"Big brother, are you a superhero? Like Iron Man, whoosh whoosh, righting wrongs everywhere!"
"Big brother, do you know the Midnight Hero of Manhattan? Compared to you, he is way behind!"
"Big brother, what powers do you have? Can I learn from you?"
"Big brother..."
Amano Ren regretted it. After he saved her, Kate turned into a ten-thousand-questions machine and did not stop for a second.
He glanced past two armed bodyguards who kept throwing side looks. They had shown up right before and after he took down the kidnappers.
In truth, even without Ren, Kate probably would not have been hurt.
But to her, Ren was an angel who descended at the most dangerous moment.
A very handsome angel.
Just like on TV.
"Kate, stop pestering your rescuer. You do not want to look like a noisy alarm clock in other people's eyes, do you?"
A mature, stern voice carried from a distance, and a capable woman in a red dress approached.
"Mom!"
Kate rushed over, then remembered herself, stepped aside to straighten her clothes, put on a practiced smile, and murmured, "Mom, am I really that bad?"
Eleanor chuckled and shook her head. When she saw Ren, her eyes lit up and she offered her hand.
"Thank you, Mr. Amano. You saved my daughter."
Ren shook her hand.
"No need to thank me. Kate is a smart girl. No one could stand by and watch her in danger."
"However, Ms. Eleanor, about what happens next..."
He looked around. Even though he had pulled his punches, under extreme speed the four kidnappers were half-dead.
All of them lay motionless, about to take a group trip to heaven.
"My situation is complicated. I would rather not waste time with the police."
Eleanor shot the scene a look of disgust, then smiled kindly. "Please rest assured, sir. We will handle everything. We will not trouble you for even a second."
"And we have a gift for you."
She signaled, and a man in a suit brought a briefcase and popped it open.
"One million dollars."
"This is a token of our gratitude. We hope you will accept it."
A true heiress. She could casually produce a million.
Even if Eleanor knew Kate would likely have been fine, she still chose to give a million.
Just when Ren thought that was the end of it, Eleanor added, "Because time is short, we could only get this much cash. There is another four million to follow. If you do not mind, Mr. Amano, give us an address and we will deliver it in person."
Rich people, honestly.
Trying to bury him in money.
Fine.
"My fu... ahem, I do not have a residence in New York at the moment."
"I understand."
Eleanor was considerate and warm. "In fact, I have a property in the XX district of Manhattan. No one has lived there since it was renovated, but I have it cleaned regularly."
"If you do not mind, you can stay there temporarily until you find a new place."
For a moment, Ren felt like he was being kept.
So this was a rich person's life.
He was not too surprised. He now carried infinite possibilities.
Even right now, he had an advantage the Bishop family could never match - power.
In the 21st century he came from, money was king.
In the Marvel world, personal power was king.
After a brief startle, Ren nodded calmly.
Eleanor's smile brightened, and she welcomed him with enthusiasm.
She even forgot Kate a little.
Kate pouted and followed step for step.
Once Ren settled his lodging, he said goodbye to Eleanor and the others under Kate's reluctant gaze, then moved on to his next steps.
"Now... I need an identity."
Where no one could see it, Ren's brain worked like an advanced computer, listing tasks one by one, then packing them into a folder and filing them deep in his mind.
He linked into the American net automatically and began searching for everything he needed.
With Super Brain and Network Manipulation, he was like a walking phone and laptop. No devices needed. With a thought he could pull anything from the net.
Inside his mind, he contacted a black-market broker who specialized in forged documents.
By multiple indicators, the broker was backed either by the FBI or had someone in immigration.
They had the channels to register a person cleanly in the system without breaking the law or making mistakes.
Although Ren could now enter the online world with ease and do many unbelievable things, hacking official systems to insert data was not so simple.
At least for now, he could not account for every angle on short notice.
The ocean of data was too vast. Even he could not verify every source and assess usefulness one by one.
He was not an AI.
And his Network Manipulation was limited to traits extracted from a top-range Huawi phone.
Without a legal identity, he could not even shop online.
So he devoted more energy to gathering intel about the world.
He soon pinned down the public state of affairs.
It was 2010. Tony Stark had already declared: "I am Iron Man."
Thor's hammer had not fallen yet.
But it would not be long.
"Good thing there is still time to grow. If I had dropped right into the snap, I really would have had to gamble on that fifty-fifty."
"Even if resurrection came later, it would waste five precious years of development."
Ren mused.
He did not count on the heroes to repeat that not-quite-victory from Infinity War.
He wanted to control his own fate.
He bundled up a packet of intel for the surrounding area and filed it in the folder.
Then he headed for the nearest pet shop.
He opened the door, and a small figure hesitated on the threshold.
"Kate?"