Born to Be a Leek

Nick Fury personally escorted Lu Xi and Hill out of the office, and the three headed toward the elevator.

As they passed through the command center hall, Tony Stark's supremely confident face appeared on one of the massive screens.

Standing before a crowd of reporters with a roguish smile at the corner of his mouth, he loudly declared:

"That's right, I am Iron Man!"

The moment he said it, the reporters erupted into an uproar, and flashing cameras instantly lit up the entire screen.

Questions and exclamations overlapped into a chaotic din.

Seeing this, Fury could not help muttering a curse under his breath:

"Motherfucker, can't that kid give me a break? He always has to make such a huge spectacle."

Lu Xi looked at the high-spirited Tony on the screen, a meaningful smile appearing on his face.

He knew this was only the beginning. The curtain had risen, and one breathtaking show after another was about to unfold in this world.

Afterward, Lu Xi and Hill entered the elevator.

The elevator doors slowly closed, shutting out the noise from outside.

Hill slightly raised her head and looked at Lu Xi. After hesitating for a moment, she finally asked:

"You seem to prefer using Eastern proverbs. Could you answer a question for me?"

Lu Xi raised an eyebrow and replied with interest:

"Hm? What do you want to ask?"

Hill smiled somewhat awkwardly and said:

"As Lucifer, why do you have an Eastern appearance?"

"I don't mean anything by it. You're very handsome; I'm simply curious. After all, in our understanding, Lucifer is usually depicted as a Westerner."

Lu Xi could not help laughing when he heard that:

"Haha, the God in your movies is often Black too. Compared to that, is it really so strange that I have an Eastern face?"

"It's merely an outward appearance. What matters is one's inner essence, isn't it?"

Hill froze for a moment before realizing what he meant, then gave an embarrassed smile:

"Uh... all right, that makes sense."

Upstairs, Nick Fury returned to his office, dropped into his chair, and let out a long breath.

His conversation with Lu Xi had made him keenly aware of the weight of his responsibility.

Now, he had to begin preparing a plan to expel the Skrulls as soon as possible.

Just as he sank into thought, Melinda May gently pushed open the door and walked in.

"Director, that Lucifer gave me a card." As she spoke, Melinda handed the card over.

Fury took the card and instantly learned the information contained within it, his expression shifting slightly.

He then returned the card to Melinda and said:

"Keep it. Your soul is your own. When the time comes, the agency won't interfere with whatever you choose to do. I respect your personal choice."

Melinda nodded, then remembered something else and continued:

"There's one more thing. Crossbones isn't right."

"When I confronted Lucifer because of that misunderstanding, I felt like he wanted to draw his gun, and I was the one he intended to aim at."

Fury's brow furrowed tightly, and a trace of vigilance flashed through his eyes:

"I'll keep an eye on it, but not now. Melinda, I need your help with something more urgent..."

Elsewhere, Tony Stark leisurely returned home.

Ever since being rescued from the Middle East, he had felt as though everything had divine assistance behind it, going far more smoothly than he could have imagined.

The development of the Mark Armor had been exceptionally smooth, advancing all the way to the third generation without a hitch.

Each upgrade brought a tremendous leap in the armor's performance.

His campaign against the Ten Rings in the Middle East had also gone extraordinarily well. He had encountered almost no real resistance before dealing with most of them.

Then there were the company matters. Originally, he had had no clue who was pulling strings behind the scenes.

Yet for some reason, a baron far away in Sokovia had suddenly gotten himself wiped out, exposing a great deal of shocking insider information along the way.

Among it were records of Obadiah's dealings with him. Once that evidence made its way back to the States, Obadiah was arrested on the spot.

That also uncovered the fact that Tony's itinerary in the Middle East had been leaked by Obadiah.

Tony could not help feeling that lately, he had been like some chosen son of destiny favored by fate.

Before he had even gotten the chance to stretch his wings, everyone targeting him had already fallen one after another.

In high spirits, Tony walked over to the bar, poured himself a glass of whiskey, and eagerly said to JARVIS:

"JARVIS, search online for comments about me."

Given his usual flashy, show-off personality.

Now that he had publicly admitted he was Iron Man, of course he wanted to see how everyone was praising him.

JARVIS swiftly displayed several pages on the screen.

Sure enough, the first item was Stark Industries' stock information.

As news of Tony admitting he was Iron Man spread, the stock price immediately rose.

At this rate, it would soon recover everything it had previously lost. And judging by the trend, it would likely climb even higher than before.

Tony laughed smugly:

"Haha, who were those people online cursing me before? Let's see what they have to say now."

JARVIS was highly efficient and immediately pulled up each of their social media accounts.

Netizen A angrily wrote:

"Tony Stark, fuck you! I just sold all my stock at a loss, and the price shot up right after! I must have the worst luck in eight lifetimes!"

Netizen B:

"What the hell is this supposed to mean? Are you just going to keep fleecing us small shareholders over and over? Stark, you'd better watch your back when you go out!"

Netizen C:

"Same here. I'm planning to go to the entrance of Stark Industries and cosplay as a teru teru bozu. Anyone want to join me?"

The smile on Tony's face instantly stiffened, and he said irritably:

"Uh... what does that have to do with me? Chasing highs and dumping lows—you deserve to be born chumps! You have no investment sense at all."

Then, somewhat annoyed, he said to JARVIS:

"JARVIS, block anything related to stock prices. Show me something else."

"Yes, sir," JARVIS replied.

The screen immediately switched to comments from all sorts of gossip-hungry onlookers.

"So the tin man constantly stirring up trouble in the Middle East is Stark? Is he bored out of his mind? Instead of living comfortably as a rich second-generation heir, he ran off to become some kind of superhero."

"I'm kind of curious. Putting that metal armor on and taking it off must be a pretty complicated process, right? What if he suddenly needs to pee while wearing it? What if he has diarrhea? This is a serious issue!"

"Guy above, I know this one. Astronaut suits can recycle water, so pee is self-produced and self-consumed. Maybe this armor can do that too. As for diarrhea... he'd probably just have to wash his pants, haha!"

Tony's face instantly turned black as charcoal, and he could not help cursing:

"Shit, what the hell are these people even discussing? Why did the topic get so derailed?"

"Aren't they excited? Aren't they jealous? This is the strongest single-soldier mech in history! How are their priorities this bizarre?"