Don't Eat Sour Turnips

Lu Xi looked at the empty S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters and asked somewhat puzzled:

"Hmm, have you been that busy lately? Busy enough for this?"

At that, Nick Fury's face turned extremely ugly, as black as the bottom of a pot.

Seeing this, Maria hurriedly explained:

"There really is a lot to deal with. For example, we have to send people to track and investigate demons, in case another demon god descends. And that Ghost Rider needs to be monitored around the clock."

"Then there's Hulk, who also needs to be tracked and observed. And recently, a steel robot appeared in the Middle East and has been causing trouble everywhere. That needs investigating too."

Lu Xi gave an awkward smile as soon as he heard that. He instantly understood why Nick Fury's face had gone so thoroughly dark.

Most of these matters were connected to him, and some had been caused by him directly.

Obviously, S.H.I.E.L.D. had far more to deal with than just this.

They had deliberately picked out the matters related to him, subtly complaining to him about their difficulties.

Nick Fury immediately added:

"Also, just moments ago, an extremely powerful explosion occurred in the Arctic Ocean."

"We pulled satellite footage from around the Arctic Ocean. Before the explosion, a mysterious object flew through the area. We traced its flight path and found that it originated near the villa district where you live. Do you know what happened?"

Lu Xi pretended to be surprised, his face full of confusion.

"What? Something like that happened? Could it have been a UFO?"

Nick Fury stared straight at Lu Xi with his dead-fish eyes, clearly helpless in the face of his feigned ignorance. Then he continued:

"Let me add something. That mysterious object reached a speed of Mach 1,200. At that speed, its surface would generate temperatures of tens of millions of degrees Celsius and atmospheric pressure more than ten thousand times normal. Any known material would be instantly destroyed."

At this point, Nick Fury paused and emphasized his next words.

"We believe no alien technology could possibly achieve that."

Since Nick Fury had already put it so plainly, Lu Xi stopped pretending.

He spread his hands, looking utterly unconcerned.

"Fine, I did it. So what?"

A clear look of anger finally appeared on Nick Fury's face. He raised his voice and demanded:

"Why did you do that? There may not be much of an ecosystem there, but the atmospheric disturbance caused by the explosion contained enough energy to circle the globe three times. Weather forecasts have already failed in many places!"

Apparently, the President's side was probably still interrogating Ross, and the news had not reached them yet.

Lu Xi shrugged and explained carelessly:

"A guy calling himself General Ross apparently thought he could subdue me, so he ordered me to cooperate with them for dissection research. I had no choice but to show him what I could do."

"Shit, motherfucker, don't eat sour turnips! Damn Ross, he has never done anything proper in his life!"

Nick Fury could not help swearing repeatedly, his brows drawn tightly together. "Lord Lucifer, your way of displaying your power has caused us considerable trouble. Intelligence agencies around the world are in an uproar. As a primary intelligence hub, S.H.I.E.L.D. has to deal with inquiries from every side."

Lu Xi still looked as though it had nothing to do with him. He shrugged and said:

"Then figure out a way to deal with it. Isn't that what S.H.I.E.L.D. does? Handle all kinds of supernatural incidents and crises."

Maria sighed helplessly from the side.

"Lord Lucifer, we understand your power, but your actions truly affect our work. Like when you transformed Peggy Carter earlier. You saved her, but it also caused quite a stir within S.H.I.E.L.D."

Lu Xi raised a brow and asked with interest:

"What, she wasn't willing? Or do the other people at S.H.I.E.L.D. have objections?"

Nick Fury waved a hand.

"That's not the issue. It's just that things beyond ordinary understanding make a lot of people uneasy."

"We need to devote a great deal of effort to reassuring people and explaining things, so that panic does not spread."

Lu Xi laughed loudly and gave them a little spoiler.

"It's fine. Once things like this happen more often, everyone will gradually get used to them."

"Believe it or not, everything happening now is only the opening act of this Universe. More and more things will happen in the future, constantly shattering your worldview."

Nick Fury's gaze sharpened instantly, as though he had caught some crucial piece of information.

"Do you mean... you can see the future?"

Lu Xi openly admitted it, lifting his chin slightly.

"I know a little."

Nick Fury immediately perked up, realizing that this might be extremely important intelligence. He hurriedly invited Lu Xi into his office.

Lu Xi leisurely crossed his legs on the sofa, relaxed and at ease, as though this were his own territory.

Maria thoughtfully brewed some coffee and brought it over, gently placing it in front of Lu Xi.

Nick Fury sat opposite him impatiently, his eyes full of expectation as he asked:

"Could you tell us what crises await in the future?"

Lu Xi merely glanced at him and shook his head.

"It would be useless even if I told you. Once you know, the future will change, and you basically won't be able to handle them anyway."

Nick Fury frowned in dissatisfaction and retorted firmly:

"Humanity has the ability and the obligation to handle these matters ourselves. When faced with unknown dangers, we must have appropriate contingency plans!"

Lu Xi laughed, suddenly raised a finger, and pointed straight at Nick Fury's blind eye as he teased:

"A cat scratched out your eye, and you still haven't found a way to restore it, have you?"

Nick Fury's expression froze instantly, as though someone had struck him right at his weak spot.

Maria looked astonished and turned to stare at Nick Fury.

After all, Nick Fury had always claimed publicly that his eye had been lost "because he trusted someone too much." Who would have thought it had been scratched out by a cat? That was some seriously embarrassing dirt.

Amid his shock, Nick Fury could not help feeling awkward. He immediately changed the subject.

"This is an absolute secret. Talos and Captain Marvel should have been the only ones who knew at the time. How did you learn of it?"

Lu Xi smiled mysteriously. "Seeing the future is troublesome, but seeing the past is easy."

Although he had not yet mastered any abilities related to time, he had watched movies about the past, so that counted as seeing it.

Lu Xi changed the subject.

"By the way, where is that Flerken now? I've been wanting to keep a cat."

Nick Fury looked helpless and shook his head.

"I don't know. I haven't seen Goose in a long time either."

But he still refused to give up and continued asking, "Lord Lucifer, about the future..."

The corners of Lu Xi's lips lifted slightly as he looked at Nick Fury with a faint, knowing smile.

"You want to know the future? Sure. But what do you have to trade?"

Nick Fury was slightly taken aback and asked tentatively:

"Does that mean Your Excellency only accepts trades involving souls?"

Lu Xi leaned back on the sofa, his arms crossed over his chest.

"Other valuable things are fine too, but you can't offer them. The most valuable thing you have is your soul."

In fact, the Tesseract in Nick Fury's possession was valuable enough in Lu Xi's eyes.

However, Lu Xi had no intention of trading for it yet.

After all, without the Tesseract, how would the Chitauri invade Earth?

That would be a perfect opportunity to collect contract souls. There was no need to waste it for nothing.