Chapter 219: Declaring War on The Seven

No!

A blurry figure suddenly appeared on the wall next to his workshop.

"Jarvis!" Tony shouted in surprise.

Even though Tony couldn't see with his own eyes, that didn’t mean his AI assistant Jarvis couldn’t. The moment Tony gave the command, the entire high-tech workshop transformed.

An infrared scan revealed a clear red heat source forming the shape of a person, lying there motionless.

Tony, being the sharp person he was, instantly recognized who it was.

"Dammit! It's the Invisible Man from The Seven! Those bastards! How dare they do this to me!" Though furious, Tony was never someone to kill needlessly. Wearing his Iron Man helmet, he checked the body – yep, the dead guy’s condition was stable.

But that wasn't the main point. The key issue was when Tony rummaged through the invisible creep’s belongings, he found something that belonged to Pepper.

If at first Tony had some doubts about Atreus’s actions, now they were gone. Now he was beyond furious.

"This bastard deserved to die!" Tony spat angrily.

Atreus smirked. Tony was, after all, a former arms dealer. Unlike his father, who refused to kill anyone, Tony had no qualms about this. Now that Tony was on board, everything else was a minor issue.

"Tony, let me take care of this guy. But you should start thinking about how to deal with Vought. Looks like we’ve cut into their profits," Atreus said while picking up the invisible body like it was a bag of garbage. He opened a portal and tossed the body in.

Using a portal to dispose of a body? If Atreus wanted to be a hitman, who could catch him?

"Let me think," Tony rubbed his forehead. As someone deeply connected to the American military-industrial complex, he knew how many people were envious of his and Wayne Enterprises' position.

Congress's budget was like a big cake; if someone took a bigger slice, others got less or none at all.

It's the same for any business mogul — if you can monopolize, why share?

The fact that they sent someone into his own territory? That was a declaration of war.

Not long after, Tony's eyes became resolute. "Since I started this fight, I’ll handle the ugly part. But as for you… are you confident you can deal with Homelander?"

Atreus flashed a toothy grin, which, combined with his Kratos armor, looked menacing.

"A piece of cake!"

…

The Invisible Man was a total creep. His favorite pastime was sneaking into women’s bathrooms using his invisibility. Who knows how many secret videos he filmed? His power made it impossible for the police to catch him.

Homelander sent him to gather dirt on Tony, counting on his abilities.

But unexpectedly, the night passed without a word.

The Invisible Man was gone, who knew where.

At that moment, Maeve burst into the luxurious lounge where The Seven usually hung out, looking frantic. "Turn on the TV!"

She grabbed the remote, and the screen revealed Tony Stark.

"I stand up for my heroic friends. Originally, it was for justice. What I didn’t expect was that I became a symbol. Last night, someone sent me a video." As Tony spoke, he pressed the remote, playing the footage.

The video showed a couple kissing on the sidewalk. Suddenly, before they could enjoy their moment, the woman was hit – no, shattered!

Yes, shattered!

She turned into a pool of blood, and her boyfriend, who hadn’t even realized what happened, was drenched in her blood.

On the other side of the surveillance footage was A-Train, one of The Seven.

This low-budget version of The Flash clearly lacked the same control.

He looked terrified and apologized, "Sorry, I was running too fast, couldn’t stop."

Yes! Because of his mistake, the woman was killed.

As a comparison, Tony played a clip from Vought’s PR spin. In it, A-Train also apologized, claiming the woman was standing in the middle of the road and he couldn’t stop.

But in reality, she was standing in a temporary parking zone by the side of the street.

This side-by-side comparison immediately exposed Vought’s lies, showing how they were using PR to cover up the disastrous actions of The Seven.

The footage cut back to Tony, who seriously said, "What’s reckless? This is reckless! People complain that my friends and I sometimes unintentionally harm civilians during fights with aliens. That’s an unavoidable consequence. But it’s obvious The Seven’s actions don’t fall under that category. I am now publicly offering a reward for any dirt on The Seven. Starting at one million dollars, no upper limit."

Tony then held up a sign with an email address.

The reporters went wild, firing off questions:

"Mr. Stark, are you declaring war on Vought?"

"Are you against Vought’s superhuman program?"

"Do you think The Seven are just putting on a show?"

But it wasn’t the reporters’ excitement that was most significant – it was the public reaction. Tony was already the embodiment of the American Dream, the symbol of justice.

While other heroes wore masks and costumes, which created a sense of mystery and distance, Tony showed his true face to the people, making him feel more relatable.

As he led the charge against Vought, the public’s opinion began to shift.

And let’s not forget Atreus’s media companies, dating apps, and video platforms, which started quietly leaking videos exposing The Seven’s reckless behavior.

Then Atreus Wayne, the legendary sniper of Wall Street, came forward after a long silence.

"I support my buddy Tony! As Iron Man, he, Superman, Kratos, Hulk, Captain America… they are the real heroes. Personally, I despise genetic modification. Considering Homelander’s abilities are very similar to General Zod’s, I think Vought is following Lex Luthor’s path. So my decision is – to short Vought."

He laid his cards on the table!

Unlike Tony’s more emotional response, Atreus’s move was pure strategy. Using his reputation as Wall Street’s top sniper, he openly attacked Vought.

After all, Atreus had successfully shorted several major conglomerates, making him a Wall Street legend.

Until he went bankrupt, Atreus was like a god to any would-be speculator hoping to strike it rich.

His announcement carried more weight than Tony’s.

Within an hour, banks across the U.S. holding Vought’s stocks declared they would no longer lend them out.

Even the bankers were afraid Vought might actually collapse.

If Vought’s stock plummeted like the companies Atreus had shorted before, it wouldn’t be Vought going bankrupt – it would be the banks that held their stock.

(End of Chapter)