Shadow trail of the beautiful world

Chapter 272 37. Goodbye Stan--add more for brother wyy1314【2440】

Old Stan, this is a person who has had a great impact on Merlin's life.

When he was at a loss due to the power of demons, it was Stan who gave him the direction to move forward.Although the old man's persuasion at that time was also regarded as self-help, this did not prevent him from becoming the leader of Merlin's heroic road.

After almost 10 years, the two met again. Old Stan was still a cartoonist with witty words, but Merlin had already experienced too many things.

On his face, he can still see the imprint of his youthful years, but the calm and obscure temperament that emerges from his body seems to prove that he has become a person who is not too big or too small.

He's going to do something big in the end, that's for sure.

In the slightly narrow box of Mick's Restaurant, Merlin and Old Stan were sitting opposite each other, and the table between them was filled with snacks and drinks, like a scene where old friends reunited.

"After you left, I went back to the east coast, and a few months later, a guy named Nick Fury knocked on my door in the middle of the night, and frankly, it was not a person who felt Rest assured."

Old Stan sat on the sofa and complained to Merlin:

"He has a lot of information and forced me to tell you about you."

"Then you said it?"

Merlin asked with a hint of a smile.

"Of course I did."

The old man shrugged, a sly look flashed in his eyes:

"7 points are true, 3 points are false. I am a man who draws cartoons. It is not difficult for me to make up a slightly absurd but logical story."

"Ok."

Merlin picked up a fried golden and crispy French fries with his fingers, dipped in the black pepper powder on hand, put it in his mouth, chewed, and said:

"But Fury found me anyway, he is very good at putting together clues together, he spent 2 years looking for my traces all over North America, and finally pulled me into his department .”

"I'm a public servant now, a secret agent."

Merlin said to Old Stan:

"Fry is my immediate boss."

"Cool!"

There was a gleam of interest in the old man's eyes, he picked up the paper and pen at hand, and he said impatiently:

"Tell me about the stories you have experienced over the years, er, I know you have some confidentiality regulations and the like, pick what you can tell."

"Let me think."

Merlin quickly recalled those things in the past. He thought about it, and it seemed that he couldn't tell Old Stan most of the things. After all, he was just an ordinary person.Things like magic, Titans, and mechanical civilization all involve confidentiality. It seems that only the alien invasion incident at the end of 1994 can be used to talk about it.

"Okay, do you still remember the alien incident that made a lot of noise in late 94 and early 95?"

Merlin picked up the watermelon juice with ice, put a stick into the glass, and said to old Stan:

"You should have seen it with your own eyes, right?"

"of course."

Old Stan reached out and pushed his tea red sunglasses, he said to Merlin:

"The other day I was in my studio thinking about a new comic, and when I heard the screams from the street, I got up, went to the window, and saw these black things floating in the sky... I was terrified Broken, I took out the pistol in the drawer and didn't know how to protect me with that thing, I thought it was the end of the world, so I spent 10 minutes and wrote a suicide note."

"But then, everything went smoothly again."

The old man said with some regret:

"I was expecting to see big-headed, green-skinned aliens."

"Well, they're not green-skinned and they don't have big heads."

Merlin corrected:

"They are called the Cree, and they belong to the Cree Empire on the edge of the southern Milky Way. They have blue skin, and their appearance is similar to ours, but they are taller and stronger. There are nobles in their civilization, and the division of social classes seems to be It's also related to blood, some of the Cree nobles have skin color similar to ours, you may not know it yet, but we did capture several Cree people during that battle, including a nobleman."

Merlin stretched out his finger, pointed to the sky, pointed to himself, and said:

"I captured the captive myself. And when those missiles fell to the earth, I was tens of thousands of meters above the ground, fighting those Kerry bastards, among the stars in space."

"Cool!"

Old Stan let out a sigh of appreciation, and while he was quickly recording on paper with a pen, he asked:

"I heard they have a fleet? How did you defeat them? Also, I saw a blonde woman flying around in the air that day. Who is she? Is it a superhero? Do you know her?"

"With the help of a lot of people, mutants, and another batch of aliens, we fought hard, but we got away with it. As for her... well, she was a hero."

A trace of nostalgia flashed in Merlin's eyes, and he said softly:

"I can't tell you her name, but our internal code name for her is 'Captain Marvel', and you might be able to use that name."

"team leader?"

Old Stan rubbed his chin and said:

"This reminds me of Steve, but she looks much better than Steve, at least I remember Steve can't fly. And from your tone, you seem to have a good relationship with her? Do you have any? In a relationship? Come on, I can't wait to hear the story."

"Your imagination is too rich, Stan."

Merlin smiled and said:

"I have no special relationship with her. She was born free, but was brought back to their empire by the Cree in an accident. In the following years, her memory was washed away, and she has been the elite of the Cree. The warrior fought in the galaxy, and then she regained her memory and was on our side. How should I put it? I had a little contact with her, but she's back among the stars now..."

"So you still miss her?"

Old Stan stared at Merlin with piercing eyes, and said:

"You can't hide the tenderness in your voice when you talk about her. When I was young, I was a bum, you know, and these things can never be hidden from the old man, and the old man can always Guess everything."

"Uh, okay."

Facing old Stan's questioning, Merlin shook his head helplessly, and said:

"It's true that we had a brief relationship, but to be honest, I don't know what to do with a story that's been over five years. I feel like I'm stuck."

"You should probably learn to let go."

While writing and drawing in his notebook, the old man said to Merlin:

"The results of long-distance relationships are often not very good, not to mention that the distance between you is too far away. Whether it is from the earth to the stars, or the lives of two people, they are all separated by light years. I admit that, with a superhero I can't imagine what it's like to be in a relationship, but it's certainly not perfect."

"What I mean is, if you are a human being, it is better to find a human girlfriend. At least two people can understand each other."

"I know."

Merlin took a sip of watermelon juice, and said sadly:

"I am also trying to get rid of that influence, but the problem is that there are too few women around me. Some people say that my social circle is too narrow."

"Secret workers, understandable."

Old Stan raised his head and looked at Merlin, he showed a gentle and understanding smile, he said:

"You have too many secrets to protect, and you will always subconsciously keep a distance from people who want to get close to you. With this method, it is difficult for you to accept a strange woman walking into your life."

"You need to be rational at all times, but in love, the more rational you are, the more troublesome you are."

While talking, the old man touched his nose and said:

"I do know some young, lively, beautiful, and passionate young girls, but you are too different from them. It's not a big problem to play occasionally, but if you really find someone to accompany you, they must not suitable."

"Ah."

Merlin nodded, acquiescing to what Old Stan said.

After a few seconds, he looked up and said to old Stan:

"Stop talking about me all the time, what about you? Stan, have you experienced anything interesting over the years?"

"I'm an old man in his late twenties, Merlin."

Stan pointed to his head and said to Merlin:

"My life has changed, and it's hard to expect a story as exciting as yours. However, speaking of it, I had some weird experiences 3 years ago."

Having said that, Old Stan rubbed his forehead, he said with some doubts:

"It was at the end of 97, I went to the Veteran's Club for a Christmas party, and at the party, I met an old man who looked like Steve, you know? It was Captain America Steve Rogers, I should give you As I said, I fought in the war when I was young, and I also had contact with the captain."

"Ok?"

Merlin became interested. He stretched out his finger. In the black smoke, the old Steve's face in his memory appeared in front of old Stan with a vivid posture. He asked:

"Is it this person?"

Old Stan looked at the face made of smoke in front of him. He took off his sunglasses and changed into a pair of reading glasses. He looked carefully for several minutes, then nodded:

"Yes, that's him! He came with Ms. Carter at the time. The unit I was in was under the management of Ms. Carter for a while, and Ms. Carter and I were considered casual friends."

"Did you talk to him, Stan."

Merlin asked:

"I mean, aren't you even curious about his identity?"

"Of course I'm curious."

Stan said:

"But we drank too much that night, and I was sent home by some girls in a hangover. I didn't have time to talk to the weird old man, but if I remember correctly, he There should be contact information in the veterans club. That's our tradition, on the battlefield, we win together, and after the war, we help each other."

"Then can you help me find the contact information left by old Steve?"

Merlin pursed his lips and said to Old Stan:

"I have some very important things, and I need to get an answer from him. I can't tell you what it is, but I can guarantee that it is very important and necessary."

"Okay, I'll help you find it."

Old Stan put away his notebook, and he said to Merlin:

"But don't get too hopeful, the contact information he left may have expired, after all, more than three years have passed."

"Well, no matter what the result is, I have to thank you."

Merlin raised his wrist, looked at the time, and said to Old Stan:

"Then that's all for today. I've invited someone to have dinner in your restaurant to talk about something. I'm going to wait for her."

"Well, let's go."

The old man lit a cigar, waved his hand, and said to Merlin:

"The Kree story is great, I'm going to get some alone time and come up with a new story, the main character... let's say 'Captain Marvel'. I have a hunch it's going to be a great superhero story, yes I'll send you a copy after the manga is released."

"You could actually draw some other stories."

Merlin stood up, picked up his steel cane, turned to Old Stan and said:

"For example, the story of a group of secret agents who specialize in dealing with occult affairs."

"That's corny!"

old stan said:

"It was drawn decades ago, and readers don't like that style anymore."

"Uh, okay."

Merlin hesitated for a moment, he shrugged:

"Anyway, I think it's quite interesting. I'm going, Stan, take care of yourself, we'll talk next time."

Merlin pushed open the door of the small box and walked into the lobby of Mick's Bistro. He found an edge, unobtrusive corner, ordered a few famous snacks and desserts of the restaurant, and served the second order of French fries When it was delivered, Vivian Graham, who was wearing a black suit and looked very similar to a sales manager, walked into the restaurant with a handbag.

Merlin waved to her, and after a while, Vivienne, who seemed to be in a good mood, sat on the chair opposite Merlin.

"I just happened to be in New York these days to attend a seminar of a world environmental organization."

Vivienne picked up a hamburger, ate it in disregard of her image, and said to Merlin:

“Everything is good there, the academic atmosphere is good, but the healthy food on offer is kind of horrible... Well, the burger tastes great.”

"Then you should probably wait, the pizza here is the real deal."

Merlin smiled and pushed a piece of French fries to Vivienne's hand. He said:

"How is Serizawa?"

"The tutor has been very good recently."

Vivian says:

"He has been running back and forth between Mona Island and Skull Island. With the potions you provided, we have learned a lot about the habits of the Titans in the past few years, and we have also managed to get some of KONG's blood. The sample, in short, is an amazing result, but unfortunately, it cannot be published in an academic journal."

"That's good."

Merlin looked around, then stretched out his hand, took out a few pieces of paper from his pocket, handed it to Vivienne, and said:

"I would like to ask you and Qinze some personal matters this time...I mean, don't want anyone to reveal the existence of this project until there is a result. It is of great significance. Once the news is leaked, you may be punished. Some people with malicious intentions are watching."

"what is this?"

Vivienne ate the last piece of hamburger. While wiping her hands with a napkin, she picked up the paper that Merlin handed over. She looked at the complicated and weird drug configuration process and those alchemy materials that she had never heard of. After a few seconds, she raised her head, pushed back her wine-red glasses, and said:

"It looks like some kind of ancient potion formula? Did you find it in those medieval magic books? What's the use of this thing? What do you want us to do with it?"

"Don't worry, let's talk about these questions one by one."

Merlin picked up the watermelon juice, took a sip, and said softly:

"This thing...you can understand it as a simplified version of the 'super soldier' ​​formula."

(End of this chapter)