New York was draped in the gold of dusk, the lights of Stark Tower flickering to life one by one.
Xiao Han landed quietly outside Tony's private lab. Through his perspective eyes, he could see Tony working busily at his station, the new arc reactor on his chest glowing with a soft, steady blue light.
"Is this how all billionaires spend their evenings?" Xiao Han's voice suddenly echoed through the lab.
Tony jerked around, his tool clattering to the floor.
"Jesus! Can't you use the front door like a normal person?" He clutched his chest. "My heart can't take these surprises."
Xiao Han smiled. "The front door doesn't really suit me."
Tony looked him up and down, his brow furrowing. "You… look different."
He wasn't wrong. Dozens of hours under the sun had changed Xiao Han subtly.
Golden light seemed to ripple faintly beneath his skin, his eyes glimmered softly in the dark, and his entire presence radiated something distinctly inhuman.
"I took a little sunbath," Xiao Han said lightly.
Tony poured himself a glass of whiskey and downed it in one go. "Let me guess—not your average Hamptons sunbathing session?"
"Close enough." Xiao Han stepped toward the holographic display. "I flew into the Sun."
Tony froze mid-sip. "You… what?"
"Literally," Xiao Han replied, raising his hand. In his palm floated a miniature plasma sphere—an exact simulation of solar matter.
"My energy reserves are now ten times what they used to be."
Tony set the glass down, face growing serious. "I'm going to have to redesign the anti-Superman armor again."
Xiao Han raised an eyebrow. "It's only been a few days, and you've already started on that kind of suit?"
"Scientific instinct," Tony shrugged. "But judging by this, I'll need to increase the output power by a few orders of magnitude."
Xiao Han burst out laughing. "I look forward to it. But for now…"
He turned toward the window, gazing out over the skyline of New York. "I can feel that this city could use a little… help."
Just then, the distant wail of sirens and the rumble of explosions reached his ears. With his superhuman hearing, he picked up the sound of a bank robbery and a police shootout.
"New York is never peaceful," Xiao Han murmured. "Perfect time to test my new strength." He stepped toward the glass wall. "Care to join me, Tony?"
"Hold on—you can't go out dressed like that," Tony said, his tone brimming with excitement.
"Unless you plan to save the world in that outfit?"
Only then did Xiao Han realize—he'd never actually gotten himself a proper combat suit.
Three seconds later, he landed once more in Stark's lab.
His gaze immediately fell on the centerpiece of the room—a black suit of armor.
It was pure matte black, etched with golden lines that flowed like molten lava. The design was simple yet brimming with raw power.
"Like it?" Tony spread his arms wide. "Special custom model—the Dark Guardian. It won't interfere with your abilities, but it'll make you look…"
He paused, smirking. "More professional."
Xiao Han approached and brushed his fingers over the armor's surface.
The nanomaterial instantly began assembling itself.
The armor molded perfectly to every muscle, weightless as air.
Xiao Han stood before the glass window, looking at his reflection.
The black armor accentuated his already imposing frame. The golden veins glimmered faintly under the lights, and the lack of a helmet left his face fully exposed—adding a dangerous, predatory allure.
"Why black?" Xiao Han asked.
Tony shrugged. "First, you're not the boy-scout-with-a-red-cape type. Second, I noticed you like black. Third…"
He grinned slyly. "It suits you—strong, mysterious, unstoppable."
Tony turned back toward his own suit. "I still prefer flying out in armor myself. You go first, I'll follow."
Xiao Han nodded. Then, with a light leap, he soared through the glass.
The window rippled like water as he passed through, without a single shard breaking.
Tony watched his silhouette disappear into the night sky. "Jarvis," he said softly, "record everything—energy readings, flight patterns, bio-field performance. All of it."
"Recording complete, sir," Jarvis replied. "But I must remind you—based on current data, the success rate of any defensive measure against Mr. Xiao Han is less than 0.0001%."
Tony's lips curled into a determined smile. "Then move the decimal point a few places over."
In front of the Third Bank of Queens, chaos reigned.
Peter Parker frowned beneath his mask, his homemade spider suit torn in several places.
The creature before him had swelled to over three meters tall—muscle fibers ripping through its skin, revealing crimson sinew.
"Buddy, you really need to calm down," Peter said, firing a web that plastered across the mutant's eyes.
"We can still talk this out!"
The creature roared, tearing through the web and hurling a fist at him.
Peter flipped away just in time—the concrete wall behind him crumbled into dust.
"Okay, so much for talking." Peter landed lightly, eyeing his tattered suit.
"Man, I've only had this thing for three days. You're paying for it."
The mutant grabbed a steel beam, ready to hurl it—when suddenly…
A black shadow descended from the sky.
The steel beam disintegrated midair into fine dust.
As the haze cleared, a tall figure hovered above the street, black armor gleaming coldly under the setting sun.
"Stand back, kid," Xiao Han said, voice deep and commanding.
Peter's eyes widened. "Whoa! New guy? I'm Spider-Man—you're…?"
"Talk later." Xiao Han's gaze locked onto the mutant.
"Tony, get the kid to safety."
"Roger that, Dark Knight," Tony said, landing beside Peter in his red-and-gold armor.
"Come on, pajama boy. Let the pros handle this."
Before Peter could even respond, Iron Man had whisked him off to a nearby rooftop.
"Wait! That guy injected himself with some kind of serum—his strength's still increasing!" Peter protested, struggling. "I can help!"
Tony set him down. "Just watch, kid. You're about to witness real power."
Below, the mutant roared again, muscles bulging grotesquely.
He grabbed a police car and hurled it at Xiao Han with all his might.
Xiao Han didn't move. When the car was inches from his face, he exhaled softly.
Whoosh!
The car froze solid midair, turning to pure ice—and then shattered into glittering shards.
The mutant froze, instinctively backing away.
"It's over," Xiao Han said quietly—but his voice carried across the entire block.
In the blink of an eye, he vanished—then reappeared before the mutant.
Even Peter's enhanced senses could only register a blur.
With a single precise hand strike, Xiao Han chopped the creature's neck.
Crack!
The sound of breaking bone echoed sharply. The mutant's eyes rolled back as his massive body crashed to the ground.
The fight had lasted less than three seconds.
"T-That's it?" Peter gaped.
"I fought him for fifteen minutes!"
Tony clapped him on the shoulder. "Welcome to the world of top-tier power, kid."
Xiao Han crouched beside the unconscious mutant. "This isn't natural mutation. I see traces of organized experimentation."
Sirens grew louder as police cars approached. Peter stiffened. "Uh—I should go. Someone's waiting for me."
"Wait, Spider-Man." Xiao Han called out, his tone calm. "You did well. Brave work."
Peter froze. "R-Really? I mean… thanks! Uh… what do I call you?"
"Xiao Han." The black armor gleamed faintly in the light. "You can just call me Xiao."
"That's so cool!" Peter practically bounced. "Is your power from that armor? Or—uh, never mind—"
Tony rolled his eyes. "Save it, kid. Now scram—the cops are here."
Peter fired a web and swung away, calling back over his shoulder, "Mr. Xiao! Your armor is awesome!"
Xiao Han watched the red-and-blue figure disappear among the rooftops, a faint smile tugging at his lips. "Interesting kid."
"A pajama-wearing vigilante," Tony muttered, though his eyes held admiration.
"But yeah, definite potential. So, how's the armor feel?"
Xiao Han looked down at himself. In the sunlight, the black armor appeared understated yet radiated an aura of sheer intimidation—a perfect reflection of him.
"Perfect," he said simply. Then he launched upward, vanishing into the clouds. "I'll patrol the city."
Tony watched the black silhouette disappear into the heavens, muttering under his breath, "Guess I'll need to stock more spare materials… That guy can make anything look stylish."