Disguised Entry at the Edge of War

Lin Xiu pressed his knuckles against the armor core. The scorching heat radiating from the Nanocore seeped through his tactical suit, burning his palm like a blazing flame. His skin reddened slightly from the heat, and a sharp sting spread through his hand.

As the Oracle System's icy prompt sounded like a ghost in his ear, he was staring intently at the shifting shadow around the stairwell corner—Carl Weiss's men held pulse rifles, the red glow on their barrels tracing dangerous paths across the concrete wall. The crimson light was especially glaring in the dimness, as if foretelling imminent death.

"Identity forgery procedure requires 10% of a mid-tier fragment's energy." The system's electronic voice carried mechanical calm, devoid of emotion. "Current core temperature: 42°C. Probability of sustained overload risk: 17%."

He licked his dry lips. They were slightly chapped from tension and dehydration, making a faint sound.

A risk assessment unfolded across his retina: if he forced a breakout, the base-form armor would not have enough energy to last three minutes against seven pursuers armed with standard S.H.I.E.L.D. weapons; but forging an identity meant exposing some of the Nanocore's functions, which could draw more intensive pursuit from S.H.I.E.L.D.

But Dr. Novak's research notes... they were the only clue capable of explaining the energy resonance between the Mind Stone and the Tesseract.

"Activate it." He forced out the two words through clenched teeth, the grinding of them clearly audible in the silent surroundings.

The Nanite Swarm surged from the interface along his spine, crawling across his skin toward his face like a black tide. Wherever it passed, his skin tingled.

Lin Xiu could feel them reshaping his bone structure and adjusting the pigment in his irises. Even his fingerprints were being covered one by one—the Oracle System had retrieved the biometric data of Allen Hawk, a missing S.H.I.E.L.D. researcher who had vanished three days ago. The pale, bespectacled face in the database overlapped with his own.

The footsteps in the stairwell suddenly stopped. They cut off so abruptly that even time seemed to freeze.

"Boss, thermal imaging shows the target on the sixth floor!"

Carl Weiss's roar erupted amid the clang of metal. "Tear this damn building apart!

The thing on that kid is worth ten Quinjet aircraft—"

Lin Xiu bent down and picked up a broken brick from the corner. His knuckles turned white as he squeezed it, making it creak in his grip.

The instant the pursuers' footsteps neared the corner, he suddenly turned around and pushed up nonexistent glasses with the most natural posture of a researcher. "Hey!

Are you with S.H.I.E.L.D.?

I'm Allen Hawk. I escaped from Brooklyn Laboratory—"

The red glow from a gun barrel instantly pressed against his temple. Like a demon's eye, it sent an icy sensation through his skin.

"Identification." The armed soldier roared, his eyes narrowing behind his goggles. His voice was like a snarling beast's.

Lin Xiu pressed his right hand to his chest. The Nanite Swarm churned beneath his skin like a raging undercurrent, and the forged ID card fell at the soldier's feet with a crisp ding that echoed through the silent stairwell.

As the hologram on the metal badge lit up, he heard his own heartbeat pounding like a drum, as though it might burst from his chest.

S.H.I.E.L.D.'s verification system was scanning the card, while the Nanite Swarm simultaneously altered the access records in the database.

Three seconds.

"Clear." The soldier kicked the ID card back, lowering his weapon. "Orders from above say all research personnel are to gather at Seventh Avenue Medical Center. Don't wander around."

When Lin Xiu caught the card, cold sweat seeped from his palm, sliding down his fingers and dripping to the ground with faint splashes.

Only after turning three street corners and confirming that the pursuers' footsteps had vanished completely did he pull out the locator hidden in his tactical suit—the coordinates of the abandoned medical center where Dr. Novak was being held under house arrest were at a sewer entrance two kilometers away.

Lin Xiu emerged onto the street. The streetlights on either side were dim and yellow, casting only weak light, while all the shops along the road stood tightly shut in deathly silence.

He entered the sewer entrance, and a pungent stench of wastewater rushed at him. The mixture of rot and dampness was nauseating.

The sewer was dark and wet, sewage flowing down the walls with dripping sounds. His feet splashed through the filthy water, which was freezing cold as it seeped through his shoes.

The medical center's basement reeked of disinfectant and mold, the fishy stench closing around him like an invisible net.

As Lin Xiu slid down through the ventilation shaft, he saw an old man in a white lab coat tied to a chair. The blood on his temple had already scabbed over, yet he was still shouting at two guards. "That thing isn't a toy!

Loki wants a resonance frequency capable of tearing open dimensions. You're opening a coffin lid for Earth!"

"Crazy old man." A guard slapped him across the face. "When the aliens get here, it'll be too late even if you beg us on your knees—"

The Nanite Swarm crawled out from Lin Xiu's sleeve and condensed into thin needles in the air, glinting with faint cold light in the darkness.

He did not even let the armor manifest. He merely raised a hand and waved, and the two guards clutched their necks before collapsing limply to the floor—the nanites had severed their vagus nerves, enough to keep them unconscious for half an hour.

"Dr. Novak?" Lin Xiu tore the tape from the old man's mouth.

The old man's clouded eyes widened abruptly, and his bony fingers gripped Lin Xiu's wrist tightly. "Who are you?

S.H.I.E.L.D.?

Or..."

Lin Xiu looked into the old man's eyes and said earnestly, "Doctor, I know energy must be used cautiously and cannot be used to create weapons. I feel reverence toward energy, just as you do. And I have my own insights into energy research as well."

The old man's body trembled slightly at Lin Xiu's words. He studied Lin Xiu for a moment, then slowly said, "I saw my younger self in your eyes. Fine. I believe you."

"I'm here to get you out." Lin Xiu cut the ropes. "You participated in the Tesseract research, didn't you?"

The old man's body jolted violently.

He stared into Lin Xiu's eyes for a full ten seconds before suddenly lunging toward an iron cabinet in the corner and pulling a stack of yellowed notes from a hidden compartment. "The Mind Stone's vibrational frequency has thirteen resonance points with Tesseract fragments!" His fingers tapped frantically across the pages. "I tried isolating them with Vibranium, but energy will overflow when the wormhole opens... Kid, if you want to analyze it, your only chance is to reach the main core before the wormhole fully opens!"

Lin Xiu's breathing suddenly grew heavier.

The moment he took the notes, the Nanocore abruptly heated up—the Oracle System rapidly scanned the formulas on the pages, and a green analysis progress bar appeared across his retina. "Quantum entanglement model match: 87%... Recommendation: retain."

"Why help me?" He stared at the old man's trembling hand. A pale purple scar marked its back, the symbol of a S.H.I.E.L.D. test subject.

"Because what they want is a weapon." The old man seized his hand and pressed it against his own chest. "But you... your eyes are like mine were back then. When you look at energy, there is no greed. Only reverence."

Sirens sounded in the distance, sharp and piercing like a demon's roar, shattering the basement's silence.

Lin Xiu dragged the old man toward the surface as the Nanite Swarm began reshaping both of their facial features—this time disguising them as an evacuated father and son. The old man hunched over and coughed, while Lin Xiu carried a tattered backpack "filled with personal belongings," stuffed with the crucial notes.

Trucks from the evacuation convoy stopped at the intersection, belching black smoke that spread through the air like a dark curtain, carrying a pungent smell.

As Lin Xiu helped the old man squeeze onto the truck, a S.H.I.E.L.D. scanning vehicle slowly approached. Lin Xiu's heart tightened, and he whispered, "Doctor, there may be an inspection soon. Be careful." The old man nodded slightly.

The Oracle System's prompt sounded again. "Electromagnetic interference program activated. Current vehicle appears as 'Elderly Care Group No. 07' under S.H.I.E.L.D. scans. Credibility: 91%." He touched the truck's chassis. Nanites clung to the metal, simulating the faint electrical fluctuations of aging circuitry—this was the disguise least likely to arouse suspicion.

The inspection booth at the first checkpoint glowed red, its light like a crimson eye watching the passing vehicles.

Lin Xiu could see the sentinel robot's scanner turning toward them. His heart nearly leaped into his throat, and he felt as if it might stop beating altogether.

Only after the robot issued a "Pass" prompt did the old man's hand loosen from his arm—at some point, both palms had become soaked in cold sweat.

When the convoy turned past the third intersection, the dome of the Avengers' temporary command center appeared faintly in the distance.

Lin Xiu looked toward the Vibranium-reinforced building when Nick Fury's voice suddenly crackled over the vehicle radio. "All unregistered vehicles, pull over immediately. Secondary screening will begin in ten minutes.

Repeat, secondary screening..."

The old man's pupils contracted sharply. "Fury gave the order himself. Did he discover something?"

"S.H.I.E.L.D.'s scan precision is improving.

Excessive Nanite Swarm energy consumption could cause the Nanocore to overload and collapse. We need to find a solution quickly." Lin Xiu unzipped the backpack and pressed his fingertips against the armor core. "Get ready."

The Nanite Swarm surged from his sleeve like a black tide, forming seven or eight vague life signatures above the truck—the Oracle System had retrieved the Avengers' biometric data and was simulating Iron Man's thermal radiation, Captain America's heartbeat, and even Hawkeye's quiver vibrations.

When the sentinel robot's alarm suddenly sounded, the guards' attention was drawn to the "suddenly appearing superhero signals," and they raised their weapons as they rushed toward the rear of the truck.

"Go!" Lin Xiu dragged the old man into the roadside sewer. Damp wastewater rose over their ankles, cold enough to send stabbing pain through his skin.

They crawled along the pipes for three hundred meters before finally stopping at a vent outside the control room.

The moment Lin Xiu lifted the grate, the scene in the central hall struck his eyes—the Mind Stone floated inside an energy barrier, pulsing with an eerie blue glow. Every ray of light was like an invisible hand tugging at the Nanocore in his chest. The blue radiance was especially mysterious and sinister in the darkness.

"[Psychic Energy Mapping] progress: 38%... Identifying target." The Oracle System's voice suddenly sharpened.

Lin Xiu's breath caught.

Just as he leaned closer to examine it, every light in the control room suddenly went out.

In the darkness, something cold pressed against the back of his neck—it was not a weapon, but some kind of energy colder than ice, drilling up his spine toward his brain. The freezing energy sent searing pain through his neck.

"You finally came."

Footsteps sounded outside the ventilation shaft, accompanied by the crisp clink of metal striking the floor.

The voice seemed to drift from somewhere impossibly far away, yet it was clear as though it sounded beside his ear. Its trailing note carried an ancient, mocking amusement.

Lin Xiu's nano armor automatically covered his entire body, blue light flaring in the darkness.

He turned toward the depths of the shaft, but saw only a thick, impenetrable blackness—yet he knew something had been waiting here for a long time.