brief history of magic. They were well aware of the three oldest powers in the universe.
The Phoenix Force, Chaos Magic, and the Goblin Force.
Mordo had truly never imagined that in his lifetime, he would actually see someone who possessed Chaos Magic.
To say he was not envious would be impossible. But what could he do?
Naturally, he could only train her wholeheartedly. Although Mordo had not been helping Needy train these soldiers for long, many things were not particularly confidential to him.
At the very least, he knew about the serum.
He also knew that Matthew had specifically solved the energy problem for these soldiers. As for where that energy came from, Mordo did not know.
He only knew that these soldiers were certainly not lacking in energy.
At the same time, Matthew's philosophy suited Mordo far too well.
Justice, order, protection.
These were all principles Mordo firmly upheld, so Mordo had begun considering what kind of elegant posture he should use to kneel and pledge allegiance.
Kamar-Taj no longer seemed quite as fragrant.
Of course, Mordo had no intention of betraying it. He was not stupid. Stubborn was one thing, but since the Ancient One had valued him, he certainly did not lack intelligence or talent.
He understood exactly why the Sorcerer Supreme had sent him here.
Since it was the Ancient One's decision, there was no point in objecting. Instead, Mordo resolved to work hard and make a good impression on his new boss. He wanted to improve as well.
Fortunately, Mordo did not pay Wanda special attention or secretly give her extra lessons just because she possessed Chaos Magic. He treated everyone equally.
It was simply in his nature.
Because of that, Wanda came to have a good impression of her assistant magic instructor, even though he often wore a stern expression.
While Wanda devoted herself to her training, she never imagined that the person she had long regarded as her enemy was, at that very moment, flying into a rage.
…
Inside the luxurious living room of a seaside villa in New York.
Tony Stark's face was ashen as he stared at the projection in front of him.
He could not hold back and began cursing.
"Fuck. What a great uncle he turned out to be."
The projection was filled with information Tony had uncovered during this period—information he had known nothing about.
Smuggling records.
And the goods being smuggled were none other than weapons from Stark Industries.
Ever since World War II, when his genius father, Howard Stark, had dragged Stark Industries all the way up to become the world's finest arms group, Tony had displayed astonishing intelligence and talent from a young age. Later, he inherited the company his father left behind and, relying on that genius mind of his, continuously developed and innovated a series of powerful weapons, earning the favor of the Department of Defense.
It could be said that the annual orders Stark Industries received from the Department of Defense alone were enough to leave other arms groups staring at its back.
So Tony Stark had never looked twice at something like smuggling.
Aside from the restrictions in the contracts signed with the Department of Defense—restrictions that forbade the sale of limited military weapons to foreign countries—Tony himself also looked down on the small profits from smuggling.
After all, Stark Industries was not only a weapons company. It also covered many other profitable fields.
But what he had never expected was that the person he trusted most, his uncle Obadiah, had been running this smuggling business behind his back.
Obadiah Stane had been Howard's close friend and business partner. After Howard's death, he had once served as CEO of Stark Industries.
To Tony, he was something of a father figure.
Because of that, Tony had entrusted much of the company's affairs to Obadiah.
Tony had trusted him.
Now, however, that trust had been shattered by the results of Tony's own investigation.
Wonderful," Tony muttered through gritted teeth.
He looked at the confidential order records Jarvis had obtained by infiltrating Obadiah's private computer. They contained the buyers over the years, with each arms sale and its profits recorded in great detail.
The buyers included African warlords, Latin American drug lords, European gangs, and more.
The yearly profits had climbed step by step. After Tony's father and mother died, Obadiah had taken over as acting CEO and gradually built a black-market channel.
At first, it was tens of millions of dollars. Then hundreds of millions. Now, the profit had exceeded three billion dollars.
Compared with Stark Industries' current market valuation and the profits it earned from the Department of Defense, that might not seem like much.
But one had to understand—this was private annual profit made in the dark.
The most ridiculous part was that Obadiah had even falsified the accounts. Through those fake accounts, he had distributed this annual profit as dividends to other shareholders on Stark Industries' board of directors.
Clearly, those people had already formed a private faction, creating a shared interest group.
Of course, that included Tony himself.
The difference was that Tony didn't care about that small share of the profits. Or rather, with Jarvis and a dedicated private accounting team handling his finances, he never had to worry about how much money flowed into his personal accounts each year.
Tony looked at the order records and laughed from anger. He picked up the whiskey beside him and took a large gulp.
But soon, he calmed down.
"Jarvis, erase all traces and save this data in my private database."
"Of course, sir. Would you like me to investigate the other board members?"
"No. Don't touch them for now."
Tony declined. He rubbed the bridge of his nose and sat on the sofa, still holding the heavy-bottomed glass in his hand. Leaning back, he stared up at the expensive crystal chandelier on the ceiling.
He was thinking about how to handle this.
In reality, Obadiah's actions had already broken the law.
However, Tony couldn't simply expose the information.
His own accounts had also received dividends. If the Department of Defense found out, they would undoubtedly use that against him. At that point, it would no longer be a simple matter of paying compensation.