Marvel: A Lazy-Ass Superman

Chapter 587 587: Coming to Demand Answers

Sitting in his office, Henry had fully entered slacker mode.

A large glass bowl filled with an entire family-sized bag of potato chips sat before him, with a giant bottle of soda standing faithfully by its side.

As he spun around in his chair, he crunched away on chips.

The images displayed through his glasses showed the movements of the ten remaining names on his to-do list.

The only people who had taken a flight out were the family he had dealt with that very morning.

The rest were still somewhere in North America.

Some had headed toward the Yukon and Alaska.

Most, however, had fled south into the United States.

Some had gone all the way to the East Coast, to places like New York.

Others headed south toward Texas and the American South.

The largest group remained in the Midwest—Detroit, Chicago, and similar cities.

Their reluctance to leave North America was easy to understand.

After finally escaping Russia and making it here, how could they willingly leave so easily?

Besides, international airfare wasn't cheap, and most of them didn't have enough savings to go wherever they wanted.

If they'd had that kind of money, they would have left Russia long ago instead of waiting for S.H.I.E.L.D.-HYDRA to rescue them.

When John Garrett brought them over, he had indeed given them settlement funds.

The problem was that everyone assumed they would be living comfortably in Toronto from then on.

Most of the money had already been spent furnishing new homes.

Now that they were fleeing, very few had much cash left.

One interesting detail stood out:

Not a single person had come to the West Coast.

It was almost as if they already knew who was behind everything.

Henry was contemplating which target to choose next when an unexpected visitor stormed into his office.

The secretary outside didn't even have time to announce the arrival.

A pair of hands slammed heavily onto the solid wooden desk with a loud bang.

At that moment Henry's chair happened to be facing away from the desk, so he could only push against the floor with his toes and slowly rotate himself back around.

He had already known who it was.

Still, he decided to be annoying.

"Oh? Boss, good afternoon." Henry feigned surprise. "Looks like you're in quite the mood today. Want some cola? Cool off a little."

Tony Stark stood before the desk with both hands planted firmly on it, snorting like an enraged bull.

Behind him stood his personal bodyguard, Happy Hogan.

Quite a few people had followed Tony over, but Happy had already chased them all out—including Stark Pictures' CEO secretary, the dark-skinned and plus-sized Yulian Williams.

Once the office had been cleared, Happy tactfully stepped outside and shut the door behind him.

Henry immediately adopted a timid, frightened pose.

His knees squeezed together.

His arms wrapped protectively around the bowl of chips as though it were a life preserver.

Nervously, he asked,

"What are you planning to do to me? My ass isn't for sale—even if you're Tony Stark."

"Drop the disgusting act." Tony snapped. "What the hell have you been doing lately?"

"Hmm. Slacking off at work, apparently. Looks like you've caught me."

"That's not what I'm talking about!"

"Oh? Then I have no idea which thing you're referring to." Henry made an exaggeratedly strange expression. "All I can say is this: whatever you've heard, it's true."

"Hah!"

Growing increasingly entertained, Henry grabbed his chair and spun around once more.

"You just admitted it!"

Crunching another potato chip, Henry replied,

"Tsk, tsk, tsk. The important question is: how much did you hear?

"I don't think anyone would feed you lies that could be disproven easily. But do you know what they didn't tell you?"

Tony's anger flared.

"Does it matter? No matter how this started, what you're doing now is destroying your own future. You're betraying my trust, and you're even putting Stark Industries at risk.

"If things weren't already this serious, it never would've reached my ears.

"The good news is that somebody informed me before everything spiraled completely out of control.

"Stop now, and this can still be fixed."

"Heh."

Henry stopped spinning.

He poured himself a cup of soda and drained it in one gulp.

"Ahh, refreshing."

Only then did he continue.

"If you're that worried, then I'll resign.

"The original contract was basically a free-come, free-go arrangement anyway."

From anyone else's perspective, Henry's behavior wasn't responsible.

It looked like a childish tantrum.

That only made Tony even angrier.

Once his emotions crossed a certain threshold, anger gradually gave way to disappointment.

"I thought we were friends," Tony said quietly.

"When something like this happens, couldn't you at least talk to me first?

"Instead, you're choosing self-destruction.

"Do you really think that's a good idea?"

"Heh."

Henry chuckled.

"After all these years, I won't say something hurtful like 'I can't believe we're actually friends.'

"Are we friends?

"Yeah. Absolutely.

"I think so too.

"But don't you think that not putting your friends in a difficult position is exactly why my approach is the best one?"

Tony slammed a fist against the desk.

"How is any of this the best option?!

"Even if you leave, people's suspicions won't disappear.

"I don't even want to ask how you've been traveling back and forth between Los Angeles and Toronto in such a short time.

"Can you honestly guarantee that nobody will ever find flaws in these so-called accidents?

"And when they do, what then?"

Henry merely shrugged.

"Then that's my problem.

"And tell me something—why do you think I stayed at Stark Pictures all this time?"

"When you first joined..." Tony suddenly stopped.

His eyes widened.

Yet no words came out.

The explanation he remembered was simple:

Henry had joined Stark Pictures because he was pursuing a certain young actress.

But he'd failed.

He'd remained single ever since.

If that was true, then why had he stayed at Stark Pictures all these years?

That didn't fit Henry's personality at all.

Something in his memories made logical sense...

yet simultaneously didn't.

The contradiction left Tony speechless.

Shaking his head, Henry made an exaggerated pout.

"Poor kid. Even you've forgotten.

"Then let me ask you this:

"Do you still remember your father's enemy?"

"The killer was Bucky Barnes."

Tony frowned.

"So what?

"I still don't know who the mastermind was."

"Do you think this is like the destruction of the Arden family?

"Did I force everyone to tear that family apart?

"Of course not.

"People simply saw an opportunity and rushed in.

"If somebody wants to call me the mastermind, I'm not taking that blame."

Henry sucked the seasoning from his fingertips before continuing.

"Anyway, I've already obtained the most important information for you.

"Whether there's someone behind it, who they are, all of that—

"You'll have to find that MIA war hero if you want answers.

"That kind of thing isn't my specialty.

"I'm not a cop.

"I'm not FBI.

"I can't help you there.

"What you need on the West Coast now is just someone to keep an eye out.

"Frankly, you could get the same result by putting a dog in the position.

"As for me, I don't really have a reason to stay anymore.

"My most important task is already finished.

"So leaving to avoid causing trouble for everyone seems like the perfectly normal choice, doesn't it?"

Feeling that something in his memory was missing, that there was a glaring hole in the logic somewhere, Tony pressed further.

"Why did you stay all this time?

"With your rotten personality, don't tell me friendship is the answer."

"That doesn't matter anymore, does it?"

Still hugging his bowl of chips, Henry picked up his giant bottle of soda and prepared to leave.

Munching noisily as he walked, he muttered,

"Honestly, I've wanted to leave for a long time.

"The fact that I stayed this long surprises even me."

"And all this revenge nonsense—you're still going through with it?

"They were just the people who took care of you when you were a kid. Maybe their identities made things a little unusual, but is all this really necessary?

"Unless they actually abused—"

Tony suddenly froze.

"...Fuck."

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