Malibu's beach has returned to its former tranquility, with only the sound of waves lapping at the shore. Xiao Han is lying on the beach chair, squinting his eyes slightly under his sunglasses, enjoying the perfect sunshine.
A few kilometers away, in New Avengers Base's command center, Tony·Stark was staring at the last remaining Ten Rings data stream on the holographic screen.
"These residual codes are still active," Banner frowned, "Just like cockroaches, they can't be cleaned up no matter what."
Natasha called up global surveillance, "The remnants of Ten Rings went underground, but their financial flows were strange—mostly going to deep-sea exploration and acoustic research."
"Deep Sea?" Steve thought thoughtfully, "This is completely different from their previous style."
Suddenly, the alarm sounded softly. Friday reported calmly, "Abnormal sound wave signal detected, source: Malibu sea area."
The holographic screen showed that there was some kind of large object moving vaguely under the sea, but it quickly disappeared.
"Maybe it's whales." Clint shrugged, "They will migrate through here this season."
Tony frowned. "Friday, strengthen seabed monitoring. I always feel that Ten Rings's death is too easy."
On the beach at this time, Xiao Han suddenly sat up. His Super Hearing captured some kind of abnormal sound wave - extremely low frequency, almost imperceptible, but continuous.
"Friday," he said into the air, "Is something singing in the sea?"
"Sonar monitoring shows normal, Mr. Xiao Han. It may be the mating call of a humpback whale."
Xiao Han raised an eyebrow: "Can humpback whales sing "Ode to Joy"?"
He stood up, Super Vision penetrated the sea surface, and saw a strange metal object emitting sound waves in the deep sea several kilometers away. The shape was obviously not a natural product.
"Another one who is not afraid of death." A dangerous light flashed in Xiao Han's eyes.
But just when he was about to take action, the sound waves suddenly stopped. The metal object automatically disintegrated and merged into the seawater, leaving no trace.
"Self-destruct program," Friday reported, "Unable to trace source."
Xiao Han thought for a moment and suddenly laughed, "Interesting."
He lay back on the beach chair, but this time he remained vigilant. The other party had obviously learned the lesson and no longer provoked directly, but instead used a more covert method.
In the new base, Tony received an alert. "Is there something going on over there Xiao Han?"
"The temporary abnormality has disappeared." Friday replied, "But it is detected that Ten Rings's remaining funds are flowing to an acoustic research institution."
Natasha called up information, "Ocean Voice Research Institute, on the surface, studies whale communication, but in fact..."
"They are actually researching biosonic weapons." Banner answered, "Looking at this experimental data, they are trying to use specific frequencies to affect the human nervous system."
Steve immediately ordered, "We need to investigate this institute."
"Wait a minute," Tony suddenly thought of something, "If Ten Rings wants to deal with Xiao Han, why does it need to study sound waves that affect humans?"
Everyone was stunned.
"Unless..." Vision landed slowly, "Their target is not Xiao Han."
At this moment, the surveillance screen of Malibu Beach showed that Xiao Han suddenly stood up and looked in the direction of New York.
"Friday," he said with obvious displeasure in his voice, "Did Stark install some new toys on my beach?"
The holographic screen switches to show several Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. installing monitoring equipment near the beach.
Tony immediately connected to the communication. "Hey! Those are Fury's people, not me..."
Before he finished speaking, the monitoring equipment suddenly exploded at the same time and turned into a pile of scrap metal.
"Tell Fury," Xiao Han said coldly, "If you dare to throw garbage on my beach again, I will change his Helicarrier into a beach bar."
Tony couldn't help but laugh, "Seriously, this is a good idea. We can paint the mothership pink..."
The communication was suddenly interrupted by Fury: "Stark, take care of your tenants. We are tracking the remaining signals of Ten Rings."
"Then you should come to me directly," Tony countered, "Instead of secretly installing surveillance on his beach."
Xiao Han's voice intervened. "If you want to quarrel, go elsewhere. Also, Fury, your technology is so bad, those devices are not even waterproof."
Suddenly, all communications were interrupted at the same time. The submarine optical cable was cut off by some force, and the entire California Bay Area network was paralyzed.
"What's going on?" Steve asked.
Friday reported, "An undersea earthquake was detected, and the epicenter was in the Malibu sea area."
On the beach, Xiao Han was staring at the sea. His Super Vision saw a gap opening in the sea floor, and a huge metal structure was rising from it.
"So this is the rightful owner." His eyes flashed with golden light.
But just when he was about to take action, the metal structure suddenly stopped rising and began to play a familiar melody - it was the "Ode to Joy" he heard before.
Xiao Han raised his eyebrows. "Now you have changed the music channel?"
The surface of the metal structure opened, revealing the unconscious scientists inside. A message flashed next to it:
"Exchange: Your energy sample in exchange for their lives."
Xiao Han smiled, "Finally something creative."
He appeared on the seabed instantly, Heat Vision cut through the metal structure with precision, and rescued all the scientists. The whole process took less than three seconds.
"Friday," he said to the sea, "Call Stark to come and get people."
When he returned to the beach, he found a metal box on the beach chair. In the box was a list of coordinates of all the remaining forces of Ten Rings, and a note next to it:
"Cleaning service, free of charge. PS: It's time for your beach chair to be oiled."
When Tony arrived, he saw Xiao Han who was oiling the hinges of the beach chair, and a bunch of unconscious scientists.
"So you just eliminated all the remaining forces of Ten Rings?"
Xiao Han said without raising his head, "By the way, it's mainly because they disturbed me."
Natasha checked the metal box. "These coordinates include a secret base that we haven't discovered yet. Who sent it?"
"I don't know, and I don't care." Xiao Han finally adjusted the beach chair, "As long as no one comes to disturb me anymore."
In the deep sea, an unrecorded submarine was quietly observing everything. Mr. Tea looked at the picture transmitted back with a satisfied smile.
"The test passed. The goals met the requirements. Start the second phase of the plan."
But this time, they learned to be absolutely cautious.
After all, when you see the sun angry, a wise man would choose to stay in the shadows.
And Xiao Han can finally continue to enjoy his peaceful time. At least for the time being.