Hell's Kitchen

Luo Xia had received a portion of his salary from Tony in advance, but it wasn't much—certainly not enough to buy anything decent in a city as expensive as New York.

As for his salary from S.H.I.E.L.D., heh, they actually made him wait two months to get paid.

An advance? That didn't exist.

Hell's Kitchen was located in the heart of Manhattan, the most prosperous district in New York, yet it was a slum-like area that felt completely out of place amidst the luxury of Manhattan, as conspicuous as a shadow under the sun.

"Sir, I can't go any further than this. You'll have to get out here." The taxi driver wasn't discriminating against Luo Xia for being Asian; he was simply intimidated by the tattooed men standing not far away.

Anyone trying to make a living near Manhattan knew the infamous reputation of Hell's Kitchen. It was a chaotic place that had almost nothing going for it other than cheap rent. Of course, if you had the ability to protect yourself, it could be a decent place. But you also had to endure seeing a corpse lying on the side of the road every few days; those with a weak constitution would likely be driven to depression.

Luo Xia didn't make things difficult for the driver; he paid the fare and stepped out of the taxi.

When those tattooed men saw a strange Asian man appear, they all flashed malicious smiles. In this country, even in more civilized places, Asian men were almost inherently labeled as "easy targets," let alone in a chaotic slum crawling with gang influence.

Luo Xia carried his briefcase, feeling no fear toward these gangsters, though he hoped to avoid any unnecessary trouble. After all, he had already drawn enough attention by returning from Afghanistan with Tony; causing a scene now would likely attract the notice of S.H.I.E.L.D.

S.H.I.E.L.D. was an entity Luo Xia didn't want to provoke for the time being—at least, not until he possessed the full ability to protect himself.

Fortunately, before the tattooed men could make a move, a rather portly young man with blonde hair pushed through the crowd and arrived at Luo Xia's side.

"Hello, I'm Foggy, Foggy Nelson. You must be Mr. Luo Xia, right?" The kind-faced, chubby man extended his right hand toward Luo Xia.

"Hello, Counselor Nelson." Luo Xia shook his hand politely.

"You can just call me Foggy." The young man's smile was very approachable, and his demeanor made it easy for people to trust him.

"Foggy, I never expected that renting a room would require a lawyer to make a personal trip." Luo Xia expressed appropriate surprise.

In the United States, "lawyer" was almost synonymous with "expensive." He had simply searched online and chosen an apartment he felt was suitable to rent.

He never imagined a lawyer would come to greet him. Hiring a lawyer to draft a contract for a mere five hundred dollars a month? That would be losing several years' worth of rent.

Addressing Luo Xia's question, the chubby lawyer explained, "The person renting out the apartment is an elderly lady. Her English isn't very good, so I'm just helping out."

"For free? That doesn't sound like the style of a New York lawyer." Luo Xia remarked with a sigh.

"It wasn't entirely free; she treated me to a home-cooked meal of Brazilian specialties." Foggy laughed.

"Foggy, you're a good man." Luo Xia praised him.

"Hearing that reminds me of the first time I confessed my feelings to a girl." Foggy joked.

Luo Xia had a good impression of this humorous, chubby lawyer. Moreover, Foggy seemed to have a certain standing in Hell's Kitchen; at the very least, the tattooed men didn't dare bother Luo Xia after seeing him.

Under Foggy's guidance, Luo Xia arrived smoothly at a somewhat dilapidated apartment building and met Mrs. Cardenas, the lady from Brazil who didn't speak much English.

The exterior of the apartment was a bit worn, but the inside was quite tidy. Mrs. Cardenas was only a tenant herself, but she had been struggling to afford the high rent lately, so she planned to sublet the first floor and the basement.

Luo Xia took a look; the place was clean, the privacy was excellent, and the basement perfectly met his requirements.

"The place is great. Let's sign the contract." Luo Xia said to Foggy.

Foggy immediately pulled the prepared contract from his briefcase. Luo Xia looked it over, found no issues, and quickly signed his name, paying three months' rent in advance.

After the transaction was completed, Mrs. Cardenas thanked Foggy profusely, looking deeply grateful.

As Mrs. Cardenas hugged Foggy tightly, he gave Luo Xia a helpless look that seemed to say, "I'm just too popular."

"Oh, right, Luo Xia, we're having a dinner party at Mrs. Cardenas's place tonight, and a colleague of mine will be there too. Since you're just moving in, why don't you join us to celebrate?" Foggy invited him.

Luo Xia didn't mind building good relationships with his neighbors, and seeing how Foggy navigated Hell's Kitchen like a fish in water, having such a friend could save him a lot of trouble.

"That would be wonderful. I just arrived in the U.S. from Afghanistan, and I don't have many friends yet." Luo Xia agreed.

"Are you a soldier?" Foggy asked curiously.

"I was, but I've changed professions. I work at Stark Industries now." Luo Xia introduced himself.

"That's not bad. Being able to come back from the battlefield alive is a stroke of luck." Foggy said sincerely.

The two chatted for a few more minutes before Luo Xia made an excuse about needing to tidy up his new home, and Foggy and Mrs. Cardenas took their leave quite tactfully.

Closing the door, Luo Xia carefully bolted it shut before heading down to the basement to open the briefcase he had received from Tony.

Inside, pieces of palladium were sealed in lead boxes. Luo Xia took one out and held it in his hand.

[Palladium block, one of the nuclear raw materials. Consuming 1,000 points of AllSpark energy and ten equivalent palladium blocks allows for the creation of one Energy Activator.]

This prompt appeared directly in Luo Xia's mind, leaving him slightly startled.

One had to know that a single piece of palladium was enough to keep an Arc Reactor running for a long time, but it took ten whole pieces to create one Energy Activator. This wasn't just burning money; it was a bottomless pit.

However, no matter how expensive it was, Luo Xia couldn't give it up.

There were twelve pieces of palladium in the briefcase, enough to make only one Energy Activator. Luo Xia didn't complain, though, and immediately began the process.

As the energy from the AllSpark was continuously consumed, the ten palladium blocks Luo Xia held in his hands all turned into blue fluorescent light, as if they had been decomposed into pure energy in an instant.

These magnificent blue specks of light swirled and condensed into a perfect hexagonal crystal. It looked like the purest sapphire in the world, showing no signs of any metallic components. Furthermore, all the energy seemed to be perfectly bound within the crystal, with not a single trace of radiation leaking out.

Luo Xia grasped the hexagonal crystal, which looked like a work of art, and immediately received the corresponding prompt.