Stark's "I Am Iron Man"

The basement light bulb flickered on and off like a star about to go out. Lin Mo and Ted sat side by side on the floor covered with old newspapers, with two cans of cheap beer and a nearly finished bag of chips between them. Ted was the new neighbor who had moved in three days ago, living in the basement next to Lin Mo's. He was a tall, skinny white young man with hair as messy as a bird's nest, and he always liked scratching his chin when he talked—he said it was a lingering effect from getting it caught in a machine while working as a technician at an electronics factory.

"So you really can fix drones?" Ted held up his beer can as foam dripped down from the opening. "My DJI crashed once and wouldn't fly anymore. The specialty store said I had to replace the motherboard. They scammed me out of two hundred bucks."

Lin Mo bit into a chip. It was so salty it tasted bitter. Three days ago, he had helped Ted fix that drone—it had really just been a loose gyroscope, and a little nudge with the Basic Phasing Ability had done the trick. "Nothing much," he said vaguely, glancing at the secondhand TV in the corner. He had picked it up from a junkyard, and there was still a crack across the screen. It was playing a boring talk show, where the host mocked how "Stark Industries' stock had fallen harder than a roller coaster since its boss went missing."

Ted snorted and took a gulp of beer. "Those capitalists would be better off dead. The factory I used to work at laid us off after Stark Industries bought it. Damn it, they didn't even give us enough severance pay." He squeezed the beer can until it crunched, the aluminum denting like it had been clenched by an invisible hand.

Lin Mo did not respond. He knew Ted was speaking in anger, and he also knew that before becoming Iron Man, Tony Stark really had been an arrogant arms dealer. But he knew even more clearly that this man would one day carry a nuclear missile into a wormhole to protect Earth, fight Thanos to the death on Titan, and trade his own life for the lives of half the universe.

Just then, the TV abruptly cut to an emergency news broadcast. The footage switched to a press conference packed with reporters. The anchor's voice carried unprecedented excitement. "Breaking news! Stark Industries CEO Tony Stark has been found and is now holding a press conference!"

Ted cursed, "What bad luck," and was about to change the channel when Tony Stark suddenly appeared on screen. He wore a sharp suit, with a few scratches on his face, but his smile was more flamboyant than ever. The reporters below shouted questions like mad. "Where have you been during your disappearance?" "Were you kidnapped by terrorists?" "Will Stark Industries stop producing weapons?"

Tony picked up the microphone, waited for the room to quiet down, then grinned at the cameras. His voice was as clear as if he were speaking right beside them. "I am Iron Man."

The air froze instantly.

The beer can in Ted's hand dropped to the floor with a clang. Yellow liquid splashed across the newspapers. His mouth hung open, but he could not say a word for a long while. Lin Mo felt as if his heart had been struck by a heavy hammer, blood rushing to his head—he had known this moment would happen, but seeing it with his own eyes made the impact far stronger than he had imagined.

On TV, the reporters erupted. Camera flashes came down as densely as a rainstorm. Tony Stark did not answer another question. He simply turned and left, his back as straight as a mountain beneath the pursuit of countless cameras.

"That lunatic!" Ted finally came back to his senses and kicked the empty beer can into the corner. "Publicly admitting he's a superhero? Isn't he afraid terrorists will blow him to hell? Or does he think that metal shell can stop missiles?"

Lin Mo said nothing. He only stared at Tony's replayed smile on the screen. There was arrogance in it, exhaustion too, and a faint determination that was hard to notice. He suddenly remembered the news reports about Afghanistan he had seen at the repair shop, and Tony building his first suit of armor from scrap metal in a cave—this man had never played by the rules.

The wristband on his wrist suddenly warmed slightly. It was not the searing heat from before, but more like warm water slowly seeping into his skin. He lowered his head and saw pale blue words appear, different from usual:

[Key event detected: Tony Stark publicly reveals his identity (Iron Man).]

[Hidden mechanism triggered: Hero Connection.]

[Countdown adjusted: 359 days 12 hours (reduced by 1 day).]

Lin Mo's breathing stopped for a moment. The countdown had been reduced by a day? This system really was connected to superheroes! He stared at the words, his heart pounding—did it mean that whenever a superhero revealed his identity, or whenever a major event happened, the countdown would shorten? If so, could he gain superpowers faster by following these events?

"What are you looking at? Your face is white." Ted leaned over and stared curiously at Lin Mo's wrist. "Are you hurt?"

"No... I'm fine." Lin Mo quickly pulled down his sleeve to cover the wristband. He could not let anyone else know this secret yet, especially in a world where even saying the wrong thing might get you monitored.

Ted curled his lip and did not press further. He merely opened another can of beer. "This world is getting crazier and crazier. First Stark disappeared, then superheroes showed up. Next thing you know, aliens will be here."

Lin Mo's heart skipped a beat. Ted was right. Aliens really would come, during the Battle of New York two years later. Looking at Ted's unconcerned expression, Lin Mo suddenly felt a little sad—people in this world knew nothing about the dangers ahead, like frogs slowly boiling in warm water.

"Maybe." Lin Mo picked up his beer can and took a sip. It was bitter, but it cleared his head considerably.

The next day, when he went to work at the repair shop, all of Queens was talking about Tony Stark. The owner of the hardware store waved a newspaper around and told everyone passing by, "I knew that kid was something special. He even stole a wrench from my place when he was little!" Meanwhile, the pizza shop clerk complained, "Nobody ordered delivery yesterday. They were all at home watching the news. Cost me fifty bucks."

Carlos tossed an engine covered in grease to Lin Mo, cursing under his breath. "That playboy only knows how to show off. Does he think putting on a metal shell makes him a hero? Hell, when I was young, I wore Superman underwear to save people."

Lin Mo smiled and caught the engine. As his fingertips brushed over its casing, he suddenly remembered the change in his wristband last night. He focused and tried using the system to analyze the engine—he had never succeeded before, but this time the wristband actually responded:

[Item: 1998 Ford engine.]

[Status: Engine block wear, aged spark plugs.]

[Associated hero: None.]

Lin Mo froze. It looked like the system had truly activated some kind of mechanism. It could not only detect an item's condition, but also associate it with heroes? He quickly took apart the engine. As he replaced the spark plugs, he asked Carlos, "Carlos, what do you think Iron Man's armor is made of?"

Carlos had a cigarette hanging from his mouth and blew out a smoke ring. "What else could it be? Titanium Alloy, mixed with some carbon fiber. Stark Industries patent. What, you planning to build yourself a set?"

Lin Mo did not answer, but he began calculating in his mind. He could not work with Titanium Alloy, but he had seen plenty of carbon fiber in Huaqiangbei. Maybe he could use the Basic Phasing Ability to figure something out.

At lunchtime, Peter suddenly rushed into the repair shop with a newspaper held high. The front page showed Tony Stark wearing his armor. "Brother Lin! Did you see it? Iron Man! He really exists!" The boy's eyes shone like light bulbs. His glasses had slid down to the tip of his nose, but he did not notice. "His armor uses an Antigravity Device and Pulse Cannons. The principles are like the Web-Shooters I told you about before..."

"Peter!" Aunt May's voice came from the entrance. She carried a thermos container and looked mildly helpless. "I told you not to keep running out. You haven't even finished your homework."

"But Aunt May..." Peter wanted to argue, but when he saw the thermos in her hand, his eyes immediately lit up. "Are those cookies?"

Aunt May handed the thermos to Lin Mo. Inside were freshly baked cookies, still steaming. "These are for you. Thank you for fixing Peter's drone last time." She glared at Peter. "This kid watched the news until midnight yesterday, saying he wanted to design new armor for Iron Man."

Lin Mo accepted the cookies. The sweet scent mingled unexpectedly well with the smell of motor oil. "That's good. It's good to have dreams." He looked at Peter and suddenly remembered Spider-Man: Homecoming, which he had watched before crossing over. Peter really would become Tony Stark's "intern" later on.

"Right?" Peter's face instantly reddened. He pulled out a notebook from his backpack, its pages filled with all kinds of armor designs. Some looked like spiders, while others resembled insects. "I think Iron Man's armor is too heavy. It would be much better if it could move as flexibly as a spider, and climb walls too..."

Lin Mo looked at the sketches and suddenly felt a little moved. This teenager who had not yet been bitten by a spider already had the beginnings of a hero within him. Pointing to one drawing, Lin Mo said, "The joint design here is good, but you need memory alloy for the material. Otherwise, it could jam easily."

Peter's eyes widened even more. "You understand this too? I thought you only knew how to repair computers!"

"I know a little." Lin Mo smiled, remembering how he had studied plenty of mechanical principles while building computers in Huaqiangbei.

Aunt May could not help smiling as she watched them talk. "You two keep chatting. I'm going grocery shopping. Peter, you have to finish your homework this afternoon!"

Peter nodded perfunctorily and grabbed Lin Mo's arm. "Brother Lin, do you think Iron Man will openly recruit assistants? I think my designs..."

"Finish your homework first." Lin Mo rubbed his hair, as though Peter were his own younger brother.

That afternoon, Lin Mo was installing an operating system on a laptop when the wristband suddenly heated up again. He looked down and saw that the words had changed:

[Associated event detected: Peter Parker draws armor design sketches.]

[Weak energy fluctuation triggered. Potential connection to Spider-Man's abilities detected.]

[Countdown adjusted: 359 days 10 hours (no change).]

Lin Mo's heart began racing wildly. It really was related to Peter! Although the countdown had not changed, the system had explicitly mentioned "Spider-Man's abilities," proving that his guess was correct. The system could sense the potential of future heroes.

He looked up through the window. Peter was walking home with his backpack on, still clutching the notebook filled with designs. He skipped along like a happy little bird. Lin Mo smiled, and the anxiety in his heart suddenly eased—at least he was not the only one who knew the future. There were still teenagers like Peter in this world, looking forward to becoming heroes in their own ways.

That night, when Lin Mo returned to the basement, Ted was crouching at the entrance smoking. When he saw Lin Mo, he quickly stubbed out the cigarette. "Did you hear? Iron Man saved a crashing plane in Los Angeles last night! It was all over the news!"

Lin Mo nodded and pulled out his keys to open the door. He knew about it. After becoming Iron Man, Tony Stark had indeed done plenty of good things, although the process was always accompanied by destruction.

"Do you think he'll come to New York?" Ted followed him into the basement, anticipation in his eyes. "I want to take a picture and post it on Facebook. It'll definitely go viral."

Lin Mo's basement was a little tidier than Ted's. Repaired parts sat on the desk, and a map of New York was pinned to the wall. Several locations had been circled in red—Stark Tower, Queens High School, and places where battles might happen in the future.

"Maybe." Lin Mo handed Ted a can of beer. "But stay far away when you take pictures. His armor leaks oil."

Ted burst out laughing. "How do you know? Have you seen him before?"

Lin Mo did not reply. He only looked out the window. The moon was full, illuminating the rooftops of the apartment building. Peter's figure appeared there again, holding binoculars and looking at something. Lin Mo knew he was "patrolling," hoping to find someone in need of help, just like Iron Man.

"Oh, right," Ted suddenly said. "I found a job. I'll be repairing circuit boards at an electronics factory. I start tomorrow."

Lin Mo's eyes brightened. "Congratulations."

"I should thank you too." Ted scratched his chin, looking a little embarrassed. "If you hadn't fixed my drone, the owner of that factory wouldn't have noticed me. He happened to need someone who could repair aerial photography equipment."

Lin Mo smiled. "It was nothing."

After Ted left, Lin Mo sat at his desk and looked at the wristband on his wrist. The countdown read 359 days 8 hours, two days less than yesterday. He knew this was only the beginning. As more superheroes emerged and more events unfolded, the number would continue to shrink.

He picked up Peter's notebook, which he had borrowed during the day, and flipped to the last page. Written there in red pen was a sentence: "With great power comes great responsibility." It was Ben Parker's famous saying, and Spider-Man's creed. Lin Mo ran his fingertip over the words and suddenly felt that this was not just Peter's creed. It should be his too.

He turned on his computer and searched for "Iron Man armor principles." Countless results appeared on the screen: official technical specifications, online speculation, and all kinds of parody videos. Lin Mo ignored them. He simply created a new document and began writing his own "plan":

Train the Basic Phasing Ability and strive to phase through a three-meter-thick concrete wall.

Study mechanical principles and try to assemble a simple suit of armor from scrap parts, one that could at least stop bullets.

Keep an eye on Peter. After he gets bitten by the spider, provide help in time.

Save money—at least five thousand dollars—to buy useful equipment.

Study the wristband's patterns and see how to shorten the countdown faster.

After writing all that, Lin Mo shut down the computer and lay on his bed. The moldy smell of the basement no longer seemed so unpleasant. Moonlight filtered in through the small window, casting a long strip of light across the floor like a road leading into the future.

He touched the wristband on his wrist. The words had already vanished, but its faint warmth remained, as if reminding him that none of this was a dream.

"359 days left." Lin Mo murmured, unable to stop the corners of his mouth from lifting. He suddenly felt a little excited—excited to see what ability he would receive from his first check-in, excited to stand with Peter on the rooftops of Queens and watch Iron Man fly through the night sky, excited to carve out his own brilliant life in this crisis-ridden Marvel Universe.

Early the next morning, on his way to the repair shop, Lin Mo saw Aunt May putting up a notice in the hallway: "Community barbecue party, Saturday at 3 p.m. Everyone is welcome." Peter stood beside her holding a camera and taking pictures of the notice. When he saw Lin Mo, he hurried over. "Brother Lin, you'll come, right? I can take a picture of you with my new camera!"

Lin Mo smiled and nodded. "Of course."

He watched Peter run back toward the third floor, then looked at Aunt May's busy figure. He suddenly felt that although this world was dangerous, it was also full of warmth. There were superheroes like Tony Stark charging into danger at the front, ordinary people like Aunt May quietly protecting their community, teenagers like Peter eagerly waiting to grow up—and there was himself, a repair apprentice from another world with a mysterious wristband, trying his best to survive.