Another lesser-known translation is "Daluo."
In the comics, Daluo exists as an extradimensional space inhabited by the Xian race. The connection between Daluo and Earth manifests through the Five Sacred Mountains, with the Jade Emperor leading the Xian—a pantheon including Nezha, the Eight Immortals, the Buddha, and even Sun Wukong.
Heaven knew he'd never laid eyes on a thatched hut in either lifetime. Not that it mattered. Hong Fei had a path to walk and objectives to claim. After all, the dashing Master Hong didn't have some ungrateful brat scheming against him.
Two goals drove him forward.
First: the Ten Rings, their origins still shrouded in mystery. Second: the so-called Great Protector Dragon, which upon closer inspection didn't quite match traditional draconic imagery. Currently, the Ten Rings' most verifiable function was granting immortality.
Hong Fei wondered if merging with Dragon Power would confer eternal life. Comic lore suggested most Iron Fists never survived past thirty-three—a curse woven into the Dragon Power itself, with origins more tangled still.
In this universe, Hong Fei wasn't particularly concerned about the thirty-three-year limit. That said, he wouldn't refuse an extra advantage. Among his current arsenal, the stark blade played second fiddle while the Sword of Sif held its ground. The Ten Rings, however, aligned perfectly with his combat style.
Though they appeared as simple armbands, the Rings' applications were manifold. Combined with Hong Fei's Dragon Power adaptations, their potential became staggering.
Third: the Rings' provenance. Despite existing for millennia, Kamar-Taj's records held no mention of them. More intriguingly, when Shang-Chi wielded them, they emitted signals toward some unknown destination. The implications were anyone's guess.
Ta Lo's sealed Soul-Eater could manipulate its master through the Rings—a possible clue, but speculation remained just that. Were they relics of the Celestials? Tied to the Eternals? Extra-dimensional artifacts? Parallel universe imports?
Regardless, the Ten Rings held tangible value for Hong Fei. Future benefits or complications aside, he intended to claim them first and ask questions later. Maybe even test them with the Hong family's Iron Wire Fist technique (or not).
Now, the Great Protector Dragon. This creature came closest to matching Hong Fei's mental image of a dragon within this universe. As for its utility...
To be honest, Master Hong wanted to raise it in the castle's lakeside grounds. Imagine waking daily to its thunderous cries, strolling out to admire its majesty—guaranteed mood enhancement. Better yet, mastering aerial dragon rides would outclass any battlesuit for sheer coolness. And if domestication proved impossible? Well, a preserved specimen had its own appeal.
If he couldn't get it, he'd destroy it!
The above were Hong Fei's small goals regarding the Ten Rings and the dragon. As for the Ten Rings, Arthur had already started searching and had obtained some minor, peripheral clues.
However, in the thousand-plus years since Xu Wenwu obtained the Ten Rings, not to mention what kind of results he had achieved in his conquests, at least he had done quite well in terms of hiding, and currently, there was no more definite information. It is worth mentioning that the person commissioned by Obadiah to kidnap Tony Stark back then came from the Ten Rings.
Therefore, Hong Fei made second and third preparations. The second preparation was to ask friends from S.P.E.A.R. to help find clues related to Ta Lo. This was the simplest and most direct method, because the entrance to Ta Lo was indeed there.
The third preparation was to push for Killian's A.I.M. to appear sooner, letting Killian use the name of the Ten Rings to draw out the real Ten Rings.
Once the Ten Rings were found, Xu Wenwu could be found, and Ta Lo could be found along the way.
In fact, there was only about half a year left until Killian would make a big move, because when the Battle of New York occurred, War Machine had already met the fake Ten Rings in Hong Kong.
This meant that Killian was about to use a disguised Mandarin to fabricate a series of terrorist incidents and attacks in the name of the Ten Rings. Hong Fei just let him advance the implementation of his real target plan by a few months.
From the progress of Extremis biotechnology and related preparations, there wouldn't be much difference, not to mention that Master Hong and Big Head were there to back him up.
And from this point, another of Hong Fei's goals could be derived. In the current universe, the current President of the United States was named Ellis.
He would be kidnapped by Killian, and Master Hong wanted to take this opportunity to see if he could farm some weapons and equipment from him. Undoubtedly, Master Hong's mushroom dream hadn't shattered yet.
Back to the topic, the Ten Rings, which had been passed down for thousands of years, wouldn't tolerate a small character like Killian using their name to carry out terrorist attacks, and Xu Wenwu certainly wouldn't be happy to be imagined as an old geezer named "Mandarin" (the fruit).
Therefore, whether by direct analysis and reasoning or by foreknowledge of the plot, Hong Fei had reason to believe that the Ten Rings would appear.
At the moment, it was just a matter of waiting for time to let the events ferment.
......
Steve's lawsuit was already causing an uproar in the outside world. The closer it got to the court date, the more fiercely people discussed it.
Of course, most of it was stirred up by Big Head and Arthur together. Frank took the others and returned to Sokovia first. Hong Fei and Big Head stayed in New York for the time being.
After staying at the manor for several days, he welcomed an unexpected visitor.
"Mr. Hong, it's a pleasure to meet you?"
Alexander Pierce's smile was very sincere.
How much pleasure?
"Likewise, please sit."
Hong Fei invited him neither humbly nor arrogantly. After the two sat down, Number Three served tea and then quietly retreated.
Pierce looked at the spacious and luxuriously decorated living room and said, "Mr. Hong really has good taste. Living in such an environment, it's hard not to be in a good mood."
"That's not quite right. As a meritorious veteran of S.H.I.E.L.D., Mr. Pierce probably wouldn't care about these mere material enjoyments."
Hearing this, Pierce smiled faintly and raised his eyes slightly: "Mr. Hong certainly knows a lot."
Hong Fei smiled without answering.
Pierce's status and position were very high. He was not only a former Director of S.H.I.E.L.D., but was also awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1992, although Pierce voluntarily refused to accept the award. In addition, Nick Fury, the current Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. who was about to be sued by Captain America, was the one who had received more attention and even rapid promotion from Pierce because he had once saved Pierce's daughter.
All the visiting and tea drinking were fake. From the very beginning, the other party was probing, and Hong Fei was trying to lure the snake out of its hole; each had their own needs.
After some pleasantries, Pierce finally began to get to the point.
"Mr. Hong, I would like to ask, what is your opinion on S.H.I.E.L.D.?"
"Opinion?" Hong Fei put down his teacup. "A very mysterious intelligence agency?"
Pierce's smile remained unchanged, and he continued to ask: "Anything else?"
Hong Fei shook his head slightly: "That's about it. To be honest, I have had very little contact with S.H.I.E.L.D. The S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent I have seen the most is probably that Phil Coulson who once disguised himself as an FBI Agent."
Pierce didn't feel awkward at all; instead, he nodded as if he were honored and said, "I have heard of him. He is a very excellent Agent and also Fury's capable assistant. Mr. Hong, actually, what I want to say is that S.H.I.E.L.D. is not an intelligence agency in the ordinary sense. First of all, one thing needs to be clear: our Agents do not serve any specific country, so we will not participate in political struggles between various countries. The reason we have always used the term 'Agent' is simply because of the special needs of the special period back then."
"So that's how it is." Hong Fei realized.
Pierce continued: "Currently, the direct superior of S.H.I.E.L.D. is the World Security Council, so our goal is also very clear: to maintain the existing world order and protect humanity and the world we live in from being harmed by certain terrorist forces. Because of the special nature of our functions and the overlap with the existing agencies of most countries, we have placed higher requirements on the quality of S.H.I.E.L.D. personnel. Simply put, what ordinary agencies cannot do, we can do, or even do easily. In the hundred years since S.H.I.E.L.D. was founded, we have handled many such incidents. If there were no S.H.I.E.L.D., we could foresee that this world would definitely see many, many terrorist attacks that would shock and horrify people."
Hong Fei listened while nodding slightly, without making any evaluation. Because he didn't think S.H.I.E.L.D. was really that great, or even reached the point of being indispensable.
Besides, you, a leader of HYDRA, are talking to me about S.H.I.E.L.D.? Isn't that laughable?
Seeing that Hong Fei refused to engage, Pierce had to take the initiative to change the subject and asked: "Mr. Hong, I won't elaborate more on S.H.I.E.L.D. to you, and I am no longer the Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. now; my status is just a nominal consultant. However, based on my past years of service in S.H.I.E.L.D. and my feelings for it, I still want you to know that even if it sometimes appears a bit aggressive, its existence is beneficial to this world. If its existence were rashly abolished, a void would suddenly appear in the world's counter-terrorism field, which would only allow those bad guys to take advantage."
Bad guys? Hong Fei raised an eyebrow: 'Are you talking about me, or about yourself?'