Fury's Words Concealed More Than They Said

Outside the RV, after May hung up the phone, Fury ordered that no one was to approach the RV without his permission.

May was very curious about Fury's relationship with Li Feng. If they were friends, then what was with Fury previously telling him to call for backup if anything went wrong? But calling them enemies did not make sense either. Hadn't Fury come alone to meet Li Feng, bringing only a small handgun despite knowing Li Feng was dangerous?

Curious as she was, May still possessed the basic qualities of an agent. She stood firmly at her post, holding her gun in both hands as her eyes swept over the surroundings like a lioness hunting. Of course, it would have been better if her ears, perked up and ready to eavesdrop at any moment, were not so obvious.

Li Feng took occasional sips from a bottle of beer. Bored, he glanced at Fury, who had finished reading the Resurrected Corpse notes and was still wrestling with the Magic Book. He silently complained, It's my Magic Book, after all. As if you could see anything unrelated to Resurrected Corpses without my permission.

Fury was complaining just as fiercely inside. The book was clearly four inches thick, yet aside from the pages Li Feng had opened, he could not even turn a single page. You have technology this unknown, and you still dare claim you were naturally produced on Earth? You might as well say your home planet happens to have the same name as Earth.

After a long while, unable to figure out how to turn to the next page, Fury closed the Magic Book and handed it back to Li Feng. Picking up a bottle of beer, he said, "I'm curious. Where did you find this information? Or was this brought from your—"

Fury glanced at May outside the vehicle. He did not want to accidentally let slip that aliens existed on Earth, so he lowered his voice and continued, "A local specialty from your hometown?"

Li Feng was speechless. He wondered whether Fury had something wrong with his head. Why was he so convinced Li Feng was an alien? He refused to believe Fury had not investigated him after they parted last time. His records clearly told everyone that he was a native-born Earthling.

You're the alien with blue or green skin. No, you should be the alien with black skin.

Just as Li Feng was debating whether to tell Fury that he was actually a Mage, he suddenly realized that Fury's repeated emphasis on him being an alien seemed to be a subtle attempt to pry out his true identity. As long as Li Feng grew annoyed and casually let something slip, Fury would be able to infer something.

If he admitted he was an alien, there was nothing more to say. Fury would only need to consider whether to imprison him or dissect him.

If he denied it, then as Fury had asked, where had this Resurrected Corpse technology come from? After all, according to Fury's investigation, there was absolutely no intelligence indicating that Li Feng had ever come into contact with this sort of technology.

If Li Feng wanted to explain himself clearly, he would either have to reveal the truth about his ability to travel between worlds or make up an excuse convincing enough for Fury to believe.

And fabricating a lie that could fool the head of an intelligence agency was not easy.

With that in mind, Li Feng set down his beer and sneered. "Why do I feel like there's more behind your words? You buried so many questions in one simple question."

Fury knew Li Feng had become wary. It was already unlikely that he could get any useful intelligence out of him.

But the Resurrection Technology Li Feng had given him was enough to keep him occupied for a while, and it also proved that Li Feng truly bore no ill will.

Thinking that, Fury got up and grabbed himself another bottle of beer. After sitting back down across from Li Feng, he looked out the window and lowered his voice. "Tell me about the Kree equipment. What have you learned from it?"

Li Feng smiled. "Do you have some kind of occupational disease? Whether I say I've learned something or not, you can still confirm that I have Kree equipment."

"So you admit that you took Kree equipment from the Cruiser?" Fury shifted into a more comfortable position, crossed one leg over the other, and took a sip of beer. "I was wondering whether you would sell alien weapons on the black market, but my investigation found that there wasn't even a weapon suspected to be alien on the black market."

Fury pointed at the Magic Book that could not be opened and said gloomily, "I imagine opening this book requires something like fingerprint authentication or a password. I don't believe the ordinary person described in your records possesses this kind of technology. So I've been wondering whether there's a research organization behind you, and whether you're one of its researchers."

Li Feng shook his head and laughed. "Do I look like a researcher?"

Fury spread his hands. "Then how do you explain a non-researcher walking around with this information? If you were a combatant, you should be carrying weapons. Only researchers would carry information home to continue their research."

Fury leaned toward Li Feng. Li Feng instinctively leaned back, trying to get away from the dark face less than eight inches from his own.

Fury grinned. "Or do you have another identity as a corporate spy? Did you steal this book from some laboratory, only unlocking the pages about Resurrected Corpses? Maybe we can cooperate. You tell me where this book came from, and I'll send my elite team to obtain the password for opening the other pages."

Li Feng scratched his brow, feeling exhausted. Every question Fury asked contained hidden implications. No matter how he answered, Fury could always find some clue within it.

Just like now. If Li Feng said the Magic Book was his and that turning its pages required neither fingerprints nor a password, Fury definitely would not believe him unless Li Feng explained how he opened it and let him see what was inside.

If he said the Magic Book was not his, then how was he supposed to explain it? Was he really going to make himself into a corporate spy?

To deceive someone, he first had to convince himself, especially when deceiving the head of an intelligence agency. Li Feng did not think he was capable of that. Fury would not believe such a story, and neither would Li Feng himself.

So Li Feng simply ignored Fury's question. He drank his beer and looked at the distant scenery, making his attitude clear through his actions.

Fury saw what Li Feng was doing, but he was not in a hurry. Li Feng was right in front of him, and Fury believed he could not escape.

Still, Li Feng's attitude irritated him. If not for the goodwill Li Feng had shown earlier, Fury would have been ready to subdue him now, take him back to headquarters, and slowly unravel the Magic Book's secrets.

Even if he could not subdue Li Feng, it did not matter. He could at least draw out Li Feng's exact strength.

Before that, however, Fury needed to confirm whether the Resurrected Corpses were real. If they were, he would need to contact an electronics expert and find a way to repair the battered USB Drive.

If it was fake, then he would subdue Li Feng and take him away. Simple as that.

Second by second, time passed. Just as Li Feng lay on the table and was about to fall asleep, he vaguely heard the roar of a helicopter overhead.

Fury, who had kept his eyes closed while pretending to nap, heard the helicopter as well. He stood up and stretched, then looked through the window at Coulson stepping out of the helicopter.

Seeing Coulson carrying bags of food and beer, Fury nudged Li Feng, who was also pretending to nap. "Your delivery is here. Though I have to say, this is the first time I've seen a helicopter dispatched for food delivery. Your order was worth it, wasn't it?"

Li Feng turned to look at Coulson, the deliveryman, and scratched his head. "Delivery? When did I order anything?"

As Fury opened the door and motioned for Coulson and a white man in a lab coat, who appeared to be a doctor, to get in, he said to Li Feng, "May told me that you had intended to enjoy a delicious lunch at a restaurant. Unfortunately, the restaurant had a minor incident, so your fine lunch was ruined. That's why I had one of my capable men pack you another meal."

With that, Fury motioned for Coulson to hand the food bag to Li Feng.

Li Feng accepted the bag and looked inside. Then he looked at Coulson's noticeably receding hairline and said, "Thanks, buddy. Working under this unlucky bastard must be pretty stressful. Remember to take good care of your hair."

Unlucky bastard? Coulson glanced at Fury. Other than Fury, no one here could be associated with the word "unlucky." But Fury was still his superior, so Coulson did not dare say anything.

Coulson smiled at Li Feng to show his goodwill, then turned and pointed at the doctor. "Sir, this is Dr. Owen. He has a doctorate in biology and—"

Fury had no interest in learning about Owen's qualifications. He only wanted to know whether Resurrected Corpses were Li Feng's nonsense or something real. If they were real, leaving aside what he himself could gain, the Living Corpses active in certain corners of the city alone would be enough to keep him busy for quite some time.

Fury cut off Coulson's introduction. "Hello, Dr. Owen. I need your expertise to help me analyze some medical knowledge."

As he spoke, Fury picked up the Magic Book from the table, intending to open it and hand it to Owen. Unfortunately, the Magic Book was like an unopenable prop book. No matter how much strength Fury used, he could not open it.

Left with no choice, Fury turned to Li Feng. As he gestured with his eyes for Li Feng to open the Magic Book, he also conveyed the message, I'm very curious how you open this book.

Li Feng shrugged, indicating that he did not want to discuss what pose was needed to turn its pages. He casually opened the book and handed it to Owen, signaling that Owen could sit down and read it at his leisure.

For the moment, Fury did not want Coulson to know too much. When Li Feng opened the Magic Book, Fury positioned his body in front of it. With his back to Li Feng and his face toward Coulson, he blinked meaningfully and said, "Go switch shifts with May. Let her get some rest."

Coulson glanced curiously at Li Feng, then nodded. "Yes, sir."

After stepping out of the RV, Coulson stood with his back to it and blinked at May. "Hey, May. The boss wants you to get some rest."

May immediately understood what Coulson meant. Expressionless, she said, "All right. Then I'll leave it to you. Call me anytime if you need anything. I'll be resting in the car."

After saying that, May deliberately walked from behind the RV toward her own car. Once beside it, she took a bottle of mineral water from the trunk and drank while looking toward the RV. Once she confirmed that Li Feng inside the RV was not paying attention to her, May took a palm-sized Locator from a corner of the trunk.

Holding the bottle of mineral water, May walked around the back of the RV toward Coulson as though she merely intended to give him the water.

But when May reached the RV's exhaust pipe, she seemed to notice that her shoelace had come loose. As she crouched to tie it, she looked around. Seeing no one nearby, May quickly attached the Locator to the RV's chassis. Then she stood, walked over to Coulson, and handed him the mineral water.