Don't Eat the Pickled Radish

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

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

Nick Fury's expression immediately turned extremely ugly, as black as the bottom of a pot.

Seeing this, Maria hurriedly explained:

"There really is a lot going on. For example, we need to send people to track and investigate the demons' movements, in case another demon god descends. And Ghost Rider needs to be monitored at all times."

"Hulk also needs to be tracked and observed. Then there's that steel robot that appeared in the Middle East recently, causing trouble everywhere. We need to investigate that too."

When Lu Xi heard this, he gave an embarrassed smile and instantly understood why Fury's face had gone so thoroughly dark.

Most of these matters had something to do with him, and some had even been caused by him.

Clearly, S.H.I.E.L.D. had far more to deal with than just these things.

They had deliberately picked out matters related to him to mention, subtly complaining to him.

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 and discovered that, before the explosion, a mysterious object flew through the area. Its trajectory traced back to the vicinity of the villa district where you live. Do you know what happened?"

Lu Xi feigned surprise, his face full of confusion.

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

Fury stared directly at Lu Xi with his dead-fish eye, clearly helpless in the face of his act. Then he continued:

"Let me add this: that mysterious object was traveling at Mach 1,200. At that speed, its surface would generate temperatures of tens of millions of degrees Celsius and atmospheric pressure exceeding ten thousand times normal. Any known material would be instantly destroyed."

At that point, Fury paused and stressed his next words.

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

Seeing that Fury had already spelled things out this clearly, Lu Xi stopped pretending.

He spread his hands, looking utterly unconcerned.

"Fine, I did it. So what?"

Visible anger finally appeared on Fury's face. He raised his voice and demanded:

"Why did you do that? There may not have been much of an ecosystem over there, but the atmospheric disturbance from that explosion carried enough energy to circle the Earth three times! Weather forecasts in many regions have already failed!"

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

Lu Xi shrugged and explained indifferently:

"A guy calling himself General Ross probably thought he could restrain me, so he ordered me to cooperate with them and be sliced up for research. I could only show him a little something."

"Shit, motherfucker, son of a bitch! Damn Ross! He has never done a single proper thing!"

Fury could not stop himself from swearing. His brows were tightly furrowed. "Lord Lucifer, your way of demonstrating your power has caused us quite a bit of trouble. Intelligence agencies around the world are in an uproar, and S.H.I.E.L.D., as a major intelligence hub, has to deal with inquiries from all sides."

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

"Then figure out how 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 beside them.

"Lord Lucifer, we understand how powerful you are, but your actions truly affect our work. Take your transformation of Peggy Carter, for example. Although you saved her, it also caused quite a stir within S.H.I.E.L.D."

Lu Xi raised an eyebrow and asked with interest:

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

Fury waved a hand.

"That isn't the issue. It's just that things beyond ordinary understanding make many people uneasy."

"We need to spend a great deal of effort reassuring them and explaining things, so as to avoid panic."

Lu Xi laughed heartily and casually gave them a small spoiler.

"It's fine. Once this sort of thing happens more often, everyone will gradually get used to it."

"Believe it or not, everything happening now is merely the beginning of this universe's prelude. More and more things will happen in the future, repeatedly overturning your worldview."

Fury's gaze sharpened instantly upon hearing that, as though he had caught a crucial piece of information.

"What you mean is... you can see the future?"

Lu Xi admitted it openly, lifting his chin slightly.

"I know a little."

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

Lu Xi leisurely crossed his legs on the sofa, looking relaxed and comfortable, as if this were his own territory.

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

Fury, meanwhile, eagerly sat opposite him and asked with anticipation in his eyes:

"Could you tell us what crises lie ahead?"

Lu Xi merely gave him a faint glance and shook his head.

"There's no point in telling you. Once you know, the future will change, and you basically won't be able to handle them anyway."

Fury frowned in disagreement and retorted firmly:

"Humanity has both the ability and the responsibility to deal with these matters ourselves. In the face of these unknown dangers, we must have corresponding contingency plans!"

Lu Xi laughed, then suddenly extended a finger and pointed straight at Fury's blinded eye, teasing him.

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

Fury's expression froze instantly, as though he had been struck in a vital spot.

Maria looked equally shocked and turned to stare at Fury.

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

Though shocked, Fury could not help feeling awkward. He immediately changed the subject.

"This is an absolute secret. At the time, only Talos and Captain Marvel should have known. How did you learn of it?"

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

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

Lu Xi changed the subject.

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

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 curled up slightly as he looked at Fury with a half-smile.

"You want to know the future? Sure, but what will you use to trade for it?"

Fury paused slightly, then asked tentatively:

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

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

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

In truth, the Tesseract in 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 in bulk. There was no need to waste it for nothing.