"We're going to join the tradition too. Merry Christmas! Time to exchange gifts." Liu A'dou sat in the living room of their new home with his family. He lit the fireplace and began the gift exchange.
Liu A'dou placed two boxes, one big and one small, on the table. The big one was for Elsa, and the small one was for Ada. "Go ahead, open them."
Inside Ada's box was a uniquely designed necklace. She took it out and examined it carefully. "Is this… a voice changer?"
"Yep. I've been working on it. I've shrunk the size down to about the size of a bean now," Liu A'dou said. "Here, let me put it on for you."
Their faces nearly touched as Liu A'dou helped her put on the scorpion-shaped silver necklace.
Elsa also opened her box. Inside was the Bracers of Heracles from Themyscira. Liu A'dou had specifically asked Queen Hippolyta for them.
"This is to remind you not to slack off in your training," Liu A'dou said. "You're not allowed to take them off. Not even when you sleep."
Elsa calmly put on the bracers, her expression unreadable—whether she was willing or not was hard to tell.
Then Ada brought out two gifts of her own. Liu A'dou eagerly tore his open, but the moment he saw it, his face sank. "Why is it the Arc Reactor I stole?"
"Well, there wasn't a chance to hand it over before, so I figured I'd wrap it up as a gift," Ada laughed. After all, when she was working with S.H.I.E.L.D., she couldn't just go home whenever she wanted.
Ada's gift to Elsa was a brand-new dress.
"I didn't prepare anything…" Elsa admitted. She had never celebrated Christmas before and didn't know gifts were expected.
"That's alright," Ada said. "Your movie is already the best gift. I've never seen a film this good before." Ada was speaking from the heart, even if she hadn't watched many movies to begin with. But even with her limited experience, she knew Frozen was a masterpiece.
Liu A'dou added, "Based on my estimates, you've brought in at least fifty million dollars for our household last year. You've supported the three of us, so really, it's all good." And that was a conservative estimate. Once the global box office numbers came in, it would only go higher. Breaking a hundred million was very likely.
Just as the three of them were enjoying this cozy moment, Liu A'dou suddenly received a text message: "Meet me at Central Park at eight-thirty. Wen Fenghuang."
It had been almost four months. Why was this coming up now? He had almost forgotten about it.
The incident over the Sea of Japan, where American fighter jets shot down two J-20s only to be shot down by their own, had never been reported. The public knew nothing. And when Liu A'dou had said he'd hand over the responsible party, he'd heard nothing back. Now, on Christmas night, this sudden message was a real mood killer.
Still, Liu A'dou decided to go. He bundled up and headed out.
By the time he reached Central Park, it was almost nine o'clock. The message had sounded urgent, and since their home was far from the city center, the drive took time. Fortunately, traffic was light on Christmas night.
Just as Liu A'dou got out of the car, another text came in. Before he could even check it, a gun pressed against his back. A voice said, "Come with me."
Clearly, they had been waiting for a while.
Liu A'dou was escorted into a business van with darkened windows that revealed nothing of the outside.
When the door opened, he saw a middle-aged man inside. His buzz cut and sharp military posture made him look every bit the soldier. He wore a gray, pressed Zhongshan suit, giving off a very serious aura.
"You know, this isn't exactly polite," Liu A'dou said, unfazed.
"Get in," the man ordered.
The sliding door shut behind him. Inside, it was just the two of them.
"Nice to meet you," Liu A'dou said, extending his hand. "You must be Hans' superior."
The man nodded slightly but didn't shake hands. "You're not Wen Fenghuang."
"He's dead. I only used Hans to get in touch with you. I didn't expect you to wait until the end of the year to contact me," Liu A'dou replied, sounding a little annoyed. "Do you even realize today's Christmas?"
"Sorry, I only celebrate Spring Festival," the man replied flatly.
"…Fine, whatever," Liu A'dou sighed. "Listen, the pilot who shot down our planes is still in Gotham City Hospital."
The man just stared at Liu A'dou. "Tell me everything you know. And tell the truth. We'll be checking."
"Alright, I'll tell you in plain Chinese so we both understand," Liu A'dou began, laying out the entire situation. He never intended to impersonate Wen Fenghuang; he had only claimed memory loss to Hans to open a line of communication with these people.
In just a few minutes, he finished explaining everything. Liu A'dou looked at the man. "So? You get it now?"
The man seemed to come back to his senses and nodded slowly, as if waking from a trance.
Liu A'dou smirked to himself. Courtesy demands reciprocity. Since you didn't show any, enjoy the effects of my Illusion Fist first. Liu A'dou had already seen through the man's background. He really was an intelligence officer, and a fairly high-ranking one—Wen Fenghuang's superior.
The middle-aged man frowned slightly. "I believe you're telling the truth, because you have no reason to lie to me… Kaitou Kid."
"?" Liu A'dou froze for a second. Then, noticing the look in the man's eyes, he realized this guy was bluffing. A'dou immediately figured that the man was just fishing and didn't have any solid proof that he really was Kaitou Kid. "Kaitou? You're overthinking it."
But the man continued, "Oh no, we've got agents in Liangshan too. The memory card that Leopard Head lost—Kaitou Kid stole it. And now you know Hans' identity. I don't believe we could have so many leaks by coincidence."
Liu A'dou had no intention of admitting anything, and clearly, the man didn't really expect him to. The two locked eyes. A'dou asked, "This thing happened over three months ago. I figured you'd given up on looking for me."
"You think I'm here because of the downed jets?"
"Isn't that why?"
The man shook his head. "Both China and the U.S. agreed to keep that incident quiet. That's why you haven't seen a single report. Neither side wants to stir up a war. Hans gave me your number three months ago, but I waited until now to contact you, just to let things cool off."
"Makes sense," Liu A'dou nodded. He knew keeping that quiet was the best move. "So why contact me now?"
"Because I wanted to meet you." The man stared at him. "Wen Fenghuang."
"He's dead."
"Phoenixes don't die. They rise from the ashes." The man's eyes burned with intensity as he looked at A'dou.
Liu A'dou understood instantly. "You want me to take Wen Fenghuang's place?"
"You're smart."
"And you trust me that easily?"
"First, you didn't leak the memory card. Second, you passed the information to Hans. Third, you came alone tonight. Fourth, through this conversation, I've gotten a read on your character. These four points are enough for me to trust you," the man said. "Now it all comes down to your attitude."
"What's in it for me?"
The man actually laughed. "Good. I like that you're getting straight to the point." He leaned back. "First of all, being an agent is extremely dangerous… but I guess you're not afraid of danger. Second, agents don't get any rewards."
…True enough. If you could avoid getting involved, you should. Agents worked solely on patriotism, often unrecognized and unrewarded. That's probably why Wen Fenghuang had wanted to record their nameless deeds, so people could one day remember them.
But Liu A'dou wasn't interested in that kind of silent sacrifice. "If I've got technical data, I want you to pay for it."
That changed the mood. The man frowned again.
"My data could let our country take the lead in the space age. The Americans dream of controlling the future with a handful of superheroes, secret organizations, and aliens. But I can help our country become the first to build a space fleet, the first to establish a moon base, and the first to colonize other planets."
"Young man, don't boast."
"Materials, energy, designs," Liu A'dou said calmly. "Orbital platforms, spaceships, space fighters, shield generators, ship cannons, missiles, terraforming tech… I've got it all."
"…" The man started to believe him. It really sounded like a clearance sale. But he shook his head again. "Doing that would put us in a hopeless position, making us the enemy of every so-called superhero on Earth."
"?" Liu A'dou started to get it.
"Those so-called superheroes won't let us build that much military power. They believe it would disrupt the global balance. As far as they're concerned, only the U.S. leading the way is acceptable for Earth's future. That's how they see it. If we really built space warships, they'd see us as a threat and attack us together. Superheroes don't trust us," the man said, sounding helpless but realistic.
"So you're saying we're just supposed to follow behind the U.S. and eat their dust? The future is the space age. Aliens will show up, and even beings we used to call gods will return. We'll have both enemies and allies. We must develop our own strength."
The man nodded. He could see that Liu A'dou really was patriotic. But reality was brutal. Right now, the U.S. dominated with their superheroes and black tech, acting like Earth's spokesperson. Other nations had no choice but to either fall in line or face sanctions and isolation.
That was why the national policy was simple—don't surpass them, just try not to fall too far behind. But even that was hard because America was basically cheating with their superheroes.
Liu A'dou fell silent, his face unreadable.