Shadow of the Beautiful World

At sunset, in a park in San Francisco.

A fat middle-aged man in a windbreaker was sitting on a park bench.

His short hair is full of gray, and there are wrinkles on his black skin, which means that he is no longer young.

He sat there, dazed, with a broken light in his eyes.

There were several empty beer cans at hand, but there was no trace of drunkenness in his eyes.

He is in pain.

Even people who don't know him, people who don't know him, can see that he is in pain.

At this time, it was dinner time, and people with families were already at home with their families, but this man felt homeless.

Home, for him, is a word that has been fragmented.

hum

The wind blows through the deserted park, and in that wind the footsteps come closer.

A person is approaching him.

Walk slowly to his side, examine him, and sit next to him.

click

The sound of the can opening broke the tranquility under the setting sun.

A can of beer was handed to this dejected man, and he was slapped encouragingly. The jade-like finger patted his shoulder and stuffed the can of beer into his hand.

Looking at the artificial lake covered by the setting sun in front of him, Merlin who was also holding a can of beer said softly:

Why don't you accompany her at the last moment, and stay here alone thousands of kilometers away from Ava?

I want to save her.

Dr. Bill Foster raised his head and poured the cold beer into his mouth. His eyes were full of pain and despair.

The escaping wine spilled all over the body along with the short stubble, like a down-and-out vagabond drinking bad wine in despair.

I want to save her...

The doctor let out a whimper.

Like the final howl of a shattered soul.

Not loud, but full of despair.

I thought I could save her, for 12 years...I thought I could save her, but I was just kidding myself...

boom

The beer can hit the ground, and the foamy liquid splashed everywhere.

Bill stretched out his hands and covered his face, and the man's last dignity was completely dissipated in that mournful cry.

I can't save it!

He said:

My intelligence is too low, I can't understand the relationship between Quantum Sea and the real world, I can't...I'm not smart enough, I can't save my daughter, the only person who can save her is in this city...

But I can't find it, I can't find him...I can't find Hank.

I hate him, I never liked that arrogant madman, but if he could save my daughter, I'd rather kneel before him, I'd rather...but I can't find him.

My daughter's last hope... was killed by my own hands. I am an incompetent person, right? Merlin, I am an incompetent father. I can only watch Ava sink in pain, but I cannot give her Any helpful help.

But she still needs to encourage me in turn. The child is suffering terrible pain every moment, but I...

alright!

Merlin looked at the beer can in his hand, his blue eyes were calm, and he said:

Is it enough to complain about yourself? I put aside important things and come here, not to hear how painful you are...

Ava just left, she's not dead, she's alive, in another world.

She called Hill her mother, she called me brother, she has been struggling with how to call me correctly, even for this, I will bring her back, it's just Quantum Sea.

swish

Dr. Bill raised his head suddenly, he looked at Merlin, there was a burning torch-like light in his eyes, he gritted his teeth and said:

Can you bring her back? With...with your magic?

Magic is not omnipotent.

Merlin shook his head. He sniffed the beer in his hand, then curled his lips, and threw the thing towards the artificial lake in front of him.

He stood up, stood on tiptoes, and hovered in the air like nothing.

In the setting sun, with his hands behind his back, he said to Dr. Bill who also stood up behind him:

It's not just you trying to save Ava. I've looked through all the magic books I can find, but unfortunately, there has never been a spell in the world of magic that has anything to do with the quantum world.

Maybe only technology can do it.

Looking back at Dr. Bill, he said:

Hank Pym, do you think that he is the only one in the world who can create an instrument with the quantum world? I also asked Reed Richards, and the latter gave me the same answer. Then that sweet-smelling Hank...

He's our only hope of bringing Ava back.

He's here!

Dr. Bill gritted his teeth, clenched his fist, and said to Merlin:

That guy is hiding in this city, but the problem is, I can't find him. In the past few days, I have used almost all my contacts and traveled almost every inch of the city, but I am. ..could not be found.

A man who, in the heyday of S.H.I.E.L.D., could have eluded official searches.

Merlin shook his head and said:

It's not that easy to find, but fortunately, I've already planted a seed, and now it's time to activate her.

Her? Who?

Dr. Bill looked at Merlin in surprise.

The latter narrowed his eyes and said softly:

Hope Van Dyne, Hank's only daughter...

it's useless.

Dr. Bill shook his head and said:

I went to her on the first day I arrived in San Francisco. She knew about Ava and was willing to help, but the problem was that she couldn't get in touch with her father.

Hank protects his daughter very well. He has never been in contact with Hope these years, and even severed all contact with his daughter. He knows that his existence is a threat to Hope.

Yeah?

Merlin shook his head and said:

Is there really a father who would be indifferent to his daughter? No, Hank has been paying attention to her, but the way he used it is quite clever, come with me!

With a flick of Merlin's fingers, the space collapsed before his eyes, and a portal that could accommodate a person opened.

He stepped into it, Dr. Bill straightened his clothes, and followed into the portal.

In the whirling halo, two men who vowed to save their daughter appeared in a house on the edge of San Francisco, in an unobtrusive apartment building.

There is a large monitoring platform in this room. Icarus, who has long blue hair, wears a strange uniform, and wears black-rimmed glasses, is presiding over the monitoring.

Nine surveillance screens monitor Hope Van Dyne's house from all directions, from the inside to the outside, without any dead spots for monitoring.

Merlin floated to Icarus who was standing there with his arms folded. He looked at the monitoring screen in front of him and asked:

Did you find anything?

have!

There was a smile on the face of the lady with glasses. She didn't shy away from Dr. Bill beside her. She tiptoed and kissed Merlin's cheek, and then reached out and tapped in front of the monitoring platform.

An intercepted surveillance video was projected in front of Merlin and Dr. Bill.

That was surveillance a few hours ago.

In just a few seconds, Merlin and Dr. Bill saw nothing.

Watch carefully!

The glasses girl stretched out her hand and drew a circle on the projection, and then played the projection again. As the picture was played frame by frame, Merlin's eyes immediately narrowed.

Dr. Bill also raised his finger, and he said:

What's that? A bug?

No, it's ants!

The glasses girl continuously enlarged the details of the projection, and used quite advanced technological means to restore the blurred projection to the picture.

After a few seconds, a vague ant with wings appeared in front of the three of them.

But Icarus did not stop the expansion of the picture.

After zooming in several times again, the picture was already blurred and completely composed of different color blocks.

But Merlin had already seen the abnormality of that ant.

There's someone behind it!

Merlin looked back at Bill in surprise, and the latter looked dazed.

Pym particles! No, no, to be precise, it's Ant-Man!

Bill clenched his fists, and the man who had lost his mind before seemed to see hope at this moment.

He stared at the blurred color block in front of him, and said:

That's Hank. He really is protecting his daughter in this way. No wonder I can't find him. He must have changed the frequency of the diffracter.

He used that battle suit again, how could I find someone smaller than an ant in this city...

Merlin nodded, he looked at Icarus.

The latter immediately replied:

He was very active and would ride around Hope's apartment every six hours.

The glasses girl said with some doubts:

However, if he was concentrating on his quantum tunnel experiment, how could he be distracted so frequently? I suspect that Ant-Man is probably not Hank Pym, but it's just a suspicion.

Anyway, this little guy must have something to do with Hank Pym.

Merlin looked at the picture with the same color block in front of him, the ant knight, he said:

Catching him is equivalent to finding Hank.

It's been almost 2 hours since his last activity.

Icarus says:

You can rest first, I will call you when he appears.

Um.

Merlin turned his head and looked at the excited Dr. Bill behind him. He thought for a while and asked:

We met that grumpy Hank, do you think he would be willing to help in the current situation?

You expect Hank to find out with his conscience and take the initiative to help, that will never be possible.

Bill said:

That guy is a selfish person, a standard egoist. I haven't been in touch with him for many years, but I believe that his bad temper must not have changed.

The Doctor sighed, and said:

That's what I'm worried about, Merlin. Even if we find Hank, it's probably useless if he decides not to help, or worse, cheats us at some important time.

Don't doubt, he can definitely do this kind of thing.

No, I don't believe there are such cruel people in this world.

Merlin says:

What's more, Hank Pym has been researching the same technology for nearly 20 years. Either he is obsessed with madness, or it means that he needs this technology to help him do something.

Lord Raven said:

If a person persists to this point, it means that he still has weaknesses. We just need to figure out... what he wants to do after persisting for 20 years.

Uh, about that.

Dr. Bill stroked his chin and said:

I have an unfounded guess.

Since I met him last time, I feel that Hanke has been researching quantum tunnel theory for 20 years, presumably in order to enter the quantum world and save his wife, Hope's mother, Jennifer Van Dyke kindness.

That is the only gentle woman in my memory who can endure Hank's bad temper. She is also an outstanding quantum scientist. She is Hank's most important assistant, and the two are married and have children.

Honestly, if there's a sliver of truth in grumpy Hank, I think it's in his daughter and his wife.

etc!

Merlin raised his hand and interrupted Dr. Bill's guess. He looked at the doctor seriously, and said:

You mean, Hank's wife also fell into the quantum sea?

Just a guess.

Dr. Bill thought for a while, and he said uncertainly:

When Hank and Jennifer were ordered to stop a nuclear bomb launched by the Soviet Union, I had already left the Strategic Science Corps.

But I heard later that the nuclear bomb was destroyed during the flight, but Jennifer, who was acting with Hank, disappeared unexpectedly.

Hank doesn't want to reveal the details of that operation, and no one can learn the details from his bad temper, but I have some understanding of how the two of them fought...

If you want to destroy a nuclear bomb that has already been launched, you must enter the interior of the nuclear bomb and destroy the flying chip.

Bill made a small movement and said:

But to enter the tightly sealed nuclear bomb, you must shrink down to the size of an atom. Even for Hank who holds Pym particles, that is a very dangerous thing. It means entering the microscopic world and getting lost completely.

If my guess is correct, then the one who stopped the nuclear warhead and saved tens of millions of people should be Jennifer herself. As for her disappearance, she must have been lost in the microcosm...

Bill looked at Merlin, he pursed his lips, and said:

I don't think you are interested in hearing the difference between the microcosm and the quantum ocean. You can understand that getting lost in the microcosm is equivalent to falling into the quantum ocean.

But this possibility is very small, it has been so long, and the time flow rate of the quantum world is not the same as that of the real world.

Dr. Bill sighed, and said:

With Hank's rational and cold personality, he has given up the rescue with a high probability, and fell into the quantum world without protection. The possibility of Jennifer's survival is too small.

No, the more rational a person is, the easier it is to be emotional about some things.

There was a gleam in Merlin's blue eyes, and he said to Dr. Bill:

Let's make this clear first. If Hank really wants to save his wife, and Jennifer and Ava are both in the quantum sea, then I think there is a basis for cooperation between us and Hank.

Seriously, doctor, you should have told us this kind of key information earlier.

Two hours later, Merlin, who was resting with his eyes closed, heard Icarus' call:

Merlin, he has appeared!

swish

A yellow circle of light appeared in front of Merlin's eyes, forming a ring.

Under the gaze of Icarus and Dr. Bill, Merlin stretched out his hand, reached into the ring of light, squeezed it lightly, and then withdrew it again.

He opened his fingers, and there was already a crushed ant and a dizzy ant knight in his palm.

Dr. Pym, meeting for the first time.

Merlin stared at the Ant-Man in his hand who was trying to escape, the orange light pressed on him, making him unable to move.

Lord Raven said:

Let's meet in person, we don't mean any malice, or, shall I 'invite' you to come out?

I'm not Hank Pym! You arrested the wrong person!

The ant knight screamed in panic, and the voice of a young man stunned the three people in the room.

this...

Really caught the wrong person?