Golden Finger! A Cringey Demon?

"So I'm shutting down Stark International's weapons manufacturing division."

Tony's announcement sent all the reporters present into a frenzy. Standing beside him, Obadiah quickly supported Tony and squeezed him away from the podium, taking his place with a smile.

"Our main purpose today is to tell everyone..." Though Obadiah was smiling, the twitch at the corner of his eye showed just how dissatisfied he was with Tony's actions.

"Tony is back, and he is in very good health."

Ignoring the chaotic reporters and Obadiah's attempts to divert their attention from the stage, Tony made his way through the crowd under Happy's protection.

Tony casually pushed aside the microphones the reporters held out. Camera flashes formed a blinding white glow behind him. He winked at Pepper. "What, were you worried those vultures would tear me apart?"

Pepper's tightly pressed lips relaxed. She reached out and straightened Tony's crooked tie. "I was more worried you'd suddenly announce that Stark Factory was being turned into an animal shelter."

"Not a bad idea. Write that down." Tony snapped his fingers and turned toward Rhodes, whose expression was dark. "Hey, Air Force Colonel, don't look at me like you're about to write another ten-thousand-word report. Do you know how much tax I paid for the right to be this willful?"

Rhodes rolled his eyes. "Your taxes could buy the Pentagon, but apparently not basic common sense."

Tony laughed heartily and patted his old friend on the shoulder. His gaze passed over the crowd and landed on Chen Tian and Yinsen standing in the corner. Yinsen was nervously rubbing his fingers together, while Chen Tian stared thoughtfully in Obadiah's direction.

"Hey! Dragon Country boy!" Tony shouted, making several reporters turn curiously. "What are we waiting for? Time to go home and throw my welcome-back party!" He deliberately exaggerated his mouth movements as he added, "Free Moutai!"

Chen Tian suddenly snapped back to his senses, a helpless smile flashing across his face. As he pulled Yinsen through the crowd, he noticed the cold look Obadiah cast their way—the bald CEO was still dealing with reporters onstage, but his gaze clung to Tony's back like a venomous snake.

"You sure you want to provoke him that much?" Chen Tian asked in a low voice as the three followed Happy out the doors. "Obadiah looks like he wants to smash your head in with a microphone."

Tony climbed into the Rolls-Royce without a care. "That old man tries to murder me with his eyes three times a month." He took the whiskey Pepper handed him. "Seriously, you should see the board meeting records—every time I propose an environmental plan, his bald head gets a little shinier."

Yinsen uneasily adjusted his glasses. "Tony, while I'm deeply moved that you shut down the weapons division, it will affect a lot of people's interests..."

"Doesn't matter." Tony's smile was as flippant as ever. "Don't forget, my 'armor,' and..." Tony tapped his chest, "this thing will make Stark Industries even richer. Those guys will be licking my ass like lapdogs."

The car soon arrived at the airport. Tony bounded up the boarding stairs two at a time, then suddenly made a flamboyant turn at the cabin door and nearly tripped over his own suit—fortunately, he grabbed the railing in time.

"Ladies and gentlemen," he declared, spreading his arms dramatically, "welcome aboard the Piss Off Obadiah! This flight will take you away from boring board meetings and straight to Malibu's alcoholic paradise!"

Pepper rolled her eyes and squeezed past him. "Move aside, genius boss."

She turned back and offered Chen Tian and Yinsen a professional smile. "Ignore him. He hit his head too hard in that cave."

"Hey! My brain is perfectly fine!" Tony protested, slapping the cabin wall. "JARVIS can vouch for that—though he's only a basic AI right now."

An elegant British voice suddenly rang through the cabin. "In fact, Sir, according to your brain scan this morning, your prefrontal cortex has indeed shown slight—"

"Shut up, JARVIS!" Tony angrily threw himself into a leather seat. "You're fired!"

Holding back laughter, Chen Tian and Yinsen found their seats. Through the window, Chen Tian saw Obadiah's black Mercedes speeding toward them, kicking up dust behind it.

"Tony..." Chen Tian had just wanted to warn him when he was interrupted by the pop of a champagne bottle.

"Relax, Dragon Country boy." Tony handed him a glass, unconcerned as foam splashed onto his custom suit. "That old vulture's Mercedes can't outrun my Gulfstream G650."

The plane's engines let out a deafening roar. Tony suddenly leaned close to Chen Tian's ear and shouted, "Know why I call it the Piss Off Obadiah?" Without waiting for an answer, he answered himself. "Because this plane cost him his dividends!"

As the sensation of weightlessness hit, the plane took off. Like a child flying for the first time, Tony pressed himself against the window and watched Obadiah, now the size of an ant, stomp around in fury.

"Ha! Look! He's stomping his feet!" Tony excitedly slapped Yinsen on the shoulder. "I bet he's cursing right now—"

Before he could finish, the plane suddenly jolted violently. Tony's champagne spilled all over his pants.

"Damn it!" he cursed as he hurriedly wiped at them. "Pepper is going to kill me! This was her birthday gift!"

Pepper's voice came from a seat ahead. "Fasten your seatbelts, boys. We've hit some turbulence—and by the way, boss! Are you using the suit I gave you to wipe up alcohol again?!"

Tony shrank his neck like a child caught doing something wrong and muttered quietly, "Does she have eyes in the back of her head..."

The group soon arrived at Malibu Beach. Inside Tony's massive villa, music was already thundering, with colorful lights streaming through the windows.

Tony kicked open the villa doors, and deafening music immediately washed over them. He raised both arms like a rock star and dramatically spun beneath the spotlight shining from the DJ booth. "Welcome to Stark Paradise! Tonight's theme is—celebrating the fact that a genius wasn't blown into minced meat!"

Several bikini-clad models pulled Yinsen onto the dance floor, shifting colored lights reflecting off his glasses. He helplessly shot Chen Tian a pleading look, only to be grabbed by Tony. "Don't even think about escaping, Doctor! Tonight, we're rescuing you from the laboratory!"

Chen Tian stood at the villa entrance. Music and laughter surrounded him, yet it felt as though an invisible barrier separated him from them.

He mechanically accepted the champagne a waiter offered him but did not take a sip, simply letting the bubbles slowly fade from the glass.

Pepper keenly noticed something was off. "This isn't a place for deep thoughts," she said with a smile, handing Chen Tian a glass of water. "Tony's parties have always been famous for 'destroying brain cells.'"

Chen Tian smiled. "Maybe I'm still jet-lagged."

Pepper nodded knowingly, though her gaze grew more concerned. "You know, Tony often talks about how you fought side by side in that cave." She lightly tapped Chen Tian's glass with hers. "There will always be a place for you here."

"Thank you, Miss Potts." Chen Tian took a sip of water.

"Just call me Pepper." She turned gracefully, then paused. "The couch in the corner is more comfortable, and you can see the entire party from there—including whatever Tony throws into the pool next."

Chen Tian nodded gratefully and headed toward the corner shrouded in palm-tree shadows.

The scene aboard that plane in the desert surfaced in his mind again.

A brilliant starry sky spread out before him, and the scorching desert heat was replaced by the chill of the cosmos.

Leah stood amid that starlight. Her red leather jacket outlined her slender figure, while her shoulder-length black hair drifted gently in the weightless environment.

"Welcome, Summoner." Leah's voice, mixed with Diablo's deep voice, rang beside Chen Tian's ear.

"Summoner?" Chen Tian did not understand.

"Yes. You summoned me here from my world." Leah's figure began to change, replaced by Diablo's terrifying body.

He spread his hands, and the flowing river of stars suddenly froze. "Summoner, what can you see in these stars?"

Chen Tian's pupils suddenly contracted. The scenes within those starry rivers began spinning like a kaleidoscope, every fragment reflecting a power that made him tremble—

An eerie purple light flashed in Madara Uchiha's Rinnegan as the Allied Shinobi Forces beneath his feet fell like wheat; bald Saitama's fist tore through the atmosphere, blasting a hole a thousand meters wide through the clouds; wherever Frostmourne pointed, an army of the dead surged from the frozen earth like a tide...

"W-what does this mean?" Chen Tian stammered.

"Summoner, these are all yours." Diablo's tone carried a hint of teasing. "Even I didn't expect your power to be so great. You can summon all kinds of people from countless worlds and make them obey your commands—including me."

Chen Tian stared blankly and pointed at himself. "Me? Summon them?"

Diablo nodded, then dropped to one knee. "Summoner—no, my lord. Diablo, Lord of Terror, awaits your call at any time."

Chen Tian grabbed his head with both hands. Damn, why was his brain so itchy? Was he about to grow a brain?

No... that wasn't it. This was a transmigrator's benefit! This was a golden finger!

"Diablo! You mean I can freely summon people from these images and use them however I want?"

The corner of Diablo's ugly mouth twitched. Can this guy not understand what I'm saying? I'm clearly speaking human language.

But Diablo did not say it aloud, because deep within his soul and mind was a deeply engraved mark: obey the Summoner.

He nodded, which counted as an answer to Chen Tian's question.

Chen Tian laughed excitedly and planted his hands on his hips. When he had first arrived in the Marvel world, he had been unable to find his golden finger and thought he might die at any moment in some dangerous corner.

After all that bitterness, sweetness had finally arrived~

"Um... my lord." Diablo looked at the human, who seemed to be going mad, and spoke softly. "There are limits to summoning."

Chen Tian's laughter stopped abruptly. "Uh, there are limits? Makes sense. Systems in novels can't possibly have no limits. It's not some ridiculously overpowered billionaire novel."

Diablo had no idea what Chen Tian meant, so he simply ignored it and continued. "My lord, the restriction is simple. You can summon once a day. You may summon a person, an ability from that person's world, or perhaps nothing at all."

Chen Tian's mouth twitched. "Of course. System summoning functions are all designed by the greedy planners from my old Earth. It can actually give you nothing? Isn't that just 'thanks for participating'?"

Watching Chen Tian talk to himself, Diablo increasingly felt that the human who had summoned him was not quite right in the head.

A trace of helplessness flashed through his scarlet eyes. His low voice echoed through The Void. "My lord, I now belong to you as your servant. You only need to call out the phrase to summon me, and I will appear wherever you need me."

"A phrase? There's a phrase too?" Chen Tian's mouth slowly fell open as he looked at the words Diablo formed from flames.

"By the names of chaos and fear—Crimson Moon, tear apart reality!"

(When shouting it, it is recommended to perform the following actions: kneel on one knee, press your right fist against your left chest, raise your left hand skyward in a claw shape, then fiercely swing it down. The effect will be better, but please make sure there are no flammable objects nearby.)

"Shadows blot out the sun, flames burn the heavens!"

(The advanced version can include: cross both palms before your chest and fling them outward, while stomping to create a small earthquake effect. Minors, please attempt this under the guidance of a professional demon.)

"Wings of fear, shroud the heavens!"

(The ultimate finishing version requires: bite your finger and draw a blood-red rune in the air. It is recommended that you prepare bandages in advance.)

"Holy shit! What is this?" Chen Tian's mouth opened wider and wider as he read. "Who came up with such cringey chants and poses?"

Diablo proudly puffed out his chest and crossed his arms, looking thoroughly pleased with the summoning chant for himself.

Chen Tian's cheeks burned as if someone had set his face on fire.

He stared at Diablo's smug expression. The demon's scarlet eyes practically glittered with the words "Praise me," and even his horns curled upward with pride.

"Th-this..." Chen Tian's Adam's apple bobbed, his tongue seeming to tie itself in knots. The horrifying image of himself striking that "kneel on one knee, left hand in a claw shape" pose in front of the Avengers had already surfaced in his mind—bystanders would definitely look at him like he was an idiot, and Tony would absolutely record it and play it on a loop a hundred times.

Diablo tilted his head in confusion. "My lord is dissatisfied?"

He snapped his fingers, and the fiery words immediately changed into an even more exaggerated version. "Or perhaps try this—'In the name of Pandemonium, wings of fear shroud the sun and moon, the Demon King heeds the command!' The accompanying movements are a backflip followed by three and a half twisting rotations..."

"Stop!" Chen Tian covered his eyes, the skin visible through his fingers red enough to drip blood. "Can't you design something more normal? Like... snapping your fingers or something?"

The Demon King's tail curled into the shape of a question mark in confusion. "But that would not be imposing enough." He suddenly crouched down and leaned closer mysteriously. "My lord, when I held mobilization meetings in Hell, this move would scare lesser demons into pissing magma..."

Chen Tian realized in despair that this Diablo before him was definitely not the majestic, terrifying Demon God from Diablo, but a cringey idiot like some veteran shut-in nerd.