Tony frowned: "Send the surveillance footage over here."
Jarvis said, "Yes, sir."
There was a flash of blue light in the air, and the surveillance footage in Pepper's office shrank, replaced by a bird's-eye view of the intersection.
In the picture, a handsome young Chinese man was sitting on a park bench with a smile on his face. He put his left hand in the pocket of his black hooded sweatshirt and waved his right hand gently towards the camera, as if to say hello to them.
Seeing this scene, Tony and Pepper looked at each other.
"Who is he, the amazing oriental magician?"
"It is possible, sir."
Jarvis quickly retrieved the police's information and projected photos of similar Chinese youths onto the screen. He said, "I checked all the personnel and immigration-related information and found no information about this person. The last time he appeared was in a bar in Brooklyn, New York. At that time, the bar was broadcasting the live broadcast of the hearing you attended."
"Brooklyn, New York..." Pepper thought for a moment and said, "Why not check the flights from New York to Marbury within 48 hours to see if you can find his registration information."
Tony shook his head. "That's impossible. If his magical ability could be used for more than just sending letters, he probably wouldn't need to take a plane to get from New York to Marbury."
"What should we do then?"
"What else can I do?"
Tony glanced at her, turned around and walked towards his own 'cloakroom', and said casually: "Jarvis, please invite this mysterious magician to visit my home for me. Tell him that I am very interested in what he mentioned in the letter..."
"Yes, sir."
Soon, a black Rolls-Royce stopped in front of the park bench.
The opaque black car window rolled down, revealing a slightly unfriendly face.
Looking at the burly driver in the car window, Lin Zhongtian, who was sitting on the bench, smiled slightly.
"Let me guess, you are Tony Stark's bodyguard Happy Hogan?"
"It seems you have done a thorough investigation, Mr. Magician."
Happy seemed to be unaware of the whole situation. He just thought that Lin Zhongtian was one of those people who tried to get close to his boss Tony Stark by means of sensationalism, so his tone and expression were not very friendly.
But Lin Zhongtian didn't care. He smiled and asked.
"Mr. Stark asked you to invite me as your guest?"
"Yes, he is very interested in what you have mentioned in your letter."
"very good."
Lin Zhongtian nodded, stood up from the bench and walked towards Tony Stark's seaside villa.
Happy was startled for a moment, then looked surprised, started the car and slowly drove to Lin Zhongtian.
"Aren't you getting in the car?"
Faced with Happy's surprised invitation, Lin Zhongtian politely declined.
"No, I'll be faster if I walk."
“…”
Happy's cheek muscles twitched, he shook his head, closed the car window, muttered "crazy" under his breath, then started the car and drove towards the coastal villa.
Soon, Happy entered the courtyard of the villa, drove the car into the underground garage, and took the elevator to the living room on the first floor of the villa.
As soon as he walked into the living room, Happy saw Tony Stark and Pepper Potts sitting on the sofa in the living room, so he quickly said what he had prepared in the car.
"Mr. Stark, the magician you invited insisted on-WTF?!"
Happy's eyes widened in disbelief as he stared at the man sitting on the sofa across from Tony.
At this time, the man had turned around and waved at him with a smile. It was Lin Zhongtian, who had just parted with him.
"I told you it would be faster if we walked."
“…”
Happy was stunned and speechless.
Lin Zhongtian smiled and turned his head, looking at Tony Stark who was looking at him on the sofa opposite him, and the golden and red Mark IV Iron Man armor standing behind the sofa, and said with a chuckle: "You are very cautious."
Tony was noncommittal: "I can't help it. Who told you that the way you showed up the first time wasn't very friendly?"
Lin Zhongtian shook his head: "Don't worry, I won't hurt you."
Tony laughed when he heard this: "You seem to have made a mistake."
As he spoke, he snapped his fingers, and the Mark IV steel armor standing behind him started up immediately. The reactor on the chest lit up blue light, and the golden-red visor turned with the sound of metal shafts, and the eyes emitting white light looked straight at Lin Zhongtian.
Tony said calmly: "This is my territory."
Hearing this, Lin Zhongtian also laughed.
He snapped his fingers, imitating Tony's example.
In an instant, the surrounding air shattered like a mirror, and the cracks spread rapidly in branch-like shapes, covering the entire living room before Tony and Pepper could react.
Looking at the bizarre scene around her that was like Inception, Pepper screamed and subconsciously threw herself into Tony's arms.
In the real world, seeing the three people on the sofa disappear in the living room, Happy quickly took out the pistol from his waist, and while being on guard, he looked around in panic, calling out Tony and Pepper's names.
Tony comforted Pepper in his arms, then looked at Happy in the real world through the diamond-faceted mirror space. A hint of gloom and tension appeared on his handsome face for the first time in a long time.
“This is my territory now.”
Lin Zhongtian looked at Tony with a smile and said.
Tony pursed his lips, stared at Lin Zhongtian's face in silence for a long time, and suddenly spread his hands and said.
"Well, it's your territory, you have the final say."
Lin Zhongtian smiled and waved his hand. The cracks on the mirror receded like the tide, allowing the three people in the living room to return to the real world.
As soon as he appeared, Happy, who had already walked to the sofa, subconsciously turned the gun and aimed it at Tony in front of him.
Tony's eyes widened and he quickly raised his hands: "Hey, man, relax, be careful of accidental discharge!"
Happy quickly put away his gun: "I'm sorry, Mr. Stark, you scared me - what happened just now, why did you and Miss Potts suddenly disappear, just like the magic show of Copperfield that we watched together a few days ago..."
Tony glanced at Lin Zhongtian, then smiled and patted Happy's sturdy arm.
"Relax, I think you may be under too much pressure at work and have hallucinations. How about this, I will give you two days off. Go home and have a good rest today, and come back to protect me after you have rested."
"But……"
Happy was a little hesitant, but under Tony's insistence, he had to leave worriedly.
Then Tony calmed Pepper down and asked her to leave the living room.
Although Pepper was very worried, she also knew that if she stayed she would only become a burden to Tony.
Finally, Lin Zhongtian and Tony Stark were the only ones left in the living room.
Lin Zhongtian smiled and said, "I said, I have no ill will towards you."
Tony nodded and said, "Now I believe it - I want to know, what was that just now?"
Lin Zhongtian said: "Mirror space is a world that is exactly the same as the real world, but is independent of reality. It exists everywhere in reality, but cannot be perceived by ordinary people."
When Tony heard about magic for the first time, he felt that his worldview seemed to be overturned.
He asked in astonishment: "Is this magic?"
Lin Zhongtian thought about it and nodded, "You can think so, but as far as I know, technological means should also be able to enter the mirror space."
Hearing this, Tony regained his composure, nodded, and asked, "You said in the letter that there is a way to completely cure my palladium poisoning symptoms. Is this true?"
"Of course, and it works very quickly without any side effects."
"Is it magic too?"
"In your eyes, it can indeed be called magic."
After hearing Lin Zhongtian's answer, Tony seemed to be thinking about something.
Soon, Tony asked, "What do you want from me?"
Lin Zhongtian smiled and shifted his gaze to the iron armor behind Tony.
Tony raised his eyebrows and said jokingly, "Interesting, magicians also want my iron armor? It seems that what I created is more popular than I thought!"
"You misunderstood."
Lin Zhongtian shook his head, looked at the bright eyes of the Iron Armor and said, "What I want is the thing behind it."
"... Jarvis?" Tony frowned and shook his head. "That's impossible. How about another condition? I can give you a set of the latest Mark IV armor tailored for you. How about that?"
Lin Zhongtian shook his head and said, "You misunderstood again. What I need is artificial intelligence, not Jarvis."
Tony looked weird: "Don't tell me you just want Jarvis's initial program."
Lin Zhongtian nodded: "That's what I mean!"
"Are you sure?"
"Sure."
Tony smiled, then asked Jarvis to project a blue light screen. After clicking on it a few times, he pushed it in front of Lin Zhongtian and pointed at the hundreds of files densely packed on it.
"These are all Jarvis' backup programs, pick any one you like!"
"……so much?!"
Lin Zhongtian was slightly startled, and suddenly felt like he had been cheated.
Tony smiled and said frivolously, "At first, Jarvis was just a natural language user interface, but now, he is my smart butler, with super computing power, able to control my iron armor, and even tell me jokes when I'm bored - do you understand what I mean?"