After Giving Up, I Became the Head of the Marvel Vampire Clan
Chapter 1: I treated you like a brother, and yet you actually bit me?
New York, a luxurious penthouse at the top of Manhattan.
Outside the floor-to-ceiling windows was the bustling traffic, but inside the house it was a pitch-dark silence.
Li Heng slumped on a million-dollar handmade Italian leather sofa, holding a remote control in his hand, listlessly flipping through TV channels.
On the coffee table next to him were piles of leftover potato chip bags and happy water, and the light and shadow on the screen flickered alternately across his face.
"Sigh, having traveled through the Marvel Universe for a month, this rich second generation's life is truly dull and boring."
Li Heng yawned, his eyelids drooping.
That's right, he was a transmigrator.
He didn't transmigrate into a tech maniac like Stark, nor did he turn into a Mutant, but instead became an ordinary Chinese-American rich second generation.
At home, apart from money, there were no superpowers whatsoever.
However, Li Heng wasn't anxious at all, and even felt a little like laughing.
In this Marvel Universe where aliens invaded at every turn and superheroes beat each other black and blue, what was so good about being a standout target?
Look at Stark, targeted every day; look at Banner, turning into a big green fatty at every turn without even pants to wear.
Li Heng's life creed had only one word—lying flat!
With endless money to spend, living in a top-tier luxury mansion, waking up naturally every day, eating, drinking, and having fun for a lifetime, isn't this much more fragrant than going to the street to hand-to-hand combat with villains?
As for saving the world?
That was the KPI of superheroes, what did it have to do with him, a mere passerby?
"Ding-dong—"
The doorbell suddenly rang, followed by the electronic sound of the fingerprint lock unlocking.
The front door was rudely pushed open, and high heels stepping on the floor made a harsh scraping sound.
Li Heng didn't even lift an eyelid, and lazily muttered: "Did the nanny ask for leave today? How come she doesn't know to change her shoes when entering..."
"Li Heng! Do you still have the face to sleep here?!"
A sharp roar exploded in the living room.
Li Heng frowned slightly, finally willing to move his gaze away from the TV.
Standing in the center of the living room was a gorgeously dressed, heavily made-up woman.
It was precisely his nominal girlfriend, Zheng Jie.
And behind Zheng Jie, there also followed a man in a suit and leather shoes, with his hair combed meticulously, full of complacency and mockery.
Li Tianyi.
Li Heng looked at these two people, the original owner's memory flashing through his mind instantly, and immediately understood what was going on.
Oh, he got cuckolded.
"What are you looking at? Why are you looking at me with that kind of expression?"
Zheng Jie crossed her arms, looking at Li Heng with full disgust, "I've had enough of this lifeless appearance of yours! Every day other than sleeping it's eating, without a shred of ambition! Look at Tianyi, he's already the CEO of his own startup company at such a young age, and you? You're just a good-for-nothing who only knows how to squander inheritance!"
Li Tianyi stepped forward, intimately putting his arm around Zheng Jie's waist, looking down at Li Heng on the sofa, the corners of his mouth curving into a sharp arc:
"Old Li, don't blame brother for being unprincipled. It's really that JieJie has been too wronged following you, you can't give her the life she wants, so I can only take over. Men, you know, having no money and no ability isn't shameful, what's shameful is even failing to feed your own woman, am I right?"
Li Heng watched this pair of shameless couple outputting wildly in front of him, not only without the slightest bit of anger, but instead letting out a long sigh of relief.
He even wanted to laugh a little.
"Are you done talking?"
Li Heng reached out and grabbed a can of happy water from the table, gulped down two mouthfuls, and let out a burp, "If you're done talking, hurry up and leave, you're blocking me from watching TV."
In his heart, he even felt a little grateful.
How tiring this broken relationship business was, having to reply to messages, coax people, and date every day, severely affecting his progress of lying flat.
Now someone was willing to take over, and happened to help him save the breakup fee, this was simply a tremendously good person!
However, Li Heng's "indifferent" attitude, falling into Li Tianyi's eyes, became a dead duck with a stiff beak.
Li Tianyi's expression instantly turned gloomy.
He went through all sorts of schemes to poach Zheng Jie, just to fiercely trample on Li Heng, and watch this once lofty rich second generation cry bitterly and beg for mercy on his knees in front of him!
Yet this fellow actually... didn't care at all?!
"Li Heng, stop putting on an act there!"
Li Tianyi fiercely slapped the coffee table, a trace of scarlet dark light flashing in the depths of his eyes, "Do you think pretending not to care can save face? I'm telling you, today I came, not only to take JieJie away, but I also want to make you completely understand that the gap between you and me can't be made up by money at all!"
Feeling the eerie chill suddenly emanating from Li Tianyi's body, Li Heng narrowed his eyes slightly.
Wait a minute.
This script seemed a bit wrong.
Drawing the curtains in broad daylight was one thing, but the body temperature on this person... why was it like a cold-blooded animal?
And the red light in those eyes was definitely not an effect that contact lenses could produce.
Was the plot of the Marvel Universe going to unfold this early?
"What gap do you want to figure out?"
Li Heng still slumped on the sofa, his tone lazy: "IQ gap? Then you really won completely, after all, being a lick-dog also requires IQ."
"You're courting death!!"
Li Tianyi was thoroughly enraged.
His original disguised human-shaped-dog-appearance instantly tore apart, his face became incomparably hideous, the corners of his mouth suddenly split open, and two sharp, pale fangs directly popped out from his mouth!
"Hiss——!"
Seeing this scene, Zheng Jie screamed in fright, collapsed directly onto the ground, trembling all over.
"Blood clan... you... you are a monster?!"
Zheng Jie retreated in a panicked scuttle, scared out of her wits.
Li Tianyi instead burst out laughing, grabbed Zheng Jie's hair and flung her aside, staring fixedly at Li Heng: "Monster? This is the gift of evolution! I am a noble blood clan! Li Heng, aren't you good at putting up a front? I'll give you a chance right now to never make a comeback!"
Swish!
Li Tianyi's figure instantly turned into an afterimage, his speed so fast it exceeded human dynamic vision!
By the time Li Heng reacted, Li Tianyi had already strode to the front of the sofa, his cold fingers tightly pinching his neck, pressing his entire body against the backrest.
"Since you like lying down so much, then I'll let you lie down for a lifetime!"
Li Tianyi opened his mouth full of fangs, and bit fiercely down towards Li Heng's neck!
"Puchi!"
A sharp pain came from the neck, and the cold venom surged frantically into Li Heng's body along the wound.
Malicious Embrace!
This bastard wasn't here to show off at all; he wanted to turn Li Heng into the lowest-level blood clan infected!
In Marvel's blood clan system, ordinary infected were the most humble cannon fodder.
They would die from sun exposure, rot upon touching garlic, and turn to ashes if their hearts were nailed by wooden stakes!
More importantly, infected could never be promoted, and could only act as slave blood bags for princes and Dukes!
Severe chills began to spread in his blood vessels, Li Hengfelt his heartbeat slowing down rapidly, his body temperature dropping sharply, and his limbs and bones felt as if they had been stuffed into an ice cellar.
"Cough cough..."
Li Heng was released, weakly sliding down onto the sofa, his complexion as pale as paper.
Li Tianyi wiped the blood stains from the corners of his mouth, looking down at him with eyes full of sadistic pleasure: "How is it? Do you feel the feeling of power draining away? Soon, you'll become mud that dies in the light, and I will inherit all your family property, and JieJie will completely become my plaything. As for you, you can only hide in the sewers and live like a mouse!"
Li Heng panted heavily, his consciousness beginning to blur.
Finished?
Having just transmigrated for a month, he was going to become Marvel's most miserable underground mouse because of being cuckolded plus being bitten?
Based on what?!
He just wanted to lie flat quietly! Who did he provoke or offend?!
Just at the moment when Li Heng's consciousness was about to plunge into darkness, a devoid-of-emotion mechanical voice abruptly exploded in his mind!
[Ding! Detected that the host is at a low point in life, with an extremely lying-flat mindset, meeting the binding conditions!]
[Ding! [Lying Flat Can Make You Stronger System] has been successfully activated!]
[This system has no tasks! No penalties! No forced plots!]
[Core tenet: As long as the host lies flat enough, the world will work for the host!]
[Detected host's current status: Subjected to malicious embrace, vital signs dropped to the brink of near-death...]
[Triggered first lying-flat reward: Host gave up resistance, peace of mind accepting the status quo, extremely conforming to the 'lying-flat' spirit!]
[Reward 1: Physique reinforcement (primary)! The infected virus is being assimilated and reshaped!]
[Reward 2: Slight self-healing (primary)! Wounds begin to close!]
[Reward 3: Body temperature constant stabilization! Immune to the fatal weakness of the blood clan's sunexposure (currently 10% resistance)!]
Boom——!
As the system prompt tone fell, a violent yet warm current instantly erupted from the depths of Li Heng's body, sweeping away the cold blood poison that was eroding his life!
The heart that was stopping suddenly burst out with a roaring sound like battle drums!
Crack crack...
From deep within the bones came a tooth-aching crisp sound, and muscle fibers were being frantically reinforced and reorganized by an unknown energy!
Li Tianyi was just about to leave with the frightened Zheng Jie when he suddenly heard the abnormal sound coming from the sofa and abruptly turned his head back.
Only to see that Li Heng, who should have been at his last gasp, actually slowly sat up from the sofa.
The two shocking blood holes on his neck were healing, scabbing, and then... directly falling off and disappearing at a speed visible to the naked eye!
The face that was originally as pale as paper regained its ruddy color, and was even glossier and healthier than before!
What made Li Tianyi's hair stand on end the most was Li Heng's gaze.
No fear, no despair, not even anger.
Only a kind of... laziness of having just woken up, and a trace of pity for watching an idiot.
"You... how can you recover? You were clearly injected with the infected toxic blood by me! You should have turned into the weakest, zombie-like blood-sucking monster!" Li Tianyi's voice trembled, and his proud blood clan perception was frantically sounding the alarm to him at this moment—the man in front of him was dangerous! Extremely dangerous!
Li Heng twisted his neck, making a string of popcorn-like crisp snaps.
Feeling the surging power within his body, he sighed comfortably.
This system was awesome!
No need to fight monsters to level up, no need to do disgusting tasks, you can get stronger just by lying down, taking beatings, and accepting your fate?
Wasn't this tailor-made for him?
He raised his head, looking at the terrified Li Tianyi in front of him, the corners of his mouth slowly curling up into a nuclear-friendly arc.
"Infect me? Die in the light?"
Li Heng slowly stood up, his height advantage instantly forming an absolute sense of condescending oppression, "Li Tianyi, did you get something wrong?"
"In my entire life, I, Li Heng, have never planned to work hard."
"Even the sun I don't want to sunbathe in, yet you actually want me to be a blood clan who comes out to pick up trash every night?"
Li Heng stepped forward.
Bang!
Just the moment his footstep fell, the expensive solid wood floor was directly stepped on by him to produce a clear footprint, and cracks spread around like a spiderweb!
Li Tianyi was frightened until his scalp went numb, his body instinctively retreating backward, wanting to turn into a bat and escape.
But Li Heng didn't give him a chance at all.
"Don't be in a rush to leave, since you gave me a bite, if I don't return some gift, wouldn't it be too impolite?"
Li Heng waved his hand casually.
There were no fancy movements at all, not even a sense of exerting force, just such a fluttering push.
"Boom!!!"
Li Tianyi only felt that a giant mountain fiercely slammed into his chest! His proud blood clan physique was simply like paper-mache under this push!
His entire person, like a cannonball fired from a chamber, flew backward directly, and fiercely smashed into the load-bearing wall on the other side of the room!
The entire wall instantly cracked and caved in, lime plaster peeling off like falling rain.
"Wa!"
Li Tianyi spat out a large mouthful of fresh blood mixed with internal organ fragments, the fangs in his eyes directly retracted, his body slid down like a noodle, unable to lift even a single finger.
The whole scene was dead silent.
Zheng Jie, crawling on the ground, opened her mouth wide, tears and snot flowing horizontally, her brain completely blank.
The blood clan monster that was arrogant just a moment ago was slapped onto the wall by that good-for-nothing who usually only knew how to sleep... and couldn't even be dug out?!
Li Heng lowered his head and looked at his own palm, a flash of pleasant surprise crossing his eyes.
This was the power of lying flat?
This was just the start, and he hadn't even fully digested the system's first wave of rewards, yet he could already insta-kill this kind of end-generation blood clan?
Awesome!
So awesome!
[Ding! Detected that the host won a passive counterattack, completely lacking desire for victory or defeat, extremely fitting the lying-flat philosophy!]
[Triggered hidden reward extra: Blood clan secret power (primary) activated, Charm Eyes (passive) unlocked!]
Listening to the prompt tone in his mind, Li Hengcomfortably stretched.
He walked in front of Li Tianyi, looked at this fair-weather friend filled with fear, squatted down and patted his face.
"Don't look at me with that kind of expression, I didn't mean to hit you either."
"Who told you to disturb my sleep."
Li Heng stood up, yawned, looked at Zheng Jie shivering in the corner, his tone as flat as if he were discussing the weather:
"Take this piece of trash and get lost. Also, don't come to bother me again in the future, otherwise..."
Before his voice fell, his gaze flickered slightly, a trace of dark red light flashing across his pupils.
Zheng Jie only felt her mind rumble with a shock, an irresistible fear instantly drowning her, making her forget even to breathe, and she could only desperately kowtow like pounding garlic!
Li Heng couldn't be bothered to look at them anymore, turned around and walked back to the sofa, lying down heavily.
"Hoo... so tired, does this count as strenuous exercise? I hope it gives a bit more rewards..."
He closed his eyes, and in less than three seconds, the sound of even breathing resounded in the empty living room.
And the moment he fell into a sound sleep, the system panel flickered frantically again!
[Ding! Host has entered a deep sleep state, lying-flat efficiency increased by 200%knife!]
[Physique + 2! Self-healing + 2! Law resistance slightly increased!]
A few hours later.
Accompanied by a deafening roar, the sky over Manhattansuddenly darkened.
Li Heng dazedly opened his eyes, rubbed his ears, and looked outward through the floor-to-ceiling windows.
Only to see in the sky, a huge blue space crack was slowly pulling open, and countless grotesquely shaped alien warships and Chitauri armies were surging out of the wormhole like a tide!
The bugle call of the Avengers assembling resounded through New York, with explosions and screams rising one after another.
The Battle of New York had broken out!
Li Heng blankly watched for two seconds, silently pulled the blackout curtains tightly shut, turned over, and wrapped himself tightly in his small quilt.
"Aliens fighting what does it have to do with my ass... As long as they don't disturb my sleep..."
However, he didn't know that on the street downstairs, a crashed Chitauri scout motorcycle was carrying a harsh wind-breaking sound, crashing full speed straight toward that floor-to-ceiling window of his!
The gears of fate never stopped turning just because you wanted to lie flat...
Chapter 2: Rejecting the Avengers Recruitment, I Just Want to Sleep!"
"Rumble——!!!"
The deafening explosion instantly shattered the peace of the early morning.
The out-of-control Chitauri reconnaissance motorcycle, carrying a trail of blue energy flames like a runaway wild boar, violently smashed through the expensive bulletproof floor-to-ceiling window of the Manhattan penthouse.
Glass fragments shot out like a rainstorm, refracting dazzling light in the sunlight.
However, the blood-splattering scene expected did not appear.
Just the moment before the motorcycle was about to crash into that million-dollar leather sofa, a pale, slender hand, not even fully extended from the quilt, just pressed outward casually through the air.
This movement was as light as a feather, as if it were merely shooing away a fly disturbing a good dream.
But the next second.
"Bang——da da da da da..."
That alien motorcycle weighing hundreds of kilograms and flying at supersonic speed seemed to hit an invisible Wall of Sighs!
The front of the car instantly twisted and dented, and the screeching sound of metal tearing was teeth-grating.
Then, the whole car stopped abruptly in mid-air in a way that violated the laws of physics, and then was violently crushed and exploded as if by an invisible giant hand!
Parts splashed everywhere, and the alien driver didn't even let out a scream before being directly shaken into minced meat by this terrifying rebound force, along with the energy cannon behind the car misfiring and exploding in mid-air.
During the whole process, Li Heng didn't even turn his body over, still maintaining the posture of being wrapped in the quilt, only his brows furrowed a little tighter.
"So noisy..."
He muttered irritably, pulling the quilt over his head, trying to isolate the approaching explosions and screams outside the window.
[Ding! Detected that the host is in a state of being disturbed from deep sleep, in an extremely bad mood, triggering the 'Bedtime Grumpiness' passive counterattack!]
[Ding! Congratulations to the host, passively instantly killing the Chitauri vanguard squad (though only one), conforming to the principle of 'winning by lying down'!]
[System rewards being distributed...]
[Reward One: Strength Enhancement (Primary)! Current Strength: 50 times that of an ordinary person!]
[Reward Two: Comprehensive Physical Fitness Upgrade! Bone Hardness + 200%, Skin Defense + 200% (Immune to small arms fire)!]
[Reward Three: Passive Skill 'Coercion' Unlocked! Mortals shall not make noise while the host is resting!]
A series of crisp prompt tones exploded in his mind, like the special effects sound of winning a big prize in a game.
Li Heng turned over impatiently, pulling the quilt tighter.
"Got it, got it... Stop spamming, just send the rewards to my inbox..."
For him now, no matter how many system rewards there were, none of them were as important as catching up on sleep.
However, the world clearly did not intend to let him go.
"Is this your security system, Jarvis? It looks a bit not very smart."
Just then, a magnetic voice with a bit of playfulness and mockery came abruptly from outside the broken window.
Li Heng: "..."
He opened his eyes abruptly, a trace of blood-colored dim light flashing in his pitch-black eyes.
Can you let a person sleep well?!
At this moment, Iron Man — Tony Stark, wearing a red and gold armor, was hovering outside the window. He was looking down at the tragic scene inside the room, his repulsors glowing slightly, obviously in a state of high alert.
The alien motorcycle near this building just now was shot down by him... a part of it, but he didn't expect that after this out-of-control motorcycle crashed in, the person inside was actually unscathed, and didn't even move!
What's even more outrageous is that he watched it crash in with his own eyes, at a speed of at least Mach 2!
An ordinary human would have turned into ketchup under such an Impact long ago, but this guy... is still sleeping?!
On Tony's mask display, countless data streams flashed wildly.
"Sir, the target's vital signs are stable... even more stable than a normal person's, heart rate 40 beats per minute, he is... sleeping?" Jarvis's voice even carried a hint of incredulous electronic tremor, "And, that invisible force field that blocked the Impact just now has energy readings that cannot be analyzed, exceeding the scope of known technology."
Tony raised an eyebrow, his interest piqued.
A person who can still sleep on the top floor of Manhattanat a time like this is either a madman or a strong person with an absolute bottom line.
Clearly, the man in front of him wrapped in a quilt, revealing a pair of dead fish eyes, belonged to the latter.
"Hey, buddy." Tony controlled the armor to land slowly on the broken windowsill, pointing his repulsor at the room, his voice coming out through the loudspeaker, "Although I appreciate your sense of relaxation in the face of the end of the world, this building is about to be occupied by the alien army. As a friendly neighbor, I suggest you hurry up..."
"Scram."
A single word gently came out from under the quilt.
The sound was not loud, flat and waveless.
But to Tony, it sounded like a sudden clap of thunder on a flat ground!
Because the moment this word appeared, an invisible and terrifying aura suddenly erupted from that lazy man!
That was the absolute contempt for ants belonging to a superior!
Li Heng was really angry.
He just wanted to rot, why did the whole world have to come and bother him? Ex-girlfriend, licking dog, and now a tin man?
He suddenly threw off the quilt, sat up from the sofa in his pajamas. Beneath his messy hair, those crimson eyes stared coldly at Iron Man outside the window.
"I don't care about any aliens, nor do I care about the end of the world."
Li Heng raised his hand and snapped his fingers.
"Snap!"
The crisp finger-snapping sound echoed in the empty living room.
The next moment, Tony only felt an irresistible terrifying repulsive force hitting him face-to-face!
"Boom!!"
Even the Mark armor, known for its sturdiness, was like paper in front of this power. Tony himself, along with the gravel on the windowsill, was directly blown away by this repulsive force, flying backwards like a meteor for dozens of meters, heavily crashing into the rooftop of the opposite building!
"Warning! Warning! Armor damage rate 15%! Energy shield overloaded! Sir, what the hell is that?! Is that magic?!" Jarvis frantically alarmed.
Tony crawled out of the pile of gravel, shook his dizzy head, churning up stormy seas in his heart.
What happened just now? He didn't see any energy beams, no physical contact, just a look, a snap of the fingers?
And it blew him away?
"This is definitely not an ordinary human..." Tony took a deep breath, his eyes becoming unprecedentedly solemn, "Jarvis, send this coordinate to Fury, tell the one-eyed dragon, we might have encountered a... 'civilian' even more troublesome than Hulk."
...
Inside the room.
After driving away the "fly", Li Heng let out a long breath and fell back onto the sofa.
The world was quiet.
[Ding! Congratulations to the host for successfully rejecting the superhero's overture, maintaining a cold and rotten posture!]
[System Judgment: S-Rank passive flexing!]
[Reward: Mental Power + 50! Charm + 10 (You now look more like a melancholic noble young master)!]
[Extra Reward: Passive skill 'Lazy Person Halo' activated—within a 50-meter range around the host, any hostile behavior will be spiritually suppressed, and the desire to attack will be reduced by 80%!]
"This is much more comfortable."
Li Heng's mouth slightly curled up. This feeling of solving problems without lifting a finger was simply too awesome. This is what you call rotting; fighting and killing is so tiring.
He closed his eyes again, preparing to continue the previous sweet dream.
However, before he could fall completely asleep, a sudden urgent telephone ringtone sounded.
It was the old-fashioned phone he had thrown in the corner of the coffee table.
Caller ID: Li Tianyi.
Li Heng frowned, originally wanting to hang up, but on second thought, since he was already awake, he might as well listen to what kind of waves this guy could make.
He lazily swiped to answer, too lazy to even bring the phone to his ear, and directly turned on speakerphone.
"Li Heng! You monster! You actually dared to hit me?!"
From the other end of the phone came Li Tianyi's hysterical roaring voice, and the crying of Zheng Jie seemed to be heard in the background, "You think you won? I'm telling you, I've already contacted the 'family'! The North American Vampire Coven has already detected your aura! You're dead! Even an infected person is part of the vampire clan, you dared to hit someone with a noble bloodline like me, the Elder Council will not let you go!"
"Oh."
Li Heng picked his ear, his tone flat, "Anything else? If not, I'm hanging up, I want to sleep."
"Don't be smug! Just now, because of your energy fluctuation, the coven has already dispatched a 'Baron'-level powerhouse rushing to New York! They will come looking for you after sunset tonight! By then, I want to see you kneel on the ground and beg for mercy with my own eyes, watch your blood drained dry, and turn into a real mummified corpse! Hahahaha..."
Li Tianyi's frantic laughter came out from the speaker, seeming to feel that he had found an excellent backing.
After listening, Li Heng not only did not get angry, but his eyes lit up instead.
Tonight?
And still several hours away?
And it's delivery to the door?
Isn't this completely a "sending experience points package" behavior?
He didn't even have to go out to grind monsters; the monsters ran to his house by themselves, and even when he was sleeping?
Isn't this what the system calls "the world works for me"?
"Got it." Li Heng yawned, saying to the other end of the phone, "Remember to tell that whatever Baron of yours to enter quietly, otherwise..."
"Otherwise what?!" Li Tianyi clamored.
"Otherwise I will be unhappy."
After speaking, Li Heng directly hung up the phone and shut it down.
He threw the phone away, and his whole person sank back into the soft sofa, the corners of his mouth curving into an expectant smile.
Tonight...
Just in time to try the power newly given by the system.
If that Baron or whatever is too weak, I hope he doesn't disturb my sleep too much.
[Ding! Detected that the host faces threats with no ripples, and even just wants to sleep, the mindset is extremely stable!]
[System Reward: Vampire talent'Shadow Escape' unlocked (as long as you don't move, you can perfectly integrate into the darkness, unless someone disturbs you)!]
[Current strength evaluation: A beginner rotting vampire (but already a monster in the eyes of mortals).]
Outside the window, the smoke of the Battle of New Yorkwas still lingering, the Avengers were fighting desperately against the alien army, and on the top floor of this building, Li Heng had already entered dreamland once again.
And in the darkness he didn't know, a few pairs of crimson eyes were locked firmly onto this building from the shadows of the city.
The Vampire Coven... has arrived.
But before that, there was a small interlude.
Just less than ten minutes after Li Heng fell asleep.
"Boom!"
The door was violently broken open again.
No, this time it wasn't broken open, but directly blown away by some force!
A group of figures wearing black combat uniforms and holding high-tech weapons rushed in. The one-eyed black man leading them had a solemn expression, holding a sci-fi-looking firearm in his hand.
Nick Fury, Director of S.H.I.E.L.D..
He looked at the messy room and Li Heng, who was still fast asleep on the sofa, a trace of deep shock flashing in his single eye.
The data sent by Iron Man just now made him unbelievable, and now seeing with his own eyes that this person could still sleep in such an environment, he finally understood—
This is an uncontrollable variable.
"Target confirmed, code name: Rotting Man." Fury lowered his voice to order, "Whether he is dead or alive, control him first..."
Before the words fell.
Li Heng in his sleep suddenly turned over and muttered a sentence:
"I said... don't make noise..."
In an instant, a terrifying psychic Impact, centered on him, swept indiscriminately in all directions!
"Puff——!"
Fury, along with the S.H.I.E.L.D. strike team behind him, instantly felt their brains heavily smashed by a sledgehammer, their eyes rolled back, and they fell down uniformly, instantly losing consciousness.
The whole room fell into dead silence once again.
Li Heng smacked his lips, seeming very satisfied with this quiet environment, a trace of a happy smile revealing at the corners of his mouth.
And deep in his mind, the system's prompt tone sounded again, this time the voice seemed to carry a hint of excitement:
[Ding! Passive defense successful! S.H.I.E.L.D. team wiped out!]
[Detected that the host has no desire to take action, relying purely on aura suppression!]
[Reward critical hit! Opening 'Vampire Prince' trial card (fragment)...]
Tonight is destined not to be peaceful.
Chapter 3: The Baron Kneels? Sorry, Bloodline Suppression Is Just That Invincible
Night fell.
The flames of war in New York had gradually subsided. The Chitauri army was completely paralyzed after the nuclear bomb was sent into their mothership. The Avengers were catching their breath in the ruins, and S.H.I.E.L.D.'s cleanup crew was swarming across the city like ants to clean up the aftermath.
Meanwhile, in a luxury penthouse at the top of Manhattan.
Li Heng was sitting on the sofa, holding a box of supreme bacon pizza that had just been delivered. While chewing the stretchy cheese, he watched the "Avengers Victory Declaration" playing on the news.
"Tsk, they still have to pose just for fighting aliens. It really must be hard for them."
Li Heng shook his head, showing no interest in the man wearing the Star-Spangled tight suit on TV. He only knew that earlier, S.H.I.E.L.D. Director Nick Fury and his special operations team had been knocked unconscious like dead dogs by his unconscious mental shock, and then, affected by the system's mysterious "slacker aura," they didn't even dare to utter a harsh word after waking up and retreated in a panic.
This is what you call an aura.
Without even needing to move, the trouble disappeared on its own.
[Ding! Detected that the host has eaten an entire box of pizza, which fits the core logic of 'only when you're full do you have the strength to slack off'!]
[System Reward: Digestion Ability +100% (Never afraid of getting fat from eating anymore)!]
[Detected that the host's steps today were 0, extreme slacking off, extra reward: Energy Reserve +5%!]
Looking at the prompt boxes constantly popping up in his mind, Li Heng wiped his mouth with satisfaction.
This system, although it always gave some strange rewards, this feeling of getting stronger without any effort was simply a paradise tailor-made for him.
Just as he was about to go back to the fridge for a can of iced cola.
The temperature in the living room suddenly plummeted without warning.
Even on an early summer night in New York, this moment felt like an instant plunge into an ice cellar. Eerie frost patterns condensed on the windows, and a strong, nauseating smell of blood permeated the air.
"Bang—Bang—Bang—"
Muffled footsteps sounded outside the door, each one seeming to step on a person's heart, carrying a condescending arrogance and sense of oppression.
Then, the door that had been blown up by S.H.I.E.L.D. and barely patched together with tape was gently pushed open from the outside.
Three figures stood at the doorway.
At the lead was a man wearing a medieval retro-style red velvet robe. His complexion was as pale as paper, his eye sockets were sunken, and his pupils were pure dark gold. With every gesture, he exuded a chilly and decaying aura.
Behind him, on the left, were two vampire servants wearing black cloaks, and on the right was Li Tianyi, with a face full of ecstasy and resentment!
"My Lord Baron! It's him! It's this scum!"
Li Tianyi pointed at Li Heng sitting on the sofa and roared through gritted teeth, "Not only did he injure me, but he also ignored the dignity of our vampires! Please use your noble primeval bloodline to tear him completely to pieces and drain him to make him a blood servant!"
The newcomer was none other than Baron Marcus, one of the magistrates of the North American Vampire Coven.
As a vampire baron who had lived for three hundred years, Marcus was the emperor of the dark side in this city. He originally didn't want to make a personal trip for a newly awakened infected person, but when he detected that bizarre energy fluctuation above this building, he couldn't help running over himself.
"Silence, humble end-generation vampire."
Marcus gave Li Tianyi a cold glance, and that powerful vampire coercion instantly shut Li Tianyi up, making him retreat to the side while shivering.
Afterwards, Marcus stepped into the living room, his dark golden slit pupils locking tightly onto Li Heng.
He originally thought he would see a terrified, kneeling and begging low-born infected person.
However—
Li Heng was holding a can of cola. With a "click," the pull tab was opened, and bubbles sizzled.
He glanced at the uninvited guests at the door, frowned slightly, and his tone was full of impatience, "Are you guys delivering takeout? I didn't order a plasma platter."
"Audacious!"
The two black-cloaked servants behind Marcus flew into a rage, turning into two afterimages and pouncing toward Li Heng with bare, white fangs.
"Vampire dignity cannot be provoked. Infected, kneel and meet your death!"
The wind howled, and the sharp claws were less than ten centimeters away from Li Heng's throat.
Li Heng didn't even lift his eyelids, just sighed, "You're playing for real? Then if I move my finger even a little bit, consider me the loser."
As soon as his voice fell.
[Ding! Detected that a reckless ant willingly came to the door to get beaten, triggering the 'passive counterattack' mechanism!]
[Detected that the enemy has the 'vampire' tag. The host possesses higher-order bloodline suppression, triggering the exclusive special effect: Monarch's Arrival!]
Boom!
A bloody storm, ten times or a hundred times more terrifying than the one Marcus had just released, suddenly erupted from Li Heng's body!
This was not a simple energy leak, but the supreme coercion originating from the depths of the soul, engraved at the very top of the vampire laws!
In front of this coercion, the so-called baron and the so-called servants were like ants seeing a king, lacking even the qualification to look straight at him!
"Bang! Bang!"
The two black-cloaked servants in mid-air didn't even have time to scream before they were directly and heavily smashed to the ground by this invisible coercion! Their kneecaps shattered instantly, and their entire faces were pressed tightly into the floor tiles, as if being ruthlessly crushed by an invisible giant hand. They couldn't even lift their heads, blood flowed from their seven orifices, and their whole bodies trembled like a sifting sieve!
"This... This is impossible!!"
Li Tianyi widened his eyes, his eyeballs almost popping out. Those were Lord Baron's personal guards! Equivalent to powerhouses of the viscount level, yet they couldn't even take a single move and were directly pressed to the ground and rubbed?!
And the most shocked of all was Marcus himself.
As a baron, he could originally maintain an arrogant posture, but the moment Li Heng's coercion erupted, he felt the blood in his body seem to boil, and then—completely lost control!
That was a fear carved into his genes, a submission to the absolute power of the ancient source!
"Thud!"
Marcus's legs went soft, and without warning, he knelt to the ground!
Even though he used all his strength to try to stand up, even though he tried to mobilize the secret vampire power within him to resist, under that supreme bloodline suppression, all the bones in his body were creaking, his knees were nailed tightly to the floor, and he couldn't move a single bit!
Cold sweat poured down his forehead like a waterfall. Marcus looked up at Li Heng, who was still sitting on the sofa without even changing his posture, leaving only endless fear and terror in his eyes.
"Pure blood... This is the pure-blood aura of the Progenitor level!"
Marcus's voice became sharp and distorted due to extreme fear, "You are not an ordinary infected person! You... Who on earth are you?!"
The vampire hierarchy was extremely strict. Infected were slaves, end-generation vampires were commoners, and upwards were barons, viscounts, counts, Dukes, and princes!
And above princes, existing only in ancient legends, was the Progenitor possessing the purest primeval bloodline!
In this era, how could the Progenitor still exist?!
"Who am I?"
Li Heng took a sip of cola, hiccuped, and looked at the vampires kneeling all over the floor with a speechless expression.
He just wanted to quietly eat a midnight snack, why did they kneel again? These days, do villains all have some kind of masochistic tendency?
"I'm just an ordinary person who wants to sleep. You guys insisted on running over in the middle of the night to smash my door and ruined the door I just patched up."
Li Heng put down the cola, his gaze falling on Li Tianyi, who had already peed his pants in fright, the corners of his mouth curling into a mocking arc.
"Li Tianyi, is this the backing you found? It seems... not very good at fighting."
Li Tianyi had completely collapsed at this moment. He collapsed on the ground, his crotch wet in a large patch, trembling all over like a quail.
"Don't... Don't kill me... Li Heng, I was wrong! I'll never dare again! It was that bitch Zheng Jie who seduced me! Lord Baron forced me to come! It has nothing to do with me!"
In order to save his life, this guy shifted the blame without hesitation, even selling out Zheng Jie next to him.
"So noisy."
Li Heng frowned with disgust and lightly pointed his finger across the air.
"Boom!"
Li Tianyi's screams came to an abrupt halt. He felt that the vampire power in his body, which had just awakened not long ago and of which he was so proud, was instantly extracted by an irresistible suction force!
His fangs S-Rank back, his pointy ears returned to normal, and the paleness of his skin quickly faded, turning into an ordinary person's skin tone.
In just an instant, he turned back into that powerless mortal!
"Ah! My power! My bloodline!" Li Tianyi screamed in despair, collapsing on the ground like a dead dog.
"I won't kill you; killing you would dirty my hands," Li Hengsaid indifferently, "Stripped of your vampire identity, go be a mortal and rot in the mud. That is your true destination."
After disposing of the trash, Li Heng turned to look at Baron Marcus, who was still shivering.
"Baron, right? How many people are left in your vampire coven?"
Marcus's heart shook violently, thinking Li Heng was about to go on a killing spree, and hurriedly kowtowed on the ground like pounding garlic: "Reporting to My Lord! The North American Coven has a total of three barons and two counts! If you are willing to enter the world, everyone will willingly enshrine you as their master! We are your sharp blades, your servants!"
Right now, he just wanted to hug this thick thigh tightly! An existence that could casually deprive someone of a vampire identity and emit the Progenitor's coercion—as long as he nodded, the entire North American and even global vampire race would be unified!
"Alright, alright, don't flatter me."
Li Heng waved his hand, his face full of listlessness, "I have no interest in being any master. Your coven had better not come bother me, and don't let any other tom, dick, or harry disturb my sleep. Otherwise..."
A flash of blood-red light appeared in his eyes.
Marcus only felt a tearing pain coming from the depths of his soul, scaring him out of his wits: "Yes, yes, yes! Your subordinate understands! Your subordinate will scram right now! In the future in this area, whoever dares to disturb your rest, your subordinate will annihilate them first!"
"Dismissed, and remember to fix the door for me."
Li Heng waved his hand like shooing away flies.
Feeling as if granted amnesty, Marcus dragged the two disabled servant minions on the ground and Li Tianyi, who had turned into a mortal, scrambling and crawling away from this apartment that was like a forbidden zone.
The room finally returned to peace.
[Ding! Congratulations to the host for completing the achievement: Bloodless victory, subduing the vampire baron with a single thought!]
[System judgment: S-Rank flex! Ultimate slacking off brings ultimate suppression!]
[Rewards being distributed...]
[1. Bloodline Evolution: The 'end-generation infected' status is completely cleared, promoted to [True Vampire · Baron Rank] (no cultivation needed, directly maxed out)!]
[2. Advanced Talent Unlocked: [Shadow Stealth] (as long as one is in the shadows, they can turn invisible and instantly teleport to any shadow)!]
[3. Physique Leap: Sunlight resistance increased to 50%, traditional weaknesses like garlic and holy relics basically immune!]
A series of system rewards instantly integrated into his body. Li Heng felt warm all over, and the pleasure of being filled with power made him groan in comfort.
From being bitten today until now, he hadn't even straightened his back, yet he had suppressed the vampire baron just by lying down, and by the way purified his bloodline by two grades.
"Slacking off is the ultimate truth of this world..."
Li Heng stretched, looked at the eastern sky gradually brightening outside the window, and prepared to return to the bedroom to catch up on sleep.
Suddenly.
The television automatically changed channels, and the post-war reconstruction news originally playing was interrupted by an urgent breaking news broadcast.
"Breaking news! A large-scale armed conflict has broken out in the Sokovia region of Eastern Europe. According to frontline reporters, Hydra remnants are carrying out a brutal suppression in the area. A large number of civilians are trapped, with heavy casualties..."
On the screen, smoke-filled ruins, crying children, and a missile cutting across the sky and heading straight toward a residential building clearly came into Li Heng's view.
At that very instant.
The system in Li Heng's mind, which originally had no fluctuations, suddenly emitted an unprecedented, harsh alarm sound!
[Ding! Ding! Ding!]
[Warning! Special causality correlation detected! The life of the host's destined person is under extreme threat!]
[Target locked: Wanda Maximoff (Scarlet Witch)!]
Li Heng froze.
He looked at the missile about to fall on TV, and listened to the system's mischievous prompt, his mouth twitching wildly.
"No way... It's only the first day since I was bitten, and I haven't even caught up on sleep yet, and you want me to go to Eastern Europe?"
"And go block a missile?!"
Li Heng took a deep breath and was just about to shout "I'm not going," when the system in his mind popped up a new prompt:
[Special reminder: Target Wanda Maximoff is currently in a state of extreme panic, and harbors the potential of Chaos Magic sufficient to destroy the Universe within her. If the host chooses to continue slacking off at this moment, the target will most likely die, but if the host 'passively' passes by and casually blocks it...]
[Reward Preview: Blood pact prerequisites unlocked, Chaos Magic affinity +100%, and... a soft, cute, and obedient Scarlet Witch wife!]
Seeing the last sentence "a soft, cute, and obedient wife," Li Heng's previously dead-fish-like eyes suddenly lit up.
In this Marvel Universe, being rich is certainly great, but wouldn't it be even cooler to have a superpower-wielding wife to slack off with? And this wife is also the peak of beauty in Marvel?
"You win."
Li Heng sighed, and resignedly stood up from the sofa.
He walked to the balcony, looked at the rising morning sun outside the window, felt the powerful vampire power in his body that no longer feared sunlight, and shook his head helplessly.
"Looks like this sleep won't happen."
The next second.
His figure disappeared into thin air on the spot, leaving only a gradually dispersing ball of black fog and half a can of unfinished cola on the sofa.
Sokovia, here I come.
Chapter 4: Grim Reaper of Sokovia? No, I'm just a sleeping passerby
Sokovia, a war-torn corner of Eastern Europe.
Amidst the broken walls and ruins, smoke filled the air, and the pungent smell of gunpowder intertwined with the smell of blood, making one nauseous.
"Boom—!"
Another violent explosion rang out, shaking the ground.
In the Underground Room of a crumbling, semi-collapsed apartment building, two young figures huddled tightly in the corner.
Dust covered their hair and shoulders; they were a pair of siblings.
The older sister, Wanda Maximoff, was currently using those green eyes filled with fear yet unusual determination to fiercely shield her younger brother Pietro in front of her.
Her hands trembled slightly, and a faint red glow flickered on her fingertips, which was the Chaos Magic overflowing due to extreme fear, but she simply could not control it.
"Wanda... are we going to die here?"
Pietro tightly grabbed the corner of his older sister's clothes. Although he was a boy, in such a desperate situation, his voice carried a crying tone.
"No... it won't happen, Pietro."
Wanda clenched her teeth, trying hard to make herself look less frightened, "Someone will come to save us... there definitely will be..."
However, reality is always cruel.
"Whoo—shh—!"
A piercing sound of tearing through the air suddenly came from above.
Through the broken ceiling, a missile bearing the Stark Industries logo could be clearly seen, dragging a long tail flame as it smashed straight down towards this ruin!
That was a missile produced by Stark Industries, a weapon that should have been used to precisely strike terrorists, but at this moment, it had become a nightmare for the civilians of Sokovia.
Wanda's pupils instantly contracted to the extreme.
The shadow of death enveloped her entire body, and she could even feel the icy killing intent emanating from that missile.
"No!!"
Wanda screamed in despair, the red light within her body surging violently at this moment, trying to use that pitifully weak magic to block this irresistible destructive power.
But this was undoubtedly a drop in the bucket.
Just when everyone thought this pair of siblings was about to perish in the flames of war—
An abrupt voice carrying a hint of laziness and impatience suddenly rang out in the narrow Underground Room.
"Tsk, the soundproofing effect here is way too poor, right? Even a missile is this noisy."
The next second.
Time seemed to freeze at this moment.
There was no Earth-shattering explosion as expected, nor the tragic scene of flesh and blood flying everywhere.
I saw that the missile about to hit the ground stopped abruptly less than half a meter away from Wanda's nose tip!
It was like a movie had been pressed pause.
A steel behemoth weighing several hundred kilograms and reaching a speed of several Mach was now quietly suspended in mid-air, and not even the wind blades of the tail fins could harm Wanda by a fraction.
Wanda was stunned.
Pietro was also stunned.
They blankly looked at this scene in front of them, their minds completely blank, totally unable to understand what had happened.
Subsequently, a slender, pale hand, even carrying a hint of sickly aesthetic, reached out from the void, and lightly placed itself on the warhead of the missile like swatting a fly.
"Such inferior gunpowder, did that fellow Stark cut corners?"
As the voice fell, a young Asian man wearing pajamas and draped in a black trench coat appeared out of thin air beside the missile.
Li Heng yawned and lazily swept a glance at the frightened siblings in front of him.
He originally wanted to directly teleport over to take the people away just now, but he miscalculated the coordinates and directly teleported himself onto the flight path of the missile.
Since it was blocked, he might as well catch it along the way.
Anyway, it was just a matter of moving his fingers.
"Go outside to explode."
Li Heng lightly flicked his finger.
"Swish—!"
That missile, which was originally menacing, was as if slapped away fiercely by an invisible giant hand, instantly flying backwards at twice the speed of its arrival, shooting straight into the clouds!
"Rumble!!!"
A few seconds later, a brilliant firework exploded high in the sky of a thousand meters, the Impact even shattered all the surrounding glass, but not even a speck of dust fell in the Underground Room.
The entire scene was dead silent.
Wanda opened her mouth wide, blankly looking at the man in front of her wearing pajamas and slippers.
This man... used just one finger to flick away a missile that could flatten an entire street?
Is he a god?
Or an Angel?
"Umm... Sir?"
Wanda mustered her courage and shouted with a trembling voice.
Li Heng turned his head, and his gaze fell on Wanda's face.
Although Wanda was currently just an unpolished and naive young girl, covered in dust and wearing tattered clothes, those unique green eyes and the stubbornness hidden in her bones still made Li Heng's eyes light up.
Not bad.
That's right.
This was the Wanda that made him cross half of Earth to rush over and "protect his wife".
[Ding! Detected that the host successfully saved the destined female protagonist Wanda Maximoff! Triggered the 'Hero Saves the Beauty' (Passive Version) achievement!]
[Ding! Congratulations to the host, Wanda's favorability has been unlocked! Initial favorability: Gratitude +30, Curiosity +20!]
[System reward outbreak!]
[Reward One: Blood Covenant Awakening! The host can initially establish a mental connection with Wanda and perceive her life state!]
[Reward Two: Spatial Control (Advanced)! Space teleportation cooldown time is reduced to zero, and spatial gates can be opened at will!]
[Reward Three: Charm Halo (Passive)! In front of the female protagonist, your handsomeness value is automatically maxed out, and it comes with a'sense of security' filter!]
Listening to the rapid-fire prompt tones in his mind, Li Heng felt so good inside.
This system's working efficiency is quite good! Not only did it save people, but it also casually brushed up a wave of favorability, and even arranged the charm halo.
He looked at Wanda's eyes filled with adoration and fear, and in order not to break the persona of "aloof and lying flat", he deliberately pretended to wave his hand nonchalantly:
"Don't get me wrong, I'm just passing by."
"That missile blocked my TV signal, so I just casually threw it out."
While speaking, Li Heng rubbed his shoulders, "Since everything is fine, I'll leave first. It's too noisy here, not suitable for sleeping."
After finishing speaking, he turned around and was about to leave.
Are you kidding me? If he didn't leave quickly, what if this pair of siblings pounced up crying and shouting to repay him or asking questions all over the place? How troublesome would that be? He was here to save people, not to be a babysitter.
However, just as Li Heng took his first step.
"Wait... wait!"
Wanda suddenly reached out and grabbed the corner of Li Heng's clothes.
Her knuckles were white from using too much force with that hand, and her body was still trembling slightly.
"I beg you... don't leave!"
Wanda's eye sockets were red, and tears swirled in her eyes, "Outside... outside there are bombs and bad guys, we... we don't know where to go..."
Li Heng's footsteps paused.
He looked down at Wanda who was grabbing the corner of his clothes, and then looked at Quicksilver Pietro next to her who was equally afraid but looked at him with longing eyes.
Are these the future Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver?
Why do they look like two frightened little quails right now?
"Tsk."
Li Heng sighed, and scratched his head somewhat helplessly.
This plot, how come it's different from what was agreed upon? Didn't it say that after saving people, he could go home and sleep? Why are they still clinging to him?
[Ding! Detected that the female protagonist is in a state of extreme lack of security. If the host leaves at this time, it will significantly reduce favorability, and even lead to an increased probability of the female protagonist turning dark!]
[System suggestion: As a qualified wife-protecting maniac, it is recommended that the host take them to a safe place to continue lying flat.]
Li Heng: "..."
Fine.
For the sake of the system rewards, and considering that this girl looks pleasant enough, he would reluctantly help out.
"Since you've grabbed on, then don't let go."
Li Heng turned around, his tone still calm, but for some reason, hearing it in the ears of Wanda and Pietro, it sounded like celestial music.
"I happen to be going to a quiet place to catch up on sleep, you can come with me if you find it too noisy."
"However, let's make the ugly words clear first," Li Hengglanced at them, "I only have a sofa and a carpet there, no extra beds, and I don't cover three meals, nor will I tell stories to coax you to sleep."
Wanda was stunned for a moment, then nodded desperately, her tears finally unable to hold back from welling out of her eyes: "It doesn't matter! It doesn't matter! As long as I can live... I am willing to sleep on the floor! Thank you! Thank you, Sir!"
Looking at Wanda's pear blossoms with rain yet full of post-disaster survival relief appearance, Li Heng's heart softened inexplicably.
He didn't say much more, just backhanded and grasped Wanda's cold wrist.
"Hold on tight, if you fall, I won't be responsible for picking you up."
The next moment.
The bloody light in Li Heng's eyes flourished greatly, and the surrounding space began to twist and fold.
[Space Travel!]
"Hum—!"
Following a slight spatial fluctuation, the figures of the three people instantly disappeared in place.
...
The next second.
When Wanda opened her eyes again, the surrounding scenery had completely changed.
No longer the smoke-filled battlefield, no longer the dim and damp Underground Room.
Replaced by it was a spacious, bright, and extremely luxuriously decorated flat-floor living room.
Outside the huge floor-to-ceiling windows was the starry night view of New York (although it was still daytime, to create the atmosphere, Li Heng casually pulled the curtains).
Soft lights sprinkled on the soft wool carpet, and the air was filled with a faint lavender aroma.
From the war-torn Sokovia, instantly coming to the peaceful and prosperous Manhattan, New York.
This huge sense of contrast left Wanda and Pietrodumbfounded in place.
"This... where is this?"
Pietro asked stammeringly.
"My home."
Li Heng released Wanda's hand, walked straight to the familiar sofa, and slumped onto it like boneless, "There is only this one room, make yourselves at home. If you want to take a bath, the bathroom is on the left, if you want to eat, order takeout—oh right, you guys have no money."
As he spoke, he casually fished out a few U.S. dollars from under the coffee table and threw them on the table.
"Take it to buy something to eat, keep the change."
After finishing all this, Li Heng pulled a blanket to cover himself, closed his eyes: "Don't disturb me, don't call me even if the sky falls."
Wanda looked at the man who was already emitting even breathing sounds, and then looked at those few U.S. dollars on the table, a wave of unprecedented warmth surged in her heart.
He was clearly a very cold person, and though he said things showing disdain on his lips, he still brought them to such a safe place and even gave them money for food.
Is this... redemption?
Wanda walked softly to the side of the sofa, looking at Li Heng's sleeping face that appeared exceptionally handsome under the light, that heart that had always been hanging finally slowly let go.
She knelt and sat on the carpet, her hands clasped together and placed at her chin, quietly gazing at the man who gave her a second life.
"Thank you..." she murmured softly.
Just at this moment.
The system's prompt tone sounded in Li Heng's mind once again, and this time the voice seemed to carry a sense of amusement of watching a show:
[Ding! Detected that the female protagonist has a strong sense of dependency on the host, triggering the 'Cultivation System' precursor plot!]
[Ding! Because the host crossed half of Earth to save people and showed invincible strength, although the subjective intention was to lie flat, the objective fact is'showing off invisibly'!]
[Obtained special title: Mysterious Guardian (After wearing, all attributes increased by 20% in front of the female protagonist)!]
[Unlocked new function: Automatic translation (solving the language barrier problem, otherwise you would still have to learn Serbian).]
[Preview: Hydra Baron Strucker is about to discover that his 'test subjects' are missing, and is tracking abnormal spatial fluctuations, trouble... is knocking on the door!]
Li Heng frowned slightly in his sleep.
Hydra?
Coming to ask for scolding again?
Whatever, as long as they don't enter the room to disturb my sleep, they can dance square dance at the door as much as they want...
However, just as Wanda prepared to get up to get money for her younger brother to buy food.
"Boom!!!"
The top-floor door of this building was violently blown open by someone once again!
A group of Agents wearing Hydra tactical vests and holding energy weapons rushed in like fierce and vicious wolf packs!
"Freeze! Put your hands up!"
"Baron Strucker has ordered, take away those two Sokoviarefugees, and... that unidentified man, kill without mercy!"
Wanda was so frightened that her face turned pale, and she instinctively shielded in front of Li Heng who was sleeping, her hands trembling as she condensed the red Chaos Magic!
"Don't hurt him!!"
And at this time, Li Heng on the sofa finally slowly opened his eyes.
Those originally pitch-black eyes had now turned into scarlet beast pupils.
"You bunch of scum..."
Li Heng's voice was bone-chillingly cold, as if coming from the nine nether hells.
Do you know what time it is now?
This is tonight... the second time someone has blown up my door.
He slowly stood up, and a bloody coercion a thousand times more terrifying than on the Sokovia battlefield instantly swept across the entire hall!
Everyone will pay the price!
Chapter 5: Hydra at the Door? Kneel! Wife-Protecting Scene!
"Bang! Bang! Bang!"
The Hydra Agents' energy weapons aimed uniformly at the center of the living room, blue-white beams of energy dancing at the muzzles and illuminating every corner.
The leading Captain sneered and raised his hand: "Fire—"
Before his word "Fire" could escape his lips,
the temperature in the entire living room plummeted to freezing point.
That blood-red coercion erupting from Li Heng was like an invisible mountain, slamming heavily onto everyone's shoulders!
It was not a metaphor.
It was a literal smash.
"Crack!"
The three Hydra Agents standing at the very front didn't even have time to scream before their kneecaps shattered simultaneously! Their legs felt as if they had been struck by an invisible giant hammer, forcing them straight down onto their knees, the sound of their knees slamming against the floor crisp and cruel!
"Ah——!!"
Screams rose and fell in succession.
However, many more Agents didn't even qualify to scream. They only felt their bodies sink, their legs softening uncontrollably, as if a giant hand from hell was pressing down on the tops of their heads, forcing them—
Kneel!
"Thud! Thud! Thud!"
One kneeling sound after another echoed at the doorway, resembling some bizarre collective worship ritual.
More than twenty fully armed Hydra elite Agents knelt uniformly right outside Li Heng's apartment door, guns dropped all over the floor, sweat pouring from their foreheads like waterfalls, and their entire bodies trembling like chaff in the wind.
This scene was as absurd as it could possibly get.
Just a second ago, they were fiercely shouting "Kill without mercy," and the next second they collectively knelt down to someone?
Wanda was stunned.
Pietro was also stunned.
Even the ball of red Chaos magic that had just condensed at Wanda's fingertips automatically dissipated because of this shocking scene.
She turned her head to look at Li Heng, the fear in her eyes completely replaced by an indescribable shock.
Who on earth... was this man?
[Ding! Detected that the host has activated 'Vampiric Authority · Lord's Coercion', causing crushing mental suppression on low-tier organisms!]
[Current enemy average combat power: E-Rank (the noob among noobs)]
[Host coercion level: S-Rank (the kind where you kneel just by looking at it)]
[Judgment result: Complete suppression! No need to lift a finger!]
[System evaluation: This is what is called subduing the enemy without fighting; the highest realm of lying flat is making the enemy kneel on their own. Host, you have achieved enlightenment!]
Li Heng stood in front of the sofa, wearing that wrinkled pair of pajamas, his hair messy, stepping in a single slipper (the other one didn't know where it fell off during spatial travel), making the whole person look like a decadent youth who had just crawled out of bed.
Yet with this very image, he was currently exuding a suffocating sense of oppression.
He rubbed his sleep-heavy eyes, his voice hoarse and cold: "I said..."
"Stop... disturbing... my... sleep."
Every single word was like a heavy hammer, smashing into the hearts of all the Hydra Agents.
The Captain kneeling at the very front chattered his teeth, desperately trying to raise his head, but that coercion was like a great mountain nailed to his spine, making him unable to turn his neck even a fraction.
"You... who on earth are you?!" The Captain squeezed out these words with all his might, his voice already out of tune, "We are Hydra! You cannot afford to provoke Hydra! Baron Strucker will not let you off!"
"Hydra?"
Li Heng tilted his head, his expression confused, as if recalling this name.
Then he shook his head: "Never heard of it. Is it a courier company? Your customer service attitude isn't very good, delivering packages in the middle of the night and smashing doors open?"
Wanda: "..."
Pietro: "..."
Hydra Agents: "..."
Had this guy truly never heard of Hydra, or was he playing dumb?
However, Li Heng's next sentence made everyone realize he wasn't joking.
"I don't care what kind of snake or bug you are; here with me, there is only one rule—"
He raised his hand and pointed at Wanda behind him.
"She is my person."
These three words were spoken very lightly, very calmly, as if stating an ordinary fact.
Yet falling into Wanda's ears, it exploded like a thunderclap!
"She is my person."
This... what did this mean?
Wanda only felt her heartbeat skip a beat, her cheeks uncontrollably flushing red. The person who pulled her back from the line of death amidst the flames of war was now saying she was "his person"...
This feeling was as if, when being abandoned by the entire world, someone suddenly told her—from now on, you have a backing.
And the reason Li Heng said this was certainly not entirely to look cool.
[Ding! Detected that the host proactively declared ownership over the heroine! Triggered the 'Wife-Protecting Declaration' achievement!]
[Wanda's favorability skyrocketed! Current favorability: Gratitude +40, Curiosity +30, Heartbeat +15!]
[System prompt: Host, what you said was so cool! But please note, the "heartbeat" value has broken into double digits. According to novel tropes, this means the heroine has started harboring inappropriate thoughts about you (not really).]
[Reward: Blood Pact Link Strengthened! The host can unidirectionally perceive Wanda's emotional fluctuations!]
Li Heng's mouth twitched slightly.
What inappropriate thoughts? He had just met this girl, alright? System, can you be serious?
Regardless, the effect of this "Wife-Protecting Declaration" was truly explosive.
Because—
Wanda's emotions underwent a heaven-shattering change in that exact instant.
From fear, unease, and anxiety, it transformed into... peace of mind.
That heartfelt, unreserved peace of mind.
She no longer trembled, no longer feared. She just quietly stood behind Li Heng, looking at this man's back, feeling that this was probably the most secure picture in the world.
And this peace of mind, through the Blood Pact Link, was completely transmitted into Li Heng's heart.
Warm.
Like drinking a bowl of hot soup in winter.
"Cough." Li Heng gave a light cough, reined in his mind, and redirected his attention to the group of kneeling HydraAgents in front of him.
"Alright, cut the crap. You have two paths."
He raised one finger: "First, go back where you came from, and tell that whatever-his-name Baron Strucker that Wanda and Pietro are my people. Whoever dares to touch them, I will go knock on his door."
He then raised a second finger: "Second, stay here, help me clean up and act as housekeepers to compensate for the damage of blowing up my door."
Hydra Captain: "..."
Was this guy sick in the head?!
They were Hydra! The most terrifying evil organization in the world! How could they possibly go act as housekeepers for someone?!
"You're dreaming!" the Captain gritted his teeth, "Hydrawill never submit to—"
"Snap."
Li Heng snapped his fingers.
The Captain's mouth suddenly snapped shut.
It wasn't that he closed it himself, but rather—his jaw was directly dislocated by an invisible force.
"Mmm-mmm-mmm!!" The Captain clutched his jaw, widening his eyes in terror, letting out an incoherent whimpering sound from his mouth.
"I forgot to tell you," Li Heng said lazily, "those who choose a third path do not have the qualification to speak."
[Ding! Passive skill 'Word's Law (Miniature Version)' triggered! The host's words carry a weak mental suggestion effect, taking mandatory effect on organisms with willpower lower than the host!]
[System prompt: Although the host cannot truly distort reality yet, it is more than enough to scare a few small fries.]
Seeing the Captain's fate, the remaining Agents instantly collapsed mentally.
"I choose the first one! I choose the first one!"
"I'll leave right now! I'll leave right now! I will definitely bring the message!"
"Please don't dislocate my jaw! I still need to eat!"
A crowd of people scrambled and crawled outward, some even losing a shoe and not daring to pick it up. In that wretched state, where was there any trace of Hydra elite prestige?
In less than ten seconds, the doorway was left with only the Captain whose jaw was dislocated and two unlucky bastards who had passed out from fright.
"Tsk, they sure ran fast."
Li Heng walked over and casually popped the Captain's jaw back into place.
"Crack."
"Ah!!" The Captain let out a miserable scream, then scrambled and rushed out the front door, disappearing at the end of the corridor.
The living room finally returned to peace and quiet.
Li Heng glanced at the door blown beyond recognition, along with the bullets and gravel all over the floor, and sighed deeply.
"This is already the third door."
"What day of today is it? My door has already been beaten more times than the Avengers."
He turned to look at Wanda and Pietro who were still standing in place with complex expressions.
"Stop looking, the door is broken anyway; make do with sleeping here tonight. Tomorrow I'll have someone come fix it."
With that, he walked toward the bedroom without looking back.
"Right, the bathroom is the first door on the right of the corridor, use the blue set of towels. There are frozen dumplings in the fridge, boil them yourselves. Good night."
"Bang."
The bedroom door closed.
In the living room, only Wanda and Pietro were left staring at each other.
After a long silence, Pietro finally spoke with difficulty: "Sis... did we run into a lunatic?"
Wanda didn't speak, only looking at that tightly closed bedroom door, the corners of her mouth unconsciously curving upward into a slight arc.
"Maybe," she said softly, "but he's a good person."
...
Meanwhile.
Sokovia, Hydra secret base.
Baron Wolfgang von Strucker looked at the assault team Captain who returned to the base in a disheveled state, practically crawling. His wrinkled face was so gloomy water was about to drip from it.
"You're saying... one person? Just used coercion? Over twenty elite Agents all knelt?" Strucker's voice was low and dangerous, "And the two test subjects you were looking for are now in his house?"
"Ye... yes, My Lord Baron." The Captain knelt on the ground, trembling all over, "That person... he is not human! There is a kind of... indescribable power on him! I only glanced at him, and my legs uncontrollably knelt down!"
Strucker was silent for a moment, then slowly stood up and walked to the holographic projector in the center of the base.
On the projection, a surveillance image from Manhattan, New York, was displayed—it was precisely the exterior of Li Heng's building.
"Interesting," Strucker murmured, "a young man living on the top floor of Manhattan, yet possessing the power to make Hydra elites kneel... Who on earth is he?"
He turned to look at the adjutant beside him: "Loni, contact Baron Zemo. Tell him we found an interesting variable in New York. Also..."
A trace of greedy light flashed in Strucker's eyes.
"Prepare the Mind Scepter. If that person refuses to cooperate... then let him taste the power of the Infinity Stones."
"Yes, My Lord Baron!"
...
New York, Li Heng's apartment, bedroom.
Li Heng lay on the bed, but couldn't fall asleep no matter what.
It wasn't because of the noise outside, nor because Pietro's snoring on the sofa was too loud (audible even through two doors, Quicksilver's lung capacity was truly no joke).
Instead, it was because—
The Blood Pact Link.
Ever since that link was strengthened, he found that he could clearly perceive Wanda's emotional fluctuations.
At this moment, what came from the other side of the link was not fear, not sorrow, but a kind of...
Cautious joy.
And a trace of faint, elusive... reliance.
This feeling was very magical.
It was like a little kitten timidly rubbing its head against your palm, then curling up beside you and peacefully closing its eyes.
Li Heng turned over and buried his face in the pillow.
"System," he called out in his mind.
[Present, Host! What do you need?]
"Can this Blood Pact Link be turned off?"
[Cannot oh~ This is a permanent binding effect. Unless the host severs the relationship with the heroine, it will remain effective for life.]
"..."
[Friendly prompt: The host can currently only unidirectionally perceive the heroine's emotions. Once the blood pact fully awakens, both parties will achieve emotional intercommunication and power sharing. By then, the heroine's Chaos magic will also be at the host's disposal.]
"That doesn't sound like a bad deal at all," Li Hengmuttered.
He adjusted his posture and finally found a hint of sleepiness amidst Pietro's snoring.
At the very moment he was about to fall asleep,
the system suddenly popped up a brand-new prompt—
[Ding! Emergency early warning!]
[Detected that Hydra high-level officials are plotting an action against the host!]
[Source of threat: lokis scepter (containing the Mind Stone)! Infinity Stones-level danger!]
[Estimated arrival time: 72 hours!]
[System suggestion: With the host's current strength, hard-resisting the Mind Stone might be a bit straining... But as long as you continue to lie flat for three days, the system guaranteed reward is 'Law Resistance (Intermediate)', by which time the Mind Stone's control will be completely ineffective!]
[So Host... for the next three days, absolutely don't go out! Absolutely don't try hard! Absolutely don't actively look for trouble with Hydra!]
[Lying flat is the greatest strategy!]
Li Heng blink-sleepily blinked his eyes, capturing only one keyword in his mind—
"Not going out for three days?"
"Isn't that what I was planning to do in the first place?"
He closed his eyes with satisfaction.
However, what he didn't know was that at the exact same moment, deep inside the Sokovia base thousands of miles away, an old man imprisoned in a transparent container slowly opened his turbid eyes.
In those eyes flickered the same eerie blue light as the lokis scepter.
Baron Strucker was standing in front of the container with a cold, sinister smile hanging on the corners of his mouth.
"Go, Zemo. Go to New York."
"Bring that person back. Or..."
"Destroy him."