Chapter 21: Second Marvel Journey
Following a familiar opening, subtitles began to scroll across the screen.
July 1, 2006. You found yourself penniless and alone on the streets of New York City, near Flushing, a densely populated neighborhood of Chinese and Asian immigrants. Using a few tricks with a mobile dice cup, you earned your first $300 and promptly left the area.
July 2, 2006. You bought a Glock for $170. A decent person has to be prepared for a rainy day, after all. You then made your way to the Clinton neighborhood on Manhattan's west side, better known as Hell's Kitchen, where you continued to run your small mobile dice cup game, earning another $400.
July 3, 2006. The local thugs finally took notice of you. In a single day, you were "robbed" seven times, netting a total of $3,200 from the would-be thieves. Ugh, so poor!
July 4, 2006. You continued your sting operation—or rather, your heroic deeds. Over the course of one night, you were "robbed" four more times, earning another $1,600. During the last attempt, you encountered a pervert in blue tights calling himself "Super Cock Man." He mistook you for an actual robber, and since you couldn't be bothered to explain, you just beat him up, too.
July 5, 2006. You continued the sting operation, but security in the area was surprisingly good. You only managed to attract one group of robbers all night. Still, you finally reached your goal of $5,000. You'd done your part to maintain community safety. (Family Status +1)
Late July 2006. You managed to find John Wick and deliberately befriended him. Despite being broke yourself, you persuaded him to have his wife's health checked. A few days later, John Wick found you, embraced you, and told you that you had saved her life. She had been diagnosed with early-stage cancer, which was easily treatable. In your previous life, you had no idea what became of John Wick after your accidental death, but now you just smiled and told him everything would be fine.
August 2006. At your request, you began learning shooting techniques from John Wick. At the end of the month, you found Martin Lee in Chinatown again and spent $3,000 to purchase a Social Security Number, giving you legal status in the United States.
September 2006. With your initial capital of $5,000, you placed carefully managed bets at a dozen casinos across Long Island and Queens. Thanks to your exceptional gambling skills, you quickly amassed a considerable fortune. By the end of September, you had established a small research lab and begun your work on energy. (Family Wealth +2)
October 2006. You chose the mobile phone industry as your next venture. After a period of dedicated research, you published a paper on graphene materials in the journal Nature, causing a sensation in the scientific community. You knew that graphene batteries would revolutionize the industry.
November 2006. You spent $2,000 to register a mobile phone company called "Pineapple." This time, you moved quickly to produce a finished product. Your primary research focused on harnessing the intercalation of lithium ions between the graphene surface and electrodes, creating a battery that was fifteen years ahead of its time. Since similar products had already appeared by 2021 in your previous timeline, recreating it proved to be no problem. After just over a month of research, you successfully developed a working graphene battery.
December 2006. You published your findings in Nature once again, announcing that a mobile phone equipped with a finished graphene battery would soon be available. In addition to its novel design and top-tier specifications, the battery would hold three times the power of the best on the market and charge in under fifteen minutes. The announcement shocked the world.
January 2007. Your Pineapple phone launched. While the other specifications were the same as in your previous life, this model featured a Retina display with IPS screen technology, boasting a pixel density three times higher than any comparable phone of the era. Its battery was also upgraded to the new graphene model. As expected, even though you launched four months earlier and spent two fewer months on advertising, the sheer power of a phone four years ahead of its time—combined with two papers in Nature—was more than enough to capture the public's attention.
February 2007. Your business venture was, once again, a staggering success. The first-generation Pineapple phone sold even better than it had in your previous life. Despite a 20% price increase, it crushed Nokia, which held 75% of the US mobile phone market, with overwhelming momentum. It became a luxury item, a status symbol of truly futuristic technology. (Family Wealth +8)
By the end of March 2007. Your company's success was undeniable. Your wealth was expanding at an incredible rate, and in America, your phone had become a definitive symbol of fashion and status. Even tycoons like Norman Osborn and Tony Stark were seen using it. (Family Wealth +11)
March and April 2007. You tracked down an impoverished Ivan Vanko in Russia and spent a fortune to purchase the Arc Reactor technology from him. In mid-March, you built a larger research lab and began recruiting top scientists for two secret projects: creating an artificial intelligence and improving the Arc Reactor. With no shortage of money or equipment, you felt unstoppable. Not even God could stand in your way now.
May 2007. Kingpin seemed to have taken an interest in you, so you hired John Wick as your bodyguard, a job he was happy to take. At a party, you met Tony Stark again. Just as in your previous life, your similar personalities and intellect made you both rivals and good friends. But friends or not, having been betrayed before, you knew you wouldn't show any mercy if it came down to it.
June 2007. Your Pineapple company was successfully listed on the Nasdaq. Its stock price surged by 40% on the first day, and your wealth continued to grow at an astonishing rate.
July 2007. After six months of research, your artificial intelligence was complete. You named it Jarvis. Immediately upon its completion, you shared your findings with Tony Stark. Though visibly unhappy, he was forced to admit that your A.I. was in no way inferior to his own Jarvis.
August 2007. Several attempts were made on your life, but all were thwarted by John Wick.
November 2007. After more than a year of practice, your shooting skills had improved significantly. You mastered C.A.R. (Intermediate) and the Mozambique Drill (Beginner).
December 2007. Thanks to the joint efforts of over thirty scientists, the new Arc Reactor was finally complete. As the lead researcher, you designed the miniature reactor in a rectangular shape, still using palladium as its primary material. You had a vague idea for a new element to replace palladium, but that would require even more resources—and a bit of luck.
January 2008. Your business was booming. You had recruited a massive workforce, and your Pineapple phone, now in its third generation, continued to sell out.
February 2008. Construction of the new Pineapple headquarters, the Pineapple Building, was completed.
March 2008. Based on your memory of the finished Mark II armor from your past life, replicating it was a simple feat for a scientific genius like yourself. Inspired by the movies you'd seen, you even created a portable suitcase version. To deploy it, the suitcase unfolds, allowing the user to grasp the gauntlets. The carapace and chest piece then automatically snap into place, followed by the arm armor. Closing the final outer layer activates the main power source, completing the suit-up sequence—a truly brilliant concept. You named this armor the Mark I. Just for fun, of course. You learned the skill: Precision Machinery (Expert).
April 2008. A man named Wesley visited you, offering to buy shares in your company on behalf of Kingpin. Unwilling to let the crime lord get his hooks into your business, you decisively rejected the offer. In late April, the retaliation began. Several of your retail stores were vandalized, and your car was shot up by gangsters, leaving even John Wick injured. That night, under the cover of darkness, a steel robot soared into the sky from the roof of the Pineapple Building.
April 2008. In your new armor, you dismantled most of Kingpin's criminal empire. He himself barely escaped with serious injuries. Afterward, you began doing some light "world-saving" work around New York, and people started calling you Iron Man.
May 2008. You invited Tony Stark to your home and showed him the suit of armor you'd invented. The shocked expression on his face made you laugh until your stomach hurt.
Late May 2008. By late May, S.H.I.E.L.D. had you in its sights. A beautiful woman named Natalie Rushman applied to be your secretary. You knew exactly who she was. Isn't this the Black Widow?
June 2008. Fueled by a surge of hormones, you slept with Natalie Rushman. After spending some time together, you got the feeling she was genuinely falling for you. So, after one last moment of intimacy, you revealed her true identity: Natasha Romanoff, S.H.I.E.L.D.'s Black Widow. The look she gave you—the jerk who'd played her—left a lasting impression.
Mid-July 2008. Natasha Romanoff returned with an invitation from S.H.I.E.L.D. to join the future Avengers initiative. She also handed you a prepared speech, instructing you to deny your identity as Iron Man. However, when faced with the global media, you ignored her script completely and instead declared to the world, "I am Iron Man!" (Legendary +1). You earned the achievement: Iron Man.
Seeing the outcome, Zhou Ning couldn't help but slam his head on the table and laugh wildly. Perfect! If I really went to that world, I'd do the exact same thing. This is how you're supposed to do it, right? I beat you to it, Tony Stark! You can forget about pulling your famous line now!
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