I Became a Knockoff Arms Dealer in the Marvel World

For Nick Fury, having someone willing to step up and play the scapegoat wasn't necessarily a bad thing, especially since no better solutions were available for the moment. However, Fury couldn't hide his disdain for Tony Stark's arrogant and condescending attitude.

Yet, as much as he hated it, Iron Man was an indispensable part of the Avengers Initiative he had been painstakingly putting together.

With a sour expression, Fury issued the order: "Romanoff, Barton, take a special operations team of 500 personnel and head to Sokovia immediately. Await further orders for the next 24 hours.

If Stark's frontal assault runs into trouble, you are to step in immediately. And if the operation goes smoothly, you'll be responsible for cleanup."

Hearing this assignment—one that seemed like a glorified janitorial job—Black Widow and Hawkeye exchanged glances, their responses perfunctory: "Understood."

They left the meeting room without delay, preparing to deploy the special ops team as quickly as possible. After all, knowing Tony Stark's impulsiveness, they feared he might already be halfway through the mission by the time they arrived.

Tony Stark, despite his brash exterior, was no fool. Back at his luxurious Malibu mansion, he resisted his eagerness to act and decided to gather intelligence first. He immediately gave Jarvis an order.

"Jarvis, hack into all major intelligence agencies—FBI, CIA, the Pentagon, EU intelligence divisions—I want every shred of information on Umbrella Corporation!"

[Jarvis: Connecting to military satellite networks. Searching for the keyword: Umbrella Corporation.]

"Sir, the Umbrella Corporation was established on April 13, 2008. Its headquarters is located in Sokovia, and its legal representative is Carl Davis. In classified documents from various intelligence organizations, Umbrella has been implicated in smuggling small arms on the black market. Beyond that, there is little of significance."

Tony was incredulous. "That's it? That's all there is?"

[Jarvis: Sir, on the surface, the Umbrella Corporation appears relatively clean. However, when I attempted to breach their headquarters' network, I encountered a firewall I couldn't bypass.]

Tony's interest was piqued. "A firewall you can't break through? Now this is interesting."

Without hesitation, Tony walked to his garage lab and sat down at his computer desk. His fingers danced across the holographic keyboard with practiced ease.

[It feels strange, almost as if... as if I've encountered a kindred spirit.]

Hearing Jarvis's remark, Tony furrowed his brows and murmured, "Could it be that Umbrella has an AI as well?"

Soon, Tony located Umbrella's external network interface in cyberspace. Hearing Jarvis's observation, he hypothesized, "So Umbrella might have a rudimentary artificial intelligence of its own?"

After a few attempts to bypass the firewall, Tony realized even his own hacking skills weren't enough to penetrate it in a short time. His suspicions were confirmed.

"It seems Umbrella really does have something akin to Jarvis—a weak AI, at the very least."

To forcibly breach such a firewall would require a contest of brute computational power, essentially a direct assault using supercomputers. But Tony Stark wasn't one to rely on such straightforward methods. He wanted to exploit a unique vulnerability to bypass the defenses, a feat that would showcase his technical prowess.

However, after two hours of trying, he had to abandon his initial plan.

The AI defending Umbrella's network seemed to surpass even Jarvis in sophistication. Although it hadn't reached the level of strong AI, it was incredibly close.

Reluctantly, Tony admitted that he couldn't find a flaw in the system within such a short time. Given ten days or half a month, he was confident he could crack it.

But he had just made a bold declaration at SHIELD headquarters, vowing to launch a frontal assault on Umbrella Corporation. He didn't have the luxury of time. For the sake of his pride, he couldn't go back on his word—he wasn't that shameless.

After a moment of hesitation, Tony turned his thoughts to the recently upgraded Mark VII suit, its combat capabilities now reaching new heights.

"I'm Iron Man. Why should I be afraid of Umbrella?"

Although he spoke confidently, Tony decided to err on the side of caution. He called on his friend, Colonel James Rhodes, who also owned a suit of armor, to join him.

Feeling prepared, Tony and Rhodes boarded a private jet bound for Sokovia.

Onboard, the luxury aircraft exuded opulence. Several flight attendants passed by, casting flirtatious glances at Tony. When they served a meticulously prepared supper, they deliberately bent down in front of him, their figures accentuated provocatively.

Unmoved by the attendants' overt advances, Tony remained focused. Since his kidnapping incident in 2008, he had turned over a new leaf, dedicating himself wholeheartedly to Pepper Potts. No other woman, no matter how attractive, could catch his eye.

Rhodes, on the other hand, found himself momentarily captivated, his gaze lingering.

The scene was reminiscent of 2008, when Tony and Rhodes had flown to Afghanistan together. This time, however, the roles were reversed.

Tony waved a hand in front of Rhodes to snap him out of it.

"Hey! We've got work to do. I don't want to find you turning into a limp noodle on the battlefield. Save your strength for the fight ahead."

Rhodes, snapping out of his reverie, sheepishly pulled his attention away. Hearing Tony's teasing, he retorted, "Tony, you must've corrupted me. I wasn't like this before."

Tony slung an arm over Rhodes's shoulder and burst into laughter. "I never would've guessed you were such a prude back in the day. What were you—29 and still—"

Before Tony could finish, Rhodes's face flushed red. Embarrassed, he interrupted, "Enough about that! What's the big emergency that you dragged me into?"

Sensing his friend's discomfort, Tony smirked but didn't push further. With a more serious expression, he retrieved a transparent handheld communicator.

A holographic projection lit up, displaying information about the Umbrella Corporation.

As Tony gestured to the data on the projection, he explained, "The Umbrella Corporation has been smuggling Stark Industries weaponry. The mysterious source of those Jericho missiles is almost certainly tied to them.

"Not only that, but they also seem to have an AI rivaling Jarvis and possibly access to miniature arc reactor technology. I called you because I need your help in taking down this criminal arms dealer."

Rhodes's face contorted with shock. "Oh, come on, Tony. An arms dealer with advanced AI, arc reactor tech, and a stockpile of cutting-edge missiles—and it's just the two of us taking them on?"

His expression screamed disbelief.

After a pause, Rhodes tried to reason with him. "If this intel is accurate, we need to think this through carefully. Charging in without a plan is suicide!"

---

Enjoying the story? Want to read ahead?

Get early access to 10+ chapters and faster updates by joining the Black Widow tier for just $5! You can choose to support me on either:

Patreon: patreon.com/iGreyed

Ko-fi: ko-fi.com/iGreyed

Both platforms offer the same perks, so pick whichever works best for you! Your support helps keep this story alive, and I deeply appreciate every contribution.

Thank you for reading and supporting my work!