John quickly followed Tony back to the laboratory, where a machine's indicator light glowed green.
Tony walked a few steps ahead and tapped a few times on the display.
The machine beside him began printing out the blood test results.
A dozen dense reports emerged, and John picked one up to take a look.
"White blood cell count..., red blood cell count..., hemoglobin concentration..., lymphocyte count and percentage..., eosinophil count and percentage...,"
"Alanine aminotransferase..., homocysteine test...,"
The reports were filled with professional medical terms, followed by various data points, making John's head spin.
Tony glanced at the reports, then tapped the electronic screen again, scrolling through the data with a serious expression.
John set the report back down and looked around. He noticed that the windows offered a view of the sea, so he sat down to admire the vast expanse.
The sun shining on the blue sea created countless waves of golden light, like a piece of soft blue silk interwoven with golden threads, with black reefs dotting the landscape like pieces of obsidian.
For a moment, John, who had never seen such a beautiful sight before, was mesmerized, staring blankly at a distant reef, entranced by the ripples.
After a while, Tony suddenly leaned over, "Beautiful, isn't it?"
"Yes, Mr. Stark, it's very relaxing," John replied, smiling as he gazed at the ocean.
"Yeah, that's why I built my house here. It cost less than 200 million dollars!" Tony said, reminiscing. He touched his beard and added, "I didn't have a beard back then!"
He glanced at John and joked, "And you weren't around then either!"
"Mr. Stark, how did you manage to read the reports so quickly? Did you find anything unusual?" John asked.
Tony looked at John, slightly puzzled. "Are you kidding? I don't understand half the words in those reports!"
"But the final report says you're healthy, that's all. Your heartbeat is strong, and the oxygen content in your blood is slightly higher than normal, but otherwise, everything is fine."
Tony looked at John with confusion. "So why are you able to do such incredible things if your genes haven't changed?"
"And what about those golden lights? John, your body is too mysterious. I think the only way to understand it fully is to examine your brain."
John rolled his eyes at Tony. "Don't even think about it. Let's go back to working on the Mark II. Don't you want to fly?"
Tony snapped out of his musings and returned to the task at hand. "Right, let's get to the workshop!"
...
That afternoon, they successfully completed another flight stabilizer. After two tests confirmed it was functioning correctly, John left Tony to continue his work and returned to his room.
With the Mark II progressing well, John resumed his own practice. He brought a piece of titanium alloy with him and continued his training.
Countless specks of golden light continued to flood into John's body. Most of the energy was still focused on his meridians, which began to glow brighter as the light increased.
In the dimly lit room, John, wearing only a vest, had numerous meridians across his body glowing with golden light, forming intricate and mysterious patterns over his upper body.
More golden light seemed to gather around John's back, creating a halo effect that surrounded his small figure, giving him an almost sacred appearance.
John was unaware of this, his eyes closed as he meditated in place.
He felt as though he had been walking along a broad path but had suddenly come to a stop.
Now, there was a threshold blocking his progress, like an invisible barrier he couldn't cross.
The golden light around him continued to strike this barrier, but it was always just a bit too weak.
Time passed, and the morning sun outside the window rose, casting rays of light into John's room.
Around him lay three large pieces of broken metal. The three pieces that had originally needed a full night to be absorbed had been consumed in a single night.
At the same time, another piece of metal floated near John, and the golden light continued to flow into his small body.
The patterns on his body began to glow even brighter.
It was unclear how much time had passed. Stark was still testing his equipment in the underground workshop. Pepper returned, placed dinner on the table, and then left again.
When Pepper came back later, she noticed that only one portion of the food had been eaten.
"Strange, didn't John eat with Tony?" Pepper wondered aloud, heading down to the workshop.
"Where's John? Hasn't he eaten yet?" Pepper asked Tony, who was typing on the computer.
"What?" Tony didn't look up. "The food today was terrible. Blacklist that restaurant!"
"John—where is he?" Pepper asked again.
"Oh, John? He's probably playing video games in his room. Super Mario, who knows. He's only eleven, after all," Tony replied, jokingly adding, "John and Mario—kind of similar, right?"
Pepper looked around the messy workshop, feeling uneasy. "Tony, has John really not been down here?"
"Really?" Tony finally looked up after finishing the last line of code.
He stood up and glanced around, seeing no sign of John. "Oh, the kid's not here. Are you sure he's not hiding in his room playing games?"
"Tony, he's only eleven years old. What if he went out alone and ran into trouble?" Pepper said anxiously.
"Oh, any robber who tried would be in for a world of hurt!" Tony laughed.
"Jarvis, where is John?" Tony asked.
"Sir, Mr. John has been in his room for thirty-six hours, and there has been no sound coming from the room," Jarvis replied.
Tony frowned. "What's he doing in there?"
"Sir, you did not approve the installation of a camera inside the bedroom. Would you like to scan the room directly?"
"Yes."
"Sorry, sir, the scanning function is not working. There is a strange magnetic field inside the room. It can be preliminarily determined that a large energy source is emitting this energy."
Tony and Pepper exchanged a concerned look, realizing that something unusual was happening.
Inside the room, countless pieces of broken metal were scattered around, with only the last intact piece floating near the figure at the center.
Tony and Pepper rushed to the door. "Jarvis, open the door!"
"The door lock is open, but the door itself cannot be automatically opened," Jarvis replied.
Tony stepped forward and pushed hard. Though the lock was disengaged, the door didn't budge, as if it were still firmly locked in place.
Inside the room, John opened his eyes, and two beams of golden light shot out. The golden light surrounding him suddenly exploded in brilliance.
It was as if ten flashbangs had gone off in the room simultaneously, and outside the door, Pepper saw a fierce golden light streaming through the door's cracks.
"Ah!!!"