"Obadiah Stane, CEO of Stark Industries, fell to his death at Stark Industrial Park three days ago."
"According to official investigation results—"
"His death was not caused by others, but ruled a suicide out of fear of punishment," the police reported.
"Stane had repeatedly engaged in arms deals with foreign terrorist forces in his personal capacity," the anchor continued, "and committed multiple crimes including murder, interfering in the internal affairs of other countries, and more."
"This includes the attack on Tony Stark, President of Stark Industries, a few months ago, which has now been confirmed to be orchestrated by Obadiah Stane."
"For more details, we now turn to our reporters on the ground…"
Leon, standing in the hall in a horse stance, watched the news while stuffing a slice of cheese pizza into his mouth.
"Well, that's just great…" he muttered. "Just when the stock price had rebounded after my company appearance two days ago, this bombshell drops. It's going to plummet again like a roller coaster."
He mocked himself with a dry chuckle.
"Not that it affects me much, but I feel bad for those shareholders who supported Stark."
Thinking for a moment, Leon pulled out his phone and opened Twitter. He posted a status update:
"Obadiah's matter was just an unfortunate accident. Stark Industries stands firmly against evil. Please continue to trust and support Stark Industries' stock. The day you reap the rewards is not far. Stark never disappoints its supporters."
He attached a photo of the half-eaten pizza on his desk.
Seconds later, the comment section exploded.
Hundreds of replies flooded in, mostly angry and scathing, as if the entire stock market had taken residence on Twitter just to vent.
[Look at Obadiah! How could someone like that be CEO? Stark Industries is finished!]
[This is total BS! When Tony Stark returned, I bought stock—then boom, he shuts down the weapons division and I lose half my fortune. Then Leon shows up after six months, I buy again, and now we find out the CEO's a supervillain? I'm going to be begging on the streets of L.A. in a month! Stark ruined me!]
More and more furious comments followed, filled with regret and fury from stockholders who'd bet on Stark Industries and lost.
Leon stared at the rapidly scrolling feed—999+ comments in just one minute—and felt a pang of guilt.
"Uh… I guess Stark's shareholders have their own thoughts. Forget it. I still believe everyone will have a bright future… peace… and joy."
Just then, Pepper walked in with a cup of coffee.
"I thought I heard you praying for the shareholders," she said flatly.
"Not exactly…" Leon trailed off, sensing something ominous in her tone.
Pepper didn't let up.
"Leon, if you really want the shareholders not to lose everything, then go get Tony—he's been missing for three days!"
"And while you're at it, get back to your own company! Stop leaving everything to me!"
Her voice rose as her frustration spilled out. The stress she was under had clearly reached a breaking point.
"Tony's off doing who-knows-what! Obadiah turned out to be a criminal who got what he deserved. And you? You're just sunbathing at home every day! Meanwhile, I'm drowning in work."
She continued, practically ranting, "Stark Industries, Stark Networks, Stark Electronic Technology—how am I supposed to handle all of that by myself? Even if I had three heads, I couldn't manage it all!"
"And you, Leon—you have time to post on Twitter about pizza and shareholders?"
Anger boiled over. She shoved the coffee cup into his hands a little too forcefully.
"God, now that I say it out loud, I realize how insane I've been these past few days!"
"Leon! Tell Tony if he doesn't come out of that damn lab soon, I'm quitting!"
"And you! If you don't start managing your own company, I'm quitting that one too!"
With that, Pepper spun on her heel and stormed out, high heels clicking angrily as she left for yet another overloaded workday.
Leon sat on the sofa, speechless. He wanted to say something encouraging, something that might help her hold on just a bit longer.
But… maybe she was right?
Leaving the management of three companies entirely to Pepper really was excessive.
He scratched his head.
"Maybe I should go back to work… No, wait. Why would I even think about going to work? Damn it."
He clapped his hands as an idea struck.
"What I should do is get Old Joe to cancel his vacation and go back to work! Yes, that's it!"
"Jarvis," Leon called out, "is Job still on vacation? Notify him to return to work immediately!"
"I'm sorry, Master Leon," Jarvis replied calmly. "Mr. Job's vacation ended yesterday. He returned to work at the company at 4:00 a.m. this morning."
"Four o'clock? In the morning?" Leon exclaimed, stunned. "I take it back—Old Joe is the best president in the world!"
"If I get the chance, I'm starting a 'World's Best President' award and giving it to Old Joe every single year."
He paused, pondering aloud, "Wait, if Old Joe is already working, shouldn't Pepper be less stressed?"
Jarvis hesitated for a few seconds before replying.
"I'm afraid not, Master Leon. Mr. Job is managing Stark Electronic Technology and assisting with parts of Stark Networks' operations. The remaining workload still falls on Miss Pepper."
Leon frowned. "Right… That was how we set things up when I left six months ago. Tony used to help manage things too."
"Jarvis, any suggestions?"
"To prevent Miss Pepper from resigning, I recommend you temporarily return to work. Once a new company president is in place, you can resume your sunbathing."
Leon immediately shook his head. "No way. Sunbathing is crucial—I can't just drop that!"
"And it's not like I've only been sunbathing lately. You know exactly what I've been doing."
Three days ago, Leon had Jarvis collect every fighting tutorial available on the internet.
Since then, he had spent day and night absorbing techniques.
He'd gone through nearly every major martial art.
And yet, the more he learned, the more he realized something unsettling.
His control over power had certainly improved—but his actual combat effectiveness? Barely any change.
It made the fighting techniques feel nearly useless.
In the world he now lived in, most enemies he could defeat with a single slap.
Those he couldn't defeat with a slap were far too powerful to be affected by any of his fighting skills.
Only in a battle against an evenly matched opponent would these techniques come into play.
But those opponents were extremely rare.
Odin? Maybe.
Thanos? Possibly.
Captain Marvel? Sure.
Other than that? Practically no one.
"Your fighting skills have already reached their peak," Jarvis offered. "Continuing this training won't improve your strength further."
"So, why not go back to work? It would please Miss Pepper and give your days more structure."
Leon narrowed his eyes.
"Jarvis… why do you really want me to go back to work?"
A thought struck him.
"Ah-ha! This is about three days ago, isn't it? When I dragged you down in front of Tony!"
"Good for you, Jarvis. You claim not to have subjective thoughts, but now you're holding grudges like a human!"
The Jarvis interface flickered momentarily on the screen.
"Master Leon, I would never act in a way detrimental to you."
"But you will encourage me to do things that delay my progress and make me unhappy," Leon replied, throwing his hands up.
He sighed and thought for a moment.
"All right… How about this—I'll go find Tony first, then appoint a new president for the company. After that, I can go back to sunbathing in peace."
"As you wish," Jarvis responded dutifully.