Mutation

"Heading out, Xing?"

"Yeah, there isn't much to do here. I might be leaving."

"That's a relief. Chinatown is pretty safe. You don't usually get gunfights here, so living here gives you some peace of mind." His neighbor thought Ah Xing meant to move out or rent somewhere else, so he shared what he knew.

"That's true. I heard there was a gunfight in a park a couple of days ago." Ah Xing nodded in agreement without explaining further.

"By the way, Ah Xing, you said you don't have any relatives here. Want me to recommend a job? My younger brother works at Stark Industries. He should be able to put in a word for you." The neighbor spoke of his younger brother with obvious pride.

"Thanks, but I actually have a job." Ah Xing politely declined his kindness. After chatting a little longer, he strode out of Chinatown.

Good-hearted people like his neighbor were rare these days. Ah Xing could tell the man genuinely wanted to help him.

The Ah Xing walking down the street now was no mere imitation created through a transformation, but the real deal.

This was [Iruka Umino]'s enhanced clone ability.

It could create a complete incarnation that wouldn't disappear upon being attacked like a Shadow Clone.

This ability could potentially be upgraded, making it very useful to Jiang Xiang.

But using it in combat would still put a considerable drain on Jiang Xiang's Psychic Power.

Fortunately, [Iruka Umino] had also provided the Chakra Cultivation Method, which helped strengthen his Psychic Power to some extent.

Holed up in his antique shop, Jiang Xiang dreamed of drawing a Rapid Cultivation Card next time, or a card like the Hyperbolic Time Chamber from Dragon Ball.

Then he could quickly give himself a major power boost.

"Ah-!"

A startled cry drew Jiang Xiang's attention back to Ah Xing.

Just as Ah Xing was about to pass an alley entrance, a soft, feminine cry came from the other end.

Immediately afterward, a white man with a calm expression emerged, clutching his clothes tightly around himself with both hands.

It's April, and he's dressed like that while robbing someone?

Why does this look so strange?

Ah Xing raised an eyebrow.

"Get lost, you damn yellow monkey! Out of my way!"

Ah Xing's expression immediately darkened.

Whoosh-

Ah Xing vanished from where he stood.

In the dim evening light, the white man watched Ah Xing disappear and began to panic.

Was that a ghost?

Ah Xing abruptly reappeared in front of him.

He raised his left leg, bending his knee and aiming the sole of his foot at the man.

Thrust kick!

Bam-

The white man flew backward, slammed against the wall, then slowly slid down.

[Emotional Value from an Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. +3]

"Whoo?"

Ah Xing marveled. That's pathetic. You're with S.H.I.E.L.D. too, but getting beaten up like this only gives me three points?

Coulson had given him five points of Emotional Value just for listening to a story.

What's S.H.I.E.L.D. playing at? Testing my kung fu?

As he speculated, Ah Xing kept moving. Ignoring the man on the ground, he glanced around. There didn't seem to be any cameras, so he headed straight out of the street.

Just as Ah Xing was about to reach the end of the street, a woman with loose black hair and a face that could only be called pleasant-looking slowly emerged. Noticing the white man slumped against the wall, she looked toward Ah Xing at the intersection in surprise.

"What happened here?"

(ノ⊙ω⊙)ノ Oh!

Ah Xing could only marvel. Seriously? A honey trap?

Natasha already tried that last time.

They sent an Asian woman this time? But she isn't even that pretty.

Hmm, I suppose her looks fit the local beauty standards better.

"Thank you so much..."

Ah Xing raised both hands in a stopping gesture. "Hold it. Save your thanks. Which agency are you from this time? Could you people at least send more professional agents?"

??

Melinda looked puzzled, but inwardly, she was reviewing what had gone wrong.

How did he see through me?

Having said his piece, Ah Xing prepared to leave again.

"Sir, I don't understand what you mean."

Melinda still refused to admit that her cover had been blown.

As the most outstanding graduate in her class at S.H.I.E.L.D. Academy, she had considerable confidence in her ability to maintain a disguise. She didn't believe she had given anything away just now.

Ah Xing said nothing. With his hands clasped behind his back, he leisurely wandered out of the street.

[Emotional Value from S.H.I.E.L.D.'s Melinda +10]

Left with no choice, Melinda reported back.

"Sir, the mission failed. Jack is seriously injured."

"Understood. Someone is already on the way to pick you up."

Nick Fury's dark face betrayed no emotion.

At first, he had thought Ah Xing disliked white people, so he had deliberately sent an Asian agent to test him.

Apparently, skin color wasn't the issue.

Still cultivating and strengthening his Psychic Power, Jiang Xiang was quite pleased with S.H.I.E.L.D.'s persistence.

After all, S.H.I.E.L.D. was full of talented people and was a major source of emotional value.

With a source this lucrative, he had to keep them dangling without getting too close, or they might easily spot flaws in his act.

I'll be counting on you to supply emotional value for years to come.

After musing for a while, Jiang Xiang stopped dwelling on these distractions.

At one of Nick Fury's small, private S.H.I.E.L.D. bases.

The bases where accidents had previously occurred during Wraith research had all been funded by S.H.I.E.L.D. No one even knew how much money Nick Fury had siphoned off from them.

"Dr. Anton, still no results?"

A middle-aged white man in a lab coat shook his head.

He adjusted his glasses with his right hand while holding an experimental report in his left, his expression tinged with fervor.

"No, Director. Basic observation and testing yield almost no meaningful data. If we could go a step further..."

Nick Fury stopped him from continuing. "Focus on your current work, Doctor. Don't do anything unnecessary."

No one noticed that black vapor had begun rising from the back of the Wraith lying inside the base.

Jiang Xiang had long anticipated a change in the Wraith Yinshenger.

After all, they kept disguising themselves and then ambushing people. Surely they weren't doing it out of boredom.

However, Jiang Xiang hadn't done anything behind the scenes to encourage this development. There was nothing he could do, either.