Turning the Tables and Becoming the Boss

"Who are you? Here for an autograph?" Tony asked, showing Fury the hamburger in his hand.

"If you want a burger, go get one downstairs. I don't do delivery."

Fury glanced at Lu Qi and said to Stark, "Perhaps you could ask the person beside you."

Tony looked at Lu Qi, giving him a puzzled look.

"Nick Fury, the big boss of S.H.I.E.L.D.," Lu Qi said casually, though he did not mention that S.H.I.E.L.D. had another hidden big boss.

"That was in the past. Now you can call it S.H.I.E.L.D.," Fury added after Lu Qi.

(Correction: I noticed you all seem to think S.H.I.E.L.D. here should be Hydra S.H.I.E.L.D.???)

"Because many employees complained that our name was too long, we changed it."

Tony nodded. "All right then, Director Nick. What do you want with us?"

"Besides exchanging some intelligence with my consultant, I also have something to discuss with you."

Lu Qi glanced at Fury, wondering why this guy was acting so seriously.

"Lu Qi, do you know where Bruce Banner is?" Fury asked Lu Qi.

"Bruce Banner, the Hulk?" Lu Qi looked at Fury in confusion.

"What do you want with him?"

"General Ross has made some new moves recently. He may have found the Hulk, so I need to prepare in advance and ensure the safety of nearby residents when they act. That is also S.H.I.E.L.D.'s responsibility. But General Ross believes someone in S.H.I.E.L.D. might warn the Hulk, so he refuses to share intelligence with us."

"Interesting." Lu Qi nodded, realizing Fury truly believed he had returned from space and had alien technology at his disposal. Otherwise, he would not have found Tony so quickly.

But what if Fury came looking for him whenever something happened in the future? One lie required more lies to cover it up, so Lu Qi simply said:

"My technology was accidentally damaged while I was returning to Earth. I only barely managed to scan the globe, but I found a powerful energy source at a beverage factory in Brazil. It might be that Hulk. There's also a very powerful energy source in Antarctica. I don't know anything else, so stop bothering me."

Fury nodded. "So you won't be providing me with intelligence support anymore?"

"What, isn't this information enough already?" Lu Qi waved him off, telling Fury to stop bothering him.

"It's enough." Although he knew there were many holes in Lu Qi's story, Fury was already delighted with what he had gained today.

Leaving the Hulk aside, the energy source in Antarctica reminded him of a certain well-known individual.

As for Lu Qi, there was plenty of time ahead. Fury had plenty of ways to get intelligence from him.

He turned to Stark.

"Someone has likely already told you some things about S.H.I.E.L.D. We won't give you special treatment because of that connection, but if you run into trouble, we'll help you."

"Oh, please. Does Tony Stark need anyone else's help?" Tony said with a smile, but Fury tapped his chest, and Tony's smile slowly faded.

"If you have trouble, come find me," Fury said before turning and leaving.

Lu Qi looked at Tony. Had this guy already discovered the harm Palladium was doing to his body?

Tony composed himself and turned to Lu Qi. "What did you mean earlier? What alien technology?"

Lu Qi shook his head helplessly. See? This was exactly what he meant.

"I'm an Earthling who was abducted by aliens and taken into space. I only returned recently and brought back some alien technology, but unfortunately, all of it was broken, so I threw it away."

Tony raised an eyebrow. "You were lying to him, weren't you?"

"Yes." Lu Qi nodded in admission. "I just don't know why Fury believed it. Still, I do know a few things."

"I hope you can keep fooling him," Tony said to Lu Qi.

"By the way, what did Fury mean earlier? What's wrong with you?" Lu Qi feigned ignorance.

Tony was silent for a moment. "What could possibly be wrong with me?"

"You don't look like you're fine. But if you don't want to say it, I respect your privacy. Still, I hope you can be honest with me."

Lu Qi had no solution for this New Element thing either. He could only tell Tony at the last moment, before Tony realized it himself. He had no way to make it for him in advance.

If he told Tony now, Tony would probably bombard him with questions. It was better to let Tony try on his own, and perhaps he could also clear up his misunderstanding about his father.

Whenever he thought of Tony's father, Lu Qi got a headache. He thought of the Avengers Civil War in the future, but that was still far away. He could only wait and see.

The two chatted for a while longer before parting ways.

Lu Qi returned to his little place, changed coordinates, and continued digging. Seeing that the system gave no warning about enemies, he ignored it.

For the next few days, he should focus on steady development. The Hulk was about to appear, and he needed to see whether the troops unlocked later would be useful.

As for the current Blade Soldiers and Ninja Soldiers, they probably could not do much damage to the Hulk or Abomination.

A few days later, Lu Qi looked over the coordinates in his notebook and confirmed that he had dug through all of them. Looking at his one thousand Ninja Soldiers and two hundred thousand energy, he felt a headache coming on.

The enhancement requirements had appeared again, but they required five hundred thousand energy. He had already excavated all of his dimensions, so he had to ask The Ancient One for coordinates.

He drew a portal back to the square at Kamar-Taj and saw a group of mages training.

"Hey, Lu Qi, you're back!" Mordo spotted Lu Qi, who had suddenly appeared.

"Yes. What's up?" Lu Qi was somewhat confused. He actually returned quite often and had become fairly familiar with these people.

"The Sorcerer Supreme is still in seclusion, modifying those spells. She told me to give you this booklet." Mordo took out a small booklet and handed it to Lu Qi.

"Is there anything else?" Lu Qi looked at Mordo.

"The Sorcerer Supreme also said that Medium Dimensions can change their own coordinates, so you'll have to find the Dark Dimension yourself."

Mordo gave Lu Qi a small book.

"She also said that many of these Small Dimensions already have owners. Extracting their energy will inevitably lead to battle. You can leave a portal to your dimension in this square. We can fight for you as payment for using your Dark Energy."

Seeing that these people no longer spoke of Dark Energy with extreme hatred, Lu Qi gained a deep impression of The Ancient One's ability to rally others.

"The Ancient One said I should leave a portal?" Lu Qi asked.

"Yes. She said that every cause has its effect, and that we cannot consume your energy for nothing. We need to do something for you in return."

Mordo glanced at the group of newly promoted mages behind him and leaned closer. "It'll also give these guys some combat experience."

Lu Qi looked at the mages and nodded. They were all excellent tools.

When the time came, these mages could guard the Shadow World while his ninjas went in to slaughter monsters. Wouldn't that be perfect?

"How fast do you consume energy now?"

Lu Qi checked his current recovery rate. It was one thousand points per second. Excluding what went to The Ancient One, he still had a recovery rate of nine hundred and ninety-seven points.

That rate should let The Ancient One loosen up a little, but Lu Qi had no idea how much energy these mages would consume.

Mordo did not know either, so he simply took Lu Qi aside to test it.

After signing a contract, Mordo could also receive a supply of Dark Energy from Lu Qi. Lu Qi could terminate that supply at any time, just like the contract with The Ancient One.

The two tested the consumption of various spells and finally concluded that an ordinary mage did not need energy during normal times. The Ancient One only needed it to sustain her life. In battle, however, a High-Level Mage casting at a normal frequency would consume one hundred energy per second. But mages could not be fighting all the time, so Lu Qi could let them use the Dark Energy he had stored up. After all, he was constantly recovering energy.

He currently had a reserve of two hundred thousand energy. Together with his energy recovery, that could support a group of twenty High-Level Mages in battle for more than three minutes.

Lu Qi nodded and told Mordo to gather some elite mages first.

Very soon, Mordo returned with a group of elite mages. Lu Qi recognized many of them from the Doctor Strange movie.

After signing contracts with them and letting them familiarize themselves with his Dark Energy, Lu Qi followed Mordo to the teleportation hub.

A month ago, Lu Qi had gone from here to Big Apple.

Mordo operated a device for a while, and a doorframe appeared.

Mordo explained to Lu Qi, "Link the space of your Shadow World to this place, and this portal can be fixed here."

Lu Qi nodded and pressed his hand against the doorframe. A layer of black energy appeared at its center.

Slowly, that layer of energy triggered a spatial resonance, connecting the Shadow World to this place.

"Once you go in, remember to cover yourself with Dark Energy. Otherwise, you'll be assimilated by the Dark Energy."

After saying that to Mordo, Lu Qi stepped inside.

He was the master of this space, the Dark Lord. Dark Energy would not harm him.

Upon arriving in his dimension, Lu Qi took to the air.

This space was no longer as small as it had been in the beginning. Lu Qi now had a maximum of two hundred thousand energy, and the space had expanded to twenty times its previous size.

Opening the small booklet, Lu Qi selected a target dimension and had Mordo call the others over to inspect the situation.