Simultaneous Transmigration: From Japanese Anime to American Comics

What the hell? That can't be real!

Tony thought his brain was playing tricks on him. A mere playing card had sliced through his armor's weapon!

He even got a glimpse of the card's face: the Ace of Spades!

"Hey, boss, I'm with Stark Industries! We're on the same side!"

"You're pretty funny, and your English is not bad either."

"I'm serious! Today's my first day on the job!"

"Shut up, you damn terrorist!"

Tony, still skeptical, prepared to attack again. His massive armor faced Chu Yang, the machine guns and cannons on its shoulders spinning into action.

"Tsk. Rich people are always so impatient."

Under Chu Yang's precise control, each card struck the exposed welding points of the armor, sparking brilliantly.

After a dozen consecutive flashes of light, Tony suddenly felt his body lighten.

Clink... Clank...

In an instant, the armor disassembled into scrap, falling off Tony piece by piece.

Suddenly, Tony stood before Chu Yang, as if stripped bare.

Embarrassed, he raised both hands and gave Chu Yang an awkward wave. "Hello!"

Chu Yang clicked his tongue.

This is not going well.

Tony's face turned pale, and in his mind, he was already picturing himself being executed by terrorists.

"Okay, okay, I swear I'll never play cards again!"

Just then, Happy stumbled in from outside the cave, barely able to stand. His steps were unsteady, and at first, he hadn't figured out how everyone had died—until he saw one guy with a Nine of Hearts lodged in his forehead.

"Happy?!"

Tony's pale face brightened with joy as he called out to his friend and bodyguard.

"Tony!"

Happy was just as excited.

As the two prepared to embrace, Tony abruptly stopped and turned toward Chu Yang with a look of disbelief.

"F***! Are you really one of my employees?!"

---

That evening, military forces locked onto their location thanks to the intense firefight.

Colonel Rhodes personally led the rescue team to extract Tony Stark.

When he arrived, he found the base in shambles, and his heart sank.

With such fierce fighting, even if Tony survived, he'd likely be nothing but ashes...

The thought made Rhodes choke up. The seven-foot-tall man's eyes reddened.

Beep-beep-beep...

His phone rang.

Setting aside his sorrow, Rhodes answered the call.

"What?"

"He's already back?"

"Throwing a party in a hospital?!"

"F***! Tony!"

---

At the hospital.

"So, you're telling me that the kid who sliced through my armor with a card is only 16, about to enter high school, and you just met him on the street?"

"And you've only known him for less than 24 hours?!"

Tony stared in disbelief at Happy, who turned slightly away in embarrassment.

"Are you sure the information you found is accurate? That kid looked like he escaped from some secret base..."

Tony still couldn't wrap his head around it. The thought that his meticulously designed armor crumbled like tofu before that kid gnawed at his pride.

"I'm certain!" Happy responded seriously. "Pepper used every resource Stark Industries has to investigate him."

"Yang grew up in a small town. His family were multi-generation Chinese immigrants, but they passed away when he was young. He was raised by neighbors and local welfare institutions."

"He was accepted into a public high school in Brooklyn but didn't attend for some reason. Instead, he started roaming the streets, where I happened to meet him."

Hearing the word Brooklyn, Tony instinctively grimaced and muttered, "Honestly, if it were me, I wouldn't want to go to school there either. Ugh, Brooklyn? That place only produces delinquents and junkies!"

"Watch your words, Mr. Stark," Pepper scolded, entering the room just in time to hear Tony's inappropriate remarks. "Such comments could be seen as discriminatory and would damage Stark Industries' reputation."

"I apologize!" Tony raised both hands in surrender. "Even though I'm just stating facts, you're right, Miss Potts."

Pepper, used to Tony's antics, sighed. "I've gathered all the information you wanted. Now we need to discuss what to do with that boy."

"My God! He's only 16, and he was forced to rescue people in Afghanistan!"

"Happy, do you realize how many laws we've broken just by involving a minor?"

"You said you found an amazing guy on the street, but you didn't mention he was underage!"

Pepper's voice rose to a near shout, causing Happy to feel like he was caught in a storm.

"Hey, you know I have trouble guessing Asians' ages," Happy muttered, wiping the sweat off his brow. "Usually, minors don't fight off gangs of armed men."

Tony nodded in agreement. "Normally, a kid couldn't destroy my armor with a deck of cards either."

"Maybe he has some special talents? Don't forget, he's Chinese," Pepper snapped. "What are we going to do with him?"

Tony and Happy exchanged glances and answered in unison.

"Of course, we're keeping him!"

"I'll say it again: we can't hire a minor! That's illegal!" Pepper fumed.

"Whoa, whoa! Calm down, Miss Potts!" Tony hurried to explain. "I know he's underage, and I know he doesn't have any living family. By law, Stark's charitable foundation can sponsor his education. You see where I'm going with this?"

Pepper understood. Stark Industries would gain guardianship over Chu Yang.

Tony grinned. "Get him into a good school, and in exchange, I need him to help me with a few tests."

Pepper raised an eyebrow. "You mean testing the durability of your iron toys?"

"Hey! Don't insult my masterpieces!" Tony snapped, offended. "That was just a prototype, which is why it broke so easily!"

"A prototype that broke from a playing card? Sounds like a toy to me," Pepper retorted, walking out of the room without a backward glance.

She wasn't worried about Tony's health. After all, anyone throwing a party in a hospital couldn't be that unwell.

Happy stood silently on the side, trying to avoid being the third wheel.

As Tony's close friend and bodyguard, he knew exactly what was going on between Pepper and Tony.

"She just doesn't get it!" Tony muttered, his face red with frustration. "I swear those cards were rigged! Damn it, I should've taken a few with me!"

Happy helpfully added, "Gustav has plenty. I could bring you a few boxes if you'd like."

Tony: "..."

Thanks to Stark Industries, Chu Yang's school changed from a Brooklyn district high school to one of the best in New York City.

However, Chu Yang still had no intention of attending.

To address this, the compassionate Pepper visited Chu Yang's small motel, sitting on a tattered $50 sofa to chat with him.

She hadn't seen his feats at the terrorist base; to her, he was just a 16-year-old tricked into danger by Happy.

Despite his talents, he was still a kid who needed an education.

"Miss Potts, my decision not to attend school isn't just because the school was bad. The truth is, I find it hard to learn anything useful from a regular high school at this stage."

Chu Yang's polite and composed response was unlike that of a rebellious teenager.

Pepper looked at him in surprise. "Yang, are you saying you've already self-studied through high school?"

Chu Yang nodded. "Yes, Miss Potts."

With the talents of numerous avatars, mastering high school-level knowledge was naturally no challenge for Chu Yang.

Pepper advised, "Even so, for the sake of your future, I still recommend that you study systematically and pursue higher education at an excellent university."

"Working at Stark Industries, sitting in an office, is much safer than following Happy around as a bodyguard."

Chu Yang shrugged. "You might not believe this, but if I wanted to, I could get into any university."

Pepper grew a little upset. In Chu Yang, she saw a stubborn streak eerily similar to Tony's—something that wasn't exactly a good thing, especially for a boy his age.

"Okay, if you pass my test, I'll stop giving you advice about your studies. Deal?"

"Deal, Miss Potts."

Pepper then quizzed Chu Yang on some high school knowledge. And then…

She started asking him advanced questions beyond the curriculum.

Half an hour later.

Pepper fell silent.

She began to realize the gravity of the situation.

---

The next day.

Pepper, amid her hectic schedule, visited the hospital again.

"You've been coming more frequently lately, which makes me quite happy," Tony grinned, winking at Happy, who was standing nearby and watching the scene unfold.

Happy's lips curled into a subtle smile.

Pepper, oblivious to the silent exchange between the two men, walked straight to Tony, placing a report in front of him. With a serious expression, she said, "I think you need to reassess that boy."

"Which boy?" Tony was momentarily puzzled but quickly understood under Pepper's smoldering gaze. "The card kid?"

Happy coughed lightly as a reminder, "Yang."

"Oh, right." Tony awkwardly picked up the report from the hospital bed. As he skimmed through it, his expression grew as serious as Pepper's.

"Can I ask, what are the odds of randomly encountering someone on the street with an IQ similar to mine?"

Tony joked.

Happy chuckled, "About the same as winning the lottery—roughly 0.000001%, give or take."

As soon as he finished speaking, Tony and Pepper simultaneously turned to stare at him.

A few seconds later, Happy shivered suddenly, feeling a chill run down his spine.

"Congratulations… you hit the jackpot."

---

At Stark Industries.

"Can someone tell me how that idiot bodyguard managed to destroy a terrorist base and bring Tony back from Afghanistan?"

"I spent millions of dollars, and all I got was a crashed plane and two charred bodies?"

Obadiah Stane roared into his phone, furious. His meticulously planned kidnapping had been thwarted by a 200-pound idiot.

There was silence on the other end of the line before a cautious voice finally responded, "There was someone else on the plane that day, besides Happy Hogan."

Obadiah sneered. "Ha, a 16-year-old Chinese boy? Are you telling me this was all his doing?"

"That joke isn't even funny. I'd sooner believe that moron Happy mutated into Captain America."

The person on the other end had no response and could only repeatedly apologize.

Obadiah hung up the phone, his expression twisted with rage.

But he quickly regained his composure and practiced smiling repeatedly.

Tomorrow, Tony Stark would be discharged from the hospital and hold a press conference. Obadiah couldn't afford to show even a hint of resentment.

"Still… why on earth did Happy take a 16-year-old boy to rescue Tony?"

"That kid is just an ordinary Chinese orphan, as far as all records show."

"What kind of secret is he hiding?"

Meanwhile, in another high-rise building, a one-eyed man with a stern expression pondered the same question.

However, he seemed to have more information than Obadiah.

"Using playing cards to cause a scene in Gustav's bar, leaving unharmed, and then heading to the battlefield in Afghanistan to rescue someone. Tony Stark's new friend… doesn't seem like an ordinary person."