Manhattan, Downtown, Chinatown.
"Kanna, be good at school, listen to your teacher, and don't make trouble, okay?"
"Mhm."
"2B, no, Sylvia, could you please stop by the supermarket on your way back?"
"Okay, cooking wine, soy sauce, and yeast, right?"
"Yes. Thank you for your trouble."
At the entrance of the small shop stood three people: a man and two women.
From their conversation alone, the three were clearly a family, but looking at their appearances, they seemed completely out of place.
The two-meter tall burly man had a bald head and a body full of muscles. Although he had no tattoos or scars, his physique and demeanor were more intimidating than any thug who made a living in the underworld.
In front of the burly man were two women, one tall and one small. The taller one was about 1.6 meters. In terms of height, she might have been slightly below the average height of local women, but in terms of figure, she was perfectly proportioned with curves in all the right places, especially her plump yet perfectly sculpted legs, which were even more beautiful than a model's.
The smaller one was less than a meter tall. Her chubby little face was rosy and adorable, and her long white hair, which showed no signs of illness, was tied into two braids at the back of her head. Coupled with the pink sun hat she wore… from a distance, her nearly four-head-tall body proportion made the little girl appear even cuter.
"Kanna, it's time for us to go."
"Mhm." Holding her sister's hand, the little girl Kanna nodded vigorously.
After taking a couple of steps, remembering the promise she heard yesterday, the little girl turned her head back to look at the burly man standing at the shop's entrance: "Xiao Lei, Xiao Lei, will there be pudding when I come back this afternoon?"
"Don't worry, I guarantee you'll be satisfied." The burly man gave a thumbs up and grinned, a flash of light reflecting off his white teeth.
"I want two~!"
"No problem, if you can get a little red flower."
"You promised, no backing out~."
Watching the two women get into the car and disappear into the distance at the end of the street, Shi Xiaolei lowered his right hand, bent down to pull up the rolling shutter, and entered the shop to begin his day's work.
It had been almost three months since he transmigrated to this world.
Although science proves that it only takes 90 days to form a stable habit, and by calculation, he was almost there, Shi Xiaolei honestly still couldn't quite get used to it every time he saw those 'reminders' on TV or in newspapers, feeling as if he was still dreaming.
In the Smithsonian Museum in New York, various equipment once used by Captain America were displayed; Tony Stark, who frequently appeared in entertainment gossip news, unreservedly claiming to have had another one-night stand with that famous model; the Oscorp Tower just a few blocks away… All of this silently proved to Shi Xiaolei that this was not the world he had once lived in, but the Marvel Universe, which held an unbearable weight for ordinary people.
To be honest, when he first realized this, Shi Xiaolei almost died of fright.
He had barely escaped death and had a chance to live again, yet he ended up in the perilous Marvel world, and was even 'born' directly in the most dangerous Big Apple City… Whether it was the Iron Monger vs. Iron Man battle in "Iron Man 1," the demolition battle in "The Incredible Hulk," or the alien invasion in "Avengers 1," they all happened in this city. For superheroes, this city, which often spawned various major events, might be the best stage to showcase their abilities, but for ordinary people with a combat power of only 5, this city was still a bit too dangerous.
To be frank, when he confirmed that he was in Marvel and in New York, the first thought that came to Shi Xiaolei's mind was 'move out'.
However, reality was not as easy as he imagined.
You see,
As a transmigrator, Shi Xiaolei was a complete undocumented immigrant. Without any identification documents, it was difficult to even travel far, let alone settle down in another place.
Chinatown, his 'birthplace,' was relatively easier to blend into. After all, there were still many compatriots who had snuck in from China to work illegally, and like Shi Xiaolei, they hadn't yet obtained identity documents. Blending in with these people, Shi Xiaolei wasn't particularly conspicuous, aside from his larger build.
Another reason was the restrictions imposed by the 'System'.
On his way to the computer store to repair a faulty hard drive, he was struck by a dry thunderbolt and turned into charcoal. As Shi Xiaolei transmigrated to the Marvel world, that broken hard drive also evolved into his companion artifact after being cleansed by the river of time. Perhaps because its predecessor was a computer hard drive, the manifestation of this artifact in his sea of consciousness also transformed into a system.
The system came with two functions: daily check-in and blind box exchange.
As long as he was within the New York City limits, he could check in once a day, earning 10 check-in points and receiving a random reward. If Shi Xiaolei was not in New York City, his daily check-in points would be halved, and the random reward would also be canceled.
Most of the check-in rewards were useless items, such as toilet paper, canned cola, expired magazines, and so on. In three months, the best check-in reward he received was only two hundred dollars in cash. Honestly, Shi Xiaolei wasn't really concerned about the rewards given by daily check-ins.
The key was the 'blind box exchange'.
Various games, anime, and movies stored on the hard drive had become a material library. All items, characters, and abilities that had ever appeared in these works were collected in blind boxes, and as long as he accumulated enough check-in points, he could eventually exchange for them.
How to survive in the perilous Marvel world? In Shi Xiaolei's opinion, there were only two paths. One: continuously strengthen himself, raising his abilities to a level sufficient to resist crises. Two: unite more comrades and form a team to fight against crises.
Undoubtedly, both of these methods could be achieved through the 'blind box exchange' function.
Therefore, in order to accumulate check-in points, Shi Xiaolei had to give up the idea of moving and honestly settled down in Chinatown.
In the first month, he accumulated 300 check-in points and opened his first blind box. Perhaps due to high compatibility, or perhaps due to divine intervention, Shi Xiaolei drew the Barbarian bloodline from "Diablo 2."
Relying on his strong physique, which made him a better fighter than a boxing champion, Shi Xiaolei, introduced by a well-connected fellow countryman, fought a few underground boxing matches, earning nearly two hundred thousand US dollars. Then, using this money, he bought himself a verifiable 'ID card' and rented a small storefront in Chinatown, opening a small, humble eatery.
The money came quickly, but such shortcuts always left some lingering problems.
Sure enough, after seeing off his two 'family members,' Shi Xiaolei, who was preparing in the shop, welcomed two unwelcome guests.