Watching Ororo and Clarice drive away from his estate, Zhou Yi turned and walked deeper into the hallway.
Maybe it was because too much had happened that night, but he wasn't feeling sleepy at all. Instead, he decided to take care of something that had been on his mind for a while.
Alone, he made his way to the basement—his private retreat. The space was over 400 square meters, completely white from the walls to the floors, even the doors. Stepping inside, it was easy to feel lost.
Zhou Yi usually used this place for meditation and relaxation. But it also served as a secure hiding spot for certain secrets.
Standing before a plain white wall on the left side of the room, he pressed both hands against it. A powerful force surged from his palms, pushing the wall upward with a deep rumbling sound.
What appeared was not just any door—it was a massive, fully metal structure with no keypad or unlocking mechanism. The only way to open it was brute force.
The door was 12 feet tall, 7 feet wide, and 3 feet thick. Made from a dense, heat-resistant alloy, it weighed nearly 480,000 pounds (about 220 tons). On the other side, four giant hydraulic arms kept it firmly in place, adding an extra 176,300 pounds (around 80 tons) of resistance.
In other words, opening this door required at least 660,000 pounds (300 tons) of force. Zhou Yi knew very few people in the world could manage that—maybe Magneto or someone like Kitty Pryde, who could just phase through. But he wasn't worried about them.
This wasn't meant to stop someone like Magneto. It was just to keep ordinary intruders from stealing his secrets. If any spy tried breaking in only to face this behemoth, Zhou Yi would love to see their reaction.
As he stepped into the secret chamber, the massive door slowly shut behind him, merging seamlessly with the wall. From the outside, no one would suspect there was anything hidden behind it.
Zhou Yi moved further inside, stopping just past the entrance. A red scanning light swept over his body, followed by a calm female voice.
"Welcome back, dear Yi."
With that, the room lit up, revealing an array of advanced machinery and futuristic equipment. The place looked like a scene from a sci-fi movie.
"Long time no see, Medusa," Zhou Yi said with a smile.
Medusa was an AI developed with Tony Stark's help, named by Zhou Yi himself. Like J.A.R.V.I.S., she had independent thinking and high-level analytical capabilities. However, unlike J.A.R.V.I.S., Medusa was purely logical, lacking the human-like personality Stark had managed to create.
Even Tony himself admitted that J.A.R.V.I.S.'s unique intelligence was a rare accident—one he couldn't replicate.
But for Zhou Yi, Medusa was good enough.
"It has been 410 days, 13 hours, and 26 minutes since your last visit. How may I assist you today?"
"How did the last material analysis turn out?" Zhou Yi asked instead of giving a direct command.
"As requested, the analysis is complete, and adjustments have been made to the experimental materials."
"Show me." Zhou Yi walked toward the center of the chamber.
A holographic projection appeared before him, displaying a silver-white metallic substance. Under Medusa's demonstration, the internal structure of the metal was revealed—countless highly active atoms shifting and responding to various stress tests.
As the demonstration continued, Medusa calmly explained:
"Based on your specifications, I have analyzed the metal formula provided by Mr. Stark and modified the original nano-metal. The result is Alpha Nano-Metal Type-7.
"It features excellent energy conductivity, high compression resistance, shape memory, and a secondary transformation function. Once reshaped, it remains highly stable. It is unaffected by temperature, immune to magnetic interference, and highly durable. In terms of weight, it is only one-third the mass of standard alloys. I believe it meets your requirements."
"Not bad," Zhou Yi said, clapping his hands. "What's the production cost?"
"In optimized mode, the estimated cost is $15,680 per ounce."
"That's about ten times the price of platinum. Not exactly cheap... and I doubt anyone would be willing to buy it."
"Shall I archive this as a failed prototype and begin research on Alpha Nano-Metal Type-8?" Medusa asked without hesitation. To her, anything below the optimal standard was a failure, no matter how much effort had been put into it.
"Archive it and notify the research teams to continue development. Wait for new directives. Also, Medusa, how much of this metal can we produce now?"
"With current resources, I can manufacture 1,240 pounds of Alpha Nano-Metal Type-7 within 17 hours."
"Good. Start production. Also, Medusa, open a design interface. Search for armor models, scan my body dimensions, and generate optimized designs. I need a suit—durable, practical, and stylish."
"Command received. Production initiated. Searching... Scanning complete."
As Medusa processed his request, countless holographic armor models appeared before Zhou Yi, shifting, reassembling, and optimizing in real time. Watching the designs take shape, a playful grin spread across his face.
Ever since he met Tony Stark, Zhou Yi had considered making his own battle suit. Over the years, he had been preparing for this moment. Seeing S.H.I.E.L.D.'s helicarrier earlier that day only solidified his decision.
Power, wealth, and influence—when you have all of that, what else is left?
The answer was thrill-seeking.
Just like Tony Stark, who risked palladium poisoning rather than giving up the Iron Man suit, Zhou Yi craved the same excitement. But he had more to worry about—his family, friends, and lover. That meant he couldn't fully embrace the superhero lifestyle like others did.
Still, after encountering vampires and S.H.I.E.L.D., he had finally made up his mind.
He was going to become a superhero.
And tonight was just the beginning.
---
Meanwhile, on S.H.I.E.L.D.'s Helicarrier...
Agent Phil Coulson walked onto the observation deck, greeting colleagues with his usual friendly smile before making his way to the control center.
There, a man clad in a black leather trench coat and eyepatch stood with his arms crossed, staring at him with a serious expression.
Despite his casual appearance, this man was none other than Nick Fury—the director of S.H.I.E.L.D., the world's most powerful intelligence agency.
"Sir, Agent Phil Coulson reporting," Coulson said, saluting.
Fury returned the salute lazily. "Last night, I was enjoying a perfectly good dream when Commander Hill woke me up to tell me we had an unidentified flying individual in our airspace—moving at ridiculous speeds."
"And despite our advanced tech, all we got was a blurry mess." Fury's one eye locked onto Coulson. "So now, I'm hoping my best agent has some good news for me."
"Of course, sir. I believe I do." Coulson smiled and handed over a small data drive.
Fury took it. "What is this?"
"A storage device, sir."
"I know that, Coulson. I want to know what's on it."
"A full analysis of the incident, plus a list of possible suspects."
Fury inserted the drive into the control panel. "Let's see who the hell interrupted my sleep."
Holographic screens lit up, displaying various data points and three suspect profiles...
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