American comic: From Beijing with Love, starting with a mutant.

Beijing.

The small courtyard allocated by Bureau 749.

Stephen Chow returned from Guizhou the next day.

He pushed open the courtyard gate, carrying a bag of local specialties that Lao Liu had insisted on giving him, a bunch of houttuynia cordata and several bottles of unbranded chili sauce.

As soon as I entered, I heard a deafening wail coming from inside.

"I want to drink!!!"

"Just one sip! Beer is fine! Cooking wine is fine! Even Huoxiang Zhengqi Water (a traditional Chinese medicine) is fine!"

Stephen Chow paused in his steps.

In the courtyard, Edith Constance Sawyer was lying face down on the stone table, her blue skin tinged with a grayish-purple due to withdrawal symptoms.

It looks exactly like a stranded bluefin tuna.

Beside him, Xiao Liu held a glass of plain water, his face full of helplessness.

"Comrade Edith, the director said that drinking alcohol during work hours is strictly prohibited. This is a rule."

"Discipline my ass!"

The carefree girl cursed in broken Chinese, though I don't know who she learned it from, but her intonation was quite accurate.

"I'm not working!"

"Director Wang said that since you haven't officially started working yet, all 24 hours count as working time."

"What kind of bullshit logic is this! If I'm not officially employed, I'm not an employee! And if I'm not an employee, what right do you have to tell me what to do?!"

Xiao Liu was speechless for a moment.

"...Anyway, that's what the director said."

The carefree girl let out a dying groan and collapsed onto the stone table.

Blue fingers were unconsciously picking at the table.

The dust under my fingernails was from yesterday when I tried to climb over the wall to buy alcohol at the corner store at the alley entrance.

That attempt to climb over the wall ended as soon as she reached the top—Xiao Liu was waiting for her outside, holding a small red flag that read "No Climbing".

Stephen Chow looked at it for three seconds, then turned and left the courtyard.

Xiao Liu shouted, "Brother Zhou! Aren't you going to do anything about it?"

No one answered.

Fifteen minutes later.

"The Smurfs".

She weakly raised her head.

Stephen Chow stood in front of her, holding a transparent plastic cup in his hand.

The cup contains a caramel-colored liquid with a layer of black pearls at the bottom and a layer of milk foam on top, and a thick straw inserted.

The ice cubes collided against the glass, making a crisp sound.

"What is this?" The carefree girl looked at the cup warily.

"A national treasure of China," Stephen Chow said seriously, "full sugar, iced bubble tea."

I don't drink non-alcoholic beverages.

"Try it first before you say that."

The carefree girl took the cup with some skepticism and brought it close to her nose to smell it.

The aroma of caramel mixed with the fragrance of tea wafted into my nostrils.

She took a tentative breath.

The pearls slid into my mouth through the straw, their chewy texture bursting between my teeth.

The rich milk tea, with its slightly bitter black tea and sweet caramel, glides coolly down the throat.

The girl's blue pupils dilated.

"Oh my God!!!"

She took another big breath.

In less than 30 seconds, half a cup of milk tea was gone.

The carefree girl looked up and gazed at Stephen Chow as if she had seen a savior.

"Is there anything else?"

Stephen Chow magically produced another cup from behind him.

"Taro paste with boba," he said, "is a crystallization of the wisdom of the Chinese people."

The carefree girl snatched it away, not even having time to insert the straw, and immediately lifted the lid to drink.

Stephen Chow nodded in satisfaction, took out his notebook, and made a note:

【悠游少女戒酒替代方案：奶茶。成本约15元/杯。比进口威士忌便宜97%。日均消耗量预估3-5杯。月成本约1350-2250元。可控。可行。建议走后勤补贴渠道报销。】

After finishing writing, I added another line:

[Note: Do not let them discover the X Tea and X Snack shops at the alley entrance. Otherwise, monthly costs will double.]

"What are you writing?" the carefree girl asked, peeking over.

Stephen Chow slammed his notebook shut: "Work log."

That afternoon.

Office of the Director of Bureau 749.

A personnel file was laid out in front of Director Wang.

Stephen Chow sat opposite him with his legs crossed.

"Are you sure you can manage a mutant who can teleport to any corner of the earth with just milk tea?"

"Chief, you don't understand young people!"

"These days, bubble tea is the lifeblood of young people. You could give her a million dollars and she might not work for you, but give her a cup of full-sugar, no-ice bubble tea and she'd sell her life for you."

Director Wang stared at him for five seconds, and finally sighed.

"Okay. Let's test its usability first."

He took a brown paper envelope from the drawer, with the word "Top Secret" stamped on it in bright red.

"This document needs to be delivered to a base in the Northwest Military Region within one hour, to Major Ma Weiguo."

Director Wang pushed the envelope over: "If your blue-skinned drunkard can be accurately located and delivered, I will approve her employment."

"One hour? Chief, you're underestimating our international express delivery service."

Stephen Chow is a man of action; he took the documents and went straight to the lobby.

The carefree young girl was holding a newly bought cup of mango pomelo sago in both hands, sipping it until her cheeks were sunken.

Stephen Chow walked over and waved the top-secret envelope in front of her.

"Smurf, would you like to officially join the company?"

The girl's straw made a hollow "glug" sound.

She looked down at the empty cup, then at Stephen Chow.

"Is there bubble tea for new employees?"

"Every day."

Edith's eyes lit up.

"What are you doing?"

"Delivering a package." Zhou Xingxing took out his phone and showed photos he had taken in the Northwest Military Region.

"Deliver it here. You've been there before, so you should be able to pinpoint the coordinates."

Edith leaned closer to look at the photo and wrinkled her nose.

"That stinky mud pit? Of course I remember it. I threw up there three times."

"Just remember that." Stephen Chow stuffed the envelope into his inner pocket and held out his hand. "Come on, hold my hand."

Edith put down her empty glass, stood up, and placed her blue fingers on Zhou Xingxing's wrist.

She closed her eyes.

In my mind, the image of the Northwest Military Region gradually became clear—barracks on the Gobi Desert, barbed wire fences, and the main building with the red flag fluttering in the wind…

"Anchored." She opened her eyes, purple light surging from the depths of her pupils. "Hold on tight."

"Wait!" Stephen Chow suddenly interrupted the spellcasting.

"What's wrong?"

"You didn't drink today, did you?"

"……No."

"Are you sure? You didn't even touch the cooking wine?"

"I said no, so no!"

"Alright. Let's go then. Just don't let it get sent to the Sahara Desert again!"

Edith rolled her eyes, and the next second...

Ma Weiguo's office.

Ma Weiguo was drinking water from a cup, with a training plan spread out in front of him.

"puff--!"

A flash of purple light.

Two figures appeared out of thin air, one meter in front of his desk.

Ma Weiguo spat out the tea in his mouth, pouring it directly onto the training schedule.

He instinctively reached for the pistol at his waist with his right hand, pushed the chair back, and sprang up.

"Don't shoot! Don't shoot! We're on the same side!"

Stephen Chow raised his hands above his head, looking completely innocent.

Ma Weiguo stared at the man and woman in front of him, a thug in a white suit and a foreign woman with blue skin and red hair, his hands still on his gun holster, his chest heaving violently.

"Stephen Chow...Stephen Chow?!"

"You..." Ma Weiguo took his hand off the holster and leaned against the filing cabinet, catching his breath.

"Can't you just use the door?!"