The stretch Lincoln pulled up in front of the S.H.I.E.L.D.. Triskelion building just as the first hint of dawn appeared on the horizon.
Lin Xiao climbed out of the car, stretched, and his bones cracked a series of sounds. Tony leaned against the car window, his sunglasses perched on his nose, and waved at him.
"Just got back from Monaco, aren't you going to go back and catch up on some sleep?" Lin Xiao bent down to look at him.
"What's the point of catching up on sleep? I need to go 'optimize' the Mark I blueprints." Tony yawned and drew a circle on his chest with his finger. "That plan you mentioned seems more and more feasible to me. Justin Hammer gets his hands on these blueprints, the mechs he builds will break down after three shots and start smoking after five minutes of flight. Just thinking about his face, I need to get back to work."
"Then take it easy, don't try to improve yourself too much."
"Don't worry, I'm not done living yet." Tony pushed up his sunglasses, patted the car door, and the Lincoln slowly drove away. Lin Xiao stood there watching him disappear around the street corner, then turned around and looked up at the cold glass curtain wall of the Triskelion.
"It's been a few days since I last came here, and I've actually missed it quite a bit, mainly because I miss Natasha and Hill. "Lin Xiao straightened his collar and strode into the hall.
The S.H.I.E.L.D.. lobby was nearly empty. A few agents who had finished their night shift were yawning as they walked out of the elevator. The moment they saw Lin Xiao, they all stopped in their tracks, their expressions shifting from drowsy to excited, their eyes sparkling. Lin Xiao nodded to them, walked straight to the elevator, and pressed the button for the eighth floor.
As Lin Xiao approached Coulson's office, he glanced at it instinctively. The door was ajar, letting in a sliver of warm yellow light. He raised his hand to knock, but the door was pulled open from the inside. Coulson appeared in the doorway, with faint dark circles under his eyes, clearly having stayed up all night again.
"Boss, you've been staying up all night again."
"I'm used to it." Coulson stepped aside to let him in, made two cups of instant coffee, and handed one to Lin Xiao. Lin Xiao waved his hand and refused; he didn't like that stuff. Coulson didn't mind, took a sip himself, picked up a document from the table, and handed it to him.
"It's good that you're back. There's something I need to discuss with you. The bureau recently selected a group of new recruits from the police academy and civilians. One of them is quite special; he's very capable, but he's never been in combat. I hope you can mentor him."
Lin Xiao took the folder, opened the first page, and his expression became subtle.
Kara Lynn Paramas. Nineteen years old. Dark hair, with an Asian appearance. In the photo, she's pursing her lips, looking like a well-behaved child. Her resume is impressive—all A's in police academy training, all A's in S.H.I.E.L.D.. pre-training, and excellent in firearms disassembly, close combat, and intelligence analysis. The evaluation section reads, "Calm personality, lacking a sense of security."
"Nineteen years old?" Lin Xiao looked up. "At that age, you should be in college, what are you doing at S.H.I.E.L.D.."
"Admitting her exceptionally." Coulson sat back down at his desk, his hands clasped on the table. "Her performance at the police academy was so outstanding that it caught the department's attention. Plus, we've been adjusting our talent strategy recently, and because of you, Director Fury has taken our civilian recruitment approach and made several reports about it, saying he wants to promote it." He paused, a hint of a smile appearing in his eyes as he looked at Lin Xiao. "Speaking of which, this new recruit is indirectly thanks to you."
Lin Xiao lowered his head and continued flipping through the documents, thinking to himself: This little girl is quite interesting. She looks gentle and kind, and her resume is full of words like "conscientious and responsible" and "highly obedient." This kind of well-behaved girl would probably cry for a long time if I punched her.
He closed the folder and was about to speak when a voice suddenly rang in his mind.
"Ding--Data scanned. Kara Lynn Paramas, Agent 33. Source: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. of S. H. I. E. L. D. Season 2. Note: In the original timeline, this character appeared after the events of Avengers: Age of Ultron, at approximately twenty-four years old. Current universe designation: K9999, timeline exhibits systematic shift."
Lin Xiao's smile froze for a moment.
"Wait a minute," he mentally called out to Doupao, " Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.. Season 2? Isn't that after Avengers: Age of Ultron? That's still several years away? Isn't that a time paradox?"
"Ding--This is not a time paradox. The current universe, designated K9999, is inherently systematically deviated from the main universe. The host can recall: according to the main universe's timeline, Peter Parker should be eight years old, and Ben Parker should still be alive. However, in this universe, Peter is already in middle school, and May has been raising Peter independently for a long time. These deviations existed before you appeared; your arrival simply accelerated some of these changes."
Lin Xiao was silent for a moment. Indeed. Peter and May's age lines were wrong from the beginning. He had noticed it long ago, but he had never investigated it further.
"So that's why Kara appeared early?"
"Ding—To be precise, this is directly related to the host. S.H.I.E.L.D.. has adjusted its talent acquisition strategy because of your outstanding performance as a civilian agent, investing more resources in the early screening and training of civilian elites. Kara Paramas was therefore discovered ahead of schedule and has not yet undergone the socialization process in the original timeline. In other words, this is not a time paradox, but a reasonable extension of the butterfly effect. You are that butterfly."
Lin Xiao leaned back in his chair, his lips twitching. So, he had forcibly changed this girl's life trajectory five years ahead of schedule. Interesting.
Coulson looked at Lin Xiao and a slight smile appeared on his lips.
"What's your decision?"
"What do you mean, 'what do you mean'? I've only read one page. You think I'm suitable to be a teacher?"
"You're Level 7 Agent. There are fewer than thirty people in the bureau who have reached Level 7 alive right now. If you don't teach her, are you going to let those office workers who only know how to write reports teach her?" Coulson stood up, walked over to Lin Xiao, took the folder from his hands and placed it on the table, patted Lin Xiao's shoulder, and leaned closer to Lin Xiao to speak:
"I originally wanted to assign you a male intern, but I was afraid you wouldn't like it. Think about it, a Level 7 Agent like you wouldn't have much to do at S.H.I.E.L.D.., and people would gossip. So I assigned you this outstanding female trainee. She's reliable and good-looking too." He said this with a very serious expression, making Lin Xiao grind his teeth. "Don't disappoint me, and don't lead her astray. Come report to me tonight."
Coulson turned and left after speaking. Before Lin Xiao could react, the office door had already closed behind him.
"... So you ran away." Lin Xiao stared at the closed door for several seconds, his lips twitching. "It's not like I refused, why did you run away? And what do you mean by finding me a male intern because you're afraid I won't be happy? Do you think I'm that kind of person?"
At the end of the corridor, Coulson's voice drifted back. "You have forty minutes to prepare. The new recruit is to report to your office at 8:30!"
Lin Xiao shrugged. "Fine, if you guys do it this way, then we'll go with my method. I'm good at raising simulation games. Ideally, I'd raise her to be like Pepper Potts, Tony's little sister. That way, I'd have a sensible and obedient little secretary—perfect! When there's work to do, the secretary does it; when there's nothing else... cough cough, I'm overthinking it."
At exactly 8:30, there was a knock on the office door.
Three knocks, no more, no less, even rhythm, and just the right amount of force. Just from the sound of the knocking, you could tell Coulson wasn't lying; this girl was indeed a serious person, even her knocking sounded like she was following a textbook.
"Enter."
The door was pushed open, Kara Lynn Paramas stood in the doorway.
She looked younger than in the photos. Her black hair was tied into a neat ponytail, revealing a section of her fair neck. Her features were delicate and petite, with a straight nose and lips pursed into a line. She exuded a serious and upright demeanor. Her dark blue S.H.I.E.L.D. uniform was well-tailored, and she stood upright with her hands neatly hanging at her sides.
" Agent Lin Xiao, intern Kara Paramas reporting for duty." Her voice was soft, each word enunciated clearly, as if she were reciting a line she had rehearsed several times.
Lin Xiao leaned back in his swivel chair, looked her up and down for a few seconds, and noticed that her fingers twitched very slightly at the hem of her pants. She was nervous. A straight-A student, who had rehearsed her opening line countless times in her mind before knocking on the door and had rehearsed all possible unexpected situations, was still nervous. That was interesting.
"Sit." Lin Xiao gestured with his lips toward the chair opposite his desk.
Kara pulled out a chair and sat down quietly, her back straight, legs together, and hands folded on her knees. Her gaze swept over Lin Xiao's face before settling on the folder on the edge of the desk.
Lin Xiao leaned back in his chair, tilting his head to examine it for a while. Then he did something Kara hadn't expected at all. He took out a White Rabbit Creamy Candy from the drawer, unwrapped it, popped it into his mouth, and chewed it with a crunching sound. Then he placed the second one on the table and pushed it half an inch toward her.
"Eat candy."
Kara looked down at the candy, then looked up at Lin Xiao. She opened her mouth as if to say, "Instructor, I'm not hungry" or "Eating candy during training is against the rules," but in the end, she simply reached out, picked up the candy, whispered "Thank you, Instructor," placed the candy on her lap, and continued to sit upright.
He didn't eat it. He put it away. Lin Xiao mentally gave this newcomer a score: well-behaved and polite, but not very good at interacting with people, even accepting others' kindness with such restraint. A typical case of insecurity. The four-word evaluation in the profile was spot on.
He leaned back in his chair, hands behind his head, and spoke in a lazy tone, " Kara, right? Coulson assigned you to me to mentor. To be honest, I've never seriously mentored a new recruit before, and I don't know how to do it. Let's just chat casually, don't be nervous. I'm not the kind of instructor who'll make you do two hundred push-ups."
Kara's tense shoulders relaxed slightly, but her back remained ramrod straight.
"The data says you're the top student in this batch, with straight As. Firearms, hand-to-hand combat, intelligence analysis—you're good at everything, and you learn everything quickly. To be honest, there's nothing more I can teach you in these areas."
A hint of confusion flashed in Kara's eyes, but she didn't speak, waiting for Lin Xiao to finish.
"But I can teach you something else." Lin Xiao sat up straight, placed his hands on the table, and his expression suddenly became extremely serious. "Today's first lesson—how to efficiently slack off: finding things to do."
Kara's eyes widened for a moment. She opened her mouth, then closed it, then opened it again, finally uttering only one syllable. "... Slacking off?"
"Yes, slacking off, don't underestimate those two words. In a place like S.H.I.E.L.D.., there are plenty of hard-working people, but very few who know how to slack off. Do you know why Coulson can still smile and look tireless even in his forties? It's not because he's not busy, but because he's a master of slacking off."
Kara's expression shifted from confusion to bewilderment. She had spent two years at the police academy and training base, and had never heard any instructor mention the word "slacking off," not even a hint. And now, S.H.I.E.L.D..'s youngest Level 7 Agent, the legendary figure Agent Coulson spoke of, was solemnly telling her: the first lesson was slacking off.
"Instructor," Kara cleared her throat, her voice still hesitant, "Could I ask... why is it 'slacking off'? Agent Coulson said I should learn from you."
"Because slacking off is for better work performance." Lin Xiao held up one finger. "Look, how long until lunchtime?"
Kara glanced down at her watch. "One hour and fifty-five minutes."
"That's right. These two hours are dragging on when you're sitting in the office flipping through documents, right? But if you go out for a walk and find something to do, the time will fly by. So the real essence of slacking off isn't not doing any work, but actively finding things to do, things that look like work but are actually like playing."
He finished speaking, stood up, took his coat from the rack, draped it over his shoulders, and walked towards the door. Kara instinctively stood up and followed behind him, her steps hesitant.
"Instructor, where are we going?"
"Go find something to do." Lin Xiao pushed open the door, turned back and grinned at her, "Let's go see Deputy Director Hill is up to first."
Kara froze on the spot. In a mere second, her expression underwent a complete transformation from confusion to shock to feigned composure. The obedient and well-behaved image that the intern had been striving to maintain since sitting down was now cracked with an extremely subtle rift.
"Are you going to see Deputy Director Hill? Aren't we supposed to be having training?"
"Yeah, finding her is for training." Lin Xiao nodded confidently, took out a small mirror from his pocket, and started fixing his hair in front of the mirror. He brushed the stray hairs from his forehead with his hand, looked at himself from left to right, and seemed not quite satisfied. He then used his finger to dab some water and wipe his temples.
Kara stood there, watching the two-meter-tall giant meticulously fixing his hair in front of a small mirror, her lips twitching slightly. She recalled the description of this person in the files— S.H.I.E.L.D..'s youngest Level 7 Agent, who had single-handedly resolved at least three Class A threats, hailed by Agent Coulson as "the ace of aces." An ace? The first thing an ace agent does at work is go to the deputy director's office to pick up girls... cough cough, to inspect the work?
Lin Xiao put the mirror back in his pocket, and a rose appeared in his hand without him noticing. The rose wasn't taken from a vase, nor was it bought from a florist; it had grown from his palm. The deep blue petals unfolded layer by layer, each petal shimmering with a faint blue halo.
Kara stared at the rose that had grown from his palm, her pupils dilating slightly.
Lin Xiao nodded in satisfaction as he looked at Kara; this was exactly the effect he wanted.
"Alright, stop standing there like an idiot, come on, I'll show you around."
"... Seeing the world? You're wearing S.H.I.E.L.D.. uniform, holding a rose, and going to see the deputy director? What kind of 'seeing the world' is that?" Kara's voice was tinged with disbelief, but her feet still followed involuntarily.
"Don't be nervous, you're just looking around. Remember you're here to learn, so observe more, listen more, and talk less."
Kara opened her mouth, then closed it again, and finally just nodded and followed behind him.
The two walked down the corridor one after the other. Lin Xiao's pace was neither fast nor slow. Occasionally, he would step aside to let a clerk pushing a file cart pass by, and occasionally stop to greet a passing agent. His greetings were very casual; sometimes it was a nod, sometimes a pat on the shoulder, and sometimes a "Hey, you look great today." Those he greeted would respond with a smile, but almost everyone's smile would become subtle after seeing the blue rose in his hand.
Kara silently memorized all these details. She discovered that this instructor was even more popular within S.H.I.E.L.D.. than his file stated; he was relaxed, unhurried, and unconcerned about others' opinions, as if the world revolved around him.
At the corner of the corridor, Lin Xiao suddenly stopped, turned around and looked at Kara, his expression still that lazy smile.
"By the way, were you just thinking, 'Why is this instructor so unreliable? He took me sightseeing on my first day of work and even flirted with other women right in front of me?'"
Kara paused, opened her mouth as if to deny it, but didn't say it. She really did think that way, and thought about it a lot. From the moment Lin Xiao took out the mirror, this thought had been swirling in her mind.
"It's okay, feel free to think about it." Lin Xiao turned around and walked deeper into the corridor, his voice echoing back, tinged with amusement. "Don't hold back, you can say whatever you're thinking. Anyway, there's plenty of time, you'll get used to it eventually. I'm the most reliable person."
Kara watched Lin Xiao walk further and further away, then hurriedly ran after him. Looking at Lin Xiao's back, most of her doubts lessened, and she suddenly felt a sense of anticipation for the training ahead, a slight smile playing on her lips.
"Okay, instructor, where do we go next?"
"Go find something to do. We've arrived at the office."
Kara followed Lin Xiao's gaze and saw a sign at the end of the corridor that read: Deputy Director's Office.