Manhattan, the Hilton Hotel, presidential suite.
Jiang Li wore a bathrobe and swirled a glass of red wine in his hand, contentedly admiring the dazzling New York skyline outside.
"Fifty thousand dollars will probably last only a month in New York, where every inch of land is worth a fortune."
He took a sip of wine and looked at the Omnitrix on his wrist. "I need to think of a long-term plan. Maybe I could sell some 'alien junk' to Stark Industries?"
"Knock, knock, knock."
A rhythmic tapping suddenly sounded.
It wasn't coming from the door, but from the floor-to-ceiling window on the 18th floor.
Jiang Li raised an eyebrow, not particularly surprised. Ever since the pawnshop's energy fluctuations had given him away last night, he'd known this moment would come sooner or later.
He walked over and drew back the curtains.
Outside, a red-and-gold Iron Man hovered in the air. Blue-white flames spurted from the thrusters in his palms and beneath his feet, shining brilliantly against the night sky.
Iron Man, Tony Stark.
His faceplate flipped open, revealing that distinctive face with its mustache. Tony looked at Jiang Li with an amused expression and pointed at the window latch.
Jiang Li opened the window.
"Whoosh—"
The night wind poured in, and Tony Stark slowly descended onto the carpet.
"Nice room. You've got decent taste."
Tony looked around, then let his gaze fall on Jiang Li—or, more specifically, the black-and-green watch on his wrist.
"But I checked your spending records. Three hours ago, you were at a pawnshop, 'selling off' a Tiden Crystal worth enough to buy half of Manhattan for a mere fifty thousand dollars."
Tony removed his mechanical gloves and tossed them onto the sofa, then made himself comfortable. "If you're short on cash, you could've come to me. Stark Industries has always been generous to people with advanced tech—or holders of alien artifacts."
"Let's get straight to the point, Mr. Stark."
Jiang Li leaned against the bar, showing no sign of unease just because the other man was a billionaire. "You didn't come all this way in a metal suit in the middle of the night just to buy me a drink, did you?"
"Straight to the point. I like it."
Tony snapped his fingers. "I want that watch. Name your price. Ten million? Fifty million? Or shares in Stark Industries?"
As a tech fanatic, Tony had been unable to sit still the moment JARVIS analyzed the energy levels contained in that watch. He had to figure out how the thing worked.
"Not for sale," Jiang Li replied without hesitation.
"Don't be so quick to turn me down. You might not realize how dangerous that thing is, kid."
Tony stood up, his tone carrying a patronizing, fatherly arrogance. "Its energy readings exceed those of a miniature nuclear reactor. Holding on to it is like giving a baby a nuclear launch button. For the safety of the world, it should be kept by someone more qualified."
"Someone like you?" Jiang Li laughed. "When I factor in the weapons you've made... or, no, all the trouble you haven't caused yet, I'd say I'm a lot safer than you."
Tony's expression darkened. He hated having his technology and qualifications questioned.
"Looks like negotiations have broken down."
Tony put his mechanical gloves back on. The arc-pulse cannons in his palms lit up faintly and began to hum.
"Listen, kid. I don't want to get rough. But I have to scan that watch. If you won't cooperate, I'll have to take a look myself."
As he spoke, Tony reached for Jiang Li's wrist. In his mind, the armor's strength would make controlling a teenager easy.
However, instead of backing away, Jiang Li reached out to meet Tony's mechanical hand.
"Stark, do you know why I dared to wait for you right here?"
Jiang Li looked up, a hint of amusement in his eyes.
"Because when it comes to technology, that armor you're so proud of is... full of holes in my eyes."
The instant Tony's fingers were about to touch the watch, Jiang Li's other hand slammed down on its face!
"It's Hero Time!"
Bzzzt—!!
This time, the transformation light took the form of a strange black-and-green stream of data.
Jiang Li's body didn't grow or swell. Instead, it melted and re-formed like a pool of black liquid metal.
In the blink of an eye,
an alien made entirely of black liquid metal, its surface streaked with flowing green circuitry and a single enormous green eye, appeared before Tony.
"Galvanic Mechamorph—Upgrade!"
"What is this, a slime?" Tony froze for a moment, instinctively preparing to fire a repulsor blast.
But the next second, the black liquid Jiang Li had become shot forward—not to attack Tony, but to splat directly onto the chest plate of his Iron Man Armor!
"Hey! Get off me! This paint just got baked!" Tony frantically tried to peel the slime off his suit.
But then something even more terrifying happened.
The black liquid metal quickly seeped into the gaps in the armor, and green circuitry patterns spread across the entire Mark 3 in an instant.
[Hardware system takeover in progress...]
[Rewriting base code...]
[Outdated hardware architecture detected... Executing "alien technology optimization"...]
"JARVIS? JARVIS! Cut the power! Eject the armor!" Tony yelled.
"I'm sorry, sir. My system has been... isolated." JARVIS's voice broke up. "The other party's algorithms... are at least... two hundred years ahead of ours."
In that instant, the armor's original red-and-gold colors turned black and green.
Strange green flames spurted from the thrusters on its back, while the round reactor at its chest transformed into a glowing green symbol shaped like the Chinese character 田!
"Vmmm—!!"
Tony watched in horror as the armor's stats began to skyrocket.
"Energy output increased by 200%... reaction speed increased by 300%... weapons systems charged..."
Tony stared at the green HUD filling his vision, completely dumbfounded.
"What... what's going on? My Mark 3 has never performed like this!"
"Because your design is crap, Stark."
Jiang Li's electronic voice, full of mechanical texture and dripping with mockery, came directly from inside the armor's helmet.
"Your circuitry is bloated, your energy efficiency is only 70%, and your firewall is full of holes. I just 'fixed' it a little."
By now, Jiang Li had completely fused with the Iron Man Armor.
Upgrade's abilities weren't limited to controlling technology—he could enhance it, too.
The armor's arm lifted against Tony's will, and its palm cannon aimed out the window and fired casually.
"Boom!"
A thick green beam shot into the night sky, its power three times greater than usual!
Tony Stark was trapped inside his own armor, helpless as a baby.
What upset him most was that this alien had made his armor even stronger, just to prove how "outdated" his technology was.
Jiang Li's enormous eye appeared on the armor's faceplate, staring at Tony's pale face inside.
"Now, Mr. Stark. Can we talk about the price of that watch again? Or... how to fix this pile of scrap metal?"
Before you continue