Matt gazed up at the castle, his chest tight with emotion. Those three months had stretched endlessly, each day crawling by as if it carried the weight of a year. He'd seen Hong Fei and his crew at their worst—lawless, brutal—but also caught glimpses of their rare acts of kindness. If not for his own weakness and the ever-present fear of Hong Fei's ruthlessness, he might have turned on them long ago.
Now, standing outside the castle gates, he felt like a prisoner finally tasting freedom after years behind bars. No more deciphering their tones for hidden threats. No more dreading their next act of cruelty—bullying one person, robbing another. If he weren't afraid of being caught and beaten, he'd throw back his head, spread his arms, and shout at the top of his lungs:
Freedom! With a final glance, he grabbed his suitcase and sprinted toward the airport without looking back. Good riddance! No, better yet—may we never meet again! He was never coming back.
From the castle's highest tower, Xu Wenwu watched Matt's departure, hands clasped behind his back. A faint smile played on his lips.
"He seems... happy."
Big Head chuckled.
"Fools are easily pleased."
Xu Wenwu shook his head, as if brushing Matt from his thoughts, and turned to ask, "Frank hasn't returned yet?"
"He's gone on a killing spree in Tokyo."
"Keep a close eye on him. If he needs help, we should be able to mobilize within half an hour."
"Understood."
Xu Wenwu's gaze shifted to the distant sky, where a black dot marked a plane ascending or descending at Sokovia Airport. His lips curled into a subtle smile.
"Tony Stark... I've only met him once. What do you think of him?"
Big Head answered without hesitation. "You'd want to hit him."
"Oh?"
"He's insufferable—the kind of person who makes you want to punch him."
Xu Wenwu chuckled.
"I felt the same when we last met. He's arrogant."
"More than that, he's narcissistic," Big Head added. "And he won't follow orders. He does whatever he wants."
Xu Wenwu raised an arm, fiddling with the rings on his fingers.
"Actually... I'm that kind of person too."
At Avengers Tower, tension hung thick in the air.
"Since you've all seen enough, let's take a vote," Hong Fei announced, his voice sharp enough to cut glass. The room froze.
Even Hill and Coulson stiffened. Though the contract didn't involve them directly, past experience told them things could turn violent in an instant. Hong Fei's gaze swept the room.
"Who doesn't want to sign?"
Silence. No one spoke. Heads turned slowly, cautiously, as if afraid to make a sound. Hong Fei raised an eyebrow.
"Why are you looking at others? Can't you make decisions for yourselves?"
Several people stared down at their contracts as if the pages had sprouted flowers. Hong Fei tapped his knuckles on the table, each thud echoing like a heartbeat.
"If anyone's unwilling to sign, say so now. Whatever your reason, I'll listen. This is your decision."
Still, no one spoke.
"Any suggestions? If you want to modify the terms, speak up. Let's have an honest discussion."
To the side, Sam seemed a bit moved by the words; his legs shifted as if he were about to stand up. But Coulson, seated beside him, subtly stretched out a foot and stepped on Sam's. Sam froze, his head jerking around. The movement drew everyone's attention.
Facing the many varied gazes, Coulson remained expressionless, as if he truly hadn't done anything. Hong Fei curled his lip.
"Sam Wilson, I know your name. You seem to have something to say?" Being called out, Sam could no longer pretend to be quiet. He put down the contract and stood up.
"Mr. Hong, I have no objections to the contract, but why doesn't the Captain have one?"
Hearing this, the others also seemed to suddenly wake up. Right, why do we all have one, but the Captain doesn't? If they were really going to build a Superpower Park as the contract said, when it came to image and merchandise rights, the Captain's rights would obviously be more useful. Hong Fei didn't answer but turned and patted Steve's shoulder.
Steve said with a full smile, "I've already signed." Hong Fei added, "Steve's first signing fee was one hundred million."
Everyone was shocked once again.
"But you don't need to be envious, because as your strength and related earnings increase, for those under a hundred million, I can gradually top you up to a hundred million! One last time, who is unwilling to sign?"
Likewise, there was no answer, but everyone had already picked up their pens and quickly signed their names. In the afternoon, the group gathered again to welcome Matt back. As soon as he entered the door, Matt caught a familiar scent; he could easily distinguish the smells and hear the different frequencies and amplitudes of heartbeats to identify the people sitting there.
Captain Rogers was at the door, the seat next to him was empty, and further back were Rhodes, Sam... and Luke. Oh, Luke, dear Luke, my good friend, I've missed you so much! Looking back at the past three months, Matt almost couldn't help but burst into tears. Seeing him standing motionless at the door, Luke, who was closest to him, stood up to meet him and smiled.
"Matt, what's wrong? Are your senses not working? Come, hold my arm and I'll lead you."
Hearing his friend's voice, Matt sniffled hard.
"Luke..."
Hearing this, Luke was startled and quickly stepped forward to grab him, asking, "Matt, did something happen?"
Matt shook his head.
"No, nothing, I'm just so happy. You don't know what I went through over there, I..."
Hearing this, Luke's eyes widened, and he quickly gave a cough.
"Ahem!"
Matt's words were cut short by the sound, and he asked in return, "Luke, what's wrong with you?"
Luke didn't dare speak and could only turn his head to glance at Hong Fei. Seeing Hong Fei holding a cup and looking at them with a half-smile, Luke felt his chest throbbing with pain again.
Matt said in confusion, "Luke, why are you looking at the Captain? And your heartbeat is suddenly a bit fast, what's wrong?"
"Nothing, nothing. Let's sit down first. We can talk after we sit."
"Okay!"
Luke breathed a sigh of relief and then helped Matt in.
However, this time he was more careful and deliberately pulled out a chair to let Matt sit opposite Hong Fei: You should be able to sense someone from this close, right?
Unexpectedly, before Matt's butt even hit the chair, he said, "Hello everyone! I've really missed you all during these three months away. Life over there really made me feel like days were years, and I saw a lot of..."
"Ahem, ahem!"
"Luke!" Matt called out to him, saying dissatisfiedly, "What is wrong with you? I feel like you're intentionally trying to stop me from speaking!"
Luke put his hand to his forehead and simply closed his eyes, saying, "Sorry, my fault."
Whatever happens, happens. I don't care anymore!
"You can't keep doing this, or I'll really get angry," Matt said to him, then turned back and continued, "And I saw that they do many things that are illegal; I even feel like I fell into a pile of bad..."
"Ahem, ahem, ahem, ahem!!"
Luke coughed violently again, feeling as if he were going to cough up a lung. Matt couldn't take it anymore.
He stood up and walked right in front of Luke, looking at him through his sunglasses and asking with extreme seriousness, "Luke, has something happened to the Avengers during this time? Is there some misunderstanding between us?"
Luke didn't dare to speak. Because Hong Fei stood up.
"You don't have a misunderstanding with him; I think you have a misunderstanding with me."
Upon hearing this familiar yet strange voice, Matt habitually tilted his head to one side, unable to recall the owner of the voice for a moment. Hong Fei said again, "What, only a few days apart and you've forgotten?"
Clack! The blind cane in Matt's hand dropped straight to the floor.
"Hong... Hong... Hong..."
"I'm Hong Fei, not Hong-Hong-Hong Fei."
In this second, Matt finally sensed Hong Fei's position. He heard and smelled him; Hong Fei was sitting right next to Steve, in the chair he had originally thought was empty. Matt's eyes instantly filled with tears, though luckily they were hidden by his sunglasses. This person is simply too evil; he actually deliberately hid his presence and heartbeat!!
Hong Fei stretched and turned to walk out, saying with a slight smile, "It seems Mr. Murdock is very dissatisfied with the past exchange and has developed many misunderstandings about me. As a member of the Avengers... wait, everyone, I should be an Avenger now, right?"
He turned to look at Steve and the others. Steve was the first to voice his agreement.
"Of course, you are a full-fledged Avenger!"
Since the Captain had spoken, no one else had the chance to disagree, so the group nodded one after another.
"Very good!"
Hong Fei nodded with satisfaction, then reached out and pointed at Matt: "As comrades-in-arms who will support and rely closely on each other under the same roof for the next three months, I think it's very necessary to clear up the past misunderstandings with Mr. Murdock. What do you all think?" Steve said with a smile again, "I agree."
Matt was in despair.
"Come on, Mr. Murdock, we need to have a good talk in private."
With that, Hong Fei walked straight out the door. Matt grabbed Luke's hand. Luke hurriedly pulled away and whispered, "Don't worry, nothing will happen. Now he's an Avenger, and you're an Avenger too; we're on the same side."
"Yeah, he and I are both Avengers, but for the past three months I was still with him, I... why didn't you tell me the person being exchanged this time was him?"
The exchange list was decided by Mr. Stark and the Captain after discussion. I only just found out the news myself."
"Who was swapped out?"
"Mr. Stark."
Matt's lips trembled. Even the only person who dared to argue and talk back to Hong Fei had been swapped out; was there any hope left for the Avengers? Was there a future? At this point, Steve cleared his throat and said, "Matt, don't forget he's waiting for you."
Hearing this, Matt slapped Luke's arm hard, then picked up his blind cane and rushed out of the conference room.