FBI Agent: Phil Coulson

"Hello, I'm an FBI agent. I'd like to ask you about some details regarding the kidnapping case. Do you have time now?"

Hong Fei glanced at Coulson's FBI credentials, a trace of surprise appearing on his face at just the right moment. "Of course, sir. It's still early. I have time."

Coulson put away his credentials and pointed to the café across the street. "How about we talk over coffee?"

"Sure."

Before long, the two sat facing each other in a corner of the café. Coulson said warmly, "Don't be nervous. You only need to tell me what you know. You're a victim too, so this isn't an interrogation."

Hong Fei smiled shyly, though his movements still seemed somewhat restrained. "Sorry, I am a little nervous. But I'll answer your questions seriously."

Coulson nodded slightly and picked up a packet of sugar. "Want some?"

"I'll do it myself, thanks!"

After each of them took a sip, Coulson finally got down to business.

"Mr. Hong, could you describe the kidnappers' physical characteristics?" As he spoke, Coulson placed a recording pen on the table in front of Hong Fei.

"Of course, I still remember that." With that, Hong Fei roughly described Frank's build, then added, "Sorry, he kept his face covered the whole time, and the basement was very dark, so I didn't see what he looked like. But his eyes were extremely fierce. He had quite a few wrinkles on his forehead and around the corners of his eyes too. He probably wasn't young."

Coulson nodded. "I know that much. Still, it was fortunate you didn't see him, or it would have been difficult for you to come back alive."

Hong Fei nodded in agreement.

After that, Coulson asked many more questions, both directly and indirectly. In particular, he tried to probe what Tony had done during the kidnapping.

Naturally, Hong Fei told him everything he knew, because S.H.I.E.L.D. would learn this information sooner or later. Hiding it now would only cause trouble for his future self.

Thus, when Coulson learned that Tony had actually made a wearable suit of armor while being held captive, a look of shock finally appeared on his face for the first time.

At this point, Tony should still have been busy exploring and researching a true Iron Man suit. Judging by the timeline, however, the first test flight of the prototype should be coming soon.

In short, S.H.I.E.L.D. still knew nothing about any of this.

"Wait, Mr. Hong. Are you saying that Tony built a combat suit of armor in the basement with you, one that a person could wear and control?"

The moment he heard that question, Hong Fei cursed inwardly.

This was definitely a trap, and it had two layers.

First, what did "Tony built it with him" mean? Did that mean Hong Fei had participated? That he understood it? Or that he had mastered the entire process?

One wrong answer, and Hong Fei might be heading to S.H.I.E.L.D. for coffee. As for how long he would be drinking it, that was anyone's guess.

Second, "combat suit of armor."

If Hong Fei, as an actual participant in its construction, personally admitted that it was a combat suit of armor, then there was no doubt he would have a seat at the hearing when the government tried to seize the armor-manufacturing technology from Tony in the future.

These agents had such filthy hearts!

"No, no. From beginning to end, I only helped Mr. Stark with little miscellaneous tasks, like hammering metal plates and such. I couldn't understand the actual construction at all. I've always been terrible at physics, and I know almost nothing about machinery. Even the welding was done by Mr. Stark himself. He said my welds were too ugly."

Hong Fei's answer clearly did not satisfy Coulson, so he pressed on. "Then how much do you know about this combat suit of armor?"

Hong Fei frowned and thought for a moment. "Um, if you ask me, that thing was just an iron can. Didn't he just weld existing weapons onto it? You could find any blacksmith, and as long as they knew how to weld, they could make one."

Coulson's face twitched.

He would never believe that something Tony Stark had tinkered with could be as simple as Hong Fei made it sound. But from the looks of it, Hong Fei truly did not know much about it. He did not even seem to recognize the suit's real purpose.

Thinking of this, Coulson could not help sighing.

Everyone knew that anything Tony Stark personally developed, even a single bullet, could never be underestimated. That had always been the impression Tony gave people.

He had to report this to the Director immediately!

Coulson had not expected that a casual visit would yield such important information. Although Hong Fei was somewhat shortsighted, Coulson still maintained an exceptionally friendly demeanor.

"Mr. Hong, thank you for the information. Do you happen to know anything else that I haven't mentioned?"

Hong Fei nodded. "Yes!"

Coulson was delighted again.

"Mr. Stark didn't start out by making that iron can. I remember we dismantled a lot of missiles together, and then he used the materials we collected to make a round, glowing thing. Mr. Stark said it was an energy reactor. Something about how many billions of joules of energy it had per second—I don't remember clearly. Oh, right, he also said he had a big one at home that supplied power to his tower. Mr. Stark is really amazing!"

The shock on Coulson's face was now impossible to conceal. He knew Tony and the reactor very well, especially the one that powered Stark Tower. Based on Hong Fei's gestures, Tony had undoubtedly shrunk that enormous thing down to the size of a palm. That was another massive technological breakthrough.

Hong Fei added, "Agent, that's all I remember. But could you please not tell anyone that I told you? I promised Mr. Stark that I would keep it secret for him. But since you're an FBI agent, I thought it would be better to tell the truth." As he spoke, Hong Fei's face flushed red, as though he felt ashamed for breaking his promise.

"Of course. That goes without saying. No outsider will know about our conversation today, especially Tony Stark." Coulson accepted with a smile, then put away the recording pen. "Mr. Hong, thank you very much for your help. I think this information will be very useful to me. I have other matters to attend to, so I won't disturb you any longer. Also, if you run into any trouble in the future, perhaps I can lend you a hand."

As he spoke, he stood, handed Hong Fei a business card, and left with great flair.

Watching his rather urgent retreating figure, Hong Fei smiled to himself.

He did not think S.H.I.E.L.D. could get anything from Tony, much less that Tony would willingly hand his research results over to some Department of Homeland Security he had never even heard of. Even after Tony became an Avenger in the future, hadn't he still refused to hand over his technology?

Likewise, S.H.I.E.L.D. would not do anything to Tony. That was partly because of his father, but also because of Tony's own value.

So what Hong Fei had revealed was fundamentally unimportant. The only change might be that S.H.I.E.L.D. would become more eager to recruit Tony into their alliance, rather than continuing to believe he was unsuitable because of his personality.

If personality wasn't enough, strength would make up for it.

As for agreeing to keep it secret, then turning around and selling Tony out...

I'm such a bad person!

I just kidnapped him!

And I extorted him too!!!

Isn't that obvious?

After leaving the café, Hong Fei made another recruitment poster and put it up by the door.

He would not stay home for long periods. In the future, he would only go out more and more often. It would not look right for the bookstore to be frequently closed, and in the eyes of certain interested parties, that alone might be enough to spark suspicion.

But Hong Fei had not expected that the first person to come apply would be another familiar face.