West Side Garden Café is located on a bustling commercial street in Lower Manhattan. By 8:30 p. m., it was already packed with office workers, each with a cup of coffee and typing on their laptops. If it were any later, it would probably be empty. America doesn't have a nightlife, because America's security has always been rather surreal.
Lin Xiao occupied the table furthest inside by the window, where a latte with double sugar, a cheesecake, and a large pineapple pizza sat. He was scrolling through Kara's tablet with his left hand and typing a few words in a document with his right.
No abnormalities were found at the scene, and the agents conducted their investigation according to their duties.
He stared at the sentence for two seconds, found it too dry, and added a small line below: This report was completed under the supervision of Agent Lin Xiao. If you have any questions, please consult Agent Lin Xiao, provided you are tough enough to take a beating.
The recipient was Rivich, a Level 5 agent under Sitwell, who was in charge of guiding newly recruited agents. Kara's eyes were red last week, and she said that Rivich had asked her to re-file all the mission records from the past three months, simply because her document format did not meet the new standards.
Lin Xiao sent the report, forked a slice of pizza, and put it in his mouth. The cheese stretched into strands, he bit off a piece, chewed a couple of times, then picked up his fork to reach for the cake. He looked around with interest. The girl at the next table who was revising her PowerPoint presentation glanced up at him, then at the pile of food in front of him, her expression complicated. Was this guy at the coffee shop to relax? Or to watch others work?
Lin Xiao watched for a while and then got a little bored, so he took out his phone and started playing Russia. Just as he was getting into it, the glass door was pushed open and an acquaintance walked in.
The person who arrived was wearing a gray casual jacket and thin-rimmed metal glasses. His hair was neatly styled.
Reed. Or rather, Doom.
He walked straight in, sat down opposite Lin Xiao without saying a word, placed his hands on the table, and leaned forward slightly. His brown eyes behind his glasses stared straight at Lin Xiao.
Lin Xiao leaned back and took a sip of his latte.
"What would you like to drink? Their latte is pretty good, but you have to add extra sugar."
Doom didn't respond for a few seconds before speaking.
"How did you find out?"
Lin Xiao put down his cup, tilted his head, as if seriously considering the question. Then he smiled.
"It's a secret, I can't tell you."
Doom stared at him and smiled.
"You really are someone Kingpin said he shouldn't be underestimated."
" Kingpin said that?" Lin Xiao raised an eyebrow, tapping the pizza box on the table with his fork. "That's an honor. And then? Did he mention that I'm his mentor, that I often give him lessons and teach him how to be a good person?"
Doom wasn't swayed and continued, "What kind of deal do you want to make with me?"
"Simple." Lin Xiao put his fork back on the plate, placed his hands on the edge of the table, and leaned forward half an inch. "I won't tell you your identity. Tell me what parameters you changed."
"I don't flatter people, Mr. Doom. Your brain is far superior to Reed's." Lin Xiao's lips curled into a slight smile. "I'm not interested in the Fantastic Four; I'm interested in the ideas in your head."
Doom paused for a moment, his eyes sweeping over Lin Xiao's face, a faint green light flashing in them.
Lin Xiao's vision blurred. The light in the coffee shop seemed to have been removed, the surrounding sounds seemed to fade into the distance, Doom's face loomed large in the center of his vision, his gaze like two needles piercing into his brain.
The next second, a strange force shot out from deep within Lin Xiao's mind, sending Doom flying backward from his chair. His back slammed into the empty table behind him, scattering the sugar jar and menu shelf all over the floor. He braced himself with one hand on the ground, the other clutching his chest, a trickle of blood seeping from the corner of his mouth.
Several people in the coffee shop looked up at the same time, curiously glancing in this direction.
Lin Xiao stood up, walked over to Doom, bent down and patted him on the shoulder, his voice low enough for the people at the two surrounding tables to hear. "Mr. Doom, are you alright? Are you experiencing low blood sugar? The cakes here are too sweet; don't drink coffee on an empty stomach next time."
Doom looked up and gave Lin Xiao a cold look. Lin Xiao lowered his voice, a smile still playing on his lips, and said, "It's impolite to scan someone else's brain. My brain is locked."
Doom wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth and slowly stood up. He didn't speak again, and the green in his brown eyes deepened, like a silent judgment. He suddenly raised his right hand and gently clenched it in the air.
The coffee shop vanished. The walls on all sides collapsed inward, the light was drained, and the ground beneath his feet became a pitch-black void. Countless dark green runes slowly swirled in the darkness, followed by countless black flames surging out of the void, rolling and boiling, rushing towards Lin Xiao from all directions.
Lin Xiao didn't move. The black flames hit his body like a bucket of water poured onto a red-hot iron plate, extinguishing completely with a few soft popping sounds. Not even a wisp of smoke remained. Lin Xiao patted his sleeves and took a step forward.
Another step. The void beneath his feet solidified into a physical form where he landed. Lin Xiao gently pushed with his hand, and the surrounding black void vanished. He remained standing in the same spot as if he hadn't moved at all. Just then, Lin Xiao's eyes turned to Doom. With a smile on his lips, Lin Xiao walked step by step toward Doom. Doom felt his scalp tingle and his whole body turn cold. With each step Lin Xiao took, Doom retreated a step, until finally he had nowhere left to retreat.
He had retreated to the innermost corner of the coffee shop, his lower back pressed against the wall. For every step Lin Xiao took forward, he pressed back an inch. Another step, and his shoulder slammed into the wall. There was nowhere left to retreat.
Lin Xiao stood in front of him, looking down at him with a slight smile on his lips, but his eyes were completely devoid of laughter.
"Isn't it rather impolite of you to probe like that, Doctor?"
Doom looked at him, his face paling for a moment, then he forcefully suppressed it. His brown eyes turned cold again, and the corners of his mouth even curved slightly.
Don't mind it, I'm used to it.
Seeing Doom's composed face return, his heart leaped into his throat, and he cursed inwardly. He'd gone too far with his bravado, pushed too hard. If this old bastard really lost his temper and pulled a fast one here, the whole street would be wiped out. His face remained impassive.
"I accept your conditions," Doom said, "But you must promise me that you will never have any further contact with me."
Lin Xiao patted his shoulder, the force neither too light nor too heavy.
"Deal. Coffee's on me."
Doom glanced at him for two seconds, then turned and walked away. His pace was neither fast nor slow, each step steady.
The wind chimes on the door rang once. Lin Xiao stood there, watching his figure disappear into the alleyway.
A few minutes later, Lin Xiao's legs gave way, and he slumped into the chair next to him. The back of his shirt was completely soaked, clinging to the cold chair back. He looked down at his hands; his fingers were trembling so badly that he couldn't even lift the now-cold latte.
"OMG Fuck..."
He leaned back in his chair, closed his eyes, and took several deep breaths, replaying the past few minutes in his mind twice. The first time was when Doupao's firewall repelled Doom. The second time was when Doom dragged him into a separate space, triggering the self-domain of the Ring of Protection, making him immune to the influence of the Dark Void. The third time was when the black flames burned him, purely due to the Evil-Breaking effect of the self-domain. His slap, seemingly a test, was actually a bluff.
Lin Xiao wasn't sure if Doom had been intimidated. He was cornered, yet he remained so composed. Was everything just a facade? Was he deliberately testing him?
"Damn, I've been targeted," Lin Xiao muttered, opening his eyes and gulping down his cold latte. The bitter and sweet flavors exploded at the same time, and he thought to himself that he had to hurry up and increase his strength.
Doom walked out of the alley and turned two streets.
His legs began to tremble violently, and he quickly grabbed the tree trunk to keep his balance.
He leaned against the tree trunk, bent over, and with a "whoosh," a mouthful of blood gushed from his throat, falling onto the sidewalk. His face was deathly pale.
"This is impossible! Impossible!"
Doom's lips trembled, his pupils contracted sharply, and a wave of fear washed over him.
His magic could tear through dimensions, crush Vibranium, and control minds. He had hacked into S.H.I.E.L.D..'s database, controlled Reed Richards ' brain, and even Kingpin of Kingpin's caliber dared not utter a word of threat in his presence. But Lin Xiao stood calmly in his independent space. The black flames could incinerate all organic matter and could not be extinguished. He had watched countless times his opponents struggle in agonizing screams and be consumed by the black flames in fear, but today the fire extinguished as soon as it touched his body, like fire meeting water, without even a struggle.
When he slapped his shoulder, it looked like a light tap, but Doom felt that the man's emotions had reached a breaking point. If he didn't do something, the man might really retaliate. At that point, he could only pretend to be calm and composed. Fortunately, the man only wanted to cooperate and wanted his results, not to escalate the situation. It was a stroke of luck amidst misfortune.
"What exactly is he..." Doom muttered to himself, leaning against a tree, closing his eyes and panting for a while before finally regaining his composure.
He raised his hand and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. A flash of green light appeared on his fingertip, and the bloodstain was burned to ashes and fell to the ground.
He straightened up. His gaze swept across the street corner and landed on a window of a building in the distance. Inside that window, Susan Stone was standing in front of a lab bench, looking down at a data panel.
Kingpin said that Lin Xiao was a lecher.
Doom stared at the window for a long time, his eyes narrowing.
P. S.: Second update delivered.