Bullseye showed Lin Xiao no courtesy and attacked outright, his military combat moves whipping through the air. But as for their effect?
Lin Xiao was yawning, completely unconcerned by Bullseye's attacks. Bullseye had already finished an entire combination-left hooks, right hooks, knee strikes, elbow strikes, and successive kicks. Every move was vicious and landed precisely on Lin Xiao.
Yet Lin Xiao stood in place without budging.
"You motherf-" Bullseye stepped back half a pace, his composure shattered. He panted heavily, a piercing pain throbbing through the knuckles of his right hand. It felt as though he had struck a solid steel plate rather than a person.
"Finished?" Lin Xiao yawned again and wiped the tears from the corner of his eye with the back of his hand. "Then it's my turn."
The few police officers nearby who were still conscious stared dumbfounded. One young officer dropped his gun in fright, but George picked it up. George himself was hardly doing any better. His legs trembled, his eyes fixed on Lin Xiao as alarm bells rang in his head. What the fuck kind of monster was this?
Gwen Stacy had used the opening to slip over to George and grab his arm to support him. George turned to look at the slender figure in the black face covering. His lips parted as he spoke.
"Who are you?"
"Ghost Little Spider," Lin Xiao's voice drifted over from beside them, his tone matter-of-fact.
Gwen abruptly lowered her head, wishing she could bury her face in her chest. She felt her ears burning. Ghost Little Spider? What the hell kind of name was that? She hadn't even given herself a name! How could this bastard just make up nicknames for people?
George did not notice anything unusual about Gwen. His right hand was slowly tightening, all five fingers curling inward one by one until his knuckles turned white. He looked at the masked girl before him-the masked girl who had just used her body to shield him from an RPG, shoved him into a concrete pillar, and now had her head lowered, afraid to look at him. The outline of that dark bodysuit, the voice she could not conceal despite deliberately making it hoarse, her posture, and the pressure of her hand on his arm.
He was the commissioner of the New York Police Department. He had interrogated more criminals in his lifetime than the girl before him had eaten hamburgers.
But he said nothing. Only his eyes reddened.
Lin Xiao turned his head and threw a punch.
Bullseye flew backward as though struck by a train, crashing into the partially dismantled scaffolding. Steel pipes collapsed with a clatter, dust and rust showering down. Bullseye struggled out of the pile of pipes, a line of blood hanging from the corner of his mouth, his eyes bloodshot.
"Shoot! All of you, fucking shoot!"
His four or five remaining men raised their guns at once. M4s, shotguns, and an Uzi acquired from who knew where all aimed at Lin Xiao.
Lin Xiao did not even dodge. He even slipped his hands back into his pockets and strolled forward.
Bullets hammered his body like a torrential downpour. Dozens of smoking holes burst open in his hoodie, scraps of fabric flying through the air. A bullet grazed his neck with a crisp clang, its deformed slug dropping to the floor. Another struck his forehead, leaving a white mark before ricocheting into the ceiling.
The gunfire stopped.
The magazines were empty.
The five men watched Lin Xiao stand there completely unharmed, without even a furrow in his brow. Each looked down at his gun, then up at Lin Xiao. Their lips began to quiver, their legs shaking like sieves.
"Y-you-you're a devil, a devil..."
Lin Xiao moved. Bullseye's men began backing away, but his hands were faster. One slap sent a man flying, while another sent a second man crashing into a wall at the same time. The remaining three turned and ran. Lin Xiao caught up, grabbed two by the backs of their collars, and lifted them like chicks. A gentle bump-their heads collided, and both rolled their eyes back at once. He stuck out a foot to trip the last man as he reached the stairs. The man pitched forward, landed facedown on the steps, and lay still.
The entire process took less than five seconds.
Bullseye climbed out of the pile of steel pipes. Staring fixedly at Lin Xiao, he reached inside his clothes, pulled out a flashbang, yanked the pin, and slammed it onto the floor.
White light erupted.
Scar-Eye did not even bother with his own men. He turned and ran. His footsteps rapidly receded through the stairwell, growing fainter until they vanished into the darkness deep inside the unfinished building.
Lin Xiao stood in place and blinked. The flashbang had barely affected him. His eyes had stung for a moment, then recovered.
He watched the direction in which Bullseye had fled without giving chase.
"You're not chasing him?" George's voice came from behind him. Several officers who had recovered had helped the commissioner up, and he was looking at Lin Xiao with a complicated gaze.
"No." Lin Xiao turned around and slipped his hands back into his pockets. "Too tiring."
They looked at Lin Xiao strangely, none of them daring to speak.
What he had not said was: His boss was the big fish. You needed a long line to catch a big fish; small fry were no fun. Keeping this lead would let him farm missions later, too. Ahem... no, follow the trail and catch them all in one net. George glanced at him without pressing further. He gestured to the officers beside him, and they immediately went forward to handcuff Scar-Eye's accomplices, who lay strewn across the floor.
"Thank you for your help. Your identity and contact information-we'll follow police procedure-" George broke off. Lin Xiao was not listening to him at all.
Lin Xiao walked straight toward Gwen, who was still crouching in the corner. Watching him approach, she blushed scarlet. What was he going to do? Come check on her? Or kiss her once the danger was over, like the leads in those movies? No, Gwen, calm down. You're a lady.
Lin Xiao bent down in front of Gwen, grabbed the back of her collar with one hand, and lifted her like a cat. Gwen let out a short cry. Before she could process what had happened, she had already been laid across Lin Xiao's knees. She lay over his lap, face down and bottom up.
Smack!
The slap rang especially crisply through the empty unfinished building. Gwen screamed like a pig being slaughtered-not from pain, but humiliation. She flushed from the base of her neck to the tips of her ears, her hands flailing in the air and her feet kicking desperately.
"I-you-"
"Wearing a bodysuit in the middle of the night. Following armed criminals alone. Blocking an RPG with your body." Lin Xiao delivered a slap for each item he listed, his voice flat throughout. "You're pretty brave."
"Put me down!"
Smack!
"Oh? Still daring to resist?"
Smack!
Gwen stopped struggling. She lay across Lin Xiao's lap with her face covered, her ears red enough to drip blood. A string of muffled sounds escaped her mouth, impossible to tell whether she was cursing or praying.
Lin Xiao finally stopped. He lifted Gwen off his knees and set her back on the floor. She looked like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, her hair a mess and her face covering skewed down to her chin, exposing half her scarlet face. She hastily pulled it back up and retreated three steps until her back hit the wall. Her blue eyes glared at Lin Xiao, their gaze mingling humiliation, anger, and a complicated feeling even she could not identify.
But she did not run. That was very interesting.
George stood three steps away. How could one describe the expression on his face? A police chief with decades on the job, a New York Police Department commissioner who considered himself worldly, was watching the scene with an extremely complicated gaze. His mouth opened, closed, then opened again. In the end, he coughed dryly.
Lin Xiao looked up, instantly switching to his trademark warm smile. Its sincerity was outrageous.
"Commissioner, none of you are hurt, are you?"
"N-no." George's voice was somewhat dry. He glanced at Gwen, who was frantically adjusting her face covering with her head lowered, wishing she could wrap her entire head in it.
"Thank you very much for your help." George was the commissioner, after all, and quickly steadied his voice. "These kidnappers work for Kingpin. Their hostage was Dr. Curtis Connors, a renowned biologist. Although we don't yet know why they kidnapped Dr. Connors, the casualties tonight could have been severe without your intervention."
He paused, looking Lin Xiao over.
"Sir, may I have your name? We'll follow procedure-"
"I won't leave my name." Lin Xiao waved a hand, his tone suddenly becoming extremely solemn. "I'm a good citizen. I only did what I should. No need for newspapers, television appearances, or commemorative banners."
George froze for a moment. In all his years as a police chief, he had seen low-profile heroes who left once the job was done, but this man's tone-however he listened to it, it did not sound like someone trying to keep a low profile.
Sure enough, Lin Xiao changed tack, his expression still solemn and his tone still earnest. "But you still have to pay the reward. I heard the New York Police Department has a bounty system? What's the bounty on these kidnappers? And this Miss Ghost-Spider's share, too. Just transfer it all to my account. I'll collect hers for her."
The unfinished building fell silent for three full seconds.
Gwen abruptly raised her head, her blue eyes filled with disbelief.
George's mouth hung open, his Adam's apple bobbing.
The officers handcuffing the men nearby all stopped what they were doing and turned to look at Lin Xiao in unison. A young officer dropped his handcuffs. He bent down to retrieve them without taking his eyes off Lin Xiao's face.
"...I'll submit the bounty request to my superiors." George sounded as though he was using every ounce of his strength to maintain the professionalism expected of a commissioner. "But to collect the bounty, we'll at least need your identification and contact information."
Lin Xiao thought for a moment, then pulled a crumpled business card from his pocket. Coulson had printed it for him. It bore just one line-Lin Xiao, S.H.I.E.L.D. Level Six Agent-with a phone number underneath. He handed the card to George with an earnest expression. "Just call this number for the reward."
George looked down at the word "S.H.I.E.L.D." on the card, his pupils contracting slightly. He said nothing, merely nodded and carefully tucked the card into his jacket pocket.
Lin Xiao turned around and glanced again at Gwen, who was still adjusting her face covering in the corner.
"I'm leaving, Ghost-Spider." He enunciated "Ghost-Spider" with perfect clarity. Gwen did not answer. Judging by her eyes, however, she probably wanted to cut him into a thousand pieces right then.
Lin Xiao shrugged, waved to George and the officers, and turned to leave. George watched him with a complicated expression, then turned to look at Gwen huddled in the corner.
Gwen was also sneaking glances at him with her blue eyes. The instant their eyes met, she lowered her head again.
Outside the unfinished building, several police cars carrying reinforcements had just arrived. Flashing red and blue lights lit the whole street as brightly as daylight, while ambulance sirens drew closer.
Several blocks away, Bullseye leaned against a filthy brick wall and dialed a number with trembling fingers. The blood at the corner of his mouth had not been wiped clean and dripped down his chin onto his collar.
The call connected. There was no voice on the other end, only heavy, slow breathing.
"B-boss..." Bullseye's voice rasped like sandpaper scraping sheet metal. "The mission... the mission failed. A big guy showed up, along with a girl dressed like a clown. They took Connors. Our men... all our men went down."
The other end remained silent for several seconds.
Then a deep voice spoke. Unhurried, neither angry nor pleased, as calm as if discussing the weather.
"Come back."
He said only those words before hanging up.
The hand holding Bullseye's phone began to shake. Not because of the pain throughout his body, but because he had worked for Kingpin for three years and knew his boss's temper all too well. If he cursed or even shouted at you, you could still be saved. But if he said nothing except "Come back," it meant the only thing you could do was return to face a miserable end. Yet Bullseye could not flee, because fleeing would do no good.
Bullseye stuffed his phone back into his pocket, clutched the spot where his ribs were broken, and limped into the depths of the alley...