Lu Yifang Went to Jail (1)

"Coulson, how far have you gotten with organizing Lu Yifang's identity records?" Fury sat in his office, speaking to his finest agent.

"I've finished organizing everything. There are complete, clear records of Lu Yifang's life, from his birth to his current adulthood at eighteen." Coulson held a file folder as he spoke.

"Lu Yifang's father was named Lu Shanyan, and his mother was Emily. Both were of Chinese descent and had no other relatives in the United States. They married normally twenty years ago and had Lu Yifang two years later. The couple ran a bookstore in Chinatown. Aside from the fact that they rarely left Chinatown, they were a very ordinary married couple. They were deeply devoted and never argued, got along well with their neighbors, paid their taxes on time, and promptly settled their parking ticket fines."

"Indeed, that sounds perfectly ordinary. So why did you go into such detail, Coulson? That isn't your style." Fury looked up and fixed Coulson with his one eye. As the head of an intelligence agency, he knew his agents well.

"That's precisely the point. This perfectly ordinary couple suddenly vanished without a trace seven years ago. According to the information we obtained, the Lu Shanyan couple seemed to have anticipated it. Before disappearing, they left Lu Yifang with their neighbors on the pretext of going away on urgent business. Five days after the couple left, they suddenly lost all contact completely."

"And then? Did the police get involved?" Fury's brow furrowed slightly as he pressed on.

"A week after Lu Shanyan and his wife vanished, the neighbors finally reported them missing. But after they called the police, the person who arrived was not an officer, but a mysterious individual. That person took Lu Yifang to the Orphanage," Coulson continued.

"With a disappearance like this, if no body is found or proof of death is discovered, the law would require at least seven years before declaring them dead. And while an Orphanage takes in orphans, it would never accept a child whose parents had only been missing for one week." Coulson did not need to explain further; Fury had already grasped the strange part of it.

"That's right. Yet in the police records, Lu Yifang's parents were changed from missing persons to confirmed dead on that very day," Coulson added.

Hearing this, Fury folded his hands on the desk, an unusual gleam flashing in his lone eye.

"Can we find any information on this person?" Someone had clearly pulled strings within the police department, and that person most likely knew the truth behind Lu Yifang's parents' mysterious disappearance.

"Please take a look at this." Coulson handed over a photograph.

"This is the only clue we found. Other than that, we could not find anything related to that person. Too much time has passed, and whoever it was had covered their tracks very carefully."

Fury took the photograph. The image was extremely dark, clearly taken at night.

In the photo, a mysterious person wearing a strange yellow robe was leading a child around ten years old. After studying it, Fury thought the style resembled ancient Eastern clothing. As for the person's face, it was completely obscured by a hood.

"As far as I'm concerned, having this photograph is no different from not having it. Forget their appearance—I can't even determine this person's gender." Fury sighed.

"Set that aside for now. Tell me about his abilities, especially when he awakened as a mutant."

"According to our investigation, we can conclude that Lu Yifang awakened his abilities about half a month ago, after coming down with a fever."

"What? Are you sure?" Fury shot to his feet at once, his lone eye locked firmly on Coulson.

"Sir, based on what we know about mutants, adolescence is already the peak period for mutant abilities to awaken. A fever triggering a final awakening is not an uncommon case," Coulson reminded him.

"Of course I know that. What surprises me is that if Lu Yifang awakened less than half a month ago, then he absolutely hasn't fully mastered his abilities yet. And even so, he still..."

Fury did not continue, but cold sweat had already appeared on his forehead. Looking at the photograph in the file of Abomination being trampled to death, an alarming thought inevitably surfaced in his mind.

"What is his ability?" Fury pressed further.

"That..." Coulson's expression stiffened.

"Based on the materials we provided, the scientists and researchers showed tremendous interest. But they have not reached a consensus internally regarding Lu Yifang's abilities. Some believe he has a Space-type ability, some say he has an Enhancement-type ability, and even more believe that Lu Yifang possesses multiple abilities."

As a Black man, Fury's face darkened even further upon hearing Coulson's report. "Are you kidding me? There are only six major categories of mutant abilities. Why not just guess every single one? And even if you guessed correctly, what the hell would that accomplish? Each category includes thousands upon thousands of abilities. Are you planning to guess through all of those too?"

"Why not question him directly, or secretly conduct a physical examination on him?" Fury said with obvious displeasure.

"Sir, although directly questioning you is not something a good subordinate should do, I still have to say that this would absolutely not be a wise choice."

Seeing Coulson staring back at him with a grave expression, Fury seemed to realize that he had been somewhat out of line and finally calmed down again.

He had indeed been too hasty. He had nearly forgotten that Lu Yifang was not just an ordinary mutant—Professor X stood behind him.

During their conversation just two days ago, Professor X had warned him to stay away from Lu Yifang. That showed how much Professor X valued the young man. Although Fury had taken advantage of Lu Yifang leaving Mutant Academy without permission and successfully talked him into joining S.H.I.E.L.D., if they truly went too far...

Professor X might look amiable enough, but as a mutant, the fact that he could openly establish Mutant Academy in New York was enough to show that he was absolutely no weaker than Magneto.

And even putting Professor X aside, Lu Yifang's displayed strength alone meant that S.H.I.E.L.D. should approach him more amicably. If Lu Yifang could crush Abomination to death with one stomp, then tearing down S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters by himself would hardly be difficult.

Although Fury knew that even the most powerful mutant would have weaknesses, they did not even know the other party's abilities right now, so there was no point discussing weaknesses at all.

"Coulson, you've had the most contact with Lu Yifang. What are your thoughts on Lu Yifang's danger rating?" Having thought it through, Fury looked at Coulson.

"Director, for mutant danger levels, we use a rating system corresponding to mutant ability levels. According to the danger evaluation rules, although Lu Yifang's abilities are extremely powerful, his danger rating should be V3-. In fact, personally, I would prefer to rate him as V2-." Coulson gave his assessment.

"It seems you think highly of this young man." Fury looked at Coulson in some surprise.

Just as mutants had their own classification system, mutant danger levels were also divided into categories. Level 1 mutants were generally considered harmless, Level 2 mildly dangerous, Level 3 dangerous, Level 4 extremely dangerous, and Level 5—apocalyptic.

A mutant's danger rating was generally calculated as: (mutant's power level + mutant psychological evaluation score) ÷ 2 = final result.

In Fury's view, Lu Yifang's power level was at least V4+, yet Coulson had given him a danger rating of V2-, showing just how much confidence he had in Lu Yifang.

"Sir, I admit that during our two encounters, that young man left a very favorable impression on me. But that isn't the ultimate reason I gave him this score." Coulson placed his hands before him, the corners of his lips lifting slightly into his trademark smile.