Rooftop Sunlight and a S.H.I.E.L.D. "Delivery"

The top-floor terrace of the Malibu villa had become Xiao Han's private domain. That faded beach lounge chair seemed to have taken root, permanently fixed in the sunniest spot.

Xiao Han's days were exceptionally routine—sunbathing, eating donuts that Pepper had learned to make Happy buy by the boxful, and occasionally watching children's cartoons on TV.

Tony scoffed at this, but Xiao Han watched them with great interest. And whenever Tony hit some scientific bottleneck, he would suddenly toss out a precise "friendly reminder" that made Tony's scalp tingle.

Tony Stark's life, meanwhile, had been thoroughly turned upside down. On one hand, he had thrown himself obsessively into the model of the 1974 Expo left behind by his father, Howard.

Xiao Han's words—"The answer is right under your nose"—were like a curse, driving him to analyze, calculate, and rebuild without rest. On the other hand, the tenant who spent all day "photosynthesizing" on his roof constantly challenged the limits of his understanding as both a scientist and a genius.

"JARVIS! What are the energy readings?"

"Sir, when the target individual is in a dormant state, his energy readings are extremely low, even lower than those of an ordinary human. But once he actively uses his power or comes under attack... the readings instantly exceed the limits of all detectors. The system cannot quantify them."

Tony irritably raked a hand through his hair and stared at the small red dot marking Xiao Han's position, utterly motionless on the rooftop. "He's right there! Like a... like a solar panel! How is that possible? What mechanism is supplying his energy? Bioenergy? How could light-conversion efficiency possibly be that high?"

"Sir, current physical models cannot explain it."

"No shit! If I could explain it, would I be asking you?" Tony roared at thin air, feeling the scientific framework he had always prided himself on beginning to crumble before this "humanoid solar panel."

Just then, Pepper walked into the lab carrying a cup of coffee and a small plate of pastries—deliberately avoiding donuts. Seeing Tony's disheveled hair and bloodshot eyes, she sighed. "Tony, you need to rest. Also, Happy just reported that there's a... 'courier' at the gate."

"A courier?" Tony did not even look up. "Tell him to leave it at reception. Send the bill to you."

"This 'courier' says he's Agent Phil Coulson from S.H.I.E.L.D., and he has a 'delivery' from Director Fury that must be handed directly to you." Pepper emphasized "S.H.I.E.L.D." and "Fury."

Tony froze. He looked up with a deep frown. "Coulson? That guy who looks like a high school vice principal? What the hell is Fury trying to pull now?"

Almost at the same time, Xiao Han's lazy voice boomed through the villa's speaker system—somehow, he had taken control of it. "Hey, Bearded Uncle, your 'fan delivery' is here. I had him leave the stuff at the door and sent him on his way. Oh, and the donuts he brought were mediocre. Not as good as the ones Happy buys."

Tony and Pepper exchanged looks. Pepper hurried to the security monitor and, sure enough, saw Agent Coulson standing helplessly beside a black Chevrolet Suburban outside the villa gate, carrying a metal case stamped with the S.H.I.E.L.D. eagle emblem.

He gave a slight bow toward the villa's entrance—his posture somewhat stiff—then turned and got into the vehicle. On the ground by the gate sat a... paper bag with a donut shop logo on it?

"How did he..." Pepper felt her worldview being refreshed yet again. "How did Agent Coulson just obediently leave? And what's with the donuts?"

"Maybe Xiao 'politely' discussed the proper placement of the delivery with him?" Tony rubbed his brow, feeling his temples throb. He walked out of the lab to the villa entrance and picked up the heavy metal case and the donut bag beside it.

Inside the case was a thick stack of "files" on Xiao Han, including high-definition footage of the Empire State Building incident—especially the gun that had been crushed into scrap metal along with its commander—satellite images from the desert incident, where the frozen hellscape was particularly striking, a Quinjet damage report, and an "assessment report" marked in bold red lettering.

Its core conclusion was only two words: Stay away! At the very bottom was a handwritten note from Fury with just one sentence: "Keep your 'tenant' under control, Stark. He isn't a variable you can control."

Tony snorted and crumpled Fury's warning into a ball of waste paper. He was far more interested in the footage and data. When he saw Xiao Han casually stop a missile with one finger in the desert and freeze dozens of people in a single breath, he still felt a chill in his heart despite having witnessed Xiao Han's power firsthand. That kind of strength... was simply absurd.

He opened the donut bag. Inside were several ordinary glazed donuts. He picked one up, took a bite, and frowned. "They really are mediocre. Too sweet." He casually handed the bag to Happy, who had followed him out.

Happy Hogan, Stark's bodyguard and driver, was a burly former boxer with an honest-looking face and sharp eyes. He took the bag, warily glanced toward the rooftop, and asked Tony in a low voice, "Boss, is that guy... really okay? I always feel like he's... unfathomable." Happy was one of the few people who had remained highly vigilant around Xiao Han.

"Happy, relax." Tony patted Happy's solid shoulder, though he was not entirely sure himself. "He's just a... picky tenant.

At least so far, other than consuming massive amounts of donuts and occupying my roof, he hasn't done any real damage... uh, the minor losses in the lab don't count." He remembered the diamond probe Xiao Han had flicked away and the burned-out magnetic field generator.

"And," Tony continued, a sharp gleam flashing in his eyes, "what he told me about the New Element is priceless.

Fury wants me to 'keep him under control'? Ha! I want to figure out what he actually is! JARVIS, keep analyzing all the data, especially his energy absorption and release patterns! I refuse to believe there isn't even a single pattern to be found!"

On the rooftop, Xiao Han's super-hearing took in Tony's grand declaration and Happy's concerns downstairs. His eyes remained closed, but the corner of his mouth lifted slightly.

Analyze me? Come on, Bearded Uncle. By the time you use your universe's laws of physics to uncover the secrets of Kryptonian bioengineering, the sun will probably have burned into a red giant.

He comfortably rolled over. The sunlight warmed his entire body, and power flowed continuously into him like a gentle stream. The sensation of becoming stronger every moment was truly addictive.

Inside the villa, life seemed to return to a certain kind of "normal." Pepper worked hard to adapt to the fact that there was now a "humanoid natural disaster" in the house, trying to manage the chaotic situation with the efficiency of a professional executive—for instance, strictly controlling Tony's caffeine intake, though she often failed.

She also made sure Xiao Han's donut supply never ran out. She discovered that although Xiao Han's words were sharp and his personality unpredictable, he surprisingly followed some basic "guest etiquette." For example, he never touched Tony's collectible car models—perhaps he found them too childish—and he did not deliberately destroy things. Lab equipment counted as testing losses. This eased her taut nerves somewhat.

One afternoon at tea time, while Tony was in the lab and Happy was in the gym, Pepper carried a pot of black tea and a small plate of delicate macarons up to the terrace, once again attempting to improve Xiao Han's dessert choices. Xiao Han was lying in his chair with his eyes closed.

"Want to try these? They were flown in from France. They're one of Tony's favorites... among other things." Pepper tried to make her voice sound natural.

Xiao Han opened one eye and glanced at the colorful little pastries, clearly uninterested. "Too fancy. Donuts are more substantial." Still, he picked up a pink one and tossed it into his mouth. After chewing twice, he said, "Mm, the sweetness is acceptable, but it's too crisp. Not... chewy enough."

Pepper smiled helplessly and sat down in the lounge chair beside him, which she had specifically brought upstairs. "Tony... is very grateful to you." She carefully chose her words. "About the New Element. It saved his life."

"It was nothing." Xiao Han did not even open his eyes. "If he died, who would provide me with such a comfortable rooftop and donuts?"

Pepper was momentarily speechless at such a blunt and practical reason, but then felt that it suited Xiao Han's style perfectly. "Happy... he's not a bad person. He just has a strong sense of responsibility and gets a little overly nervous about Tony's safety." She tried to put in a good word for Happy.

"That big guy?" Xiao Han finally opened his eyes, amusement curling at his lips. "His vigilance is decent, but his reactions are a little slow. Last time, he secretly put a tracker in my donut box. His technique was too crude. I could see through it when I was three... ahem, I mean, I saw through it at a glance." He had nearly let slip that he had never even had a childhood in this world.

Pepper: "..."

She decided she would go have a "heart-to-heart" with Happy as soon as she got back.

"Still," Xiao Han changed the subject and looked toward the glittering sea in the distance, "he's much more straightforward than the redhead sent by that one-eyed guy. At least Happy genuinely worries about Tony. Unlike her, she's all missions and assessments." He meant Natasha Romanoff.

Pepper keenly caught a trace of... approval in Xiao Han's tone toward Happy? Though his way of expressing it was certainly unusual. Her heart stirred. Perhaps this seemingly indifferent young man was not completely devoid of human feeling after all?

Just then, Tony's wildly excited shout rang out from the lab downstairs. "YES! JARVIS! That's it! The New Element reactor! It worked!!!"

This was followed by a burst of crackling electrical sparks and Tony coughing after choking on smoke.

Xiao Han and Pepper looked at each other.

"Sounds like," Xiao Han drawled as he picked up another macaron, "our Bearded Uncle is finally about to start building his... hmm, 'upgraded tin can'?"

Pepper pressed a hand to her forehead. She could already foresee the lab being filled with Tony's shouting and Xiao Han's cutting sarcasm in the future.

Down in the lab, Tony Stark stared at the brand-new Arc Reactor on the workbench. It gave off a gentle blue glow, its structure exquisitely intricate, and an unprecedented fire burned in his eyes. The shadow of palladium poisoning had been swept away, and the surging energy brought by the New Element filled him with exhilaration.

He suddenly looked up at the design blueprint for the original Mark I armor hanging on the wall, then at the more refined Mark II and III blueprints beside it. Finally, his gaze landed on the computer screen, where a brand-new armor concept designed specifically around the New Element core was displayed—sleeker lines, a more powerful presence.

"JARVIS!" Tony's voice was brimming with confidence and impatience. "Clear the workbench in Zone B! Initiate the final optimization program for the Mark Series! Give me the materials list! It's time... to show our 'Son of the Sun' neighbor what a true crystallization of human intelligence looks like!"

A challenging smile curved across Tony's lips, as though he could already see Xiao Han's "nothing special" expression finally being shattered by his new armor.

An unusual contest between science and "super" science, iron armor and a body of steel, was about to begin in the underground lab of the Stark villa.

Build away, build away. It would all end up as scrap metal anyway.

Still... watching Tony build toys was a little more interesting than watching SpongeBob, wasn't it?