Chapter 96: Using Jade Legs as a Pillow, Does the Old Popsicle Deserve to Talk About Justice?
In Brooklyn, Steve Rogers woke up with a start from his hospital bed.
His memories were still lingering in the cold airplane cockpit, locked in a life-and-death struggle with Red Skull, and fixated on that unfulfilled date promise to Carter.
He looked around, the familiar furnishings causing him to lose his focus for a brief moment.
Soon, his insight, which far exceeded that of an ordinary person, caught the flaw—the baseball game broadcast on the radio was an old match he had heard months ago.
This was a scam.
Steve rolled out of bed, burst through the hospital room door, and charged down the hallway.
Light from the end of the street flooded into his field of vision; massive electronic billboards, strange-looking cars, and passersby dressed in bizarre clothing all pressed in on this soldier who had just awakened from the ice.
This was no longer the Brooklyn he knew.
He stood in the center of Times Square, surrounded by this future World that did not belong to him, his back held straight, though his breathing gradually grew heavy.
Several black Chevrolet SUVs drove in from the intersection, their tires crushing the water on the road as they surrounded him.
The car doors opened, and Nick Fury stepped out wearing a black trench coat, his one eye looking at him from across the headlights.
"Relax, soldier."
Fury raised his hand, signaling the surrounding Agents to lower their guns, his raspy voice carrying the pressure of someone long experienced in battle.
"I know you have many questions right now."
Inside a secret S.H.I.E.L.D. Base, Steve Rogers sat on a metal chair in an interrogation room, silently watching the tablet computer that Fury handed over.
Fury was in no rush to explain the changes of the past seventy years; he chose a more effective method.
"In the years you were asleep, the World did not welcome true peace, Captain."
Fury stood at the table, his fingertips pressing on the edge of the tablet, the projection light reflecting onto his trench coat.
"We won a war, but encountered even more troublesome people."
Steve looked up at him.
Fury pushed the tablet closer, and the screen automatically played a pre-edited file.
The footage began with the Star Umbrella Groupheadquarters building; that structure, with its strong sense of futuristic technology, stood tall in the New York skyline, its glass curtain walls reflecting the city lights—grand from afar, oppressive up close.
Subsequently, the figure of Lin Nuo appeared.
At the Wall Street financial summit, The Pentagon Militarymeetings, and the United Nations venue, he was always dressed in a clean white shirt, wearing gold-rimmed glasses, behaving with refined manners, standing among a group of politicians, generals, and business titans.
When those people faced him, their postures were noticeably lowered.
"Lin Nuo, founder of the Star Umbrella Group, is also the most dangerous controller of this era."
Fury's voice fell in sync with the footage.
"He uses money, technology, energy, and force to hold the global order in the palm of his hand; his signature is sometimes more effective than the law."
The footage cut to a ruin-filled battlefield in South America.
Lin Nuo, wearing a crisp suit, walked through the center of the crossfire zone; bullets and debris flew past him, yet not even his collar was ruffled.
Hulk threw a heavy punch, his massive green arm smashing toward his face.
Lin Nuo caught that heavy blow with one hand, his leather shoes sliding back half a step as cracks spread across the ground; then, he gripped Hulk's wrist, used the momentum to spin, and threw the green behemoth into the ground.
When the dust cleared, Lin Nuo lowered his head to adjust his cufflinks, his movements dazzlingly composed.
"He possesses power beyond conventional understanding, and lacks reverence for the rules."
Fury looked up at Steve, slowing his speaking pace.
"People who should have been protecting the World have one by one become his stepping stones."
Footage of a New Mexico town followed.
The high-temperature ray spewed by the Destroyerpierced through the street, the car shells burned and twisted.
Lin Nuo raised his hand to block the beam, his five fingers digging into the Uru metal shell, forcibly tearing apart that Asgard weapon.
The flames illuminated his lenses as he stood amidst the scrap metal, as if he had just finished a routine experiment.
"He has even reached his hand into the realm of the gods, turning the disaster of extraterrestrial visitors into a personal display of force."
Steve's brows furrowed, his palm pressing against the edge of the table, causing the metal surface to emit a soft sound.
The documentary continued, the footage shifting to silhouettes of various female characters.
Betty Ross was taken away from the Military's gunpoint by Lin Nuo, the camera only capturing her complex expression as she looked back.
Pepper Potts stood behind Lin Nuo at a Stark Tower board meeting, her red hair illuminated brightly by the lights, the folder in her hand pressed against her chest.
After the Brooklyn Bridge accident, Gwen Stacy was protected by Lin Nuo from beside a falling school bus, her young face filled with reliance.
Jane Foster observed the starry sky alongside him in the New Mexico desert, the notebook beside the telescope being flipped by the wind.
Fury did not miss any detail on Steve's face.
"He uses power, rescue, resources, and emotional voids to push those who should have had their own lives to his side."
Fury paused, then pulled up the final segment of footage.
"In the files, they are scientists, chairwomen, students, researchers, but when they reach him, they all become his personal trophies."
Steve watched those images on the screen; his initial confusion was covered by shock, which then turned into an irrepressible anger.
He came from a more direct era, where the boundaries between good and evil did not have so many gray areas in his eyes.
Playing power games, bullying the weak, taking away others' choices—these things all trampled on his bottom line.
Fury turned, took that red, white, and blue circular shield, sealed away for seventy years, out of a briefcase, and placed it in front of Steve.
"We need you, Captain."
The circular shield landed on the table, its metallic sheen reflected in Steve's eyes.
"This era has been led astray; it needs a true hero to steer it back on course."
Steve was silent for a long time, his fingertips slowly brushing over the familiar star emblem on the shield's surface.
That was his past, and the only thing he could still hold onto after waking up.
He finally reached out and firmly grasped the edge of the shield.
"I will stop him."
Steve looked up, a long-lost fighting spirit igniting in his blue eyes.
At the same time, New York, Long Island, Manor No. 1.
The private living room was covered in a thick, soft carpet; the fireplace's light reflected on the wine cabinet glass, and the air was mixed with the scent of wood, sweet wine, and the lingering smell of lotion after a fresh shower.
Lin Nuo leaned back on the spacious sofa, two buttons undone at the collar of his white shirt, his gold-rimmed glasses placed casually on the edge of the coffee table.
His head was pillowed on Betty Ross's lap, her silk nightgown pressed into shallow creases, the fabric glowing with a soft, delicate luster on her knees.
Betty looked down at him, her fingertips twisting a peeled purple grape, which she brought to his lips.
Grape juice stained her fingertips; Lin Nuo did not bite down immediately, instead raising his hand to grip her slender wrist, his thumb and forefinger locking onto her wrist bone, slowly and methodically wiping away the juice.
Betty's breathing skipped a beat, her other hand falling into his hair to brush away the stray locks pressing against the temple of his glasses.
"Don't move around."
Lin Nuo took the grape into his mouth, his voice coming out against her palm; it sounded languid, yet it made her ears burn.
"You're so tense, how can I lean in and relax?"
Betty lowered her eyes, the reprimand on her lips left unspoken, her fingertips gently massaging along his temples, as if soothing a dangerous yet obedient Beast.
Pepper Potts sat on the other side of the sofa, a wine-red lounge dress hugging her waistline, a thin blanket draped over her shoulders.
She held a crystal fruit bowl in her hands, the rim already catching a few grape seeds, her other hand holding a cup of warm water, a faint lipstick stain remaining on the rim.
After watching Steve's declaration on the screen, Lin Nuochuckled and raised his hand to take the water cup from Pepper's palm.
He did not avoid the lipstick stain; instead, he turned the cup half a circle and took a sip from the exact same spot.
Pepper watched his actions, her fingertips tightening slightly on the edge of the fruit bowl, the hem of her skirt pressed into wrinkles.
"Lin Nuo, you can't even behave while watching surveillance footage."
"Work requires efficiency."
Lin Nuo returned the cup to her, his fingertips brushing the rim, then casually pinched the fingers she had hanging by the side of the sofa.
"Can't take it just after starting to watch the show with me? Where did that stubbornness go when you were signing documents for me earlier?"
Pepper turned her face away, her red hair sliding across her shoulder, her tone still maintaining the decorum expected of a former CEO of Stark Industries.
"You are watching S.H.I.E.L.D.'s top-secret intel as an evening program; if Fury knew, he would probably be angry enough to tear down his headquarters."
"He's currently busy giving the Old Popsicle a lecture on ideology; he can't be bothered with me."
Lin Nuo had the tablet on his knees, the screen playing real-time surveillance footage from the S.H.I.E.L.D. Base.
Steve gripped the shield and spoke that vow to stop him—upright, clean, and carrying a stubbornness found only in the old era.
Lin Nuo raised his hand and spat the grape seed from his mouth into the crystal fruit bowl that Pepper held out.
Looking at that face filled with a sense of justice on the screen, he gave a soft snort.
"An Old Popsicle who even needs the organization to assign him a woman—does he deserve to talk about justice?"
Chapter 97: Unbuttoning in Public, Times Have Changed, Popsicle
S.H.I.E.L.D. helicarrier, Command Room One.
Rows of holographic screens lit up the circular command console. Dozens of Agents were at their posts processing data, the whispers in the communication channels overlapping with the sound of keyboards; the entire command room maintained a tense rhythm found only before a war.
When Lin Nuo entered, this rhythm was forced to slow down by half a beat.
The black-clad Agents escorting him stood on either side; their guns were not raised, yet their hands were all poised near their weapons. No one dared to treat him as a mere visitor.
Lin Nuo was wearing a white shirt and black trousers, layered with a gray cashmere coat. His gaze from behind his gold-rimmed glasses swept across the command console, as if inspecting a batch of newly delivered equipment.
He brought no bodyguards. Natasha walked by his side, her slim dark gray coat masking her tactical lines. Her red hair was tied up neatly, and several black Chinese Frog Buttons at her collar were fastened tightly, tucking away both her danger and charm into a professional coldness.
The air held the metallic scent of heated electronic equipment and the faint fragrance of her lotion; once suppressed by the woody scent on Lin Nuo, they blended into an aroma that was hard to ignore.
Fury stood on the other side of the console, his single eye staring heavily at Lin Nuo. He did not speak a welcome, nor did he order an expulsion.
Lin Nuo's identity was too clean. The Star Umbrella Groupwas S.H.I.E.L.D.'s most important weapon supplier and the licensor of several core technologies. His presence here could be called an audit, or it could be called an inspection.
In the center of the command room, Steve Rogers was dressed in his blue, white, and red combat suit. His back was straight, and his fists were pressed to his sides, his knuckles clearly outlined against his gloves.
He did not have his shield, but that posture already said everything.
He was waiting for Lin Nuo to look at him, and also waiting for a reason that would allow him to strike.
Lin Nuo only paused for half a second. His gaze swept over the Star Emblem on Steve's chest and then moved to the main screen, his attitude as casual as if he had just finished looking at an exhibit from an old era.
Steve's breathing grew shallow, and the rise and fall of his chest became heavier.
In the files Fury had given him, Lin Nuo was a collection of power, desire, manipulation, and disorder—the person in this era who most needed to be stopped.
But at this moment, the Lin Nuo standing before him was too clean, so clean that it made those accusations even more glaring.
Lin Nuo ignored that hostility, instead turning his face toward Natasha.
He raised his hand, his fingertip stopping beside the topmost Frog Button on her collar, staying half an inch away without touching it yet.
Natasha's eyes narrowed slightly. Her body maintained the composure expected of an Agent, but the skin behind her ears was already flushed with heat from his proximity.
"The air conditioning is too low in here."
Lin Nuo spoke naturally, as if he were truly just concerned about his subordinate.
Natasha replied quickly, "Reporting, Boss. The command room is maintained at eighteen degrees Celsius year-round. This is the standard configuration."
"Standard configuration doesn't mean it's suitable for you."
Lin Nuo's fingertip descended, first touching the outer edge of the Frog Button, then pressing along the fabric over the delicate skin below her throat.
The button was intricately designed, its path hidden deep. Lin Nuo was in no hurry to undo it; he only used his thumb to slowly pry open the gap in the button, his fingertip tentatively moving back and forth across the boundary of fabric and skin.
Natasha's throat moved slightly, and her red lips pursed, but her heels did not retreat an inch.
The gazes of the surrounding Agents all fell upon them. No one spoke; there was only the rustling sound of fabric being rubbed, spreading out through the quiet air.
Lin Nuo lowered his head, his breath flowing into her ear, blowing a few strands of red hair against the side of her face.
"Relax. If you're wound this tight, how am I supposed to find the way through the fastenings?"
Natasha's fingertips twitched. Her professional training kept her in place, but the red at the tips of her ears could no longer be hidden.
On the surface, this sentence was about the button, but at such proximity, it was harder to withstand than any direct offense.
Steve took half a step forward, the soles of his boots pressing against the metal floor with a dull thud.
Fury did not stop him. He only watched Lin Nuo's hand, and watched as Natasha did not dodge.
The first Frog Button was undone, a light click echoing in the command room.
The collar loosened slightly, revealing a small patch of fine white skin above her collarbone. The cold white light fell upon it, making the redness even more apparent.
Lin Nuo did not stop. His fingertip slid half an inch inside the collar, smoothing the shirt lining that had been ruffled by the button. His movements were so refined that no fault could be found, yet the place where he lingered made Natasha's breathing lose its rhythm.
"Boss, this is the S.H.I.E.L.D. Command Room."
Her voice was held very steady, but the end of it was rasped by the way his fingertip gently pressed down.
"I know."
Lin Nuo leaned closer, his thumb pressing against the second Frog Button.
"That's why I'm just adjusting your equipment, lest you be choked while on a mission."
The second button was tighter than the first. He used the web of his hand to gently catch the edge of her jaw, forcing her to lift her face, while his other hand continued to fiddle with the button knot.
The movement was not heavy, yet it seized the initiative completely.
Natasha saw Steve's face darken, and she saw some of the surrounding Agents avert their eyes, not daring to watch this public yet intimate humiliation any longer.
Lin Nuo seemed not to notice any of this, merely keeping his eyes down, seriously dealing with that button.
"Can't take it when we've only just begun?"
He lowered his voice, his words falling by her ear.
"Where did that stubbornness go from when you escorted me in?"
Natasha bit the inside of her lip and did not talk back.
She knew Lin Nuo was using her as a blade, specifically slashing at Steve's brand of old-era justice.
But she also knew clearly that she had not backed away.
Click.
The second Frog Button came loose. The coat collar parted to the sides, revealing a section of her dark inner layer. The fabric clung to her rising and falling breath, a sense of disorder bleeding through the restraint.
Lin Nuo raised his hand to tuck a strand of hair back behind her ear, the back of his finger brushing her earlobe before stopping to gently stroke the soft skin at the side of her neck.
Natasha's fingers gripped the hem of her coat, the fabric wrinkling under her pinch.
Steve finally spoke, his voice heavy with suppressed Fury.
"Enough."
Only then did Lin Nuo turn his head to look at him.
He did not let go of Natasha. His hand remained at the side of her neck, as if comforting his own private property, and as if reminding everyone which side she was currently standing on.
"Captain, you've just woken up; you might not yet understand the procedures here."
Lin Nuo's tone was gentle, but every word carried a sting.
"What does me checking my employee's equipment have to do with you?"
Steve stared at Natasha's open collar, his brow lowering.
"She is not your property."
Hearing this, Natasha's eyelashes fluttered, but she did not immediately object.
Lin Nuo gave a small smile. His fingertip followed Natasha's collar down to press against the already loosened Frog Button, then slowly pushed it back to its original place without fastening it, letting it rest loosely against the fabric.
"The water is deep here; don't make any reckless moves."
He spoke close to Natasha's ear, but the words were meant for Steve to hear.
"I'll test the depths before I take you across."
Natasha's breathing hitched for half a beat at those words. Her palms pressed against her coat hem, and her shoulder line tightened further.
Steve's fists clenched, the leather of his combat gloves making a faint creaking sound under the strain.
"You treat people as trophies and power as a toy, yet you dare stand here and talk about rules?"
Lin Nuo let go of Natasha's jaw, turning instead to tidy one side of her upturned collar.
His movements were slow and deliberate, like organizing documents before a meeting, yet every motion fell exactly where it was hardest for Steve to look away.
"Rules?"
Lin Nuo looked up at him, his gold-rimmed glasses reflecting the blue light of the command console.
"You slept for seventy years, and the first thing you do upon waking is listen to Fury's stories and then bring a shield to judge me."
His fingertip stopped beside Natasha's second Frog Button, not fastening it back.
"Popsicle, did no one give you a newcomer's orientation?"
Fury's expression darkened, and the Agents in the command room all held their breath.
Steve took a step forward, his shoulders tensing as his body entered a pre-strike state.
Lin Nuo remained where he was, one hand slipped back into his coat pocket, the other resting lightly on the back of Natasha's neck, his fingertip pressing against that patch of soft skin, stroking it unhurriedly.
Natasha did not pull away.
This single action provoked Steve more than any words could.
Heroes of the old era valued dignity, boundaries, and the desire to protect; Lin Nuo insisted on crushing these things inch by inch right before his eyes.
"Don't be so defensive."
Lin Nuo looked at Steve's classic combat suit, his tone casual.
"Times have changed, Popsicle."
"The rules now are whatever I say they are."
Chapter 98: Checking calculations by the skirt hem, teaching her the final solution with his body
On the eve of the final battle, the entire city fell into the highest level of military martial law.
The Star Umbrella Group headquarters building stood tall in the night, its black glass curtain wall reflecting the navigation lights of distant patrol aircraft, so quiet that people dared not approach.
Inside the nuclear-resistant shelter a thousand meters underground, the dome cast a soft light source simulating natural daylight.
The constant temperature system maintained the air at twenty-four degrees, and the scent of cedar and white tea flowed along the vents, suppressing the smell of gunpowder from the outside World before the great war.
Potts, Betty, Jane, and Susan had already been settled in various areas.
Some were processing pre-war data, some were holding red wine watching the real-time battle situation, and others were leaning back on sofas flipping through newly delivered defense briefings.
They were not in a panic.
Because the true line of defense of this underground fortress was never alloy walls and anti-missile systems.
In the deepest part of the security room, the core server room was lit with cold white lights.
Rows of large mainframes hummed at a low frequency, and cooling air rose from the gaps in the floor, blowing several draft pages of papers on the edge of the console.
Gwen Stacy stood with her back to the door in front of a black metal console.
She was wearing the Star Umbrella special-grade researcher uniform, her white silk shirt buttoned to the collar, her black skirt cinching her waistline, and her ID badge hanging on the left, clinking softly as she constantly adjusted the documents.
Her calves were wrapped in black stockings, and her leather shoes stepped on the anti-static floor, her toes changing positions several times.
She stared at the Biological Decay Model on the screen; clearly, every formula was as familiar as could be, yet the cursor stopped before the final derivation term, and she hesitated to continue typing.
The door behind her opened.
The sound of leather shoes approached along the server room aisle; the rhythm wasn't fast, but it pressed down clearly on every inch of distance.
Gwen's hand holding the stylus tightened, and the tip of the pen dragged a thin red line of accidental touch across the edge of the screen.
The footsteps stopped behind her.
Lin Nuo did not speak.
The woody fragrance on him, mixed with a hint of post-drinking heat, pressed in from behind her shoulder, intertwining with the clean cold air in the server room.
Gwen wanted to turn around, but just as she tilted her face, he raised his hand and pressed down on the folder on the other side of the console.
The pages were flattened by his fingertips.
She was also trapped between the console and his figure.
Lin Nuo leaned down, the cuff of his white shirt brushing against the back of her hand, and the chain of his gold-rimmed glasses dangled down, lightly touching the stray hairs by her ear.
That bit of coolness was brief, followed by his breath pressing against her ear.
"What are you checking?"
Gwen's throat moved as she tried hard to look like she was still working.
"The final solution for the biological decay paper."
Only after she finished speaking did she realize her voice was light, as if half-swallowed by the hum of the servers.
Lin Nuo looked down at the screen, his palms propped on both sides of her body, his fingertips resting against the edge of the console, just enough to block all her paths of retreat.
"The final solution has been stuck for so long, Dr. Stacy, your progress isn't very good."
Gwen's ears felt hot, yet she still forced herself to move the stylus back to the formula area.
"There are too many model variables; I need to re-verify the calculations."
Lin Nuo's right hand left the console, his fingertips landing on the fabric below the back of her neck.
He didn't rush downward, only slowly pressing along the midline of the shirt, finding that slightly protruding ridge through the thin, soft fabric.
Gwen's shoulders and back tightened, and the stylus clicked the wrong box on the screen, causing a red error window to pop up.
Lin Nuo chuckled against her ear.
"Relax, if you're this tense, how am I supposed to fix the error in?"
Gwen bit her lip, wanting to say this was scientific research, not one of his usual bastard jokes.
But his fingertips stopped at the position of a frog button on her back, flicking it lightly, the fabric being pulled tight and then released.
This action looked too much like straightening clothes, but the time it lingered was too long.
"President Lin, this is the core server room."
"I know."
Lin Nuo's thumb rubbed along the edge of that frog button, his voice lowered as if he were grading her experimental report.
"That's why I came personally, to prevent you from calculating the key steps incorrectly."
Gwen propped herself against the console, trying to focus her attention back on the screen.
But the man behind her was too close; with every word he spoke, the warm airflow slipped into her ear, stirring a few strands of hair, making even the symbols in the formula start to shift out of place.
Lin Nuo's hand slid from the frog button to her waist, pressing lightly through the shirt and the waistband of her skirt.
His fingertips didn't apply force, just slowly measured along the tightened fabric, as if confirming the cut of an expensive lab coat.
The hem of her skirt was pinched by his other hand, rubbing in shallow wrinkles.
Those wrinkles, under the cold white light, were more embarrassing than any explicit action.
"That brat Parker will be coming with Fury tomorrow."
Gwen's eyelashes lowered, and the stylus in her hand stopped.
"Do you have to mention him at a time like this?"
"Of course I have to mention him."
Lin Nuo's voice pressed even closer.
"After all, this problem is one he can't solve."
Gwen's fingertips tightened on the edge of the console; the metal surface felt cool, but her palms were burning.
Lin Nuo looked down at her profile, his fingertips sliding down from the waistband to the edge of the skirt hem, stopping there, not crossing the line, only using a rhythm slow enough to be torturous to fiddle with that fabric fold.
"Can't take it even when the verification has just begun?"
He raised his hand to straighten her crooked ID badge, the back of his fingers brushing against the edge of her collar, then winding the badge chain back to its original position for her.
"Where did that spirit of refusing to admit defeat while staring at the paper just now go?"
Gwen tilted her face, her breathing becoming a bit messy.
"If you're like this, I can't calculate."
Lin Nuo grasped her slender wrist and pressed the stylus back onto the screen.
His palm wrapped around the back of her hand, leading her to draw a new derivation line at the end of the formula.
"True calculation involves putting all interference into the model."
He spoke solemnly, yet his fingertips were lightly circling at her wrist bone.
"Including heartbeat, breathing, body temperature, and the reaction you refuse to admit right now."
Another red error popped up on the screen.
Gwen took a low breath and tried to pull her hand back, but he held her wrist.
The force wasn't heavy, but it was enough to let her understand who held the initiative.
"Lin Nuo, you're doing this on purpose."
"I can't help it."
He leaned even lower, his lips almost touching the back of her ear, but only stopping there.
"This paper of yours has been dragged out for too long; I need to change my teaching method."
Gwen's shoulder line tightened, her lower back pressing against his buttons, a clear sense of pressure coming through the fabric.
She didn't dare retreat, and she couldn't move away.
Lin Nuo's fingers moved away from her wrist, picking up the cup of warm water she had drunk from the edge of the console.
A faint lipstick mark remained on the rim of the cup.
He took a look, turned the cup, and took a sip from the same spot.
Gwen saw this action, and the heat from her ears climbed all the way to the side of her neck.
"That's my cup."
"Sharing experimental resources."
Lin Nuo put the cup back in its original place, the bottom of the cup lightly touching the metal surface with a very soft sound.
"You used my server, and I used your cup; it's very fair."
Gwen wanted to retort, but her words were cut off by his breath pressing close again.
Lin Nuo's palm gripped the back of her neck, his fingertips rubbing back and forth on that soft flesh, as if assessing how much longer she could hold out.
His other hand fell back to the hem of her skirt, stopping at the boundary, slowly smoothing out that circle of wrinkles through the fabric, then deliberately leaving the last bit unsmoothed.
"The data here is very deep; don't move around."
He was close to her ear, his voice low and raspy.
"I'll test the depth first, then take you through."
Gwen closed her eyes, and when she opened them again, the formula on the screen had been changed to the last line under his guidance.
She knew he was talking about the model.
She also knew it wasn't just about the model at all.
Lin Nuo led her hand to write down the final parameter, his fingertips pressing against her knuckles; the speed wasn't fast, but every stroke was excessively steady.
The sound of the server's wind masked her erratic breathing, and the blue light from the screen reflected in her eyes, clearly illuminating her embarrassment and hesitation.
"Will Parker die tomorrow?"
She finally asked, her voice so soft it almost dissipated in the wind.
Lin Nuo didn't answer immediately.
He lowered his head, his lips touching the hair at the side of her ear very lightly.
"After tomorrow, there will no longer be that Little Spiderin the World who needs you to look back."
The stylus in Gwen's hand stopped.
Lin Nuo held her hand, continuing to complete the final derivation symbol.
"Now, focus on being punished."
He slowly pressed her crumpled skirt hem back to its original place, his fingertips stopping on the last wrinkle.
"Or is the experimental feedback given by this body of yours only of this capacity?"
Chapter 99: Sultry Moans, the Performance Can Begin
The morning light was obscured by heavy cumulonimbus clouds over Manhattan, and the outer seven blocks had been sealed off by Military armored vehicles and heavy infantry lines.
The clouds hung low as the S.H.I.E.L.D. helicarrier hovered in mid-air.
The entire Avengers team was present, with single-pilot aircraft and hovering mechs filling the airspace in front of the building. Rows of ground fire-control radars turned toward the Star Umbrella Group building, their red locking frames flickering repeatedly through the curtain of rain.
The cyclone swirled up old newspapers, and the smell of gunpowder smoke mixed with the fishy scent of rainwater clung to the throat; even the sound of breathing on the Military channel was kept very low.
On the top floor of the Star Umbrella building, inside the penthouse dressing room, the war sirens outside were muffled into low-frequency vibrations by the soundproof walls.
Lin Nuo had just come out of the bathroom, wearing only a towel around his waist. Droplets of water slid down the lines of his abdominal muscles, disappearing into the shadows at the edge of the towel.
Gwen Stacy stood before him, holding a neatly ironed white shirt in her hands.
She was still wearing the researcher uniform from last night. The side slit of her pencil skirt had a tiny frayed thread, and as she stood, the light caught the dark sheen at the edge of her black stockings.
A lingering heat remained on her cheeks, and her gaze constantly darted away, yet her fingertips gripped the shirt tightly, wrinkling the fabric.
"Lift your arms."
Lin Nuo's voice was raspy from the bath, his tone gentle, yet it left her no room to refuse.
Gwen stood on her tiptoes to help him into the shirt. The silk fabric brushed against his still-damp skin, and her fingertips paused for a beat when they touched his chest.
The only sound in the dressing room was the friction of fabric. The sirens outside the window filtered through the glass, sounding as if they were locked far away.
She lowered her head to button his shirt. She was steady enough with the first button, but the second one was misaligned by half a notch.
Lin Nuo looked down at her reddened earlobes, reached out to hold her hand as she went for the third button, and pressed that slight chill against his left chest.
A powerful heartbeat pulsed through her palm. Gwen's fingertips tightened, and her breathing was forced to synchronize with his rhythm.
"Buttoning it so tightly—are you afraid the stray cats outside will see, or are you afraid of your own wandering eyes?"
He leaned in close to her ear, his warm breath pouring into her auricle and stirring a few strands of blonde hair, the itchiness burrowing down from the base of her ear.
Gwen tried to pull her hand away, but he pinned her wrist with his thumb and forefinger while his other hand pressed down along the fabric of her lower back, his palm stopping where the skirt fabric was taut, as if measuring the boundaries of the loss of control from the night before.
"Does your body remember the final solution from last night?"
Lin Nuo's nose brushed against her hair, his voice dropping even lower.
"I see there's still a delay in the feedback. Relax. If you're this tense, how am I supposed to help you calibrate?"
"No... no need."
Gwen's voice was soft, the sound of her swallowing half-muffled by the rustling of clothes.
"I remember it all, really."
"You can't take it when we've only just started the review?"
Lin Nuo's fingertips rubbed back and forth against the soft flesh of her nape. The movement wasn't heavy, but it made her shoulders tighten further.
"Where did that stubbornness from when you were doing the problems last night go?"
Gwen didn't dare respond, only finishing the last few buttons and then straightening his cuffs.
As her fingertips circled the cufflinks, they touched his wrist bone. Lin Nuo took the opportunity to squeeze the back of her hand, leaning down to plant a brief kiss beside her knuckles.
The kiss was light, but it lingered long enough.
Gwen's ears turned even redder, and she crumpled the edge of her uniform skirt with her other hand.
Lin Nuo turned toward the large dressing mirror, which reflected his composed expression. To him, the encirclement outside was merely a private banquet he needed to attend on time.
He did not wear the high-tech armor S.H.I.E.L.D. had predicted, nor did he put on a basic bulletproof vest.
His slender fingers picked up a dark red silk tie, looped it halfway around the collar of his white shirt, and let it hang loosely against his chest.
A pure black Vibranium Suit covered his frame, the fabric emitting a low-key, dark luster in the dim light.
The top two buttons of his white shirt were left open, revealing a small outline of his collarbone and pectoral muscles—clean to the point of being dangerous.
Gwen walked up behind him and smoothed the shoulder lines of his suit.
As her fingertips brushed his nape, Lin Nuo looked at her through the mirror, his hand reaching back to catch her slender wrist and pressing her hand against his collar.
"Don't button this part."
He reminded her in a low voice.
"Leave a gap. That way, when I return, you'll know where to start unfastening it."
Gwen's lips moved, but in the end, she only gave a soft hum of agreement.
Lin Nuo released her, picked up his Gold-rimmed glassesto put them on, and glanced back at her once more before leaving.
"The water in the underground tunnels is running deep; don't go wandering off."
His finger pointed through the air toward the slit in the side of her skirt.
"Wait until I've tested the depths myself, then I'll take you there."
Pushing open the heavy main doors of the building, Lin Nuo stepped out alone.
His pure black leather shoes stepped onto the white marble stairs, the crisp sound cutting through the rain and reaching the earpieces of the soldiers in the front row.
He walked into the center of the plaza, moving against the massive shadow cast by the helicarrier.
With no cover, no backup, and no weapons, he stood empty-handed in the dead center of all the locking frames, lifting his chin to scan the armed arrays in the sky and on the ground.
In the distance, armored vehicle turrets turned to follow his steps, their tracks pressing into the standing water, the chassis vibrating slightly.
Several Agents held their fingers against the trigger guards, and the sound of short swallows came through the communication channel.
Lin Nuo raised his hand to take off his Gold-rimmed glasses, meticulously folded the temples, placed them into his suit's breast pocket, and then adjusted the edge of his pocket square.
This nonchalance stung S.H.I.E.L.D.'s fire-control systems more than any provocation.
He pulled a private communicator from the inside of his suit and pressed the encrypted call button with his thumb, the channel connecting directly to the nuclear-resistant shelter a thousand meters underground.
The man's deep voice spread through the Bio-field, echoing across Manhattan Plaza and reaching the ears of the women in the shelter.
"Ladies."
Lin Nuo loosened his tie with one hand, a smirk playing on his lips.
"Have the wine cellar security decant those bottles of '82 romanee-conti, and prepare the champagne and flutes as well."
He looked up, the golden light of Asgardian Divine Factorflowing in his pupils, while the violent vitality brought by the Hulk Gene surged beneath his skin.
"I'll personally put on this hundred-billion-dollar firework show for you; consider it an appetizer for today's breakfast."
A brief burst of static came from the other end of the communicator, followed by Pepper Potts' soft and somewhat helpless voice.
In the background, there was the light clinking of wine glasses. A lipstick mark was pressed against the rim of a glass, and someone suppressed a laugh in their throat, though the tail end of it still carried a trace of warmth.
"Mr. Lin, we haven't stopped the warm-up exercises you assigned."
Pepper paused, as if bringing the glass to her lips, her voice dropping lower.
"Don't play outside for too long either; those toys are fragile. If you get splashed with blood, there won't be any clean clothes left for us to slowly unfasten when you get back."
Betty's soft reminder came from the other side of the shelter, sounding as if she were advising her to be more reserved, yet also as if she were handing her a new glass.
Lin Nuo gave a low chuckle and tucked the communicator back into his pocket.
He looked up to face the helicarrier in the sky, which was capable of leveling an entire block, and his voice deepened.
"Alright, the audience is seated."
"Jokers, is it time to start your clumsy performance?"
Chapter 100: Catching the Shield Bare-handed, Your Era Is Over
"Lin Nuo, your arrogance ends here!"
"This World does not need a tyrant like you who plays with people's hearts and overrides the rules!"
A rough and powerful roar pierced through the rainstorm, mixed with the roar of armored engines, echoing over Manhattan Square.
Steve Rogers, wearing that iconic star-spangled suit, stood straight on top of a charred armored vehicle.
He held a red and blue Vibranium shield, and rainwater cascaded down his firm facial contours.
Behind him was the barely assembled remnant of the Avengers.
Tony Stark, panting heavily inside his battered armor, Reed, with his distorted figure and hideous face, and Peter Parker, who was gritting his teeth in silence.
Lin Nuo stood at the center of the rainstorm.
His pure black Vibranium suit kept the rain out.
He didn't even hold an umbrella; he just straightened his dark red tie with one hand, his Adam's apple sliding gently under the cold white light.
A sticky crackle of static came through the earpiece.
"Lin Nuo..."
Susan's voice was very low, hiding an uncontrollable panic.
"You are up there alone, and that is Vibranium and heavy firepower..."
Lin Nuo chuckled, his chest vibrating with a dull sound, sending that magnetism through the radio into her ears.
"Baby, what are you afraid of?"
"Are the gun barrels of this bunch of losers as intense as the pressure I gave you last night?"
A short sob came from the communication channel, followed by the sound of fabric rubbing.
Pepper's soft, glutinous voice moved closer to the microphone, her ending notes carrying a hint of hoarseness.
"Director Lin, please don't tease her anymore."
"We are following your instructions, holding red wine while watching the real-time surveillance."
"If you let that old relic damage your suit, you will be punished when you come back."
Lin Nuo pressed his finger against the earpiece, the corners of his eyes lifting with a dangerous, lustful look.
"Punish me?"
"Alright."
"If my clothes get dirty, when I go back, I will pin you in front of the server mainframe and make you reflect on what it means to commit insubordination in front of them."
"Remember to put on that thinnest silk nightgown and wait for me obediently."
"You..."
Pepper's breathing became disordered.
Across thousands of meters, Lin Nuo could imagine her flushed ears and her softened waist.
Lin Nuo cut off the flirting and looked up at Steve on the armored vehicle.
"Why don't you keep shouting?"
"Are you out of words already?"
"Old Ice Cube, the era has long changed."
"That act of yours, carrying a broken pot lid and preaching justice everywhere, even Hollywood extras would find it tacky."
Steve gripped the edge of the shield, his knuckles turning white from the force.
"You usurped Stark's industry, seized the fruits of others' scientific research, and even forced those outstanding women to become your private property!"
"Today, even if I have to risk everything, I will end your atrocities!"
Lin Nuo laughed out loud, the sarcasm in his tone almost overflowing.
"Forced?"
"Why don't you turn around and ask those poor wretches behind you."
"Ask Reed, ask Tony, ask Peter."
"Are they not standing on my side willingly right now, waiting for me to go back and give them rewards?"
"Shut up!"
Peter Parker let out a heart-wrenching roar from the back.
Heavy panting came from inside Tony Stark's armor, and the red light of the palm repulsor flashed frantically.
Steve's patience reached its limit.
"Avengers, attack!"
As the words fell.
Steve's arm muscles bulged, his waist exerted force, and carrying seventy years of anger and sense of justice, he threw the Vibranium shield fiercely.
"Hum!"
A piercing sound of breaking air sliced through the rain curtain.
The red and blue shield turned into a deadly afterimage, carrying terrifying kinetic energy sufficient to slice through a tank, heading straight for Lin Nuo's head.
In front of the surveillance screen one thousand meters underground, Potts, Gwen, and Susan held their breath simultaneously.
Susan was so scared she closed her eyes, her fingernails digging into her palms.
Natasha also gripped her wine glass tightly.
It was too fast.
In everyone's field of vision, only that red and blue arc light cutting through everything remained.
Lin Nuo did not dodge.
He didn't even move his feet an inch.
Just at the moment when the shield was about to slit his throat, Lin Nuo casually raised his right hand.
His distinctively jointed, slender, cold-white palm seemed to reach forward lightly.
"Clang!"
"Crack!"
A huge sound of metal collision exploded in ManhattanSquare.
Ripples expanded in a ring centered on Lin Nuo, forcing a water-free zone out of the rainstorm.
Steve's breathing stopped.
Rainwater dripped down his chin, and he froze on the roof of the car.
That Vibranium shield, known as the hardest metal on Earth and capable of blocking even the attacks of gods, was now resting quietly in Lin Nuo's palm.
The high-speed rotational kinetic energy was forcibly stripped away.
Lin Nuo's five fingers steadily locked onto the edge of the shield.
"Is that it?"
Lin Nuo tilted his head.
Inside his body, the Hulk-level violent vitality and the Asgardian Divine Constitution merged at this moment.
His arms did not swell; they still maintained their refined and beautiful lines.
But that outrageous physical strength, which defied common sense, had already poured out from his fingertips.
"Creak..."
"Creak..."
The sound of metal being squeezed pierced everyone's eardrums.
Under everyone's horrified gaze, Lin Nuo's slender fingers sank into the edge of the Vibranium shield bit by bit.
Sparks burst from between his fingers, and the red and blue paint cracked and peeled off.
The originally perfect arc edge was forcibly pinched with five deep finger marks.
Even the molecular structure was violently crushed by this superhuman force.
"No, this is absolutely impossible..."
Tony Stark's electronic voice changed tone in the rain, carrying uncontrollable panic.
Lin Nuo looked down at the twisted and deformed shield in his hand and smiled contemptuously.
"Is this your faith?"
He loosened his five fingers.
The shield, with five holes pinched into it, fell into the muddy water with a clatter, splashing up turbid water.
Subsequently, Lin Nuo raised his custom-made pure black leather shoes and stepped on the broken star in the center of the shield.
His leather shoes ground over it, and the muddy water blurred the colors of the star-spangled banner into a mess.
"What a pity, old relic."
"Your era, along with your broken toy, has ended together."
Lin Nuo's volume was not high, but it had a penetrating power that pierced into the bones.
Stepping on the totem symbolizing the Avengers, he slowly pressed his finger against the earpiece.
"Natasha, did you see it all?"
He lowered his voice and whispered to the female Agenton the other end of the channel.
"Your former Captain is now being stepped on by me."
"Is your husband amazing?"
Natasha's voice carried a thick nasal tone, coming through the microphone; it was audible that she had lost her rhythm.
"Lin Nuo... you are too foul..."
Lin Nuo gave orders from afar, his tone so overbearing that there was no room for negotiation.
"Be good, don't tense up."
"Seeing how I crushed their pride, do you not want to go back to S.H.I.E.L.D. even more now?"
Gwen grabbed the microphone from the side, her voice trembling violently.
"Don't say anymore..."
"Hurry up and finish them off."
"We are waiting for you down here."
"Whatever reward you want is fine..."
Lin Nuo's eyes darkened, the tip of his tongue pressed against his back teeth, his eyes full of sadistic pleasure.
He lifted his eyelids, his gaze passing over the stiff Steve, over the collapsing Peter and Reed.
Finally, he locked onto that tattered red and gold armor in the distance.
Tony Stark.
The former billionaire, genius inventor.
The man who once possessed Pepper Potts's wholehearted love.
Now he could only live like a stray dog, hiding in a tin shell that was about to run out of power, struggling to survive.
"Tony."
Lin Nuo shouted his name across the heavy rain curtain.
"Hiding in the back like a coward, is this the Iron Man spirit you preach?"
The armor mask popped open, revealing Tony's face, pale from palladium poisoning and anger.
"You bastard who stole everything from me!"
"I will definitely tear you into pieces!"
Tony's roar was heart-wrenching.
Lin Nuo laughed lowly, his toes grinding nonchalantly on the Vibranium shield.
"Stole?"
"Don't put it so harshly."
"I just replaced you and cherished the people you never cherished properly."
"By the way, I'll tell you some good news."
Lin Nuo deliberately drew out his tone.
"Just last night, Pepper begged me personally to completely overturn the last bit of foundation of Stark Industries."
"Lin Nuo!"
Tony's eyes were bloodshot, the light of the palm repulsor surging to overload.
Lin Nuo brushed the rainwater off his suit cuff, his tone filled with the utmost contempt.
"What's the rush?"
"Come."
"Let you fire three shots first."
Chapter 101: Stripping the Title, Your Armor is Too Fragile
"Go to hell! You bandit who stole someone else's life!"
Tony Stark's roar exploded over the ruins of Manhattan, amplified through his faceplate and piercing the heavy curtain of rain.
In mid-air, the thrusters of that red-and-gold armor spat out scorching tail flames, the high heat evaporating the surrounding rain into massive clouds of white mist.
Having completely lost his reason, Tony pushed both palms forward, and two blinding beams of high-energy particles sliced through the night, heading straight for Lin Nuo's face.
Lin Nuo stood his ground, not moving a single step.
With one hand tucked into his suit pants pocket, he leisurely adjusted the gold-rimmed glasses on the bridge of his nose with the other.
Just as the particle beams, capable of shattering a heavy tank, reached him, he flipped his palm and casually blocked them.
"Boom!"
Violent energy exploded in Lin Nuo's palm.
There was no blast Impact, nor any pathetic stumbling from being pushed back.
The fusion of the Asgardian Divine Constitution and the peak Hulk Gene turned these high-energy rays into harmless festive fireworks before him.
The halo of energy dissipated along his slender knuckles, failing to even singe the cuff of his white shirt.
"First shot."
Lin Nuo let out a light chuckle, his voice carrying a casual laziness in the rainy night.
He didn't even look up at Tony in the sky, his fingertip gently pressing the hidden communicator in his ear.
...
Inside a nuclear-resistant shelter a thousand meters underground, a massive holographic projection screen broadcasted this scene in real-time.
The safety room was kept at a constant twenty-four degrees, the air wafting with a faint scent of cedarwood.
Pepper Potts sat on a leather sofa with her legs crossed, holding half a glass of romanee-conti, a crimson lip print visible on the rim of the goblet.
Lin Nuo's deep voice came through the earpiece, drilling directly into her ear canal.
"President Potts, your former boss's firepower isn't even enough to give me an itch."
Pepper's breath hitched for a beat, her fingers tightening around the wine glass.
On the screen, Lin Nuo's effortless poise stood in stark, brutal contrast to the memory of that selfish Tony who always left her to clean up his messes.
She bit her lower lip, her voice tinged with moisture and incredibly soft.
"President Lin, don't mention him."
"You promised me that when you come back tonight, you'll personally inspect the new yoga poses I've learned."
"If he gets your suit dirty, I won't know where to start unbuttoning it for you."
Lin Nuo gave a low laugh.
The vibration of his chest carried through the radio, making Pepper's waist feel numb on the other side of the screen, nearly causing her to spill her red wine.
"Don't be in such a hurry."
"Once I've finished dealing with this trash, I'll have plenty of time to press you against the floor-to-ceiling windows and check your progress one by one."
Gwen Stacy, sitting next to Pepper, felt her cheeks burn even more fiercely upon hearing this.
She hadn't yet changed out of the researcher uniform that Lin Nuo had crumpled, and a small tear at the edge of the skirt revealed a few traces as she moved.
"Don't make such jokes while you're out there."
Gwen protested softly into the microphone, but her voice lacked any conviction, sounding more like a pampered whine.
"Can't handle this already?"
Desire pooled in the corners of Lin Nuo's eyes.
"Where did the energy you had last night go, when you were begging me to slow down while we were calculating formulas in the server room?"
Gwen immediately covered her face, her ears turning so red they looked ready to bleed.
...
In the sky, Tony looked at the unscathed Lin Nuo, his eyes nearly bursting from their sockets.
Palladium poisoning made his face pale and sickly, twisting into a near-ghastly grimace inside the mask.
He slammed his hand onto the control panel.
"Jarvis! Divert all backup power to the chest reactor! I'm going to blast him to smithereens!"
"Sir, this suit is a temporary assembly and has not been tested."
"Overloading the output will lead to a ninety percent risk of core module collapse."
"I said, do it!"
Tony hysterically interrupted the AI's warning.
The Unibeam on the armor's chest began to charge frantically, the red light becoming so bright it was almost blinding.
Giving up his high-altitude advantage, he controlled the armor to dive toward Lin Nuo like a falling meteor.
"Lin Nuo, die!"
Facing the lethal threat descending from the sky, Lin Nuodidn't even take a defensive stance; instead, he tilted his head back to appreciate this performance titled 'The Desperate Run.'
The system had long ago stripped Tony Stark of his top-tier creativity and scientific intellect and bestowed them upon him.
At this moment, in Lin Nuo's vision, the high-speed diving armor was no longer an indestructible weapon, but a pile of scrap metal riddled with loopholes.
"A defective Mark 4 shell."
"Using Hammer Industries' trash bearings for the left arm joint."
"And the energy circulation system is still using the first-draft code I threw into the wastepaper basket."
Lin Nuo's thin lips parted slightly, his words turning into invisible blades that precisely sliced through the pride Tonyheld so dear.
"Tony, your greatest tragedy is not recognizing exactly what you are."
The armor was less than thirty meters from Lin Nuo.
The terrifying heat from the Unibeam had already scorched the puddles on the ground dry.
Behind him, Steve Rogers clenched his fists, and Peter Parker was so nervous he forgot to breathe.
They were all hoping that Tony's last-ditch strike could break the myth of Lin Nuo's invincibility.
At that moment, Lin Nuo moved.
He didn't throw a punch, nor did he use that terrifying monstrous strength.
He simply raised his slender index finger and casually swiped downward in the air along the armor's diving trajectory.
"Power off."
His words became law.
The Asgardian magic-immunity trait, combined with the rapid expansion of his Bio-field, transformed into a high-frequency interference pulse invisible to the naked eye, precisely piercing the armor's most vulnerable code backdoors.
"Beep—"
In mid-air, a sharp alarm sounded from inside the armor.
Immediately after, the blinding Unibeam on the chest extinguished without warning.
It wasn't just the Unibeam.
The limb thrusters, the electronic eyes of the mask, and even the life-support system's indicator lights all went dark at the same time.
Dozens of tons of steel, having lost power, spiraled completely out of control under the force of inertia.
What was even more despair-inducing was that Lin Nuo's pulse had forcibly overwritten the armor's physical locking protocols.
"Click... Bang!"
Accompanied by a series of muffled mechanical disintegration sounds, the armor carrying the Avengers' last hope actually had its frame stripped apart in mid-air, crumbling into pieces.
Shoulder plates flew off, leg armor detached, and the chest reactor's protective plate was forcibly ejected.
Tony Stark was exposed to the torrential rain, completely defenseless.
He didn't even have time to cry out before his body followed the uncontrolled trajectory, crashing toward the ground like a kite with a broken string.
"Tony!"
Steve roared, wanting to rush forward to the rescue, but his path was blocked by nearby ruins.
"Bang!"
Muddy water splashed everywhere.
Tony crashed hard into a massive puddle filled with sewage and filth.
He rolled several times in the mud before stopping, the undersuit he wore inside the armor now completely soaked by the muddy water.
The weakness from palladium poisoning, combined with the violent Impact, left his internal organs churning.
He lay in the muddy water, coughing violently, spitting out blood mixed with rainwater.
Scattered around him were the broken parts of the armor.
The Iron Man, who had been so majestic just moments ago, was now like a beggar rummaging through a trash heap for food.
Dead silence.
The only sound left in Manhattan Plaza was the heavy rain pounding against the ground.
Peter Parker backed away repeatedly, while Reed's twisted face was written with terror.
No one expected that this high-tech decisive battle, which they had pinned so much hope on, would end so abruptly in such a mocking manner.
In the shelter a thousand meters underground, Susancovered her mouth, too shocked to speak.
That was power completely beyond the understanding of modern science.
That was the domain of a god.
She glanced down at the black-gold ring on her ring finger, her body involuntarily going weak.
This man who had the whole World under his heel had just held her in his arms last night, forcing her to call him 'hubby' over and over again.
...
Lin Nuo stepped through the muddy ground, walking unhurriedly toward Tony.
Strangely, the torrential rain diverted automatically around him; not a single drop of water touched his pure black Vibranium suit.
His leather shoes stepped into the mud, yet they remained spotless when he lifted them, so clean it was unnerving.
He stopped in front of Tony, looking down at the former billionaire from a height.
"Cough... You... what did you do to me?"
Tony looked up pathetically.
Muddy water blurred his eyes, which were filled with resentment and despair.
The technology he prided himself on, the trump card he had spent countless days and nights piecing together for a counterattack, hadn't even lasted a second against Lin Nuo.
Lin Nuo didn't even have the interest to give him a second look, merely using the tip of his leather shoe to poke a fragment of a faceplate lying in the mud.
"I told you long ago, your scrap metal has no value other than being recycled as waste."
Lin Nuo crouched down, his elbow resting on his knee, his posture radiating intense pressure.
He watched Tony's body trembling with rage, the smile on his lips becoming increasingly malicious.
"Do you know what Potts said to me while she was watching your pathetic state from below?"
Lin Nuo's voice was very low, audible only to the two of them.
Tony's body stiffened, his eyes bloodshot.
"She begged me not to kill you, not because she still has feelings for you."
Lin Nuo leisurely adjusted his tie, his gaze carrying an unbridled aggression.
"But because she feels that your pathetic appearance is particularly stimulating for her."
"She's currently wearing her sexiest clothes, waiting for me to go back and reward her properly."
"Shut up! You beast!"
Tony frantically reached out to grab Lin Nuo's collar, but Lin Nuo nonchalantly stepped on the back of his hand.
Bones let out a strained, brittle crack.
Tony groaned in pain but gritted his teeth, refusing to scream out.
Lin Nuo ground his sole against the back of Tony's hand, completely cutting off his strength to resist.
He adjusted the gold-rimmed glasses on the bridge of his nose, the lenses reflecting a cruel glint.
"It seems the word 'genius' now belongs only to me."
Chapter 102: Direct Clash, Punching Through the Spine
"CEO Lin really knows how to bully people..."
Pepper's soft, sweet voice reached Lin Nuo's ears through the radio, the ending trailing off.
Lin Nuo's leather shoe continued to grind into Tony's broken hand bones; listening to the groans of pain from beneath his foot, his tone was incredibly gentle.
"Can't take it already?"
"CEO Potts, I remember when you were processing documents for this trash, you didn't complain even after staying up for three nights in a row."
"Why is it that when it's my turn and I give you a little training to break a sweat, you start begging for mercy?"
Inside the shelter, Pepper's cheeks were burning hot.
She sat on the sofa, her fingers unconsciously twisting the edge of her thin silk nightgown.
"That's different..."
"With your intensity, CEO Lin, how could I possibly handle it..."
"You have to handle it even if you can't."
A wicked curve played on Lin Nuo's lips.
"When I get back later, I want to see you all lined up obediently in the computer room."
"Whoever performs poorly today will stay behind alone tonight, and I'll personally tutor them until dawn."
A chorus of suppressed breathing came through the microphone.
Susan, Gwen, and Jane didn't dare to argue; only their ragged breathing betrayed their current anticipation.
At Lin Nuo's feet, Tony Stark's eyes were bloodshot.
He couldn't hear the voices in the channel, but seeing Lin Nuo's lazy posture as he immersed himself in a flirtatious game, he could guess who this devil was flirting with.
"Let her go..."
"Don't touch her!"
Tony roared weakly.
"Shh."
Lin Nuo leaned down and patted Tony's face with his mud-stained faceplate.
"Save your strength to watch the show."
"Your old boss has prepared a new program for you."
...
Inside the bulletproof command vehicle, Nick Fury's eye twitched.
He had no way back.
"Release Zero!"
At the end of the White Marble Square, the container of a heavy armored vehicle was smashed open from the inside by brute force.
The thick alloy door flew out, crashing into the curtain of rain.
A green giant over five meters tall landed on the ground.
It had lost the Hulk's originally somewhat balanced muscular silhouette, its body now covered in twisted bone spikes and bulging sarcomas.
Saliva dripped from its fangs, corroding the ground into white smoke.
That was Bruce Banner, forcibly matured with biochemical drugs by the Military and completely stripped of his sanity.
In the Underground Room, the wine glass in Betty Ross's hand almost slipped.
She stared at the foul-smelling monster on the screen, her stomach churning violently.
"Do you see it, Betty?"
Lin Nuo's voice cut accurately into her personal channel, filled with a lethal allure.
"This is the man you once thought was gentle and would protect you."
"In pursuit of power, he's turned into a pile of trash that's not even as good as a dog."
Betty's eyes were red.
Her body felt weak, and she almost slid from the sofa onto the carpet.
"CEO Lin... stop talking..."
"I only recognize you..."
She sobbed into the microphone, her voice faint.
"Please don't make me look at him anymore, it's really disgusting."
"Good girl."
Lin Nuo chuckled, the sound making Betty's back go numb.
"Since my little researcher finds it disgusting, I'll clean up this trash for you."
"In return, tonight I'll test that new Repair Fluid you developed to see if it's actually any good."
"I'll listen to whatever you say..."
"You can arrange things however you like..."
Betty offered her submission without reservation, letting her reason be swallowed by the other party.
On the square, the Deformed Hulk locked onto Lin Nuo's position.
It let out a piercing roar, its massive body like a heavy tank at full throttle, crushing the white marble floor tiles all the way as it charged toward Lin Nuo.
Steve shouted from a distance.
"Lin Nuo, no matter how strong you are, it's impossible to block an out-of-control Banner with your bare body!"
Lin Nuo didn't even look at Steve.
He slowly raised his hand, grabbed the dark red tie around his neck, pulled it off casually, and threw it into the mud.
Then, with one hand, he unbuttoned the top two buttons of his white shirt, revealing his distinct, pale collarbones and the tight lines of his chest.
"Babies, watch closely."
Lin Nuo pressed his earpiece, his tone casual yet filled with arrogance.
"Truly useful core strength is something this bunch of trash can never understand."
As the words fell, Lin Nuo advanced instead of retreating.
He didn't take any defensive stance; he only raised his right fist when the Deformed Hulk's fist, larger than a millstone, smashed toward his head.
The air was compressed to the limit by the two terrifying kinetic energies, producing a piercing sonic boom.
One large and one small, two fists of vastly different proportions collided head-on in mid-air.
No extra tricks, only the dull sound of bones being violently crushed.
A circular shockwave exploded from the point of impact.
The torrential rain within dozens of meters was cleared out, forming a water-free zone.
A dozen S.H.I.E.L.D. armored vehicles parked at the corner were like toys swept by a hurricane, tumbling dozens of meters away.
At the spot where Lin Nuo stood, the white marble tiles within a ten-meter radius all collapsed, turning into powder.
But he himself didn't move his heels back even half an inch.
That Custom Vibranium Suit didn't even have an extra wrinkle.
Conversely, for that five-meter-tall deformed monster, the giant strength it took pride in became a joke in front of Lin Nuo.
Starting from the knuckles where the two fists met, the Deformed Hulk's thick right arm began to shatter all the way up.
Green flesh mixed with pale bone fragments splattered until the entire shoulder was completely destroyed.
"Roar!"
The monster let out a cry of pain.
There was not a hint of pity in Lin Nuo's eyes.
His movements were so fast that only a blurred afterimage could be captured; his left hand reached forward, five slender fingers directly clutching the Deformed Hulk's massive jaw.
The violent vitality of a peak Hulk and the Asgardian Divine Constitution boiled within his body.
With just one hand, he forcibly lifted this multi-ton behemoth off the ground.
"Too weak."
Lin Nuo sneered.
His arm exerted force, gripping the monster's head and swinging it in a brutal semi-circle in the air before slamming it toward the ground like a falling meteor!
"Bang!"
This time, the loud noise drowned out the thunder in the sky.
The solid ground was smashed through.
Lin Nuo's right knee pressed down, accurately striking the monster's spine, which was covered in bone spikes.
"Crack!"
The crisp sound of bone breaking pierced through the rain.
This Biochemical Weapon, which Nick Fury had high hopes for, had its spine snapped on the spot.
It couldn't even let out a final wail; its massive body, like a pile of mud, was pinned through the ground by Lin Nuo's strike and embedded into the Manhattan underground pipe network over ten meters deep.
Muddy water poured in, covering the massive body whose fate was unknown.
...
In the underground shelter, it was so quiet that a pin drop could be heard.
Several high-and-mighty elite women had collectively lost their ability to speak.
Natasha sat on the edge of the sofa, her chest heaving violently.
As a top Agent, she had seen countless killings, but Lin Nuo's posture—blending violence with refined elegance—dealt her a fatal shock.
That urge to be controlled by absolute power made her breathing increasingly erratic.
Susan leaned against the wall, the corners of her eyes turning red.
The Black Gold Ring on her ring finger felt hot against her skin, yet it brought an undeniable sense of belonging.
As for Betty, she had long since slumped onto the carpet, her mind filled only with Lin Nuo's words: "I'll personally teach you when I get back."
...
Lin Nuo stood at the edge of the giant pit.
The torrential rain still couldn't get anywhere near him.
He slowly pulled a clean Silk Pocket Square from his suit's breast pocket and wiped his long, pale fingers.
After wiping, he casually tossed the pocket square into the pit, covering the monster whose life or death was uncertain.
Then, he turned his head.
Looking across hundreds of meters of ruins, his gaze accurately locked onto the S.H.I.E.L.D. command vehicle, which was fitted with the highest-grade one-way bulletproof film.
Inside the command vehicle, Nick Fury's remaining eye was filled with horror.
Cold sweat soaked his combat uniform.
He understood that Lin Nuo could see him.
That feeling of being stared at by a higher predator made even his finger on the trigger start to lose control.
The miniature communicator hidden in his collar was automatically cracked and forcibly connected to the S.H.I.E.L.D. secure channel.
Lin Nuo's lazy yet oppressive voice rang out through the command vehicle's speakers.
"Nick Fury."
"This junk you've spent so much effort putting together isn't even qualified to be a warm-up for me."
"Next, what do you plan to use to buy your life?"
More chapters available on WTR-LAB: Marvel: they intercepted Betty at the start, and the hulk collapsed