In the hot tub, Tony sat back, drinking while enjoying the hot water's pressure on his body. His face turned red, feeling so relaxed that he almost drifted off to sleep.
After a while, he finally decided to get out of the tub, wrapping himself in a bathrobe and heading to his bedroom to sleep. However, as he passed through the living room, he saw two people sitting on the sofa, watching him.
"?" Tony froze. Someone had bypassed J.A.R.V.I.S.'s security system. He almost rushed to activate the Iron Man suit in panic, but when he looked more carefully, he saw that one of the people was none other than Phantom Thief Kid.
"Tony, you've gotten more cautious," Liu A'dou said, knowing that as Tony continued to study the Iron Man suit, the billionaire would become more and more dependent on it, even feeling like he might be replaced by the suit.
Seeing Kid, Tony finally relaxed. "Oh, it's you. Have you decided what you want me to do?"
"Of course. Otherwise, why would I come to see you? We're not close enough for casual visits yet," Kid replied. Both he and Liu A'dou stood up from the sofa. "Let me introduce you. This is Liu A'dou, the writer and director of Frozen."
Liu A'dou walked forward and shook Tony's hand. "Hello, Mr. Stark. Long time no see."
Tony was slightly puzzled but soon recognized him. He was the person involved in the mutant assassination incident, someone he had met when he was with Black Widow and the others. "Hello, I remember you. You were under S.H.I.E.L.D.'s protection at the time." He was curious why Phantom Thief Kid had brought him along and what their connection was.
"Tony, what I need your help with is arranging a concert for Liu A'dou at your industrial exhibition park. That doesn't violate your moral code, does it?" Kid asked.
"A concert?" Tony blinked in confusion.
Liu A'dou chimed in, "Actually, it's a concert for Miss Elsa, the lead actress of Frozen. If Stark Industries supports it, the event will be a huge success."
"Kid, are you transferring the payment for something I'm supposed to do for you onto him?" Tony asked.
"That's right. He helped me in Gotham City, so I need to return the favor, just like you owe me your life," Kid replied.
Hearing this, Tony remembered the question he had always wanted to ask. "Kid, how did you know I was poisoned?"
"Heh, as a Phantom Thief, I naturally have my own intelligence network. How else would I know where you hide your treasures?" Kid's response left Tony speechless.
At that point, Tony decided not to dwell on it. "No problem with the concert. I'll talk to Pepper. She'll handle all the arrangements. You can see her tomorrow."
"All expenses will be covered by Stark Industries," Kid added.
"No problem." Tony grinned. For him, money was never an issue. Hosting a concert was a piece of cake.
"Good." Kid then turned and walked to the living room's large window, leaping off the cliff outside.
Tony was stunned. "You're leaving, but what about Liu A'dou?"
Liu A'dou and Tony exchanged awkward glances. "I don't suppose Mr. Stark has a car that could give me a ride home? I came by taxi, but I won't be able to get one on the way back."
"The driver's off for the day. If you don't mind, you can take a car from my garage. Follow me." In the garage, there were rows of luxury cars. Stark picked one based on his mood. "Pick any car you like."
Since his host was a billionaire, Liu A'dou didn't hesitate and chose a yellow Lamborghini. "I'll take this one."
"The keys are in the car. Just take it. No need to return it. I'll talk to Pepper about the concert. You can meet her at Stark Tower tomorrow, but don't bother me anymore. I'm exhausted, and I plan to sleep the entire day tomorrow."
"Goodbye, Mr. Stark." Liu A'dou started the car and drove through the long tunnel of the garage, disappearing into the distance.
However, Tony didn't go to sleep. Instead, he asked J.A.R.V.I.S. to pull up the surveillance footage. He needed to know how Phantom Thief Kid had gotten inside. The footage showed that Liu A'dou had indeed arrived by taxi and had waited outside for half an hour before Phantom Thief Kid finally appeared.
Then, the footage showed Phantom Thief Kid doing something that caused the front door to open, allowing him to walk freely into the living room. "J.A.R.V.I.S., what's going on?"
"Sir, according to the records, you activated the voice control system and ordered me to open the front door," J.A.R.V.I.S. replied.
"Play back the recording." Tony listened carefully. Sure enough, it was his own voice, but at that time, he had clearly been in the bathroom. "Phantom Thief Kid… What a hassle. To think he has that kind of ability." Tony hoped that once this request was fulfilled, Kid would stop bothering him. After all, he had too many valuable things. He was worried about thieves, especially a legendary one like Phantom Thief Kid.
As for Liu A'dou, Tony wasn't concerned. He thought to himself that Liu A'dou had been thoroughly investigated by S.H.I.E.L.D., and the fact that he knew Phantom Thief Kid from Gotham City wasn't surprising. Although he didn't know why Kid was helping Liu A'dou, a concert didn't seem like a big deal.
However, his disregard for Liu A'dou only lasted a day. The next day, Tony was woken up by a phone call from S.H.I.E.L.D.: "I'm going to kill you."
Tony hadn't fully woken up yet, and was grumpy from just getting out of bed.
"Stark, I need you," the Director said. "The video has been sent to your butler. Please fulfill your duties as a S.H.I.E.L.D. consultant and analyze the video immediately."
"…" What's so important? Tony threw his phone aside, lay in bed for a while, then rubbed his face and rolled over to get up. "J.A.R.V.I.S., what video did S.H.I.E.L.D. send?"
"Sir, it's a video of a battle."
"Play it."
It was the explosive battle between Liu A'dou and the Hulk, with the sky cracking and the earth splitting. Watching it, Tony became fully awake. How could such power exist?
Tony called S.H.I.E.L.D. back: "What is this? Who are the people in the video?"
"We can discuss that later," the Director said. "I want to know more about the armor the person fighting the Hulk is wearing. What's the secret behind it?" The Director needed Tony, as the technical consultant, to analyze the value of the artifact.
However, it was difficult to analyze the Odin's Armor just from the video. If Tony were on-site with energy testing equipment, he might have been able to reach a conclusion, but as it was, it was too challenging. "It's hard to tell just from the video. All I know is that the big green guy is really strong, and the armored person—wait a second…"
Tony saw, in slow motion, that the armored person was actually Liu A'dou. His mouth dropped open in surprise. "Are you telling me the truth? Who is that armored person?"
The Director, though curious about Tony's serious tone, still gave him the answer: "You've met him before. Liu A'dou. He's the one behind Frozen. According to him, he's connected to the gods of Mount Olympus and Asgard. The armor he's wearing is Odin's battle suit, an artifact. I need you to analyze whether this artifact is hard to produce."
Tony's mind raced. Liu A'dou's fighting ability in the Odin's battle suit was simply otherworldly. Especially the final move—even with the video slowed to the lowest speed, Tony couldn't make out what Liu A'dou had done. How could anyone dodge an attack with that kind of speed?
The analysis revealed that Odin's battle suit was an item far beyond Earth's technology. There was no way it existed on Earth. The suit was capable of protecting someone while performing high-speed movements, something that no Earth-made suit, not even Tony's Iron Man armor, could do. Even if his suit evolved for ten years, it wouldn't be able to protect the body from such violent punches without being damaged. This really showed the gap between Iron Man suits and divine artifacts.