Interlude 2

Xu Wenwu's POV

Knock! Knock!

"Who is it at this time, Shaun?" A female voice sounded from inside the room.

"I will check, Katy." A man's voice which I clearly recognised to be my son's even after not hearing it for several years, answered.

"Hello….. Father!" Shang Chi exclaimed, shocked to see me at his door. However, in just a few seconds, he entered a combat stance, ready to fight me.

It honestly hurt me a lot to see that my son's first action upon seeing me was to fight me rather than when hugging me with a smile.

But I guess it was my fault in a way. However, I would still not change myself for my children. There was a time when I had changed myself for my family and the result had almost torn me apart.

Living happily with my family, I had forgotten the true reality of this world. That only strength ruled over this world. My family had made me weak.

As such, I could only be the person I had been for over 500 years. The ruthless Xu Wenwu who ruled over the Ten Rings and was feared by every nation in the world.

"Why are you here, father?" Shang Chi asked, still guarded towards me.

"Who is it, Shaun?" A young woman of Asian descent came from inside the room, probably out of curiosity.

"Who is she, Shang Chi? Your lover?" I asked.

Although I had kept account of where my children all the time, I had no information about their personal relationships. As such I needed to know if Shang Chi's heart which had been frozen ever since his mother's death had been melted by a woman's love or not.

"No, she is just a close friend of mine." Shang Chi answered, denying my assumption.

"We will see in the future if your words are true or not after both of you have returned with me to the Ten Rings." I said, clarifying my intentions. After all, it was very likely that my dear son was lying to protect her.

"Just what is going on, Shaun? Why is he calling you Shang Chi?" The woman, I had heard that her name was Katy, asked. She seemed to be rather confused by the turn of events.

"Let me answer, Katy. I am Shaun's father or should I say Shang Chi's, Xu Wenwu. You may recognise me as the leader of the Ten Rings, the one who an American had personated a few years ago. The one they call the Mandarin." I answered, introducing myself.

"Katy, I will explain everything to you later." Shang Chi said to Katy, promising to reveal everything. Looking at them, it was obvious that they were quite close.

"Why have you come, Father? I am not going to return." Shang Chi replied, vehemently rejecting my proposal to return.

"Not even if it involves Xialing?" I asked.

"What happened to Xialing?" Shang Chi asked worriedly.

"Like you, she also escaped the Ten Rings. Even opened a great business, albeit an illegal one. But unfortunately, she put her hands where she should not have.

She interfered in the mutant matters. Currently, she is with the government supported mutant team, the X-Men. The ones who participated in the Battle of New York. I need your help in saving her, son."

I asked Shang Chi for his help as I put my right hand on his shoulder as a sign of trust. Only Shang Chi had any chance of convincing Xialing since she would obviously not listen to me.

"You believe that you alone are not enough. The one who once had the entire Earth in his pocket." Shang Chi asked mockingly.

"Times have changed, Shang Chi. There are too many monsters on this earth now and I find myself inadequate in front of them. As such, it is true that I alone won't be enough." I answered truthfully, accepting my weakness.

"Fine! I will come. But only for Xialing." Shang Chi said, finally accepting my proposal.

"Then, both of you go and pack everything you need. We leave in 10 minutes." I ordered and both of them returned to their room to pack as per my orders.

I too stepped inside the flat to see how my son's home looked. I could see some music albums and video games in the living room. There was even a hand drawn picture of Ying Li which Shang Chi had likely drawn himself.

As I saw these things, I realised that I had missed a large part of Shang Chi's life. My son had grown up without his father.

Yet I knew that I would not have changed how I had treated him even I returned to the past. I was simply too broken after Ying Li's death.

"We are ready, Father." Shang Chi said as he and Katy returned with bags in their hands.

"Good! Head down. I will come soon." I ordered, causing them to leave.

However, instead of following them, I instead sat down on a nearby chair. The memories of my fight with Albion were still fresh in my mind.

I remembered it every time I saw my hands which now only had nine rings. The Ten Rings were my entire life, everything I had achieved till now was because of them.

Yet Albion had stolen one of them with just a small spark. Just like how Ying Li had done it several years ago when we had first met.

And Albion himself was one hell of a powerhouse. Someone who was said to be envoy of the Black Dragon who had singlehandedly saved New York in a few minutes from an army of aliens.

I knew that I would have lost easily even if I had all of the Ten Rings. The rest of the mutants were not weak either. They could create supernatural phenomena with just a single wave of their hand.

But I won't falter. Xialing and Shang Chi were everything I had left of Ying Li. They may go their own way but I would always protect them.

"Ha ha ha ha!! How pitiful you are, Xu Wenwu." Suddenly, a warped voice mocking me sounded out of nowhere.

"Who is there?" I shouted, shocked by the appearance of this unknown voice.

"Hello, Xu Wenwu!" A blue glowing humanoid figure suddenly materialised before me. It seemed to be completely formed of energy without any distinguished features.

"Who the hell are you?" I asked this mysterious figure.

"All you need to know is that I am the creator of the Ten Rings." The figure answered.

"Then, you must know why one of the Ten Rings was stolen so easily?" I asked the figure.

"It was because of your own incompetence, Wenwu. The Ten Rings only follow the strongest. In fact, the reason I came here was because I felt unique magic signature from the Ten Rings which I had never felt before. Argh!"

The blue figure was explaining when suddenly its blue glowing body started to literally glitch as though it was a computer program.

"Damn! My existence is not confirmed in this timeline. This world's fate is too chaotic. What the hell is going on in this world? A Black Dragon in the Battle of New York! A new mutant called Albion who has wings as well as a unique red lightning. Someone has clearly interfered in this world although I don't know who." The figure continued to mutter incomprehensible things.

However, to my horror, I realised that I could not remember what he had said just now. But learning more about this mysterious figure was not my goal.

"If I lost one of the Ten Rings because of my own incompetence then why you are here?" I asked furiously.

"Because I am interested in this Albion. Since I require data on him, I offer you a chance to gain power greater than even the Ten Rings."

As the figure said these words, a ring similar to the Ten Rings appeared in its hand. However, this ring had a red blazing fire coating it.

"So, do you accept my offer?"

"I accept." I accepted his proposal because I knew about my weakness. As such, I was ready to receive power even from this unknown figure.

"Very good!"

With a wave of its hand, the ring slipped into my left hand, completing the Ten Rings once again.

"Now, go and show Albion the power of hell."

As the figure said these words, the entire Ten Rings started glowing with a red blazing fire and I felt the power of fire settle within me.

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Can anyone guess who is this mysterious figure? I will give you a small hint. He is someone who always loses to Spider Man.

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