The next morning, the sky was only just beginning to brighten.
Li Si strolled out of the Underground Laboratory, washed up, and changed into a crisp spare tuxedo. After slicking a little wax into his hair to give it some flair, he ambled toward the door.
Bumblebee was still faithfully standing guard. His massive transformed body blocked the door completely, and countless scratches and smudges were visible across his frame, as if recording the previous night's battle.
Li Si opened the door. Just as he expected, a crowd had already gathered outside. They were packed so tightly around the entrance that Bumblebee didn't dare move, afraid he might accidentally step on someone.
Click, click, click!
The moment Li Si emerged from behind Bumblebee, countless flashes went off. The glaring white light made him squint.
"Mr. Lee Stein, I'm a reporter from the Daily Bugle..."
"Lee Stein, I'm a reporter for CBS..."
"Mr. Lee Stein! Mr. Lee Stein!"
The crowd outside erupted as soon as Li Si appeared. Photographers snapped pictures while camera operators filmed.
A crowd of reporters with microphones surged forward, thrusting their mics toward him and shouting over one another until the place sounded like a marketplace.
"Seriously? Is shoving microphones up someone's nostrils a tradition among American reporters?"
With countless microphones thrust toward him, many nearly hitting him in the face, Li Si had to step back. He kept a faint smile on his face, but the veins on his forehead stood out. It was a perfect case of smiling on the outside while cursing on the inside.
"Could you ask your questions one at a time?"
Li Si pushed away a few microphones that were practically in his face, then smiled and spoke up, pointing at a female reporter who looked familiar.
Fortunately, the reporters knew