S.H.I.E.L.D.'s Panic, Master Control Mode Acquired

The rainstorm had just subsided, and Manhattan's night sky was dyed red and blue by police lights.

On the top floor of Stark Tower, the hundred-meter-tall red-and-white giant still stood amid the ruins. The streamlined crest atop his head seemed to brush the clouds, while the green hourglass symbol on his chest gave off a faint glow in the darkness.

It was a suffocating silence.

Neither the NYPD officers rushing in from below nor the armed helicopters in the distance dared sound even a single siren.

Before an absolute colossus, human fear was etched into their DNA.

"God..."

Tony Stark, clad in a damaged portable suit, craned his neck until it ached, yet he did not dare look away.

As one of the smartest people on Earth, his mind was calculating frantically.

According to gravitational equations, if a creature that size accidentally fell over, at least a 4.0-magnitude earthquake would hit Midtown Manhattan.

"Hey, big guy!"

Tony swallowed and tried to call out through his suit's loudspeaker. "Um... not that I want to ruin your fun, but S.H.I.E.L.D.'s fighter squadron will reach the battlefield in thirty seconds. If you don't want to turn New York into a monster wrestling ring, I suggest you... shrink down a little?"

Way Big lowered his head.

Those enormous yellow eyes stared at Tony, who looked like an ant, and gave a slight nod.

Meanwhile, aboard S.H.I.E.L.D.'s Helicarrier.

"Lock onto the target! Warm up all weapons systems!"

Nick Fury roared, "We cannot let him leave! We need to know this giant's weakness! Damn it, with a body that huge, could one of the Celestials have arrived?"

On the screen, countless red targeting frames were fixed on Way Big's head and chest.

"Sir, attempting a spectral scan..." Agent Hill's fingers flew across the controls. "Energy readings... immeasurable. If I had to compare it to something, his body contains enough Cosmic Ray energy to destroy an asteroid."

Fury's face darkened like the bottom of a pot.

A walking planet-killing weapon in the heart of New York?

"Begin the scan!"

A high-frequency detection beam, invisible to the naked eye, shot down from a satellite beyond the atmosphere and enveloped Way Big's body.

Yet the instant the beam touched its target—

"Trying to scan me?"

Jiang Li's voice as Way Big boomed between heaven and earth. "S.H.I.E.L.D., your hand has reached too far."

He did not counterattack, nor did he flee.

He merely raised his left hand and lightly tapped the emblem on his chest.

"Switch."

Bzz—

There was no explosion and no flash of light.

Before everyone's eyes, the hundred-meter-tall red-and-white giant flickered for an instant like a holographic projection with a bad connection, and then...

He vanished into thin air!

"What?!"

Fury shot to his feet. "Where's the target? A giant that huge just disappeared?"

"Thermal imaging lost! Radar lost! Satellite feed... completely blank!" a technician reported in panic. "Sir, the scanning beam passed through the target area. There's only air there!"

On the top floor of Stark Tower.

Tony was stunned as well. The giant had disappeared so quickly that only a gust of wind remained, nearly blowing him off the terrace.

"Jiang?" Tony called tentatively. "Where are you? If you turned into Ant-Man, you'd better say something before I step on you."

"Behind you, boss."

A cold, hoarse whisper, as though it had risen from the depths of Hell, suddenly sounded beside Tony's ear.

The voice carried a bone-chilling chill that made every hair on Tony's body stand on end.

He spun around, his repulsor instinctively lighting up.

But what he saw was not Jiang Li, but a gray ghost floating in midair.

It had only one purple eye. Its body drifted like a shredded burial shroud, covered in black stripes.

"An Ectonurite—Ghostfreak!"

"What is this? A ghost?" Tony felt his materialist worldview collapsing. "Wait, this isn't scientific! Is this quantum phase shifting? Or some kind of optical camouflage?"

Ghostfreak's single eye turned, and it let out an unpleasant low chuckle.

"As long as I wish it, I can be anyone—or exist nowhere at all."

Although Jiang Li's voice was calm, he was far from relaxed inside.

The instant he transformed into Ghostfreak, he felt a cold, violent consciousness trying to burrow into his mind. It was the original evil consciousness belonging to the Ectonurite.

Get back! Jiang Li shouted inwardly, forcibly suppressing the restless presence.

The gray skin on Ghostfreak's body receded like a curtain, revealing the black-haired young man in a casual suit beneath it.

Jiang Li landed and straightened his slightly disheveled collar, his face somewhat pale. Repeatedly switching between Way Big and Ghostfreak had drained an enormous amount of mental energy.

"Whew..."

Jiang Li let out a long breath and glanced at the Iron Monger below, which had already been flattened into a metal pancake.

"Crisis resolved. That bald guy probably can't be pried out anymore. I suggest cutting out this entire section of flooring and displaying it as a piece of modern art called The Price of Greed."

Tony looked at the relaxed young man before him, and the repulsor in his hand slowly dimmed.

"A quantum ghost... unbelievable."

Tony walked over and studied Jiang Li as if he were a rare animal. "How many faces do you even have? That hundred-meter giant from before, and this ghost—are they really the same kind of biotechnology?"

"That's a trade secret, Tony."

Jiang Li smiled. "But if you're willing to add another zero to my black card limit, I might consider telling you."

Tony rolled his eyes, but his taut nerves finally relaxed.

"The limit isn't a problem. But first, we're getting cheeseburgers. Even when saving the world, you can't do it on an empty stomach."

Half an hour later, S.H.I.E.L.D. agents were still sealing off the streets like headless flies, searching for the vanished giant.

Meanwhile, Jiang Li and Tony were already sitting in an intact lounge downstairs, eating premium wagyu burgers ordered by JARVIS.

Using the restroom as an excuse, Jiang Li slipped into a stall and eagerly summoned the system.

Tonight's battle had been quite the haul.

[Calculating mission rewards...]

[Emergency Mission: Night of Steel's Fall (Completed).]

[Challenge achieved: Use the "Way Big" form to give the villain the most despairing sense of oppression.]

[Rating: SSS Rank (You showed the world what a dimensionality reduction strike truly is).]

[Rewards issued!]

[Item obtained: Omnitrix Master Control Mode Trial Card (10 minutes) ×1.]

[Description: In Master Control Mode, the host can instantly switch forms through thought alone, with no cooldown and no energy consumption limit.]

[Special Reward: Gene Fusion Function (Trial Version).]

[Description: Allows the host to fuse the basic alien genes of two unlocked forms. Current mental power supports one fusion only, lasting 5 minutes.]

"Master Control Mode!"

Jiang Li stared at the golden card glowing in his inventory, his breathing quickening.

This was the most broken ability of the Omnitrix!

In the original Ben 10, once Ben activated Master Control Mode, he could take on Vilgax's entire fleet alone.

"And there's also one chance to fuse genes..."

Countless possibilities instantly flashed through Jiang Li's mind.

Four Arms plus Diamondhead would make an all-around War Machine with both offense and defense.

Heatblast plus XLR8 would become a blazing chariot of extreme speed.

"Looks like future battles are going to get more and more interesting."

Jiang Li splashed water on his face and looked at himself in the mirror.

He walked out of the restroom.

Tony was staring worriedly at the news footage on the holographic screen.

Way Big's blurry silhouette dominated every headline, accompanied by the sensational title: <Celestial Spotted in New York! Has Iron Man Lost Control?>

"Looks like we're famous." Tony pointed at the screen. "S.H.I.E.L.D. just sent me three encrypted emails asking whether that giant is a secret weapon from Stark Industries."

"How did you reply?" Jiang Li took a bite of his burger.

"I said it was my new inflatable doll." Tony shrugged. "It's not like they have any evidence."

"Nicely done, boss."

Jiang Li smiled.

In this Marvel world, having a billionaire take the blame for you felt pretty good.

"But..." Tony changed the subject, his eyes fixed intensely on Jiang Li. "To stop you from stepping on my building again next time you transform, or turning into a ghost to scare me, I think we need to develop a new suit."

"What?"

"An Anti-Giant Armor... or rather, an Anti-Jiang Li Armor."