Father and daughter serve Li Qi together

At the entrance to the Dominator's villa, Xu Wenwu's gaze was instantly drawn to two women of exceptional bearing standing there. One of them was his daughter, Xu Xialing.

Although his son and daughter had fled his base one after the other ten years ago, Xu Wenwu had quietly kept an eye on them all these years. His fatherly love had never faded with time or distance. So when his daughter appeared at the villa entrance, Xu Wenwu recognized her at a glance with a father's uniquely keen intuition.

Though he was under the Dominator's mental control, Xu Wenwu retained independent awareness and thought, just like the puppet Tony. Only his loyalty was firmly locked in place, as though bound by sturdy shackles, preventing him from doing anything detrimental to the Dominator.

Thus, upon seeing his daughter, Xu Wenwu's face showed a mixture of puzzlement and confusion. Li Qi keenly noticed the change in his new servant's expression and explained, "That's right, that's your daughter. She works for me now too."

Xu Wenwu understood at once. After the car came to a steady stop in the villa's courtyard, Li Qi calmly stepped out and beckoned Daisy Johnson and Xu Xialing over from the entrance. Xu Wenwu got out as well.

Li Qi told the father and daughter, "From now on, you two will work for me together. No estrangement, no conflicts. Work closely together. Understood?" He gave them this warning in advance, hoping they would cooperate fully in his service.

The father and daughter assured the Dominator in unison that they would devote everything to him without reservation, their resolute gazes seeming to proclaim their loyalty.

Li Qi nodded in satisfaction, then entered the villa with his three slaves. The potbellied Happy was still leading his security personnel on diligent patrols around the villa like loyal guards.

Back in the living room, Li Qi glanced at the clock on the wall. It was almost twelve, time to eat. Daisy Johnson approached the Dominator with light steps and softly informed him that the food was ready. Li Qi nodded in acknowledgment and led everyone to the dining room.

He told the father and daughter to sit wherever they liked, while Daisy Johnson turned and went to the kitchen to tell the head chef to serve the meal. Somewhat reserved in the Dominator's presence, the father and daughter cautiously sat on either side of the dining table. The villa's other three occupants also entered the dining room one after another. A man and a woman came in holding hands, both with fairly round faces. They were Shang-Chi and his girlfriend, Katy.

While they were resting indoors, the artificial intelligence JARVIS's gentle voice had sounded, informing them that lunch would begin shortly and asking them to gather in the dining room.

The couple entered the dining room and looked up to see Xu Wenwu sitting upright in a black combat uniform. Shang-Chi's face immediately took on a complicated mix of confusion, surprise, and anger, an expression that seemed to speak of years of accumulated resentment.

He stepped forward, wanting to demand in an accusatory tone why Xu Wenwu had sent people to hunt him down. Xu Wenwu also saw Shang-Chi, and just as when he had seen his daughter, an unusual expression flashed across his face. It was a complex emotion, with surprise and a trace of barely perceptible guilt. His daughter was here, so it was hardly strange that his son was here too.

Shang-Chi walked up to his father and demanded, "Why did you send people to hunt me down? After all these years, can't you just let me be an ordinary person?" Shang-Chi's greatest wish was to live an ordinary person's peaceful life, far from those conflicts and dangers.

Xu Wenwu was just about to explain and try to change Shang-Chi's mind when Li Qi said, "Wenwu, since he wants to be an ordinary person, let him have his wish. Don't interfere with his life anymore."

Li Qi actually thought little of Shang-Chi. Aside from looking old and mature, the fellow's thinking and way of dealing with people did not particularly suit Li Qi's preferences either. In Li Qi's eyes, Shang-Chi was like a piece of uncut jade that could never be properly carved.

With Xu Wenwu and Xu Xialing by his side, Li Qi had no intention of keeping Shang-Chi around, which was why he said this to Xu Wenwu.

Xu Wenwu naturally obeyed the Dominator's arrangements. He nodded and told Shang-Chi, "All right, son. If you want to be an ordinary person, suit yourself. From now on, you'll have nothing more to do with the Ten Rings. But we should still keep in touch as a family."

This severed Shang-Chi's connection to the Ten Rings without severing the father-son relationship. Li Qi did not care; to him, these were all inconsequential matters.

But something was giving him a slight headache just then. After hearing their conversation, Shang-Chi's Asian girlfriend, Katy, guessed that the two were most likely father and son.

Yet as she looked at Shang-Chi's and Xu Wenwu's faces, confusion arose in Katy's heart. Why did Shang-Chi look so old, while Xu Wenwu looked so young?

After all these years, only upon seeing genuinely handsome Asian men did Katy realize that, by the standards of Eastern looks, Shang-Chi was very ordinary and old-looking.

The handsome man before her, dressed in a fitted combat outfit, was the second pleasing face she had seen in the past two days. Katy quickly grabbed Shang-Chi's arm, curiosity shining in her eyes as she asked, "Shang-Chi, is this the dad you've never mentioned? Hurry up and introduce us."

Before Shang-Chi could speak, Katy began chatting familiarly with Xu Wenwu, saying she was Shang-Chi's girlfriend, that she loved Shang-Chi very much, that she and Shang-Chi had been chased through the streets by people trying to slash them, that it was all thanks to Mr. Li Qi, and so on. She rambled endlessly, like a little bird that would not stop chirping.

Li Qi could only think that she was like Tang Sanzang in A Chinese Odyssey, able to talk about anything and unable to stop once she started, as though there were a perpetual motion machine in her head.

Suppressing his irritation, he glanced at Xu Xialing beside him. She had not chatted with her father or brother, instead dutifully remaining at the Dominator's side like a silent statue.

Li Qi told her to sit at the dining table and wait. Xu Xialing nodded and quietly took a seat farther away from Xu Wenwu, her face expressionless.

Just then, Dr. Maya entered the dining room, her face showing a mixture of surprise and delight. Ever since arriving at the villa yesterday and telling Li Qi about the extremis virus, she had been deeply worried, as though a heavy stone were weighing on her heart.

She knew full well how formidable the extremis virus was, and she also knew that Killian's men were all desperate outlaws. As a result, she had barely slept last night or this morning, constantly worrying that innocent people might be hurt.

She had originally come to find Tony Stark. After meeting the puppet Tony, he had told her that he had given his company, villa, and most of his assets to Mr. Li Qi. This had worried her even more, her anxiety growing like a rolling snowball.

However, after Li Qi single-handedly repelled the helicopters of two armed squads, she became curious about this mysterious, handsome Eastern man. Upon seeing Li Qi in the dining room, the corners of Maya's mouth lifted slightly into a charming smile.

Li Qi called for her to hurry up and sit down to wait for the meal. Maya nodded and happily sat beside Xu Xialing, chatting with Li Qi about the attack helicopters from earlier.

Based on Maya's knowledge of Killian's men, those who had come this time were highly capable and equipped with attack helicopters, rocket launchers, assault rifles, and more, yet they had still been no match for Li Qi. This filled Maya with curiosity and admiration for him, and her eyes were full of respect as she looked at him.

Meanwhile, Li Qi was also considering what to do with Dr. Maya. Her defection from Killian's ranks to come to the villa and warn them meant that she could no longer return to Killian's organization, while he himself was bound to destroy this evil organization.

As Killian's core technology, the extremis virus possessed significant specificity and biological value. He might as well assign Maya to the Ten Rings and have them continue researching the extremis virus.

After all, the extremis virus was still imperfect, and users had a low chance of surviving its injection. Dr. Maya needed to further optimize the gene-cutting and splicing techniques to produce a perfected extremis virus.

Thus, Li Qi decided to transfer the extremis virus research program to the Ten Rings to continue, with Dr. Maya in charge of the research project.