The tea was nothing short of miraculous.
Even Gu Yi—The Ancient One, Sorcerer Supreme, protector of Earth's reality—looked mildly surprised. She lowered the cup from her lips, eyes shimmering with curiosity and admiration.
"This tea… It's stronger than anything I've brewed in Kamar-Taj," she said, her calm voice tinged with intrigue. "Stronger, even, than the elixirs we distill under the light of celestial alignments."
Lin Feng chuckled at her reaction, clearly pleased. He rotated his wrist gently, and with a subtle shimmer of solar-powered energy, conjured a small, ornate box. The lid clicked open, revealing tea leaves that seemed to shimmer faintly under the light—imbued with a vitality that transcended ordinary plant life.
"If you like it, Master, then consider this a small gift," Lin Feng said with a grin. "Please accept it—with a smile."
Gu Yi didn't reach for it immediately. Her eyes narrowed slightly, not in suspicion, but in contemplation. She was no stranger to rare artifacts—this tea clearly wasn't from Earth. To offer something of such power so freely… was an act of sincerity.
She observed Lin Feng again—no trace of hesitation, no flicker of loss in his expression. The ease with which he gave away something so precious meant only one thing: he had more. And more importantly, he meant this as an offering of goodwill.
Her lips curved upward. She took the box and nodded. "Thank you. I accept."
With that simple gesture, something unspoken passed between them—acknowledgment, and a subtle agreement.
"You don't need to worry I've come to cast you out or label you a threat," Gu Yi said calmly, as if sensing the tension Lin Feng tried to hide behind his relaxed posture.
Lin Feng exhaled in relief. That was what he feared most—being deemed a multiversal anomaly by someone who could erase him with a flick of the wrist. If she had come to purge him from this dimension, odds were, he wouldn't even see it coming.
"I'm relieved to hear that," he admitted. "If you came to kick me out of this timeline, I probably wouldn't stand a chance."
Gu Yi smiled gently. "I'm not here to fight. I'm here to warn."
She folded her hands in her robes. "You possess a power that is both extraordinary and dangerous. Use it wisely, Lin Feng."
Her gaze sharpened slightly. "You're not native to this world. Not to this timeline."
Lin Feng's heart skipped. That doggone system, he cursed silently. Can't even mask his identity from a master of time?
"Nothing escapes the eyes of the Sorcerer Supreme," Lin Feng said with an awkward laugh. "You're right. I'm not from here—but I mean no harm."
He paused, voice firming. "Even if I'm not from this Earth, I'm still from Blue Star. My roots… my memories… my humanity—it's all real. I would never harm this world. On the contrary, I'll protect it. That much I swear."
Gu Yi studied him for a moment, then nodded, seemingly satisfied.
"I can feel that you speak the truth," she said warmly. "Though you carry certain… imperfections, you also carry a brave heart."
She turned her gaze to the skyline beyond the window. "Unimaginable disasters are looming. The fabric of this reality will be tested. And this world… this Blue Star of yours… it will need that brave heart."
Lin Feng blinked. Brave? Him?
He didn't feel particularly brave. Just stubborn, maybe a little reckless, and more than a little tired of people treating him like a threat.
"You may not see it now, Lin Feng," Gu Yi continued, "but one day, you'll understand. You'll carry a burden larger than you can imagine. But that journey... is yours to walk."
She stood, golden robes flowing behind her as she turned toward the portal she conjured with a flick of her fingers. As the glowing ring formed in midair, she paused.
"Thank you for the tea," she said with a smile. "Come visit Kamar-Taj, if you ever wish to learn."
Lin Feng's eyes lit up. "Wait! Mage—can I learn magic?"
She turned, expression unreadable for a moment—then smiled again.
"Yes," she said. "But not yet."
Just as Lin Feng opened his mouth to ask when, her voice rang out again, more cryptic than before.
"When the time comes, I will find you."
She stepped into the portal.
"I must go. You have… other visitors."
And just like that, she vanished into the swirling light.
Lin Feng stared at the fading portal, confused.
Visitors? What visitors?
As if summoned by fate, the doorbell rang.
Lin Feng stood motionless for a moment before dragging his feet to the door. He opened it—and frowned.
Standing on his doorstep was a strange trio: a bald Black man in a trench coat with one eye, a red-haired woman in a black tactical suit, and a suited man with the expression of a bored accountant.
Director Nick Fury. Natasha Romanoff. Phil Coulson.
The Braised Egg Bureau has arrived, Lin Feng sighed inwardly.
He wordlessly stepped aside and let them in. No tea this time. No hospitality. These guests weren't worthy of the tea of life.
Instead, he casually tossed a bottle of room-temperature mineral water to Natasha—just her.
Perks of being a pretty woman.
Natasha caught it with a raised brow and gave Lin Feng a meaningful look, half amusement, half exasperation. He returned the look with a smirk. Still holding a grudge from last time, huh?
Once seated, the atmosphere shifted.
Fury leaned forward, resting his hands on his knees, his one eye fixed on Lin Feng with laser focus.
"Your actions last night caused a huge ripple, Lin Feng," he said without preamble.
"Oh?" Lin Feng sprawled lazily on the couch. "Did I scare the citizens with my waist-twisting flight over the city?"
Fury didn't smile. "I'm not joking. What you did reached the highest desks in the Gray Palace."
"And if I hadn't intervened," Fury continued, "you'd be facing soldiers instead of this friendly conversation."
Lin Feng narrowed his eyes. "Cut the S.H.I.E.L.D. mind games, Nick Fury."
He leaned forward.
"Tell me—have I committed a crime?"
Silence.
"Exactly," Lin Feng scoffed. "I'm not your subordinate. And I'm not Iron Man—I broke the monster Iron Man struggled with."
He let his words hang in the air.
"If you think you can intimidate me into submission, you're wasting your breath."
Fury didn't flinch. Instead, he changed tactics.
"We're not here to threaten you. We're here to offer you something."
He paused.
"The Avengers Initiative. It's a way to reassure the people—especially the ones with power, the ones watching."
Lin Feng tilted his head. "And why do I need to reassure anyone?"
"Because this world's fragile," Fury said. "And when the real disasters come, we'll need every capable person united."
Lin Feng's expression darkened.
"Oh? You mean disasters like the Cosmic Cube?" he asked coldly. "The same artifact your people are tampering with, thinking they understand?"
Fury froze.
"How do you know about that?"
"How? Because your little toy is a disaster magnet," Lin Feng said. "And poking it with a stick like it's just another gadget is what causes the kind of problems you pretend to prevent."
He leaned in, voice low and sharp.
"The Kree. The Tesseract. You don't know what you're dealing with."
Fury sat back, rattled.
Lin Feng continued, "I'm not joining your Avengers. Not now. Not under your command. If those people upstairs have issues with me, they can come see me personally. I'll treat them like I treated Obadiah's Iron Monger."
Silence thickened.
Finally, Fury exhaled.
"You're stubborn," he admitted. "Worse than Stark."
Lin Feng shrugged. "I prefer independent."
Fury's voice softened. "Fine. Not the Avengers. What about an external agent?"
Lin Feng raised an eyebrow.
"Unofficial. Off-record. We call, you decide if you answer. You stay free. But when we need help—you help."
Lin Feng paused.
It was… reasonable. More so than he expected.
"I'm not a soldier, Fury," Lin Feng said slowly. "But I don't mind helping—so long as it's fair. You need me, you pay me. I work for results, not orders."
Fury considered that, then nodded.
"Deal."
As they stood to leave, Lin Feng noted how Fury glanced at him like someone studying a new variable he couldn't control.
In his mind, Lin Feng wasn't a wildcard anymore.
He was a nuke with a conscience—and that made him even more unpredictable than Tony Stark.
And far more dangerous.