The police cars stopped by the docks. Four people got out of the two cars, led by a middle-aged man with a square jaw and short hair-George Stacy, commissioner of the New York Police Department.
He glanced at the still-smoking wreckage of the enormous hunk of metal in the distance, then at Tony Stark, who had long since taken off his armor and now wore an expression that declared he was number one in the world. George took a deep breath.
"Mr. Stark, did you report this?" George's voice was steady, but the resignation in it was unmistakable. "What exactly happened here?"
"Good evening, Commissioner." Tony straightened his collar. His suit was hopelessly wrinkled, but he still had that air about him. "It's very simple. That-" He pointed at the heap of smoking scrap behind him. "-was my former business partner, Obadiah Stane. He built an illegal suit of armor and attempted to murder me and blow up the entire dock while he was at it. I stopped him in self-defense. Things got a little intense, but the outcome was good. No civilian casualties, and the neighborhood is still standing."
The officer beside George scribbled furiously in his notebook, occasionally looking up at the wreckage, clearly finding it hard to believe.
"Where is Stane himself?" George asked.
"Inside the wreckage." Tony paused and shrugged. "If you can still find him."
George fell silent for a moment, then turned and said something to the officer beside him. Just as he was about to speak again, a familiar voice came from behind Tony.
"Commissioner! We meet again!"
Lin Xiao strode over, wearing a model citizen's smile.
He had already changed back into his suit. His previous outfit had gone into his system storage well before the police arrived. However, the bulging backpack on his back, swollen almost to bursting, dragged his image out of the realm of a stylish man in a suit and into something indescribably bizarre.
The instant George saw Lin Xiao, the corner of his mouth gave an almost imperceptible twitch.
Images from a few days earlier surfaced uncontrollably in his mind-in the unfinished building, this burly man had held his daughter over his knee and spanked her again and again. Gwen's piglike squeals, her bright-red face, and the way she had crouched in a corner afterward, afraid to look at him-every frame was etched into his mind with outrageous clarity.
"You." George's voice dropped a couple of degrees. His gaze swept over Lin Xiao's face, then the huge backpack on his back, before settling on that beaming face. "You were here tonight too?"
"What a coincidence, right?" Lin Xiao's expression never changed. "I happened to be passing by. I saw something happening here, so I came over to lend a hand."
"Passing by." George repeated the words, his gaze returning to the enormous backpack.
Lin Xiao's smile did not budge, but inwardly, he was getting nervous. Of course he knew why George looked so unfriendly-the veteran police commissioner had probably already figured out Ghost-Spider's identity. After Lin Xiao had spanked Gwen's backside raw right in front of him, the fact that George had not drawn his gun was already the limit of professional restraint.
Lin Xiao decided to do something and seize the initiative. He pulled a stack of documents from his inner suit pocket and turned to Tony. "Tony, these are for you. Found them at the old bastard's place. All evidence. Shipping records, bank transfers, printouts of encrypted emails-enough to keep him in prison for several lifetimes."
George frowned. "How did you get these?"
Lin Xiao did not answer. He patted Tony's arm. Seeing Lin Xiao wink and make faces at him, Tony took a deep breath, an unnatural flush appearing on his face. "Ahem... Commissioner, my people obtained these. Mr. Lin was delivering them to me on their behalf."
Suspicion showed in George's eyes, but with Tony saying that, he could only let it go. His gaze fixed on the backpack again. After staring for about five seconds, he finally could not help speaking.
"Mr. Lin."
"Yes."
"What's in that bag on your back?"
Lin Xiao lowered his head and hitched up the backpack straps, looking outrageously unconcerned.
"This? Bottles."
"Bottles?"
"Yes, the kind you can recycle after you finish your drink. You know, plastic bottles, aluminum cans. There are plenty around the docks. As a thrifty, upstanding citizen, I picked some up along the way. Protecting the environment. Perfectly reasonable, right?"
Silence settled over the docks for about three seconds.
Tony covered his face. The officer beside them stared wide-eyed. George's expression visibly shifted from confusion to something complicated, then from complicated to an uncontrollable twitch. His mouth opened, his lips moved, and he opened his mouth again without producing a single word. Eventually, though, he spoke. "Lin Xiao."
"I'm listening."
"Last time, you told me you were a level-six S.H.I.E.L.D. agent."
"That's right."
"A level-six S.H.I.E.L.D. agent, picking up bottles near a crime scene in the middle of the night?"
"S.H.I.E.L.D. agents are people too. We have to care about the environment too." Lin Xiao raised a finger, his expression suddenly turning very serious. "Commissioner, environmental protection knows no profession. We only have one Earth, and every one of us has a responsibility. That's what Director Fury taught us. Ask him if you don't believe me."
"All right, all right." George raised a hand in a gesture for him to stop, then turned to Tony. "Mr. Stark, sorry for the trouble, but please come down to the station with us and give a statement."
Tony sighed and nodded. As he passed Lin Xiao, he lowered his voice. "Just you wait. I'll settle this with you later."
Without a change in expression, Lin Xiao took a S.H.I.E.L.D. ID out of his pocket and waved it, smiling brightly. "Sorry, S.H.I.E.L.D. personnel aren't under NYPD jurisdiction. You'll have to go on your own, Tony. I'll miss you."
The corner of Tony's mouth twitched. He followed the officer away without looking back.
George turned, took two steps, then stopped again. With his back to Lin Xiao, he spoke.
"Lin Xiao."
"Commissioner?"
"...Nothing." George sounded as though he was fighting an internal battle. "Next time you pick up bottles, do it during the day. Coming to a remote area to collect bottles at night-nobody's going to believe that."
Lin Xiao's smile froze for a fraction of a second. He watched George get into the police car and saw both cars disappear into the night, the corners of his mouth curving upward.
Everyone who needed to leave had left. It was time to let the little one hiding in the shadows come out before she bottled everything up too long.
He had noticed someone hiding behind a shipping container behind him quite some time ago. She wore a white hooded bodysuit, her mask covering most of her face and leaving only two blue eyes exposed. Those eyes were now fixed on him, filled with anger, shame, hurt, and a trace of something else that even she had not recognized.
Gwen Stacy.
Lin Xiao recognized that silhouette. Her dark bodysuit had now been replaced with a white suit, identical to the look in Spider-Gwen. Lin Xiao wondered if Gwen still did not know that her father had long since seen through everything. She had probably heard that Tony had called the police and snuck out today with her dear father's "permission."
Lin Xiao let out a wicked chuckle.
He drew the Blink Dagger from behind his waist and rubbed his fingers over its hilt twice. Gwen seemed to sense something. The anger in her blue eyes instantly gave way to vigilance.
The next second, Lin Xiao vanished from the spot, leaving only a faint blue afterimage.
Gwen rushed out from behind the container and ran to where Lin Xiao had just been standing. She spun around three times but found nothing. Furious, she stamped her foot, leaving a small web of cracks in the concrete beneath it.
"Lin Xiao! Get out here!"
No one answered her.
Gwen stood there, her chest heaving several times, then shouted across the empty docks, "I'm not letting you off for spanking me last time!"
After who knew how long, Gwen lowered her head, her shoulders slumping. She turned and walked deeper into the shadows, disappearing between the containers.
Meanwhile, on the roof of an apartment building several blocks from the docks.
Lin Xiao crouched beside the water tank, set his backpack on the ground, and rubbed his hands together. The system panel popped up before his eyes, and a golden light flashed.
Ding-Mission: Defuse the Iron Monger crisis completed. Mission rating: S. Calculating rewards...
A purple light flashed, and five free attribute points were credited to him. Immediately afterward, a golden arrow appeared before him.
Stand Arrow, quality B. From JoJo's Bizarre Adventure. Can awaken a Stand ability (random, single-use item). Piercing a target's body with the arrow can activate their spiritual energy, granting a random Stand. Each target can awaken only once, and the awakened ability cannot be changed. Note: Awakening results are completely random. Choose your target carefully.
Lin Xiao stared at the Stand Arrow in his hand, his initial joy giving way to a long silence. All kinds of badass Stands flashed through his mind before he finally remembered the legendary Cheap Trick, a Stand that lived on its host's back. The host would croak after seeing it. With his luck, if he stabbed himself...
Lin Xiao frowned, then thought of something. Why not let Peter try it? He was a child of destiny, after all. Lin Xiao had caused him to miss out on becoming Spider-Man, so this could serve as compensation.
Ding-Host has participated in and completed all key milestones of the major Marvel storyline event, Iron Man 1: The birth of Iron Man, hidden mission: Save Yinsen, and defuse the Iron Monger crisis. Storyline completion rating: A. Hidden achievement "Yinsen survives" achieved. Overall rating: S.
A golden light even more dazzling than before poured out of the panel, illuminating the entire rooftop.
Hidden tab unlocked-Skill System activated. Host has obtained skill slots and can acquire skills through mission rewards or special events.
Lin Xiao froze for a moment, then his stunned expression turned to wild joy.
"Skills?! I have skills now? Doupao! You're finally acting like a decent person!"
Ding-Intense emotional fluctuations detected in host. Recommendation-
"Screw your recommendation! Hurry up and show me what skill it is!"
A blue orb of light floated out of the panel and turned into an ancient-looking jade talisman engraved with cloud and lightning patterns, emitting a faint purple glow.
Lightning Summoning Spell (beginner, upgradeable), quality B. Summons small lightning bolts to strike opponents, dealing damage equal to the sum of the five attributes × 0.2. Consumes fifteen mental energy points per second. Casting requires holding a guiding object as a medium. Where the mind directs, lightning follows. Current damage can destroy a truck in one strike.
Holding the jade talisman, Lin Xiao's grin grew wider and wider.
He pictured casually flicking his hand whenever someone annoyed him in the future and using lightning to give them a fashionable afro.
"Heh, from now on, anyone who annoys me gets a bolt of purple lightning first. Just thinking about it feels great."
A gentle golden light enveloped Lin Xiao's entire body. He felt every muscle and every nerve being reshaped by some force.
Additional rewards for S rating: All attributes +5. One Mark II Armor Blueprint. One random current-tier skill.
A blue orb flew out of the panel, turned into a beam, and sank into the space between his eyebrows. In an instant, all the knowledge of the Flight Technique-circulating qi, flight posture, and acceleration techniques-flooded into his mind.
Ding-Congratulations, host has mastered Flight Technique (beginner, upgradeable), quality B. A qi-based flight technique from the world of Dragon Ball. Uses mental power to mobilize energy within the body for high-speed flight. Current maximum speed: Mach 0.5.
Lin Xiao rolled his shoulders, feeling much lighter. He tried using his mind to direct that qi, and his feet actually rose a few centimeters off the ground before settling back down.
"Mach zero point five." He smacked his lips. "Not bad. No more taxis when I go out."
Just then, another line appeared at the bottom of the system panel. The text was small but conspicuous.
Iron Man 2 storyline reward settlement unlocked. Mission trigger conditions and reward list will activate automatically when the host enters the relevant storyline.
Lin Xiao nodded. With the system rewards finished, it was time to check tonight's haul!
Lin Xiao opened his backpack and began taking inventory by the streetlight.
A pile of gold coins, several pieces of gemstone jewelry, and some antiques that looked valuable at a glance. The system thoughtfully brought up an appraisal window, scanned everything in his backpack, and finally supplied a figure-approximately twenty million dollars.
But what really interested Lin Xiao was not the gold coins or gems. It was the thick stack of documents at the very bottom of his backpack.
He pulled them out and leafed through them. Real estate contracts and deeds. That old bastard Obadiah had properties in New York, Los Angeles, and Miami. There were two office buildings in Manhattan alone, plus a complex of beachfront villas in Miami.
Lin Xiao stared at the deeds, the streetlight reflecting in his eyes and making them shine like two light bulbs.
"Doupao, how much could this land be worth if I get Tony to help legitimize it later?"
Ding-Conservative estimate: Total value after legalization will be no less than five hundred million dollars.
Lin Xiao nodded in satisfaction, carefully folded the deeds, and tucked them back into a compartment in his backpack. There had actually been several hundred million in cash and bearer bonds in the vault too, but he had only taken these valuables. Cash was hard to launder, and bonds were risky. Property and land were more solid. As someone from Dragon Country, he believed in one principle in his bones-land brought wealth.
He fastened the backpack again, stood up, and brushed the dust off his knees.
Tonight's haul had been substantial. Five free attribute points, five points added to every attribute, one Stand Arrow, the Lightning Summoning Spell, the Flight Technique, one Mark II Blueprint, twenty million dollars' worth of gold coins and gems, and a pile of land waiting to be legitimized. The mission was done, the rewards were in hand, and it was time to go home.
Lin Xiao took a deep breath and decided to try flying back. Now that he had learned the Flight Technique, only an idiot would walk home.
A figure rose from the apartment rooftop and flew unsteadily toward Forest Hills...
The next day, in Room 307 of the Forest Hills Apartments, Peter was tricked into coming over.
Aunt May had told him Lin Xiao had made his favorite cream of mushroom soup and asked him to hurry back after school. But the moment he stepped through the door, he saw Lin Xiao sitting in the living room, his face full of kindly smiles, holding something that looked like a golden arrow and beckoning to him.
"Peter, come here, come here. Uncle Xiao's got something good to show you."
Peter's vigilance reached its peak at that moment. He instinctively took half a step back, his foot already at the edge of the entryway.
"What is it?" His voice rose half a pitch.
"Come over and you'll find out." Lin Xiao's smile became even kinder. "I guarantee it's something good. When has Uncle Xiao ever lied to you?"
"You said that when you tricked me into drinking that muscle-building powder too."
"How was that a trick? That was for your own good." Lin Xiao stood and strode toward Peter, moving so quickly that Peter had no time to react. He hooked one arm around Peter's shoulders while his other hand drove the Stand Arrow into Peter's arm.
The arrow pierced Peter's skin. Golden light burst from his body, then quickly drew inward and vanished without a trace.
"Uncle Xiao, what are you doing-" Before Peter could finish, a phantom suddenly appeared behind him.
It was a spider.
Not a real spider, but a Stand. Translucent and glowing faintly with sandy-yellow light, it had eight legs and a human-face pattern on its back. It floated behind Peter, quiet and motionless.
"The Fool." Lin Xiao read the name on the system panel one word at a time, then sank into thought as he studied The Fool's stats.
(Can change forms according to its master's state. Currently bound to host Peter Parker. Spider form locked.) Destructive power: E (The Stand itself is relatively weak and primarily attacks using sand.) Speed: B (Sand movement and gliding speeds are relatively high.) Range: A (Sand can cover an extremely large area, and the Stand itself can be controlled remotely.) Stamina: A (Sand is widely available, with extremely low consumption.) Precision: C (Although sand can take many forms, fine control is average.) Development potential: A (Raised from C to A due to reactivation in another world.) Overall assessment: A rank
Peter was still standing there dumbly, looking utterly bewildered. He turned to look at the translucent spider phantom behind him, then turned back to Lin Xiao. His expression shifted from confusion to terror, then from terror to a breakdown.
"What is that?! There's a spider growing out of my back?! Aunt May! There's a spider growing out of my back!!"
Halfway through shouting, his body suddenly went limp. His eyes rolled back, and he fainted on the spot.
Lin Xiao caught him swiftly, lifted the skinny boy into his arms, and gently laid him on the couch. He looked at Peter, then at the slowly dissipating sand-spider Stand, and the corners of his mouth gradually lifted.
"The Fool. A sand Stand. Unlike Iggy's mechanical dog. My dear nephew, you're going to be something else."