Stark Tower, underground laboratory.
The Mutants have calmed down for several days now. It's said that Sabretooth has been looking for trouble with Kingpin all over the world after recovering from his injuries. Lin Xiao is happy to have some free time and has temporarily postponed his "teaching Kingpin lesson" schedule.
He was standing in front of Tony's workbench, pointing and gesturing at the design drawings of the suit projected onto the holographic screen.
"The collar, the collar higher, yes, cover the neck. Homelander —cough, the essence of our Homelander ' battle uniforms lies in the collar, do you understand?"
Tony leaned against the counter, holding a coffee in his hand, his face etched with utter despair.
"Red base, gold trim, auspicious cloud patterns—are you sure you're not going to participate in the Chinese New Year parade in Chinatown?"
"What do you know? This is called cultural confidence." Lin Xiao said confidently, swiping his finger across the projection screen to enlarge the cloud pattern on the chest. "And embroider a dragon in the very center of my cloak, a five-clawed golden dragon, the cool and dashing kind."
Tony raised an eyebrow, took a sip of coffee, and then spoke.
"The flexibility of nanomaterials isn't a problem; the suit can be made to fit perfectly at will, and all the patterns you mentioned can be achieved." He paused, put down his coffee cup, and typed a few parameters on the holographic keyboard. "But that dragon—are you sure you want a Chinese style?"
"Nonsense, what else would we embroider if not Chinese style? Your tin can face?"
Tony's lips twitched, he nodded, turned around and started modifying something on the control panel, a slight smile playing on his lips.
Lin Xiao narrowed his eyes. "What are you laughing at?"
"No, I'm focused on my work." Tony said without turning around. "Your suit, your dragon, I've got you covered."
Lin Xiao stared at the back of Tony's head for several seconds, feeling that something was off, but before he could ask, his phone rang.
He glanced down and saw two incoming calls pop up on his phone screen at the same time: Natasha on the left and Coulson on the right. The two numbers called simultaneously, with the exact same timing, as if they had planned it.
Without hesitation, Lin Xiao pressed the answer button for Natasha.
"Hey, why are you calling me, beautiful lady?"
On the other end of the phone, Natasha's voice carried an undisguised smugness. " Lin Xiao, come back to the station immediately."
"What's up?"
"Good news. You'll find out when you get here."
"What's good--"
Before Lin Xiao could finish his question, the phone was hung up.
Lin Xiao looked down at the screen, completely bewildered.
Tony waved his hand. "Go on, go on, I'll call you when the suit is finished."
Lin Xiao felt that Tony was unusually agreeable today, but what exactly was the good news Natasha had mentioned on the phone? He waved to Tony and turned to walk towards the elevator.
As soon as the elevator doors closed, Tony put his coffee cup on the table and rubbed his hands together.
JARVIS.
"Yes, sir."
"Replace that dragon with a Western dragon."
"Sir, are you sure you want to modify the pattern on Mr. Lin's battle suit?"
"Of course I'm sure." Tony grinned mischievously, his fingers flying across the projection screen, deleting the majestic five-clawed golden dragon and replacing it with a large red winged lizard, even adding a ring of fire effects. "He wanted a dragon, so I gave him a dragon. A winged one is still a dragon, and it can breathe fire—how impressive!"
JARVIS paused for a few seconds, then replied in an extremely professional tone, "Sir, Western dragons do indeed belong to the Sauridae family in taxonomy, but their morphology differs from that of Eastern dragons. Are you sure you want to make the changes?"
"That's it." Tony nodded in satisfaction. "Anyway, he's here. We'll wait until he finds out—"
"Sir, after Mr. Lin discovered that you had cheated him last time, you weren't allowed into the lab for three days and were hung on the wall to sing the Dragon Country anthem 'Conquer' for half a day."
JARVIS, shut up.
Meanwhile, at the S.H.I.E.L.D.. Triskelion.
Natasha hung up the phone, twirled it between her fingers, and gestured with her chin toward Coulson on the other end.
He answered my call.
Coulson glanced down at the "the other party has hung up" message on his screen, maintaining a basic polite smile, though a closer look revealed a bulging vein on his forehead.
"He's a newcomer, so it's normal for him to communicate with the instructors promptly."
" Coulson, that's so sour it could be pickled cucumbers."
Coulson pushed up his glasses, his smile still the standard "nice guy" smile, but it looked forced no matter how you looked at it.
A dozen minutes later, Lin Xiao walked into the S.H.I.E.L.D.. lobby, still feeling uneasy. He had been "exiled" for so long, and S.H.I.E.L.D.. had completely ignored him. What was going on? Something was off. Nine out of ten things felt wrong. He had a bad feeling. Without thinking too much about it, Lin Xiao entered the elevator.
The elevator doors on the top floor opened, and he strode towards Fury's office, bumping into Hill. Hill was wearing a dark blue suit skirt today, holding a tablet computer in her arms, looking both cool and stylish. Lin Xiao couldn't help but glance at her a few more times. When Hill saw Lin Xiao, the corners of her mouth curved up slightly.
" Agent Lin Xiao, it's been a long time."
"Deputy Director, you look great today."
"The director is waiting for you in the conference room, the large conference room."
"The main conference room? Are there still people there?"
Hill didn't answer, only gave him a strange look before turning and leaving. The main conference room? That place was usually used for receiving foreign guests or holding plenary meetings. What did they want with him suddenly being called there? Alarm bells rang in Lin Xiao's mind. He knew Fury had a peculiar fetish (see Chapter 26 for details). Could it be...?
Lin Xiao looked puzzled as he walked to the conference room. He noticed the door was ajar. Peeking through the crack, the first thing he saw was Lin Xiao 'Fury signature Black Baldy. Fury was standing at the inside of the long table, his hands behind his back, grinning incessantly at someone in front of him—a smile that was almost obsequious.
Lin Xiao looked at the person in front of Fury again. It was a woman with her back to the door, wearing a dark brown bomber jacket and faded jeans. Her long golden hair was casually draped over her shoulders.
Lin Xiao couldn't help but shout in his mind, " Doupao, help me see who this woman is? Could she be Black Baldy's lover? Otherwise, why would this bald guy be smiling so obsequiously at her?"
A blue light popped up in front of my eyes.
"Ding--Understanding the world of encyclopedias is so simple!"
Lin Xiao:...
"Ding--Identity matching complete. Carol Danvers, codename Captain Marvel. Former member of the Kree Empire's Starforce, now a cosmic-level superhero. Abilities include, but are not limited to: Binary Form energy absorption and release, photon shockwaves, faster-than-light travel. Current target is a Binary Form clone, possessing an independent personality and full combat capabilities."
Immediately afterwards, the system thoughtfully displayed a video clip—a scene from " Captain Marvel 1 ". In the video, Carol Danvers, wearing a red and blue combat suit, with short hair, a square face, and glowing skin, was engaged in a fierce battle with a group of Skrulls.
Lin Xiao stared at the video, his expression slowly becoming subtle.
"That's it? An old lady? Are you sure she's that Captain Marvel?"
"Ding--The image data comes from the official Marvel Cinematic Universe setting."
Lin Xiao glanced again at the square-faced, short-haired woman in the video, then at the blonde, long-haired figure peeking through the crack in the door. His lips twitched. "That old lady is just an old lady; she has absolutely nothing to do with me."
Thinking of this, Lin Xiao straightened his collar, pushed open the door, and went inside.
In the conference room, Fury was in the middle of a lively conversation when he saw Lin Xiao enter. His smile deepened— Lin Xiao knew that smile all too well; the old fox always had that expression before he was about to trick him.
" Lin Xiao, you've come at the perfect time." Fury waved to him. "Let me introduce you to an important person. This is Ms. Danvers. Carol Danvers."
Carol turned around.
Lin Xiao paused for a moment. Blonde hair, blue eyes, a high-bridged nose, and a slight upturn at the corners of her mouth, exuding a nonchalant composure. To be honest, it took Lin Xiao's brain a fraction of a second to reboot. This is an old lady? This is clearly a stunning beauty! A genuine Western sweetheart! Movies have misled me!
" Doupao, your video footage concerns female characters, so don't show it anymore. Absolutely not."
"Ding--Host, this isn't my fault, it's film footage."
Lin Xiao ignored it, a perfectly confident smile already plastered on his face. He strode forward and grabbed Carol's hand.
" Ms. Danvers! It's an honor to meet you! I was so impressed by the brilliance emanating from this conference room when I was outside. I thought Director Fury had just changed to a higher wattage light bulb in his office, but it turns out it's you radiating light! It's a pleasure to meet you!"
Carol was taken aback by his rapid-fire enthusiasm, then laughed. She turned to look at Fury, her smile deepening.
"You're right, he is indeed a very interesting person."
Fury cleared his throat and stepped forward, seemingly unaffected by Lin Xiao's words. Instead, he became even more bizarre. He picked up the remote control on the table, pressed a button, and the holographic screen lit up, displaying a face that Lin Xiao knew all too well—it was his own face. Next to it were several lines of text, each enough to fill a disciplinary report.
" Lin Xiao, I called you back today because there are a few things I need to confirm with you."
Lin Xiao's heart skipped a beat when he saw his own headshot on the screen, but he maintained his standard smile.
"Please speak, Director."
Fury pointed at the screen and read out the list of violations one by one, "First, you left S.H.I.E.L.D.. without authorization. Second, you interrogated the Mutants Pyro without authorization. Third, you engaged in a physical altercation with two high-risk Mutants in an abandoned industrial area of Manhattan, damaging public facilities, and instead of informing S.H.I.E.L.D.., you informed the X-Men. Fourth, the X-Men have filed a complaint against you."
He put down the remote control, his single eye fixed on Lin Xiao, a slight smile playing on his lips, "Do you have anything to explain about these four things?"
Lin Xiao opened his mouth, about to speak, when Fury added, "Oh, right, there's one more thing—unauthorized formation of a civilian armed team, called some kind of Superhero Team, and the legal representative is listed as someone from the military. Colonel Rhodes called me a couple of days ago to ask if he'd become the legal representative of your team. I said I didn't know either, why don't you explain it to him yourself?"
A crack finally appeared in Lin Xiao's smile.
"Chief, this is a long story..."
"Let's get straight to the point." Fury crossed his arms, leaning against the table, a smug smile playing on his lips. "But the reason I called you back today isn't to punish you."
Lin Xiao blinked.
" Ms. Danvers has a mission back on Earth that requires S.H.I.E.L.D..'s cooperation. She needs a liaison officer who is familiar with New York, S.H.I.E.L.D..'s operational procedures, and preferably also capable of fighting."
Fury paused, his single eye scanning Lin Xiao.
"After thinking it over, you're the only person in the bureau who meets all these criteria."
Lin Xiao turned to look at Carol. Carol was leaning against the conference table, looking up at him with a smile that never left her face.
"Damn, they're trying to pin a big accusation on me and even sending people to pressure me? I'm not made of clay." Lin Xiao pulled his hand out of his pocket, his expression changing to an extremely confident and composed smile, " Director Fury, I'm no longer with S.H.I.E.L.D.. I made that very clear in your office last time."
"You were the one who said it yourself; I didn't approve it."
"Besides," Fury didn't give Lin Xiao a chance to speak, "The disciplinary actions I just mentioned haven't been implemented yet. Do you want to talk about the disciplinary actions first, or the mission first?"
Lin Xiao's smile froze, and he frowned.
Tell me, what's the mission?
"Work with Ms. Danvers to complete the mission, and all the previous issues will be wiped clean." Fury picked up a folder from the table, opened it, and pushed it in front of him. "This is the new contract. During the mission, you will be Ms. Danvers ' temporary liaison officer, paid daily at $5,000 a day, with all travel expenses fully reimbursed. After the mission, you can choose where you go; you are not required to stay."
Lin Xiao looked down at the contract. Daily pay, full reimbursement, no pressure to stay—these words swirled in his mind. Then he looked away from the contract and at Carol. Carol still had that "whatever" expression, but her blue eyes clearly held a hint of anticipation. Lin Xiao's last bit of resistance vanished.
"Director, you're too kind." He picked up the contract, glanced at it, and stuffed it into his pocket, his smile returning to its bright expression. " Ms. Danvers has come to Earth in person; how could I, Lin Xiao, stand idly by? I'll take this mission."
Carol couldn't help but chuckle. It was a short laugh, tinged with a hint of exasperation, as she turned to Fury and said, "He's even more—"
"What else do you want?" Lin Xiao looked at her expectantly.
"... It's nothing." Carol's smile faded, but the corners of her mouth remained curved.
Just then, the system interface popped up in Lin Xiao's mind at an inopportune moment. On the blue screen, Carol's clone's combat data jumped out row by row— Binary Form, unlimited energy absorption and release; Photon shockwave, capable of destroying mothership-level targets; Faster-than-light flight, capable of interstellar travel. Rank A. This is just one clone of the main body with so many Rank A skills. Note: This clone has already acquired an independent personality and complete combat capabilities.
Lin Xiao swallowed hard, his playful expression fading considerably, replaced by a standard, impeccable professional agent's face.
" Ms. Danvers, from now on, I will be your liaison officer. Please take good care of me."