Before intervening in the battle between Iron Monger and Iron Man, I had already entered S.H.I.E.L.D.'s radar.
Knowing how those people operate, it's obvious that I'll be under even closer scrutiny... Perhaps before, my information was only verbally reported to Coulson and not formally documented, but by now, Coulson will surely report the matter to his superiors and compile my relevant information into a file to be submitted.
Whether it's S.H.I.E.L.D. or Hydra, they will definitely come knocking after I've demonstrated my abilities.
Regardless of their intentions or actions, one thing is certain: my daily life will be greatly affected by the appearance of these agents.
Although there's a saying, 'When you're out in the world, how can you avoid getting hurt?,' to be honest, Shi Xiaolei really doesn't want to get involved in all that messy stuff... Lending a hand during major events is fine.
But dealing with them every day, like a low-level employee taking orders? No, thank you.
How to avoid this possibility? Roughly speaking, there are only two methods.
Either demonstrate even greater strength to deter them, making them afraid to act rashly, or find a solid shield.
Without a doubt, Tony Stark is the best candidate to act as a shield.
After all, given his status, S.H.I.E.L.D. would only approach him gently, and Hydra, hidden in the shadows, would not easily provoke him out of fear of being discovered.
Doing a favor for Stark means that if any trouble arises later, having him step in to help would make it easier to resolve.
Additionally, the generous amount of money Stark offers is also one of the reasons.
It's not that Shi Xiaolei is particularly greedy for money or desires a life of extravagance.
From a personal preference perspective, he actually dislikes the so-called 'high society life'—what's good about constantly wearing a fake smile and attending endless social events? Just thinking about it makes him feel exhausted.
His greatest joy is living as he is now, with his family, finding warmth and happiness in a busy yet ordinary daily life.
The reason he was swayed by Stark's 'money power' is simply that this extra income can greatly enhance Shi Xiaolei's personal strength—experience points, attribute points, and skill points can be slowly improved through training.
Although the efficiency isn't very high, the whole process is pretty much like idle gaming, requiring little effort from Shi Xiaolei.
However... the gold needed to purchase equipment and potions must be exchanged for cash.
This really bothered Shi Xiaolei.
Why was he wearing only the basic white armor given by the system and wielding only two blue weapons during the fight with Iron Monger? Ultimately, it was because the profits from running his small shop weren't very substantial.
After deducting living expenses and emergency funds saved in the bank, there wasn't much money left to exchange for gold, so he couldn't afford gold equipment, let alone gamble on unique items.
Since Tony Stark is willing to spend money... gold equipment is within reach, and if the business goes well, unique equipment might even be possible.
As soon as he thought of this, Shi Xiaolei couldn't help but feel excited.
"For certain reasons, there are some questions I can't answer," Shi Xiaolei thought carefully, then pulled out a weapon and a chain mail from his 'backpack' and placed them on the table: "However, these two pieces of equipment, I can lend them to you for a period of study."
"Only two?" Stark raised an eyebrow, seemingly not satisfied: "What about the set you wore in the combat footage? Bring them all out.
Emm, five million each, how about it?"
To say he wasn't tempted by that price would be a lie.
However, remembering the old saying 'rarity makes things valuable,' Shi Xiaolei still shook his head: "I need to keep those.
This is the United States, and without some means of self-defense, life isn't easy."
"If that's the only reason, I can give you a batch of weapons," Stark continued to persuade: "You know, I just shut down Stark Industries' weapons division, and there's still a lot of inventory to clear out."
"No, thanks. I've never used those, and I don't know how to operate them.
Besides, the things you make can't be carried around like this either," Shi Xiaolei said, picking up the scimitar on the table, instantly putting it into his backpack and taking it out again.
Because of Shi Xiaolei's actions, Stark's thirst for knowledge was once again stimulated, and his eyes gleamed with even greater intensity.
"Alright, alright, seeing as you're so sincere, I'll give you a few more samples," Unable to resist Stark's eager gaze... well, mainly because he wrote another check.
Defeated by the money offensive, Shi Xiaolei could only give a wry smile and shake his head.
He then pulled out several small bottles from his 'backpack' and placed them alongside the scimitar and chain mail: "This red bottle is for healing injuries.
This black bottle can detoxify various poisons and temporarily increase resistance to toxins.
This white bottle is called a stamina potion; drinking it, even with your physique, you can effortlessly run a full marathon."
In Diablo 2, there are a total of six types of ingestible potions, but Shi Xiaolei only brought out three.
He didn't bring out the remaining yellow, blue, and purple potions.
The yellow potion's effect is to remove freezing and increase cold resistance, which Stark had no use for.
The blue potion can restore mana.
Thinking that Stark doesn't know Doctor Strange yet and is unaware of Kamar-Taj, he probably doesn't believe in the existence of magic and mana, so Shi Xiaolei didn't bring it out either.
As for the more effective purple potion, which is the full rejuvenation potion... that stuff is simply too expensive.
Before cashing Stark's check, with the little money Shi Xiaolei had saved, he truly couldn't bear to buy it.
"Huh??" To his surprise, Shi Xiaolei had brought out several potions instead of equipment.
Upon hearing his description of their effects, two bright lights shone in Stark's eyes: "Wow! That's truly unexpected.
So, you're not just a warrior, but also moonlight as an alchemist?
Locke, are you sure these potions have such miraculous effects as you claim?"
"You can try them," Shi Xiaolei gestured with his hand and said with a smile, "Considering these are single-use consumables, I won't set a high price.
Regardless of type, how about ten thousand dollars per bottle?"
"No problem, if the effects are truly that miraculous." Stark touched the red bottle, then picked up the black bottle to examine it.
Finally, he chose the small bottle containing the white potion: "This is... a stamina potion, right?"
"Hey, do you trust me that much?"
"No, I'm just planning to start my experiments with it." Because of Shi Xiaolei's words, rationality returned, suppressing the hotheadedness caused by his scientific curiosity.
Stark placed the potion back on the table and looked at Shi Xiaolei again: "The samples are too few.
Give me a few more bottles of each."
"No problem, haha, thank you for your patronage."