Indeed, it was quite normal. Upon his promotion, Stark was privy to the whole truth. He naturally knew that his parents' car accident was actually orchestrated by Hydra using Captain America's friend, the Winter Soldier.
But then, he saw more timelines ending in tragedy. The shock of hearsay and seeing things firsthand differed by thousands, even tens of thousands of times, and Stark couldn't accept these events happening.
He knew that a civil war was akin to adding frost to snow for the human race. To prevent possible tragedies and change the human race being at the mercy of others, he could temporarily put down his hatred and take the side of righteousness.
But this does not mean he felt the slightest bit better, particularly when dealing directly with the culprit behind it all.
Steve was usually not a bad-tempered man, at least compared to Stark. But his lifelong pursuit, what could almost be called his obsession, was Hydra.
Previously, Nick had subtly hinted to him that Hydra still existed, but he was genuinely reluctant to accept it. However, when Strange came to him, he set out immediately, only realizing his former nightmare had truly revived when he personally laid eyes on Erik.
Countless comrades had fallen under the butcher's knife wielded by this evil organization, and the human race was panicked, terrified, and wars broke out because of it. Countless innocent lives were lost, yet this organization never repented, let alone vanished completely.
Steve could not possibly feel good. Anyone who has gone through this would feel tired. Ironically, Stark was like a barrel of gunpowder, tinder-dry. They hardly spoke two sentences before lighting a match at each other.
Peter's brain was buzzing. In the end, he could not sit still any longer. He cried out, "Listen to me!!!"
The two arguing stopped and turned to look at him. Peter became a bit terrified again; he stuttered: "...um, I mean, no more quarrelling...how about you each take responsibility for a part? Mr. Stark can study the spear, Captain America interrogates the killer. Wouldn't that work?"
The two people looked at each other, seeing the fighting spirit in each other's eyes. Stark stretched out a finger and said, "I'll tell you, all your years of hard work have been in vain. You've ignored the most significant part, and thus, could simply not eliminate them. Now, Stark will demonstrate the correct method for you."
Steve also coldly replied, "Those who haven't experienced the war years never know their place. You don't know the brutality of this kind of war. You will pay for your arrogance."
After speaking, the two of them snorted coldly at the same time and went about their different tasks.
But anyone could see, a competition had broken out between the two, and soon, the scale was bound to expand.
Stark quickly gathered all his scientist friends, including Banner, Connors, Charles, Strange, Shiller, and so on. Maybe one of these names seems weird?
Anyhow, Stark reached out to all the educated individuals he knew, gathered them together and invited them to Stark's laboratory, even producing a massive war plan analysis map.
"Wars alone cannot solve the fundamental problem. To separate these cancers from human society, technical measures are essential."
"Surveillance, monitoring, summarizing, analyzing; this is modern warfare."
Stark's voice echoed around the room, the rest sat on the sofas, watching him point at the projection and say, "I will set up a complete surveillance network to monitor all potential activity places of Hydra. Meanwhile, all behavioral data will be analyzed by the main computer, Jarvis."
"Of course, the intelligent mainframe's analysis might have errors. At that point, we need the help of you two renowned psychologists to help artificial intelligence establish analysis logic..."
"Hold on." Shiller cut off his speech. He looked at Charles and then Stark, saying, "You invited Professor Charles and me here, aiming to have us perfect your behavioral analysis system?"
"So you never thought there's something extra in this step?"
"Are you saying that you two are unnecessary? I also think that if time permits..."
"I am saying, you are unnecessary."
Stark glared at Shiller: "What do you mean? I'm the creator and leader of this plan, and you want to kick me out?"
"He meant since Charles is here, are you really going to rely on a robot to monitor others?" Strange added.
"No, no," Stark shook his head, "You don't understand me. This is a competition, okay? The competition is between Steve and me. He wants to prove to me that empirical theory works, but I must stop him from continuing down the wrong path."
"He has been fighting with Hydra for many years, and what is the result? This damn organization is still alive."
"Listen, I'm not disputing those veterans' achievements, but holding onto past glory without trying to get ahead is not the solution. The problem stands before us; it has to be resolved once and for all, right?"
"So you're telling us, you will take the front, and we will assist. Is that what you mean?" Banner asked.
Stark nodded then pointed at Banner, "Geniuses always have a resonance with each other, right?"