Return to Earth

Xiao Han's super vision pierced through New York's towering buildings and locked onto a chaotic street.

Tony Stark, clad in his latest armor, was fiercely battling a heavy armored unit nearly three meters tall.

Energy beams exploded across the street as pedestrians screamed and fled in all directions.

"Looks like our billionaire is having fun." The corner of Xiao Han's mouth lifted as his body slowly rose into the air.

Bang!

A black figure shot skyward, Xiao Han streaking across the sky at incredible speed.

The crowd on the street looked up and cried out in alarm.

"Is that... Superman?!"

Inside Tony's helmet, JARVIS spoke. "Sir, a high-speed target is approaching. Energy signature confirmed. It is Mr. Xiao."

"He's finally back." Tony blasted the enemy armor in the chest with a repulsor beam, taking a moment to glance at the sky.

"Perfect. He can take a look at my new toy."

The black figure came to an abrupt halt before them in a way that defied the laws of physics.

Xiao Han floated in midair, the golden patterns on his black suit gleaming beneath the sunlight.

"Need Superman's help?" Xiao Han raised a brow at Tony.

The enemy armor seized the opportunity and swung a heavy fist at the back of Xiao Han's head.

The fist suddenly stopped just centimeters from his hair, as though it had struck an invisible wall.

Tony shrugged. "Thanks, but I'm only testing the performance parameters of my new armor."

He pointed at the opposing armor. "Just a naughty villain."

Xiao Han shook his head. "No need to test it. It'll be outdated soon enough."

"What do you mean?" Tony's faceplate lifted, revealing a confused expression.

Xiao Han did not answer. He turned to face the enemy armor.

The massive machine seemed to sense the threat. Every weapon port lit up with charging energy.

"Goodbye." Xiao Han waved his right hand, and a golden rune flashed in the air.

A deep-blue spatial vortex suddenly appeared beneath the armor, swallowing the entire machine in an instant.

The next second, a shriek rang out from high above. The armor was free-falling from an altitude of three thousand meters.

"JARVIS! Track the target!" Tony shouted.

Xiao Han had already shot into the sky, catching up with the falling armor in an instant.

He lashed out with a whip kick, and the armor shattered into pieces amid a deafening crash.

Just as the fragments were about to scatter everywhere, Xiao Han drew a circle with one hand. Another portal appeared and swallowed every piece of wreckage.

Three seconds later, he drifted back down to the ground with the unconscious criminal in hand and tossed him to the stunned police officers.

"Y-you... who are you?" a police officer stammered, one hand resting on his holstered gun but not daring to draw it.

Xiao Han smiled slightly. "You can call me Superman."

Tony landed beside him, his faceplate lifting again. "Wait, what was that just now? Magic? JARVIS says that armor disappeared!"

"I sent it to your private warehouse." Xiao Han patted Tony on the shoulder.

"Asgardian magic."

Tony's eyes instantly lit up. "Magic?"

"We'll talk when we get back." Xiao Han glanced at the growing crowd and the pedestrians raising their phones.

"Unless you want to make every headline tomorrow."

The two shot into the sky, leaving behind a street full of astonished cries.

Several children jumped up and down excitedly, shouting, "It's Iron Man and Superman! They're together!"

In the top-floor laboratory of Stark Tower, Tony eagerly inspected the armor wreckage that had appeared out of thin air.

"This is unbelievable!" He picked up a twisted metal plate.

"Instant teleportation, zero energy loss, no spatial distortion—this completely violates every known law of physics!"

Xiao Han stood before the floor-to-ceiling windows, overlooking New York at dusk. "The Asgardians call it Heimdall's Blessing. Essentially, it uses the World Tree's energy to fold space. I saved Thor and took a trip to Asgard."

Tony spun around sharply. "Asgard? You mean the one from mythology..."

"That's right. Exactly what you're thinking." Xiao Han nodded.

Tony's eyes widened, and the metal plate in his hand clattered to the floor. "Wait, I need a moment to process this. Did you just say... gods? Asgard?"

He gestured exaggeratedly. "You mean that guy from Norse mythology who flies around with a hammer?"

"Odin, Loki, Thor—they're all exactly who you're thinking of," Xiao Han explained with a smile.

"Is this... real? Aren't I on Earth? Why have myths become reality?" Tony still found it difficult to believe.

Xiao Han took a huge box from his system space. "It's far more real than you imagine."

He opened the box, revealing a piece of metal glowing with a faint blue light. "This is Uru, a gift from Thor—the material Asgard uses to forge divine artifacts."

"Fine, I'm not surprised anymore." Watching Xiao Han produce another object from thin air, Tony took a deep breath.

He carefully poked the metal with one finger, and JARVIS immediately issued a warning. "Unknown element detected. Atomic structure is abnormally stable. Sir, this completely defies the periodic table!"

"So... those myths are real?" Tony grabbed the whiskey beside him and took a huge gulp before asking again.

"Odin? Loki?"

"More or less." Xiao Han pointed at the metal.

"Though they prefer to call themselves an advanced civilization rather than gods.

Thor is just an alien prince who likes swinging a hammer around. Their civilization simply developed earlier than ours."

Tony suddenly grew excited. "Then what about their technology? Weapons? Energy? Transportation?"

"That's the surprise I have for you." A trace of amusement flashed in Xiao Han's eyes.

He pressed a hidden pattern on the metal case. The case suddenly disassembled into countless nanoscale particles, which reassembled in midair into the shape of a miniature war hammer.

"Asgardian nanotechnology." Xiao Han watched Tony's stunned expression.

"More advanced than your Mark Series."

Tony leaned in to inspect it like a child seeing a new toy. "Th-this is impossible! Nanoscale self-reassembly requires unimaginable computing power and energy control..."

"Plus a little of Uru's magical properties." Xiao Han snapped his fingers, and the war hammer turned back into a case.

"It took me some time to understand the principles. The good news is that I've already reverse-engineered and simplified a version suitable for Earth materials."

Tony suddenly grabbed Xiao Han by the shoulders. "You have to teach me! Name your price!"

"That's surprise number two." Xiao Han took a data chip out of his system space again.

"All the technical parameters are in here, including a method for integrating Uru with Earth alloys. It's enough to upgrade your Mark armor into nanotech armor—and build me a set while you're at it."

Tony snatched the chip as though it were priceless treasure, his hands trembling. "JARVIS! Scan it immediately! Start holographic modeling!"

Blue light swept over the chip, and complex molecular structure diagrams were immediately projected in the center of the laboratory.

Tony worked through the holographic display like a madman. "This energy conduction method...! And this reassembly algorithm... Xiao! They're absolute geniuses!"

Xiao Han leaned against the console, watching Tony sink into technological fervor. "One reminder: Uru requires a specific energy frequency to activate.

I think you'll need to modify the reactor's output mode. Upgrade the energy core first."