socalfunplaces Page 106
Page 106
"Don't worry, to repay you, I will make the mastermind behind your scheme pay a heavy price!"
“I extorted a lot of money from Obama and made him pay more.”
Tony: "..."
You really are my best bro!
Hawke called Obadiah:
"Old man, have you finished raising the $20 billion in bearer bonds I asked you to?"
192 Under a nuclear explosion, all beings are equal
Stark Industries, Vice President's Office.
When Obadiah received Hawke's call and heard that familiar voice, his expression twisted slightly, and his voice carried a hint of murderous intent.
"We've got it."
To be honest, the previous $10 billion was manageable, but raising $20 billion is really difficult.
His net worth is limited, mostly in real estate. Where does he get so much cash?
But he really didn't want to spend the rest of his life in prison. In addition, he also had the idea of using the $20 billion to lure Hawke out again and completely eliminate the hidden danger. So he really used every means to make money.
He mortgaged almost all of his Stark Industries stock, which he considered his lifeblood, borrowed money from various acquaintances, paid high interest rates, and even borrowed money from underground banks. He finally managed to raise the $20 billion, which was really quite an achievement.
Hawke said with satisfaction, "Very good, it seems you really are very rich, so..."
“But why should I give you the money now?” Obadiah said coldly. “Before, Tony Stark was still alive, and I was afraid you would interfere with my plans, so I paid that fee. But now Tony Stark is dead, and dead people have no value. Who would make things difficult for me, the chairman of the world’s strongest military-industrial group, over a dead person and some emails, videos, and phone calls of dubious origin that have been edited using technology?”
Hawke was taken aback.
Thinking about it, it's true. If Tony were already dead, the evidence he had would pose a much smaller threat to Obadiah.
Because the dead cannot speak.
Stark Industries has close networks with the White House, the Pentagon, and Capitol Hill, but these are Stark Industries' networks, not Tony's personal networks. Once he dies, these networks will automatically fall into Obama's hands.
In his personal network of relationships, it seems that apart from Colonel Rhodes, almost no one was able to speak up for Tony and get to the bottom of the truth about his death.
Pepper Potts' power is all based on Tony. Once Tony is gone, she will instantly become a worthless high-level executive. At that time, even if Obama turns her into a sex slave, no one will care.
"Heh, old man, you're quick on the uptake, aren't you?" Hawke sneered. "But I don't know whether to call you smart or stupid. If you call yourself stupid, how come you managed to keep Tony, the world's smartest man, completely in line for over thirty years without him noticing your deep-seated resentment towards the Stark family? But if you call yourself smart, how come you hired a group of terrorists to kill Tony? Do you think the terrorists or I have a higher moral standard?"
Obama's expression changed.
He had only intended to bargain with Hawke to see if he could extract more information, but after hearing Hawke's words, he immediately sensed something was wrong.
Hawke didn't hesitate to expose Obama's fragile sense of security:
"Even after I learned about your plan to assassinate Tony Stark, I was thinking of using it to blackmail you. So why do you have the brain-dead idea that terrorists would listen to you and kill Tony Stark to earn the $2000 million reward you gave them, instead of holding Tony Stark hostage and extorting more money from you?"
"Is it difficult to choose between $20 million and $2000 billion?"
Obadiah's expression immediately turned extremely ugly. He now truly realized that his jealousy of Tony had clouded his judgment.
Yeah, why was I so stupid to think that terrorists' credibility was trustworthy?
It's highly likely that, as Hawke said, the terrorists simply captured Tony and kept extorting money from him, rather than killing Tony, the golden goose, to make a quick buck.
Obama is feeling really down right now.
Hawke's extortion alone has kept him busy, forcing him to borrow money from loan sharks. What would he do if the Ten Rings gang came to extort him as well?
"Now you should understand, right?" Hawke chuckled and said, "You think just because Tony's dead I can't do anything to you? Don't be so naive, old man!"
"Since you both want to blackmail me and want me dead, I might as well drag you both down to hell with me. Why should I give you money?"
Obadiah, enraged and humiliated, roared as he breathed heavily.
"Don't be so hasty. Look at you, you're so impatient. No wonder you couldn't beat Tony Stark and had to resort to physical elimination to take him down!" Hawke said earnestly. "Although both I and those terrorists could potentially blackmail you, I'm ultimately different from them. Because I'm virtual on the internet, you can't control me. You don't know my name, appearance, address, or email address. You know nothing about me. But terrorists are real entities. You've had many dealings with them and know them very well. You can completely eliminate them, but you can't eliminate me. Do you understand?"
Obadi had a sudden realization; he felt this extortionist was something special.
"You could easily ambush them while you're trading with them. Just use your direct command team to physically eliminate them. It's a simple problem!" (Li Wang Zhao)
“Easier said than done,” Obadiah retorted. “The terrorist leader isn’t stupid. With Tony Stark held hostage, why would he come to me personally to make a deal and give me the chance to wipe them all out?”
“The terrorist leader might not be an idiot, but he’s illiterate!” Hawke said with exasperation. “Even if they’re on guard, as the president of Stark Industries, dealing with those uneducated morons is easy, isn’t it? If you want to scheme against them, just install some tracking chips or something on the weapons you traded with them. When they return to their hideout, you can immediately call the US forces in Afghanistan to fire a few firecrackers, and everything will be solved, right?”
Truth is everywhere within range, and justice prevails wherever the shells are fired.
In the face of absolute reality, fairness and justice prevail; under a nuclear explosion, all beings are equal.
The Ryan family, number 193, are nothing to fear.
Obama pondered for a moment, then thought that what the hacker said was a good suggestion.
"Hehe, do you think I'm right?" Hawke chuckled and said, "What era are we living in? Everyone has to use their brains to make a living. I hate these terrorists the most. They have no technical skills whatsoever! High-IQ technological crime is the future of the criminal world! Obama, you can't handle someone like me, but you can handle a few terrorists, right?"
Your suggestion is good, but unfortunately, he'll be mine in the next second.
Obadiah decided to give it a try, as Hawke suggested.
For terrorists, betrayal is easier than eating or drinking. I guess Tony really isn't dead... Well, if he were the leader of the terrorists, he probably wouldn't be willing to kill Tony directly.
Nobody's a fool; there's so much that can be done about Tony's identity.
"How can you expect me to believe that you won't try to extort money from me again after you've taken the money this time?"
"Obadi said again in a cold voice."
"Why do we have to go through this 567 process again?" Hawke said helplessly, "Okay, let me repeat myself. If you don't give me the money, I'll immediately send the evidence I have to Tony Stark's friend Colonel Rhodes, his secretary Miss Pepper Potts, his good brother, that handsome, rich, eight-pack-abs Wall Street eye of the storm, the superhero 'King,' the eldest son of the Lane family, the Lane Group heir Mr. Hawke, and the artificial intelligence Jarvis. I even recorded our conversation just now, and I'll send a copy to the Ten Rings terrorists. So tell me, should you pay this money or not?"
Obadi nearly coughed up blood, so much so that he didn't immediately realize that the name Hockley had so many prefixes.
Cheating!
This bastard has really figured out Tony Stark. Colonel Rhodes is a rising star in the U.S. military, and he has a very close relationship with Tony. He's not someone who can be easily dealt with. Once Colonel Rhodes gets evidence of Tony's assassination attempt, he'll probably fight him to the death. (agei)
Pepper Potts... it's nothing serious, let's not talk about it anymore.
The Ryan family is just a drinking buddy of Tony's; they're nothing to be afraid of.
The artificial intelligence Jarvis is terrifying. He couldn't figure out what kind of restrictions Tony had placed on Jarvis, or how Jarvis would change after Tony's death. However, he was certain that if Jarvis went insane... destroying the world wouldn't be impossible—Jarvis demonstrated its ability to easily hack into the nuclear missile launch systems of various countries and arbitrarily change nuclear codes when it confronted Ultron.
As for Hawke sending the conversation to the terrorists, that's a scary thing, because they're a bunch of real lunatics, the kind who don't care about their lives. Maybe if they find out, they'll livestream and send him a virtual airplane gift?
"Besides..." Hawke earnestly warned, "Even if you don't trust my integrity, you should trust my capabilities. I've already investigated thoroughly. Once I give you this $20 billion, I'll basically drain your funds. There won't be any more profit to be made. If I try to extort you again, it won't work. It will only push you to the brink. Why would I do that? I can't do something like killing the goose that lays the golden eggs."
Obadi scoffed inwardly, but tacitly agreed that Hawke's words made some sense.
“After you take the helm of Stark Industries, the world’s most powerful military-industrial complex, we might even have a chance to collaborate,” Hawke continued, trying to persuade him. “Having a friend like you would be more valuable to me than being friends with the occupant of the White House…”
Obama felt a little smug after Hawke's flattery. He never expected that even these cyber terrorists who were blackmailing him knew about the immense power he was about to gain. Being the chairman of Stark Industries would be awesome.
"Alright, enough chit-chat." Hawke abruptly stopped, his tone shifting from enthusiastic to cold in an instant: "The transaction will take place at the Empire State Building. I'll call you when you arrive."
Obama was enjoying the flattery when Hawke suddenly kicked him from his pedestal, sending him sprawling like a dog scrambling for food. Hearing Hawke's words, he let out a heavy, cold snort.
"understood."
This feeling is like being halfway through a massage when the FBI suddenly barges in and issues a warning – it leaves you stuck in a limbo.
Following Hawke's instructions, Obadiah arrived at the Empire State Building, located at 350 Fifth Avenue in Manhattan, between West 33rd and West 34th Streets.
He had just arrived when he received a call from Hawke.
Obama glanced out the car window:
"I'd really like to know how you located me? I had just parked my car when I received your call."
Being able to breach his computer is already an astonishing hacking feat, but the possibility that the other party could pinpoint his location in real time seems even more terrifying.
“Don’t worry about that, we have our own way of doing it.” Hawke chuckled and said, “Stop talking nonsense, let’s go to the observation deck of the Empire State Building.”
Obama's eyes flickered, and after hesitating for a moment, he did not refuse. He chose to take the elevator to the observation deck of the Empire State Building.
"Find the restroom that's closest to you."
"After you go inside, go to the first compartment and put the box on the hanging rod above."
"Very good, you've finished everything. You can come out now."
Obama glanced at the cubicle, then walked out and looked at the toilet. The ventilation ducts were far too small for anyone to pass through, and there was a surveillance camera in front of the toilet door. Great, he wanted to see how this hacker managed to escape from this tight net.
Today, he deployed five times the size of the team he used last time, including many criminal investigation experts and numerous police dogs with a keen sense of smell, setting up layers of surveillance to see how that guy could still try to fish in troubled waters.
194 They're practically like half-brothers!
"Will there be no more unexpected problems this time?"
As the elevator descended, Obama looked at his secretary and spoke.
"Absolutely not!" the secretary said firmly. "Boss, even a fly can't escape our surveillance."
"If anything goes wrong this time, I'll throw you into the Hudson River to feed the fish."
"No problem, boss!"
The next second, Obama's phone rang; it was Hawke calling.
Obadiah's heart clenched; he had a bad feeling, but he still answered the phone. Hawke's somber voice came from the other end:
"You can throw your secretary next to you into the Hudson River to feed the fish now."
"hiss--!"
Obadi gasped, his hair standing on end, as if he had seen a ghost, and looked around the elevator as if he had seen a ghost.
Is it possible to monitor him to such an extent?
His gaze fixed on the security camera that was always installed in the elevator.
"You hijacked the Empire State Building's surveillance system? How did you do that? I remember my people had already taken over that part of the operation. Even if it was hacked, the system would automatically shut down, not be hijacked by you. It seems you're really something else. Even Stark Industries' best engineers have been made fools of?"
The secretary standing next to him: "..."
I just said that if there's a problem, I'll be thrown into the Hudson River to feed the fish. And now there's a problem right now. Don't you even give me any room to maneuver?
"How we did it, I won't tell you, after all, it's our livelihood." Hawke laughed and said, "Then let's stop here, it would be impolite to continue. But thank you for the $20 billion, old man!"