Natasha's guess was correct—Lu Yi really wasn't asleep. His extraordinarily strong body gave him enough stamina to ignore sleep entirely, and he simply didn't feel like resting. So he didn't.
Building the magic furnace required time, and time was something Lu Yi lacked. So he decided to use the hours he would normally spend sleeping to continue the construction.
The night was still long, and he wasn't in the mood for sleep anyway. Doing nothing would be unbearable—utterly boring.
Yuriko, on the other hand, was just a normal person. Although she wanted to stay by his side, Lu Yi didn't believe she could stay awake for long, so he sent her back to rest.
Now, in the middle of the night, Lu Yi sat cross-legged on the grass, connecting to the magical veins in his soul.
"Hm?"
Suddenly, Lu Yi let out a small sound of surprise. The warning spell he had placed outside the door had been triggered.
Guests had arrived.
And he wasn't sure whether these guests were good or bad…
Lu Yi opened his X-Ray Vision, his eyes instantly seeing through the walls and observing the people outside the door.
Under his X-Ray Vision, space and physical barriers were meaningless. Distance shortened, and the door became nothing more than an outline.
The silhouettes of the two people outside appeared clearly before Lu Yi's eyes.
One of them had a graceful, sensual figure—a voluptuous chest, an elegant back, and perfectly proportioned curves.
The other was of average height… with a receding hairline.
Comparing the two figures, Lu Yi instantly recognized them. Natasha and Coulson.
Knowing who it was, Lu Yi decided to show them some courtesy. With a thought, he opened the door.
Natasha and Coulson stood outside. The sudden opening of the door startled them. After exchanging an uneasy glance, they stepped in.
Tonight, New York had no stars and no moon. The night sky was pitch black, and even the street lamps and neon signs carried an eerie undertone. When the door swung open on its own, it felt almost like stepping into another realm—something ghostly and unreal.
Fortunately, both agents understood it wasn't supernatural. It was magic.
They quickly adjusted their mindset and entered.
Creak… thud!
The moment they stepped inside, the door closed by itself—without the slightest breeze. Even though they had mentally prepared themselves, they couldn't help feeling a chill. The situation resembled something straight out of a horror movie.
Helplessly, they exchanged another look before attempting to communicate with Lu Yi.
From the outside, Lu Yi's house looked small. But inside, it was absurdly spacious. Not enough to get lost, but enough to make finding someone troublesome.
The two weren't idiots—they weren't going to wander around blindly.
"Lu Yi, we want to talk to you!" Coulson shouted upward.
He said nothing else, waiting for Lu Yi's response.
Lu Yi did not disappoint them. As soon as Coulson's voice faded, Lu Yi's voice drifted into their ears, as if whispering right beside them.
"Come forward."
Having already witnessed many of Lu Yi's abilities, they weren't shocked. They followed his instruction.
Walking across the soft grass and breathing in the fresh scent of greenery, they soon arrived where Lu Yi sat.
"Sit."
Lu Yi sat cross-legged with his eyes tightly closed, looking like a meditating monk. He gestured lightly at the grass in front of him.
Though it looked like an outdoor field, it was still inside his house. The grass was spotless—no dew, no dirt. Perfectly clean.
Natasha and Coulson were not picky. They'd endured far worse conditions on missions. So they sat down without complaint.
"What do you want to talk to me about?" Lu Yi asked, still not opening his eyes.
He was too lazy to read their minds and preferred to ask directly.
"You told us before that you had already seen through certain secrets," Natasha said instead of answering his question.
"That's right. You've run into trouble, and you want me to confirm something?"
Lu Yi's deduction was sharp—almost frighteningly so. Such a simple situation, and he immediately pierced straight to the core.
"That's correct."
"Then give me one reason why I should help you." Lu Yi was not someone who helped others for free. He didn't have time to waste.
"Think of it as payment for helping you find the Darkhold. Even though we failed in the end and didn't contribute much, we still tried. Isn't that enough for you to help us?" Coulson suggested.
"Not enough."
"Then we'll ask the people who sabotaged our mission. We failed to retrieve the Darkhold because of them, and they're also the reason you didn't get it. You seek revenge—don't you want to know who they are?" Natasha said simply.
"Barely."
Lu Yi had already guessed the identity of those people.
But he had been too busy lately to deal with such minor clowns. Now, perhaps he could let S.H.I.E.L.D. handle it—it was their internal matter anyway.
Once S.H.I.E.L.D. realized their own agency was full of holes, a massive purge would be inevitable.
In the films, Hydra cleansing S.H.I.E.L.D. had been extremely bloody.Now, with S.H.I.E.L.D. purging Hydra, things would not be any different.
"So, have you been monitoring S.H.I.E.L.D.?" Natasha asked quickly after hearing Lu Yi say it was almost impossible for him not to know.
"Monitoring," Lu Yi said plainly.
Natasha showed an expression of I knew it, then asked,"Then… have you discovered any internal conflicts within S.H.I.E.L.D.?"
"A place of conflict? You mean Hydra."
"What—Hydra?" Natasha blurted out involuntarily.
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