Chapter 83: Hypnosis?
Regarding the relationship between Tony Stark and Pepper Potts, Coulson had already gathered a clear understanding over the past period. However, George was clearly a new face he hadn't seen before.
The intuition of a twenty-year veteran agent told him that this new face might not be an ordinary person.
His demeanor and aura didn't seem like that of a subordinate to Pepper Potts.
"Investigate the background of the man who just entered with Pepper Potts."
Only after George and Pepper had completely disappeared did he quietly issue the command into his small walkie-talkie.
The response came quickly.
"No records found on this individual."
"No records at all? Are you sure?"
Coulson's face immediately showed a look of confusion.
Given S.H.I.E.L.D.'s intelligence capabilities, they should be able to find records from any country as long as there is a household registration.
An undocumented person?
Meanwhile, George and Pepper took the elevator up to Tony's office on the top floor.
"I'll guard the door; you go ahead and do your thing."
George closed the door and signaled Pepper to proceed with hacking the system.
Nervously, Pepper nodded, trotted over to the desk in her high heels, inserted the special USB drive Tony had given her into the computer, and began infiltrating the company's system.
True to Tony's reputation, within less than five seconds of inserting the USB, all of the company's defense systems were silently breached.
"Oh my God, it really is him!"
Looking at the vast amount of illegal billing records and videos of the Ten Rings gang demanding money from Obadiah in the database, Pepper couldn't help but cover her mouth.
These pieces of evidence, if submitted, would be enough to put Obadiah behind bars for life.
At that moment, the office door was pushed open.
"Pepper, what should I do? Tony is already so grown up, yet sometimes he's still so troublesome. You need to help me persuade him more."
It was Obadiah, who had come specifically to stabilize Tony through Pepper after learning that she had come to the company.
Seeing Obadiah appear, Pepper, who was in the middle of downloading evidence, was so frightened that her heart almost jumped out.
"Confundo!"
At that moment, George, who was standing behind the door, stepped forward and cast a Confundus Charm on Obadiah.
After being hit by the charm, Obadiah trembled all over and then fell into a daze.
"It's okay, continue. He'll be dazed for a while."
The Confundus Charm can confuse and bewilder the enemy, causing them to enter a state of confusion. When they come to, they won't notice anything, only thinking they had a momentary lapse.
Hogwarts students often use this spell to prank their classmates, and outside wizards frequently use it on Muggles to prevent them from discovering the existence of magic.
George was not yet proficient with this spell, and his ring wand couldn't amplify the magical effects. Even when used on an ordinary person like Obadiah, each effect could only last about a minute.
But that was fine; he could cast it every minute, keeping Obadiah controlled until Pepper had completely downloaded all the evidence.
"Okay..."
Seeing Obadiah standing at the door with a glass of wine as if under a spell, making no movements, Pepper's anxious heart also settled down.
About five minutes later, all the evidence was fully downloaded.
"Check to make sure no traces are left."
Seeing Pepper stand up, George specifically reminded her.
He remembered that in the movie, it was because Pepper left in too much of a hurry, leaving behind a download completion tag, that Obadiah noticed something was wrong and took the risk to steal Tony's arc reactor.
Now, although Obadiah didn't have the Iron Monger suit and didn't know Tony had made the Iron Man suit, if he discovered what Pepper had done, he would inevitably take action to protect himself.
After ensuring that no traces were left on the computer, George stopped using the Confundus Charm.
When Obadiah came to, he didn't notice anything unusual, only feeling as if his mind had gone blank for a moment, and continued to chat with Pepper.
Afraid that she couldn't control her emotions and would reveal her intentions, and since she had already obtained the evidence, Pepper immediately excused herself:
"I will persuade Tony well. I just remembered there's something urgent I need to handle, so I'll leave first."
"Alright, go ahead and take care of your business."
Obadiah was slightly taken aback but didn't say much, just smiled and waved.
However, after Pepper and George left the office, his brows gradually furrowed.
"Something feels off..."
Years in the business world had honed his keen intuition, especially in reading people.
He felt that Pepper's expression and eyes were off, and that bodyguard also seemed very suspicious.
Putting down his glass of wine, he quickly went to the desk and checked the computer. Seeing no signs of tampering, he secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
But a lingering unease remained in his heart, so he quickly picked up the phone on the desk:
"When did Potts enter the company, and where is she now?"
"Ms. Potts entered the company twenty minutes ago and has already left. She left with the agent who identified himself as Coulson."
The voice on the other end replied.
Upon hearing this, Obadiah's pupils contracted, and he quickly got up and ran towards the surveillance room.
Coming to the office for just twenty minutes and leaving without taking anything from the office was clearly suspicious.
Fortunately, he had installed hidden cameras in Tony's office, and now he could review the footage to see what Pepper had done in Tony's office.
"What is this, hypnosis?"
A moment later, in the surveillance room, watching the footage of Pepper operating and downloading data while he stood motionless as if hypnotized, Obadiah was completely dumbfounded.
But he quickly realized the seriousness of the situation. Pepper had already obtained his incriminating evidence and was mingling with agents.
Even if he sent people to chase them down, he wouldn't know where they were now.
After pacing back and forth in the surveillance room and calming down, he immediately made a phone call.
"I agree to your cooperation, but you must immediately help me kill Pepper Potts and her bodyguard who just left the company, as well as an agent, to prevent my criminal evidence from reaching the government."
This was a mysterious big client he had been cooperating with, who always ordered a large number of weapons and had extensive connections.
Recently, they wanted to deepen their cooperation, but he was worried about being swallowed up and hadn't agreed.
"No problem, they will soon die in an accident."
The voice on the other end gave a definite reply.
After hanging up the phone, Obadiah still felt uneasy, so he immediately began gathering his men and rushed to Tony's mansion in Malibu, Los Angeles.
Pepper's actions were undoubtedly directed by Tony.
Since Tony had already become suspicious of him, he could no longer be left alive. He might as well go all the way and kill him outright, claiming it was retaliation from the terrorists who had kidnapped him before.
"Last time you were lucky, but this time I'll personally send you to meet your father!"
(End of Chapter)