Gifts

There was no work to be had. At least for the time being, there probably wouldn't be any work around Hell's Kitchen.

A few minutes ago, two Black guys—who knew whether they were street punks or not—had come strolling over from the other end of the street, gesturing and chatting away. When they got close, they spotted Leon crouching beneath the streetlamp.

Visibly, the two men's moods underwent a one-hundred-and-eighty-degree reversal in an instant. Before Leon could even react, the pair shouted, "It's him! It's him! That's him!"

Then they ran.

Leon had even turned around to look for Nezha and his bare little feet. When he turned back again, they were gone!

Leon cursed furiously in cat language. Sure enough, hesitation only led to getting nothing!

He wandered around the street for a while longer, hoping to find some stragglers.

Mission failed!

Left with no choice, Leon decided to head home for the day and check out neighborhoods farther away tomorrow. Hell's Kitchen, and there wasn't even a single bad guy left!

Was that even reasonable?!

He'd come in all fired up, beaten up a little rat, and yet Leon hadn't expected that rat to be his only target today!

How could he put up with that?

The Mystic Cat raced back at full speed, planning to beat the rat up again before going to sleep!

When he got there, Mystic Cat Leon froze.

That rat...

Had run away!!!!

Now he really couldn't sleep.

If he went home and slept like this, all aggrieved and miserable, how would people look at Leon in the future?!

In the end, all he could do was rage helplessly.

Looking up, his own window was right above him. Was he really going back just like that?

For one thing, he'd slept for a very, very long time. Insomnia didn't care about reason—no matter what time it was, if you couldn't sleep, you couldn't sleep!

This wasn't like that other world, where if you couldn't sleep, you could play on your phone!

Insomnia and phones really were perfect partners. Who knew which one had enabled the other!

But that wasn't an option here. Forget Wi-Fi, even the hardware didn't exist. Smartphones? What were those?

Staring up at his window, Leon's cat eyes were filled with confusion. "If only this were an urban novel..."

You dog of an author, give me back my corporation! Give me back my public displays of greatness! Give me back my female celebrities!

Cough! Cough... Ahem!

Whether there were female celebrities or not wasn't important. He mainly wanted to build a career for himself!

He paced back and forth a few times. Leon had always had this strange quirk: if he went upstairs to sleep now, then even if he couldn't fall asleep, he wouldn't easily get out of bed again.

It was a serious psychological disorder that had become contagious in recent years. Academia had given it a name: just say you're fucking lazy!

Why were you always lying around all day?

Because lying down felt good.

Leave your comfort zone!

If it's so comfortable, why leave?

Laziness and procrastination are bad habits!

Then why do bad habits feel so comfortable?

This kind of happiness is only temporary!

Then I'll just keep lying down forever, won't I?

That was an accurate portrayal of Leon's previous life.

Procrastinate for a moment, feel good for a moment. Procrastinate forever, feel good forever!

In this life, if he hadn't truly been afraid of dying, Leon wouldn't have been so diligent about giving people free craniotomies everywhere.

That Purple Potato was truly ruthless!

As he made his third lap, Leon suddenly remembered something.

Come to think of it, he'd seemed to promise that someone he'd leave them a way to contact him, but then he'd forgotten!

Served him right!

If he'd left contact information back then, he wouldn't have had to fly back from so far away by himself. He'd even leveled up his Sky Dance Technique from all that flying!

Since he had nothing to do today and couldn't sleep anyway, he might as well go see Coulson!

Perfect. He even had a gift for him!

Hannibal Dining Workshop.

The second time he came here, Leon still felt like the sign gave him a toothache.

He wondered whether there was any legend of Uncle Ba in this world. If not, then S.H.I.E.L.D. using this name was a little terrifying. And if there was...

That would be even more terrifying, okay?!

Mystic Cat Leon crouched at the entrance and tapped the door with his paw. He believed that no matter when it was, someone in this place would always be waiting for either a cat or a masked person to knock.

Still, to be safe, Leon didn't knock himself. He had one of his clones do it.

His Clone Technique had leveled up as well. Leon could now summon eight clones at once, while each clone's vitality remained the same as before. In other words, although the clones shared the main body's health pool equally, if their health were added together, the eight of them actually had twice as much health as the main body!

As expected of a protagonist-exclusive ability!

Before long, the seemingly ordinary door opened. Just from the sound, it was obvious that the door was far thicker than anything available on the market.

After the clone went inside, Leon found himself at a loss.

Mainly because he had no idea what his clone was saying or doing in there. If he wanted to know, he had to dismiss the clone himself.

Fine!

After all that, he still had to go in personally.

Out of caution, Leon waited outside for another two minutes. Only after confirming that the clone inside remained safe did he turn into a Black Hornet, slip through an opening, and fly in.

Inside the narrow ventilation ducts, Leon's Black Hornet form finally had a chance to shine. With the Black Hornet's size, most defensive systems in the world were nothing but open roads to him.

Following the faint connection between himself and his clone, Leon quickly found the room where it was. Looking down through the vent...

The Mystic Cat clone was sitting on the shoulder of a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent, and the two were watching a ball game together!

Leon: ...

Not bad... very... very...

Very approachable! Yes, approachable!

The most important thing for a superhero was approachability! Clearly, Leon possessed that magical power!

Not wanting to pay attention to the two idiots below, Leon looked around. Coulson was clearly absent. Aside from his clone, there were only two S.H.I.E.L.D. staff members here.

They'd probably already contacted Coulson. Leon could figure that much out.

So he waited.

He didn't revert from his Black Hornet form, mainly because the ventilation duct couldn't fit a full-grown man.

And so, he waited quietly.

Sure enough, half an hour later, a weary-looking Coulson walked in.

The moment he entered, Coulson—who had been woken by an emergency call in the middle of the night—said to the cat with undisguised resentment, "Doctor Lister, shouldn't we really leave a way to contact each other?"

Rubbing the sparse hair on his head, Coulson suspected that if he got woken up like this a few more times, he'd have to say goodbye to barbershops forever.

The Mystic Cat leaped down from the shoulder, stood upright, and smiled. "I'm truly sorry to disturb your rest, but I have a gift for you!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the entire cat vanished in a puff of white smoke with a bang.

At the same time, Coulson heard someone behind him say, "Mr. Coulson, I'm here."

When he turned around, it wasn't a cat this time. The familiar black trench coat, the familiar moving mask.

Leon held a white curly wig in one hand and clutched a red headscarf in the other, then stuffed them both into Coulson's hands.

"This is a token of my appreciation. Please don't refuse it."

Coulson subconsciously lowered his head to look at the things in his hands.

This was...

A grandma wig and a napkin??