The Clash of Arrogance and Divine Power

New York

Top floor of Stark Tower

Tony Stark swirled his glass, the amber liquor gleaming beneath the lights.

He narrowed his eyes, studying the young man before him, a mocking curve forming at the corner of his mouth.

"Let me guess." Tony drew out the words.

"You're some scientist who escaped from a lab? Or S.H.I.E.L.D.'s newest consultant?"

Xiao Han did not get angry. He merely looked at him calmly.

"I want 15% of Stark Industries' shares." (What the protagonist cared about wasn't money, so there was no need to worry about it here; it would not be mentioned much later.)

Tony snorted. "Look, JARVIS, this guest has clearly never seen the world. He has superior technology, yet he's fixated on the shares in my hands."

"I don't need money," Xiao Han said flatly.

"What I want are resources, channels, and a legal identity. In exchange, I can guarantee that for the rest of your life, you will never face any danger to your life again."

Tony set down his glass and spread his hands, his tone exaggerated. "Wow, what a touching deal! Too bad I, Tony Stark, don't need anyone's protection."

Xiao Han sighed softly.

"Looks like you need to see it for yourself."

Tony's smart watch suddenly flashed red.

"Abnormal energy fluctuations detected!"

The next second, Xiao Han's eyes glowed a blazing golden color.

Sizzle! Boom!!!

Two beams of Heat Vision instantly pierced through Stark Tower's bulletproof glass and struck an abandoned factory in the distance with perfect accuracy.

Rumble!!!

A massive explosion rang out, and one of the buildings in the industrial district became a sea of fire beneath the extreme heat.

Tony shot to his feet, his pupils shrinking.

"JARVIS! Energy readings!"

"Sir, the beams just now reached a temperature of 5,500 degrees Celsius, equivalent to the surface of the sun."

Tony's breathing quickened slightly, but he soon forced himself to calm down.

"Not bad. Laser weapons? Or some kind of energy projection device?"

Xiao Han did not answer. Instead, he slowly rose into the air, his black suit fluttering faintly despite the windless room.

Tony's expression finally changed.

"Anti-gravity technology?"

Xiao Han smiled faintly.

"No. Pure power."

Before Tony could react, Xiao Han appeared before him in an instant and grabbed his shoulder.

"Wait, what are you do—"

Bang!!!

A sonic boom erupted as the two shot skyward at a speed beyond human vision!

0.5 seconds later

Tony's eardrums nearly tore from the pressure difference. He gasped frantically and found that he was standing in

Earth's orbit.

In the pitch-black universe, the blue planet slowly rotated beneath their feet.

"Wait, I'm going to die..." Stark's face immediately went pale.

Xiao Han glanced at him and waved a hand. A layer of golden force field wrapped around Tony.

Tony Stark, genius, billionaire, playboy, Iron Man.

At this moment, he stared blankly at the sight before him like a child.

"This is impossible..." he murmured.

Xiao Han's calm voice sounded beside his ear.

"Do you still think I was talking nonsense?"

Tony stiffly turned his head toward the man who had effortlessly taken him beyond the atmosphere. He no longer wondered how they could speak in space.

"Who the hell are you?"

Xiao Han's clothes stirred without wind in the vacuum, sunlight forming a brilliant halo behind him.

"Haven't you already guessed?"

Tony swallowed and painfully forced out that name.

"Superman?"

Xiao Han shrugged.

"You got it right, but there's no prize."

Back at Stark Tower, Tony slumped onto the sofa, his fingers trembling slightly.

As a top scientist, he understood far too well what this meant.

Breaking through the atmosphere and enduring reentry heat—these were fields human technology had yet to reach.

"Are you really Superman?" Tony's voice was dry.

Xiao Han's gaze deepened. "I suppose so. You can call me Superman."

"Like in the comics? A Kryptonian? Power granted by a yellow sun?" Tony instinctively began analyzing.

Xiao Han smiled slightly. "More or less. Though my story is much more complicated."

Tony suddenly caught the key point. "Wait, why are the terms of your deal Stark Industries shares? With your abilities, you could easily..."

"Because I don't want to rule the world, Tony," Xiao Han interrupted.

"I need a legal identity, a platform I can operate through. And you are the most suitable candidate."

"15% of the shares, in exchange for never having to worry about being kidnapped, assassinated, or troubled by any threat again."

Tony remained silent for a long time. Finally, he looked up, and the arrogance in his eyes had been replaced by something far more complicated.

"Deal."

Over the next half hour, Tony kept asking questions like a student thirsty for knowledge.

Xiao Han patiently answered some of them and skillfully avoided others.

"So you can hear the entire Earth? See through walls?" Tony suddenly thought of something, and his expression turned strange.

"Then wouldn't you..."

"Don't worry. I have no interest in other people's privacy," Xiao Han said helplessly.

Tony walked over to the bar, poured himself a drink, and downed it in one gulp. The alcohol calmed him a little.

"15% of the shares..." he muttered. "The board is going to lose its mind."

"You can say I represent some offshore fund," Xiao Han suggested. "Or simply say it was your personal decision."

Tony suddenly revealed his signature sly grin. "How about this? You help me solve a small problem first and prove your sincerity?"

Xiao Han had expected this, but he had no intention of handling it personally. "The reactor in your chest is poisoning you."

Tony instinctively touched the Arc Reactor on his chest. "That's right. But I've gone through the entire periodic table."

"The Expo model your father left behind," Xiao Han said softly. "The answer is there."

Tony abruptly looked up, shock flashing through his eyes. "How could you know..."

"Trust me. Go examine that model." Xiao Han stood up. "I'll come again this time tomorrow. Then we can discuss the shares in detail."

Before Tony could respond, Xiao Han had already vanished into the night sky, leaving only the curtains swaying gently.

Tony stood there in a daze for a long while before suddenly speaking to the empty room. "JARVIS, pull up all information on the 1974 Stark Expo."

"It's already prepared, sir," the artificial intelligence replied. "Would you like me to contact Miss Pepper now?"

Tony shook his head, an excitement unseen for a long time appearing on his face. "No. Get the car ready first. I'm going to the warehouse."

As Tony drove toward the warehouse, alarms had already sounded at S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters.

Nick Fury stared at the figure breaking through the atmosphere on the satellite footage, danger flashing in his single eye.

"Find him," Fury told Black Widow on the other end of the screen. "Before anyone else does."

Meanwhile, in a dark conference room, Alexander Pierce was watching the same footage.

"Temporarily suspend the Winter Soldier Program," he ordered into the phone. "We need to reassess this guy's threat level."

In the night sky, Xiao Han hovered above the clouds, his super hearing catching every conversation on Earth related to him.

He knew he had already stirred up waves, but that was exactly what he wanted.

"The game has begun," he said softly, his figure blending into the brilliant river of stars.

He flew farther away, toward the sun.