Countdown and New Expectations

Morning sunlight slanted in through the basement window well, casting a narrow beam across the floor. Dust motes drifted within it like golden fireflies. Lin Mo sat on a creaking wooden chair, holding a polished circuit board, but his gaze kept drifting toward his wrist—the wristband's screen was lit, clearly displaying [Countdown: 30 Days 0 Hours 0 Minutes 0 Seconds].

"A whole month." He muttered to himself, his fingertip unconsciously tracing circles over the board's solder points. More than three months had passed since he had signed in and obtained Shadowcat's Phasing Ability. During that time, he had gone from a rookie getting stuck in walls to an "egg-snatching expert" who could freely weave through crowds at the supermarket. He had even helped Elderly Martha rescue her cat from a radiator. (Snowball had been so frightened that she ignored him for three days.)

The wristband suddenly vibrated lightly, and a new prompt appeared: [The next sign-in phase is about to begin. Currently available ability pool preview range (partial): X-Men series, Avengers series, independent mutant individuals.]

Lin Mo's heart skipped a beat, and the circuit board nearly fell from his hand. He knew the X-Men series well; he had already gotten quite skilled with Shadowcat's ability. The Avengers series... Could it be Iron Man's armor technology? Or Captain America's super-soldier physique? He quickly opened the detailed list, his eyes widening further and further.

[Wolverine: Healing Factor (Beginner)—Rapidly heals non-fatal injuries. Recovery efficiency against metal piercing damage reduced by 50%.]

[Cyclops: Ocular Energy Projection (Basic)—Can fire red concussive blasts. Requires specially made glasses for control. Each use lasts 10 seconds.]

[Hawkeye: Precision Throwing (Introductory)—Thrown weapon accuracy increased by 80%. Ineffective on firearms.]

[Thor: Lightning Affinity (Weak)—Can sense natural lightning and slightly influence the weather (limited to light rain).]

Lin Mo stared at the screen, his finger hovering over the words "Wolverine" for a long time. A healing factor... This ability was practically tailor-made for survival. The last time he had helped Ted chase down a purse snatcher, a bicycle chain had scraped open his arm. The shallow scar was still there. If he had healing abilities, such a minor injury would have been nothing.

"That's the one." He muttered to the wristband, imagining himself like Wolverine—able to go to work at the repair shop perfectly fine the next day even after getting beaten black and blue. But then he remembered Wolverine's adamantium skeleton. It seemed to have been forcibly infused into him, painful enough to drive a person insane. He shuddered and quickly pushed the thought away.

When his gaze moved to "Cyclops," Lin Mo could not help posing at the air as if he were firing a gun. Red concussive blasts sounded incredibly cool and would definitely be useful against petty thugs. But when he saw "requires specially made glasses," he frowned again. He could not exactly wear sunglasses in the middle of summer, could he? Last time Ted had worn a pair of oversized shades to the supermarket, the neighborhood aunties had mistaken him for a creep taking secret pictures and chased him for three blocks. Just thinking about it was embarrassing.

"Better forget it." He shook his head, his eyes settling on Thor's ability. Lightning Affinity? Sensing lightning? It sounded a little useless, unless he wanted to change careers and become a weather forecaster. But the words in parentheses, "can slightly influence the weather," stirred something in him. Queens had been getting acid rain lately. If he could make some clean rain to wash the air, perhaps Martha's asthma would improve.

"What a dilemma." Lin Mo tossed the circuit board back into the toolbox and got up to stand before the mirror. He had picked it up from a trash heap, and one corner was missing, leaving his reflection slightly distorted. He threw a punch at the mirror, imagining lightning wrapping around his fist, then found the image too childish and burst out laughing.

"Mo, what are you grinning at in the mirror?" Ted's head suddenly poked through the crack in the door. His hair was a mess like a bird's nest, his eyes still bloodshot with sleep, and he held half a bag of chips. "Practicing your 'walk-through-walls magic trick' again?"

Lin Mo jumped, quickly covering the wristband screen with his sleeve. As he turned, he accidentally knocked over a box of parts beside him. Screws and nuts scattered all over the floor, clattering loudly. "Nothing." He crouched to pick them up, his cheeks growing warm. "Just thinking about where to travel next year."

"Travel?" Ted walked in and dropped onto the bed, scattering chip crumbs across the sheets. "With the little savings you have, you would be lucky to afford a trip to Brooklyn." He leaned closer and lowered his voice mysteriously. "Why not come to Las Vegas with me? My cousin's uncle runs a casino there. He can get us a discount!"

Lin Mo smiled but did not respond. He knew Ted's dream of Las Vegas was like his own anticipation for new abilities: both were little flames hidden deep in their hearts. They knew making them come true would be difficult, yet they could not resist adding a little more fuel. He tossed the last screw into the box and suddenly remembered something. "By the way, how is your 'The Great Turkey Transformation' trick coming along? There are only five days left before the Thanksgiving party."

At the mention of magic, Ted's eyes instantly lit up. He dragged a large black-cloth-covered box out from under the bed and proudly pulled the cloth away. "Look! I made a new prop!" Inside was a sheet-metal turkey model. Springs were attached to its wings, and when a button was pressed, it would pop out while making gobbling noises from its beak. The sound was actually a recording.

Lin Mo looked at the chipped-paint metal turkey, suppressing a laugh. "This is the 'The Great Turkey Transformation' you were talking about?"

"What do you think? Cool, right?" Ted pressed the button. The turkey sprang up with a bang, nearly knocking his nose off. "When the time comes, I'll climb into the box and make this thing appear. Their jaws will hit the floor!"

Lin Mo picked up the metal turkey and scanned it with Structural X-Ray, discovering that the spring was about to snap. "This part needs reinforcing." He pointed at the connection. "Otherwise, if it falls apart halfway through the performance, it'll become 'Turkey Suicide.'"

"Huh? Then what do I do?" Ted's face immediately fell like a punctured balloon. "There are only a few days left. Where am I supposed to find a new spring?"

"I'll fix it." Lin Mo found a length of high-strength steel wire in the toolbox. "This wire has good flexibility. It's ten times stronger than your original spring." He activated his Phasing Ability, passed his fingers through the metal turkey's shell, and precisely wrapped the wire around the rotating axle. His movements were as quick as a magic trick.

Ted stared with wide eyes, forgetting to chew the chips in his mouth. "Mo, it would be such a waste if you didn't become a magician. Seriously, we should form a duo. You handle the technical stuff, I'll perform, and we'll definitely make it big!"

Lin Mo smiled and handed him the repaired turkey. "Let's get through the Thanksgiving performance first." Watching Ted excitedly fiddle with the turkey model, he suddenly felt that having a friend who could go crazy with him was not bad. At least the days spent waiting for new abilities would not be so boring.

That afternoon at the repair shop, Carlos tossed him an engine covered in grease. "The customer wants it completely dismantled. Check the wear on every part." He glanced at Lin Mo's wrist. "You've been staring at that wristband a lot lately, kid. Did you get your hands on some new gadget again?"

Lin Mo's heart lurched, and he quickly grabbed a wrench. "Nothing. It's almost repayment day, so I'm a little anxious." He crouched and began dismantling the engine. Structural X-Ray activated automatically, revealing the internal gears, pistons, and oil lines at a glance. This was a hidden benefit of Shadowcat's ability. He could now repair things at least three times faster than before, so Carlos had given him a raise, calling it an "efficiency bonus."

Halfway through the dismantling, his phone suddenly vibrated. It was a text from Peter, containing only a photo and one line: [Brother Lin, look! New Mexico news. A hammer landed in some rocks, and even tanks can't move it!]

The photo showed a desert. In the middle, an ancient-looking hammer was embedded in a rock, its head carved with intricate patterns. Several tanks surrounded it, their cannons aimed at the hammer, yet no one dared touch it. Lin Mo's heartbeat instantly quickened. The wristband on his wrist became scorching hot, and a prompt automatically appeared: [Asgardian artifact energy response detected. 99% match with "Mjolnir."]

"So it really is that." Lin Mo's fingers trembled slightly. He had long seen related reports in old newspapers at the community library. An "object from beyond the sky" had fallen into a small town in New Mexico. The military had sealed off the entire area, but people still sneaked in, hoping to pull out the hammer. Every one of them had failed. Even the most advanced cranes could not budge it.

"What are you looking at?" Carlos's voice suddenly sounded above him, startling him so badly that his hand jerked. The wrench fell onto the engine with a loud clang.

"N-Nothing." Lin Mo hurriedly locked the screen, his heart hammering. "Peter sent me a funny picture."

Carlos gave him a suspicious look but did not press further. He turned to greet a customer at the entrance. Lin Mo let out a breath, his back already soaked with cold sweat. He had nearly exposed the wristband's secret in front of Carlos. The man might usually seem carefree, but his eyes were sharp. Last time, he had spotted Ted's hidden stash of cash inside an engine at a glance.

After work, Lin Mo detoured to the community library. In a corner, he dug out newspapers from the past three months, cutting out articles about New Mexico and pasting them into an old notebook. The newest report said the military had built a temporary base around the hammer, and an agent named Phil Coulson had arrived to coordinate matters. When Lin Mo saw that name, he nearly crushed the notebook in his hands.

Coulson was over there too?

He remembered what Coulson had said after the fire: "Sometimes, protecting one street is more important than saving the world." Now it seemed that this S.H.I.E.L.D. agent himself was busy with the prelude to "saving the world." Lin Mo traced circles over the hammer image in the newspaper, and the thought in his heart became clearer and clearer. He wanted to go to New Mexico—not to pull out the hammer. He knew his limits. If even tanks could not move it, his little abilities would be useless. He simply wanted to see what kind of artifact could make S.H.I.E.L.D. take it so seriously.

More importantly, he wanted to know whether the hammer had anything to do with his wristband. Shadowcat's ability had come from signing in. Could his next sign-in offer an ability related to Thor? For example... the strength to lift the hammer?

"What are you thinking about, Brother Lin?" Peter's voice suddenly came from behind him, startling him. The boy held a paper tube containing newly printed information. "I checked New Mexico's weather. There'll be a sandstorm next week. If you want to go, you should bring protective gear."

Lin Mo's heart tightened as he looked into Peter's bright eyes, suddenly understanding. This kid had seen through him long ago. From the moment he kept rereading reports about New Mexico, from the moment he asked whether the hammer could be phased through, Peter had seemed to hold a transparent crystal ball that showed every little thought in his mind.

"I'm just looking." Lin Mo closed the notebook, his cheeks heating up. Trying to hide his thoughts from a child several years younger than him made him feel as though he had been stripped naked.

"I know you want to go." Peter handed him the paper tube. Inside were materials Peter had organized: a map of New Mexico, a rough diagram of the temporary base's location, and even the composition of Coulson's team, though most of it was speculation. "I checked. Taking a bus from Queens would take two days and one night. I have money for the ticket..."

"No, I have money." Lin Mo interrupted him, warmth filling his chest like he had swallowed a little sun. He ruffled Peter's hair. This kid was always like this. He still needed Aunt May to look after him, yet he was constantly worrying about helping others. "Besides, I might not actually go. It depends on... on work arrangements."

Peter blinked slyly. "Isn't the repair shop doing inventory next week? Carlos said he was giving you three days off."

Lin Mo was completely speechless. This kid even knew his work schedule inside and out. He was practically better than a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent. He unfolded the map and placed his finger on the town marked with the hammer. "What's this place called?"

"Pepper Town." Peter leaned closer and pointed at the tiny print along the map's edge. "It used to be a mining town, so there weren't many people. Now it's full of reporters and military personnel." He paused and lowered his voice. "I also found out that a big blond guy keeps wandering around the base, saying the hammer is his. The military has chased him away several times."

A big blond guy? An image immediately flashed through Lin Mo's mind—Thor, the Asgardian prince exiled to Earth by his father in the comics. So he had already arrived on Earth?

"Interesting." The corner of Lin Mo's mouth lifted involuntarily. He tapped the map with a finger. "Pepper Town... Sounds like a good place to watch the excitement."

Back in the basement, Lin Mo hid the materials Peter had given him beneath his mattress, alongside Elderly Irene's thank-you card and Martha's cookie recipe. These things were like puzzle pieces, slowly forming the path of his life in this world—from struggling to survive to actively exploring, from hiding behind walls to wanting to venture farther away.

He stood before the mirror. The countdown on his wristband had changed to [29 Days 18 Hours 35 Minutes]. Less than a month remained before a new ability arrived. Lin Mo clenched his fist, imagining himself standing in Pepper Town's desert when the wristband suddenly lit up and displayed: [Ability Obtained: Power of Thor (Beginner)].

"Wake up. Stop dreaming." He rolled his eyes at his reflection and turned to pack his things. Even if he could not make it to New Mexico, he needed to prepare in advance. At the very least, he had to reinforce Ted's "The Great Turkey Transformation" prop again so it would not embarrass them at the Thanksgiving party.

The next day, when he went to Ted's basement to help rehearse, Lin Mo discovered that the metal turkey was even less reliable than he had imagined. After Ted climbed into the box, the spring suddenly jammed. The turkey's neck twisted ninety degrees, and one wing fell off, making Elderly Martha, who had come to watch, laugh out loud. "Ted, this isn't The Great Turkey Transformation. It's a turkey massacre!"

"An accident, just an accident!" Ted crawled out of the box, drenched in sweat, with a feather hanging from his hair—no one knew where it had come from. "One more try. It'll definitely work this time!"

Watching him rush around, Lin Mo suddenly felt that compared to distant New Mexico and the mysterious hammer, the "turkey massacre" before him seemed more important. He walked over and used his Phasing Ability to inspect the mechanisms inside the box. "This latch is loose. It needs replacing. And the spring is angled wrong, so it jams easily."

"You're the reliable one, Mo." Ted slapped him on the shoulder so hard that he nearly fell apart. "Once my performance succeeds at the party, I'm entering the National Magic Competition. I'll hire you as my assistant!"

"Sure." Lin Mo agreed with a smile. With the assistance of his Phasing Ability, the screwdriver in his hand precisely tightened the final screw. "Just remember to give me a raise."

The two burst into laughter while Elderly Martha knitted beside them, occasionally chiming in. "You two are almost fifty combined, yet you still act like children." Sunlight streamed through the basement window well and fell across them, carrying a dusty warmth like a lukewarm cup of milk tea.

Lin Mo looked at the scene before him, and his heart suddenly calmed. The desire to go to New Mexico was still there, but it was no longer as urgent as before. He realized that no matter what ability he received next, no matter how miraculous that hammer was, what he should treasure most were these chaotic everyday moments—the metal turkey that lost its wings, the nagging old lady, the boy who was always worrying, and the endless engines waiting to be repaired at the shop.

These things made him feel more than any miraculous ability ever could that he was truly living in this world.

That night, lying in bed, Lin Mo opened the wristband's ability preview screen. His finger slid across the icons for "Wolverine," "Cyclops," and "Thor," finally stopping on a gray unknown icon—[???: Special-Type Ability, requires specific conditions to unlock].

"Special type?" He frowned. The wristband gave no explanation, as though it were hiding a mischievous secret.

As he drifted off to sleep, he had a dream. He dreamed that he stood in Pepper Town's desert, holding Mjolnir in his left hand while his right hand passed through a tank's cannon barrel. Peter stood behind him with a camera, Ted performed "The Great Turkey Transformation" nearby, and Coulson stood in the distance, shaking his head helplessly...

When he woke, the sky was already bright. Lin Mo touched the drool at the corner of his mouth and could not help smiling. Maybe this was the best state to be in—holding the distant hammer in his heart, repairing the parts before him with his hands, surrounded by noisy friends, with abilities worth anticipating in the future.

He glanced at the wristband. The countdown had become [29 Days 0 Hours 15 Minutes].

Twenty-nine days remained. Enough time to fix Ted's magic prop, attend Aunt May's Thanksgiving party, save enough bus fare to New Mexico, and... secretly rehearse every possible ability in his mind.

Lin Mo got out of bed, pushed open the basement door, and sunlight spilled over his face, warm and bright. He took a deep breath and headed toward the repair shop, his steps as light as if he were walking on springs.

A new day had begun, bringing him one step closer to the next sign-in. And his anticipation, like the numbers on his wristband, slowly counted down and slowly grew warmer.