Early morning.
As Xia Ling enjoyed the soft morning sunlight in the S.H.I.E.L.D. director's office, he suddenly got a call from Nick Fury.
"Director, there's something I'd like to report to you."
"Of course, Nick. Go ahead. I'm a pretty open-minded person. Sure, you work for me at my house, but that doesn't mean you don't get a day off once in a while."
Xia Ling twirled his pen, listening with interest to the report from the King of Spies.
Hearing how nervous and deferential he sounded, Xia Ling couldn't help but find it amusing. Had he been a little too harsh in training him?
Black Egg, who should have been every transmigrator's lifelong nemesis, was now speaking to him so humbly. He'd become his very own long-term laborer.
"Director, the cotton's gone."
"What do you mean, the cotton's gone?"
Xia Ling's pen stopped in his hand. The corner of his mouth twitched, but he suppressed his laughter and did his best to make his voice sound serious and professional.
"Nick, are you sure you're not joking with me? Cotton? Since when did S.H.I.E.L.D. get into agriculture or textiles?"
Xia Ling asked in feigned confusion, though a hint of amusement glinted in his eyes.
"Uh, Director, you might not believe this, but the cotton at the Farm was, well, burned up by a hammer that fell from the sky."
"You're not joking with me?"
Nick Fury's voice on the other end sounded both helpless and confused, as if he could hardly believe the ridiculous story himself.
"No, Director. It sounds hard to believe, but it's true. Last night, an unusual light streaked across the sky, and then a huge hammer fell from above, landing right in the middle of the cotton field on your Farm.
"It destroyed a large amount