The next day, almost every newspaper ran the same front-page photo: two men flashing peace signs.
One was a young, handsome man from the East.The other was the playboy Tony Stark.
The headlines generally fell into two categories:
"Tony Stark Becomes Iron Man, Teams Up with Young Eastern Warrior to Defeat the Evil Iron Monger."
Or:
"Tony Stark and an Eastern Boy: Two Newly Born Superheroes Make Their Debut Together."
Apparently, those peace signs were also considered a gesture couples used to show affection in front of the media.
Compared to the first headline, the second was clearly more popular among gossip lovers.
By Western beauty standards, Qin Xiao's looks were considered refined and delicate.
He wasn't exactly a fragile beauty, but his skin was good, his features fair and clean-cut. If you threw him into prison, he'd probably be mobbed by perverts trying to claim him.
Even Pepper, after seeing the photo of the two of them standing side by side flashing peace signs, joked that Tony and Qin Xiao actually looked pretty good together.
"These damn media outlets—I swear I want to burn their TV stations down," Qin Xiao shouted. "They're saying I came out of the closet! And then they say I'm some pitiful bottom! I'm straight, damn it! You little bastard—"
"Is your dick harder than my blade?!"
Qin Xiao angrily pointed at the talk-show host on TV, who was enthusiastically recounting the supposed romantic tension between Tony Stark and Qin Xiao.
"Where's your legal team? Help me out! I'm suing them for defamation. This is blatant slander!"
He slammed his palm hard against the armrest of the couch.
Tony rolled his eyes at him and kept typing rapidly on his computer.
Obadiah was dead, and there was still a mountain of work to deal with at the company.
Although Tony had already assembled a professional team, he still needed to develop some presentable civilian products—without weapons.
At the moment, he was designing a renewable energy system based on the Arc Reactor's principles, and he rarely moved his workplace from the garage of his mansion to the company office.
You see, when some old shareholders got unhappy, he still had to personally step in to calm them down. After all, the name Stark carried serious weight.
Tony didn't care much about public opinion—especially the rumors about him and Qin Xiao—though he was admittedly irritated by certain outlets twisting his sexual orientation.
Still, compared to how entertaining Qin Xiao's outrage was, Tony felt the whole ordeal was worth it.
Seeing that Tony was completely ignoring him, Qin Xiao turned to Coulson, who had just walked into the office.
"Didn't you say you'd wipe my ass clean? Didn't you see these news stories humiliating my ass?"
"This is a country with freedom of speech," Coulson said calmly. "We've already done our best to justify Obadiah's death. You should understand—what you did in that video can't be classified as self-defense."
Coulson was referring to the secretly filmed footage.
The Iron Monger had clearly lost all ability to resist, yet Qin Xiao still stabbed him without hesitation.
Strictly speaking, that was excessive force.
"Then why are you here?" Qin Xiao asked. "You didn't come to drag me back to work, did you?"
Qin Xiao knew Coulson would never show up without a reason.
He'd originally planned to head back to his own world in the next few days, but judging by how things were at home, he'd need to stay a little longer.
He still intended to wait until the house was finished, copy the smart home AI Tony had given him into it, and only then leave.
"The boss wants to see both of you," Coulson said. "So I'm arranging a meeting."
Nick Fury, of course, wanted to meet them—mainly because of the Avengers Initiative.
S.H.I.E.L.D. had already analyzed Qin Xiao's abilities. He was far beyond the level of a so-called super soldier.
And Tony Stark's armor? That thing was a weapon from another era altogether.
Especially when everyone knew how brilliant Tony Stark was.
Strictly speaking, this was only a first-generation product. Who knew how far it could evolve?
After all, JARVIS—the early-stage artificial intelligence—was no longer a secret.
Pair that with a micro Arc Reactor and steel armor, and add Tony Stark's astonishing wealth—
One man alone was a terrifying steel empire.
Coulson scheduled the meeting for two days later and then hurried off.
Qin Xiao knew his house would be finished in about a week.
Tony nodded in satisfaction and turned to leave—but then seemed to hesitate.
Suddenly, he looked up and said:
"Oh, right. There's a party tomorrow night. You know, I'm Iron Man now. Some friends will want to celebrate. And of course, there'll be some bored rich people too. More importantly—lots of gorgeous models. What do you say? Want to come?"
A place full of beautiful women—and you don't go? That would be stupid.
Besides, Black Widow had been missing for a long time. There was no one around to flirt with anyway.
When Qin Xiao first came to this world, he'd planned to get himself a tall, curvy, all-around knockout.
Unfortunately, his plans kept getting tangled up with the Iron Man storyline.
My chances aren't many.I'm finally going to a party.If I don't go, that'd just be weird.
The party was held on the rooftop of a hotel.
Los Angeles had plenty of rooftop venues like this.
Almost every decent hotel had converted its roof into a party space.
After all, this was Los Angeles.
Hollywood was packed with wealthy celebrities—and even film tycoons. Parties were an essential part of daily life.
Tony had attended and hosted countless parties like this in his lifetime.
But for Qin Xiao, this was Grandma Liu stepping into the Grand View Garden for the first time.
Pumping music.A wild DJ.Professional bartenders.An infinity pool.
Most importantly, the entire rooftop was packed with girls of every skin tone—full chests, long legs, and stunning curves.
Qin Xiao even spotted a few second- and third-tier sexy actresses who regularly appeared on the big screen.
"This—this is a party. This is life!" Qin Xiao exclaimed. "Tony, you should've brought me to a place like this sooner! You really should've!"
The arrival of these two instantly made them the center of attention.
Right now, the most talked-about figures weren't politicians or movie stars—but Iron Man Tony Stark, and Qin Xiao, the mysterious Chinese man.
Listening to Qin Xiao's excited rambling, Tony smiled faintly.
Then he shoved Qin Xiao straight into the crowd.
"Ladies," Tony announced loudly, "whoever conquers this little wild bull tonight—I'll personally gift her a brand-new sports car!"
The atmosphere around them instantly tensed.
Many of these girls were aspiring actresses drifting around Hollywood.
Let alone a car from Tony Stark—even a scandal involving this Eastern boy would bring massive exposure.
After all, he and Tony Stark were the newest superheroes since Captain America.
As for whether the affair rumors were real or not?
Nobody cared.
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