bioinnovel Chapter 537 The Debate Continues
Chapter 537 The Debate Continues
After saying the last sentence, Rod shut his mouth and silently took a step back.
The generals sat in their respective positions, each with a different expression.
Some people were deep in thought, some were frowning and silent, and some were tapping their fingers lightly on the table, making rhythmic sounds.
Finally, the Minister of Defense, with a complex tone, broke the oppressive atmosphere.
"What do you all think?"
But no one was in a hurry to answer.
The atmosphere in the conference room had become quite subtle after Rhodes returned in his Iron Man suit.
After a long while, the vice admiral finally spoke.
"Colonel Rhodes, you said that Tony Stark deliberately deactivated the identification and defense system when demonstrating the suit?"
"Yes, sir."
"Does he do this often?"
Rod thought for a moment and answered honestly, "I'm not sure, but he's usually pretty unreliable, and he drank a lot at the time. He was probably drunk and did it on impulse."
"Drunk? Ha..."
Upon hearing this, the vice admiral couldn't help but sneer and continued in a sarcastic tone.
"As everyone knows, Tony Stark is one of the smartest people in the world, and also the most stingy 'miser' who values his intellectual property the most... Let alone the complete Iron Man suit, even when the military came forward to acquire that controlled nuclear fusion technology called the 'Arc Reactor,' he refused without hesitation."
"Colonel Rhodes, do you really think someone like this would cause such a huge blunder just because he's drunk? Ignoring your 'soldier' status, letting you easily obtain this Iron Man suit, without worrying that it might end up in our hands after you put it on? Don't you think these 'accidents' are too coincidental, a bit deliberate?"
The moment the words were spoken, the once quiet conference room was filled with the sounds of whispering and small talk once again.
Clearly, the military leaders who had been eagerly anticipating the Iron Man suit, having acquired it so easily, were far from happy. Instead, they viewed it as a hot potato, their brows furrowing and their faces growing increasingly grim.
This is precisely why not only one officer, but also the vice admiral, felt an instinctive unease because the process was too smooth, and subconsciously concluded...
This was absolutely a trap set by Tony to ensnare their military!
Even more critically, what if this really is a trap...?
So, now that the Iron Man suits have actually entered the Pentagon...
With Spider-Man as his backer, what exactly is Tony plotting?
Rhodes stood there, listening to the officers recount one conspiracy theory after another, and as the core of these discussions concluded that Rhodes had been manipulated by Tony, his expression became somewhat strange.
It's not that he also suspects Tony...
Rather, it was through their friendship and trust that Rod, connecting these topics, belatedly realized...
Just like Rhodey was willing to disobey orders and voluntarily leave the army for Tony's sake...
Although it's unclear how, Tony must have learned of his predicament.
He guessed that the military was pressuring him, he guessed how painful it was for him to be caught in the middle, and he guessed that he would rather resign than betray his friends.
So, Tony used this method to get him out of trouble.
They gave him a way out, sparing him the cruel choice between his dreams and his friendship.
Even if the price to pay is the price of the priceless Iron Man suit, a culmination of Tony's wisdom and effort, and the risk of the military disassembling and studying the suit after handing it over to decipher its patented technology.
Tony felt that this price was far less important than his friendship with Tony!
This made Rod feel a little sore.
Unbeknownst to him, Rhodes, who had always been loyal to the military, found his balance shifting towards Tony.
"I think this was definitely an accident, and you're overthinking it."
As the discussion deepened and more and more people became convinced that this was definitely a conspiracy.
General Ross, who had remained silent until now, finally spoke.
In an instant, everyone stopped discussing and turned their attention to him.
But General Ross, who had fought on the battlefield for many years and personally hunted down the Hulk countless times, was not intimidated by a mere stare. He remained leaning back in his chair, hands on the armrests, looking relaxed and carefree.
"Gentlemen, have you forgotten that not long ago in Times Square, New York, Tony Stark's Iron Monger armor was remotely controlled by the enemy, almost causing mass casualties?"
"What does this mean? It means that his protection procedures, his identification system, his security measures—the system that Tony Stark is so proud of—are not as reliable as he boasts."
He paused, his gaze falling on Rhodes.
"If even an Iron Monger-level suit of armor can have its defenses breached and be easily controlled by outsiders... then what's impossible about Colonel Rhodes accidentally wearing this suit, which is practically an outdated prototype to Tony?"
With that, General Ross stood up, walked up to Rhodes, and looked him up and down in his silver-white armor.
"And listen to what Colonel Rhodes just said—he tried more than once to shout that he wanted to go back. Jarvis then took it upon himself to set the destination to the Pentagon. Doesn't that sound like a misunderstanding by an AI program? A bug? A vulnerability?"
He turned around and looked at the crowd.
"When he said 'go back,' he could mean back to the victory celebration, or he could mean back to his own place. But Jarvis—a cold, impersonal machine program—clearly couldn't understand human emotions and context. It only picked up the keyword 'go back,' and then, based on its database, planned the most reasonable route. That was to send Rhodes back to where he usually worked, which is this Pentagon building."
"So the answer is obvious... folks, this is a classic accident. Tony Stark, no matter how smart, is still a man. And every man has the urge to show off his prized possession to his buddies. He never imagined that a programming bug would cause this Iron Man suit to slip out of his control and fall into the hands of our military."
"However, isn't that a bit... "
"There's no 'but' about it. Don't forget, Tony has Spider-Man behind him... Do you think Spider-Man would need any underhanded tricks to deal with us?"
"..."
After he finished speaking, General Ross looked around, his gaze sweeping across everyone's face.
The officers who had been talking so loudly just moments before fell silent, their faces turning grim.
Although they were reluctant to admit it, they all knew in their hearts that General Ross was telling the truth.
All schemes and tricks are a joke in the face of absolute power.
The guy who could pin a 53-meter-tall demon underwater and beat it until it surrendered clearly far exceeded the realm of "human"...
If he really wanted to deal with the military, or even establish his own independent force, he wouldn't need any schemes or tricks.
He could simply fly over and punch through the ceiling.
Then, standing in front of them, he casually asked them how they wanted to die, using his signature wit.
That's the "normal treatment" that Spider-Man's "enemy" should receive.