The next morning, Jason slowly opened his eyes and sat up from the large, soft bed.
The two women beside him were sleeping soundly. He carefully got out of bed and walked into the bathroom.
He leaned over the clean sink, stared at his reflection, and rubbed his temples, his head feeling unusually heavy and dull.
Last night, A-Train had flown back to New York from the UK. To celebrate their first overseas victory, Jason held a grand celebration party for them at the hideout.
Over a thousand people attended. The party lasted until the early hours of this morning.
Jason was happy and, in his excitement, had downed two cases of champagne and whiskey. The empty bottles were piled up in the corner.
After the impulse came the long, drawn-out pain.
A hangover felt awful. His stomach was churning, and he'd tossed and turned all night, unable to sleep.
A cold shower refreshed his body and mind.
Jason sat at the dining table, gently pushed away the plate with a sandwich, and asked the maid to cook him a bowl of congee.
Whenever his stomach was upset, he liked to drink congee to soothe it. He has kept this habit to this day.
While waiting for the congee, Jason started looking for his phone, finally finding it in the trash can.
He opened his phone and saw that Chloe had left him a message in the early morning. At that time, his head had been splitting, so he'd just tossed the phone into the trash.
Reading Chloe's message, Jason's brow instantly furrowed!
Something had happened in Los Angeles!
Before Jason could think, Chloe sent another message: "Sir, you're finally awake! Hurry, turn on the TV and watch the news!"
Jason immediately went to the living room and turned on the TV.
Tony's familiar face appeared on the screen again.
Tony, wearing a black suit, walked up to the podium with his roguish smile. "I've called this emergency press conference today to announce a matter of great joy to the world. Last night, we successfully destroyed the Joker organization's Los Angeles branch!"
The words had barely landed when the media under the stage erupted.
After a moment of stunned silence, the reporters hurriedly raised their microphones and swarmed forward.
"Mr. Stark, please give us the details!"
A human wall of security guards quickly held back the frantic reporters.
Hearing this, Jason's expression turned grave, his eyes smoldering with rage.
Tony smiled and continued, "The battle took place in a suburb of Los Angeles. I think you already know—it's the same place where the explosion happened last night."
The reporters understood. There had indeed been a major explosion in an LA suburb last night, causing severe damage to the sewer system. They just hadn't realized the explosion was related to the Joker organization.
"In this operation, Stark Industries deployed 50 new Iron Man suits. We killed 1,374 official members of the Joker organization, destroyed 10 of their counterfeit Iron Man suits, and seized countless illicit funds and goods. These assets have been handed over to the Los Angeles city government."
Hearing Tony's words, the reporters were too shocked to know how to react.
Killed 1,374 official members!
My God, it seemed the Joker organization had never suffered such a major loss since its founding.
It's over... this is big trouble!
Tony looked around, taking in the reporters' expressions. "We'll now take questions. Ask anything you want; there's no need to hold back."
The reporters loved to hear that.
Instantly, hundreds of reporters in the audience raised their hands.
Tony casually pointed to a blonde beauty, who had a great figure and face, and was closest to him.
This woman looks a bit familiar. I wonder if I've slept with her.
"Mr. Stark, hello. I'm Christine from Vanity Fair." The blonde woman stood up and asked in a rapid-fire voice: "I have three questions about this operation."
"First: The Joker organization's hideouts are very well hidden. How did you find them?"
"Second: How powerful are Stark Industries' new suits?"
"Third: By eliminating the LA branch and holding this press conference, are you openly provoking the Joker organization?"
Christine was truly a veteran reporter. Her three questions basically covered what everyone else wanted to ask.
Normally, Tony wouldn't have the patience to answer so many questions at once, but today was a special day, so he'd make an exception.
"First question. Although the Joker organization hides well, Stark Industries' artificial intelligence is world-leading. Facial recognition, big data search—combine those two, and finding the Joker's hideout is a piece of cake."
As planned, Tony did not reveal S.H.I.E.L.D.'s existence, shamelessly taking all the credit for himself.
Unfortunately, this rhetoric could fool the reporters, but it couldn't fool Chloe.
When Jason asked her, she immediately refuted it: "Sir, he's lying! Stark Industries' network technology could not possibly bypass me to monitor or investigate the organization's hideout."
Jason had absolute faith in Chloe's abilities.
Since the problem wasn't on the network, it meant the LA branch had a mole.
"Second question. The new Iron Man suit is a groundbreaking product, a miracle of industrial history. I don't want to bore you with its specs; I'll just use last night's battle as an example."
"Ten new suits against ten of the Joker's counterfeit old-model suits. The result was that the Joker suits were instantly crushed, unable to put up a fight, and ultimately had to self-destruct. But even an explosion that massive only caused minor damage to our new suits."
Hearing this, Jason quickly asked, "Chloe, is that..."
Chloe interrupted him: "Sir, just take his words with a grain of salt. Even if the new suits use a new Arc Reactor, the shell material hasn't had a major breakthrough. I'd guess that in last night's explosion, those ten new suits also suffered heavy losses."
Jason sighed and asked the key question: "Which means, the first part—about the new suits crushing the old suits—is true."
Chloe hesitated for a moment, then replied: "The core of the Iron Man suit is the reactor. With a completely superior reactor, a crushing victory is highly likely."
Jason nodded. "I understand."
"Third question. You ask if I'm openly provoking the Joker organization. My answer is: Yes, that's right!"
"The appearance of the new suit marks the complete end of the era where the Joker organization ran rampant. Los Angeles is just the first stop. Next, Joker hideouts all across the country will suffer devastating blows from our Iron Man suits. World order will be restored."
"And I'd like to advise all those people who have done bad things for the Joker organization: hurry to your nearest police station and turn yourselves in. Otherwise..."
Tony took a photo from an envelope and held it up. "This... will be your end."
It was a photo of the LA hideout's B1 level.
Thirty-plus Iron Man suits were floating in the air. Below them, bodies were piled up so high there wasn't even a place to stand.
The visual impact of this photo was too shocking. The press conference was in an uproar.
Click! Click! Click!
The flashbulbs went off incessantly.
A reporter raised his hand. "Mr. Stark, I have..."
Christine saw this and quickly shouted, "Mr. Stark! If I may ask one more question, aren't you afraid of Jason's revenge for doing this?"
That bitch!
The other reporters instantly glared at her.
Tony's smile vanished. He looked at her with a stern face. "I don't care! Because I know Jason doesn't dare to come. If he does, I'll be sitting at home, waiting to put an end to this."
After speaking, Tony turned and left with a flourish.
......
The brief press conference was over.
But the massive amount of information it carried would take everyone a long time to digest.
Tony had casually dropped a bombshell, forcing all TV stations across America to emergently adjust their programming.
News anchors were rushed to their studios by their bosses, had makeup hastily applied, and then, holding the freshly printed scripts, excitedly announced the good news to the world.
At the same time, this news spread like a virus across the internet, triggering intense discussion among billions of netizens.
With the rapid expansion of the Joker organization, more and more residents had been affected. As a result, the vast majority of online comments were supporting Iron Man.
They hoped he could eliminate the Joker organization as soon as possible and restore social order.
The Joker organization had once again become a 'rat crossing the street,' with everyone shouting to beat it.
.........
After watching the news, Jason sat alone on the sofa, not saying a word.
A-Train and Franklin had arrived, but they all stood aside silently, not daring to make a sound.
Jason sat with his head down in silence. His heavy breathing was clearly audible in the quiet living room.
The two of them looked uneasy, as quiet as cicadas in winter.
Every word Tony had said at the press conference had lit a fire in Jason's heart.
After watching the press conference, he was already burning with a rage he couldn't control.
Feeling just as angry were Jason's accomplices.
The Joker Community's chat group had exploded. The accomplices were furious, all clamoring to tear Tony to pieces.
Especially A-Train. As the top leader of the LA branch, the anger in his heart was no less than Jason's.
[Ding! Daily Mission Updated!]
Jason looked up. His eyes briefly scanned the screen and found that the last mission was about Tony.
New Mission: [Revenge]
[Mission Details: Tony Stark has eliminated the LA branch and openly provoked you in front of the media, causing extremely negative effects for the organization. The host must give a strong response and enact revenge against Tony Stark!]
[Mission Reward: 20,000~30,000 Villain Points!]
[Friendly Tip: Blowing up Tony's house is a good choice!]
Jason closed the system and stood up from the sofa.
The four of them looked at him in unison.
Jason let out a long sigh and said in a terrifyingly calm voice, "Assemble the whole team."
Hearing this, the faces of the four filled with excitement.
After half a year, the core members of the Joker organization were gathering once again.
Tony's willingness to provoke him publicly proved he was fully prepared.
Although Jason was furious, he didn't dare to be careless.
For this operation, aside from Stanfield, who was deep undercover in S.H.I.E.L.D., Jason was bringing out his entire arsenal. Even Harley and Christine, who had just given birth, were being called back into action.
In the foreseeable future, a bloody storm was now unavoidable.
.
.
.
.
You can read advance chapters and view R-18 images of the characters on pat reon page.
pat reon.com/GreenBlue17
500 power stones.
Top 50. All time.