Scared Me to Death (1st update)

"But I remember the Inhumans incident was supposed to happen two or three years later. Did my influence cause it to happen early?"

With a trace of doubt, Li Chuan Apparated into the interrogation room within the residential complex.

Too many changes had occurred over the years because of his influence. Thor had fallen in love with literature, Loki had been cast down to the mortal world and become a street punk, S.H.I.E.L.D. and Hydra had torn off their masks far ahead of schedule, and even the Chitauri invasion had happened several years early.

The butterfly effect had long since flapped who knew how far away. The Inhumans launching their plans early no longer seemed all that surprising.

"Hello. I heard you’re a fan of mine?"

Li Chuan smiled at the pretty young Chinese-American woman before him.

Skye’s mother, Jiaying, was Chinese, while her father, Carl, was American, making her of mixed Chinese and American descent.

"Yes, yes, yes. I did this because I really like you. I don’t mean any harm, really!"

Tied to a chair with thick rope, Skye stared up at him with wide, watery eyes, looking utterly pitiful.

"Please, can you untie me and let me go? I promise I won’t do this again."

She had originally been an orphan. Because of her withdrawn personality, her desire to find her biological parents, and her rebellious nature, she had been moved between different foster homes many times as a child.

Later, she simply ran away from her adoptive family and chose to live on her own.

During that time, she met her boyfriend, Miles, a skilled hacker and a member of the Rising Tide Organization.

The Rising Tide Organization was a nonprofit organization made up entirely of hackers from around the world. Its founding purpose was to uncover secrets hidden by governments and make them public.

They believed citizens had the right to know about any matter in this world, and that governments had no right to conceal those secrets.

Under Miles’s guidance, the exceptionally gifted Skye had become a top-tier hacker even more capable than Miles. Through her hacking skills, she discovered that her background was connected to an organization called S.H.I.E.L.D.

So she had constantly been using her hacking skills in an attempt to breach S.H.I.E.L.D.’s systems.

A few days ago, she had finally intercepted some files from S.H.I.E.L.D.’s system. To her surprise, those files contained the real identity and home address of the Dark Male Wizard, the superhero who had single-handedly wiped out the entire alien fleet during last year’s alien invasion of Earth.

Driven by curiosity and the ideals she held as a member of the Rising Tide Organization, she had secretly driven to the area near the residential complex.

Last year’s alien invasion of New York had shocked the entire world and made many people aware of Earth’s superheroes. Yet the government had never explained why the aliens had invaded.

They had hidden all information from ordinary people, repeatedly claiming that the matter was still under investigation.

Skye wanted to obtain that hidden information and expose it to the public. She believed that Li Chuan, the Dark Male Wizard, certainly knew the truth.

But after only a few days of surveillance, she had been forcibly captured by those bodybuilder-like security guards in the residential complex.

What was more, they had actually intended to interrogate her with torture devices that looked especially brutal. Terrified, she had hurriedly revealed some intelligence in an attempt to gain their trust.

"I heard you acted alone and obtained some information about me by hacking into S.H.I.E.L.D.’s system out of curiosity?"

Li Chuan sat down across from Skye.

Skye hurriedly nodded.

"I’m just an enthusiast in this field, not really a professional. Breaking in successfully was just an accident—an accident."

"An enthusiast who can break through S.H.I.E.L.D.’s system defenses? You really are impressive!"

Li Chuan smiled and gave Skye a thumbs-up.

"I thought you were a member of the Rising Tide Organization. Turns out you’re not."

"What Rising Tide Organization? I’ve never heard of it. I’m just a computer enthusiast."

Skye’s body stiffened at his words, and she revealed an awkward smile.

Li Chuan did not expose her. Instead, he raised a hand and pointed at the ropes binding her.

"Strength Slackening!"

The thick ropes immediately loosened and fell away limply.

The Unloading Charm was a spell that could automatically loosen binding objects such as ropes and chains. It could also be used on people, leaving them weak all over.

"That’s amazing!"

Watching Li Chuan cast magic, Skye’s eyes filled with wonder.

Although she had watched plenty of videos online, seeing magic in person for the first time was still a completely different experience.

"I admire your hacking skills. Are you interested in working for me? The pay and benefits are excellent, and the hours are flexible."

Li Chuan stood and extended an invitation to Skye.

Recruiting Skye was not only because she would become Quake in the future. More importantly, it was because of her hacking skills. With nothing more than a secondhand laptop won from a bet, she had managed to hack into S.H.I.E.L.D.’s database.

In terms of hacking ability, Skye could probably rank among the best on the entire planet.

He happened to be lacking someone with that kind of talent.

Likewise, if he wanted to find the Inhumans, he would need Skye’s help.

Too much time had passed, and he only vaguely remembered that the Inhumans’ current base was located in a place called "Afterlife," deep within remote mountains rarely visited by people.

Whenever a new Inhuman awakened their ancestral genes and gained powers, an Inhuman named Gordon at the base could sense it and use his teleportation ability to bring them back to the base.

At the same time, they searched all over the world for humans carrying Inhuman genetic markers, bringing them to the base to wait in line for screening and the awakening of their powers.

Skye’s mother, Jiaying, had awakened an ability that granted immortality and had already lived for several centuries, so she had been chosen as the leader of this group of Inhumans.

In other words, he had no idea where the Inhumans’ base was located.

"Uh… can I refuse? I don’t like working for other people."

Skye replied cautiously.

Li Chuan shrugged.

"Of course. I never force anyone. If you don’t want to, you can leave right now. Just remember not to secretly photograph my wife again. She is very beautiful, after all."

"Really? Then I’m leaving."

Skye could hardly believe Li Chuan was letting her go just like that. She cautiously headed toward the door.

Li Chuan smiled and made a welcoming gesture, showing no intention of stopping her.

Once she saw that no one was actually stopping her, Skye immediately quickened her pace and rushed out of the interrogation room, then returned to her beat-up van as quickly as she could.

"That scared the hell out of me!"

After gasping for breath for quite a while and seeing that no one was chasing her, she finally floored the gas and sped away.

From the way things had started, she had thought she was definitely going to die today.

"Boss, are we really just letting her go?"

In front of the interrogation room’s monitor, Li San watched the van speed away and frowned in confusion.

He had thought Li Chuan was fishing—letting the girl leave first, then sending them to follow her and find the organization behind her. Who would have thought Li Chuan was actually letting her go?

"Of course it’s not that simple."

Li Chuan smiled, took out his phone, and dialed a number.

"Is this Coulson? A girl named Skye hacked into your system and found my information. Her license plate number is…"