Sorry, Tony, Your Hardware Is Too Outdated

Manhattan, Hilton Hotel, presidential suite.

Jiang Li wore a bathrobe and lazily swirled a glass of red wine as he gazed at New York's dazzling nightscape beyond the window.

"Fifty thousand dollars—in a place like New York, where every inch of land is worth a fortune, it'll probably only last me a month."

He took a sip of wine and looked at the Omnitrix on his wrist. "I need to find a long-term solution. Maybe I can sell some 'alien scrap' to Stark Industries?"

Knock, knock, knock.

A rhythmic knocking suddenly sounded.

It did not come from the door, but from the floor-to-ceiling window on the eighteenth floor.

Jiang Li raised an eyebrow, not particularly surprised. Ever since the energy fluctuations from the pawnshop had been exposed last night, he had known this moment would come sooner or later.

He walked over and pulled back the curtains.

Outside the window hovered a red-and-gold armored figure. Blue-white flames shot from the thrusters in his palms and beneath his feet, dazzling against the night sky.

Iron Man, Tony Stark.

His faceplate flipped open, revealing that iconic face with its neat mustache. Tony looked at Jiang Li with amusement and pointed at the window latch.

Jiang Li opened the window.

"Whoosh—"

The night wind rushed in as Tony Stark slowly descended onto the carpet.

"Nice room. Not bad taste."

Tony looked around, his gaze eventually settling on Jiang Li—or rather, on the black-and-green watch on his wrist.

"But I checked your transaction records, and three hours ago, you were at a pawn shop selling off a Tiden Crystal—something worth enough to buy half of Manhattan—for a measly fifty thousand dollars."

Tony removed one of his mechanical gloves and casually tossed it onto the sofa before sitting down as though he owned the place. "If you need money, you can come to me. Stark Industries has always been generous toward technological talent—or holders of alien relics."

"Let's get straight to the point, Mr. Stark."

Leaning against the bar counter, Jiang Li showed no nervousness despite facing a billionaire. "You didn't fly over here in the middle of the night wearing a metal suit just to buy me a drink, did you?"

"Straightforward."

Tony snapped his fingers. "I want that watch. Name your price. Ten million? Fifty million? Or shares in Stark Industries?"

As a technology fanatic, Tony had been unable to sit still once JARVIS analyzed the energy level contained within that watch. He had to understand how the thing worked.

"Not for sale." Jiang Li answered without hesitation.

"Don't refuse so quickly. Young man, you might not realize how dangerous that thing is."

Tony stood up, his tone carrying the arrogance of an overbearing elder. "Its energy signature already exceeds that of a miniature nuclear reactor. Holding it is like putting a nuclear launch device in a baby's hands. For the safety of the world, it should be kept by someone more professional."

"Someone like you?" Jiang Li smiled. "Considering the weapons you've made... oh, no, considering all the disasters you haven't caused yet, I'd say I'm much safer than you."

Tony's expression darkened. He hated it most when people questioned his technology and qualifications.

"Looks like negotiations have broken down."

Tony put his mechanical glove back on. The repulsor in his palm lit up faintly, emitting a low hum.

"Listen, kid. I don't want to use force. But I need to scan the data from that watch. If you won't cooperate, I'll have to take it myself and have a look."

With that, Tony reached straight for Jiang Li's wrist. In his eyes, controlling a young man would be effortless with the strength of the armor.

Yet Jiang Li not only failed to retreat, but actively extended his hand toward Tony's mechanical palm.

"Stark, do you know why I dared wait for you right here?"

Jiang Li lifted his head, a hint of mockery in his eyes.

"Because in the field of technology, that armor you're so proud of is, in my eyes... nothing but flaws."

Just as Tony's fingers were about to touch the watch, Jiang Li slammed his other hand onto the dial!

"It's Hero Time!"

Bzzzt—!!

This time, the transformation light became a strange black-and-green stream of data.

Jiang Li's body did not swell or grow larger. Instead, it melted and reassembled like a mass of black liquid metal.

In the blink of an eye.

An alien creature composed entirely of black liquid metal appeared before Tony, green circuit-like patterns flowing across its surface and a single enormous green eye dominating its body.

"Galvanic Mechamorph—Upgrade!"

"What is this? Slime?" Tony froze for a moment, instinctively preparing to fire a repulsor blast.

But in the next second, the black fluid that Jiang Li had become launched forward. It did not attack Tony, but instead splattered directly across Iron Man's chest plate!

"Hey! Get off me! This paint job was just baked!" Tony panicked and tried to tear the goo off his armor.

But something even more terrifying happened.

The black liquid metal rapidly seeped into the armor's seams, and green circuit patterns instantly spread across the entire Mark 3 Armor.

[Assuming control of hardware systems...]

[Rewriting underlying code...]

[Outdated hardware architecture detected... executing "alien technology optimization"...]

"JARVIS? JARVIS! Cut the power! Get me out of the armor!" Tony shouted.

"Sorry, sir. My systems have been... isolated." JARVIS's voice became intermittent. "The opponent's algorithms... are at least... two hundred years ahead of ours."

In that instant, the formerly red-and-gold armor turned black and green.

The thrusters on its back erupted with eerie green flames, while the once-circular chest reactor transformed into a brightly glowing green symbol resembling the character "field"!

"Hummm—!!"

Tony watched in horror as every performance metric of the armor skyrocketed.

"Energy output increased by 200%... reaction speed increased by 300%... weapon systems fully charged..."

Tony stared at the HUD, now filled entirely with green displays, and went completely blank.

"How... how is this possible? My Mark 3 has never had this kind of performance!"

"Because your design is terrible, Stark."

Jiang Li's electronic voice, filled with mechanical texture, sounded directly from inside the armor's helmet, dripping with mockery.

"Your circuit layout is bloated, your energy efficiency is only seventy percent, and your firewall is as full of holes as a sieve. I merely helped you 'fix' it a little."

By then, Jiang Li had completely merged with the Iron Man armor.

Upgrade's ability was not merely to control technology—it could enhance it.

The armor's arm rose beyond Tony's control, its repulsor aimed out the window before firing a casual blast.

"Boom!"

A massive green beam shot into the night sky, three times more powerful than usual!

Tony Stark was trapped inside his own armor like a helpless infant.

What drove him most insane was that this alien had made his armor stronger just to prove how "outdated" his technology was.

Jiang Li's enormous single eye emerged upon the armor's faceplate, staring at Tony's pale face within.

"Now, Mr. Stark, can we renegotiate the price of that watch? Or... discuss how to fix this heap of scrap metal of yours?"