“JARVIS, what’s the flight altitude record of the SR-71 Blackbird reconnaissance aircraft?” “The altitude record for a fixed-wing aircraft is 85,000 feet, sir.” “Records exist to be broken!
Come on, Rowan.
Let’s see who can fly higher.
So what if you can turn into a bird?
No bird can fly higher than a machine.” “That’s not necessarily true, Tony.
I’m not just any bird—I’m a Roc.
A legendary divine beast from Silvarise mythology.” “Then let’s find out!” One silver figure and one golden figure shot toward the heavens.
As they climbed higher and higher, Rowan began to feel a slight chill.
Glancing sideways, he noticed a thin layer of frost already forming across the surface of the Mark II armor.
At that moment, JARVIS issued a warning.
“Sir, ice accumulation detected on the exterior.
Continued freezing may result in critical system failures.” “Rowan, you holding up?” Tony shouted over the comms.
“Easy!” Rowan replied without the slightest strain.
“Then we keep going!” Tony’s competitive streak kicked in immediately.
Three seconds later, the temperature dropped even further.
The frost thickened.
Then the Mark II completely froze up.
Its systems crashed.
The armor lost power.
“AAAAAAAHHHHHHH!” Tony’s scream echoed through the sky as he plummeted straight toward the ground.
Rowan grinned.
He instantly shifted back into human form, pulled out his phone, and snapped several photos.
Embarrassing Iron Man Photos: +1 Then he transformed back into his flying form.
With a mighty cry, the giant Roc dove downward.
In the blink of an eye, he caught up to the tumbling Tony.
Extending one claw, he grabbed the Mark II by the leg and stabilized them both.
Lowering his head, Rowan smirked.
“What’s wrong, Tony?
Giving up already?” Tony ground his teeth.
“Just you wait.
Once I upgrade this suit, if I don’t beat you into tears, I’ll call you big brother.” Rowan burst out laughing.
“Sure, sure.
First get the ice off.
We can talk after we get back.
I’ve got something I want to discuss with you anyway.” Soon, the rebooted Mark II was airborne again.
The two chatted as they flew back toward the Malibu mansion.
On the villa rooftop, Tony hovered in the air.
“Power down.” The moment he gave the command, the Mark II dropped like a rock.
CRASH!
It smashed straight through the rooftop.
Then through a grand piano on the first floor.
Then through the floor itself.
Finally, it landed with a thunderous impact on one of the luxury cars in the underground garage.
The idiot robotic arm seized the opportunity and enthusiastically sprayed Tony directly in the face.
Nearby, Rowan silently pulled out his phone.
Embarrassing Iron Man Photos: +1 Again After cleaning up the disaster area, Tony sat in front of his computer holding a glass filled with some green liquid.
JARVIS faithfully recorded every modification Tony planned for the armor.
“Tony, you’re drinking that to suppress the palladium poisoning, aren’t you?” Rowan asked.
He had assumed Tony’s constant healing buff would prevent the poisoning from becoming a problem.
Apparently, he had underestimated just how nasty palladium toxicity really was.
Tony looked genuinely surprised.
“How do you know about that?” “Is it serious?” Rowan asked, concern showing on his face.
“It’s fine.
Just uncomfortable.
With your magic helping me, it’s not a huge issue.” Tony waved it off casually.
“If anything gets worse, tell me.
Give me a little more time and I should be able to solve the problem completely.” Rowan sounded extremely confident.
He couldn’t use advanced detoxification magic yet, but once he unlocked it, poison would no longer be a concern.
“Rowan, what’s the deal with your transformations?” Tony asked, smoothly changing the subject.
“What kind of bird was that?
It looked awesome.” “One of my abilities.
I have four forms in total: bear, cheetah, flying, and aquatic.
The Roc you saw earlier is my flying form.” “A Roc?
What species is that?” Rowan explained.
“It’s a creature from Silvarise mythology called the Kunpeng.
In the ancient text Zhuangzi, there’s a story about a giant fish called Kun that transforms into a bird called Peng.
The Roc is that Peng.
As for my aquatic form, I suspect it’s probably the Kun.
Obviously, my transformations aren’t nearly as massive as the mythical versions.” “Cool…” Tony stared in amazement.
“So what about the cheetah and bear forms?” “I haven’t tested them yet.
If I had to guess, they’re probably iconic animals from Silvarise culture.” “Then hurry up and show me!” Tony practically bounced with excitement.
“You don’t mind if I record everything, right?” “Go ahead.” Rowan shrugged.
“Let’s start with the cheetah form.” As soon as he finished speaking, he vanished.
A moment later, a new creature stood before Tony.
An orange cat.
Yes.
An orange cat.
Tony froze.
Then exploded into laughter.
“Hahahaha!
Rowan!
That’s your cheetah form?
That’s not a cheetah!
That’s a fat house cat!” Rowan was equally stunned.
His flying form was a legendary Roc.
Surely the cheetah form couldn’t be this bad.
Even if it wasn’t some mythical beast like Zouwu, he had expected at least a tiger or a snow leopard.
But instead…
A chubby orange cat.
A very chubby orange cat.
“System!
Get out here and explain this!” Rowan shouted internally.
After a long silence, the system finally responded.
“Host, you don’t use the cheetah form for combat.
Why does it need to look cool?
Cats are safer and cuter.” “Then why an orange cat?
Out of all the cats in existence, you picked the fattest one!” Rowan nearly growled.
“Host, orange cats in this world are not ordinary creatures.” Rowan inhaled sharply.
A certain species immediately came to mind.
“…Fine.
You may leave.” Meanwhile, Tony was still laughing.
“Come here.
Let me pet you.
Hahaha!” Rowan shot him a glare and transformed back into human form.
“Forget it.” “Come on!
I stopped laughing.
Honestly, it was adorable.
Just…
a little overweight.” “Maybe suppress that grin before saying that.” “Still want to see the other forms?” “Pffft—hahaha!” Tony immediately lost control again.
“Okay, okay!
I won’t laugh!
Keep going.” Rowan originally wanted to ignore him.
Unfortunately, Tony grabbed him and insisted.
“Fine.
But no laughing.” A burst of magical light flashed.
The bear form appeared.
“Holy crap.
This is amazing!” Tony shot to his feet and immediately hugged Rowan.
JARVIS projected a holographic image of Rowan’s current appearance in front of them.
A giant panda.
An unbelievably adorable giant panda.
That’s right.
A panda.
The legendary Iron-Eating Beast.
The mount of the ancient warlord Chiyou.
According to legend, one of the fiercest creatures in Silvarise mythology.
Rowan stared blankly at the hologram.
Then down at the black-and-white fur covering his body.
No way.
It was really a panda.
This stupid system…
Was it planning for him to defeat enemies through overwhelming cuteness?
Although…
Well…
Actually…
Rowan had to admit.
That might not be a bad strategy at all.