Chapter 1033: Honest
Seeing Tom’s expression, Lin Rui knew what he was probably thinking. However, if he were to explain it in detail, Lin Rui would have to say a lot.
“So... the situation is too complicated to explain in a short time,” Lin Rui sighed, sitting on his still-soft bed, furrowing his brow in helplessness.
Taking note of Lin Rui sitting on the bed, Tom also sat on the sofa across from him, a position he was familiar with.
“I have plenty of time, so you can take your time,” Tom said calmly, looking at Lin Rui. It was evident that Tom was genuinely interested in knowing about Lin Rui’s disappearance.
Hearing Tom’s words and observing his serious expression, Lin Rui realized he couldn’t evade the conversation any longer.
“Well, then I’ll start from the beginning. Since you already know who I am, so...”
From there, Lin Rui began to explain how he had searched for the Magic Cube in Siberia, got injured in a battle with the Dark Elf, was unexpectedly transported to Asgard, and later returned to Earth due to a massive spatial energy explosion caused by the Magic Cube.
There were too many events that had taken place, and Lin Rui tried to summarize them as best as he could.
While sharing his experiences with Tom, Lin Rui also faced some questions. For instance, Tom was curious about what the Magic Cube was and needed some explanation about Asgard’s existence.
However, he didn’t inquire much about the Dark Elf race.
As Lin Rui continued to sit or lie on the bed, gradually recounting his story, he hadn’t finished answering all of Tom’s questions when Marie downstairs called them to eat.
Nevertheless, Tom had already gained a basic understanding of what Lin Rui had gone through during his disappearance.
However, now that Tom knew about Lin Rui’s experiences during that time, any complaints he had initially harbored about Lin Rui’s long absence turned into genuine concern.
Tom had no idea that Lin Rui had faced such dangerous situations in the nearly one month he had been missing. If it were Tom, each of those incidents would have been enough to make him retreat.
“Coming!” Lin Rui replied loudly from the bed when he heard Marie calling them to eat.
In the next moment, Lin Rui flipped over and got up from the bed.
“Let’s go, let’s go downstairs and have dinner. After dinner, there are a few things I want to talk to you about. It shouldn’t be just me talking about myself and answering your questions. In fact, I have some questions for you too,” Lin Rui said, standing by the bed and looking at Tom who had stood up from the sofa.
“Sure, I’ll tell you anything you want to know,” Tom nodded in response to Lin Rui’s words.
Then, Lin Rui and Tom went downstairs to have dinner. At the dinner table, Tom was already behaving similarly to how he was before Lin Rui’s disappearance. Lin Hai and Marie had been observing the behavior of their son, Tom, and they were relieved with the results.
After finishing dinner, Lin Rui and Tom returned to Lin Rui’s bedroom upstairs. Marie was downstairs preparing desserts and snacks for them later in the evening, while Lin Rui’s father, Lin Hai, went out for a stroll.
With his son back home, Lin Hai always liked to go out and chat with the neighbors, as the Eastern tradition of showing off one’s offspring was still ingrained in him. Moreover, Lin Hai also wanted to inform the Smith couple about Tom’s behavior in their home.
Once Lin Rui and Tom were back in the bedroom, Tom didn’t ask any more questions. He already knew everything he needed to know.
This time, they didn’t sit on the sofa or the bed. Instead, they sat on the floor as they used to, with a computer in front of them and Lin Rui’s birthday gift from his sixteenth birthday, a fantastic PS4, within reach.
“What game do you want to play?” Lin Rui picked up a controller and opened the game interface, asking.
“Whatever, it seems like we’ve completed all the games we used to play,” Tom replied nonchalantly, picking up another controller.
“Okay then, I’ll pick one at random. By the way, you’re the superpowered warrior from that recently emerged Vigilante group, right?” Lin Rui asked casually as if he were asking if the food they just had was good or not.
“Yeah...” Tom’s response was simple as if he were answering about the taste of the food they had just eaten, equally mundane.
“That’s good. Just be careful not to get hurt.”
“Don’t worry, nothing as dangerous as what you encountered will happen to me.”
“That’s good.”
...
And so, Lin Rui concluded his journey by delivering Captain America Steve Rogers’ good friend, Winter Soldier Bucky Barnes, to the capital of Wakanda before returning to New York. Upon his return, Lin Rui resumed his normal life.
Every day, Lin Rui would leave home early and go to school with Tom, or he would go to Stark Industries to collaborate with Tony in researching advanced technology.
Although Lin Rui’s life seems to be very regular and filled with studying, on the second day after his return, he had a gathering with Captain America Steve Rogers, Iron Man Tony Stark, Professor X Charles, and others.
During this gathering, they continued to discuss the future development of Earth.
The most crucial question was whether the invasion by the Dark Elves meant that Earth had already been exposed to other civilizations in the universe. Perhaps, in the future, the imminent dangers that Earth would face would likely come from extraterrestrial civilizations.
However, considering Earth’s current strength, it was far from being capable of withstanding a genuine attack from extraterrestrial civilizations.
Lin Rui was well aware of the concerns of Rogers and Professor Charles. After all, as someone who knew the Marvel World’s storyline, Lin Rui understood that the greatest threat to Earth in the future indeed came from other civilizations in the universe.
Or rather, their greatest threat was that individual who posed a tremendous threat to any civilization.
However, Earth was not entirely defenseless or incapable of counterattacking. At least, in Lin Rui’s opinion, Earth’s military power and technological advancements far surpassed what he originally believed to be the strength of Earth in the storyline.
Moreover, since the system assigned Lin Rui the new main mission of protecting Earth, he was determined to do his best to safeguard it.
Therefore, at the conclusion of this gathering, everyone reached a unified goal: to develop and enhance their own strengths as quickly as possible.
Regardless of whether Earth would once again face threats from civilizations in the universe in the future, it was imperative for Earth to grow stronger as soon as possible.
It was precisely for this goal that, during the gathering, Lin Rui took out the Magic Cube, an item that significantly enhanced his power from another perspective.
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