The piercing wail of alarms, the blare of fire truck sirens, and the voices of Agents shouting orders over their communicators intertwined into a chaotic symphony above the ruins of Stark Tower.
With Coulson's support, Lin Huai struggled through the mess of the Helipad to the edge of the massive crater. His steps were unsteady, and the aftereffects of exhausting his spirituality left his brain buzzing, his vision beginning to double.
But he still saw them immediately.
Pepper Potts was kneeling on the ground, her voice choked with tears and her hands covered in grease, as she tried in vain to tear open the deformed chestplate of the mark iii.
"Tony! Tony, hang in there! I'm getting you out right now!" Her voice trembled, and tears mixed with sweat as they slid down her cheeks.
Seeing this, Coulson didn't say a word and immediately stepped forward, pulling a more professional tool from his waist. "Miss Potts, stay calm, let me help you!"
With the help of several Agents, the two of them exerted every ounce of strength they had to finally pry open the chestplate, which was riddled with bullet holes, and drag out the long-unconscious Tony Stark from within.
Tony's face was as pale as paper, with a trace of blood hanging from the corner of his mouth, but fortunately, the old arc reactor in his chest was still emitting a faint blue light, sustaining his life.
Lin Huai slumped weakly beside Tony, leaning his back against a relatively intact piece of concrete debris. The two of them were like two stray dogs who had just finished a fight, covered in wounds, huddling together and panting in exhaustion. The silence after the great battle, carrying the scent of gunpowder, spread between them.
Lin Huai turned his head, looking at the equally weak Tony, and flashed a smile that looked worse than crying.
"Tony, we did it."
He slowly raised his still-trembling fist, wanting to share a fist bump—a silent understanding between men—with this newly minted superhero.
Tony looked at him and also slowly raised his fist.
Just as the two fists were about to meet, Tony's eyes suddenly sharpened, and the trajectory of his fist abruptly changed!
Pow!
A merciless right hook landed squarely on Lin Huai's face.
Lin Huai was hit so hard his head went numb; he fell to the side, completely failing to react. Pepper and Coulson were both stunned.
"You actually dared to let Pepper do something so dangerous! You bastard!"
Tony grabbed Lin Huai by the collar, almost pressing against his face, growling in a raspy voice suppressed with rage. In his bloodshot eyes, a lingering fear on the verge of losing control surged.
A few seconds later, a low, uncontrollable laugh rolled out of his throat, growing louder and louder until it became a hearty laugh. The laughter tugged at his wounds, causing him to cough violently.
He reached out, grabbed Lin Huai's fist which was still frozen in mid-air, and then used his own fist to gently bump against it.
"Bastard..." he coughed, physiological tears even appearing at the corners of his eyes, "But... thanks, Lin."
"I feel like... I really have taken that step." Tony's voice was low and sincere.
Just then, several black-clad Agents responsible for clearing the battlefield walked over. The two in the lead were Hawkeye and Black Widow, who had just completed the fatal sniper shot from the shadows.
Natasha's gaze swept back and forth between Lin Huai and Tony, full of scrutiny. Meanwhile, Hawkeye reached out expressionlessly, holding a mysterious crystal emitting a soft starlight in his palm.
"This is the only item we found in the core of the Main Reactor," Hawkeye's voice was calm and deep. "Everything at the center of the explosion was vaporized; only this remained intact."
Lin Huai looked at that star crystal, and the last weight hanging in his heart finally dropped.
He smiled and said to Hawkeye, "This is a gift of war. Now, it returns to its original owner."
Hawkeye frowned and didn't move. An Agent's instinct made him maintain the highest level of vigilance toward something that exceeded his understanding.
Lin Huai didn't care; he knew the other party was just a pawn. He looked past Hawkeye, as if seeing through the ruins, and his gaze landed directly on Coulson—or more accurately, on the true decision-maker in his earpiece.
"Its value cannot be measured by the currencies of this World."
Lin Huai's voice was very soft, yet it seemed to ring directly in Coulson's earpiece and in Nick Fury's ear.
"But fate is fair."
"Return it to me, and on your 'Scales,' you will gain three equivalent 'Weights.'"
He held up three fingers, waving them slowly in front of the weak Tony and the shocked Coulson.
"Three chances to part the mists and glimpse the future; three assists to sever the threads and correct a stray path."
Lin Huai retracted his fingers, his smile becoming profound and mysterious. That gaze sent a chill even through the battle-hardened Hawkeye.
"Or, you can choose to forcibly keep this 'star.'"
"But remember, once the Scales of fate lose their balance, no one knows what will drop on the other end."
"Perhaps... it will be a 'truth' that you cannot afford."
"Make a choice, S.H.I.E.L.D."
The air seemed to freeze. Coulson could even feel Director Fury's breathing becoming heavy in his headset. A threat? No, this was an ultimatum. An individual possessing supernatural power was issuing an unquestionable ultimatum to the most powerful intelligence agency on Earth.
After a few seconds of silence, Coulson spoke, as if repeating an order: "Can you tell us what this thing is? Why would the energy of the arc reactor form this?"
The corners of Lin Huai's mouth curled up slightly, revealing a playful smile.
"Is that two questions?"
Coulson's expression froze completely.
On the other end of the earpiece, Fury was silent for even longer. He realized he was facing an opponent who didn't play by the rules at all. In the field of mysticism where this man excelled, the intelligence games he took pride in were like child's play.
Finally, Fury's decisive voice rang out again.
"Give it to him."
Coulson breathed a sigh of relief and immediately nodded to Hawkeye.
Hawkeye no longer hesitated and gently placed the star crystal into Lin Huai's hand. It felt warm to the touch, as if he were holding a piece of the real Cosmos.
"Director Fury says he will pay a personal visit later," Coulson conveyed the final words. "He hopes you can give him an answer then."
"I'll be waiting at any time," Lin Huai replied nonchalantly.
Once the S.H.I.E.L.D. Agents had walked away, Lin Huai and Tony looked at each other and couldn't help but laugh triumphantly.
"A free, large-scale intelligence organization, and an official one at that. How does that feel?" Lin Huai winked.
"Excellent." Tony smiled like a child who had stolen some candy.
They had known about S.H.I.E.L.D.'s existence for a long time and had guessed they would intervene; the gambit just now was more like a tacit 'Letter of Intent.'
Only Pepper Potts was still looking at them with a dazed expression, completely unable to understand what these two were up to.