Shadow trail of the beautiful world

Chapter 39 38. The Last Night in Oakland

Merlin is not the kind of person who purely does good deeds without expecting anything in return.

But he hasn't lost the line yet, taking something from a teenager.

He wanted to refuse Eric's "reward", but the kid didn't give him time to refuse, and ran out in a hurry, and Merlin could only follow behind him.

Eric grew up in this neighborhood, and he knows the terrain here very well.He led Merlin through several alleys and came to an almost abandoned parking lot.Eric parked next to a semi-old black pickup truck, looked around vigilantly, then reached out to touch the bottom of the pickup truck, and took out a key.

He turned back and smiled at Merlin, then opened the car door with the key, and took out a black bag from under the seat.

He sat on the seat, handed the black bag to Merlin, and looked at him hopefully.

"This was left by my father before he disappeared. He treasured these things and kept many of the same tin cans at home. But after the fire was extinguished, I went home and looked, and those cans disappeared."

Eric said to Merlin:

"Now that's the only one left in the car."

"I'm having a hard time finding your father and uncle, Eric."

Merlin didn't look at the contents of the bag, he handed the bag back to the little boy Eric, he said:

"On the night of the bombing, I was indeed hiding on your floor, and I heard strangers talking to your father. I heard them say, take your father back to Wakanda... It is your hometown."

Merlin looked at the little boy in front of him, and said:

"You should know where that place is, right?"

"I know!"

Eric knew the news about his father, and a joyful expression suddenly appeared on his bloody face.What he was most afraid of was that his father was dead, but now from Merlin, he saw hope again.

He took the pocket from Merlin, and he said to Merlin:

"My father often told me stories about Wakanda. I knew that place was in Africa, but my father said that Wakanda on the map is just a disguise. People who are not recognized cannot find the real Wakanda. .”

"Then you should be fine."

Merlin leaned against the car, chatting with this somewhat precocious boy, he said:

"Aren't you a Wakandan through and through? Do you need me to buy a plane ticket and take you home to find your father?"

"Well, actually, I'm not exactly Wakandan."

Eric said to Merlin sadly:

"My dad is Wakanda, but my mom isn't. My mom is from Oakland and she got involved in a street shootout a few years ago and left me and dad. And dad never took me back to Wakandan. Kanda, he always said, when I grow up, he'll take me back. So I haven't been there either."

"Oh, is that so?"

Merlin sensed a hint of ominousness from Eric's explanation.

He is a female warrior who has seen Wakanda with his own eyes, and how crazy he can be for the king's order.

This also means that Wakanda may have advanced technology, but the place should still be ruled by the ancient feudal system.

It is well known that a major feature of any stable feudal system is the advocacy of blood.

Although Eric's father Enjob is the prince of Wakanda, Eric's mother is not Wakanda. In the eyes of some blood theory fools, maybe this means that the child's blood is not pure .

This is also very likely the reason why Eric's father never took him home...

Well, the situation of this child is surprisingly similar to that of Little Arthur.Moreover, it is impossible for those Wakanda warriors not to know that Enjob has a son, but they took away Enjobu, but not Eric. The side also shows that Merlin's guess is probably correct.

It seems that the mysterious country Wakanda, which has amazing technology and can produce precious vibration gold weapons, is also a closed country.

But Merlin didn't point out the matter.

For one thing, the child might not understand.

Secondly, it's not his business after all, it's someone else's family business, he shouldn't meddle casually.

Merlin looked at the sky, he lowered his head and said to Eric who was sitting in the car:

"Keep the 'treasure' left to you by your father. Maybe you should listen to your father and wait until you grow up before looking for Wakanda. Oh, by the way, those people just now really belonged to your father friend?"

"no!"

Eric said with a look of disgust:

"My dad never made friends with the gangsters in the neighborhood. They were just there to blackmail me, and my dad and uncle disappeared and I couldn't find anyone else to help me."

"Well... do you have a place to live now?"

Merlin looked Eric up and down, the child should have not bathed for several days.Facing Merlin's inquiry, Eric stretched out his hand and patted the semi-old car. He said:

"I've been living here for the past few days, and my father left some money in the car, which is enough for me to eat."

"Have you no other relatives?"

Merlin frowned, facing his inquiry, Eric shook his head:

"My father is from Wakanda. He has no relatives in the local area. My mother also has a younger brother, but he was put in prison for robbery a few years ago. They sent me to an orphanage. I don't want to go."

Having said that, Eric raised his head, and he said stubbornly:

"My father isn't dead, he just... just came home. I'm not an orphan!"

A few seconds later, the little boy raised his head again. He looked at Merlin, and there was a trace of expectation in his eyes again. He said to Merlin:

"Boss, why don't I hang out with you, you must be very good at fighting like this! All the children in this neighborhood hope to find a good boss when they grow up, earn more money, and enjoy life."

"What kind of boss is not the boss!"

Merlin didn't like Eric's occasional gang temperament. It seemed that this kid had been in this neighborhood with poor security for a long time, and he had already been affected by the bad thinking in other people's minds.

He frowned and said to Eric:

"Kids should go to school! Then graduate and get a decent job and be a decent person. I'm not a boss, I'm a... well, I'm a government employee, get it? Public office! A decent person. "

"But no one here likes public servants."

Little Eric retorted:

"Those policemen only bully ordinary people. I even saw them drinking with some local bosses."

"That's them, not me!"

Merlin stretched out his finger and tapped Eric hard on the head. After thinking about it for a while, he said to Eric:

"You kind of saved my life, I can't just leave you in this damn hell. So, pack up, come with me, and I'll take you to New York and find you a homestay there. You Go to school there, and when you grow up, I'll send you to Wakanda and your father, how about that?"

"Don't hit me on the head."

Eric hugged his head and avoided Merlin's finger tapping. He curled up on the chair and said to Merlin:

"What if my father comes back and can't find me? I don't want to leave here, even if it's a bit dilapidated and dangerous, but it's always my home."

"Then leave a message for the children you know well. If your father comes back, he will naturally find you through the information. Didn't you say that your father is very smart?"

"Well, that's fine too."

Eric considered it for a few minutes, then nodded.

He jumped out of the car, handed the car keys to Merlin, and said:

"Let's go then, I'll take you to find some of my best friends. Oh, yes, boss, you can take this thing."

After Merlin sat in the driver's seat of the pickup truck, Eric lifted the bag next to the seat again. He leaned behind the driver's seat, as if showing a toy, took out the contents of the bag, and said to Merlin :

"Look! It's beautiful, and it glows in the dark."

"Ok?"

Merlin glanced back, and saw a strange metal pot at Eric's feet.

In the center of the jar is a cylinder made of glass, and in the jar tens of centimeters high, there is something similar to liquid and semi-solid, which emits a little bit of fluorescence in the dark night, the blue The light looks truly beautiful.

"What is this thing?"

Merlin reached out and took the thing in his hand.It's quite heavy to start with, about 2kg or so.

He had never seen this kind of thing before, and only felt that this thing was full of high-tech feeling. He leaned on the driver's seat, extended his dark perception, and tried to get close to the weird pot in his hand, but strange things happened.

It was as if something was blocking Merlin's observation, and his perception couldn't penetrate the jar, as if he had encountered an obstacle.

Merlin narrowed his eyes suddenly, and he guessed what it was.

That night, Merlin overheard the conversation between the Black Panther King of Wakanda and Enjob. The Black Panther said that their country had been attacked and someone stole 0.25 tons of original vibration gold. Those who are in collusion...

And Merlin has also perceived the Wakanda female warrior wearing armor. He knows that vibranium, an extremely hard metal, can resist darkness perception.

In other words, the thing in his hand is likely to be one of the vibration gold stolen from Wakanda by Enjob and others.

The female mercenary Lingdie once told him that the price of vibrating gold on the black market is high, and a mercenary as powerful as her can secretly take away the vibrating gold weapon of the female warrior Okna without any shame, which already shows the value of this thing. precious.

Merlin felt as if he was holding a real treasury in his hands.

"Put it away!"

Merlin handed the liquid vibration gold to Eric, and he instructed:

"Don't tell anyone else that you have this..."

"It is very precious. Maybe in the future, after you grow up, you will rely on it to return to Wakanda."

"If it's really so precious, then you can keep it for me, boss."

Eric smiled. It is difficult for a child of his age to understand the value of Zhenjin, but the scenes and things he saw in the neighborhood made him learn to rely on the strong. In his eyes, Merlin is a strong .

Merlin glared at him and said:

"Don't call me Boss, call me Merlin. And, this is your thing. If you want to rely on it to return to your hometown, you should take good care of it. Everyone who knows about it has already left, and no one will pay attention to you anymore. As long as you don't talk nonsense yourself, there's no danger."

"Okay, Merlin."

Eric shrugged. He knew the news about his father and found a new backer. This made him feel happy. He leaned on the back seat, humming a song, and pulled out a game console from under the seat. Ding Ding Ding Ding began to play.

"Wait here, I'm going to buy something."

When passing by a convenience store, Merlin stopped the car and said something to Eric behind him.Then he opened the car door and walked into the convenience store. He bought some things, and when he checked out, he said to the boss:

"I'll use the phone, okay?"

"Then give me an extra 2 yuan!"

The boss is an old woman wearing glasses with a fierce temper.

Merlin paid the money, walked to the side, picked up the phone, glanced outside, dispelled his dark perception, and dialed a number.

After a few rings, the phone was connected, and a gentle voice rang through the microphone:

"Hello, this is Wayne Manor, I am Alfred, the steward of the Wayne family..."

"Hello, Fu."

Merlin said softly:

"Thank you for your help, I survived."

The voice from the microphone stopped, and after a few seconds, Old Ah Fu's voice sounded again:

"You are Merlin, right? I'm glad to hear that you are still safe. If you are really the young master's friend, then this is what I should do. So, Merlin, can you tell me now, where the young master went? A lot of people are worried about him."

"Sorry, I can't."

Merlin says:

"I promised Bruce not to give away his whereabouts. But I can tell you that he's safe and in a new place, planning his own adventure...he's going back to Gotham, he told me , When he finds what he wants, he will return to his hometown. So, Ah Fu, be patient."

"Oh, the young master is always so stubborn."

The old Ah Fu on the other side of the microphone sighed, and the butler said in a sad voice:

"Ever since the master and madam died of serious illness when he was nine years old, he has been..."

"Come on, Fu."

Merlin laughed, and said:

"Don't test me, Bruce told me all about his childhood. It was 8 years old, in Crime Lane, his parents were killed by a mugger named Zilly... The play of the day, it was "Zorro" , and you were in the parking lot not far from them when it happened, and you couldn't save the tragedy."

"Well, it seems that you are indeed the young master's friend. If you weren't a real friend, he wouldn't have told you these things."

Old Afu was really relieved, and he said to Merlin in a cheerful tone:

"Anyway, thanks for the news you brought, I can finally sleep well tonight."

"In addition, if necessary, you can call this number and give me an address by the way, and I will send you a few things. Don't always use the public phone on the street...It is easy to be found out. I don't want to see the day Saw bad things about the Wayne family on the news."

Merlin smiled and said:

"It will take a few days for me to settle down, and I will contact you when the time comes. Also, thank you again, Fu."

"If you really want to thank me, tell me where the young master has gone."

Old Afu complained:

"He should stay at home, like any other young man, find those chicks to drink and have a good time, and preferably leave the Wayne family blood. Instead of freezing and starving somewhere in the world, and maybe suffering into danger."

"Don't worry, Fu, Bruce is strong."

Merlin looked at the night outside the window, he said softly:

"He's powerful, much stronger than you think...and, doom, is far away from him."

(End of this chapter)