An Accidental Encounter

Facing the thugs charging at him with weapons, Luo Xia raised his gun to aim, ready to fire, but the masked man was a fraction of a second faster, reaching out to shove Luo Xia's arm upward.

The gunshot rang out, but the bullet flew upward, striking the wall of a building and kicking up a trail of sparks.

Even so, the sound of the shot caused the group of thugs to halt their advance.

"You can't kill people!" the masked man shouted at Luo Xia.

Luo Xia didn't bother arguing with him; he returned the pistol to the holster at his waist, took two steps back, and waved a hand at him. "Then, please, begin your performance."

The masked man: "..."

The thugs didn't give the masked man much time to think. Seeing Luo Xia voluntarily holster his pistol, these desperadoes rushed forward again without hesitation.

However, they seemed to sense the subtle atmosphere of the scene—that the masked man and Luo Xia were not together. Out of wariness for Luo Xia's pistol, they all charged toward the unarmed masked man instead.

A spectacular show of one-versus-ten unfolded in the narrow alley. The masked man's skills were quite impressive, enough to make even Luo Xia feel a bit inferior. In particular, he seemed capable of seeing behind himself, sensing every attack even when being swarmed from front and back.

Even unarmed, he could precisely find the gaps in the incoming machetes, grabbing one blade to block the others. The masked man's punches were powerful; once he struck someone in the face, they were essentially down in one hit. It was clear he had undergone rigorous professional training; this was the level of a professional fighter.

However, the thugs were numerous, and before long, he was sporting several wounds. They weren't life-threatening, but the blood flowing from them looked quite alarming.

Luo Xia had no intention of helping. Firstly, the man still had energy to spare; secondly, Luo Xia didn't know the technique of incapacitating without killing—once he struck, it was usually to kill. Although he didn't agree with the masked man's idealism, he had no intention of making things difficult for him.

As long as these thugs didn't seek death by provoking him further, he might as well do this "saintly" hero a favor.

Taking advantage of the masked man drawing all the thugs' attention, Luo Xia walked out of the alley and happened to see several Harley motorcycles parked on the roadside. Clearly, these were the thugs' rides.

Glancing at the nearby streets, there didn't seem to be any security cameras or pedestrians around, so Luo Xia smiled. "Nice, this saves me a lot of trouble."

Luo Xia pressed both hands onto a Harley motorcycle and channeled two hundred points of AllSpark energy.

The Minor Remodeling Technique activated, and the entire motorcycle melted into a pool of silver liquid, rapidly covering Luo Xia's right hand.

From his fingertips to his elbow, everything was covered by this layer of liquid metal, which then slowly formed a thin, silver-gray mechanical glove.

Sensor Glove: Consumes 200 points of AllSpark energy, crafted from magnetic metal. Provides high-temperature insulation and bulletproof functionality. The glove is equipped with a retractable dagger and increases arm strength to a certain degree.

Luo Xia raised his arm and flexed his fingers, feeling no lack of flexibility. The Sensor Glove fit every inch of his skin perfectly.

"It's just... a bit heavy. What happened to the increased arm strength?" Luo Xia complained.

The Sensor Glove weighed at least five kilograms; in ancient times, that would have counted as a heavy weapon. However, soon, blue pulse energy patterns lit up on the surface of the silver-gray glove, and Luo Xia immediately felt it become lightweight.

Luo Xia moved his arm, surprised. "Is this... magnetic levitation?"

The Sensor Glove could sense changes in the geomagnetic field and use pulse energy to construct a repulsive magnetic field, offsetting the weight of the glove. Not only that, but when Luo Xia swung his arm, the magnetic field changes could also multiply his strength.

"Black technology!" Luo Xia marveled.

Luo Xia flicked his wrist, and with a snick, a sharp alloy dagger, fully thirty centimeters long, popped out from the wrist of the Sensor Glove.

"Well, I can go cosplay Altair from Assassin's Creed now."

Furthermore, when not in use, the Sensor Glove would automatically fold into a wristband on Luo Xia's arm, capable of shifting at will just like a Cybertronian Robot.

Luo Xia was very satisfied with the functions of the Sensor Glove and spent several hundred more AllSpark energy points to manufacture three more.

Returning to the alley with the metal wristbands, the masked man had just knocked the last thug to the ground, though he himself was covered in blood and panting heavily.

If he hadn't insisted on not killing, with his skills, he could have easily finished them all off by grabbing one of their machetes, and his injuries would have been at least halved.

"Here, a thank-you gift." Luo Xia tossed the two metal wristbands toward the masked man.

The masked man reached out to catch them, but the weight of the bands nearly strained his arm.

Luo Xia extended his hand and showed the masked man his own wristband; layers of metal plating unfolded like a living thing to cover his hand, turning into a silver-gray mechanical glove in less than a second.

"This thing uses a magnetic field to offset the weight, so it won't affect your agility. Not to mention other functions, at the very least, it can help you block blades." Luo Xia pointed to the wounds on the masked man's body.

The masked man tested the effect of the pair of Sensor Gloves and nodded at him. "Thank you."

"Don't mention it. This Hell's Kitchen really does need a hero. I'm not going to be one, so if you can help out, it saves me a lot of trouble. But you'd better be quick about it; if I run into people like this again, I don't know the meaning of showing mercy." Luo Xia smiled.

"Who exactly are you?" the masked man asked curiously.

"Just think of me as a savior out of hobby. Oh, and this thing needs to be charged." Luo Xia finished, waved at him, and walked away.

The masked man stared at Luo Xia's back for a few seconds, then quickly vanished into the night.

It seemed that the previous gunshot had calmed the criminals of Hell's Kitchen down a bit, as Luo Xia didn't encounter any more trouble on the rest of his journey and successfully bought the baking soda at the convenience store.

It was just that the convenience store owner, wearing a bulletproof vest and holding a double-barreled shotgun, was a bit long-winded, repeatedly telling Luo Xia, "People like you, coming out to buy things in the middle of the night—it's dangerous!"

Luo Xia didn't know how to explain things to this neurotic but kind-hearted store owner, so he could only nod repeatedly, saying he would be careful.

Leaving the store, Luo Xia couldn't help but remark, "The people of Hell's Kitchen really have tenacious vitality; no wonder the Chitauri couldn't conquer Earth."

Amused by his own thought, he chuckled. Who knows, maybe when the Chitauri arrive, they'll actually be blown to pieces by some random civilian wielding a pulse pistol. Of course, that pulse pistol would have to be a Luo Xia-brand product.

Because of the delays on the road, it was a bit late when Luo Xia returned to the apartment with the baking soda. To his surprise, besides Foggy and Mrs. Cardenas, there was also a blind man wearing sunglasses in the room.

Although he had changed his clothes and his wounds seemed to have been simply treated, Luo Xia could still faintly smell the scent of blood.

This blind man was none other than the masked man he had met in the alley earlier.

Luo Xia revealed a playful smile; this fate was truly marvelous.