Shadow of the Beautiful World

In fact, after waking up, Merlin felt a change in himself.

During the detection process just now, he concealed this change from Fury and Dr. Hall. Because he is not sure whether it is the transformation of magic power, or the influence of the particle-like distribution of gravitational onium in his body.

Now, when he was alone, Merlin sealed off the magic power in his body, and tried to activate the strange power.

The vase floating in front of his eyes proved Merlin's guess.

Gravitonium had an effect on him, allowing him to weakly manipulate gravity around him after a nine-month blackout.

This newborn force is still very weak, and it is already very strenuous to hold up a vase, but it can be further excavated.

Merlin still remembers that Dr. Hall once introduced him about the characteristics of gravitational onium. One of the most important points is that gravimetrical onium under normal conditions maintains a chaotic state, which will destroy the surrounding gravitational field in a chaotic form. In the case of an electric current, the shape of the particles inside the gravitational onium will be changed, allowing it to continuously and large-scale change the surrounding gravity.

electric shock

Merlin recited this word silently, and under the manipulation of his consciousness, the suspended vase fell back onto the coffee table.

Merlin changed the direction of the gravity generated by his own body on his wheelchair, and as a result, the unmanned wheelchair moved forward instead. After a while, he sent Merlin into his garage.

His official car was still parked in the garage. There was a lot of mud on the wheels of this black Ford, and it seemed that it was often used.

Eric

Merlin shook his head:

It's an official car, you bastard.

Merlin sighed, his wheelchair propelling him to the garage, Merlin reached out to open the socket, pulled a length of wire out of it, he tore the wire, looked at the stubble that exposed the metal wire, then looked again Ford behind.

The next moment, Merlin closed his eyes, and put his left hand on the stubble of the electric wire. In the beating of the electric arc, Merlin raised his right hand.

The electric current constantly stimulated Merlin's body, but the magic power and the strengthening of the super soldier serum in his body made it impossible for such a household voltage to harm him, and Merlin could only feel a slight numbness in his fingertips.

And when the electric current ran through his body, the gravitonium particles scattered throughout his body really became active.

Between the movements of Merlin's right fingers, the heavy Ford car shook strangely, and then when Merlin raised his fingers, the heavy car seemed to be lifted by invisible hands, its four wheels, Little by little, it left the ground.

It wasn't until the car and the scattered parts around it were all suspended in the air about 1 meter above the ground that Merlin opened his eyes.

Holding the wire with his left hand, looking at the scene in front of him, a fleeting smile appeared on his pale face.

Is this a blessing in disguise?

kuang

The moment Merlin's left hand left the wire, the levitated car lost its propulsion, and fell to the ground from the air, making a loud noise.

Merlin's wheelchair was pushed to the front of the car. He pulled out his magic wand from his waist and felt that within 9 months, the normal magic power had returned to his body. With a flick of his wrist, a cleansing spell was thrown on the in this car.

The dirt on the wheels and the dust on the windows are all wiped off at this moment.

Minutes later, the car was clean again.

Merlin nodded in satisfaction, he took out his cell phone, called Eric who was wandering around somewhere, and asked him to come back and pick him up.

It has been more than a year.

Time to go see your own family.

Merlin!

Ten minutes later, when Merlin leaned on crutches and with some difficulty came to May's apartment with Eric's support, his cousin almost rushed out of the kitchen in a galloping gesture. , looking up and down Merlin nervously.

You scared me to death, do you know that? Seeing you lying on the hospital bed, I thought I lost you.

There was a hint of scolding in the cousin's voice, which made Merlin feel a little guilty.

He said to May:

I'm back, haven't I? And I came to see you as soon as possible. Don't be afraid, Mei, it's not time for me to see the god of death.

No nonsense!

Mei crossed her hips and stared at Merlin:

I don't know what dangerous things your Bridge and Tunnel Authority needs you to do, but next time, don't be so desperate!

I know I know.

Merlin replied in some embarrassment:

I will protect myself in the future, I swear.

Come in.

The cousin supported Merlin's arm and helped him into the living room. As a result, Merlin saw the child lying on the carpet and playing with toys at a glance.

He has curly, brown-black hair, black eyes, fair skin, and looks very cute, just like a doll.

This is Peter Parker.

Agent Richard Parker's son is in foster care with May and Ben. He should be 2 years old this year. Merlin still remembered that when Richard and his wife put little Peter here, he was only a few months old baby.

Little Peter.

Merlin sat on the sofa and put aside the heavy blue-gray metal cane in his hand. He waved to little Peter who was looking at him nicely. He said:

Come here, uncle.

Little Peter should call May his aunt, and Merlin is May's younger brother, so in theory, Merlin should indeed be Little Peter's uncle.

Under Merlin's gentle call, little Peter, who was playing with building blocks on the carpet, got up slowly, opened his arms, and tremblingly walked towards Merlin.

This child is not afraid of life.

He was held in Merlin's arms and let out a series of happy laughter.

Looking carefully, Merlin's fingers didn't actually touch Little Peter's body, he was supporting Little Peter to play with gravity. And that strange sense of suspension made the 2-year-old feel very strange, and he couldn't stop giggling.

Those black eyes stared at Merlin closely, as if they were sizing him up.

uncle

The 2-year-old child can already speak some simple words. Under the guidance of Merlin, little Peter called Merlin with a lisp, which made Merlin very happy.

He fumbled in the magic pocket, and among those dangerous gadgets, he finally came up with something that a child could play with.

It was a lifelike wooden fawn sculpture.

It was a gift that Merlin got when he bought magic materials in Diagon Alley.

The thing had been cast with an animate spell, and as long as the spell was spoken, the wooden deer would run like a real living thing.

Merlin hugged Peter, placed the fist-sized deer on the carpet in front of him, and lightly recited a spell.

Under little Peter's curious gaze, the fawn raised its head the next moment, swung its body vividly, honked at Merlin, and then started running around on the carpet.

To play! To play!

Little Peter writhed in Merlin's arms, Merlin put him on the carpet, and the child began to clumsily chase the nimble deer.

You guys are still playing well.

Mei came to the living room with a plate of washed fruits. She glanced at the running deer, but didn't care. She thought it was a wind-up toy, like a wind-up frog.

She sat beside Merlin, looking at little Peter who was enjoying himself, a smile appeared on her face.

She said to Merlin:

It seems that little Peter likes you very much.

I really like this kid too.

Merlin picked up a grape and put it in his mouth. He looked around and said:

Isn't Charlie here?

Charlie goes to school today.

Mei brushed her hair and replied:

She should be back for dinner today. I saw Eric go out with your car keys just now. He may have picked up Charlie. These two children get along well, but they are too glued together, you said , will they

fall in love?

Merlin smiled, he shook his head:

Let them go, we'd better not get involved in young people's affairs.

But Charlie doesn't come of age until November.

Mei said with some concern:

She's a little too precocious.

It's normal. The girl has been through a lot. Maturity is inevitable.

Merlin says:

She knows how to take care of herself, so you don't have to worry too much. Of course, don't let her go out at night. Girls of this age need special attention. Moreover, the order in New York is not very good recently.

yes.

Mei sighed:

A few days ago, several homeless people in this block disappeared. In the place where Ben worked, several young people disappeared for no reason. This is really worrying.

Don't worry too much.

Merlin looked at little Peter, with a gleam in his eyes, and he said:

I guess order will be restored soon.

Let's not talk about that.

May waved her hand, and she said to Merlin:

Stay for dinner tonight, I've told Ben to buy more groceries when I get off work.

certainly.

Merlin leaned on the sofa, rubbed his belly, and said to May:

Today, I came here for dinner, ah, 1 year and 4 months, I almost miss your pizza.

—

At 9 o'clock in the evening, Merlin finished dinner at Mei's house and was sent home by Eric.

This kid was going to reunite with his classmates from Imperial High School tonight, so after sending Merlin home, he drove away in Merlin's car in no time.

Merlin didn't stop him either, Eric wasn't him, that young man needed to have his own life, and any normal person needed to have his own life.

After Eric left, Merlin stood up with a heavy cane. Although his legs were still weak and he couldn't walk too fast, Merlin didn't really want to sit in a wheelchair.

It's such a terrible feeling to just be cared for.

Being in a wheelchair, everyone thinks I'm a patient.

It took Merlin a few minutes to change into a windbreaker and casual clothes. He leaned on a cane and stood at the door, looking at the night outside. He whispered to the raven Victor who lightly landed on his arm:

And the worst thing about being a patient is being surrounded by people who care about you, even though you know they want to help you, but the more they do, the more you feel weak.

Victor, are you saying I'm weak?

Woohoo

The Raven Spirit yelled at its master, and then, under Merlin's watchful eyes, flapped its wings and rushed into the dark sky.

Merlin didn't intend to waste any more time. Now that he knew that vampires were raging, he decided to go out and have a look.

Should I tell them how strong I am?

Merlin said something to himself, and a few seconds later, he smiled, just like a weak ordinary person, walking into the darkness with a cane.

But I haven't been back for more than a year, and Hell's Kitchen still looks uninteresting.

Merlin walked in the dark on the streets with few people. This neighborhood has been like this since he lived in it several years ago. The security at night is very, very bad. Any reasonable person will not come out to move around after nightfall.

Doing business in this kind of place is also very bad. The residents have no money, poor purchasing power, and most of them have the habit of petty theft. So there are very few new stores here, and I really don't know how the few supermarkets and other old stores in Hell's Kitchen can persist in the face of meager profits.

Merlin walked slowly on the side of the street, his perception continued to spread outward, like a moving radar, looking for clues related to vampires.

But to his surprise, he spent more than an hour and walked around half of Hell's Kitchen, but he didn't find any signs of vampire activity.

very clean.

It's like it's been cleaned by someone.

It's not normal.

Merlin rubbed his chin, he said softly:

The flames of chaos are always ignited from the most disordered places, but Hell's Kitchen, when did this place become so orderly? Was it done at midnight?

Merlin doubted that it was Papa Midnight who took the initiative to rectify the order in Hell's Kitchen, but after thinking about it carefully, the owner of the nightclub who has no profit and can't afford it early probably wouldn't have such a high awareness.

Or, in his absence, some unknown violent police came to Hell's Kitchen again?

With this question in mind, Merlin continued to wander the streets. After turning around the intersection of 7th Street, Merlin was a little surprised to see a small shop that he didn't remember.

It's located between two narrow apartment buildings, two stories high, and looks a bit old.

But in Merlin's memory, there should be no buildings between these two buildings, right?

He walked towards the newly opened shop.

On the surface, this should be an antique collection store. The glass windows are filled with all kinds of antiques, but most of them are fake. Although it is done vividly, the details that are deliberately old-fashioned cannot be hidden from Merlin's eyes.

He raised his head and looked at the signboard of this store.

bloodstone? (bloodstone?)

Merlin read out the somewhat weird name. He couldn't figure out what the signboard meant. After hesitating for a few seconds, he stretched out his hand and pushed open the concealed shop door, and walked in.

He had a hunch that he could find something interesting here.