"When I get rich, I'm definitely building my own skyscraper, complete with a helipad on the roof. I'll ride my private elevator to the top every day."
Inside the elevator, Ethan Chen spoke with a touch of dreamy ambition in his voice.
Xu Jia rolled her eyes at him in silence, and even Pepper Potts—Little Miss Serious—looked at him like he was completely delusional.
Just you wait, Ethan thought. One day, you'll see.
He grinned but didn't bother explaining himself further. His gaze shifted to the interior of the elevator. If he remembered correctly, wasn't this the same elevator where Captain America said "Hail Hydra" in Avengers: Endgame and managed to take the Mind Stone from a Hydra agent?
Because it was a private express elevator, they arrived at the top floor quickly. The doors opened, and the three of them stepped out.
"Wow. This place is something else."
Ethan couldn't help but mutter in awe. Tony Stark clearly had extravagant taste. The office didn't feel like a typical corporate workspace at all—it was luxuriously designed, almost like a high-end lounge or penthouse, lacking any of the stiffness of traditional business settings.
But then again, that was Tony Stark—everything about him was unconventional.
"Take a seat."
Tony didn't bother with formality. He wasn't sitting at a desk but lounging comfortably on a modern couch. When he saw Pepper walk in with Ethan and Xu Jia, he gave a casual nod and motioned for Ethan to sit.
"Mr. Ethan Chen, right? What would you like to drink?" he asked, his usual confident smirk in place. No handshake, no formal greeting—Tony Stark being Tony Stark.
"Mr. Stark, it's been a few weeks since we last met. I didn't expect that by now, you'd already be known as Iron Man—a full-on superhero."
Ethan didn't take offense. He smiled and sat down without hesitation, taking a sleek smartphone out of the bag Xu Jia handed him.
"Have we met before? Is this your device? Not bad—it actually looks nicer than anything Nokia's been putting out."
Tony took the phone, inspecting it with visible curiosity.
"We met at Stark Industrial Park a few weeks back," Ethan said evenly. "I was there with Mr. Stan—he was the one who originally pitched the idea of entering the smartphone market."
Tony raised an eyebrow, gears turning in his head. "Stan… oh right! That was in the Arc Reactor Lab, wasn't it? I thought you were some new intern."
He chuckled at the realization.
"As for Stan, he's stepped away from the business. Took early retirement, last I heard he was touring Europe."
Of course, the truth behind Obadiah Stane's disappearance was known only to a few insiders and SHIELD operatives. Stark Industries had done a meticulous job burying the details. To the outside world, it was simply a graceful exit.
"But don't worry," Tony added, powering on the device, "any agreement you made with Stan is still valid."
He examined the phone more closely.
"Not bad. Feature-wise, it's definitely better than what's on the market right now. And the OS runs smoother than most out there."
Of course, compared to the high-tech Stark devices Tony used himself, it was still behind. Stark Industries hadn't ventured into smartphones yet, but they had the capacity to jump in at any time. The gadgets in this very room—holographic interfaces, virtual displays—were far more advanced than most modern tech.
Still, even Tony had to admit: this little phone made an impression.
Without a Steve Jobs in this world—or at least not one who had introduced the iPhone 4—Ethan's "Xiaomu Phone" filled a similar void. It captured that same breakthrough moment in mobile design and function.
"Impressive," Tony admitted, "but can it really compete against giants like Nokia and Motorola?"
Ethan smiled knowingly. "There's only one way to find out. Put it in people's hands."
If the iPhone 4 had revolutionized mobile phones in Ethan's previous life, then this superior version had every reason to succeed even more.
And if anyone wanted to argue that Android was inferior to iOS? Fine. But in terms of hardware? His Xiaomu Phone was leagues ahead.
"Actually," Ethan continued, "there's just one missing piece keeping this phone from being truly perfect—the operating system."
To be fair, the current Android version was rough around the edges. But Ethan had a plan.
"According to my agreement with Mr. Stan, Stark Industries was to provide technical support in exchange for equity. The key to making a smartphone truly smart lies in its intelligence. And that's where I need your help."
"You mean a smart OS?" Tony's interest perked up immediately.
If a smartphone had integrated intelligent software, its functionality would jump by leaps and bounds. And with Jarvis running Stark's systems, porting over an AI-powered operating experience was practically effortless.
"Leave the system to us," Tony said with a confident nod. "We'll design a brand-new OS tailored specifically for smartphones. And I'll include a dedicated AI module to run it."
"That's ideal," Ethan said with a growing sense of excitement. In his past life, Apple had dominated the smart OS world—but in this reality, Stark Industries would fill that role instead.
And with Stark's resources and Jarvis's AI? Surpassing iOS wouldn't just be possible—it was inevitable.
Plus, once Stark set up production lines in China, Ethan would gain access to Jarvis' source code, giving him the perfect opportunity to study and eventually replicate or improve it.
"Jarvis, load your core functions into this phone," Tony said with a snap of his fingers.
"Understood, sir," Jarvis responded. A soft blue beam scanned across the device, and a faint hum followed.
"Let's test it. Jarvis, call Pepper."
"Calling Ms. Potts now."
The voice didn't come from the room—it came directly from Ethan's Xiaomu Phone.
With a simple command, Jarvis had fully embedded himself into the system.
Ethan's eyes lit up.
This was the real game-changer.