Big Head sat frozen through Hong Fei and Frank's entire exchange, mouth slightly agape. Then it hit him like a lightning bolt - that glorious, overbearing "friendly reminder" was pure gold. His face lit up like he'd just witnessed the birth of a new sun.
From that moment on, Big Head adopted the phrase as his personal mantra. Just imagining himself delivering that line stone-faced to future underlings sent shivers down his spine. After the... let's call it an enlightening discussion session, Hong Fei shut his laptop and caught Big Head's weird expression.
"You broken or something?"
"What? No! Just... thinking." Big Head's eyes darted like a squirrel caught raiding the pantry. He scrambled forward clutching a lumpy black object like it was the Holy Grail. "Boss, check this out!"
Hong Fei leaned back so fast his chair creaked. "Is that... poop?"
Big Head's face collapsed. "It's an AI terminal! Well, the physical shell anyway. The actual intelligence lives in the network."
"Jesus." Hong Fei waved him off like swatting a fly. "Can't you make something that doesn't look like it belongs in a diaper? Maybe try aesthetics next time?"
"Next time for sure," Big Head muttered, placing the dubious object on the floor. He poked it.
Blue light flared, projecting a shimmering hologram that solidified into a human figure.
Hong Fei squinted. "Who's that?"
"It's not a who, it's an AI."
"I meant the design. Why's it look like that?"
Big Head grinned. "Composite of every beautiful face worldwide. Perfect golden ratio, flawless proportions." True enough - the projection showed a breathtaking woman who'd pass for real if not for the missing feet.
"Something's off about her," Hong Fei noted.
"That's because she's not fully operational yet," Big Head admitted in a stage whisper. "No internet access, no active learning. Basically a very pretty paperweight."
Hong Fei nodded slowly, then turned the full force of his stare on Big Head. "Let me get this straight. You spent God knows how long designing her face, her identity, a whole imaginary body... only to present me with what? An artificial idiot?" His voice dropped to dangerous levels. "Explain. Now."
Big Head gulped. "Boss, we're so close to—"
"You could've finished the actual research in the time you spent playing Barbie Dreamhouse!"
"This was part of the process!"
"Why does an AI need tits, Big Head? Unless you've got other plans for your imaginary girlfriend?"
"I— That's not— Boss, please!"
"Out."
"Right away!" Big Head snatched his questionable invention and bolted.
Two days later, Frank returned with supplies and a bonus - Dr. Helen Cho's nano armor 1.0. The prototype looked like an oversized black bracelet. Hong Fei slid it onto his left wrist and tapped it with his right index finger.
Immediately, the bracelet lit up instantly, fingerprint unlocking successful as the transformation began. The device expanded, liquid black material flowing over his palm before racing up his arm. Fabric woven with armor plating materialized across his body, accented with sleek metallic components.
A few seconds later, Hong Fei was wearing a set of pure black armor. It wasn't a skin-tight suit, nor was it an Iron Man Armor made purely of metal. At the joints, some unknown material formed honeycomb-shaped armor plates. On his feet were a pair of black boots with a metallic luster. The head armor was as light as nothing, and there was no HUD display on the pure black lenses over his eyes.
Apart from not affecting his vision at all, there were no other special features. Its overall style was more like a loose and free combat suit. "Perfect!" Hong Fei couldn't help but exclaim in admiration. He raised his hand to touch the armor; the tactile sensation from his fingertips was very real, as if the gloves didn't exist at all. Frank said: "Dr.
Cho is still researching, but hearing that you have an operation, she hurriedly made a set for you first." Hong Fei chuckled, very satisfied. He only knew that from now on he wouldn't have to foolishly change clothes and wear masks anymore; one-click outfit changes were worth having. "You look more like a villain now," Frank added.
Hong Fei walked to the mirror and couldn't help but exclaim when he saw the figure inside. Who are you, handsome? Just kidding, he was indeed surprised. Because the overall aura of the figure in front of him was just too dark. From head to toe, there was no color other than black and gray.
The two black crystal lenses over the eye sockets were cut into sharp, angular shapes, looking like a pair of eyes full of murderous intent. From the neck down, the armor merged perfectly with his upright physique.
With such an image appearing in movies or TV shows, there would be absolutely no need for any subtitles or introductions; everyone would know at a glance that this was a villain, and a very vicious and cruel kind of big Boss. Dr. Cho really understands me! This was Hong Fei's only thought.
This is what it means to gain the upper hand by striking first; in battle, it's best to make the enemy feel pressure, or even fear, the moment they see you, or even before they see you. Hong Fei walked to the side, picked up the sword and blade, crossed them, and pressed them against his back.
Both were immediately firmly attracted, and then a protruding metal mechanism locked them together seamlessly. Looking at the mirror again: Good grief, why do I suddenly feel like this looks familiar? Frank's focus, however, was elsewhere. He walked behind Hong Fei, stared at the long sword again and again, and then asked: "Where did this sword come from?" "A goddess gave it to me."
"What's it called?" "The right-hand sword of the Goddess of Land and Harvest! Of course, you can call it: Sword of Sif!" "Oh... then what is your blade called?" "stark blade, don't you know that?" Frank paused and said eerily: "Things that are snatched back are usually easier to use, right?" "Slander? I'm going to sue you!" "Hmph, where did the blade come from?" "Stark gave it to me."
"What about the sword?" "Sif gave it to me." "Pfft..." Hong Fei immediately turned his head, retracted the head armor, and said with a serious face: "What are you laughing at?" "I didn't." "You are clearly laughing, you couldn't hold it in." "I thought of something happy."
Frank hurriedly waved his hand and walked away, saying as he walked: "You figure it out yourself; the operation is tonight, I'll go check on the others' status first." Evening. The Four Vajras appeared before Hong Fei at the same time. Frank, Big Head, Abomination, Ivan, Jessica. As everyone knows, the Four Vajras have five people.
Everyone was wearing armor that was more or less completely different in color and style, with Big Head and Abomination being the most peculiar. Big Head had no helmet; he said that would only affect his performance, so his blue armor only went up to his neck. Outside his long, slender head was a huge black sphere, from which one could not see the situation inside. Behind him was a blue cape.
The whole idea sprang from Mysterio in Hong Fei's memory. Abomination stood as his polar opposite—nothing but a dark green helmet clamped tightly over his skull. Those grotesque, dark green cheeks made him look downright savage. And then there was the nearly two-meter-long, pure metal black mace gripped in his hand, gleaming ominously.
Ivan's armor hadn't changed much—still sporting those long whips locked behind his arms, crackling with occasional bursts of electricity. Frank's suit, meanwhile, was drenched in deep red, as if it had been dipped in blood.
The overall silhouette screamed "muscular brute," with weapon modules strapped all over the armor: towering six-barreled gun muzzles, bulky grenade launchers—honestly, it looked more like a Terminator than the Terminator itself. Jessica's armor, in contrast, hugged her frame snugly, sleek and lightweight, bearing the closest resemblance to Tony Stark's Iron Man suit.
Hong Fei stared at them again and again, and couldn't help but sigh inwardly. Why is your villain energy so off the charts?!