In the heavy silence, Tony instinctively turned to look at Rhodey.
Rhodey remained silent, shifting his gaze elsewhere. He knew that the military's secret plotting was unethical, but as the saying goes, "Where you sit determines how you think."
As a man who had given twenty years of his life to the country, enduring countless cold shoulders and rumors to climb to his current position, he simply couldn't bet his entire future on a gamble of brotherhood.
Noticing Rhodey's unnatural expression, Tony let out a self-deprecating smile. In the original timeline, believing his days were numbered due to palladium poisoning, he would have had almost no choice but to hand over the "War Machine" suit he intended for Rhodey anyway.
But now, things were different. Tony showed no signs of poisoning, and Ivan Vanko hadn't appeared yet. Having the military's schemes exposed by Peter on the spot made Tony view them all as nothing more than liars.
"Buddy, you're right. There really isn't much left here worth staying for."
Tony turned to leave. Seeing his genuine intent to depart, General Ross panicked, frantically signaling Rhodey with his eyes. Rhodey felt utterly helpless but had to step forward as the peacemaker.
However, before he could take a single step, Tony leveled a palm repulsor at him.
"Rhodey, don't force me to make this any uglier than it already is."
Damn it, what a mess! Even Rhodey was reaching his breaking point.
Just as the thought of "I'm done, let it all burn" crossed Rhodey's mind, a high-tech jet descended quietly from the sky. The hatch opened, and a one-eyed Black man emerged, followed by a muscular man in a tight suit.
It was Nick Fury, Director of S.H.I.E.L.D., and "Captain America" Steve Rogers.
"Peter, calm down."
Perhaps because it had been too long since their last encounter, Fury instinctively tried to assert his authority the moment he stepped off the jet. But before he could even start his act, Peter's airy words drifted over:
"Look at that. Another one who didn't care about solving the problem while it was happening, but jumps out to claim the credit once it's over."
Fury's face turned Red in anger. Motherf—... you really won't give me an ounce of face, will you?
Beside him, Captain America looked awkward and stepped forward to defend the Director. "Peter, you misunderstand. We hurried here from D.C. the moment we received the message."
"The moment?" Peter scoffed, ruthlessly pointing out the flaw. "Captain, remember? I specifically arranged for S.H.I.E.L.D. agents to protect my family.
You think they wouldn't report an incident in New York immediately? Furthermore, the F-22 you're flying has a top speed of Mach 2.
Even accounting for takeoff and landing, it's a twenty-minute flight. I've been on-site for over an hour... you sure you want to call that 'immediate support'?"
The Captain was left speechless, only able to stammer that he wasn't lying.
"Captain, I believe you," Peter said, softening his tone to acknowledge Steve's character before shifting his aim.
"You didn't have much schooling before going to war; it's natural you wouldn't see through these issues at your age. But as for the intentions of others... well, that's hard to say."
"Captain, I don't know if I should say this, but..." Peter didn't give anyone else a chance to speak. "The America of today is worlds apart from the country you remember sixty or seventy years ago."
His gaze swept over Rhodey, Ross, and Fury, followed by another cold laugh. "With men like these in high positions, how can this country ever be governed properly?"
This was a classic case of "killing the heart." The faces of everyone present shifted. Ross and Fury were seething, wishing they could gun Peter down if they weren't so powerless against him.
As for Cap, he looked between Peter and Fury with an expression of profound conflict. The voice in his heart told him that Peter... wasn't wrong.
Faced with the varying stares, Peter remained unfazed. The awakening of his Armament Haki had cleared his mind. He used to hold onto a "peace is precious" mindset, trying to use gentle means to guide things toward his desired outcome.
But after realizing what he truly cared about, his perspective had shifted. Since he possessed the power, why bother with the "weakness strategy" or the psychological games of hypocritical politicians?
He should take a page out of the "Crow" playbook—"It's hard to do? Fine, then don't do it!" (Flips the table). He would make these bastards realize who the real "Daddy" was before worrying about anything else.
Seeing that no one else was foolish enough to cause trouble, Peter turned to Gwen and Felicia.
"Let's go home and get Uncle Ben and Aunt May... Tony, I might need to borrow your private jet. I hope you don't mind?"
Tony, having fully committed to Peter's side, laughed without hesitation. "Of course. I have plenty of jets in the hangar; take your pick."
Peter nodded to Tony, then looked at Cap. "Captain, I'll give you a chance. Do you want to come with us?"
"Huh?" Cap blinked, surprised to be included.
This momentary lapse in focus was the final straw for Fury. He had worked too hard to secure the "Captain America" card to let it walk away.
Fury finally swallowed his pride. Though he was suffocating with frustration, he spoke in a tone of utter humility:
"Pet— Sir Arbiter, can we talk this through properly? Today was indeed our fault."
"But surely it hasn't come to the point of leaving Somewhere else? Where else could you truly showcase your talents? Tell us what kind of compensation you want.
As long as you don't take your friends away, I promise I will do my best to satisfy your demands."
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