A retired magician raises a bucket daily

"You want to live in Gotham? No, absolutely not!"

Reed was sitting in front of the open-air coffee shop, slowly ravaging the pasta on the plate with a fork, the woman on the other end of the phone suddenly raised his voice, and he couldn't help but take the phone away, waiting for the sound to stop It came down from behind the ear before he took it closer and said, "Unfortunately, I only have one real estate in my name, and it's in Gotham."

The other end of the phone was quiet for a while, and the woman said in a heavy tone, "You have no idea what kind of torture you will suffer there."

Reed raised one eyebrow and retorted calmly, "Ms. Amy, I lived there for seven years." Not to mention how could an ordinary criminal beat a magician.

"It's been 20 years, and Gotham is the capital of crime!" Amy said frantically, she was really worried about the safety of the few best-selling novel writers under her command, why did she have to go back to live in Gotham?The money he earned before was enough to buy several high-end villas in New York or the Metropolis.

"Gotham has never changed. I can survive at seven years old. Of course I can survive at 27 years old."

"But--"

"Don't worry, I will deliver the manuscript on time. If necessary, I will also go to the publishing house. Isn't your headquarters in Metropolis? It's very close, don't worry." Reid interrupted his anxious speech as the editor. , Hang up the phone after finishing speaking, and throw her number into the blacklist by the way, let her calm down for a few days before talking.

It has been said that our world is dominated by the extreme, the unknown and the very unlikely.

Just when Reed raised his head, he clearly heard a crisp cracking sound. On the top floor of the newly built building ahead, on a bundle of heavy steel bars hoisted by the crane, the iron cables tied to it broke and had been The steel bars pulled to an altitude of more than 30 meters are falling at a constant speed.

Reed stood up, and no one saw him. Under his beige windbreaker, a complex magic circuit lit up on his left arm, and he disappeared in the next second.

Fortunately, there were not too many people directly below. Reed grabbed an elderly man and a young black man, and behind him, the steel bar stopped steadily one centimeter from the ground, and then a gust of wind came from under it Spread out, and the steel bars fell to the ground smoothly with a "bang".

All around suddenly recovered from the stupefaction, and after a while there was warm applause, and the young man who was pushed to the side by him tried to close his jaw, "wow! Thanksbro!"

The young man recovered from the fear of the rest of his life, and excitedly patted Reid on the back, "Are you a new superhero? That was your superpower just now? Socooooooooool!"

"No, it's just a little effort, I'm not a superhero." Scared by the sudden enthusiasm, Reed explained embarrassingly. From the corner of his eye, he saw someone recording the scene with a mobile phone, and thought that luckily he used magic to affect other people's senses before making the move. , in the eyes of electronic equipment and passers-by, he should be just an ordinary public face. After all, as a magician, the most important thing is to conceal one's identity.

At this moment, his hand tightened suddenly, and another rescued old man held his hand forcefully. Reed turned his head to look at the old man, and waved his hand in front of his eyes, "Are you okay?"

"I..." The old man coughed a few times with his dry throat, and blinked hard, "Thank you, young man."

He finally let go, froze for a moment, reached out his hand to feel in the suit, took out his wallet, took out a business card from it, and handed it to Reed, "I am the technology consultant of Arcata Industries , if you need anything in the future, you can come to me."

Wordsworth Fergus.

Reed looked at the business card, nodded at the old man, and put it in his pocket.The old man laughed, his cloudy eyes seemed to brighten up at that moment, and he said goodbye to him.

And Reid, the former honorary lecturer of Clock Tower, had a side job as a best-selling novel writer in the world. After retirement, his side job became his main job. Just when he was about to start his life as a full-time writer, a new side job appeared-superheroes.

He looked at the more and more people around him with complex expressions, and the people who were trying to come up to take a photo with him, and finally decided on Feng Dun.

People just feel a gust of wind blowing in front of their eyes, and New York's new superhero disappeared again.

Reed quickly returned to his lunch, and the pasta that he had only eaten two bites was not taken away.He calmly sat back in his seat, pretending that he just washed his hands just now.

As for superheroes?

what is that?He was just a retired lecturer who had just returned to his hometown.

In the afternoon, Reed wandered around New York for a while, bought some gadgets that he might use, and then ran to catch the next flight.

This time everything went smoothly, the plane took off on time and landed on time without any delays.

Gotham and the day he left didn't seem to have changed at all. It was still a gloomy day, humid air, and the smell of smoke and rust wafted in the air. A gargoyle that wasn't cute in appearance was sitting on the eaves of a Gothic building.

Reed took a taxi and reported the place name, then leaned on the back seat and looked out the window in a daze.The driver's gloomy gaze looked over from the rearview mirror, and then moved away quickly.

"That place is haunted. We usually don't go there. You have to pay extra." The driver's voice was hoarse and hoarse, and he sounded like a smoker.

"Triple," Reed said.The driver's probing eyes came from the rearview mirror again, and Reed looked back with his head tilted, half-smiling, staring at the driver until his heart was terrified.

"...Then I'll send it to you nearby." The driver gritted his teeth and shivered, stepping on the gas pedal as if afraid of his remorse, and rushed out a second before the red light came.

There are indeed ghosts and dead spirits in the world, and they gather in all kinds of depraved and dark corners, eating away the souls of human beings.It stands to reason that with Gotham's folk customs so simple that the whole world has heard of it, this city should have been taken over by demons long ago, and it has completely fallen into a dead city.But Gotham didn't, and it was even too clean. At least Reed passed by all the way, and he didn't feel any breath of "spirit".

This is amazing, is Gotham so depraved that even the evil spirits don't want to come?Or are those lunatics in Gotham persecuting ghosts together?

Reed got out of the car, dragged the suitcase and walked towards the address in his memory.

This is a residential area, but many have moved out in recent years, making the streets appear empty, and the street signs look weather-beaten, crooked and covered with rust.

The driver who brought him said it was haunted.That's when the driver pulled over in front of the road, smoked a cigarette, and he asked Reed, do you see the fog ahead?That fog will eat people.As the driver said, he lowered the car window, squinted his eyes and looked at the dim street lights and said that both the passers-by and the residents there would be eaten by the fog from time to time.Although they would come out of the fog again after a while, those who came back said that they were trapped in it, trapped in this street and couldn't find the exit.

The street is very quiet, and a few bright lights are hung in front of each house, so that people who get lost can find their way home.

Reed continued to walk forward while checking the house number. He knew very well in his heart that this was not a supernatural phenomenon. It was just some problems with the magic circle, which led to a deviation in consciousness.

20 years ago, his mother took him from Gotham to London overnight. Because he was in a hurry, he didn't have time to bring anything. In order to prevent people from entering by mistake or encountering thieves, his mother left a bag with a A magic circle that confuses consciousness, so that most people will ignore this house subconsciously.

Maybe his mother didn't expect that she would never come back after that. Too much time passed, and there was a problem with that rough temporary magic circle. Maybe it was a new change with a certain ceremony at home. That's why the current state of "ghosts hitting the wall" has been created.

Reed stood in front of a house, showing a faint smile. He took out an old copper key from his pocket, and stepped forward to open the door.

"Clatter", he heard a sound like a gem shattering, and the fragile magic circle finally dissipated when Reed pushed the door in. At the same time, the faint mist that shrouded the area gradually faded away.

The stagnant air in the room surged again.The old dust rolled in the house with the smell of dried flowers from his childhood memories.

Reed closed the door, leaned his back against the door panel, and said softly, "I'm back."