Since the agents on the scene only saw Tony fly away in the Iron Man armor and did not get any other useful intelligence or information, they could only conclude that Tony clearly knew the inside story.
The military's plan to capture the Bugster monster completely failed. The military, the government, and S.H.I.E.L.D. truly realized the powerful strength of the Bugster monster from this battle.
Therefore, they were even more eager to obtain relevant information.
The infected people who had the Bugster Virus cleared from them were still the same as before, with no abnormalities detectable. This meant that the military's operation this time only resulted in heavy losses for themselves, gaining nothing.
As soon as Tony returned to his villa, a large number of people came to visit.
It was easy to deal with everyone else; whether they were government officials or agents from special departments, Tony could simply shut them out.
However, Colonel Rhodes was difficult to handle. After all, they were old friends of many years, and Tony didn't have many friends he truly acknowledged. He couldn't just kick his friend out the door.
So Tony was in a dilemma. Given Tony Stark's pride, since he promised not to disclose the information, he would not speak out no matter what.
He was especially displeased with the military's self-righteous actions this time, which not only gave birth to a large number of Bugster monsters.
More importantly, it allowed the guy named Parado—who seemed very dangerous—to gain more powerful strength.
As for Parado taking the Gashat from his hands, there was nothing he could do.
Given Parado's ability to appear and disappear without a trace, it would be difficult to stop him from taking anything he wanted.
If it hadn't been for the military's sudden operation, there would have been no need to create that dangerous virus-activating Gashat.
And Rhodes was representing the military.
But Colonel Rhodes looked like a rogue, acting as if he wouldn't leave until Tony told him something.
However, Rhodes was also in a difficult position; the higher-ups had given a strict order that he must obtain definite information and intelligence from Tony. As a soldier, he couldn't disobey military orders.
Finally, Pepper got the news and rushed back from the company, promising to give Colonel Rhodes a definite answer within a week.
After seeing Rhodes off, Tony finally breathed a sigh of relief and lay down on the sofa.
"So what exactly is going on? Is it related to the monster that appeared in Stark Tower?" Pepper asked, also feeling a bit curious.
After all, Stark Industries had already shut down its weapons manufacturing division at this time, and she couldn't think of any reason why so many people from the military and government would continuously seek him out.
If it were for Tony's Iron Man armor, they wouldn't have waited until now, as Tony had been Iron Man for a while.
Thinking back to major recent events connected to Tony, it must be the strange monster that suddenly appeared in Stark Tower.
Tony fell silent upon hearing this, hesitating whether he should tell Pepper the truth.
Pepper looked at Tony's hesitant expression and smiled understandingly: "If you feel you shouldn't tell me, then I won't ask. However, although I've temporarily blocked those people, it seems they won't give up easily. You need to consider how to handle the follow-up matters."
Tony nodded upon hearing that: "I'll go find someone to discuss it with."
On the other side, Dan returned to the base at Holy City Hospital.
Li Hua and Elena first examined the two patients from whom the Bugsters had been separated.
"How are they doing?" Gwen asked, looking at the grave expressions of Li Hua and Elena after the examination.
"The situation is not optimistic!" Li Hua's face was a little gloomy. "The monsters born from the Bugster Virus should be growing rapidly. They will probably disappear soon."
"What do we do now?" Gwen was shocked, seeing that parts of the two patients' bodies were already becoming faint and indistinct. She was still just a high school student, witnessing the demise of life and a person slowly disappearing right before her eyes.
"The last thing we can do is perhaps notify their relatives," Elena said somberly.
Dan nodded and brought up the two men's profiles.
"It looks like neither of these two people are good guys?" After looking at the profiles, Gwen felt a little relieved and comforted. It seemed that the disappearance of these two from the world might not be a bad thing for society.
"Whether they are guilty or a good person is for society and the law to judge. A doctor's responsibility is to treat every patient in their hands," Li Hua said sternly.
Suddenly, the bottom right corner of the screen lit up.
"It's a communication request from Mr. Stark," Dan said.
He connected the communication.
"Mr. Stark, is something the matter?"
"You people disappeared without a trace. The military, the government, and the agents all came looking for me at my house. Now I don't know how many eyes are fixed on me," Tony complained slightly.
"We were just trying to rush the two patients back to the hospital as quickly as possible. Besides, the Rider System is designed for this kind of mobile transportation. You can't expect us to run all the way back to the hospital base," Dan said with a faint smile. "By the way, what is the situation with the two patients after the Bugster monsters were separated?"
"They can't be saved," Dan said very calmly.
Tony's mouth twitched upon hearing this, and then he gave an instruction to J.A.R.V.I.S.: "J.A.R.V.I.S., find the information on these two men and see if they have any family that needs care."
"Sir, according to my search, both of these gentlemen have large amounts of property under their names. Although the means by which they acquired it were not entirely legitimate, it is enough for ordinary people to live comfortably for the rest of their lives. Furthermore, although both maintained relationships with multiple women simultaneously, neither has any descendants," J.A.R.V.I.S. displayed the information on the virtual screen in front of Tony.
"Well, it seems we don't need to worry about it this time. The people were taken by the military, so let them handle the aftermath."
"Mr. Stark, you didn't call just to talk about this, did you?" Elena asked.
"The government, the military, and all parties are watching me now, and it's really annoying..." Tony shook his head, somewhat distressed, and said to Dan , "I want to discuss with you whether we can give them some useful information to send them away, and most importantly, to prevent them from continuing to take foolish actions like this one in the future."
Dan Douichi nodded slightly: "Just revealing a little information, I'm afraid they won't give up easily. Your pressure will also increase. How about this: you tell them all the characteristics of the Bugster Virus. At the same time, you can hand over the Game Gashat I gave you for them to study. I will give you another blank Gashat."
"Hand over the Game Gashat to them?" Tony asked, sounding shocked.
"I have also studied your Game Gashat for a while. Without the virus antibody you mentioned, I have not found any effective way to control the Bugster Virus. I'm not underestimating those people, but even I haven't researched anything. Even if they get the Game Gashat, apart from activating the Bugster Virus inside and giving birth to uncontrollable monsters, they probably won't get any effective results."
"That's fine. As long as they don't interfere with the treatment of Bugster Virus infectees and trigger another incident similar to this one, let them play around. Even if monsters are created, the Bugster Virus in the Game Gashat will not completely burst out in a very drastic way. The Kamen Riders will also be able to clean up the mess. Furthermore, it will allow them to realize that the Bugster Virus is absolutely not a force that can be easily controlled, so they will be in awe," Dan said with confidence.
After exhausting all possible methods of exploration and research, and eventually coming to the disappointing conclusion of having gained nothing and made no progress, and experiencing painful lessons, these people may not completely extinguish their ulterior motives.
But they definitely won't act recklessly and interfere with the game's operation so easily.
"Okay, the Game Gashat is your property; I have no objection," Tony thought for a moment and nodded. It would be a good way to keep those people in check.
However, who should he give the Game Gashat to?
Tony finished the board meeting that was interrupted by the sudden appearance of the Bugster monster and returned to his villa.
"Tony Stark, I've been waiting for you for a long time."
Tony jolted upon hearing the voice suddenly coming from the darkness: "Who is it? J.A.R.V.I.S.!"
"Sir, I'm sorry. My security system has been compromised, and there is an intruder," J.A.R.V.I.S.'s voice came through.
The living room lighting system turned on.
Tony then clearly saw Nick Fury, dressed completely in deep black from head to toe, sitting in the living room.
"Who are you, intruding into my private villa without permission," Tony looked at Nick Fury with great displeasure, having already decided to immediately carry out a thorough upgrade and improvement of the villa's security system.
"Director of the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division, Nick Fury."
"Homeland... Intervention... Logistics Division? Such a long and tiresome name, I feel like I've heard it somewhere before?" Tony raised an eyebrow. "Oh, right, do you know a guy named Agent Coulson?"
"Coulson is my capable subordinate," Nick Fury said with a dark face.
"Then, what does the Director of this... whatever-Division want, intruding into my house late at night?"
"Recently, a special kind of monster suddenly appeared in New York, born from a human body. It's immune to conventional firepower and has tremendous destructive power. This monster is a huge threat to social safety and stability, so we would like to ask you, as someone who knows the inside story, to provide some useful intelligence and information," Nick Fury stared at Tony with his one eye, his meaning profound.
Nick Fury walked out of Tony's villa, holding the Game Gashat, looking a bit stunned.
This time was too smooth; none of the various arguments he had prepared were needed.
Did Tony Stark actually give a straightforward account of the monster's origins and characteristics, and even hand over a Gashat identical to the one used by the armored person who defeated the monster?
Had he changed his nature?
This was completely different from what he had expected. Shouldn't he have been persuading Tony Stark with reason and emotion, talking about the greater good, to obtain intelligence about the monster, and ideally to establish cooperation to jointly fight against the sudden appearance of the monster?
How did Tony spill the beans directly, revealing all the information about the Bugster Virus, after hardly exchanging a few words?
Nick Fury learned from Tony that the source of everything was this thing called the Bugster Virus.
And Tony even gave him this Game Gashat?!
"Director?" Coulson, seeing the Gashat in Nick Fury's hand, recognized it instantly, and his tone was a little excited.
Nick Fury snapped back to attention: "Let's head back to the office first."
(End of this chapter)