Lin Xiao gently set the technical analysis report, still warm from the printer, on the workbench. The edges of the paper gleamed faintly beneath the warehouse's dim yellow lights. He looked at Su Ying without directly answering her question. Instead, he walked to a storage locker in the corner, opened it, and revealed several brand-new communication devices and encrypted terminals neatly arranged inside. He took out a tablet and powered it on. The screen lit up, displaying the backend interface for a Cayman Islands shell company account—the balance had just refreshed: $1,200,000.00. His finger swept across the screen and brought up a procurement list: high-performance servers, satellite communication modules, disguised surveillance equipment... Each item was marked with an estimated price and supplier code. Then he raised his head, his gaze passing through the warehouse's high windows toward the increasingly distinct outline of the distant city. "Targets won't just jump out on their own," he said, his voice echoing softly through the empty warehouse. "But now that the money's here and the report is ready, certain people... should enter our sights."
Three days later, the temporary safe house on the outskirts of Riga had been completely cleared out, and all equipment was packed up and transported to a new base.
Lin Xiao's team returned to their main base in a border town in an Eastern European country. It was a shabby-looking four-story apartment building. The ground floor had once been a grocery store that had since closed down, while the upper three floors had been converted into safe houses, technical rooms, and living quarters. The windows were covered with one-way privacy film, surveillance cameras disguised as old wiring had been installed along the exterior walls, and a cleverly concealed satellite antenna stood on the roof.
At seven in the morning, Lin Xiao sat in his office on the third floor.
Sunlight slanted in through the eastern window, casting diamond-shaped patches of light across the dark wooden floor. The air carried a faint scent of coffee and old paper—the smell came from the old account books moved up from the grocery store's warehouse below, deliberately preserved by Lin Xiao as part of the environmental disguise.
Three documents lay spread across the desk before him.
On the left was the funding plan submitted by "Nightingale." The procurement list had been refined down to specific models and delivery dates. The first batch of equipment would arrive within forty-eight hours through three different middlemen. Channels for recruiting outside personnel had already been established, and "Grey Falcon" had screened seven candidates, each skilled in intelligence gathering, electronic warfare, or close protection.
In the center was the final version of the Arc Reactor Technical Analysis Report. Lin Xiao had revised three more sections the previous night, adding technical details about thermal management for energy output interfaces—details that Tony Stark had mentioned in a public technical speech in his previous life, but which were still top secret now.
On the right was a blank sticky note.
Lin Xiao held a black fountain pen in his hand, its tip hovering above the note for a long while without touching it.
He was considering his next target.
Ivan Vanko's team was certainly scrambling to trace the stolen data, but "Nightingale" had erased every digital trace, and surveillance cameras along the escape route had been disrupted or replaced. In the short term, they would have a hard time finding this place.
As for Hammer Industries, a loss of 1.2 million dollars was not a major sum to Justin Hammer, but the severed money trail would inevitably trigger an internal audit. Still, according to Lin Xiao's memories, Hammer Industries' financial system had always been riddled with holes. Justin cared more about making a splash at the Stark Expo than tracking down a "missing" advance payment.
So next...
There was a soft knock on the office door.
Three knocks, steady and measured.
Lin Xiao set down his pen. "Come in."
The door opened, and Su Ying entered carrying a cup of coffee. She had changed into a dark gray tracksuit, her hair tied into a neat ponytail, her face flushed from morning exercise. She set the coffee at the edge of the desk, the bottom of the cup striking the wooden surface with a crisp sound. "Doctor is here," she said. "She's downstairs in the lab. She says she's made an urgent discovery."
Lin Xiao picked up the coffee, warmth passing through the ceramic into his palm. He inhaled its scent—Su Ying knew he liked medium-roast beans, no sugar, with only a little milk. "What discovery?"
"About the residue from those blue reagents." Su Ying leaned against the doorframe. "She says the analysis results are out, but... something isn't right."
Lin Xiao took a sip. Bitterness and a nutty aroma spread across his tongue. "Send her up."
Five minutes later, Doctor Anna Koch entered the office.
She wore a white lab coat and carried a tablet. Her eyes behind her glasses were bloodshot—she had clearly stayed up all night again. Her steps were hurried, and the hem of her lab coat swayed as she walked, carrying with it the distinctive antiseptic smell of the laboratory.
"Mr. Lin." Anna's voice was tense. "I need to report a... disturbing discovery."
"Sit." Lin Xiao pointed to the chair across from his desk.
Anna did not sit. She directly opened her tablet and pulled up a complex molecular structure diagram. Two three-dimensional models appeared side by side on the screen. On the left was a blue molecular chain with a complex structure, labeled "Exogenous Catalytic Substance, Sample S-07." On the right was a similar red molecular chain, labeled "Cross-Species Genetic Bridging Enzyme, Theoretical Model."
"This is the complete molecular structure of the 'exogenous catalytic substance' I isolated from the residue of those blue reagents." Anna pointed to the model on the left. "For the past three days, I've been trying to determine its function. At first, I thought it was merely a highly efficient energy catalyst, but last night, I conducted deeper protein-folding simulations and enzyme activity tests..."
She swiped the screen and pulled up a comparative analysis report.
"Then I found this." Her finger tapped the similar regions of the two models. "Look here—the distortion angle of the alpha-helix structure, the arrangement of the beta-sheet layers, the amino acid sequence of the active site... The similarity is 87.3 percent. That is beyond coincidence."
Lin Xiao set down his coffee and leaned forward.
His eyes rested on the screen for ten seconds.
Then he asked, "Where did you get the model on the right?"
"From A.I.M.'s public papers." Anna brought up another document, titled <Theoretical Foundation of the Extremis Virus: A Preliminary Study of Enzymatic Mechanisms in Cross-Species Genetic Compatibility>. The author was listed as Dr. Aldrich Killian, and it had been published six months ago. "Advanced Idea Mechanics—A.I.M.—has published at least seven theoretical papers on the Extremis Virus over the past two years. The core sections were deliberately blurred, but the basic theoretical framework was public. One of the most critical components was an 'enzyme' capable of bridging human genes with genes from other species."
She took a deep breath.
"And according to Dr. Killian's theory, this 'cross-species genetic bridging enzyme' should possess the following characteristics: the ability to identify and cut specific gene sequences, remain active in high-temperature and high-pressure environments, and possess a protein structure capable of self-repair... Every one of these characteristics matches the 'exogenous catalytic substance' in our sample."
The office fell silent.
Outside the window, the sunlight shifted an inch, and the patch of light crept to the edge of the desk.
Lin Xiao stared at the two molecular models on the screen as fragments of memories from his previous life rapidly surfaced in his mind—
The Extremis Virus.
Aldrich Killian.
The man Tony Stark had left waiting on a rooftop all night at a New Year's party in Bern, Switzerland, in 1999. The scientist who had harbored resentment for more than a decade because of Stark's casual "See you on the roof," eventually developing the Extremis Virus. The mastermind who had used disabled veterans as test subjects, creating dozens of unstable super-soldiers and ultimately setting off the "Mandarin" terrorist attacks.
In the timeline of his previous life, the Extremis Virus incident had happened in 2013.
But now...
"What is your conclusion?" Lin Xiao asked, his voice so calm that it carried not a ripple of emotion.
Anna adjusted her glasses. "I believe A.I.M. may have already come into contact with similar extraterrestrial material and begun applying it to Extremis Virus research. The activity of this 'exogenous catalytic substance' far surpasses that of any enzyme known on Earth. If it is truly being used as a catalyst for genetic modification..."
She did not finish.
But Lin Xiao knew what she meant.
If Killian had truly obtained this extraterrestrial material, then development of the Extremis Virus might be greatly accelerated. And based on the outcome in his previous life, the instability of the Extremis Virus caused test subjects to explode with the force of a small bomb. In the film, Killian's subordinate Coldblood had caused an explosion at Stark's seaside villa, nearly killing Tony Stark and Pepper Potts.
Even more frighteningly, Killian would use the fictional terrorist leader known as the Mandarin as a cover to launch a series of terrorist attacks against the United States, causing massive civilian casualties.
"How much of the sample remains?" Lin Xiao asked.
"Less than five milliliters." Anna said, "And its activity is declining. This substance seems poorly adapted to Earth's environment. Its half-life after leaving the original carrier is only seventy-two hours."
"Can it be replicated?"
"Not at present." Anna shook her head. "Its molecular structure is too complex, and it contains at least three elemental isotopes that do not exist on Earth. Without an original sample and the production process, reverse engineering alone is nearly impossible."
Lin Xiao leaned back in his chair.
His fingers lightly tapped against the edge of the desk, producing a rhythmic tapping sound.
Su Ying stood by the door, watching Lin Xiao's expression. She noticed his pupils contract slightly—that was what he did when he fell into deep thought. She also noticed the rhythm of his tapping change. At first it was a steady two taps per second, then it gradually sped up before suddenly stopping at a certain moment.
"Anna," Lin Xiao said. "Go back and continue the analysis. Extract as much complete data on this substance as possible and establish a molecular model database. Also... look into A.I.M.'s public activities over the past six months, especially recruitment, financial movements, and laboratory procurement records."
"Understood." Anna put away her tablet and turned to leave the office.
The door closed.
Her footsteps faded down the hallway.
Su Ying walked to the desk, planted both hands on its surface, leaned forward, and looked directly into Lin Xiao's eyes. "You know this Killian, don't you?"
Lin Xiao did not deny it.
He picked up the blank sticky note and wrote down a name:
Aldrich Killian
Then he drew a line beneath it.
"In my previous life, he created the Extremis Virus." Lin Xiao's voice was low, as though he were talking to himself and explaining it to Su Ying at the same time. "He used disabled veterans for experiments and created dozens of unstable super-soldiers. Then he disguised himself as the Mandarin and launched terrorist attacks. His target was Tony Stark, but countless civilians were caught up in it. In the end... he was defeated by Stark and Colonel Rhodes working together, but the casualties could no longer be undone."
Su Ying frowned.
"Now he may have encountered extraterrestrial material ahead of schedule," she said. "What does that mean?"
"It means Extremis Virus development may be accelerated." Lin Xiao set down his pen. "Maybe by a year, maybe two. It also means the virus may become more powerful—the activity of that extraterrestrial catalyst is too strong. If Killian has not fully mastered how to control it..."
He did not finish.
But Su Ying understood.
"So we deal with him first," she said, her voice carrying the decisiveness unique to an operations commander. "Before he causes a disaster."
Lin Xiao raised his head and looked at Su Ying.
His gaze was complicated.
There was resolve in it, calculation, deliberation, and something Su Ying had never seen before... hesitation.
"Assassinate Killian directly?" Lin Xiao asked, as if asking Su Ying and himself at the same time. "How great is the risk?"
Su Ying considered it for several seconds.
"A.I.M. isn't a loose peripheral organization like Hydra," she said. "Killian himself is a scientist, but according to S.H.I.E.L.D.'s files, he has a private security team around him, all former special forces. And A.I.M.'s laboratories are spread across at least six countries. We don't know which one he is in. Even if we find him, the cost of a direct assault would be high."
"And there's the butterfly effect," Lin Xiao added. "If we kill Killian now, A.I.M. will fall into chaos, but the Extremis Virus research materials could be obtained by other forces—Hydra's Radical Faction, for example, or ambitious figures within A.I.M. It could even give rise to a more uncontrollable variant of the virus."
He stood and walked to the window.
Outside was the street of the small town. There were few pedestrians in the early morning. An old man slowly walked past with a dog on a leash. The bakery on the corner had just opened, and the aroma of fresh bread drifted upward, mingling with the scent of coffee.
It was a peaceful morning.
But Lin Xiao knew that somewhere in the world, Aldrich Killian might be in a laboratory conducting dangerous genetic experiments with that extraterrestrial catalyst. Those recruited veterans, those people desperate because of their disabilities, were becoming test subjects for the Extremis Virus. They did not know what awaited them—strength beyond ordinary humans, or explosions they could not control.
Lin Xiao remembered his previous life.
He remembered the firelight when Extremis test subjects exploded, the destroyed theater, and civilians killed in terrorist attacks. He remembered Tony Stark crawling from the ruins of his seaside villa, and Pepper Potts's agony when she was injected with the Extremis Virus.
He also remembered other things.
In his previous life, Killian had been able to cause such immense destruction largely because Tony Stark had not taken him seriously at first. Stark had been immersed in post-traumatic stress after the Battle of New York, busy building the Iron Legion, and had ignored the scientist he had hurt back in 1999.
What if...
What if Stark learned of Killian's threat in advance?
What if Stark intervened at the beginning of Extremis Virus development?
Lin Xiao turned around.
His eyes had changed.
The hesitation was gone, replaced by clear, cold resolve.
"We won't act directly," he said.
Su Ying raised an eyebrow. "We just let him go?"
"No." Lin Xiao returned to the desk and picked up the Arc Reactor Technical Analysis Report. "We'll have someone more suitable, and more effective, 'pay attention' to him."
Su Ying understood.
"Stark."
"Right." Lin Xiao opened the report to the final page—there was a section of blank space he had deliberately left there. "Can the one-way communication channel we established before still be used?"
"Nightingale" had said that the channel was single-use, but it had left a backdoor.
"It should be possible," Su Ying said. "But using it again would increase the risk of reverse tracing exponentially."
"It's worth the risk." Lin Xiao pulled a red marker from the pen holder and began writing in the blank section of the report.
His handwriting was quick and steady.
Aldrich Killian, actual controller of Advanced Idea Mechanics, A.I.M.
Research objective: Extremis Virus—creating unstable super-soldiers through extreme genetic modification.
Potential threat level: City-level.
Key weakness: Craves recognition and revenge, specifically against Tony Stark.
Recent activity: Actively recruiting disabled veterans as test subjects.
Evidence leads: Malibu villa party footage, 1999; Mandarin used as a cover.
After writing those lines, Lin Xiao set down the pen.
He stared at the words for three seconds before saying to Su Ying, "Get Nightingale in here. Also, assemble the core team—Wolf, Grey Falcon, and Doctor Anna. We need a meeting."
Half an hour later, in the team conference room.
It was a small room of less than twenty square meters, its walls lined with soundproofing material. A rectangular conference table stood in the center, with six encrypted communicators on top. The LED lights on the ceiling emitted a cold white glow, illuminating everyone's faces.
Lin Xiao sat at the head of the table.
Su Ying and Wolf sat to his left, while Nightingale and Doctor Anna sat to his right. Grey Falcon attended through an encrypted video link, his image displayed on the projection screen mounted on the wall, with a crude safe house in the background.
Lin Xiao placed the revised technical report in the center of the table.
"The plan has changed," he said bluntly. "We've discovered a new threat—Aldrich Killian and the Extremis Virus. Doctor Anna's analysis indicates that Killian may already have encountered extraterrestrial catalytic material, and development may be greatly accelerated."
He briefly introduced Killian and the Extremis Virus as they had existed in his previous life, along with the potential destruction they could cause.
After listening, Wolf was the first to speak. "So we eliminate him in advance?"
"No," Lin Xiao said. "We'll have Tony Stark deal with him."
The conference room fell quiet for a moment.
Nightingale adjusted her glasses. "Send a warning through that one-way channel?"
"Yes." Lin Xiao pushed the report toward her. "Send this report and Killian's information to Stark together. The report is our 'good faith,' and the information about Killian is our 'warning.' We need Stark to believe that whoever sent this message not only possesses technical details about the Arc Reactor, but also intelligence on broader security threats."
"What about the risks?" Grey Falcon's voice came through the speaker with a faint static buzz. "Stark may trace it back. We all know what JARVIS is capable of."
"That's why this transmission needs to be more careful." Lin Xiao looked at Nightingale. "Use multilayer encryption, route it through at least five relay servers, and send it from a public Wi-Fi node at the end. Erase every trace immediately afterward, close the channel, and even... abandon that shell company account for now."
Nightingale's fingers rapidly tapped across the keyboard, bringing up a complicated network topology map.
"I can do it," she said. "But I need time to prepare. At least twelve hours."
"You have eight," Lin Xiao said. "It must be sent before ten tonight."
Nightingale nodded. "Understood."
Doctor Anna raised her hand. "I have a question. If we tell Stark about Killian and Stark intervenes, the Extremis Virus incident may be prevented ahead of time. But wouldn't that... change too much?"
She was asking about the butterfly effect.
Lin Xiao understood what she meant.
In his previous life, although the Extremis Virus incident had caused destruction, it had also forced Tony Stark to confront his responsibilities, advanced Iron Man technology, and even affected the later formation of the Avengers. If the Extremis Virus was stopped now, those "positive effects" might disappear as well.
But Lin Xiao had already thought it through.
"The butterfly effect is unavoidable," he said. "From the moment we were reborn, we were already changing the timeline. We cannot allow disasters to happen just because we fear change. Our goal is to protect, not preserve some 'correct' historical trajectory."
He paused, his eyes sweeping across every face.
"Besides, Killian's case has one crucial point—it exposes one of Stark's weaknesses. He tends to overlook people he has hurt. If we warn him now, perhaps he'll realize that sooner. That itself is a kind of... correction."
The conference room fell silent again.
Only the sound of Nightingale typing remained, crisp and steady.
Su Ying looked at Lin Xiao and suddenly spoke. "Are you sure Stark will believe it? An anonymous source sending a technical report and a warning about a potential threat—he might dismiss it as a prank."
"He'll believe it," Lin Xiao said. "Because the technical details in the report are real. Stark is a genius. He'll recognize the report's value at a glance. And intelligence from someone capable of writing a report like this... he won't dismiss it lightly."
He picked up the red marker and circled Killian's name.
"Besides, I mentioned the '1999 Malibu villa party' in the message. That is one of Stark's private memories, and very few people know about it. That alone will be enough to make him take it seriously."
Wolf rubbed the chin. "Then what do we do next? Wait for Stark's response?"
"No." Lin Xiao stood. "We continue advancing construction of the Continental Hotel. The funding is in place, equipment procurement proceeds as planned, and recruitment of outside personnel needs to accelerate. Also..."
He looked at Doctor Anna.
"Continue analyzing that extraterrestrial catalytic substance. Try to identify its weaknesses—if Killian truly is using it, we may need to face enemies altered by the Extremis Virus. Only by understanding the enemy's weapon can we find a way to defeat it."
Anna nodded. "I'll do my best."
"Meeting adjourned," Lin Xiao said. "Nightingale stays. Everyone else, get back to your work."
One after another, they left the conference room.
Only Lin Xiao and "Nightingale" remained.
"Nightingale" turned the laptop toward Lin Xiao. The screen displayed the interface of an encrypted transmission program. "Eight layers of encryption, seven relay servers, and finally, it'll be sent through the public Wi-Fi at Berlin Central Station. Within thirty seconds of transmission, all intermediary nodes will automatically format themselves, and the channel will be permanently shut down."
Lin Xiao looked at the complex code.
He knew that once he pressed the send button, there would be no turning back.
Stark would receive the information.
Then... the world would begin to change.
"Set the transmission time for 9:55 p.m.," he said. "Before sending it, check all trace-cleanup programs one more time."
"Nightingale" nodded. "Understood."
Lin Xiao left the conference room and returned to his office.
He closed the door and drew the curtains, plunging the room into semi-darkness.
Then he sat at his desk and closed his eyes.
Fragments of memories from his previous life surfaced in his mind once more—
The blaze from Extremis Virus test subjects self-destructing in the streets.
The thunderous collapse of the theater.
Tony Stark emerging from the ruins with Pepper Potts in his arms.
And... the look in Aldrich Killian's eyes before he died—a look mingling madness, resentment, and unwillingness.
Lin Xiao opened his eyes.
He opened a drawer and took out a photograph.
It was a picture of him and Su Ying from his previous life, taken by the window of some safe house. Su Ying was smiling in the photo, sunlight falling across her profile, her lashes casting tiny shadows over her cheek. On the back, he had written a line in pen:
"This time, I won't let you disappear."
He pressed the photograph to his chest, feeling the texture of the paper and the beat of his heart.
Then he said softly:
"Killian, I'm sorry."
"But this time, I won't let you hurt anyone."
Outside the window, the sky gradually darkened.
One by one, the lights of the small town came on, joining into a warm band of light amid the dusk.
Meanwhile, in another corner of the world, Aldrich Killian had just finished a day of experiments. He stood before the laboratory observation window, looking at the cells in the culture dishes that had been altered by alien catalytic substances. A satisfied smile appeared on his lips.
He did not know that a message that would change his fate was moving through an encrypted network.
Eight hours later, it would reach Tony Stark's server.
Then, everything would be different.
Before you continue