The Official Alibi

Afterward.

Christine's bedroom.

The room's owner still lay dazed on the bed, trembling as if she were having a Parkinson's episode. Leon had already made a clean getaway and was searching the floor for his clothes while calling Tony.

"Bro, I can't wait. Remember to bring Rhodes."

"Okay."

Tony completely understood how Leon felt on the other end of the call, but he still joked, "I think Shield Boy is a pretty good nickname. It makes you sound young and approachable."

"Hehe."

Faced with Tony's teasing, Leon merely gave a dry laugh and hung up.

It was fine if Tony called him that, but if villains or superheroes a whole generation younger than him started calling him that too, did Leon not have any pride?

Just imagine the youngest of them all, Spider-Man, greeting Leon: "Hey, Shield Boy, I'm your biggest fan, Spider-Man..."

Compared side by side, that image was simply too beautiful to behold.

Just thinking about it made Leon break out in goosebumps from embarrassment.

"Hey, Christine, wake up."

Slap! Slap! Slap!

After getting dressed, Leon walked to the bedside and patted Christine's cheek, waking her up.

"Mm?"

Christine groggily opened her eyes.

"Tony and I are holding a press conference this afternoon to prove our identities. Don't say I didn't notify you in advance this time."

Leon smiled.

"Ah?!"

"Hiss—"

A reporter's instincts jolted Christine fully awake.

She sat straight up from the bed, her messy, sticky blonde hair flying everywhere, only to immediately hiss in pain and collapse back down.

Seeing that,

Leon spread a warm, gentle golden glow from his palm and placed it over Christine's lower abdomen. She felt a warm current flow into her body, and the pain immediately eased considerably.

"Is this your superpower?" Christine asked, a slightly embarrassed blush on her face. "I thought you were just joking last time."

"Oh~ That really hurts my feelings. I gave you my whole heart, and all I got in return was suspicion."

"Fuck off!"

Leon put on a melodramatic act, but Christine did not indulge him. A long leg slid out from beneath the covers, and with a light push of her bare foot, she kicked Leon straight out.

Afternoon arrived quickly.

After a day of public discourse brewing, netizens had formed a preliminary understanding of Iron Man, this new superhero.

Just like in the original plot, they were drawn in by the cool Iron Man armor and were all guessing at Iron Man's true identity, wondering whether he was Tony Stark or someone else.

But on Leon's side, thanks to Christine's deliberate guidance, public opinion among netizens had become sharply polarized—

"What Shield Boy? He's obviously a knockoff of Captain America. Our Captain America is the coolest!"

"Hey, how can you say that about my Leon? My Leon is a thousand, ten thousand times more handsome than your smug captain!"

"Do you even believe that yourself? With that creepy look of his while wearing a helmet, if he stood by the roadside, the police would probably arrest him as a pervert!"

"Are you people just getting online? That's Leon Stark!"

"Setting aside his family background, character, and private life, if you can find a more handsome man in America, I'll admit defeat! Image.jpg"

"Exactly!"

"What a joke! If I looked that creepy, I'd be willing to drive sports cars and live in villas too!"

"Damn, those abacus beads hit me right in the face!"

"So you want to eat and take everything, huh?"

"So what if he's Leon Stark? I heard Stark Industries is about to go bankrupt. Sooner or later, he'll end up as a stray dog by the roadside!"

"666. Bro, here's some advice: throw away your phone, disconnect from the internet, and move immediately. Otherwise, Stark's people are going to come deliver some warmth to your door."

"Stark Industries is already history. Hammer Industries will become the new leader of the weapons manufacturing industry and lead America to new heights!"

"The guy above is paid shill from Hammer Industries, right? You're not even trying to hide it!"

"With Hammer Industries' terrible quality control, if you fire ten Ex-Wives and one goes off, I'll count that as my win!"

"No, bro, that's not right, is it?"

"..."

The obsessive fans convinced that Shield Boy was Leon occupied half the public discussion.

The rest consisted of haters, passersby drawn in by the headlines, Captain America's legitimate fans, and paid shills hired by Hammer Industries.

"Seriously, every kind of freak is crawling out of the woodwork..." Leon curled his lip and pressed one finger against the Bluetooth earpiece in his right ear.

"Arcee."

"I'm here."

"Write down all those people online who are being disrespectful and maliciously slandering me. After this, I'll pay each of them a personal visit."

"Are you sure?"

"There are quite a lot of them..."

"Of course."

"The internet isn't a lawless place. Do they really think I can't trace the connection back to them?"

"Dream on!"

With Leon's current speed, it was not impossible if he put in a little effort.

After all, he was not a nice guy like Superman. The fact that he was not going to blast them with laser beams like Homelander already showed how good Leon's temper was.

New York.

Manhattan Plaza.

The press conference venue was packed with people.

However, burly security guards in black suits and sunglasses had cordoned off a large fan-shaped empty area between the stage and the crowd.

The reporters stood along both sides of the fan-shaped area near the stage, making photography and note-taking convenient without occupying the empty space in the middle.

Leon had specifically ordered that empty area to be left open.

As for what it was for...

Backstage.

When Leon arrived,

Pepper was complaining while applying Tony's makeup.

As Leon's secretary, Sharon Kate stood respectfully to one side because her boss had not yet arrived. Her head kept turning toward the backstage entrance, like a wife waiting for her husband to return.

The moment she saw Leon arrive, she immediately broke into a smile and hurried over, intending to help him change into formal wear.

"No need to change clothes. Just touch up my makeup."

Leon waved a hand and instructed her.

"Yes, Mr. Leon."

Sharon Kate, dressed in a black sleeveless bodycon dress, nodded obediently. Leon then sat on the sofa beside Tony and let Sharon Kate get to work.

"Hey, Shield Boy."

Tony put down the headline newspaper in his hands and greeted Leon with a smug grin.

"Oh, come on, bro." Leon rolled his eyes and gritted his teeth. "I guarantee that after today, this nickname will become history!"

"Leon, I guarantee you too: if you dare sneak out and mess around with Tony like this again, I'm quitting!"

Pepper looked at the brothers with a full "smile" on her face. She had threatened to resign more than once to make them turn back from the brink.

Only that way could they understand the seriousness of the problem.

Tony: "Okay, okay."

Leon: "You're the boss. We'll listen to you."

The brothers shrugged helplessly and readily agreed, but then exchanged an extremely tacit glance. Its meaning was obvious: they would dare to do it again next time!

Just then,

Agent Coulson of S.H.I.E.L.D. arrived uninvited. After briefly exchanging glances with Sharon Kate, who was applying Leon's makeup, he handed each brother a script.

"Agent Coulson?"

"What is this supposed to mean?"

The brothers asked. Coulson explained,

"This is an assignment from the director, concerning Gemira."

"You were on a yacht at the time. We prepared completely authentic customs documents stating that you spent the entire day vacationing on Avalon Island and never went anywhere else. We also have testimony from fifty witnesses."

"So this is an official alibi prepared for us?"

Leon raised a brow.

"Yes, Mr. Leon."

Coulson nodded. "This is for your and Mr. Tony's personal safety."

"Okay."

"Sounds good."

Tony gave no clear answer.

Hearing that, Coulson let out a relieved breath, thinking Tony had agreed.