Watching Ororo, Charisse, and the others drive away from his estate, Zhou Yi turned and walked deep into the hallway.
Maybe it was because too much had happened that night—He felt unusually energized, with no sign of sleepiness at all.So he decided it was the perfect time to deal with some long-standing issues.
He moved quietly down to the basement—his personal retreat.Over four hundred square meters of pure white:walls, floor, even the door.Entering it felt like stepping into a blank void, as if one could lose all sense of direction.
Zhou Yi usually used this place for meditation and clearing his mind.Of course, it also served as storage for a few… secrets.
He walked to the room's left side, facing a featureless white wall.Placing both hands on it, he pushed.
His accumulated strength surged—
With a thunderous rumble, the entire wall slowly lifted upward.
Only after walking through did the true nature of the "door" reveal itself:a massive alloy gate, without a password panel or any unlocking mechanism.It could only be opened with brute force.
The door was twelve feet tall, seven feet wide, three feet thick—constructed from a specially chosen, extremely heavy, heat-resistant metal.By weight alone, it reached 480,000 pounds—about 220 tons.
Behind it, four enormous hydraulic arms locked onto the gate.They weren't designed to assist the opening—they were meant to increase the gate's resistance.Combined, the arms provided 176,300 pounds of counterforce—around 80 tons.
Meaning:To open the door at all required at least 660,000 pounds of force—roughly 300 tons.
As far as Zhou Yi knew, only a few individuals besides himself could manage that.Of course, certain mutants could bypass the door entirely—Magneto, for example, or someone like Kitty Pryde who could phase straight through.Those were the kinds of threats you couldn't meaningfully defend against anyway,so there was no point trying.
The door existed mainly to deter ordinary spies.He often wondered what expression an intruder would have if they reached this chamber only to discover this absolute monster of a gate.
As Zhou Yi entered the secret room, the door behind him slowly descended, merging perfectly with the wall until not a trace remained.No one would ever imagine what lay behind it—and even if they suspected, it wasn't something just anyone could take.
Zhou Yi walked inside and stopped.
A red laser swept over his body, scanning him from head to toe.
A gentle female voice sounded:
"Welcome back, dear Yi."
With that, the lights activated—revealing towering machinery, advanced instruments, and countless pieces of futuristic technology filling the room.It felt like stepping into a science-fiction future.
"Long time no see, Medusa," Zhou Yi said with a smile.
Medusa was an AI Tony Stark had helped design, though Zhou Yi himself had named her.Her computing and analytical capabilities were close to JARVIS, and she possessed independent thought.The only regret was that JARVIS had a certain unpredictable, human-like spark—a quality even Tony couldn't replicate.Medusa, by contrast, was more coldly logical.
But for Zhou Yi, she was more than enough.
"Time since your last visit: four hundred ten days, thirteen hours, twenty-six minutes. What service do you require this time?"
"How did the last material analysis turn out?" Zhou Yi asked.
"Analysis complete. Modifications to the existing prototypes have been finished."
"Show me."
As he walked to the center of the chamber, a three-dimensional projection appeared.
It displayed a block of silver-white metal.Under Medusa's demonstration, Zhou Yi saw the internal structure—countless active atoms twisting, reshaping, and reacting to a series of simulated stress tests.
Medusa narrated in her calm, steady tone:
"Per your instructions, I analyzed Mr. Stark's metal formula and modified the original nano-metal. The current version is Alpha Nano-Metal Type VII. It has excellent energy conductivity, powerful self-compression, metallic memory repair, and secondary reshaping capabilities. After reshaping, the structure stabilizes with high rigidity. It is immune to temperature, unaffected by magnetism, and highly pressure-resistant. The mass is only one-third that of standard alloys. I believe Type VII fully meets your requirements."
"Very good." Zhou Yi clapped lightly. "What's the production cost?"
"In optimized mode: 15,680 USD per ounce."
"So about ten times the price of platinum. Not cheap… and I doubt anyone else would care to buy it."
"Should I archive this as a failed product and begin development of Alpha Nano-Metal Type VIII?"
To her, anything short of perfection was a failure—no matter how much time was spent.
"Archive it. Notify the research units to begin the next phase. Development direction—pending. Medusa, how much of Type VII can we produce right now?"
"With our current resources, I can complete 1,240 pounds of Type VII within seventeen hours."
"Good. Begin production. Also—open the armor database. Scan my body. Optimize automatically. I want a suit—durable… and cool."
"Command accepted. Fabrication has begun. Initiating search. Scan complete."
As countless armor models assembled, disassembled, and recombined in midair, a playful smile appeared on Zhou Yi's face.
Ever since meeting Tony Stark, he had entertained this idea.He had spent years preparing for it.And earlier that day, when he saw the Helicarrier, he realized the moment had finally come.
When one possessed immense strength, nearly unlimited wealth, and a remarkable social position—What was left to pursue?
Thrill.The same thrill that drove Tony Stark to keep wearing the Iron Man suit even at the risk of palladium poisoning.
Zhou Yi wanted that same experience.But he had a family, friends, and a lover, so he usually kept his power hidden.He couldn't act like an actual superhero rescuing people and flirting with beauties every other day.
But today—after discovering vampires and S.H.I.E.L.D.'s Helicarrier—he finally made up his mind.
He would become a superhero under another identity.
And everything here marked the beginning of that identity.
Meanwhile, aboard S.H.I.E.L.D.'s Helicarrier—
Agent Phil Coulson arrived at the command deck, greeting colleagues with his usual warm smile before approaching the center of operations.
There stood a tall Black man dressed in an all-black leather coat, a black eye patch, and a perpetually stern expression.
Despite his appearance, this was the director of the world's largest intelligence organization—the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division:
Nick Fury.
"Sir. Agent Phil Coulson reporting," Coulson said with a crisp salute.
Nick Fury returned the salute casually.
"Last night, while I was enjoying a rare good dream, Commander Hill woke me up—telling me someone in our jurisdiction had been flying. Very fast."
He scowled.
"And despite being the world's most technologically advanced agency… all we got was a blurry mosaic where even the face isn't visible. So, I'm hoping my best agent brought me something better."
"Of course, sir. In fact—good news." Coulson smiled and handed him a small storage device.
"What is this?" Fury asked.
"A storage device, sir."
"I know it's a storage device and not a lighter, thank you, Coulson. What's inside it?"
Fury's tone was so dark it nearly matched his coat.
"These are the materials and analysis I collected at an underground bar. If nothing goes wrong, our target should be among these three individuals."
"Is that so?" Fury inserted the device into the console."Let's see who ruined my sleep."
As the data loaded, holograms displayed lab results and profiles of three people.
"These are the traces of dust and radiation from the bar. The dust contains biological tissue residues. Using Level 7 clearance, I compared them to internal records. They belong to Species 025—vampires—who have a peace treaty with us."
"The radiation analysis indicates extremely strong ultraviolet residue. Clearly, someone used a vampire-killer weapon."
"Lastly, I found fingerprints on a wine glass in the only area without vampire remains. The matches produced three suspects."
Coulson gestured toward the first hologram—a middle-aged man.
"Joe Albert, age forty-seven. Professional bartender. Suspiciously, he was recorded dead seven years ago after a wild-animal attack. Given his autopsy report, I determined he is now a vampire, so he's the least suspicious."
Then he indicated the second.
"This charming lady is Nissa Makinos. Only daughter of the late magnate Alida Makinos, founder of the European Health International Foundation. Despite her youthful appearance, she is actually forty-six. A classic noble lady—rarely appears in public, avoids strangers."
"Makinos… I remember him." Fury narrowed his eye. "Sixty years ago, he represented North American vampires during the peace treaty negotiations. So this woman must be his daughter—a pureblood."
"Vampire, huh? What a shame." Coulson chuckled and pointed to the third image.
"This young man is Yi Zhou. Chinese-American. Mother: Zhou Lan, a well-known fashion designer. Biological father: Smith Zhou, U.S. Marine, killed during an Eastern European mission just before the wedding. He also had a stepfather, Anthony Ferguson, a banker and financial expert. Ferguson died in a plane crash, leaving behind one daughter—Charisse Ferguson. Reports show the family relationship was good, but due to certain reasons, they moved to New York eight years ago."
"Next is Yi Zhou's rise to wealth. Started trading stocks at age eleven. A well-known investor by sixteen. Later made several bold decisions, skyrocketing his net worth. He is now the third-largest shareholder of Stark Industries, a major shareholder in Oscorp, and holds the majority of several top-tier research labs. If we ranked young entrepreneurs in the U.S., he'd be at least top five."
"Rich, young, close friends with Tony Stark, political connections, philanthropist, extravagant investor, and a seasoned martial artist…" Fury muttered. "When I was his age, what was I doing? Shining shoes? Great. I really have lived my life like a damn dog."
He stared at Coulson.
"You're sure he's the most suspicious?"
"I trust my judgment, sir."
"That's exactly what worries me, Coulson. You're my best analyst. And this guy…" Fury pointed at Zhou Yi's hologram. "Is the kind we absolutely cannot afford to provoke."
"Commander Hill, he's yours. Assign a team to monitor him and his family twenty-four hours a day. Follow safety protocol. No exposure. No contact."
"Yes, sir."Maria Hill's eyes gleamed—ready for action.
"And me, sir?" Coulson asked, feeling his mission stolen.
"I have another task for you. I need you to approach Stark. We need some of his tech."