Unlucky

As a seasoned agent, Fury could tell from Li Feng's instinctive appraisal that the other man recognized him.

Li Feng had spent the past few days out in the wilderness, with neither the time nor the tools to clean himself up. The stubble covering half his already unremarkable face made him look even more weathered.

Fury was somewhat puzzled. He believed that even without that beard lending him a rugged appearance, he would have recognized Li Feng if they had met before.

With his exceptional memory, Fury could guarantee that he had never seen this Asian young man wearing ripped jeans, slippers, and sporting a distinctive little belly.

Could my memory have a flaw? An agent's memory being wrong? What a joke.

Fury would never admit that his judgment had been mistaken. He was certain that this guy calling himself Austin knew him very well, as though he had secretly observed Fury in great detail—familiar enough to recognize him even if he turned to ash.

Frowning, Fury thought, My identity's clearance level isn't low. How did he recognize me at a glance? Did some spy hidden within the agency leak the information to him? Who is he working for, and why is he here?

In an instant, the names of several organizations drifted through Fury's mind. Glancing at Carol and Li Feng, whose neck Carol was gripping, Fury silently thought, An ordinary person would be frightened and panic-stricken when being choked. But even knowing Carol's hand is glowing red, there's no fear on his face. Instead, it feels like the word "unlucky" is written all over it.

Perhaps his target is this amnesiac Carol?

Those hidden vermin in the agency passed along the news quickly enough. They've already set their sights on this woman who returned from space and possesses extraordinary combat power.

Before Fury could finish thinking, the Black woman beside him, Maria Rambeau, said that she had never seen an alien capable of turning into a human. She did not believe there were shapeshifting aliens in this world either. With an apologetic expression, she reached out to pry Carol's hand open and said to Li Feng, "Sorry, Mr. Austin. As you can see, there's been a bit of a situation in my home. Let's talk about the RV another day. I'm still willing to lower the price."

After saying that, Maria turned to Carol helplessly. "Let him go. He's just an ordinary person here to discuss buying my RV."

Hearing Maria's explanation, Li Feng's mouth twitched as he nodded frantically. "Ma'am, I'm just an ordinary passerby here to buy soy sauce. Let me go, and I'll disappear from your sight immediately."

Carol did not believe Li Feng was an ordinary person. The reason she had dared to let her hand glow red as if it were burning in front of him was because she had sensed the energy erupting from his body when he had tried to resist her earlier. Would an ordinary person have energy inside them? Who was he trying to fool?

Still, Carol released him. She was certain that Skrulls did not possess such strange energy, so she judged that Li Feng was more likely a superhuman living on Earth. As for whether he would threaten her after being released, Carol figured that if she could easily grab his neck once, she could easily crush it countless times.

When Carol finally released his neck, Li Feng breathed a sigh of relief. As he rubbed his throat, another knock came from outside the door.

After Carol had dragged someone into the house by the neck once already, Maria absolutely would not let her answer the door again. What if this reckless girl dragged another neighbor inside by the neck? How was Maria supposed to get along with her neighbors afterward?

Unfortunately, Carol's strength was not something Maria could compare to. Carol simply pulled her behind herself. With a helpless expression, Maria could only stand behind Carol and mentally prepare an explanation for whoever was outside.

Fury gave Li Feng a meaningful look, then hid behind the door with his pistol raised.

Li Feng did not care whether the person outside was named Tom or Jerry, nor did he care whether Tom was Maria's neighbor. He only wanted to leave as soon as possible, because he knew the Skrulls would soon appear in the house. By then, Fury would never allow him to leave. This involved the existence of aliens—how could he let an ordinary person know? What if Li Feng went around talking about it?

Li Feng just had not expected Fury to have already concluded from his reaction that he had been sent by some organization to approach Carol. Fury was destined not to let him leave easily.

Before Li Feng could take even one step, Fury had already aimed his pistol at him and wagged a finger, signaling for him not to make any rash moves. Otherwise, he would shoot.

Feeling that he had no way to dodge bullets, Li Feng watched Maria explain a few things to the neighbor before shutting the front door, his face full of bad luck. Damn it, I'm done for.

Sure enough, the Skrull commander Talos's faint voice came from behind Li Feng. "You should be friendlier to your neighbors. You never know when you might need to borrow—"

Before Talos could finish, he stared blankly at Li Feng's back.

As a shapeshifting race, Skrulls could copy anyone's genes and alter their own appearance. At the same time, when copying someone's genes, they could obtain that person's recent memories. Yet Talos could clearly sense that he could not copy Li Feng's genes, much less access his memories.

Are these really the Earthlings I learned about? Never mind that fierce woman earlier who knocked down twenty of my soldiers with both hands restrained. Why has another guy with unknown abilities appeared?

Talos decided to take a sip of the milk tea in his hand to calm himself. Damn it, this guy definitely isn't from Earth. I just want to find my family and reunite with them. Does this road have to be this difficult? One freak with overwhelming combat strength would have been bad enough, but now there's even an alien.

As for Fury pointing a pistol at him, Talos did not consider it a problem. He had a backup plan as insurance, such as—

Maria was somewhat stunned upon seeing the green alien. Then, through the window, she spotted Talos's backup: a Skrull who had taken on her appearance and was talking to her daughter.

After Maria asked in shock, "What is going on?" Talos, having recovered himself, glanced at Li Feng, who had turned to look at him, and said, "As long as you don't kill me, she'll be safe."

Li Feng, who could not leave at the moment anyway, rolled his eyes helplessly.

He knew Talos had come here sincerely to persuade Carol to reveal the coordinates of his family. For the time being, there would be no conflict between the two sides.

As for Fury aiming his gun at Talos to show his anger over Talos impersonating his superior, Li Feng could not be bothered to care. He walked off to pour himself a cup of hot water. For the past few days, he had eaten compressed rations and drunk water extracted from the air with Mana. But gathering water with Mana was no easy task for the current Li Feng, so he endured his thirst whenever he could and only gathered a little water for a sip when he could no longer bear it. Right now, he was terribly thirsty.

After finishing his water, Li Feng sat down nearby and prepared to listen to the story. I've got nothing better to do anyway. It's just a shame there's no popcorn. One-star review.

The moment he sat down, Li Feng felt danger again at his feet. Startled, he hastily backed away several steps. Talos, too, was frightened by the catlike creature named Goose—the Flerken. Talos took a terrified step backward.

Seeing that Talos was afraid of a cat, Carol picked up Goose and walked toward him with a grin. "A cat? You're not afraid of this cat, are you?"

Now this was interesting. Carol could understand Austin being afraid of cats, since some people were allergic to them. But the mighty Skrull commander being afraid of a cat? Who would believe that?

Talos backed away in terror and said, "That isn't a cat. It's a Flerken."

"A Flerken?" Fury thought this was the biggest joke in the world. Since when had house cats on Earth become fierce beasts of the cosmos? Did Earth's dogs have even more domineering names? What about lions and tigers that could easily kill cats? Were they Heaven-Devouring Beasts in aliens' eyes?

It could be said that everyone present except Li Feng thought it was a joke. What could Li Feng say? That it really was a Flerken? Who would believe him?

Besides, given Fury's personality, he was probably already planning to investigate Li Feng from top to bottom. Once Fury saw the Flerken reveal its true form, how was Li Feng supposed to explain himself? Fury would definitely lock him up and grab him by the neck, demanding, "Tell me, what planet are you from? Only aliens would know what a Flerken is, right?"

But Talos clearly wanted to drag Li Feng into this. Pointing at him, Talos said, "Look, he knows it isn't a cat."

Damn it, I'm just here to watch the show.

Li Feng rubbed his aching forehead and lifted his cup to drink, concealing the embarrassment on his face while pretending he knew nothing.

Setting down the cup, Li Feng said faintly, "Um, I need to pee. Can—"

Before he could finish, Fury interrupted him. "I need to go too. I'll go with you."

Touching the pistol that gave him a sense of security, Fury looked suspiciously at Li Feng. This guy is anything but simple. He's so calm after seeing an alien. Either he already knew aliens existed, or he's an alien himself.

People often went out to eat together or drink together, but two men going to pee together was truly uncommon.

Rolling his eyes at Fury, Li Feng shrugged. "You're just afraid I'll run away. If you want to follow me, just say so. Why make up an excuse? Besides, even if I spread word that I saw aliens, would anyone believe me?"

Fury looked at Li Feng sarcastically, his face practically saying, "I just need to pee, that's all." Inside, however, he thought, I don't care whether people believe Earth has aliens. I just want to know who you are.

When Li Feng and Fury returned to the living room, they saw everyone gathered in the study, staring sadly at the computer screen. Li Feng understood that the computer was loading the black box from the Light-Speed Engine fighter Carol had piloted back then. But computers on Earth were painfully slow at downloading, so slow that Talos nearly felt like smashing the computer.

Fury did not want Li Feng to learn too much and wanted him to stay in the living room, but then Fury himself would not be able to hear the contents of the black box.

At that moment, Fury dearly wished he had a subordinate at his side who could help keep an eye on Li Feng.

With no other choice, Fury could only let Li Feng enter the study and comfort himself. "Since he already knows about aliens, knowing a little more won't make much difference."