It's 2:30 a. m. at Reed Richards's detached house.
Lin Xiao donned his black robe once more tonight, his face concealed by the silver mask he hadn't used in a long time. The Phantom Thief L was making a comeback tonight. Under the cover of darkness, he clung to the villa's exterior wall like a gecko, silently scaling the second-floor terrace. He had two things to do tonight: first, find the missing Susan; second, give that old bastard Doom a good dressing down.
He had barely stepped onto the corridor floor, not even having a firm footing, when he triggered some mechanism. A buzzing sound suddenly filled the air, followed by a thick black fog that slowly spread from the depths of the corridor, and the temperature instantly plummeted to freezing.
"I've been waiting for you for a long time, Lin Xiao."
Doom's voice came from all directions, filled with the satisfaction of revenge and an arrogant arrogance. Black mist gathered at the top of the stairs, and Doom's signature green robe and silver mask slowly emerged.
"I've investigated your background." Doom's voice boomed condescendingly through the thick fog. "The CEO of Vought Group, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. —those identities are one thing. But within this circle, your reputation is surprisingly good. As for your magic..." Doom scoffed, his tone full of disdain. "I know, you're the Ancient One's godson, and all your magic comes from Kamar-Taj. I imagine you're carrying quite a few high-level magical artifacts bestowed upon you, aren't you? I suffered last time because I fell for those things, didn't I?"
Lin Xiao stood at one end of the corridor, silent, his eyes blinking beneath the mask.
Doom seemed confident of victory and even began to share his spoils. "I've set up Anti-Mage Barrier throughout the house. This perfect magic circle wasted ten of my magic Crystal and even two days of my time, but now it all seems worth it. With just a little magic fluctuation, your magical items will become scrap metal, and yours will be drained of magic and become a lamb to the slaughter."
Lin Xiao picked at his ear.
"Finished talking? Stop babbling on and on. Where's Susan? What did you do to her?"
Doom's face stiffened. "Ha, still struggling in its death throes." His eyes, hidden behind the mask, seemed to shift subtly, even carrying a hint of schadenfreude. "You still care about her? Just as I suspected. I've been secretly observing you these past few days and noticed that Susan's gaze towards you was off. When you two were alone, she looked so shy when you hugged her. Reed's cuckolded must be glowing, right? Poor Reed, you stole his home and now he's being tortured in the Dark Void."
Lin Xiao was somewhat confused.
"Brother, you must have misunderstood something. But it's alright, you've been talking a lot today, you've become a chatterbox?"
"Hmph, shut up, you insect." Doom raised his hand, and the surrounding black mist became even thicker, with dense runes spinning rapidly in the air. "Die."
The black mist completely closed in.
Lin Xiao stood still, looking around. The window, which had been letting in light, was now completely dark, not even a sliver of streetlight could get in. Looking at the complete darkness around him and the rapidly swirling runes in the air, he felt no discomfort whatsoever. He even took a moment to scratch his backside. He reached into his pocket and pulled something out.
A crisp "snap" sounded.
A tiny flame flickered. Lin Xiao held up a one-yuan plastic lighter, bringing it close to his mask. The flame danced in the darkness, illuminating his comical mask and also the stiff face of Doom opposite him.
"You..." Doom's voice trailed off.
"Your barrier is pretty good, the light-blocking effect is excellent, much better than blackout curtains." Lin Xiao held up a lighter, his tone genuinely impassioned. "But it doesn't seem to work on me."
Doom's eyes widened suddenly. Impossible. Anti-Mage Barrier are like drained pools to any mage, how come this person is completely unaffected? Not only can he move, but he even has the leisure to light a lighter?
"He's not a sorcerer?" Doom wondered, "Or did the Ancient One give him an item that allows him to ignore barriers?"
"Playing tricks." Doom suppressed the absurdity in his heart and slammed his hands together. "It's alright. There's a second layer. Last time I underestimated you because you didn't use your full strength. This time, hmph..."
As he moved, the surrounding black mist instantly solidified, transforming into a domain. Doom focused his attention to the extreme, intending to grind Lin Xiao into mincemeat right there.
But the next second, in his proud magical domain, Lin Xiao, holding a lighter, took a step forward as if taking a stroll. He even freed one hand and casually flicked it into the air, like lifting the curtain of an izakaya.
"Splash--"
The sturdy black barrier cracked as he ripped a large hole in it. Moonlight streamed in through the crack, falling directly on Lin Xiao's shoulder.
Doom took a half step back, his voice finally cracking. "What kind of monster are you?"
"The chosen one." Lin Xiao put away the lighter, dusted off his hands, and spoke in an extremely irritating tone.
Doom was furious. He retreated three or four steps, abandoning his usual fighting style against the mage. He slightly turned his body, chanted a spell, and his hands glowed with green light. Several chains made of pure dark energy shot out from his sleeves and instantly wrapped around Lin Xiao's entire body like venomous snakes.
This is a spell used against Mutants and superpowered individuals. It was this very spell used in Brazil that nearly drained that old Sabretooth dry. Once locked in, even the strongest physical power will be drained away like water leaking out.
The moment the chains tightened, Lin Xiao's body went limp, his legs buckled, and he looked at Doom in astonishment. The next second, he collapsed straight onto the carpet. His eyes were closed, his face was pale, his chest heaved weakly, and he seemed to have all his strength drained away, extremely weak.
Doom paused for a moment. He looked down at Lin Xiao lying on the ground, his eyes filled with wild joy.
"I thought you had some skill. Turns out, without those magical artifacts, you're just a slightly stronger grasshopper." Doom sneered, the green light in his hand flashing again, gathering into an extremely sharp blade of light, aimed at Lin Xiao's throat, preparing to deliver the final blow.
The light blade was still half a foot away from Lin Xiao's neck.
Lin Xiao, who was lying on the ground, suddenly opened his eyes. He looked at Doom, and a slow grin spread across his face, revealing his smug smile clearly through the mask.
"Finished playing?" Lin Xiao asked softly.
Doom's heart sank, and without any hesitation, he quickly took three steps back.
Lin Xiao sprang to his feet with a somersault, grabbed the green chains wrapped around his body, and yanked them hard. The chains let out a mournful cry, snapped in two, and scattered into specks of light.
"This is impossible!" Doom exclaimed, "You clearly..."
"Dark magic has no effect on me, oh brother, let me tell you I have a spell called Evil-Breaking. Scared yet?" Lin Xiao patted imaginary dust off his clothes and cracked his neck. "I was just putting on an act with you earlier, to make you seem more cunning. Besides, whenever you use this dark stuff, I feel my energy 'skyrocketing' up. I should thank you, Brother Doom."
Doom's chest heaved violently; he still wanted to form hand seals.
"Don't bother." Lin Xiao waved his hand, but a chilling blue-purple electric light had already appeared on his right hand. The arc of electricity crackled and illuminated half of his body.
Lin Xiao walked towards Doom step by step, rubbing the sparks between his fingertips.
"You just said Reed's hat was a bit green?" Lin Xiao said with a smile as he walked, looking at Doom. "I think you're quite the gossip, old man. Do you always hide and spy on other people's wives? What are you, Latveria pure love god of war?"
"Shut up!" Doom roared, about to raise his hand.
"Alright, alright, enough with the nonsense. I suddenly remembered you have the same problem—you're such a show-off." Lin Xiao suddenly flashed and appeared directly in front of Doom. He didn't use any magic at all; relying purely on his physical strength, he grabbed Doom's Cloak collar. "You said you were going to mess with me? Here, I'll give you a perm right now, free of charge. Look at how well you're covered by that mask, you must have a lot of dandruff, right?"
Lin Xiao raised the hand that was flashing with high voltage and placed it directly on Doom's silver mask.
"Snap, sizzle sizzle sizzle..."
A chilling crackling sound of electricity exploded in the corridor, and blue-white lightning traveled from the mask throughout Doom's body. Doom convulsed violently, and white smoke billowed from the gaps in his mask.
"This electricity was for Reed," Lin Xiao muttered as he increased the pressure.
"This electricity was for Susan. It kept her, a researcher, on edge for so many days."
Seeing that Doom's eyelids had rolled back and he was about to faint, Lin Xiao finally let go. Doom collapsed on the ground like a lump of mud, a large part of his green robe was charred, and his chin under the mask was still trembling uncontrollably.
Lin Xiao squatted down and patted Doom's steaming cheeks. "Remember this from now on, don't always try to scheme against me. I hate it when people cause trouble in my backyard. You didn't tell me where Susan is, but I have my own ways of finding her. You'd better go back to Latveria yourself. If I see you again, I'll electrocute Reed out of your body, you believe me?"
Doom didn't say a word, and then he passed out, whether from anger or from being electrocuted, it was unclear.
Lin Xiao straightened up, exhaled, glanced at the stairs leading to the basement at the end of the corridor, clapped his hands, and walked over. He hadn't let his guard down while he was electrocuting that old bastard Doom, using his mental senses to probe his surroundings until he sensed faint breathing coming from underground. He understood then that Susan was simply being held captive.
Ten minutes later, the basement door was kicked open. Susan leaned weakly against the corner, and her whole body tensed when she saw the person wearing the L mask.
Lin Xiao removed his mask, revealing his face, and grinned, waving the lighter in his hand. "Ms. Susan, it's a long night, how about a ride home?"