112 Obadiah

Originally, Jos had only intended to deal with Hulk if the opportunity arose. After all, he had guessed earlier that Hulk was most likely in the Grandmaster’s arena. Unlike Thor, who was a born god, Hulk wasn’t, so rushing in now would almost certainly mean death.

Yet the system was relentless. Shortly after Jos returned home, it immediately threw a mission at him.

[Mission Objective: Retrieve Hulk before Loki leads the Chitauri invasion, and recruit him into the Avengers.]

[Success Reward: One random item of SR rank or above.]

[Failure Penalty: Acquire forty uncontrollable system creatures of SSR rank or above.]

Although the penalty’s scale was nerve-wracking, Jos managed to suppress his reckless urge to act rashly.

Forty SSR-level creatures wouldn’t be mere battle goblins; they would be formidable monsters. With the system’s occasional reality-altering abilities, if even one of those beasts turned out overwhelmingly powerful... Well, on second thought, the monsters might not be the real threat—Master Ancient One would probably step in and put Jos in his place first.

In any case, despite the penalty’s temptation to flirt with disaster, it was essentially a death sentence. Jos, a true connoisseur of reckless survival—“to dare and not perish”—wouldn’t make such a short-sighted mistake. Instead, he decisively chose to seek out Hulk in the Grandmaster’s arena.

Tony had already informed him that modifying the spatial gate would take about three or four days—a relatively short time. Due to the teleportation energy cost, Jos would be the sole traveler this time; no extras like Little Black could tag along.

If not for the system space’s convenience, Jos might even have had to leave his gear behind and venture in naked.

Having secured Tony’s promise, Jos didn’t act like a pestering client, constantly nagging every few seconds. Instead, he focused on handling matters on Earth.

Although returning home was easy enough, this trip would keep him away for at least one to two months, so he needed to bid farewell to acquaintances.

Besides, his equipment required maintenance, crucial for combat effectiveness. Without hesitation, Jos approached Tony—whose face looked perpetually constipated—and brought up the issue.

Judging from Tony’s reaction, Jos felt a twinge of confusion.

Strange. I said I wouldn’t pester you about the spatial gate, but I never said I wouldn’t bother you with other matters, right?

“Fixing your gear is such a minor thing. Don’t bother me with that. Ask Pepper... no, better yet, go see Obadiah. His team specializes in repairing equipment like yours.”

Accustomed to Jos’s personality, Tony waved him off, signaling to bother someone else.

After all, one wrong move on his end could unleash a city-devouring black hole. No sane person would disturb him now!

Jos shrugged indifferently. “Fine, I’ll begrudgingly find Obadiah... what was his name again?”

Tony pushed up his goggles, puzzled by Jos’s reaction. “What’s wrong? Obadiah, Mr. Obadiah, one of the founders of Stark Industries. You don’t know him?”

“Ahem... I know, I know. Just misheard you, don’t mind me.” Jos forced a smile and waved off further questions, then quickly left the lab.

Oh my god!

Did I just hear that right?

Obadiah!

That Iron Overlord Obadiah!

Well, that’s perfectly normal. As one of Stark Industries’ founding members, his presence there is no surprise.

Except it isn’t!

Why the hell is this traitor still around?!

By rights, this guy should’ve been dead, like Jos himself, after his dirty schemes to spy on Tony’s arc reactor and seize Stark Industries.

Though it wasn’t Jos’s first time realizing that movie plots weren’t reliable in this world, this instance was the most aggravating yet.

Wait... no, on second thought, it might be possible. From what Jos had heard, Tony joined the Avengers earlier in this timeline, and the development of the second-generation armor was accelerated.

Reflecting on the timeline, Jos guessed why Obadiah hadn’t been eliminated—or why Tony hadn’t acted against him yet.

On moral grounds, Stark Industries was now closely linked with the Avengers and S.H.I.E.L.D. If Obadiah acted rashly, the pressure wouldn’t fall solely on Tony Stark.

From a practical standpoint, Tony had developed a new energy source, rendering the old arc reactor somewhat obsolete.

Perhaps there were other considerations, but these factors had combined to keep Obadiah in check, and so far, he hadn’t betrayed Tony.

Interesting... So what are you really planning? To resign yourself or to aim for something greater? Jos rubbed his chin thoughtfully, his eyes gleaming with curiosity.

Regardless, this was an opportune moment. Since Obadiah hadn’t made a move and Tony hadn’t noticed any disloyalty, Jos might be able to stir things up interestingly.

After all, Obadiah’s ambitions weren’t grandiose—just money and power.

Now that Stark Industries was intertwined with S.H.I.E.L.D. and the Avengers, even if Obadiah had the means to kill Tony, the fortune wouldn’t simply fall into his hands.

Oh, right—his shareholder status probably wouldn’t change, but that would be all.

Still, it was unlikely he’d quietly accept a lifetime as a Stark family subordinate.

Thanks to Tony’s prior instructions, Jos easily arranged a meeting with Obadiah—a bald, bearded middle-aged man.

“Hello, Mr. Jos. Tony has briefed me on your request. Please hand over your equipment to my assistant for maintenance,” Obadiah said with a friendly handshake, getting straight to the point.

But Jos waved him off. “No rush on that. I want to discuss something with you first.”

“Oh? What would you like to talk about, Mr. Jos?”

“Do you want to kill Tony?”

“Pfft?!”