The arrival of Lei Kung and Davos served as both a warning and a revelation for Hong Fei. Shou-Lao the Undying, even after transferring a portion of its Dragon Power to create the Iron Fist, maintained some connection to that power.
When Hong Fei stripped Danny of the Dragon Power, Shou-Lao must have sensed the disturbance and alerted K'un-Lun. That explained Lei Kung and Davos' swift appearance. They'd probably already found Danny—the first Iron Fist in history to lose his power, then flee in shame.
Whether the boy dared return to K'un-Lun hardly mattered now. Shou-Lao itself was Hong Fei's only concern.
Was the ancient dragon currently alive? Would it emerge again? Rather than wait unprepared, Hong Fei decided to strike first.
Let Lei Kung and Davos carry word back to K'un-Lun—though he doubted the city would respond. Danny's brief tenure as Iron Fist meant Shou-Lao had only recently "died" once. The creature couldn't have completed its rebirth cycle so soon.
All Hong Fei needed was proper timing and sufficient strength. Find the right allies—Thor, perhaps—then storm K'un-Lun and claim every last shred of Dragon Power...
Turning from these thoughts, Hong Fei found Ivan at the Sky Base. The Russian had shed his suit vest again. His long hair and full beard merged into a wild mane that obscured everything but his bloodshot eyes.
"Christ," Hong Fei muttered, genuinely startled. "You look like something dragged from a cave. What happened?"
Ivan pushed the hairy curtain aside with both hands. "Researching battle armor, boss."
Hong Fei took one look at the disheveled engineer and called, "Arthur."
The AI's voice echoed instantly. "Present, sir."
"Pull up his design schematics."
A three-dimensional blueprint materialized before them. Hong Fei recognized the inspiration immediately—a bear. The virtual armor shifted into a quadrupedal stance, transforming into a massive brown bear with a steel skull and elongated fangs. Brutal. Efficient.
"Dimensions?"
Ivan wiped grease from his hands. "Three meters upright. One-point-eight crawling."
Nodding, Hong Fei studied the beast-armor hybrid. "What's the problem?"
Ivan hesitated, scratching his matted beard.
Hong Fei chuckled. "Think I won't understand even if you explain?"
Ivan shook his head violently.
"Truth? I don't know armor design. But maybe I can spark an idea. Want to hear?" At Ivan's eager nod, Hong Fei continued. "First—animal forms are smart when moving beyond humanoid designs. Bear, lion, tiger—all solid biomimetic choices."
He tapped the hovering schematic, making it rotate. "Fundamentally, this isn't so different from your humanoid armor. What matters are the attack vectors and weapon systems. If it requires a pilot, why not go bigger? Build an independent cockpit? If it's autonomous, why not match the dimensions of the actual animal?"
Essentially, it's not much different from the humanoid armor—just a matter of scale and operational parameters. The real innovation lies in how you weaponize the form.
"You can replicate everything from the form to the attack patterns. Antonia's chips and equipment should help you pull this off."
Ivan's eyes lit up at the suggestion. "Exactly, Boss. You're spot on. Anything else?"
"Second point: animals don't have to be real, do they? Why not dinosaurs?"
Ivan blinked, caught off guard.
"Third point: it doesn't have to be animals at all, right? Why not something shape-shifting? Ever seen Transformers?" Hong Fei leaned back, watching Ivan's reaction. "Fourth point: humanoid armor is fine, but why limit yourself to skin-tight suits? Think bigger—mechanical power armor. You've heard of mechs, haven't you? They can be manned or unmanned, humanoid, beast-like, or even alien-shaped."
"Of course, these are just ideas from a layman. Take them as inspiration, but you're the expert here. Don't lock yourself into one mindset. If you need a break, take it. Just steer clear of Tony."
Ivan scoffed. "He doesn't have the skills to catch me!"
"Good to hear." Hong Fei clapped him on the shoulder and stood. "Keep at it. I'm looking forward to seeing what kind of groundbreaking armor or mechs you come up with."
Ivan stood frozen, lost in thought, as Hong Fei left the lab.
Outside, he nearly collided with Yelena. Her face brightened when she saw him. "Boss."
"Something up?"
"Yes." She grinned. "The sisters are all settled into U.S. government positions. What's next?"
Hong Fei raised an eyebrow. "That fast?"
"Of course. We're Black Widows, after all."
He considered for a moment. "Climb higher. The more power, the better. And get identification devices from Big Head—make sure everyone in New York has one."
"Got it. Any operations coming up? We can prepare."
"Not yet. I'll let you know when it's time."
Yelena nodded. "Understood."
"Where's Antonia?"
"She's with Dr. Cho. Her scarring is extensive—it'll take a while to fix."
"And Jessica?"
Yelena's expression shifted, her brow twitching slightly. She lowered her voice. "Boss, is there something… off about Jessica's orientation?"
Hong Fei frowned. "What do you mean?"
She stood on her toes, trying to whisper in his ear, but the height difference foiled her. "Boss, bend down a little."
He obliged, leaning in. Yelena murmured something, her eyes wide with curiosity.
Hong Fei straightened, surprised. "That explosive?"
Yelena nodded vigorously.
He sighed. "It's a long story, and I don't know the details. But whatever the truth is, there's no need for discrimination. Besides, I doubt she'd make a move on you."
Yelena blinked. "What if she does?"
"Even if she tries, she probably couldn't do much to you."
"You sure about that?" She reached out, teasing.
Hong Fei swatted her hand away. "If it comes to that, call for help. Maybe I'll save your life."
Yelena smirked, mischief dancing in her eyes. "Otherwise, you can't resist Jessica's current strength; she might play you until you're broken."
Yelena's face collapsed immediately.
Afterward, Hong Fei found Abomination—Bronski. "How do you feel?"
Bronski laughed heartily: "Very good." He was not tall, but the resolute temperament left over from his time as an elite soldier made him look very upright.
"Well, if you want to go out, you can go yourself anytime. There's nothing major recently."
"Okay, thank you, Boss."
Turning around, Hong Fei summoned Nos. 2 through 5. "No. 1 has been in Africa for almost a year. I haven't had time to pay attention to him before, so next, No. 2 will stay at the castle, No. 3 will go to New York, and Nos. 4 and 5 will go to Africa to meet up with him. By the way, take a batch of people and escort half of the weapons in the warehouse over. By the end of next year at the latest, I will lead a team over to find you."
"Yes, Boss!"
After giving the instructions, Hong Fei went back into the castle and began his daily routine. At the end of 2011, for Christmas, Peter and Aunt May were brought to the castle to spend it together.
Peter crossed the threshold of eleven years old, his height increasing rapidly, and his face becoming more and more like the one in Hong Fei's memory. It would be better if he nagged a little less. A good kid, but unfortunately he has a mouth, sigh...
After New Year's Day, Hong Fei sent people to take them back to New York, and then the house welcomed Steve Rogers again.
As soon as he met Hong Fei, his expression was very serious. "S.H.I.E.L.D. really has a big problem."
Hong Fei pursed his lips tightly, listening to him list the many suspicious points he had discovered in S.H.I.E.L.D., and finally said: "Sigh, it seems my guess was not wrong; S.H.I.E.L.D. has indeed been contaminated."
"Wrong!" Steve retorted decisively. "It's not contaminated, but it has long been deeply entrenched and occupied by HYDRA from top to bottom! From the low-level ordinary clerks to the numerous Agents of all levels, even in the high-level management of S.H.I.E.L.D., there must be hidden HYDRA members. Otherwise, from Project Paperclip until now, in decades of time, it would be impossible for no one to have discovered the problem!"
Hong Fei secretly gave him a thumbs-up for his wit, then nodded solemnly and said: "Your analysis is very reasonable."
Steve snorted heavily through his nose and said: "This is truly terrifying. As a direct agency under the World Security Council, it has been completely infiltrated by a group of people who want to subvert the status quo and rule the World, and no one from top to bottom has noticed. If they really launch an attack, it will definitely cause huge losses to this World."
Speaking of this, he looked at Hong Fei and unconsciously let out a sigh of relief: "Fortunately, you discovered it."
"Ahem, that's nothing. It all started from clues, finding them one by one. And if it weren't for the past events of Alexei and Melina, I'm afraid it would have been very difficult for me to imagine that the anomalies in S.H.I.E.L.D. would actually be HYDRA."
Steve said earnestly: "In short, now I believe even more that what you said is true. What are your plans next?"
"Stay put for now. Do you remember the Tesseract?"
"The one you snatched back?"
"Yes, and the scientist who was researching it for Fury, I also snatched her back. The fluctuations of the Tesseract are unusual; its origin might bring about a disaster, and I am trying to find a way to deal with it. In addition, I have a file to give you."
"What is it?"
"Someone is using the Tesseract to make weapons."
Steve's eyes widened: "Schmidt?"
Hong Fei shook his head: "No, not him. The Red Skull has disappeared, but it seems someone has inherited his legacy."
Steve took the hard drive, gnashing his teeth.
After sending Steve off, Hong Fei put on his battle armor. With the armor covering his body, he glanced at the screen.
Dragon Power fusion rate: 10.42%.