Lin Xiu pressed his knuckles against the armor core. The searing heat radiating from the Nanocore passed through his tactical suit like a blazing flame, scorching his palm until it reddened slightly and stung.
The Oracle System's cold prompt sounded in his ear like a ghost just as he stared fixedly at the shifting shadow around the stairwell corner—Carl Weiss's men held pulse rifles, the red glow along their barrels tracing dangerous paths across the concrete walls. In the dim surroundings, that red light was especially glaring, as if foretelling the death about to arrive.
"Identity forgery procedure requires 10% energy from an Intermediate Fragment." The system's electronic voice carried mechanical calm, utterly devoid of emotion. "Current core temperature: 42°C. Probability of continued overload risk: 17%."
He licked his dry lips. The skin there had begun to peel slightly from tension and dehydration, making a faint sound.
A risk assessment unfolded across his retina: if he forced a breakout against seven pursuers armed with standard S.H.I.E.L.D. weapons, the Basic Form armor would not have enough energy to last three minutes. But forging an identity meant exposing part of the Nanocore's functions, possibly drawing even tighter 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 back teeth, the grinding of enamel distinctly audible in the silent surroundings.
The Nanite Swarm surged from the port along his spine and crawled up his skin toward his face like a black tide. Wherever it passed, his skin tingled.
Lin Xiu could feel it reshaping his bone structure, adjusting the pigment in his irises, even overwriting his fingerprints one by one—the Oracle System had retrieved the biometrics of the S.H.I.E.L.D. researcher "Allen Hawk," who had disappeared three days ago. The pale, bespectacled face from the database was now overlapping with his own.
The footsteps in the stairwell suddenly stopped, cutting off so abruptly that even time seemed to freeze.
"Boss, thermal imaging shows the target is on the sixth floor!"
Carl Weiss's roar exploded amid the sound of metal striking metal. "Tear this damn building apart!
The thing on that kid is worth ten Quinjets—"
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 hand.
The instant the pursuers' footsteps neared the corner, he suddenly turned around and pushed up a pair of 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 of a gun barrel instantly pressed against his temple. Like the eye of a demon, it sent a cold touch through his skin.
"Identification." The soldier holding the gun barked, his eyes narrowing behind his goggles. His voice was like that of a roaring beast.
Lin Xiu pressed his right hand to his chest. The Nanite Swarm churned beneath his skin like a raging undercurrent. The forged ID card fell with a crisp ding at the soldier's feet, its sound echoing through the silent stairwell.
When the holographic projection on the metal tag 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 program was scanning the card, while the Nanite Swarm simultaneously altered the database access records.
Three seconds.
"Let him through." The soldier kicked the ID card back, lowering his weapon. "Orders say all researchers are to assemble at Seventh Avenue Medical Center. Don't wander around."
When Lin Xiu caught the card, cold sweat seeped from his palm and slid down his fingers, dripping onto the ground with faint sounds.
Only after turning three street corners and confirming that the pursuers' footsteps had completely vanished did he take out the locator hidden inside his tactical suit—the coordinates of the abandoned medical center where Dr. Novak was being held were at a sewer entrance two kilometers away.
Lin Xiu stepped onto the street. The streetlamps on both sides were dim and yellow, casting only weak light. The shops along the road had all shut their doors, and the area was deathly silent.
He entered the sewer entrance, and the pungent stench of wastewater rushed into his face. The smell was a nauseating blend of rot and dampness.
The sewers were dark and wet. Wastewater ran down the walls with a steady drip-drip sound. His boots splashed through the filthy water, which was freezing cold as it seeped through his shoes to his feet.
The basement of the medical center was filled with the fishy stench of disinfectant mixed with mold, wrapping tightly around him like an invisible net.
As Lin Xiu slid down through the ventilation shaft, he saw an elderly man in a white coat tied to a chair. The blood on his forehead had already scabbed over, yet he was still roaring at the two guards, "That thing isn't a toy!
What Loki wants is a resonance frequency that can tear open dimensions. You're opening Earth's coffin lid!"
"Crazy old bastard." One of the guards slapped him. "When the aliens arrive, it'll be too late even if you beg us on your knees—"
The Nanite Swarm crawled from Lin Xiu's sleeve and condensed into slender needles in the air. In the darkness, they glimmered with a faint cold light.
He did not even let the armor manifest. He merely raised a hand and flicked it, and the two guards clutched their throats before collapsing limply to the floor—the Nanobots had severed their vagus nerves, enough to knock 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 sharply, and his withered fingers clamped tightly around Lin Xiu's wrist. "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 with caution and cannot be used to create weapons. I feel reverence for energy more than anything, just like you do. And I have my own insights into energy research."
The old man's body trembled slightly at Lin Xiu's words. He studied Lin Xiu for a moment, then slowly said, "I see my younger self in your eyes. Fine. I believe you."
"I'm here to get you out." Lin Xiu cut through the ropes. "You took part in Tesseract research, didn't you?"
The old man's body jolted.
He stared into Lin Xiu's eyes for a full ten seconds, then suddenly lunged at the metal cabinet in the corner and pulled out a stack of yellowed notes from a hidden compartment. "The vibration frequency of the Mind Stone has thirteen resonance points with Tesseract Fragments!" His fingers tapped frantically across the pages. "I tried isolating them with Vibranium, but energy spills over 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 instant he took the notes, the Nanocore abruptly heated up—the Oracle System was rapidly scanning the formulas on the pages, and a green analysis progress bar appeared across his retina. "Quantum entanglement model match: 87%... Recommendation: retain."
"Why are you helping me?" He stared at the old man's trembling hand, where a pale purple scar marked him as 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. "And you... your eyes are like mine were back then. When you look at energy, there's no greed. Only reverence."
Sirens wailed in the distance, sharp and piercing like the roar of a demon, shattering the silence of the basement.
Lin Xiu dragged the old man toward the surface as the Nanite Swarm began reshaping both of their faces—this time disguising them as an evacuated father and son. The old man hunched over and coughed, while Lin Xiu carried a battered backpack "filled with personal belongings," though it actually held the crucial notes.
Trucks in the evacuation convoy stopped at the intersection, spewing 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. We need to be careful." The old man gave a slight nod.
The Oracle System's prompt sounded again. "Electromagnetic interference program activated. Current vehicle appears in S.H.I.E.L.D. scans as 'Elderly Care Group No. 07.' Credibility: 91%." He touched the truck's chassis. Nanobots were clinging to the metal, simulating the faint current fluctuations of aging circuitry—the disguise least likely to arouse suspicion.
The inspection booth at the first defensive line glowed red, its light watching the passing vehicles like a crimson eye.
Lin Xiu watched the sentry robot's scanner turn toward them, his heart nearly leaping into his throat. He felt as if his heart might stop beating altogether.
Only when the robot gave its "Cleared" prompt did the old man's hand loosen from the crook of his arm—at some point, both of the old man's palms had become slick with cold sweat.
As the convoy turned past the third intersection, the dome of the Avengers' temporary command center came faintly into view.
Lin Xiu looked toward the building reinforced with Vibranium when Nick Fury's voice suddenly burst from the vehicle radio. "All unregistered vehicles, stop where you are. Secondary inspection will begin in ten minutes.
Repeat, secondary inspection..."
The old man's pupils contracted violently. "Fury gave the order himself. Did he find something suspicious?"
"S.H.I.E.L.D.'s scan accuracy is improving.
Excessive Nanite Swarm energy consumption could overload the Nanocore and cause it to collapse. We need to think of something fast." Lin Xiu unzipped the backpack and pressed his fingertips against the armor core. "Get ready."
The Nanite Swarm poured from his sleeve like a black tide, condensing above the truck into seven or eight vague life-sign signatures—the Oracle System had retrieved the Avengers' biological data and was simulating Iron Man's thermal radiation, Captain America's heartbeat frequency, even Hawkeye's quiver vibrations.
When the sentry robot's alarm suddenly sounded, the guards' attention was drawn to the "suddenly appearing superhero signals," and they raised their guns and rushed toward the rear of the truck.
"Go!" Lin Xiu pulled the old man into the roadside sewer. Damp wastewater washed over their ankles, freezing cold and painfully biting.
They crawled three hundred meters along the pipes before finally stopping at a ventilation opening outside the control room.
The moment Lin Xiu lifted the grille, the sight of the central hall struck him—within an energy barrier, the floating Mind Stone emitted deep blue pulses. Every ray was like an invisible hand tugging at the Nanocore in his chest, its blue glow appearing especially mysterious and eerie in the darkness.
"[Psychic Energy Mapping] progress: 38%... Identifying target." The Oracle System's voice suddenly became shrill.
Lin Xiu's breath caught.
Just as he leaned closer to inspect 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 frigid force sent sharp pain through his neck.
"You finally came."
Footsteps sounded outside the ventilation duct, accompanied by the crisp clang of metal striking the floor.
The voice seemed to drift from somewhere impossibly distant, yet it was clear as though it whispered beside his ear. Its trailing tone carried an ancient, mocking amusement.
Lin Xiu's Nano Armor automatically covered his entire body, blue light flaring in the dark.
He turned toward the depths of the duct and saw only dense blackness—but he knew something had been waiting there for a long time.
Before you continue