Shazam

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The timeline follows "The Last Test" and Alea Glaucus left no will.

In fact legally they couldn't even prove that she was dead.She has no relatives, and it was the San Cosmo Elementary School in Fawcett City where she worked that first reported her missing; Outside the box would officially believe that she was dead.But before that—just six months, really—the disappearance and delinquency on property taxes and loans was enough for the bank to repossess her property and put it up for auction.

It's not without benefits.

Bruce Wayne bought the villa in the first place and even brought Alfred and the two children to accept the property himself, although it meant he had to deal with the bank who was spooked by the presence of the big boss Mr. Wayne himself and intermediary staff.Damian, where Bruce reads the papers, has started another sweeping search of the house.In fact, after Aleya left, they had already searched carefully and recovered two spell books, but there was no harm in searching again.There is no such thing as "too careful" about the dwelling place of God.

And Billy has been standing in the living room in a daze.In fact, he has not been here many times, but for some reason, he still has endless memories, which overwhelm him bit by bit: the Van de Graaff generator that he moved out of the attic seems to be still on the ground, just because he It’s not enough to make a fuss; the leftover honey cake in the kitchen still emits an aroma quietly; Aleiya turns on the TV but pretends to be asleep on the sofa, so that he can see the news in time to deal with it...

He was so preoccupied that he didn't notice a bank clerk approaching him, nodding his head and saying, "Hi, Mr. Wayne, I'm Chris, Miss Glaucus's mortgage broker. "

"Ah, hello," Billy shook Chris's hand in a panic, "you can call me Billy."

"So, Billy, can you tell me about your relationship with Miss Glaucus?"

Billy looked at the bank clerk with some doubts, so Chris added softly, "Although Miss Glaucus has no relatives, and she doesn't seem to have any particularly close friends, I think I can also be regarded as her acquaintance. One. You too, Billy? That's why Mr. Wayne bought the house so quickly and even came to accept the property himself. Wonder if you've ever tried Miss Glaucus's Greek-style honey cake? Really It’s so delicious! She said it’s an ancestral recipe.”

"That's right, no one but my mom and dad makes a honey cake that compares to Miss Glaucus's! I..." Billy buried his head even lower after the excitement of the moment; he said softly, "I used to go to St. Cosmo Primary School when I lived in Fawcett City. Miss Glaucus was my math teacher. She was very kind to me, very kind."

"Yeah, she is a teacher who is very popular with the students. When I came to her house, I could always see the children's greeting cards and paintings posted on the refrigerator. It can be seen that they are full of respect."

"But it's gone now? When I last came—" The last time I came was trespassing, so Billy was at a loss for words, not knowing what to do next.

Chris nodded and said, "I came to inspect the house before the bank auction. I can't do anything with other personal items, but the children's works that Miss Glaucus collected, I sent them all back to San Cosmo In elementary school, it was probably collected by the children, or hung in the classroom to commemorate Miss Glaucus. Only one copy has not been sent back, Billy, come on, did you make this? The painting is very beautiful Looks good, very artistic, it seems that you are quite talented in art."

Billy took the card, which showed an olive tree in a thunderstorm, green as a sparkling gem under the lightning.

"It's not about the mood or anything," Billy tried to smile. "When I made this greeting card, there was only one green crayon in the class, which was fluorescent green. The new one hadn't arrived yet. I really wanted to draw an olive tree. But the fluorescent green leaves don’t look like it, so I thought that if it was an olive tree under lightning, the color would be more similar.”

"You're so smart," Chris said sincerely, but then added, "Listen, Billy, don't be so sad. The police haven't come to any conclusions. Maybe Miss Glaucus will be found in the future, maybe Maybe she came back by herself. I'm not trying to comfort you, but in this kind of disappearance case where nothing can be found, the biggest possibility is that the person concerned left by himself, and erased all traces to make it impossible to find. arrive."

Billy stared at the greeting card in his hand, and murmured for a while, "I know she's not really dead, I know she will come back, but maybe I won't see the moment when she comes back. I just miss her, I I hope she didn't leave. She did so many things for me. In fact, she paid so much for all of us, but no one knew. And I was always the one who was taken care of, but I never did anything for her. There will be no chance in the future..."

Billy knew he shouldn't say so much in front of strangers, but he didn't even have time to think about it before the words came out of his mouth.Those memories, regrets, and sorrows were too heavy. With these weights, he couldn't think carefully about his every move.Chris was taken aback for a moment, but before he could react, he heard an extremely abrupt singing voice.

"Remember me, explore and discover,

Everywhere in the world she's just a girl,

For free people, thought is the key to open,

The past is forgotten, but history lives on.

God is a girl wherever you are.

Do you believe it?Can you receive it? ..."

Not to mention the gibberish and incomprehensible lyrics, but the rhythmic electronic dance music is almost ironically cheerful for this bleak moment.Chris was embarrassed, and kept apologizing while busy looking for the phone, "I'm so sorry, I actually forgot to turn off the phone, I thought it was muted as usual..."

The singing continued bouncing and bouncing as he took out his pocket.

"God is a girl, no matter what you say.

Do you believe it?Can you receive it?

God is a girl no matter how you live your life.

Do you believe it?Can you receive it? "

Chris finally found the phone and killed the ringtone with one click, but Billy was still in a daze.

"I don't even know what to say, I'm so sorry," Chris rubbed his forehead.

"I've heard this song before, probably in a mall," Billy blinked like an owl in the sun, "but I don't think I've ever met someone using this as a ringtone?"

Chris smiled awkwardly and said, "I have a daughter who is about the same age as you, and she is very keen on setting ring tones for my mobile phone recently. I thought this song was not too much, so I let her go, no Thinking of... I'm really, really sorry, Billy."

"It's all right, though," Billy hesitated for a moment, then said in a small voice, "can you play it to me? The whole song."

"Hey?"

Chris was stunned for a moment, but seeing the expression of the little boy in front of him, he sighed slightly and didn't ask any more questions.He swiped open the phone screen, found the ringtone song and clicked "Play".The music, brimming with vigor and almost heartless, sounded again:

"She will shine, eternity in space and time.

Her hard work will always be mine.

She wants you to be clean and free,

Be part of the future.

the sky illuminates us;

There are people out there, people we trust.

And the rainbow appears for you and me,

There is a constant sunrise. "

At this moment, Damian stepped on the song "God is a Girl" and rushed down the stairs in two or three steps, his face was very dark.

"Which idiot is playing such vulgar music?" The young master of the Wayne family gritted his teeth and asked.

Billy turned away and smiled suddenly at his brother.For the first time since he entered the old house he smiled so brightly and serenely.

"I asked Mr. Chris to play it. It's his cell phone ringtone. I think it's a nice song."

"What's your taste?! If you dare to put this at home, I won't forgive you..."

The phone was still singing "God is a girl, she's just a girl" when Damian suddenly stopped talking.

"It's dance music, I don't really like it, but I can put it on next time I have a party, it's good for dancing," Billy hummed, stepping on time, "The sky lights us up; someone's out there , who we trust. There is also a rainbow for you and me, and a constant sunrise..."

******

Screenwriters need to die.

After finally clearing "God of War II", Damian only had this idea.

In fact, there is nothing wrong with this game. The characters are cool, the operation is enjoyable, the graphics are exquisite and beautiful, and the story is reasonable—even the ending that has kept him from getting over it until now is actually reasonable?The Goddess of War and Wisdom on the TV screen is still down on the ground, while the protagonist of the game manipulated by the player has stood up straight; Kratos' last shock and regret were annihilated by hatred, even such things as accidentally killing the goddess who has been protecting and helping him Forgotten by him.Seeing that the goddess of wisdom finally disappeared into the invisible in the huge explosion, Damian still couldn't help but dropped the handle once.

Not that he had much affection for the goddess Athena - whatever version - but it was Billy's birthday present for him after all.

When playing "God of War I", although Billy liked the graphics and operation of the game very much, he always had some opinions on the protagonist Kratos.But "God of War II" is obviously not as simple as the protagonist being unlikable, but directly poking Billy's wound.Getting Billy to play this ending would take more than just throwing the controller. It is estimated that he can directly blow up the entire game system to pieces.In any case, this gift should be thrown in the trash.It's not that Damian loves the game console, he loves his brother.Damian looked back at the clock and found that it was nearly two o'clock in the morning, and he felt even more headache.There's school tomorrow and no time to find other presents before Billy's birthday seder.Is it really his own fault, he should have tried "God of War II" long ago instead of waiting until now——

How could it be his fault?Let the screenwriter die! !

As soon as school was over the next day, Damian left his brother and ran downtown.He wandered around various game and sports equipment stores, hoping to find something last minute that his brother would like, but to no avail.So at the family dinner, when Billy finished unpacking the family's mountain of presents and everyone looked at him expectantly, Damian could only shrug.

"I've been too busy recently, so I haven't had time to buy gifts; but Billy, don't worry, I'll definitely supply you tomorrow at the latest."

Seeing that the whole family looked at him with strange expressions, Damian turned his head and said, "Hey, blame Billy himself! Who made his birthday so close to Christmas, and finally picked out a good Christmas present and celebrated his birthday a month later. , who can remember it!"

Dick on the side raised his eyebrows and said, "You're not..." But when Damian stared at him, he just smiled, and obediently shut up.

Billy was smiling as well, holding his arm and shaking, "Then you will give me double for Christmas, and it doesn't matter if I don't give it for my birthday."

"Cut," Damian put on his usual contemptuous expression, "There is no birthday, and there is only a single copy for Christmas. This is the norm, okay? Did you see me accepting birthday presents?"

"Hey! You don't want it yourself, it doesn't mean I don't want it..."

The family banquet finally came to an end amidst the squabbling.After dinner, Damian didn't pretend to be a child and offered to help Alfred clean up the kitchen like Billy did, but instead slipped out of the house to go shopping.When the clock was about to strike midnight, he walked into Billy's room with a large gift box, without knocking as usual.

"Fine, it's not midnight yet, so it's still your birthday," Damian said. "Happy birthday, stupid brother, open presents."

Billy, who had already put on his pajamas and was reading on the bed, blinked his eyes for a long time, and finally said in surprise, "I thought you were going to go on patrol, but you were going shopping? Actually, you don't need to go out and buy me presents at this time." .”

"The one delivered tomorrow is not a birthday present. Hurry up and unwrap it, otherwise what will happen after midnight?"

"it is good!"

Billy jumped out of bed happily and sat down on the rug.He hugged the gift box, unwrapped the colorful wrapping paper, opened the lid of the paper box, and saw that the top of the box was a card, sealed in a small transparent plastic box, which looked like something of little value. Fee's collectibles, like rare baseball cards or something.The frame of the card in the box is black, but it is shining brightly. On the card is a bright girl with red hair and white skirt, holding a pistol tightly in her right hand, and a snow-white owl flapping its wings above her left hand.At the top of the card is a line of gold words: [Minerva, the noble sage of light].

Billy carefully picked up the plastic box and held it in his hands.There are undoubtedly many cultural products based on Greek mythology, and the image of Athena, the goddess of wisdom, is not uncommon, but this card seems to be different.Holding the plastic box in his hands, he seemed to have touched an ancient secret, powerful and illusory, unknown but familiar, as if the existence that had gone away from him had returned to him—at least part of it had returned to him around.

For a long time he asked in a low voice, "What is this?"

"I don't know," Damian replied confidently, "I just saw the image of this card and thought you must like it, and it seemed to be a very valuable collectible, so I decided to buy it for you."

Billy couldn't help being curious, and asked again, "There are also many sculptures of the goddess Athena, oil paintings, copies of classical works, why did you choose something that you don't know?"

"Have you ever seen any classical works?" Damian shrugged again, "As for why you chose this, who knows, inspiration?"

Billy hesitated for a moment, and finally said seriously, "I always feel that there is something different about this card, as if it carries some power and presence; could it be that you also felt it unconsciously? But it's very weak and weak. Feeling, maybe I'm thinking too much—maybe I'm just thinking about her too much."

Damian immediately took a step back, and then gritted his teeth, "If I say that every collectible toy I buy becomes a magic item, I will never end with that boss!! That's not what he told me."

Billy said hastily, "You mustn't trouble anyone casually; it shouldn't be a big problem."

"Should?" Damian squinted at his brother and said, "Are you sure? Why don't you let Captain Fantastic do the identification?"

"Next time, in fact, I also have a certain ability to identify; I said there should be no major problems, so that's it - there will be no major problems, don't worry, okay? You worked so hard to buy me a gift before midnight, don't Let these be destroyed. There is still something in the box, what are these?"

Billy pulled out three more yellow cardboard boxes from the gift box, with dragon-headed griffin-winged creatures and knights in shining armor painted on them.

"The boss said that I paid a lot of money to buy that collectible, so I should buy three more boxes of this kind, and then I can start playing," Damian explained, "The boss said that this is called a duel monster, it seems to be some kind of card Card games, like Magic or Hearthstone, roughly."

"Really?" Billy studied the cardboard box over and over with great interest, "I've never been exposed to this kind of game. Dick said you two played Magic together, was it fun?"

"Dick likes it, I'd rather open a PS4 or a computer to scan the map; but seeing how difficult it is for you to operate the controller, it may be more suitable for this."

Billy opened a yellow cardboard box, pulled out a thick stack of cards, and looked at them one by one.After looking at a few cards, he suddenly let out a "huh" and held up one of the cards to show Damian.The red-haired girl in the white dress with the same picture of a snow-white owl on it was younger than the one in the collection, and her hair was much shorter.

"Minerva evolves in this game! So much fun," Billy exclaimed, eyes sparkling.

Damian didn't speak, just curled his lips, but inside he breathed a sigh of relief: I finally met a reliable screenwriter.

In the months that followed, Damian finally saw what it would be like when Billy got hooked on something; he played God of War and Call of Duty before and could be so lukewarm. , it seems that in the end there is no passion.When he found a game that Billy really liked, Damian felt a little overwhelmed.He often travels to the city to participate in competitions on weekends, and when he has spare time, he starts to think about strategy decks, and falls into a different world with a pile of colorful papers.For the sake of being an honest companion every time Rabilly played games, Damian tried hard to learn the rules of the game a few times, but it was not his fault that he gave up halfway through learning every time.

"What does the third step of the battle mean? How many steps can there be? Seven steps?! Are you kidding me?"

"What does it mean that super monsters have no levels? Aren't there stars drawn on the map? What's the difference between drawing on the left and right?"

"What the hell is a pendulum, why did the designer of this game think it would be a good idea to add another way of summoning?!"

So one day Billy said to him, "Why don't you come to a game with me? Playing against different people a few times should help you get a better understanding of it, and maybe you will like it."

Damian didn't have the nerve to refuse, but seeing Billy handing over the Light Dao deck with an expectant face, he felt a lot of pressure.After all, the Minerva in the center of the deck is Billy's soul.If there is an ultimate mocking script where Minerva must be sacrificed to win the battle, he will definitely kill the scriptwriter.

——Sure enough, when I was thinking about this, I forgot to knock twice on the wooden furniture.

Damian stared at the battle situation on the table, and didn't come back to his senses for a while.His opponent has laid out a table of cards, in short, it is a very powerful battle formation. He is not in the mood to look at the details carefully. He only knows that the theme of the opponent's card group is Star Wars. The implication is that the whole table has powerful attacks. Force spaceship.On his side, only [Minerva: The Noble Saint of Light] smiled and raised his hand to let the owl take off.He holds two [Dragon of Judgment] cards in his hand, and there are already two Light Dao monsters with different names piled up in the cemetery—that is, if he uses [Minerva] to commit a suicide attack, he will be sent to the cemetery. Then activate the effect to stack three cards from the top of the deck to the graveyard, most of the conditions for summoning [Dragon of Judgment] will be met, and then the situation will be reversed instantly.

What did he say before?In fact, he should admit defeat, but it is extremely difficult for Damian to admit defeat when he clearly has the hope of victory-screenwriter, get out of here! !

Billy, who was watching the battle, bit his lip with a hesitant expression.After all, the rule of watching chess and not speaking during the game is still very strict.

At this time, the opponent smiled and said to Billy, "If you want to remind your brother, it's okay, just say it. It's not easy for a novice to learn without someone to guide him. To be honest, even the girl [Minerva] has appeared, what? The situation can be reversed, right? If it was me, I would use [Minerva] to commit suicide.”

Damian glared at his opponent; what he hated most was being looked after as a child.He was about to retort when Billy tugged at his sleeve. "He's right," Billy reminded in a low voice, "Using [Minerva] suicide attack to destroy the effect of sending to the tomb, plus the [Dragon of Judgment] in your hand, these are enough to reverse. "

So Damian simply turned his head and glared at his brother, "Cut, you think I can't see it? You are really big-hearted now!"

The development of the matter was exactly as he had imagined. After [Minerva] was destroyed, the three tombs piled up were exactly three Light Dao monsters with different names, so they took away three spaceships of the opponent.The other party was still lamenting how lucky he was to pile up the tomb, and he didn't have time to lament the [Dragon of Judgment] that fell from the sky and the complete reversal of the situation.While everyone around him applauded the thrilling turnaround, Damian kept his eyes on Billy.

For others it is just a game, but for the two brothers it is a sad history.

"Hey, are you all right?" he asked Billy.

Billy put his hands on a stack of cards in the cemetery, and said softly, "Isn't this appropriate? She really is like that." After a short pause, Billy laughed heartlessly, and said , "It's just a game, don't be so serious! Winning is the key; there are prizes!"

"Hey!" Damian said angrily, "Don't waste my feelings! If I had known why I would find this thing to give you, I would have just given you "God of War II!"

At this time, the opponent smiled again and said, "For the sake of reminding you just now, Billy, how about another round? Your Light Dao deck is really well constructed, but your brother is just getting started, so it doesn't work well. Ziroom, so I want to try to fight with you."

"Okay! I haven't played forehand all night," Billy replied cheerfully, sat down and began to organize the deck.When he was about to start, he asked again, "Is it okay for me to play some music on my mobile phone during the battle? I will try to keep the sound as low as possible, so it won't be too noisy."

So when the round started, I heard bright and cheerful electronic dance music:

"Remember me, explore and discover,

Everywhere in the world she's just a girl,

God is a girl wherever you are.

Do you believe it?Can you receive it? ..."

"Wow!" The surprised and happy opponent slapped the table vigorously, and praised, "I really like that song. Although it is annoying to be bombarded repeatedly in the mall, the song is still great. Hey, speaking of it This song is almost the theme song of the Light Dao deck, [Minerva] must be the god of this deck if she is so powerful——Is that what you mean?"

"Yeah, I really like that song too," Billy said with a smile, his eyes sparkling.It was only the first round, [Minerva] was already standing in front of him, the snow-white owl was spreading its wings.

Damian rubbed his forehead and turned his back to his brother.If there was a video camera capturing everything in their world, Damian must be facing the camera alone at this moment.

"I still think the screenwriter can die," Damian murmured with particular disdain.