In plenty of movies and TV shows, these people never spared any effort to keep their entrances mysterious.
Granted, that kind of entrance really was cool. If he had the chance, Li Ang would definitely try it himself.
Li Ang pushed the door open and walked in. In the dim room, only the outlines of the furniture were visible in the moonlight.
On the sofa, Nick Fury let out a sigh of relief. "Finally. I've been sitting here for half an hour!"
He had sat here for half an hour for the sake of this entrance.
According to the voice reports, Li Ang had not only flown around most of New York but also stopped for a meal along the way.
If not for the mysterious entrance, why would he have bothered sitting here for half an hour?
"At least he's here." Nick Fury worked through his plans, the things he had learned in espionage training flashing through his mind.
He had to gain the upper hand in both presence and psychology to steer the conversation effectively. That was also why he had waited here for half an hour.
Click!
The switch flipped, and the instant the lights came on, Nick Fury smiled faintly.
He waited to see Li Ang's surprised expression, waited for him to ask, "How did you get in here?"
He stood up and was just about to straighten his clothes when, before he could speak, his eyes suddenly went wide!
At some point, Li Ang had already appeared right in front of him, wearing an expression that was almost a smile. It was downright obnoxious!
"Wow, you know that in the United States, if a nigger shows up in my house uninvited, I'm perfectly entitled to kill you?"
At Li Ang's words, Nick Fury immediately backed up several steps, hopping clear of the sofa before planting his feet.
Hearing himself called a nigger, Nick Fury's already dark face turned even fucking darker!
Motherfucker! He almost swore aloud. After taking a deep breath, he managed to suppress his anger.
He flicked the hem of his black leather coat and slipped both hands into his pockets, wearing a confident expression as though he had already seen right through Li Ang. "Li Ang, twenty-five. Your parents were overseas Chinese who died in a home invasion shortly after you were born."
"An orphan, no relatives, no assets, no insurance. Currently employed as a clerk at a small trading company in Queens. Am I right?"
The more he spoke, the more confident he became, looking forward to seeing surprise on Li Ang's face.
It was just like getting doxxed online. If a teammate suddenly called out your real name in a game, anyone would get a fright, right?
But Li Ang rubbed his chin and kept nodding. "Wow, you've done a pretty good job casing the place, burglar."
A burglar?
Nick Fury's eyes widened. He actually called me a burglar?
As a spymaster, he could tell that Li Ang was resisting any attempt to communicate. Seeing that intimidation was getting him nowhere, Fury decided to try a different approach.
"A burglar? Heh... At most, I'm here to check whether the person living in this room is a hero who can save the world, or the next threat who'll blow up half of New York."
He paced slowly, his leather boots creaking against the old wooden floor, his one eye fixed on Li Ang, unwilling to miss even the smallest detail.
Li Ang showed no sign of nervousness. He walked over to the fridge on his own and took out a bottle of Coke. "Nick Fury. I know you. Director of S.H.I.E.L.D., former army colonel, spymaster."
Li Ang would have loved to rattle off this bald egg's personal information as though he knew it by heart, but he was just a movie fan. His knowledge of the background details was only mostly complete.
Hearing his past and even S.H.I.E.L.D. mentioned, Nick Fury narrowed his eye.
"You've done your homework. Then you should know why I'm here, too. I'm not your enemy."
"I just want to know why, a week ago, you were a lowly clerk who could barely afford rent, but now you can fly, shoot lasers from your eyes, and pinpoint the location of the kidnapped Tony Stark."
Faced with Nick Fury's questioning, Li Ang merely shrugged casually. "I was born with divine strength."
Nick Fury's lone eye narrowed to a slit. "Li Ang, I'm past the age of believing in fairy tales. If possible, I'd very much like to work with you."
Nick Fury kept pressing. He was certain Li Ang would not kill him, based on both their exchange just now and what Li Ang had said at the reception earlier.
Besides, he still had a backup plan.
"So fucking persistent!" Li Ang clicked his tongue. This old fox kept talking in circles, trying to find something out.
"You want to work together? Sure. Burn this place down for me, then put up a gravestone for me, and I'll consider it."
He had not forgotten what he had come here to do. He had originally intended to use Heat Vision for a simple, brute-force solution. Now that someone else could do it for him, all the better.
S.H.I.E.L.D. certainly would not let anyone nearby get hurt, and he would not have to find a burial plot himself, either.
Nick Fury blinked his lone eye. "Burn down the house and put up a gravestone? Are you arranging your own funeral?"
"Don't worry about that. Oh, and remember to compensate the landlord for the house. Come up with an excuse yourselves."
"Looks like you still have a bit of a conscience." Once Nick Fury finished speaking, Li Ang flew out the window.
Soon... the residents of several nearby buildings were evacuated, and Li Ang's home went up in flames because of an electrical short circuit.
In the firelight, Li Ang sat atop a low building not far away, watching Nick Fury climb into an SUV and leave.
A line of text appeared before his eyes.
[Mission one: A nobody, or world-famous? (Completed)] [Mission rewards have been issued. You can now use presence to upgrade.]
At the same time, notifications of skyrocketing presence kept appearing before Li Ang's eyes!
[Gained recognition from netizens: +7,000 presence] [Gained skepticism from passersby: +10,000 presence] [Gained attention from political leaders of various countries: +23,000 presence]
Passersby and netizens had far too little influence on this world...
"Looks like I'll have to earn presence from the heroes." Excited, Li Ang finally said those words. "System, open the panel!"
As his words fell, the system screen that every transmigrator needed finally appeared before his eyes.
It was a menu panel resembling a game interface.
[Master: Li Ang] [Presence: 52,700 (Each upgrade costs 5,000 presence)] [Abilities: Man of Steel lv:1, Heat Vision lv:1, Super Senses lv:1] [System ability upgrades (Unlocked), Conscientious Slot Machine (Locked)]
"So bare-bones. Looks like a menu screen from a galgame..." Li Ang's mouth twitched as he looked at the panel. And that Conscientious Slot Machine definitely wasn't fucking conscientious.
What good person went around telling everyone they were a good person?
[You may choose to upgrade your abilities or upgrade the system.]
Li Ang considered it and decided he still needed to improve his own strength first.
"Five thousand points just to gain one level..." Li Ang grumbled. Fortunately, the system did not count strength, agility, self-healing, and the like separately.
Man of Steel included all of those. Flight, strength, defense-everything tied to physical toughness fell under Man of Steel.
His current presence was enough for ten upgrades, costing fifty thousand points.
After a few seconds of consideration, Li Ang decided to put six points into Man of Steel and split the other four between Heat Vision and Super Senses.
[Abilities: Man of Steel lv:7, Heat Vision lv:3, Super Senses lv:3]
After allocating the points, Li Ang could feel that tingling sensation spreading through his whole body again!
This time, it was even stronger. A pleasure that made him tremble swept through his entire body. Looking at the full moon, Li Ang had the illusion that he had just finished.
Once the sensation faded, Li Ang stood up and clearly felt that his strength had increased by a notch!
It was no exaggeration to say that he could now definitely blow apart a heavily armored tank with a single punch.
"Oh, right. How much presence does it cost to load your voice module?"
Li Ang had not forgotten about changing the system's voice to a teacher's.
[10 points. A unique voice costs an additional 10 points.]
"How much?"