The moment Tony Stark uttered those words, Batman knew this guy was already suspicious of his identity.
This didn't conflict with the trust Tony Stark had placed in "Peter Parker" by handing over his life to him to tamper with the miniature arc reactor.
"Tony's raising this doubt a few days later than I expected."
"I originally thought Tony Stark would ask me this question right after returning from the Middle East… Now it seems that on the way back with the Silver Sable rescue team, the two sides didn't talk much."
Batman had already prepared a draft in his mind for Tony Stark's question. After a brief moment of thought, he replied:
"Tony, do you remember our first meeting?"
It had only been about a month ago in terms of time, but for both Tony Stark, who had gone through the Middle East ordeal, and Batman, who never rested, that initial encounter felt like it had happened ages ago.
Tony Stark leisurely walked over to the bar and poured himself a drink:
"Of course I remember."
"Before I got funding from you, I accidentally invented a new material—that's the memory fiber that Parker Industries is producing now."
Batman used his words to solidify his "Peter Parker" identity even further:
"I saw the market potential in memory fiber and applied for the patent through Professor Miles Warren at the university."
"But if the university invested in and managed the patent, the profits I'd get would be pitifully small, so I decided to sell that half-finished AI model."
"And you were my ideal buyer."
Tony Stark downed the drink in one gulp and immediately refilled the glass:
"What does this have to do with Batman?"
"After I founded Parker Industries, that guy showed up one night," Batman said in Peter Parker's identity. "Honestly, before he appeared by my side, I always thought he was just an urban legend made up by the gangs."
"So you struck a partnership with him?" Tony Stark asked. "You provide the money and memory fiber, and Batman gives you some help when needed?"
"Exactly," Batman said.
The story he was spinning now as Peter Parker perfectly aligned with what he had told Silver Sable as Batman.
Even if Tony Stark or anyone else tried to investigate Peter Parker's background, they would only uncover this set of information that Batman had deliberately planted.
Tony Stark nodded thoughtfully, accepting Batman's explanation.
"If he ever has any ideas that aren't in your best interest, Peter… you have to tell me. I'll teach him a lesson for you."
"I will," Batman replied with a smile. "When are you planning to make your move on Obadiah?"
"Tonight," Tony said.
"Have you figured out how to ensure the fish you hook is Obadiah and not some mercenaries or assassins he sent?" Batman asked.
Batman wouldn't act like a nanny and lay out every detail of the plan for Tony Stark. He would only step in if Tony was completely clueless.
"When you took my reactor earlier, I thought about it for a while," Tony said. "I've got it figured out now."
"Good luck."
Just before nightfall, outside the massive floor-to-ceiling windows of the Stark Industries headquarters boardroom, the New York skyline burned a fiery red.
Inside the conference room of Stark Tower, a meeting hosted by Pepper was underway. She was describing the bright future of Stark Industries after its transformation to the board members.
Tony Stark's seat was empty, but the board members of Stark Industries were long accustomed to this.
Obadiah Stane sat among the board members, a kindly smile on his face as he watched Pepper.
"…This means we will completely break free from reliance on weapons contracts and open up a broader, more socially responsible future in clean energy and life sciences."
As soon as Pepper finished speaking, an internal video call from Stark Industries suddenly rang out.
In a critical setting like a board meeting, Pepper should have hung up immediately, but the video call showed that the caller was the owner of the building himself—Tony Stark.
"Sorry, gentlemen," Pepper said somewhat awkwardly to the board members.
She was considering whether to hang up the video call when Obadiah, seated at the head of the long table, smiled and spoke up:
"Is that Tony? Pepper, you should take the call. Let's see what our Tony Stark has to say."
The other board members remained silent, but it was clear they weren't thrilled at the prospect of Tony Stark, the playboy, disrupting the meeting again.
Between offending the other board members and going against Obadiah, Pepper hesitated for a moment but chose the former and pressed the video call button.
In the video, Tony Stark's face was pale, and he was slumped on the sofa: "Pepper, come up to the penthouse."
"Mr. Stark, I'm in the middle of hosting the board meeting," Pepper said, frowning.
Seeing Tony Stark's weak appearance in the video, Pepper said apologetically to the other board members: "I'm sorry, it looks like Tony's had too much to drink again…"
Her words were interrupted by Obadiah. The bald man with the thick beard walked over to Pepper with a serious expression and looked at Tony Stark's face in the video call:
"Tony, are you okay?" .........…" What answered him was Tony's heavy, rapid breathing.
"Tony?" Pepper stared blankly at Tony Stark, who was panting but not speaking. "Do I need to call a doctor?"
"Huff… hurry…" Tony's voice was so weak it was almost unrecognizable.
Pepper immediately grew anxious. She no longer cared about continuing to host the board meeting and hurriedly transferred the video call to her phone:
"Tony, hold on! I'm contacting Metropolis Hospital right now!"
As she spoke, she jogged out of the room, leaving the board members behind in the conference room.
In the meeting room, the Stark Industries board members exchanged glances. Obadiah still wore a serious expression, his face almost grave:
"Gentlemen, it seems Tony's having some issues. We'll postpone the meeting until next time. I need to go upstairs and check on Tony."
With that, Obadiah left the board members behind and strode quickly toward the elevator.
At the same time, on the outer wall of the conference room on the fifty-first floor of Stark Tower—in a spot the floor-to-ceiling windows couldn't see—a massive bat-like shadow silently climbed toward the penthouse.