San Francisco, California.
A city bus.
"See that girl? Writing her thesis on the bus… that's who my mom wishes I'd grow up to be."
Katy leaned close to Shang-Chi and whispered conspiratorially, eyes fixed on a diligent young woman tapping away on her laptop.
"Then I feel really sorry for her."
Shang-Chi couldn't help laughing.
They'd known each other since he moved here. Ten years of friendship—no one knew Katy better than he did.
She was carefree, laid-back, allergic to ambition.
Just like him, really.
Working as a hotel valet together was more than enough for her.
Writing a thesis? She couldn't even write one in an office, let alone on a bus.
The two were chatting and laughing as usual when a tall, muscular man with a ponytail walked straight up to Shang-Chi.
He looked Shang-Chi up and down—once, twice—then said coldly:
"Give me the necklace, and no one gets hurt."
He was referring to the jade pendant around Shang-Chi's neck.
The same pendant Alex had come for.
Shang-Chi's heart tightened.
His first thought—
Did his father, Xu Wenwu, send this guy?
Who else would target something like this?
It wasn't expensive. It wasn't a gemstone. And the man was clearly not some random mugger—his clothes alone were too high-end for that.
"I don't know what you're talking about."
Shang-Chi shook his head, feigning ignorance.
The man let out a cold snort.
And stopped talking altogether.
He attacked.
Left with no choice, Shang-Chi moved.
BANG!
One punch.
The ponytail man hit the floor.
But he wasn't alone. Half a dozen more men sprang from their seats and charged Shang-Chi.
Yet Shang-Chi had been trained since childhood by the most dangerous man alive.
Dealing with six or seven thugs was nothing.
In the blink of an eye, all of them were on the floor groaning.
"Holy shit—who are you?!"
Katy was stunned.
Was this really the same lazy, unambitious friend she'd known for a decade?
But before she could ask anything—
SWISH!
A huge bearded man sitting in the back stood up.
He shrugged off his worn-out military coat—revealing a massive, scarred, bodybuilder-level physique.
His right arm was missing.
Replaced at the shoulder joint with some kind of mechanical attachment.
Anyone with eyes could see it—
This man was not in the same league as the previous attackers.
CLANG!
His mechanical arm twitched—
And a massive blade shot out from within it.
The blade glowed red hot—superheated by some unknown mechanism.
SWISH!
He swung the blade at Shang-Chi, launching into an intense duel right in the narrow aisle of the bus.
Shang-Chi fought back bare-handed, but with astonishing skill.
Unfortunately…
The bus was not nearly as durable.
Metal groaned. Seats were shredded. Windows shattered.
And worst of all—
The braking system was destroyed.
The bus went completely out of control.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
CRASH! CRASH! CRASH!
The entire vehicle barreled down the street like a runaway beast.
Passengers screamed in terror.
The tension was suffocating.
Then—
HUM!
Something impossible happened.
The speeding bus…
Stopped. Instantly.
As if someone had pressed pause on reality itself.
Eighty kilometers per hour—
Straight to zero.
But the passengers didn't fly forward or smash into anything.
Because an invisible force wrapped around every single one of them—
Holding them securely in place.
"What… what's happening?!"
"Are we dead?!"
"No—no! We're alive!"
They looked around, dazed, relieved, trembling.
Only Shang-Chi and the attackers remained on guard, trying to understand what kind of power had intervened.
A superhuman was present.
Which meant—
They were all in trouble.
CLANG!
The bus doors suddenly swung open—by themselves.
A young Asian man strolled casually inside.
Silence.
Then—
The entire bus exploded with excitement.
"ALEX!"
"IT'S ALEX!"
"ALEX SAVED US!"
The passengers nearly fainted from shock and joy.
It was him.
The most powerful being on Earth.
The man who had saved the world multiple times.
Meanwhile, Shang-Chi and the mercenaries felt their hearts drop.
Everyone knew:
Alex wasn't like Captain America or Iron Man.
He didn't show up for every robbery, every small crime.
He only moved when the world was in danger.
So why was he here?
As Alex approached, Shang-Chi felt cold sweat sliding down his back.
Was Alex… after HIM?
He could fight off his father's assassins.
But Alex?
Impossible.
Alex stopped right in front of him.
"You."
His tone was calm but absolute.
"Your pendant. I need to borrow it."
Shang-Chi's expression changed instantly.
The mercenaries' faces changed even faster.
"If it were anything else, I'd help you," Shang-Chi said stiffly.
"But this is my mother's keepsake. I'm sorry."
"Then…" Alex smiled faintly.
"I'm sorry too."
He reached out.
SWOOSH!
The pendant tore itself from Shang-Chi's neck and flew straight into Alex's palm.
Before anyone could react—
BANG!
Alex vanished—
Leaving nothing but the sound of air collapsing behind him
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