The level of activity at Vought Company these past few days has been even more exaggerated than Lin Xiao had anticipated.
That night, after he and Tony finalized the marketing plan, May and Betty got the whole process running smoothly in just one morning. Jane was in charge of organizing the data, Betty oversaw the legal department reviewing the contracts, and May sat in the conference room interviewing the temporary PR staff one by one. By the afternoon, the three trending topics had become traffic drivers for Vought's official account. Tony went even further, directly having Stark Industries ' algorithm team create a backdoor for Vought, ensuring that any user who searched for " Homelander," " Ghost-Spider," or "Superhero Romance" would inevitably see Vought Company advertisement on their homepage.
In just three days, Lin Xiao signed seventeen endorsement contracts. These included sports brands, energy drinks, men's skincare products, and even a condom company offering nine million yuan, on the condition that Lin Xiao say in the advertisement, "Even superheroes have safe nights." Mei blushed when she saw the contracts, and Betty crossed them out with a pen, ordering the legal department to return them for rewriting.
Lin Xiao's days are constantly on the go. He goes to Vought for meetings in the morning, visits S.H.I.E.L.D.. to make connections in the afternoon, and then comes home to be surrounded by three women asking him all sorts of questions. He finally understands what it means to "make money is hard and suffer is hard".
But he didn't complain. He would come back in the early hours of the morning every day, and seeing Jane, Betty, and May still working, he felt sorry for them even though he didn't say anything. He thought that once this period was over, he would take them to the island that Obadiah had given him for a vacation so they could relax.
Despite being busy, there was one thing he didn't miss a single day.
Every afternoon at three o'clock, he would appear on time at the S.H.I.E.L.D.. Engineering Department, firstly to monitor Doom, secondly to ask questions (he's not ashamed to ask questions), and thirdly... no, there's no third reason. I'm really serious, really.
On the first day, Reed was standing in front of the assembly table looking at the blueprints when Lin Xiao approached with two cups of coffee, placing one on his side and the other next to Reed. Reed didn't even look up, completely ignoring Lin Xiao. Lin Xiao wasn't annoyed; he simply pushed the coffee forward, pulled out his well-worn copy of the Śūraṅgama Sūtra, flipped to the folded-corner page, pointed to the line circled in red ink, and lowered his voice.
"Brother Doom, take a look at this: 'Knowledge is the foundation of knowledge, which is the root of ignorance.' What does that mean?"
Reed paused for a moment on the data tablet in his hand, his eyes narrowing.
He turned his head, a faint green light flashing behind his glasses, and said coldly, "Buddhism speaks of seeing one's true nature and understanding one's mind. You can't even see what you are, so what's the point of asking this? Besides, I've already said that after the transaction is over, I don't want any further contact with you. You've got the blueprints, so get lost."
"So what do you think you are? Have you seen your true self? Besides, I have legs, I can go wherever I want, that's none of your business." Lin Xiao bit his straw and looked at him with a smile.
Reed didn't reply, and continued looking at the blueprints.
The first day was like this. The second day was the same. When Lin Xiao came again on the third day, Reed tilted the data panel in his hand slightly as he approached, as if waiting for him to turn to a certain page.
Doom was numb. He himself realized it.
Susan has been much quieter these past few days. She sits at her workstation revising blueprints, three screens spread out in front of her, her fingers tapping lightly on the keyboard. When Lin Xiao comes in, she glances up at him, then looks down and continues working. But the way she looks at Reed has changed; it used to be gentle, but now it carries a layer of wariness that Lin Xiao is familiar with.
Nothing had changed. The Thing was sitting in the corner welding an alloy plate. When he saw Lin Xiao come in, he nodded, said in a muffled voice, "You're here," and then continued welding.
Only Human Torch consistently gave Lin Xiao a cold shoulder. Every time Lin Xiao and Reed whispered together, Jonathan would stand by, arms crossed, rolling his eyes so hard they almost popped out.
Lin Xiao had just arrived today when he found that only Reed was left in the engineering department. Lin Xiao went over to him.
Reed saw him approach, put down the data panel in his hand, turned around, and took a few steps forward. His movements were slow, but each step carried a force that had been suppressed for a long time. Lin Xiao took a step back, his back pressed against the steel pillar. Reed took another step forward, his nose almost touching Lin Xiao's face. Green light surged in his brown eyes, and his voice was extremely low, each word squeezed out from between his teeth.
"Enough. You have to come here every day, Lin Xiao, do you want to die?"
"Hey hey hey, Brother Doom," Lin Xiao leaned back, still sporting that smug grin, "It's not that I wanted to come, but I really can't understand your blueprints, and I don't understand the stuff in the Śūraṅgama Sūtra either. There aren't many people as smart as you around me, so who else can I ask if not you?"
"Don't give me that." Reed's glasses were practically pressed against Lin Xiao's nose. "Where are you looking? You stare at Susan for ages every time you come here?"
Lin Xiao blinked, his expression suddenly turning serious, and his voice lowering slightly. "Brother Doom, what are you saying? Ms. Susan and I are purely colleagues. I admire her a lot. Don't worry, I'm really here to learn. If you want to believe me, teach me the spell you used to attack me the other day."
Reed stared at him for two seconds. A green light swirled in his pupils.
"You're not worthy to learn." He took a half step back, the murderous intent in his tone lessening slightly, but the disdain on his face remained. "Someone who can't even grasp the basic laws of the spirit world wants to learn soul magic? You should first understand the shape of your own soul."
"What's wrong with the shape of my soul?" Lin Xiao said confidently, hands on his hips. "Round, full, healthy, and vibrant."
"..." Reed closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and then another deep breath.
Seeing the atmosphere had become awkward, Lin Xiao quickly changed the subject. "Alright, let's not talk about this anymore. I'm really curious, where did Reed, such a big living person, go? You're using his face to scam food and drinks, cough cough... you didn't actually kill him, did you, or did you possess him?"
Reed's lips twitched, but he quickly regained his composure. "Possession? Are you trying to write a fantasy novel? Kill Reed? He has things I want to know; I won't do it lightly..."
"Where did Reed go? Don't tell me you've imprisoned him somewhere and have him tortured every day. I've heard about the feud between you two."
Why should I tell you?
Lin Xiao was rebuffed by a single sentence, and pursed his lips, saying:
"You're such a cheapskate. Fine, tell me if you want, or don't. I'm not interested anyway."
Reed smiled and adjusted his glasses as he watched Lin Xiao's rare moment of frustration.
"It's alright to tell you. I've imprisoned him in the Dark Void, where he's suffering terribly."
" Dark Void? Seems pretty powerful."
Reed kept his head down, but he couldn't hide the smugness on his lips. The next second, however, he broke down because Lin Xiao continued, "It wouldn't be fun if it were that piece of junk that locked me up in the coffee shop the other day. I could push it away with one hand. Is that the Dark Void you're talking about?"
Reed raised his head, his eyes fixed on Lin Xiao, and roared, "You, get, out! Get out!"