Near Stark Tower, Lan Yu looked at the Stark Tower that could only be seen in movies. His heart was excited and at the same time a bit nervous. If the plan succeeded he would be able to successfully meet Iron Man Tony in person. He was a super fan of Iron Man. Not only did he have Iron Man armor at home, he also had all kinds of Iron Man figures.
"Wait for me here. If something unexpected happens you retreat first. After I shake off the enemies I will find you."
Cyan looked at Nishi and Asuka as she spoke. Regarding the possible failure consequences this operation might cause, she had thought of multiple possibilities.
Gain Iron Man's trust and successfully enter the S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier. Iron Man does not trust her and launches an attack against her. This was highly likely to be the situation. After all, a person who inexplicably appears in front of you and says they have come to assist you—ordinary normal people would not believe it, let alone a genius like Tony Stark. Not only fail to gain Iron Man's trust, but even get captured by S.H.I.E.L.D. This was the worst possibility.
Even if she was treated as someone with ill intentions it did not matter. As long as when the Chitauri army invaded tomorrow they completed the Survival Mission it would be fine.
As for whether she would be treated as a villain by the superheroes of this world, that was not within Cyan's consideration.
Anyway, if anyone was going to be exposed it would only be herself. Nishi and Asuka would still be safe. Considering the rewards that would be obtained after success, it was worth taking this risk.
"Nishi, let's swap equipment."
Cyan took off the Lakitu's Goggles and handed them to Nishi.
"Mm."
Nishi took off the Hannya Mask that had been hidden on her face. Although this piece of equipment was Plot Character Equipment, it was equipment that would not bind to the wearer—this could be considered a unique feature of this piece of equipment.
Cyan put on the Hannya Mask. Golden lightning wrapped around both legs and she disappeared from in front of Nishi, Asuka, and Lan Yu.
"Wh-where did she go?"
Lan Yu's eyes widened. He had not seen at all how Cyan left. It was as if she had teleported and disappeared right in front of his eyes.
[Ripple Dash!]
Cyan's feet seemed to have suction cups. She stepped on the wall of Stark Tower and sprinted vertically upward all the way.
Tony had just sent away Coulson who had come seeking his help when he heard the alarm transmitted by Jarvis.
"Jarvis, what happened?"
Tony looked at the three-dimensional model of the Tesseract in his hand. Hearing the alarm sound, he looked around.
"Sir, someone is approaching you at extreme speed."
As Jarvis spoke, a light screen appeared in front of Tony. What appeared on it was a figure that flashed past.
"Slow down his movement speed."
As Tony spoke he put on the Iron Man armor and waited for the arrival of the uninvited guest.
"Sir, this is the slowed-down speed."
The moment Jarvis finished speaking, the sound of knocking on the window rang out.
"Alright. When did I offend a ghost samurai?"
Tony looked at the person wearing a Hannya Mask who was knocking on the window. On the back of the pitch-black leather coat was a large sword.
"Jarvis, open the window and let him in."
"Sir, this is not a wise course of action."
"Let him in. If he had malicious intent he would not knock on the window."
Tony looked at the other party's bizarre posture of squatting vertically on the window while knocking. For some reason he felt a trace of absurdity and amusement.
The window opened. Cyan jumped in and landed four meters away from Tony.
"This ghost samurai gentleman? Young man? It's so late. What business do you have looking for me? Can you make it clear?" Tony struck a stylish hands-on-hips pose. He did not even dare take off the faceplate of the armor. Although this person who had suddenly come looking for him did not seem to have malicious intent, he could not be certain the other party would not suddenly launch an attack against him.
"I don't think I've offended your people. Did you find the wrong person?"
"Crisis. Earth has encountered a crisis—a crisis from beyond Earth." A cold voice came from within the Hannya Mask. Hearing the words of this masked "youth," Tony's expression changed. Coulson had only just left. This news should not have spread to the point that everyone knew.
"How did you know?"
Tony calmly looked at the masked "youth" and thought of the golden lightning that had been on her legs just now.
"I came to help you, not to be interrogated by you."
"You yourself are very suspicious."
Without any hesitation Tony raised his hand. The arc reactor pulse cannon in the palm lit up with dazzling light. He intended to subdue this deliberate "youth" in front of him and then question how the other party knew about this matter.
Talks broke down…
Cyan turned sideways and dodged the arc reactor pulse cannon. Facing Tony who charged over, she neither dodged nor flinched.
[Infinite Style · Impossible Fist!]
Green light gathered on her fist. Cyan punched the other party in the chest.
"Bang!"
Tony flew backward, smashed through a table, and stuck to the wall like a mural. On the chest of the armor was a clearly visible fist imprint, with cracks spreading outward in all directions.
"Sir, chest armor damage 68%."
"Is this a strength a human can possess?"
Tony shook his head and stood up with difficulty.
"Sir!"
The moment Jarvis reminded Tony, Cyan was already in front of him. She grabbed his head and pressed it to the ground.
"Now, can we have a proper talk, Mr. Tony Shitstark?"
"Hey! It's not Shitstark—it's Stark!"
Tony corrected unhappily. After hesitating for a moment he gave up the idea of using the chest unibeam to attack this "youth" who held no malicious intent toward him and decided to have a proper talk with the other party.
"Can you let go? Or do you want to talk in this posture?"
"Sorry."
Cyan released Tony and stepped back a few steps, maintaining a relatively safe distance from him. This distance was extremely convenient whether for attacking or retreating.
"Cough cough! Speak. What exactly is your goal."
Tony took off the Iron Man armor on his body and looked at the mask on Cyan's face. "Don't you think wearing a mask is very impolite?"
"Indeed."
Under Tony's astonished gaze the mask on Cyan's face disappeared.
"What technology is this? Nanotechnology?"
Tony stared hard at Cyan's face, attracted by the disappeared Hannya Mask.
"Nanotechnology?"
Cyan looked at Tony with a trace of blankness in her eyes. This was the first time she had heard this word.
"Alright. Let's still talk about the purpose of your coming to find me."
Seeing Cyan's blank expression, Tony knew she did not know what nanotechnology was.
"Speaking of which, you're very beautiful—just a tiny bit more beautiful than me."
The stylish Tony stared at Cyan's face for a few seconds, then pointed at her hair and said, "Don't you think the color of your hair is a bit peculiar?"
"Tony Stark, regarding the crisis that is about to arrive, I think we can have a proper talk." Cyan ignored Tony's words that seemed like a provocation. Her cold silver-white eyes stared at him.
Tony put away his cynical attitude. After a moment of silence he asked, "What do you know?"
"For example, that this crisis was triggered by S.H.I.E.L.D. researching the Tesseract?"
Cyan thought for a moment and spoke a sentence that could be revealed.
Indeed… S.H.I.E.L.D.… Nick Fury… the Tesseract…
Tony had begun to suspect that Nick Fury was secretly researching the Tesseract the moment Coulson came looking for his help, and that this research had triggered the current incident. Cyan's words just happened to coincide with his conjecture.
"Let's have a proper talk. Want a drink?" Tony walked to the wine cabinet, picked up an expensive bottle of red wine, and when asking Cyan, only then remembered that she looked as if she was still underage. He smiled and said, "Ah, right. You should still be underage. Can't give alcohol to minors."
As he spoke, Tony poured himself a glass and took a satisfying sip.
"Tony Stark, in order to deal with this crisis, my team and I need to enter S.H.I.E.L.D.'s Helicarrier. We will assist you in resolving this crisis triggered by S.H.I.E.L.D. that could bring disaster upon all of humanity." Cyan straightforwardly stated her demand.
"Hey! The S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier isn't mine. Entering it requires S.H.I.E.L.D.'s agreement."
"That is not within our consideration. If you cannot get us onto the Helicarrier, we will consider other methods of meeting Nick Fury. Don't ask me how I know these things. The Reverse World has its own information channels."
(At this time the Helicarrier had not yet gone into the sky and was still submerged in the sea. I wrote it wrong—just treat it as already having gone up… If it were to be revised, the following few chapters would more or less all need revision.)
"That's how it is. What do you think?"
Tony repeated the words Cyan had said to him once for Nick to hear. Looking at Nick's face that had darkened a few more shades on the screen, he tried hard to hold back the smile that was about to leak from the corner of his mouth.
"Let them come to the Helicarrier with you."
Nick thought for a moment and decided to let this group who claimed to be from the "Reverse World" come onto the Helicarrier. He wanted to see whether these people were enemies or allies. Once they were on the Helicarrier there would be plenty of ways to deal with them.
After ending the call, Tony smiled and shrugged. Thinking of the research Nick was secretly conducting using the Tesseract, his expression grew gloomy.
Tomorrow everything would be revealed. Nick Fury… Director of S.H.I.E.L.D., what exactly are you hiding? Exactly what kind of research did you do using the Tesseract?
Hotel
Lan Yu stood nervously in front of the room door, hesitating over whether to knock. He wanted to know whether there was any result. After hesitating for a long time he took a deep breath and raised a hand to knock on the door.
After a while, footsteps approached and the door opened.
Asuka was wearing a set of pajamas printed with a cartoon little tiger, a toothbrush clenched in her mouth. Looking at Lan Yu who had knocked, she asked, "Something the matter?"
"Asuka?!"
Lan Yu looked at Asuka who opened the door. His eyes went round. He immediately turned around and walked to the window in the corridor, looking outside to check whether the distant Stark Tower was still there and whether he had suddenly crossed over to Tokyo-3.
So annoying…
Asuka felt extremely dissatisfied that most survivors knew her identity. Was there any way around this? This time she had even been wearing a coat with a hood. She couldn't still wear that outfit while sleeping, right?
Tomorrow they would have to face a major battle. Not resting properly would not do.
"Kid, what do you want? If there's nothing I'll close the door."
"Wait a moment!"
The moment Lan Yu heard Asuka was about to close the door, he hurriedly ran over.
"Why do you keep staring at me?" Asuka noticed Lan Yu staring at her with a look of wanting to say something but holding it back.
"Um… are you called Shikinami Asuka or Soryu Asuka?" Lan Yu gathered his courage and asked.
"Shikinami Asuka Langley. This is my full name. Please call me Miss Langley, understand?"
Asuka crossed her arms and corrected the way Lan Yu addressed her name.
"Um, Miss Langley, have you fallen for Kensuke Aida?"
"Hah? Are you an idiot? Who would fall for him."
Hearing Lan Yu's words, Asuka was so angry she wanted to punch him. The toothbrush in her clenched hand made cracking sounds. She suppressed the anger in her heart, snorted, and turned to go to the bathroom to brush her teeth.