Chapter Two: Poor Tony

"Host, please prepare, the serum fusion is about to begin!"

"Ah!"

Before Hao Yun could even react, a searing pain erupted from deep within his soul! Every bone in his body, every muscle, felt as if they were being hammered and forged, scorched in fire! The agony was so intense he was driven to the brink of madness, wishing for death, desperate enough to want to bite off his tongue—yet unable to escape. The pain was so overwhelming that Hao Yun immediately lost consciousness.

When he finally awoke, the night had already passed… His body was covered with the usual black residue, the impurities filtering out and staining his sheets with the vague outline of a human figure.

He glanced down at himself—his little belly was gone, his skin had become smoother, and he looked noticeably more handsome than before…

"Hao Yun, it’s time to pick up your acceptance letter from school!"

While Hao Yun was still lost in admiration over his transformation, his mother’s voice called up from downstairs. Angel Potts’s words snapped him out of his reverie. He quickly replied, grabbed his bedding, and dashed to the bathroom, not bothering to examine his new self in detail.

After showering and tossing his sheets and covers into the washing machine, he finally sat down at the dining table downstairs, listening to his mother’s gentle nagging as he ate his American-style breakfast.

He had to admit, the simple serum tweaked by the fusion system worked wonders. The changes to his body were subtle and thorough, and he had no trouble controlling his newfound strength.

"Hao Yun, which university do you want to attend after graduating high school?"

Perhaps because she had never married and was free of domestic worries, Angel, nearing forty, still possessed the curvy, graceful beauty of a stunning blonde. After living together for eighteen years, she had come to treat Hao Yun, whom she’d raised as a single mother and never intended to have any children, as her own son. No sooner had he sat down than she couldn’t help but ask.

"You’ve finished both the SAT and ACT, and all the Ivy League schools—Harvard, MIT, the rest—have sent you offers. Hao Yun, we really need to talk seriously about your future."

"Potts, I..." Hao Yun hesitated. He’d always excelled academically, constantly earning scholarships. Would Angel accept it if he said he didn’t want to go to college at all?

"What’s wrong, sweetheart?"

Angel put down her sandwich, looking at her son in confusion. He’d always had a strong will—even his name he’d insisted on changing to a tongue-twisting Chinese one at age six, and she’d only managed to persuade him to add Potts to the end after much effort.

Now, she was more curious than ever about what her beloved son was up to.

"I... I don’t want to go to university," Hao Yun finally confessed after a long hesitation.

The living room fell instantly silent. Hao Yun could feel his mother’s anger quietly rising, though his years of excellent performance made her keep a calm façade.

"Mr. Potts, I need a reason," Angel said, her back straight. Hao Yun recognized the courtroom tone she used when debating as a lawyer. "And don’t tell me you want to start a band and chase your dreams! You know perfectly well, music is not your talent!"

"Uh..." Hao Yun stared at his mother speechlessly. So what if he’d had a rebellious phase in middle school and formed a rock band? Did she really need to remember that for six years?

Possessing an adult’s soul since childhood, Hao Yun had always excelled—not just academically, where he’d earned scholarship after scholarship, but also socially and athletically, where he’d outperformed everyone. The only thing that worried Angel was his lack of a girlfriend, which made her concerned about his health, but otherwise he was her pride and joy.

For all these reasons, Angel, who’d long hoped her son would follow in her footsteps and take over the family law firm, was even more furious at his suggestion of giving up college—she even brought up his complete lack of musical ability!

"Mom, do you trust me?"

It was rare for the usually mature Hao Yun to act cute, but he was at a loss for how to convince his mother.

"Hmm? Let’s hear it," Angel said, crossing her legs and swinging her foot. Her posture screamed, Go ahead, try and fool me.

"This world is about to change drastically," Hao Yun began, knowing that the future would be unimaginably dangerous. Knowing his mother’s temperament, he could never talk her into moving the law firm. Rather than fabricate excuses later, it was better to be honest from the start.

"Mom, you heard me screaming last night, didn’t you? I had a dream—a dream that felt incredibly real, so real it was as if I’d lived it."

Then, Hao Yun slowly recounted to Angel the plots of the nineteen future Marvel films—Tony’s transformation, Captain America’s emergence, wars with aliens, and finally, the snap that decided the fate of the universe… One vivid event after another, unfolding before her eyes, left Angel utterly absorbed.

When Hao Yun finally described Tony Stark’s sacrifice—the snap he made to save the universe—tears streamed down her cheeks.

"Oh my god, why did Tony have to die… Poor Morgan… Sweetheart, is everything you said really true?"

Red-eyed, Angel gazed at Hao Yun, her expression dazed.

Hao Yun couldn’t help but twitch his lips. Woman, shouldn’t your attention be on the looming alien invasion? Why are you feeling sorry for Morgan instead? According to the timeline, she wouldn’t even be born for another fifteen years.

"My poor little niece, losing her father at such a young age…"

Wait, did he just hear something incredible? Little niece? Morgan?

"Mom, did you just say ‘little niece’?" Hao Yun asked in disbelief. "Pepper Potts—is she your sister?"

"To be precise, she’s my younger sister," Angel Potts replied, wiping her tears and speaking earnestly. "I went to law school, she went to business school. Later, she joined Stark Industries, and I once had a case against her company, which made her angry. We haven’t really spoken since."

Hao Yun was speechless. By that logic, his starting point in this world wasn’t as bad as he’d thought. He’d barely awakened his powers, and already he was Tony Stark’s nephew, the chief of the newbie village. He had no doubt Pepper would marry Tony—just as Captain America would never abandon Bucky.

"I never agreed with her joining Stark Industries. She was only drawn to that playboy, Tony. Sweetheart, you must never be like him…"

For the next hour, Hao Yun endured a lecture from his mother, who used Tony as a cautionary tale. Pepper was mentioned fifty times, poor little Morgan a hundred times…

In this way, Hao Yun successfully lowered Tony’s image in his mother’s mind by another ten points. One could only imagine the pressure Tony would face from the family when he finally decided to marry Pepper… Well, as the saying goes, better you than me, Uncle Tony. I won’t be saying a word on your behalf!