Victor's careful calculations were wrong.
He was now sitting on the sofa, with Rhode and Tony standing side by side, scrutinizing him.
The situation had turned into two people "interrogating" him.
Annoyed by their stares, Victor feigned anger, "Hey, I just got here myself. Don't look at me like I'm a monkey, okay?"
"So, can you tell me what's going on?" Rhode asked, pointing outside the villa, "Those... who did that?"
Before Victor could answer, Tony interjected with another question.
"So, you broke into my house and knocked me out?"
"Tony, that's not the point. What's outside is the real trouble!" Rhode tried to redirect Tony's focus.
"This jerk snuck into my house and knocked me out, and you're telling me that's not important?" Tony's eyes widened in shock, "I pay a lot of taxes every year!"
"You'd better go look outside. Just two or three kilometers from your house, there was a massacre!" Rhode argued back, "At least 20 heavily armed mercenaries!
And some things that look like they escaped from a lab. I hope you didn't create them, because I don't want to hear you're doing human experiments, or I'll have to arrest you!"
Rhode's words were heavy, making Tony realize the seriousness of the situation.
He asked, half-believing, half-doubting, "Jarvis, tell me what happened at the location Rhode mentioned."
Tony didn't get any response.
Victor awkwardly looked away.
Earlier, to get Tony's information as quickly as possible, he had Alice invade Jarvis at top speed—and the fastest way is often violent.
A large amount of junk information was jammed in Jarvis's logic loop; without external help, it would likely remain crashed.
Tony was unaware of this.
He thought Jarvis had malfunctioned, and while telling the two, "It's time for an upgrade," he headed to the underground lab.
Then came an angry roar.
Tony returned with a large wrench in hand.
His face was filled with undisguised fury, and as soon as he saw them, he growled, "Tell me, who trashed my lab? I'm going to give them a good thank you! With my wrench!"
Tony's gaze swept between Victor and Rhode.
Although he was reluctant to believe it, both of them were possible suspects.
One was of unknown origin, and the other was a military representative; both had reasons to covet the Iron Man suit and the miniature arc reactor technology.
Rhode was naturally confused and quickly distanced himself, "When I arrived, I saw him standing there, and before we could say much, you woke up with a yell."
Both Tony and Rhode's gazes refocused on Victor.
This time, Victor looked nonchalant.
It could basically be confirmed.
Tony had been knocked unconscious without any reaction, so he knew nothing about the unfolding events.
Otherwise, he would have been yelling at Rhode.
Then things would be easy; he was just wondering how to explain the Lickers.
Behold my "Doctor-level Screenwriting Mastery."
"Tony, regarding Obadiah's access, haven't you revoked it yet?" Victor asked.
Tony's angry flames flickered.
"Hey, don't drag other things into this. Stane was under my nose when he was... Anyway, it couldn't have been him!"
Victor rolled his eyes helplessly.
Who was really changing the subject?
And you, Tony, pride yourself on being a genius, so how can you make the same mistake twice?
Without further ado.
Using his telekinesis, he grabbed a tablet from the table and said, "Alice, do you have footage of Tony being attacked?"
Alice responded, and the tablet immediately began playing footage.
In the footage, Tony was sitting on the sofa on the phone when Obadiah quietly appeared behind him, picked up a chair, and smashed it over Tony, leaving him sprawled on the sofa, after which the footage cut out.
The scene shifted.
The location was outside the villa. A dozen armed individuals broke in, and as they passed, all cameras were shot out. The footage kept switching.
Until they reached Tony's underground lab, all monitoring equipment had been destroyed.
The playback ended.
Tony's face was ashen, looking very aggrieved, and he said fiercely, "Damn it! I'll find that guy!"
Rhode also frowned deeply.
He didn't yet know the attackers' objective, but from their well-trained coordination and orderly plan, it was clear these people were not simple.
They might even be a special forces team!
The question now was, which country did these people belong to?
Whether they were from America or another country, the implications were not good.
Victor, however, raised an eyebrow slightly.
They actually sent Obadiah as the vanguard?
It was only because Tony was careless and caught off guard that he was knocked out in one hit; otherwise, with Obadiah's skills, he might not have been a match for Tony.
Unless... Victor quickly understood.
This was Hydra's smokescreen, to make sure all subsequent investigations focused on Obadiah and how he managed to disappear without a trace.
Hydra could then remain hidden within S.H.I.E.L.D., living openly in the sunlight.
This was interesting.
The three fell silent for a moment.
Tony and Rhode suddenly asked questions at the same time.
Tony's face was unfriendly, "How can you control my home's equipment? Who is Alice? Is she also an AI? What did you do to Jarvis?"
Rhode's expression was serious, "And about those 'monsters' outside, how much do you know?"
Victor waved his hand, signaling them to calm down.
First, he answered Tony's questions, "Pepper called me for help, saying you were attacked. Of course, I had to get your information as quickly as possible, so I had Alice infiltrate your security system.
Also, I wrecked a sports car to get here, you owe me for that."
Then he turned to answer Rhode's question, "You'll have to ask Tony about that. I'm not very clear myself. I was attacked by an RPG when I arrived, and then those monsters appeared and started fighting with these armed men. Maybe they brought them, Tony, do you know anything?"
As he spoke.
Victor had Alice take satellite photos and handed the tablet to Tony—there were no Resident Evil movies in this world, so there was no need to worry about exposing the Lickers' existence.
The gruesome photos made Tony's face look very unnatural, and he casually tossed the tablet to Rhode.
"Stark Industries doesn't do much research in the biological field. You guys at Osborn Industries don't even recognize them, so how would I? Are you sure you didn't bring them?"
Rhode, who was looking at the photos on the tablet, looked up at Victor.
So this guy was from Osborn Industries?
Good thing he didn't shoot earlier. Osborn Industries Group had a very close partnership with the military, though it wasn't under his direct command.
Victor ignored Tony's venting and snarky remarks.
He shrugged indifferently, saying, "I don't know much about this either. You guys investigate it yourselves. Since you're fine, I won't cause any more trouble here. Otherwise, I'm worried I'll have to pull out a check and slap you with it."
The check comment successfully disgusted Tony.
Rhode, however, had a look of utter confusion.
Slap Tony with a check? Could this young man be richer than Tony?
Victor quickly slipped away, and as he reached the door, he added, "Oh, right, my car was blown up by a rocket. You're not going to make me walk back, are you?"
"