Hawkeye and Black Widow practically represented the pinnacle of ordinary human combat on this planet, whether in speed, stamina, or strength.
And according to Black Widow's description of Qin Xiao, he was someone who could utterly overwhelm her.
It was precisely this unnatural disparity that had made Black Widow draw her gun on Qin Xiao when he had shown no hostility.
In her career as an agent, only one person had ever made her feel that kind of pressure through sheer strength.
That was the legendary Winter Soldier.
(According to what Black Widow told Captain America in Captain America: The Winter Soldier, the Winter Soldier should have shot her in the abdomen in 2009. It's 2008 here, and Iron Man hasn't appeared yet, so I'm making a small adjustment.)
The Super-Soldier Serum was no small matter, so Black Widow told Nick Fury everything that had happened, exactly as it had happened, along with her own analysis and speculation.
Nick Fury knew the military still had some incomplete samples of Super-Soldier Serum, but those could not possibly produce a true super soldier.
So he suspected that Qin Xiao might have undergone some kind of accidental mutation.
He therefore investigated Qin Xiao's life history, along with every person who had appeared around him.
The resources at Nick Fury's disposal were beyond anything an ordinary intelligence agency could match.
Soon, Nick Fury had thoroughly dug through the entire history the system had created for Qin Xiao, from childhood to adulthood.
In Qin Xiao's twenty-odd years here, the only two unusual incidents were the shooting that had killed his parents during his childhood.
And the shooting at Isaiah's house some time ago, just after Qin Xiao had transmigrated.
Yet both incidents involved someone whose presence had been deliberately erased.
Isaiah.
Isaiah was someone the United States government refused to acknowledge.
After the government had squeezed out every last bit of his usefulness, Isaiah had been pardoned by a president and spent his life hiding ever since.
Once Nick Fury learned his name, all the classified files were on his desk within hours.
With those, Nick Fury could roughly piece together what had happened.
"A super soldier who predates Captain America? The first successful test subject?"
Black Widow sounded somewhat incredulous.
"That's right. There are always bastards in the government who like doing dirty things. He served his country and fought hard against Hydra, only to end up imprisoned in a laboratory for thirty years."
Nick Fury was indignant. Isaiah's experiences really had been far too tragic.
But Nick Fury knew very well that Isaiah could not possibly have extracted the Super-Soldier Serum himself and successfully created a super soldier with the resources he had.
So the only answer was an accident. Some kind of accident had caused Qin Xiao to assimilate the Super-Soldier Serum. Perhaps it had been that shooting.
Nick Fury's analysis was pretty close to the truth.
But whether his analysis was right or not, one thing was certain: Qin Xiao was definitely a super soldier who had broken through the limits of the human body.
And he happened to have a plan that needed super soldiers.
"Agent Romanoff, for the time being, your job is to get close to Qin Xiao. I need a comprehensive psychological assessment and personality analysis. The more detailed, the better."
"Yes, sir!"
Black Widow acknowledged the order, then turned and left Nick Fury's office.
Nick Fury sighed and turned his gaze to the Avengers proposal.
After all, he had had this plan in mind for more than ten years.
Very few people in the entire world knew that aliens really existed, and that both their individual capabilities and their technology were countless times more powerful than Earth's.
Earth needed super soldiers, humans with special abilities-a team of superheroes capable of resisting an extraterrestrial civilization someday.
During this time, Qin Xiao once again spent every last one of the 500 points from his previous mission.
E-rank Melee Weapon Mastery, along with a custom-made Tang saber.
The system was very considerate. To make it easy for Qin Xiao to carry, its default form was just a hilt.
The blade had been divided into segments concealed inside the hilt.
When he wanted to use it, he only had to release the hilt and give it a hard flick, and the blade would immediately take shape.
The joints between the segments were all concealed by the dragon relief along the blade.
The blade was black overall, with only its edge giving off a trace of the alloy's own cold gleam.
Qin Xiao had tested it. It could easily cleave ordinary metals in two.
Only certain specialized alloys could withstand a slash from this Tang saber.
With a suitable weapon in hand, Qin Xiao's combat strength rose substantially once again.
"Qin, come to a charity reception with me tonight if you have time."
In the basement of Tony's villa, Tony had just taken a thorough beating from Qin Xiao.
He was now lying in the ring, staring at the ceiling as he spoke between heavy breaths.
"Tony, I'm not your date. Why should I go to some charity reception with you? I don't have that much money to donate."
Qin Xiao spoke as he took a bottle of mineral water from the fridge.
"I'm Tony Stark, buddy. I never need a date for receptions or parties. All I have to do is show up, and every woman there comes throwing herself at me."
"But you'll never get to experience that. So, are you coming or not? There'll be plenty of beautiful women, including quite a few Hollywood actresses."
The mention of beautiful women tempted Qin Xiao a little.
Then Tony Stark continued.
"You're only twenty-two, buddy. For God's sake, when I was twenty-two, I went to parties every night. You should make more friends while you're young. Come on!"
"Let's go unwind together. I'm heading to Afghanistan in a few days to sign a contract with the military. Think of it as one last party before I leave!"
"Afghanistan?"
Qin Xiao silently repeated the country's name to himself.
It looked like the plot was about to begin. He wondered what kind of mission the system would give him.
And how many points he could earn.
The trip to Afghanistan was the turning point in Tony's life, and the place where Iron Man would emerge from his cocoon.
So even though Qin Xiao and Tony had gotten along very well during this time.
In the end, Qin Xiao swallowed the words about telling Tony to be careful and instead agreed to attend the reception with him that evening.
At receptions like this, people generally had their own little circles, chatting in twos and threes.
Aside from being surrounded by beautiful women, Tony actually rarely interacted much with other people.
This time, he simply brought Qin Xiao along.
"Tony, I just discovered you're a liar. You told me this was a charity reception, but it turns out it's a celebration where the military is presenting you with a patriotism trophy."
"Look around. There are lousy old men in uniform everywhere. Where are those Hollywood stars you mentioned, you bastard?"
Qin Xiao realized he had been tricked. This was clearly the awards ceremony from the beginning of the Iron Man movie.
"Relax. Maybe I remembered wrong. I only promised them I'd show up. I never said I'd obediently sit around waiting to accept an award. Come with me. I'll take you to find some beautiful women."
Just like in the movie, Tony went straight to the hotel casino.
Only, in the movie, Tony had been followed by a large group of bodyguards. Now, only Happy accompanied Tony and Qin Xiao.
"Come on, relax. Take some chips and have fun. Soon, there'll be an endless stream of beautiful women gathering around us. I can promise you first pick, provided they're willing to give me up."
Tony shoved a huge pile of chips into Qin Xiao's hands.
Qin Xiao rolled his eyes. With your net worth, these girls would have to be out of their minds to leave with me.
Since beautiful women were out of the question for him tonight anyway, Qin Xiao decided he might as well help Tony lose some more money.
With a vengeance, he placed the entire pile of chips in his hands on number one on a roulette betting layout.
"Oh, damn it. Have you never gambled before?"
"That's right, number one isn't a wise choice. One is too lonely, isn't it? If it were me, I'd pick number two!"
A woman's voice familiar to Qin Xiao picked up where Tony Stark had left off.
As she spoke, she reached out and pushed Qin Xiao's chips onto number two.