Tony 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 a floor covered with old newspapers, with two cans of cheap beer and a nearly empty 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 lanky white young man with hair as messy as a bird's nest, and he always liked to scratch his chin when he spoke—he said a machine had caught it back when he worked as a technician at an electronics factory, leaving behind a minor aftereffect.

"So you really know how to fix drones?" Ted held up his beer can, foam dripping down from the opening. "My DJI crashed once and wouldn't fly anymore. The specialty store said it needed a new motherboard. They ripped me off for two hundred bucks."

Lin Mo bit into a chip. It was so salty it tasted bitter. Three days ago, he had fixed Ted's drone—it had really just been a loose gyroscope, and a little nudge with his Basic Phasing Ability had done the trick. "Nothing much," he said vaguely, his eyes drifting to the secondhand TV in the corner. He had picked it up from a scrapyard, and a crack still ran across the screen. It was showing a boring talk show, with the host mocking how "Stark Industries stock had dropped faster than a roller coaster after its boss disappeared."

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 out. Damn it, they didn't even pay us enough severance." He crushed the beer can with a crunch, the aluminum caving in as though gripped by an invisible hand.

Lin Mo said nothing. He knew Ted was speaking in anger, and he also knew that before becoming Iron Man, Tony Stark had indeed 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 half the lives in the universe.

Just then, the TV abruptly cut to breaking news. The screen 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 currently holding a press conference!"

Ted cursed, "Just my luck," and was about to change the channel when Tony Stark suddenly appeared on-screen. He wore a sharply tailored suit, with a few scratches on his face, yet his smile was more flamboyant than ever. The reporters below the stage fired questions like mad. "Where were you during your disappearance?" "Are rumors true that you were 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 so clear it seemed to ring beside their ears. "I am Iron Man."

The air froze instantly.

The beer can in Ted's hand hit the floor with a clang. Yellow liquid splashed across the newspapers as he stood there with his mouth open, unable to say a word for a long time. Lin Mo felt as though a sledgehammer had struck his heart, blood rushing to his head—he knew this moment would happen, but he had never expected seeing it firsthand to hit this hard.

On TV, the reporters erupted. Camera flashes fell as thickly as a rainstorm. Tony Stark did not answer another question. He turned and left, his back straight as a mountain beneath the pursuit of countless lenses.

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

Lin Mo said nothing. He simply stared at Tony's smile in the replay. There was arrogance in it, exhaustion, and a trace of resolve that was easy to miss. He suddenly remembered the news reports about Afghanistan he had seen at the repair shop, remembered Tony forging his first suit of armor from scrap metal in a cave—this man had never played by the rules.

The band around his wrist suddenly grew faintly warm. It was not the previous burning heat, but more like warm water slowly seeping into his skin. He looked down and saw pale blue words appear, different from usual:

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

[Hidden mechanism triggered: Hero Correlation.]

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

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

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

"No... I'm fine." Lin Mo hurriedly pulled down his sleeve to cover the band. He could not let anyone else know about this secret yet, especially in a world where even a careless word might be monitored.

Ted curled his lip and did not press further. He just opened another can of beer. "Anyway, this world is getting crazier and crazier. First Stark disappeared, then superheroes started popping up. Next thing you know, aliens will show up."

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. The beer was bitter, but it cleared his mind quite a bit.

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

Carlos tossed an oil-stained engine to Lin Mo while cursing under his breath. "That playboy only knows how to show off. He thinks wearing a metal shell makes him a hero? I wore Superman underwear to save people when I was young."

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

[Item: 1998 Ford engine.]

[Condition: Cylinder wear, aged spark plugs.]

[Associated hero: None.]

Lin Mo froze. It seemed the system had really activated some kind of mechanism. Not only could it detect conditions, it could also associate items with heroes? He quickly took the engine apart, replacing the spark plugs as he asked Carlos, "Carlos, what material do you think Iron Man's armor is made from?"

Carlos held a cigarette between his teeth and blew out a smoke ring. "What else could it be? Titanium Alloy mixed with carbon fiber. Stark Industries patent. Why? Planning to save up for a set?"

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

At lunchtime, Peter suddenly rushed into the repair shop with a newspaper raised in his hand. The front page showed Tony Stark in armor. "Brother Lin! Did you see it? Iron Man! He really exists!" The boy's eyes shone like light bulbs, and he did not even notice his glasses had slipped down his nose. "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 doorway. She carried a thermos container, a helpless look on her face. "I told you not to keep running out. You haven't even finished your homework."

"But Aunt May..." Peter was about to argue, but when he saw the thermos container in her hand, his eyes suddenly lit up. "Cookies?"

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

Lin Mo accepted the cookies. Their fragrance mixed with the smell of motor oil, strangely harmonious. "That's good. Dreams are a good thing." He looked at Peter and suddenly remembered Spider-Man: Homecoming, which he had watched before crossing over. Peter really did become Tony Stark's "intern" later on.

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

Lin Mo looked at the drawings and suddenly felt moved. This teenager, who had not yet been bitten by the spider, already showed the beginnings of a hero. He pointed at one of the designs. "The joint design here is good, but you need memory alloy for the material. Otherwise, it'll jam easily."

Peter's eyes widened even further. "You know about this too? I thought you only knew how to fix computers!"

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

Aunt May watched them discuss it, unable to stop the smile from rising on her lips. "You two talk slowly. 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 publicly recruit assistants? I think my designs..."

"Finish your homework first." Lin Mo ruffled his hair as though he were ruffling his own little brother's.

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

[Associated event detected: Peter Parker drew armor design plans.]

[Weak energy fluctuation triggered; potential association with Spider-Man's abilities detected.]

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

Lin Mo's heart began pounding wildly. So it really was connected to Peter! Although the countdown had not changed, the system had explicitly mentioned "Spider-Man's abilities." That proved his guess was right—the system could sense the potential of future heroes.

He looked out the window. Peter was walking home with his backpack on, still clutching the notebook full of designs. He skipped along like a cheerful 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 boys like Peter in this world too, waiting to become heroes in their own way.

When Lin Mo returned to the basement that evening, Ted was squatting by the door and smoking. When he saw Lin Mo, he quickly stubbed out his 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 took out his key to unlock the door. He knew about that. After becoming Iron Man, Tony Stark really had done plenty of good things, though the process was always accompanied by destruction.

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

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

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

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

Lin Mo said nothing and simply looked out the window. The moon was full, lighting up the apartment building's rooftops. Peter's figure appeared there again, holding binoculars as he looked at something in the distance. Lin Mo knew he was "patrolling," hoping that, like Iron Man, he might find someone who needed help.

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

Lin Mo's eyes lit up. "Congratulations."

"I have to 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 arm. The countdown showed 359 days and 8 hours, two days less than yesterday. He knew this was only the beginning. As more superheroes appeared and more events unfolded, the number would keep getting smaller.

He picked up Peter's notebook, which he had borrowed to look at during the day, and flipped to the last page. A line had been written there in red ink: "With great power comes great responsibility." It was Ben Parker's famous saying, and Spider-Man's creed. Lin Mo's fingertips brushed over the words, and he suddenly felt that this was not only Peter's creed. It should be his as well.

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

Watch Peter's movements and provide help in time after he was bitten by the spider.

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 basement's moldy smell no longer seemed so unpleasant. Moonlight streamed 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 arm. The words had vanished, but the faint warmth remained, as though reminding him that none of this was a dream.

"359 days left." Lin Mo murmured to himself, unable to stop the corners of his lips from rising. He suddenly felt a little excited. He looked forward to seeing what ability he would receive from his first sign-in, to standing with Peter on a Queens rooftop and watching Iron Man fly through the night sky, and to living a wonderful life in this dangerous Marvel Universe.

Early the next morning, on his way to the repair shop, Lin Mo saw Aunt May posting a notice in the hallway: "Community barbecue party this Saturday at 3 PM. Everyone is welcome." Peter stood beside her with a camera in hand, 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 looking forward to growing up, and himself—a repair shop apprentice from another world, wearing a mysterious wristband and trying his best to survive.