When Lin Xiao came out of Fury's office, Coulson had been waiting for a long time. He handed Lin Xiao the confidentiality agreement, gave him some instructions, and then left. Lin Xiao looked at the confidentiality agreement and smiled like a fox who had just stolen a chicken.
He leaned against the corridor wall, took a pen from his pocket, and wrote a few large, flowing characters in the "Personal Introduction" section. "The Dream of Millions of America Girls." After finishing, he tilted his head to examine it, feeling it wasn't comprehensive enough, and added a line of smaller print below, "Note: No age or race restrictions."
Then he moved his pen to the "Special Skills" section, thought for about two seconds, and solemnly wrote, "Make employers fall in love with me."
After finishing writing, he folded the agreement and handed it to Hill, who was waiting at the door. Hill took it, glanced at it, her expression unchanged, except for a very subtle twitch at the corner of her mouth. She said nothing, turned around, and pushed open the door to Fury's office.
Lin Xiao walked away, hands in his pockets, whistling.
In his office, Fury read the agreement three times from beginning to end. The first time, his one eye widened. The second time, the veins on his forehead began to throb. The third time, he slammed the agreement on the table, closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and slowly said, "He definitely did it on purpose."
"Yes," Hill nodded. "I think so too."
"He knew I was setting a trap for him, so he deliberately wrote this to annoy me."
"Obviously."
Fury was silent for a moment, then pressed his temples with his fingers. It had been two days since this kid had given him a migraine, and it was back again today. He felt that being the director was shortening his lifespan more than being a frontline agent.
"Rewrite it." Fury crumpled the agreement into a ball and threw it in the trash. "You write it, write it like a normal person. From now on, don't let him touch a pen when signing anything!"
Hill picked up her tablet, brought up a blank confidentiality agreement template, and began filling in each item. Name: Lin Xiao. Age: 28. When she got to the "Personality Traits" section, her pen paused for a moment.
She glanced up at Fury. Fury was leaning back in his chair, rubbing his temples, and didn't notice her.
Hill lowered her head again and neatly wrote four words in the "Personality Traits" column. "Honest and kind." After writing it, she examined it for a moment, a very subtle smirk appearing on her lips, and then continued filling in the next column without changing her expression.
A few days later, at Richmond International Airport, Virginia.
The bodyguard responsible for liaising with Lin Xiao stood at the arrival gate, holding a sign that read " Lin Xiao." He was Mendes, a senior bodyguard for the Hidreleven Group, a retired Marine, and had been in the private security industry for nearly ten years. He had encountered all kinds of people and situations, but he was completely stunned the moment he saw Lin Xiao walk out of the arrival gate.
This two-meter-tall, muscular man was wearing a Hawaii -style beach shirt printed with pink flamingos and green palm trees. He wore khaki beach shorts, revealing calves thicker than an average person's waist. He wore flip-flops and fluorescent green sunglasses with frames so large they covered half his face. He carried a tattered canvas bag in his left hand and a Wahaha beverage in his right, the straw still in his mouth. He slowly walked towards Mendes's sign.
Mendes's lips twitched violently.
"You... are Lin Xiao?" His voice trembled slightly with uncertainty.
"Yes, it's me." Lin Xiao pushed his sunglasses up to his forehead, grinned at him, and said, "You came to pick me up? You must be tired."
Mendes glanced down at his own black suit, white shirt, black tie, and black shoes, then looked up at Lin Xiao's gaudy attire. He remained silent for a while, carefully choosing his words before finally speaking, "You're going to meet your employer dressed like this? Are you really here for a security operation? Are you sure you're not on vacation?"
"Yeah, right." Lin Xiao glanced down at his shirt, looking completely nonchalant. "It's a fresh, clean style. What's wrong with it? Doesn't it look good?"
"... You know you're here as a bodyguard, right? Not on vacation, right?"
"Can't bodyguards dress a little better?" Lin Xiao patted Mendes ' shoulder, making him almost faint from the pain. "You guys are just too serious. All black suits, sunglasses, standing there like a funeral procession. How can the employer be happy seeing your poker faces every day? I wear this to add some color to her dull daily life; that's called professionalism."
Mendes opened his mouth, only to find himself at a loss for words. He shut his mouth, deciding not to dwell on the topic. He picked up his phone, glanced at the time, then at Lin Xiao's outfit, and finally couldn't resist whispering in Lin Xiao's ear, "Does Ms. Romanoff know about your outfit?"
"I don't know." Lin Xiao took a puff of Wahaha, his expression calm. "But it's no use even if she knows, I'm already here."
Mendes began to doubt whether Mr. Hogun had made the right decision to have him switch places with him.
He led Lin Xiao to the parking lot, opened the car door, and let him get in. Lin Xiao threw his canvas bag onto the back seat, plopped down in the passenger seat, and adjusted the seat back four notches before he could barely squeeze his legs in. Mendes watched as the passenger seat was squeezed so tightly that Lin Xiao let out a scream, his eyelids twitched, but he didn't say anything and started the engine.
The car was quiet for about three minutes. Lin Xiao leaned back in his seat, crossed his legs, and drank Wahaha while watching the palm trees flash by outside the window. He seemed to be in a great mood. Mendes gripped the steering wheel with both hands, staring straight ahead, his face looking like he had been constipated for three days.
"Ahem... I said, Mr. Lin."
Just call me Lin Xiao.
" Lin Xiao," Mendes took a deep breath, "This mission was originally supposed to be mine, you're here to take my place, right?"
"I know." Lin Xiao turned his head, a meaningful smile playing on his lips.
"Can you be serious for once?" Mendes ' voice carried a hint of pleading. "This employer— Miss Ross Betty Ross—her father is General Ross. Not just any general, but the kind who can get the military to remove you from a security company with a single phone call. If you mess this up, it won't just be your problem; our company will be held responsible too."
"Don't worry." Lin Xiao patted his shoulder. "I'm the most reliable person when it comes to getting things done."
Mendes glanced at his flamingo shirt, his lips twitching again. He realized nothing he said would make a difference, so he changed the subject. "Have you ever worked as a bodyguard before?"
"Never done it before."
"Well, you've attended company training these past few days—never mind, you must have, right? Basic security procedures, risk assessments, emergency evacuation routes—"
"Never been to one."
Mendes slammed on the brakes. The tires screeched against the pavement, and the car lurched before coming to a stop. He turned and stared into Lin Xiao's eyes. "You didn't prepare anything, and you dared to take on this mission?"
Lin Xiao tilted his head, chewed on his straw, thought for a few seconds, and answered sincerely, "I'm pretty good at fighting, and I also know some martial arts techniques that have been lost in Dragon Country for a long time. Am I qualified?"
Mendes stared at him for several seconds, then slowly turned back, restarted the engine, his voice carrying a hint of lifeless calm, as if he were thinking about the company's tragic future.
"Fine, if you've said enough, then... that's enough."
"That settles it then." Lin Xiao leaned back in his chair, chewing his straw loudly. "Speaking of which, are there any fun places around here? Like a beach or something? The weather forecast says tomorrow will be sunny—"
"You're here to work."
"You need to relax a bit after work. You're too stressed, Mendes. Your shoulders look stiff. I'll recommend a traditional Chinese massage place to you later."
"No, thank you."
"Then leave me your contact information. In case I have any questions here, I can ask you. After all, you've been in this industry for so many years and have a lot of experience. I need to learn from you." Lin Xiao's tone suddenly became very sincere.
Mendes was taken aback. This was the first time he had heard a serious word from Lin Xiao all day. He turned to look at Lin Xiao and found that the expression on his face was indeed serious, not like he was joking. He was silent for a moment, then took out a business card from his pocket and handed it over.
My number is on it.
"Thanks." Lin Xiao put the business card away, leaned back in his chair, and resumed his lazy demeanor. "By the way, when is your flight back?"
"Seven o'clock tonight."
"There's enough time." Lin Xiao nodded. "After you drop me off, you can go get a nice meal. There's a good seafood restaurant nearby; I checked the recommendations—"
Mendes didn't answer, slammed the gas pedal to the floor, and sped off towards Culver University. Lin Xiao was slammed against the back of his seat by the inertia, his Wahaha Wahaha in his hand. He looked down and saw a few drops had spilled, and sighed.
"That temper."
At the east gate of Culver University, the car stopped in front of the laboratory building. Lin Xiao got out of the car, stretched, pulled the hem of his flamingo shirt out of his shorts, and adjusted his sunglasses. He looked at the drab laboratory building in front of him, then at the college students coming and going around him, and a smile appeared on his lips.
" Doupao."
"Ding--Here."
"Scan Betty Thaddeus Ross's location, and while you're at it, check the timeline of the Hulk's creation."
"Ding-- Betty Thaddeus Ross is currently in the Biophysics Lab on the third floor of the experimental building. Bruce Dr. Banner is also in the same location. The gamma-ray experiment project is at a critical stage. Countdown to the Hulk's birth: 80 days. Related mission - 6.5-star difficulty, the trigger conditions and detailed reward list for the " The Incredible Hulk " mission will be unlocked as the story progresses."
Lin Xiao raised an eyebrow. Six and a half stars. This was the most difficult mission he had ever completed, but that wasn't important. Lin Xiao closed the system panel.
"Retrieving needles, picking up girls—no, it's protecting the employer. The mission doesn't matter; you have to reap what you sow." Lin Xiao pushed up his sunglasses, a slight smile playing on his lips.
Let's rewind to 7 PM that evening, at Richmond Airport, in the departure lounge. Mendes sat on a plastic chair next to the boarding gate, his hands clasped on his knees, head bowed, his lips moving slightly. If someone were to listen closely, they would hear him repeatedly muttering the same phrase, " God help me, don't let this mission go wrong. Don't let this kid ruin the company's reputation. God help me..."
An elderly woman next to him patted him on the shoulder. "Sir, are you alright?"
Mendes looked up, revealing a smile that looked more like a grimace.
"I'm fine. Thank you. I was just praying."
The old lady glanced at him and silently moved her seat to the side.