Xiao Han broke through the Earth's atmosphere, his black combat suit drifting silently in the vacuum of space.
He turned back for a moment, gazing at the gradually shrinking blue planet beneath him, and a faint smile curved his lips.
"Stark Industries' satellite…"
A glimmering light point appeared in his vision. Adjusting his posture, Xiao Han burst forward with super speed, streaking through the darkness like a flash of silver light.
Moments later, he came to a stop beside a silvery-gray artificial satellite.
The satellite's surface bore the bold insignia of STARK INDUSTRIES, and its solar panels gleamed brilliantly beneath the sunlight.
Xiao Han grinned, raised two fingers toward the monitoring camera, and made a V-sign.
"Gotta leave a souvenir."
Then he turned, eyes fixed on the colossal fireball at the heart of the solar system.
"Now, let's go meet the real sun."
His body tilted slightly forward, and a golden halo formed across his skin — a biological force field flaring into life.
In the next instant, Xiao Han transformed into a streak of golden radiance, soaring toward the sun at unimaginable speed.
As the distance shrank, that tiny point of light in his eyes expanded into an enormous, searing sphere that filled his entire vision.
Even with his current Steel Body, Xiao Han could feel the temperature climbing sharply.
"System, analyze my current energy absorption efficiency."
[Ding! Detected that host is absorbing yellow solar radiation. Energy reserves increasing... Current efficiency: 137%.]
Xiao Han's eyebrows lifted slightly.
On Earth, his absorption efficiency had never exceeded 100%, yet now it had broken past that limit.
It seemed that getting closer to the sun truly brought about a qualitative leap.
When he was still one million kilometers away from the solar surface, Xiao Han halted.
Even for him, the heat pressure here was immense. His skin turned red, as though his metallic body were being roasted atop a furnace.
"Not close enough." Xiao Han gritted his teeth and pushed onward.
Five hundred thousand kilometers… three hundred thousand… one hundred thousand…
The temperature was beyond imagination.
And yet, Xiao Han's skin began to glow faintly gold — as if his body were adapting to the extreme environment.
[Energy absorption efficiency breaking critical threshold: 500%... 700%... 1000%...]
The system's notifications rang endlessly in his mind, but he could no longer spare the focus to read them.
All of his concentration was fixed on resisting — and embracing — the most violent source of energy in the universe.
When the distance between him and the solar surface had shrunk to ten thousand kilometers, Xiao Han finally stopped.
To human science, this was a zone of absolute death. But for him — it was the perfect cradle for evolution.
"Right here."
Xiao Han spread his arms wide, letting the solar plasma storms wash over him.
Every cell in his body seemed to cheer, greedily absorbing that near-infinite power.
[Energy reserves: 300%... 500%... 1000%...]
The numbers climbed madly. Xiao Han could feel unprecedented power coursing through his body.
His eyes turned completely golden, his heat vision intensified sharply, and his biological force field expanded more than tenfold.
"Still not enough. I'm going in."
Xiao Han made a decision that could only be called insane.
He took a deep breath — though there was no air in space — and dove headfirst into the sun.
In that instant, the world became nothing but pure light and heat.
The interior of the sun defied all human imagination. Temperatures soared to fifteen million degrees Celsius, and the pressure was 250 billion times that of Earth's surface.
Here, hydrogen nuclei fused into helium under unimaginable force, releasing boundless energy.
Xiao Han felt as though he had plunged into a golden ocean, surrounded by boiling plasma.
His skin began to crack — but was instantly repaired by the energy surging within him.
[Warning! Host's body undergoing fundamental reorganization.][Steel Body evolving… 1%... 5%... 15%...]
Comfort. A pleasure beyond words. It was like soaking in a divine hot spring.
Seconds turned into minutes, minutes into hours, as Xiao Han fully immersed himself in the process of evolution.
His cellular structure was reorganizing, atomic arrangements optimizing, energy channels expanding.
[Steel Body evolution complete — 100%.][New ability unlocked: Material Reorganization (Primary).]
Meanwhile, at Stark Industries…
The lights in the laboratory had been on for over thirty hours.
Tony Stark stood at his workbench, dark circles under his eyes betraying his lack of rest.
Three holographic projectors ran simultaneously, displaying two completely different suit designs.
"Adjust the curvature of the chestplate by another 0.5 degrees," Tony said aloud, his fingers dancing over the holographic interface.
"And remove all facial coverings — I want his expression clearly visible."
Robotic arms obeyed instantly, refining the details of the suspended pure black armor at the center.
Its surface reflected no light — it seemed to swallow everything around it. Only a simple golden S-shaped insignia on the chest broke the darkness.
"Sir, you've been working continuously for over thirty hours," JARVIS reminded him. "Miss Potts has issued her twelfth warning."
Tony downed a mouthful of espresso. "Tell her I'll rest after this masterpiece is done."
He ran a hand along the armor's smooth surface. "How are the results from the alloy substitution test?"
"Compatibility with Mr. Xiao's biological force field: 99.2%," JARVIS replied."But defensive capacity equals only fifteen percent of the Mark III."
Tony grinned. "That's plenty. The guy can't even be killed by heat — this suit's purely for style."
He stepped back to admire his creation. "Black — that's the color worthy of a superman. Powerful, mysterious, unstoppable."
"Sir, based on analysis, Mr. Xiao's defense levels render armor unnecessary. This construction may be redundant."
"JARVIS, you don't get it. This is a man's joy." Tony's eyes softened as he looked at the armor.
"He gave us a gift when we met… we'll return the favor — with a surprise."
Deep within the Sun
When the final system notification chimed, Xiao Han opened his eyes.
To his surprise, he could now see clearly inside the sun.
The raging plasma now appeared gentle — like streams of light flowing peacefully. He could distinctly perceive each energy current's trajectory.
"So this is… the Sun's perspective?"
Xiao Han reached out and lightly touched a vortex of energy.
To his astonishment, the high-temperature plasma shifted direction at his will.
[Material Reorganization allows host to influence matter at the atomic level. Current range: non-living substances, volume limit: 100 cubic meters.]
Xiao Han smiled.
This ability was beyond heaven's design. Though limited for now, given time — he could very well create matter from nothing.
"System, how long have I been in the sun?"
[Based on Earth's time: 37 hours and 42 minutes.]
Xiao Han nodded.
Casting one last glance around this golden world, he kicked off, shooting upward like a rocket.
Leaving was far easier than entering.
His evolved Steel Body now ignored the sun's terrifying environment entirely. Like a fish gliding through warm waters, Xiao Han pierced layer after layer of plasma and broke through the solar surface within minutes.
On his journey back to Earth, he began testing his new powers.
His super speed now reached half the speed of light, his heat vision burned even hotter, and his biological force field stretched ten times farther than before.
His senses had grown sharper; with his eyes closed, he could perceive every human life on Earth — countless tiny lights flickering across the planet's surface.
As Xiao Han re-entered the atmosphere, his biological force field instinctively dispersed the shockwaves — ensuring that not even a sonic boom marked his return.