Chapter 7
Struggling with hunger, Qin Li pondered what exactly was going on. He decided to apply another buff to himself and walked out to the balcony. Staring at the Holy Light skill in his skill bar, he thought, "Let's go for it! Make a bicycle into a motorcycle!" With a thought, a beam of golden light descended from the sky, enveloping Qin Li. The holy light burst from within him, and as the light radiated outward, an evil shadow was forced to separate from Qin Li's body.
Looking at the black shadow being repelled by the holy light, Qin Li swiftly drew a pure white blade and slashed through it, splitting the shadow into four parts, which vanished instantly. When Qin Li opened his system panel to check the buff list, the original sin buffs were gone. He thought to himself, "It must have been those bastards from Hell." Once the business with Tony Stark was settled, he'd ask Ancient One about it. Since it was still late at night, and no one had witnessed the disturbance, Qin Li returned to his room and went back to sleep.
The next morning, as soon as Qin Li opened the door, Coulson was already there, ringing the bell. Seeing Qin Li, he hurriedly said, "Father Li, we need to head to the accident site right away. Otherwise, with the strong desert winds, all the evidence and clues will be blown away."
"Oh, Coulson, if there were any clues, Tony Stark would be in a TV interview in New York right now," Qin Li replied. "Think about it—if they really wanted to find Stark, the military would have already acted. But now? There isn't even a clue. I suspect someone arranged this."
Coulson didn't respond because this was quite obvious, which is why Director Nick Fury had sent him and Qin Li to search for Tony Stark.
"Also, finding Tony Stark and finding the person who framed him are two different things. If it's just about finding Stark, that would be easy," Qin Li continued, seeing that Coulson hadn't said anything.
"What? Father Li, you can find Stark now?" Coulson asked, surprised.
"Of course! Actually, I could've found Stark directly in New York. It's just that I ran into a bit of a problem back then, and only solved it last night," Qin Li shrugged helplessly and said.
"Ah, damn. So, is Tony Stark okay?" Coulson asked quickly.
"I'm not sure, but at least I know Tony Stark isn't dead," Qin Li answered nonchalantly. This was the result he got from testing his teleportation potion before bed. If someone were dead, the potion wouldn't have been able to locate them. Qin Li didn't want to cause a storm in the Marvel world due to his unintentional butterfly effect. After all, if the Marvel child died, who would save the world next? Him? Not impossible, but Qin Li preferred to take it easy whenever he could.
"Then, let's head over now! We don't know what danger Stark might be facing!" Coulson said, his tone urgent.
"No, no, no. Not 'we'—I'm going. My ability doesn't allow me to teleport with others," Qin Li said, walking toward the balcony to observe the crowd below.
"Fine. Wait here, Father Li. I'll go get a tracker," Coulson said, without questioning Qin Li's words, and walked toward his room.
Qin Li breathed a sigh of relief. If Coulson had asked more, he might have spilled the beans. But one thing must be kept a secret—he couldn't let Nick Fury know. If Fury found out about this ability to travel anywhere in the world with just a thought, he would be pestered non-stop. So, this ability was for personal use only.
Before long, Coulson returned with a tracker the size of a soybean. "Father Li, this is the latest tracker developed by SHIELD. It can pinpoint locations with precision, even under strong electromagnetic interference. When you go, please hide it in a safe place. We'll arrange for a rescue team to come immediately."
Qin Li was indifferent to SHIELD's advanced technology, but he was intrigued by Coulson's self-introduction. "Coulson, did you finally change that long and terrible name?"
"Yes, just a few days ago. Director Fury announced it. Our agency is now called SHIELD—Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement, and Logistics Division. I think the new name is pretty good, don't you agree?" Coulson smiled, clearly proud of his agency. It was much easier to introduce their agency now, instead of being mistaken for some random organization when meeting new people.
"Dog shit. Fury's such a bastard. That name was my suggestion! He didn't even credit me," Qin Li said, his face dark.
Coulson, who had been smiling normally, suddenly froze, feeling a bit awkward. He awkwardly changed the topic, "Father Li, are you ready to head out?"
Qin Li took the tracker from Coulson and said impatiently, "Alright, alright, let me prepare a bit more. Bring me some paper and a pen."
Coulson was puzzled but went to fetch them. After returning with the paper and pen, he saw Qin Li writing large letters on the paper: "Quiet" and "I'm here to save you."
Coulson couldn't resist asking, "Father Li, why not just tell them directly? Why write it down?"
"Oh~ Coulson, you call yourself an agent, and yet you don't consider the possibility that Tony Stark might be under surveillance?" Qin Li said smugly, having watched the Iron Man movies and knowing how common this was.
"Good point. Then I hope everything goes smoothly for you, Father Li," Coulson said, feeling awkward. He wondered if next time Fury arranged for him to carry out a mission with Qin Li, he should decline.
"Okay, I'm leaving now. You wait here, it won't take long," Qin Li said. He then opened his system inventory and used the teleportation potion. Coulson only saw Qin Li surrounded by golden light before vanishing.
Coulson couldn't help but marvel, "What a miracle!"
Using the potion, Qin Li was able to locate Tony Stark. Ethan was still assisting him, and it seemed the palladium wasn't fully extracted yet. Tony was still in the early Iron Man phase, the "Battery Man." Qin Li found the surveillance device and positioned himself in a blind spot. He appeared in the cave where Tony Stark was trapped, watching the two of them immersed in their work. Qin Li took the prepared paper and snapped a picture—no flash, he was careful.
Tony Stark and Ethan looked up, startled by Qin Li's sudden appearance but quickly acted as if nothing had happened.
"Ethan, I told you many times, put the parts in the right place. See? It's a mess again," Tony said as he walked toward Qin Li, pretending to drop some parts.
"Got it, Tony, I'll be more careful next time," Ethan shrugged and continued working at the bench. Tony walked up to Qin Li and whispered, "How did you get in? How are you going to save us?"
Qin Li leaned closer to Tony and whispered, "This is my special ability, I can teleport. This is SHIELD's tracker, which can pinpoint a location even under strong electromagnetic interference. I'll leave it here, and they'll come for rescue immediately. Oh, by the way, SHIELD is the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement, and Logistics Division."
"Okay, just one thing—I need you to appear when I need you," Tony Stark's eyes were filled with resolve, as if he had made up his mind.
Seeing Tony's determination, Qin Li knew that the playboy arms dealer was starting to transform. He didn't mind helping, so he pulled out a device and said, "No problem. This is a communicator. Press it when you need me."
Tony hesitated and pointed to the desk, silently reminding Qin Li of his odd quirk of not accepting things from anyone except those he trusted. Qin Li placed the communicator on the desk.
Tony then asked, "What's your name? And about the photo?"
"My name is Qin Li. I'm Chinese. And yes, I took a photo. After all, it's not every day you see someone connected to a battery, especially Tony Stark. I had to get a memento!" Qin Li said, stifling a laugh.
Tony Stark looked like his world had collapsed. He slapped his forehead with one hand. "Damn it! How much do you want to forget this? Li, this is really taking advantage of the situation!"
Qin Li just smiled and waved his hand. "Time's running out. You've been in this corner too long. I'll wait for your news. I'm leaving now."
With that, Qin Li vanished out of thin air.