You Were Ugly to Begin With
Before leaving for Monaco, Tony Stark finally finished Xia Yu's suit of armor.
Its appearance was based largely on Xia Yu's original armor, and it was entirely black. Xia Yu's biggest requirement was flight, but he wore armor on his hands, so thrusters couldn't be installed there. Tony therefore installed two thrusters and two small ailerons on his back, which could automatically fine-tune their direction according to the movements of Xia Yu's body.
There was also a thruster on the outside of each lower leg, which would automatically adjust its angle according to the direction to assist with flight.
Tony had added a special lighting design to the reactor on the chest, inspired by Xia Yu's Eighteen Dragon-Subduing Palms. From the outside, it looked like an Eastern divine dragon roaring upward. Xia Yu was very pleased with it. Could my nickname in the future be Heroic Divine Dragon? he joked to himself.
The day finally arrived, and Xia Yu boarded Tony's private jet with Natasha. Pepper Potts and Happy were coming along too, of course. After so much time, Happy and Xia Yu had also become very familiar with each other. Xia Yu recalled Iron Man 2: Natasha had arrived in Morocco ahead of time as Pepper Potts's assistant to make preparations, but now she was going along as Xia Yu's girlfriend.
At the thought, Xia Yu couldn't help smiling at Natasha, who was chatting with Pepper Potts about having a good time with Xia Yu. Because of his involvement, Natasha was behaving more and more like an ordinary girl in everyday life, and Xia Yu was gratified by it.
On the plane, Tony secretly told Xia Yu that he planned to take part in the race himself. Xia Yu marveled at the powerful inertia of the plot. He hadn't expected Iron Man to do something so crazy even without the poisoning, but on second thought, wasn't that the real Tony Stark?
It seemed Tony Stark was destined to face Whiplash, but with Xia Yu there this time, Whiplash was bound to suffer defeat and retreat even faster than he had in the movie. Tony had also upgraded his reactor and wasn't suffering from palladium poisoning. Whiplash, Ivan Vanko, would probably be depressed to death.
After entering the club, they ran into Justin Hammer before they even saw Whiplash. He was a man who dreamed of surpassing Tony Stark and was constantly trying to imitate him. In a sense, Tony might have been his idol.
"Oh, let's see who this is. Isn't this that sharp-tongued S.H.I.E.L.D. agent, Mr. Xia? What brings you here? Did S.H.I.E.L.D. send you to be Mr. Stark's bodyguard? Please, Iron Man doesn't need a bodyguard." The sight of Xia Yu made Justin Hammer angry. He could accept losing to Tony Stark, but he couldn't accept being left speechless by Xia Yu's retorts at the hearing—by some unknown Eastern kid.
Before Xia Yu could retort, Tony spoke first. "Actually, Xia is a good friend of mine and my business partner. Herbal medicine Group is our joint venture, and he's the real boss."
Justin Hammer had assumed Xia Yu was just a nobody, some assistant S.H.I.E.L.D. had assigned to Tony Stark. He hadn't expected him to be the boss of a major company. Herbal medicine Group was incredibly popular lately, and its health and beauty medicines had remarkably obvious effects. On top of that, Xia Yu was so young and handsome. It made Justin Hammer feel indescribably uncomfortable.
"I didn't expect to meet the mysterious boss of Herbal medicine Group here. I've been wanting to interview you for so long. Hello, Mr. Xia. I'm Christine, a reporter for Vanity Fair." After hearing Tony's introduction, a beautiful female reporter stepped out from behind Justin Hammer and spoke to Xia Yu with a burning gaze.
"Oh, Xia, she's an excellent reporter. We had an in-depth exchange last year, when I called you in the middle of the night. Remember? The article she wrote was quite impressive. I suggest you let her interview you," Tony told Xia Yu.
This lecher, Xia Yu thought, though a very gentle and polite smile appeared on his face. "Thank you for the invitation, beautiful reporter, but let's arrange a time first. After all, that 'weapons expert' behind you is already getting anxious from waiting." As he spoke, Xia Yu pointed at Justin Hammer behind her.
Then he turned and left with Tony.
"I'll come find you as soon as I can!" Christine called loudly after them.
"Hey, you should probably interview me first," Justin Hammer said quietly behind them.
By then, Xia Yu had walked several paces away. He suddenly turned back and said to Justin Hammer, "You know, Mr. Hammer, if you want to surpass a legend or become one, you need to follow your own path instead of blindly imitating someone else. That'll only make you look like a clown, though you... hmm? You were ugly to begin with."
"I suggest you buy our company's beauty products. At least they can make you look a little younger. Come on, Xia, let's not disturb his rare exclusive interview." Tony followed Xia Yu's remark with another jab, then pulled Xia Yu away without giving Justin Hammer a chance to respond.