114 After that slap, we're friends now.

Although one of the initial conditions for Jos to join the Avengers was financial, naturally, the money came from Tony. For an ordinary person, it was a generous sum; for Tony, it was just a drop in the bucket.

With that money in hand, Jos had more than enough for normal expenses and even a somewhat lavish lifestyle.

However, since the system introduced the option to spend money, Jos found his funds running low and naturally needed to find a way to earn more.

Jos never understood why Tony Stark never promoted the miniature nuclear battery, something he could casually produce himself. It was baffling to Jos because, having been able to build it in a cave from scraps, it was neither difficult nor valuable to Tony. Yet Tony kept it under wraps for no apparent reason.

Considering Tony’s personality, though, there might be an explanation: perhaps Tony simply forgot about it. With so many concerns demanding his attention, this invention, not one of his top-tier creations, naturally went unnoticed.

Or perhaps, after weighing cost-effectiveness, Tony found this device less valuable than other inventions and simply shelved it.

Whatever the reality, the fact remains: Tony showed no interest in the miniature nuclear battery, which ironically opened a path for Jos to make money.

Moreover, the two sets of black technology data Jos previously provided were undoubtedly worth more than the miniature nuclear battery. Given Jos’s requested compensation, it was practically a giveaway. Discussing this with Tony now posed no difficulty.

If Jos were to handle it all himself, however, he’d have to put everything else aside for years. Even with various forms of assistance, building his company and getting it on track within a year would be a prodigious feat.

But if he truly set aside his strengths to take a slow, farming-style approach for several years, who knew what disasters might strike? He could be wiped out on the spot.

Wasting years like that would also mean missing out on the chaos wrought by the Chiretians, Ultron, and even Thanos.

And no amount of money would save him from a snap of the fingers then.

So abandoning his advantages to play the long game was clearly unwise. Jos needed someone else to help him tend the fields.

Originally, he planned to discuss this after returning from High Sovereign’s arena. But upon seeing Obadiah—a figure who should have been a formidable tycoon but was frustrated by the shifting world lines—Jos’s mind began to shift.

Did Obadiah lack funds? Perhaps not. But his ambition constantly sought greater wealth and higher status.

As a founding member of Stark Industries, Obadiah’s business acumen was unquestionable, and his ambition was no less formidable.

If he had Tony Stark’s genius, he would have achieved great things. Unfortunately, like a student missing the top exam cut-off by a few points, he simply couldn’t keep pace with Tony.

With the Avengers established and S.H.I.E.L.D. appearing, Obadiah’s aspirations only grew harder to realize. Eventually, he might not even get to pilot a giant robot.

At that moment, Jos’s arrival offered him a chance—a chance to go independent.

Though the miniature nuclear battery was Tony Stark’s creation, a cheaper knockoff could outshine the original. The battle of good versus bad currency was no joke. As long as Tony remained indifferent, Obadiah could reach peak after peak on this path.

In effect, what Obadiah had labored for was handed directly to him by Jos. The service was impeccable.

Yet facing such a formidable figure, Jos wasn’t naive enough to trust him with mere words and promises. Instead, he chose to forge a bond through the “Friendship Breakthrough” technique, turning their relationship into one of sworn comrades.

This technique required a complicated activation condition: there had to be some cooperative relationship—essentially allies, yet with a tinge of rivalry.

Once triggered, the effect was striking: Obadiah, sporting bruises and a battered face, slung an arm around Jos as if they were lifelong buddies.

Though the “Friendship Breakthrough” involved mutual brawling, Jos, equipped with six divine artifacts, effortlessly bested Obadiah, who had been offline for forty minutes as a first-tier repairman. The outcome left Jos unscathed.

In any case, this trip to Stark Tower turned out to be a fortunate treasure. With Obadiah helping him make money, Jos could freely unlock many system functions going forward.

Of course, for someone like Obadiah, even if they became “friends,” he would betray Jos if the benefits outweighed the loyalty. But that was not a concern for now.

Compared to Tony Stark, Obadiah offered advantages Jos couldn’t get elsewhere.

Firstly, Jos had absolutely no interest in company affairs. As long as the money arrived on time, the company’s assets, prestige, and social networks were none of his concern.

This hands-off approach might be a blessing to some, but a recipe for trouble to others.

If Jos really ignored the company’s matters, Obadiah wouldn’t tolerate it long before scheming to expand his own interests and covet Jos’s holdings.

That was when Jos’s other strength would come into play.

He could beat Obadiah senseless to the point his own mother wouldn’t recognize him.

Jos wasn’t making empty threats. Unlike Tony Stark, who cherished his inner circle, Jos had no qualms about using violence.

When a man with extraordinary power stoops to crouch in a corner, tie up troublemakers, and rough them up daily; when he casually drops by someone’s house just to administer a beating; when he can withstand an attack from a squad of private guards and still come out on top—Obadiah would quickly learn what it meant to be utterly powerless.

With this dual safeguard in place, Jos had no worries about trouble and could “confidently” entrust everything to Obadiah.

...

“Hey, Tony, I need to tell you something!”

Just as Tony was solemnly calibrating the energy parameters for the time-space portal, a sudden outcry pierced the silence of the laboratory, startling him so much his hand trembled, nearly triggering the portal to explode.