[A/N: Li Xiaomi -> Lily. If there ever comes a time that her name needs to be mentioned in Chinese then I would do so like I did with Arthur's name in the previous chapter]
Arthur felt a sense of loss, but considering that he hadn't turned into a seventy-year-old popsicle like Steve, he wondered if he should be grateful. Arthur let out a long sigh while trying to comfort himself.
Seventy years? Maybe…
He couldn't feel it, but it felt as if he had inexplicably crossed a seventy-year gap.
Everything must have changed by now. Memories of the battlefield… they felt like yesterday.
Agent Carter standing at the door before the battle at Hydra Headquarters…
"Wait…"
Arthur suddenly remembered something important!
Seventy years later in the Marvel Universe?
Isn't this world even more dangerous now?
When he first crossed over, he thought the world seventy years later was too far away from him. Dealing with someone like Thanos would never fall on his shoulders. Logically, he would be an old man by then.
Should he disguise himself as an old man, wielding a cane against the sunset finger snap?
Remembering his earlier relief, Arthur could only think of a certain expletive, unsure if it was appropriate to say it!
For a moment, Arthur was at a loss and didn't know what to do.
"Why are you standing there?"
Lily's voice snapped Arthur back to reality. He sighed and said, "Remembering the good old days."
Lily's mouth twitched. "You're weird, you know that?"
"What's downstairs?" Arthur changed the subject.
"Dojo!" Lily replied. "Did you think I was joking? I'm serious, my family actually runs Dojo. I come from a long line of martial artists!"
"Ha ha," Arthur laughed, but without much sincerity. Considering they were still in the Marvel world, if Lily had claimed to be from Kunlun and Iron Fist's junior, he might have had no reason not to believe her.
"You're laughing like you need a beating! Even though my family's martial arts school has declined and my father left me nothing but a room full of books, I warn you, I've been training since I was little!"
Lily waved her fists menacingly, showing her strength.
Just then, a loud crash came from downstairs, followed by the sound of breaking glass. There was laughter and someone called out, "Anyone home? We're back!"
Lily's face instantly turned extremely ugly. She glared at Arthur. "Go back to your room and don't come out unless I call you!"
With that, she stormed downstairs. Arthur could hear her shouting, "You bastards, don't think you can come here like you own the place…"
Her angry voice was met with outrageous laughter. Arthur frowned, moved his limbs a bit, and felt his body recovering at an extraordinary rate. He slowly walked downstairs.
As he went down, he could hear the conversation.
"No, no, no, we're not here to harass you or anything like that. We're here to talk business!"
A voice tried to sound serious, but couldn't hide its sleazy tone. "We just want to buy your martial arts school."
"Buy? You're trying to rob me!"
Lily said angrily, "Not only is the price you're offering unacceptable, but even if it were, I wouldn't agree to it. Get out, now! Or I'll call the police!"
"Please, calm down. Even if you call the police, it won't matter," The same person said. "We haven't done anything to you, right? This is still a Dojo, a place of business. We can just say that we're here to become students. At most, we'll pay for the broken glass. Besides, please consider our offer seriously. Our boss is very sincere in offering you fifty thousand dollars! With that money, you can travel the world or do whatever you want, and we won't come around every day to… hmm, discuss business with you. Besides, your martial arts school doesn't have any apprentices. Why not…"
The voice stopped abruptly because Arthur had come downstairs.
Wearing loose pajamas and slippers, looking slightly pale, and not in the best of moods, Arthur appeared somewhat thin. His sudden appearance immediately caught everyone's attention.
Noticing the shift in the group's gaze, Lily turned to see Arthur.
Her face immediately grew worried as she spoke. "What are you doing down here? Go back up!"
Arthur smiled as he spoke. "I heard that this martial arts school has no apprentices. How about I become an apprentice here? I can help you with a lot of things."
"What do you mean?" Lily asked, feeling confused.
Arthur shyly scratched his head and said, "I mean, I'll take care of those punks for you. Then can you take me in?"
Arthur had changed his mind. At first, he didn't want to burden this young girl, but now it seemed that she already had enough problems.
Lily's eyes widened, but before she could react, the thugs began to laugh coldly.
A blond boy with a baseball bat approached Arthur, crouched down slightly, and looked at Arthur's face with a bold, mocking stare. At such a close distance, the nose ring on the boy's nose was very noticeable.
Arthur frowned. The boy suddenly stepped back and swung the baseball bat at Arthur's head.
"Sigh…" Arthur sighed and grabbed the bat with his left hand, stopping it dead in its tracks. "We haven't even finished talking business, what's the rush?"
As he spoke, Arthur clenched his right fist, braced it against his left arm, and swung it hard at the boy's left cheek.
Bam…
With a thud, the immense force of the blow sent the boy flying, not only flying but spinning in mid-air!
As he spun, blood and teeth flew from his mouth.
When he finally landed, it wasn't just the injury from the blow… the three-sixty-degree spin in mid-air left him disoriented, and the boy was unable to find his bearings.
For a moment, the room fell silent.
Lily was the first to react, her eyes wide open. "You really knocked his teeth out!"
Her voice was full of excitement.
This girl… what the heck was her deal?