...
Afterward.
Christine's bedroom.
She was still lying on the bed, disoriented, as if suffering from Parkinson's, while Leon had already made a full retreat, looking for his clothes on the floor and calling Tony:
"Brother, I can't wait. Remember to call Rhodes too."
"Alright."
Tony, on the other end of the line, completely understood Leon's current mood, but he joked, "I think the nickname Shield Kid is pretty good. It's both youthful and friendly."
"Hehe."
Facing Tony's teasing, Leon just chuckled and hung up the phone.
It was fine for Tony to call him that, but if villains or superheroes a generation younger than him called him that, wouldn't Leon lose face?
Imagine the youngest in seniority, Spider-Man, greeting Leon: "Hey, Shield Kid, I'm your super fan, Spider-Man..."
Compared to that, the scene was simply too beautiful.
Just thinking about it made Leon's skin crawl with embarrassment.
"Hey, Christine, wake up."
Pat pat pat!
After getting dressed, Leon walked to the bed, patted Christine's cheek, and woke her up.
"Hmm?"
"Leon, no~ I can't do it anymore, I'm going to die!"
Drowsily, Christine thought Leon's cooldown was over again and quickly begged for mercy.
"Not that."
Leon corrected helplessly, "Tony and I are holding a press conference this afternoon to prove our identities. Don't say I didn't notify you in advance this time."
"Ah?!"
"Hiss—"
A reporter's instinct made Christine suddenly snap awake.
She did a sit-up, sitting up from the bed with disheveled, sticky blonde hair, but immediately hissed in pain and fell back down.
Seeing this.
Leon's palm emitted a warm, soft golden glow that covered Christine's lower abdomen. She felt a warm current flow into her body, and the pain immediately lessened significantly.
"Is this your superpower?" Christine asked, a blush of embarrassment on her face. "I thought you were just joking last time."
"Oh~ that's truly heartbreaking. My sincere feelings were met with suspicion."
"Get out of here!"
Leon, possessed by a green tea spirit, sighed. Christine didn't indulge him, extending a long leg from under the blanket and gently pushing him out with her delicate foot.
...
Time quickly came to the afternoon.
After a day of public opinion fermenting, netizens had initially formed an understanding of the superhero Iron Man.
As in the original plot, they were attracted by the cool Iron Man armor and were guessing Iron Man's true identity, whether it was Tony Stark or not.
However, on Leon's side, due to Christine's deliberate guidance, public opinion among netizens showed an extreme polarization—
"What Shield Kid? He's clearly a rip-off of Captain America. Our Captain America is the most awesome!"
"The one above, how can you say that about my Brother Leon? My Brother Leon is a thousand, ten thousand times handsomer than your stinky Captain!"
"Do you even believe what you're saying? With that creepy look of his, wearing a helmet, standing on the roadside, a patrol officer would probably just mistake him for a perverted strong offender!"
"The one above, did you just get online? That's Leon Stark!"
"Putting aside his family background, character, and private life, if you can find a man handsomer than him in America, I lose! (Picture attached)"
"Exactly! Exactly!"
"Joke! If I looked that creepy, even if you let me drive a sports car and live in a Villa, I'd be willing!"
"Good heavens, your abacus beads are bouncing all over my face!"
"Taking everything, huh?"
"So what if he's Leon Stark? I heard Stark Industries is about to go bankrupt, he'll eventually end up as a stray dog on the street!"
"666, brother above, a piece of advice: quickly throw away your phone, then disconnect from the internet and move. Otherwise, Stark's people will come knocking to 'send warmth'."
"Stark Industries is a thing of the past. Hammer Industries will become the new leader in the weapons manufacturing industry, leading America to a whole new level!"
"The one above, you're a shill hired by Hammer Industries, aren't you? You're not even trying to hide it!"
"With Hammer Industries' terrible quality control, if they fire ten 'Ex-Wives', and one goes off, I win!"
"No, Brother, something's not right with you?"
"..."
The private fans who believed Shield Kid was Leon occupied half of the public opinion.
The rest were some haters, passersby attracted by the headlines, genuine fans of Captain America, and shills hired by Hammer Industries.
"Seriously, all sorts of monsters are popping up..." Leon pouted, pressing a single finger on the Bluetooth earpiece in his right ear:
"Arcee."
"I'm here."
"Write down all those who spoke disrespectfully and maliciously slandered me. Afterward, I will visit each of them in person."
"Are you sure?"
"There are quite a lot of them..."
"Of course."
"The internet isn't a lawless place. Do they really think I won't track them down?"
"Dream on!"
With Leon's current speed, it wouldn't be impossible to do with a little effort.
After all, he wasn't Superman, that good guy. It would be considered Leon's good temper if he didn't shoot them with a laser like Homelander.
New York.
Manhattan Square.
The press conference venue was packed with people.
However, a large fan-shaped blank area was isolated between the stage and the onlookers by burly security guards in black suits and sunglasses.
The reporters were positioned on both sides of the fan-shaped area near the stage, which was convenient for photography and note-taking, and also didn't occupy the blank space in the middle.
This blank area was specifically left out at Leon's instruction.
As for its purpose...
Backstage.
When Leon arrived.
Pepper was complaining while applying makeup for Tony.
Sharon Carter, as Leon's secretary, was respectfully standing by since her boss hadn't arrived yet, her head occasionally turning towards the backstage entrance, like a loyal wife waiting for her husband.
When she saw Leon arrive, she immediately smiled and went to greet him, wanting to help him take off his clothes and change into formal wear.
"No need for the clothes, just touch up my makeup."
Leon waved his hand and instructed.
"Okay, Mr. Leon."
Sharon Carter, in a black sleeveless bodycon dress, nodded obediently. Then, Leon sat on the sofa next to Tony, letting Sharon Carter do her work.
"Hey, Shield Kid."
Tony put down the headline newspaper and greeted Leon with a smirk.
"Oh, please, Brother." Leon rolled his eyes and gritted his teeth, "I guarantee that after today, this nickname will become history!"
"Leon, I also guarantee that after today, if you dare to sneak out and fool around with Tony like this again, I'm quitting!"
Pepper looked at the two brothers with a "smile" on her face. She had threatened to resign more than once to make the brothers rein themselves in.
Only this way could she make them realize the seriousness of the problem.
Tony: "Alright, alright."
Leon: "You're the BOSS, we'll listen to you."
The two brothers shrugged helplessly, agreeing wholeheartedly, but then exchanged a knowing glance, the meaning of which was self-evident: they'd dare next time!
Just then.
Agent Coulson of S.H.I.E.L.D. arrived uninvited. After a brief exchange of glances with Sharon Carter, who was applying makeup for Leon, he handed each of the brothers a script.
"Agent Coulson?"
"What do you mean by this?"
The two brothers asked, and Coulson explained:
"This is a task Director Fury gave me, regarding Gomera."
"At that time, you were on a yacht. We made absolutely authentic customs documents stating that you were on vacation on Avalon Island all day and didn't go anywhere else, along with the testimonies of 50 witnesses."
"So this is an official alibi prepared for us?"
Leon raised an eyebrow.
"Yes, Mr. Leon."
Coulson nodded in reply, "This is for your and Mr. Tony's personal safety."
"OK."
"Pretty good."
Tony was noncommittal.
Coulson heard this and breathed a sigh of relief, thinking he had agreed.