Chapter 218: Fair farce (1)

Words : 1218 Updated : Sep 29th, 2025

Chapter 218: Fair farce (1) The headquarters of Stark Industries, also known as Stark Tower, is located on East 45th Street in Manhattan, New York. It was completed in the 1990s and stands at a height of approximately 350 meters with 89 floors. Initially, the founder and owner of Stark Industries, Howard Stark, purchased a plot of land on the east side of the Central Station with the intention of building a new headquarters for his car company. Later, on the advice of Obadiah, it was transformed into the tallest building in New York City, becoming one of the most famous landmarks on the city skyline. Unfortunately, Howard did not live to see the completion of the building. After Stark took over the Stark Group, he carried out several renovations and turned it into a giant building that combines high-tech laboratories, the group headquarters, and commercial office space. Many New Yorkers like to call it the "Triangle Tower" because the shape of Stark Tower is a right-angled triangle. The building on the east side is taller, with Stark's personal laboratories from the 79th to the 89th floor, while the shorter building on the west side is a commercial office space where Stark Group employees work. Although this design makes the building look somewhat strange, it is very practical. The two buildings are interconnected but do not interfere with each other. Although it received criticism from many landscape architects when it was built, who believed that this peculiar building destroyed the beauty of the New York skyline, Stark Tower has now become an essential part of New York tourism. The first Stark Industrial Expo was organized by Howard Stark in 19XX. Before the 20th century, the Stark Industrial Expo was the world's largest industrial exhibition. After Howard's death, Tony Stark, who inherited the Stark Group, was not very fond of hosting the Industrial Expo. As a result, the Stark Industrial Expo's glory faded in the late 1990s and early 21st century. Until today, at the journalist reception at Stark Tower, Tony Stark faced the cameras and microphones and said: "The most important component of human industrial development has been forgotten for many years. I am to blame. It disappoints me that after the founder of the Stark Group passed away, I have not heard of any industrial expo in the world that can fill this gap." "Now, I want to tell you that you will receive an invitation that may be the most important in your life. You will witness how much progress human industrial development has made. If the gap of these decades was my neglect, then I will use a Stark Industrial Expo to tell you." Stark looked around, and the journalists around him were silent, staring at him. The journalists were very familiar with Stark, but most of the time, Pepper stood in front of the journalists to explain the mess that Stark made and how it would not have a significant impact. Then, the drunken Tony was dragged out from backstage and answered some of the journalists' questions. But now, all journalists could see that the Mr. Stark in front of them was different. Stark used to be very arrogant. He often said things like "ordinary people cannot understand me," "you will never know how my inventions will change humanity," or "those little things are not essential, and I will change the course of human industrial development." His arrogance was his trademark. But this time, Stark's tone was very different, even to the point where the journalists, who had heard all kinds of arguments from various celebrities, were focusing their attention on him. "There are many rumors in this world that are difficult to distinguish between truth and lies, and your job is to spread them. But these things can never really change the world. You cannot do it, and neither can Ivan Wanko behind you, the Air Force, Army, and Navy cannot do it either." Finally, Stark said into the microphone, "But I can." Stark picked up an invitation from the table and showed it to the journalists. He said, "This is a ticket to the Noah's Ark of the new century. If you don't want to board, then stay in the corrupt and decadent waves and wait for death." "Indeed, I've been to that exhibition hall. It's really big, more than enough to hold an industrial expo." Just as Peter and Gwen were puzzled, others who received the invitation had the same doubts. Even if they stood on the rooftop of another building and used a telescope to count Stark Tower's floors one by one, they only saw 89 floors, not 90. Many journalists seized on this and began attacking Stark. They claimed it was a cruel joke by the playboy, that he would do anything for attention and sensational headlines, and some mocked him for being out of ideas, struggling before his death. Indeed, after Stark made those bold statements, the vast majority of industrial groups and big companies were angered by his attitude of superiority. If before, Stark's words were more like a nouveau riche boasting, now that he was serious, his mockery made many people lose their cool. Because a fact was in front of them: A rotten person like Stark had developed a cutting-edge Mech armor technology, and even wore that handsome Mech armor to be a superhero in New York. Many scientists and industrial leaders who were not doing well couldn't help but fantasize. If they developed this technology themselves, they wouldn't be as childish as Stark, wearing a combat suit to be a superhero. They dreamed of working with the military, increasing production, controlling mechanical armies, and even ruling the world. Therefore, they ridiculed and mocked Stark even more, believing that his choice was incredibly childish. Many people said that Stark made the wrong choice at every turn, leading him to fall into this quagmire. If it were them, they would not only work with the military, but also with peers. Everyone would join hands to seize the market and divide the monopoly profits or participate in international political games. Whatever they did, it would certainly be more mature than putting on an iron suit and being a superhero in New York. What was most ironic was that the targets of Stark's superhero acts, the ordinary people he protected and saved, didn't appreciate it at all. Even the public's opposition to Stark and Iron Man was more intense than that of his peers. In any case, whether they were peers, the military, or ordinary people, they still planned to attend the event after receiving the invitation. Most of them came with the mentality of having fun, wanting to see how this playboy, whose reputation had gone to the dogs, would resolve this stunt. There were also many self-proclaimed professional scientists who planned to use their expertise to expose Stark's hoax. Many talented young people who were not recognized also planned to watch Stark's joke to comfort themselves that these wealthy people were just lucky. People like Peter and Gwen, who were simply interested in industry and machinery and wanted to come and learn, were actually in the minority.

Chapter 218: Fair farce (1)

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