At night, Ethan’s parents had already gone to sleep.
His father had been exhausted after a full day of work.
Although he had been extremely excited after hearing Ethan’s good news and had even had a few drinks, he had just returned from a long-distance route and was simply too tired.
Before long, he had fallen asleep on the sofa, so Ethan carried him into his parents’ bedroom.
His younger sister, Chloe, had also fallen asleep after Ethan accompanied her and told her a few amusing stories about Harry Potter.
After returning to his room, Ethan put on the battle suit he had prepared long ago for future use.
It consisted of a white equilateral-trapezoid-shaped hat covered in black spots, complete with two cute bear ears; a black high-collared leather jacket with a white circle and several interconnected lines running up, down, left, and right across the front; white leather trousers with black spots; and finally, a pair of black trainers.
After putting on the battle suit, Ethan looked at himself from side to side in the mirror.
After deciding that it didn’t look too bad, he couldn’t help sighing.
“Am I really that obsessed with Bartholomew Kuma?”
He opened the window, moved his right hand, and disappeared.
10880 Malibu Street.
This was Tony Stark’s residence.
Ethan had known the address for a long time and had already come here several times to scout the place.
This time, he appeared directly outside the mansion.
Seeing that the front door was wide open, he simply walked inside.
Ethan didn’t know why the door to Tony’s house was always open.
Every time he had come here to scout the place, it had been open.
He knew that JARVIS had definitely noticed him during those visits, but he didn’t care.
He simply walked straight inside.
“Sir, this is private property.
You cannot enter.
I recommend that you leave immediately.
Otherwise, I will contact the police, take your photograph, locate your residence, and have the court papers delivered to your doorstep.”
Tony had just finished an intimate encounter with a supermodel from a magazine when JARVIS informed him that the bastard who had come to his house four times over the past few years had returned.
This time, he had actually walked straight through the front door.
Tony immediately got dressed, climbed out of bed, and headed into the living room.
“Tony Stark, hello.
My name is Ethan.
I’m here to make a deal with you.”
Ethan ignored Tony’s threat.
He walked over to the sofa and slowly sat down.
“I don’t know you, and I have no interest in working with you.
What the hell have you been coming to my house for all these times?”
Tony wasn’t angry, but he still looked at Ethan suspiciously.
He found this person rather mysterious.
The fact that Ethan acted completely fearless made Tony unwilling to do anything rash.
He decided to talk to him first.
Besides, he was curious.
This person had come to his house several times before, but this time he had actually entered it.
What exactly was he trying to do?
“I’m a shareholder in your company.
I own three percent of Stark Industries, and I’m also the author of Harry Potter.
These are the documents proving my shares and the ownership of the Harry Potter intellectual property.”
Ethan tossed a stack of documents onto the table.
“JARVIS, scan the documents in front of me.”
Tony glanced at Ethan before giving the order.
A metallic, synthetic voice immediately came from the room.
“Yes, sir.
I have scanned the documents.
They do indeed prove this gentleman’s identity.
I have also located this gentleman’s records through facial recognition.
Would you like me to display them?”
Tony stared at Ethan.
Seeing that he wasn’t showing the slightest expression of surprise, Tony shrugged.
“JARVIS, read his records aloud.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Ethan, age Seventeen.
Chinese-American.
Adopted by Daniel Chen, a Chinese-American truck driver, and Emily Chen, a Chinese-American accountant.
He has a nine-year-old younger sister, Chloe Chen, also a Chinese-American…”
The rest of the information consisted of things such as which schools Ethan had attended and when he had received his vaccinations.
Tony realised that Ethan came from an ordinary family, but that only made him even more confused.
Why would someone from such a background come looking for him?
Even though the young man was a shareholder in Stark Industries and the mysterious author of Harry Potter, Tony still couldn’t figure out his purpose.
“All right, then, our most innocent and imaginative big boy.
What exactly is this deal you want to make with me?”
Tony deliberately mocked Ethan’s nickname before asking the question that had been bothering him.
“My father wants to start a transportation business.
I’d like you to give my father some of your company’s less important transportation contracts.”
“As for payment, I’ll give you a promise.
If you’re ever in danger in the future, I’ll come and save you.
However, you’ll need to put some kind of tracker on yourself so that I can locate you when the time comes.”
Ethan calmly sat on the sofa as he spoke.
“What a joke.
What kind of danger could I possibly face?
And even if I were in danger, what makes you think you have the ability to save me?”
Tony immediately became irritated after hearing Ethan’s words, but he still didn’t order him out.
After all, someone who dared to walk straight into his home so casually had to have something to back up that confidence.
“Want to see what I can do?
You’ll see right now.”
Ethan didn’t say anything else.
He slowly removed his black gloves.
A pair of hands covered in bear-paw-shaped pads appeared before Tony’s eyes.
“What’s going on with your hands?
Genetic modification?
A natural mutation?”
After his initial surprise, Tony still couldn’t determine what he was looking at.
Ethan didn’t answer.
He slowly stood up and lowered both hands.
In the next instant, he appeared directly in front of Tony.
“What the hell?
What did you just do?
JARVIS, what did he do?
How did he suddenly appear in front of me?”
Tony was startled.
He took a step back and began looking Ethan up and down.
“He touched his own buttocks with the paw on his hand, sir.”
Ethan’s eye twitched when he heard JARVIS describe his teleportation.
‘That’s technically true, but couldn’t you make it sound a little more impressive?’
Regardless of how much Ethan complained internally, Tony suddenly became interested.
He circled Ethan while examining him.
“You just touched yourself and teleported?
What exactly are those paw pads on your hands capable of?
JARVIS, scan him.”
“Sir, I haven’t detected anything unusual.
The paw pads on his palms appear to be ordinary skin and flesh.
However, his body is extremely strong.
Preliminary analysis suggests that his physical capabilities are approximately comparable to Captain America’s.”
Tony became even more interested after hearing that.
“A body comparable to Captain America’s, along with those mysterious palms.
Who exactly are you?
And what are those things on your hands capable of?”
“The paw pads on my palms can repel anything.
I just rapidly repelled myself with my palm, which is how I teleported.”
Ethan thought about it for a moment before answering.
His Paw-Paw Fruit ability wasn’t particularly difficult to guess, and even if someone knew about it, there was nothing they could do about it.
So he openly told Tony about it while concealing his Observation Haki.
After all, someone with Observation Haki and someone without it were on two completely different levels.
“Wow, repel anything?
But if that’s all it can do, what’s so impressive about it?
How can it save me?
Can you just repel my enemies away?”
Although Tony found the ability fascinating, he didn’t think Ethan was particularly powerful.
Ethan didn’t answer.
He simply waved his hand toward Tony’s window.
“Smack!”
A paw-shaped hole suddenly appeared in the bulletproof glass of Tony’s window.
Before Tony could react, Ethan slapped his palm against the floor.
Tony’s house was three storeys high, and the floors had been reinforced.
Yet each floor now had a paw-shaped hole punched straight through it.
After finishing, Ethan slowly stood up without saying a word and began putting his gloves back on.
“Bastard!
I have an important laboratory downstairs, not to mention my supercars!
Those are all limited editions!”
“JARVIS, what the hell did he just do?
And check whether the laboratory and my cars downstairs were damaged!”
Tony finally recovered from his shock and shouted at Ethan.
However, after seeing those two demonstrations, he had already realised just how powerful Ethan was.
He also had a rough idea of how he had accomplished it.
It was just as expected of a genius.
“Sir, he rapidly repelled the air, creating a shockwave.
Your laboratory has suffered no damage, but the engine of your red sports car has been destroyed.”
JARVIS continued reporting to Tony like an honest butler.
“So it really is repelling air?
No wonder you said you can repel anything.
That’s a power with practically unlimited possibilities.”
Tony finally understood.
It was more or less what he had guessed.
However, he immediately became heartbroken over his sports car.
“But you bastard actually destroyed my car!
You’re going to pay for it!”
“I’m only proving my value.
Now, Mr.
Stark, do you agree to the deal I proposed?”
“With my abilities, no matter where you encounter danger, I can quickly reach you and save you.”
Ethan spoke calmly to Tony.
“Hmph.
Your ability is certainly convenient, but if I encounter danger on the other side of the Earth, it’ll still take you several hours to get there, won’t it?”
“Still, I’ll agree to the deal.”
“Tomorrow, I’ll have my assistant go to your house and discuss the business with your father.
I won’t let him get the short end of the stick.”
“Tonight, I’ll have a GPS tracking and emergency-alert device implanted in my body.
I’ll have my assistant give it to you tomorrow.”
“Now I need to go downstairs and check my car.
No need to see me out.”
Although Tony was furious that Ethan had destroyed his beloved sports car, he wasn’t stupid.
Someone this powerful was also a minor shareholder in Stark Industries.
Giving his father a few transportation contracts was enough to establish a relationship with him.
Only an idiot would refuse.
Hearing Tony agree, Ethan finally relaxed.
He stood up and once again began removing his gloves.
Tony’s eye twitched when he saw this.
After taking off his gloves, Ethan lowered both hands.
His figure disappeared.
Tony was left speechless.
After standing there silently for a long while, he finally hurried downstairs to check on his beloved sports car.