A Genius Who Acted Like a Fool

"Wow!" Catherine exclaimed first, "Little Henry, you're not afraid of bullets, really?"

"Okay, I have to say it will hurt, but it won't go through." Henry lied a little here.

There was no way he was going to feel pain; even the slight dent in his palm and the way he was knocked back were just performance. Henry didn't want to appear too monstrous in other people's eyes.

"Wait a minute!" Tony Stark shouted, silencing the others who were about to speak. He lowered his head seriously, thinking, and said, "Let me think about it."

"Hmm... is there something to think about?" Henry asked, puzzled.

"So, during the gunfight, it was like you were wearing an impenetrable bulletproof vest following behind me. And I naively thought you needed to be protected, so I stood in front of you, shielding you from a lot of danger. Is that what you mean?"

Henry shrugged and said with an smug look, "Mr. Tony Stark, I think I advised you not to get involved in the gunfight. Just find a place to hide."

"As for what happened afterward, why can't you interpret it as me shielding you from a possible bullet from behind? Although being attacked from behind has never happened before."

Tony stood up, his voice growing increasingly agitated, and said, "So, I'm like a naked guy, gun in hand, shooting a bunch of professional killers. Then you could just walk right up to them and beat them all up, one by one. Is that what you mean?"

Henry answered seriously, "That's impossible. Because any normal person, unless they're completely out of their mind, would know to dodge if they saw an opponent immune to their weapons walking towards them."

The Kryptonian avoided the topic of beating someone up.

"So that's what I'm saying!" Tony Stark slammed his fist on the table, exclaiming, "What I risked my life for is like playing a survival game in a paintball field to you!"

"Well, sir, What If...? you're going to use that analogy, it's not entirely wrong. But I think you could try to think about the issue more calmly."

"How can you expect me to stay calm! You've never mentioned this before. If you had, I would definitely have other solutions. Instead, I would be acting like an idiot, foolishly rushing in to shoot at someone." Tony was about to explode.

"This kind of thing..." Henry's eyes widened, and he said with an incredulous expression, "Who would talk about it all the time, as if afraid others wouldn't know?"

"Do you expect me to introduce myself when we meet as: Hi, hello. I'm Henry Brown, an alien from Krypton. I can fly and burrow underground, shoot sparks from my eyes, blow storms from my mouth, and I'm invulnerable to swords, bullets, water, and fire."

"What If...? I said that, 90% of people would think I'm crazy, and the rest would probably think I'm joking. Because how would I prove those things?"

"You proved it today!" Tony said excitedly.

"That's because of the job interview. I had to provide evidence that I was suitable for the job of driver and bodyguard, so I did that. Otherwise, would I shoot myself in front of every new friend I met? Even a lunatic wouldn't do that."

"But you can say it! Whether they believe it or not is their problem."

"Oh, so Mr. Stark, you go around saying to everyone: Hello, I'm Tony Stark. My dad is Howard Stark, Stark Industries is my family business. I'm currently studying at Caltech, and I'm a genius..."

"Wait!" Tony interrupted Henry, saying, "I entered MIT's Department of Electrical Engineering at the age of fourteen and eventually earned a Ph. D. in Engineering Physics."

"I was at Caltech on vacation, and incidentally pursuing my PhD in aerospace engineering. That's no exaggeration when I say I'm a genius, but I'm not your average Caltech student."

"Yes, yes," Henry said, his eyes gleaming and his hands cupping the sky. "Would you brag about these things to everyone you meet? Would you be so afraid others wouldn't know, telling them every single time you see someone?"

"Of course I wouldn't do anything like a peacock, showing off its feathers. And I want to emphasize that although my last name Stark, I haven't asked my family for money since I was twelve. I've paid for everything, including my tuition, with my patent income."

"Yes, why should I have to constantly talk about things you think you can't do, Master Stark?"

Perhaps it was Henry's overly harsh tone, but Tony's anger shifted, and he reiterated, "I already said, call me Tony. I have no relation to the other Mr. Stark except for blood."

"Heh." Henry looked around the large room, at Tony's clothes that cost at least five figures, and the French meal on the table that had already started serving dessert, and couldn't help but retort:

"Your genius doesn't actually think that only receiving money from your parents counts as taking money from home, and that everything here, except for inheriting Stark Industries, is self-made, right? You earned everything here through your own hard work?"

Tony paused, his tone softening, and said, "Having a house to live in, clothes to wear, and food to eat—isn't that normal? What If...? I were to refuse even these things, wouldn't I be being too dramatic?"

"Heh, yeah." Henry didn't say anything more. If he continued, it would sound like he was criticizing someone.

"Wait a minute! You're driving me crazy. What you just said, was it true? Those aliens and stuff." Tony seemed to wake up from a daze, steer the conversation back to Henry.

Henry slapped his forehead and said, "Oh my god, Tony, can't you tell the difference between truth and lies? What If...? I said I could break through dimensional boundaries with one punch and run across the world, would you believe me or not?"

Tony, of course, didn't believe Henry's unbelievable description. However, he had personally witnessed that his body could stop a bullet. He thought for a moment and said, "So, you actually had a chance to save Josh Hill back then, right?"

No, I have no chance.

I'd rather die than admit I can save him. Besides, I just don't want to save him, so what?

"How is that possible? You're clearly not afraid of bullets; you could have taken a bullet for that fat guy. You wouldn't be letting an innocent person be shot because of personal grudges, would you?"

Henry said, "Whether that fat man is innocent or not, I'm not a judge, so I can't be sure. Besides, if I want to save him, I have to get there first."

"Then, before the gunman fired, I stood in front of the fat guy who was bigger than me. Do you think that the last group of gunmen would be distracted by my actions, giving me a chance to save people?"

Considering the flowerbed where they were hiding and the crowd being controlled by the gunman, it was indeed impossible to save anyone without Super Speed.

But Tony said, dissatisfied, "But you didn't even try."

"To waste effort on something you know you can't do is the act of a saint. I'm just an ordinary person with special abilities."