Volume 1: Welcoming Gotham Chapter 44 Behold, I have turned this curse into clay!
"This may be painful, so you must be mentally prepared. Try to relax your body and mind, don't think too much, and use your heart to feel what is about to emerge in your body...
It may be scorching hot.
The worst case scenario would be like a sharp knife piercing and tearing every part of your body.
You may feel pain and scream.
But don't be afraid.
This is all normal.
Once you adapt to the power from the other dimension, you will feel a sense of joy in the power.
If you’re a villain, you even revel in it and enjoy the power.”
Zha Kang's voice reached Mason's ears, along with the rising smell of strange incense, which made Mason, who was sitting cross-legged in a newly drawn hexagram magic circle, frown.
He adjusted his breathing and closed his eyes as Constantine instructed, and then complained softly:
"Do you have to describe a mysterious ritual in such a vulgar way? Don't think I don't know what you are hinting at, you dirty fellow."
"Ha ha ha ha"
The unscrupulous scumbag mage burst into laughter, puffing smoke from his cigarette as he said:
"Oh, our little Mason actually knows all this? When we first met, I used magic to confirm that you were a novice, but you could understand my vulgar jokes.
It seems that you are not a good kid usually.
I'm just asking you to relax a little.
After all, we are dealing with the power of the evil god now. If you are unlucky, the moment you feel the darkness, the ten nearby blocks will be torn apart instantly.
Tens of thousands of people will die because of your mistake.
So don’t put any psychological pressure on yourself.”
Zha Kang sprinkled a ball of yellow sand-like glowing powder on the magic circle next to Mason, patted the young man on the shoulder and whispered to him:
“Even if you go to hell, there will be tens of thousands of people accompanying you. You will have a VIP seat and become a legendary figure in the Nine Layers of Hell in the past few hundred years.
You won’t be lonely and it’s so grand. I’m so envious that I’m crying.”
"You need to reflect on this."
Mason steadied his breath and said sarcastically:
"Is it because you talk too much when you should be working hard in bed and your tongue is not flexible enough that Xiao Zha kicked you out?"
"This is a good dirty rant, I give you 9 points! Keep up the good work. But you will never have a lover as perfect as Zack in this life, so you can just be jealous of me.
I will enjoy the sour envy.”
Zha Kang snorted.
While retorting, he took a step back and lit up another silky cigarette. This kind of luxury product had obviously become a kind of "medium for casting spells" in Zha Kang's hands.
The moment he lit the cigarette, his khaki windbreaker spread out backwards without wind.
His hands were clenched into a very twisted and strange seal that did not seem to be something a normal person could make. When his hands touched, balls of black flames ignited simultaneously in six directions around Mason.
Waves of crimson light burst out from the floor beneath the young man's seat, as if a space passage leading to an alternate dimension had opened.
Mason, who was sitting firmly on the ground, had a strange feeling of "weightlessness", as if he was falling.
"Hold on!"
Zha Kang said sternly:
"The tattoo and curse on your arm are positioning coordinates that allow you to sense the source of power in the multiverse, but don't actively approach it!
Don't even try to call it!
Otherwise the real world will be exposed to its eyes.
Now listen to my instructions. The first step is to raise your left hand and focus your attention on the tattoo. That thing is a living thing living on your body. It can feel your gaze and your emotions.
Tell it.
You need strength..."
The moment Mason followed Zha Kang's instructions and completed the second step, his consciousness suddenly froze, and Zha Kang's voice sounded distant and empty, as if it came from another world.
It felt like Mason's soul was frozen in a sea of stars where there was no concept of time.
He could see the sky full of shining stars and darkness coexisting.
I can even see colorful nebulae in the distance, as if the mysteries of the entire universe are presented before my eyes, but unfortunately I am a poor student and cannot appreciate these truths.
Mason didn't know whether the scene before him represented some kind of manifestation of parallel worlds and the multiverse, but he was sure that this picture was definitely the origin of the name "Star Meeting".
But after the shock of the first few seconds, Mason's consciousness quickly became a little panicked. He wondered what would happen if he couldn't go back? Would he be wandering in this unknown place forever?
That scumbag Zha Kang didn't tell me at the beginning that there would be such a process!
However, this panic came and went quickly. As if sensing Mason's helplessness, a familiar thing soon appeared in front of the young man.
A translucent light curtain unfolded in his field of vision, and familiar figures appeared one after another.
Mason could even feel a "slow and calm" temperament from the emergence of those words, as if the strange thing before him was nothing in front of his golden finger.
At this moment, the young man also felt an inexplicable sense of confidence.
He didn't know who put this magical thing into his soul, but he was sure that in front of his power, the evil god that the stars believed in was no more than this!
"External power access detected...The power path is negative. Hell mythology system. The highest level of the fallen godhead derivative of the devil creature branch...The power access form is: granting/strengthening.
A destructive power shift begins... New talents are being generated.
The new talent unlocked on the mysterious side is [Magic Fire].
Added new skill [Craftsman: Fire Manipulation Lv0].
New trait [Mystic: Can sense and manipulate magic and supernatural energy]. "
This line of words gave Mason a hint that the situation was clear to him; Zha Kang's spell was effective.
That scumbag was rarely reliable, but according to the character card, that power should be destructive in nature, and it was his own ability that transformed it into a harmless enhanced mode.
So in the final analysis, Zha Kang is still an unreliable bastard.
Now Mason no longer felt guilty about letting Zhakang join the gang.
A few seconds after the character card indicated that the new talent had been unlocked, the young man clearly felt that the strange starry sky in front of him began to reject him.
His consciousness was pushed back into his body.
At the same time, in a certain dimension of an unknown parallel world, a being felt that a trace of his power was being prayed for.
But it was different from the previous grants and prayers. This time, the power that belonged to me disappeared as soon as it left my body. It was as if it was swallowed up by some invisible existence, and I lost control of that trace of power forever!
"interesting……"
The being said it softly, but only sent a message to his believers asking them to check it out, but he did not pay too much attention to it.
It's just a trace of strength. If it's gone, it's gone.
Perhaps in the past, this would have made me extremely angry, but in the current bleak situation, it is not the time to use my precious energy on such things.
At the same time, in a special dimension located between multiple parallel worlds, in a unique area called "Star Castle".
Mr. Hunter, uh, perhaps it should be Ms. Hunter, who had just finished the work at hand and was about to get up and move around, suddenly felt a message sent from the soul level.
"A bit of Lord Fate's power was stolen? It seems that the method was through the Star Society's "Curse"? This is really a rare thing."
The hunter lady moved her fingers for a moment, and then said to her two colleagues, the Swordsman and the Warlock, in the soul link communication:
"You two can continue with your own business. I will investigate this incident."
After getting the consent of the other two great mentors, Mr. Hunter changed back into his "male" attire. He put on a mask and stood in front of the gorgeous and ancient floor-to-ceiling window. There was a suppressed light floating in his eyes under .
If the power of Lord Fate can be stolen... does that mean that he and his companions can also be completely free...
No!
I can’t think any further!
Mr. Hunter used her strong willpower to stop this thought. She let out a long breath and flicked her fingers wearing black hunter gloves lightly.
An old card jumped into my hand.
She stroked the man on the card who had long been dead but lived forever in her heart.
There is a hidden symbol in the bottom corner of the card, just like the symbol K at the bottom of Old K's Gwent card, except that there is a black "Q" on the edge of Mr. Hunter's card.
"Old K, you poor, tortured creature, may you rest in peace. A hunter who doesn't want to become a hound cannot stop... It's time to start again."
A few minutes later, Crime Alley, Gotham City.
"call!"
Mason opened his eyes and breathed a sigh of relief like a drowning man who had been rescued. He felt like he was about to suffocate, and he gasped for breath and looked around blankly.
The scumbag in front of him smiled and walked forward to monitor Mason's condition. He said irresponsibly:
"You are still alive and conscious, and your body has not been taken over by the evil god. Cool! My spell actually worked. The success rate is less than 15%. If you round it up, it is no different from suicide.
You're really lucky, Mason."
"Get lost, you unprofessional fellow! That's not an evil god! That's a devil! A devil with divine power!"
Mason pushed Zha Kang away angrily and scolded him.
Zha Kang, who was smiling happily, was struck by lightning when he heard the word "godhood". He trembled, looked around, and pounced on Mason's counter to search frantically.
The young man stood up feeling dizzy.
Every breath he took seemed like inhaling burning smoke, making his throat very uncomfortable. He grabbed a glass of water and drank it, then shouted at Zha Kang again.
"What are you crazy about?"
"A time machine! I'm looking for a time machine! Just like in those funny Japanese anime, there must be a time machine in your closet that can travel through time, right?"
Zha Kang screamed:
"Let me go back to an hour ago, no, let me go back to three days ago! I want to kick that hellish succubus who seduced me back into the toilet, and then hug my little Zha and fool around for seven days and seven nights !
Damn it!
I shouldn't have come to Gotham!
You bastard, do you know what a devil with godhood means?
The number of people with godhood in the entire Nine Layers of Hell and the entire Heaven Mountain cannot even be gathered on one hand! How could you have provoked such a terrifying existence!
No, how could I, who has always been cautious and self-protective, get into such trouble? "
"Because I'm generous enough?"
Mason said coldly:
"Or because you're greedy enough?"
"I have no grudge against you, Mason, but your damn generosity is killing me!"
Zha Kang didn't even have the energy to say anything weird.
He glared at Mason fiercely, waved his hand with a sad face, drew a portal with a cigarette butt, took his spoils, jumped in with a whoosh as if avoiding the god of plague, and disappeared without a trace.
Before the green portal disappeared, Zha Kang stretched out his left hand and made an undignified gesture towards Mason to say goodbye to him.
Goodbye to you.
Let's never meet again in this life, okay?
Mason watched Zha Kang leave without saying anything to keep him.
A friendship ended just like that, but he was sure that his "evil fate" with Zha Kang had just begun.
However, he now felt the heat in his body becoming more and more obvious, and he could barely control it. He picked up the water cup and planned to take another sip, but the hot air coming out of his nostrils directly ignited the paper cup in his hand.
No!
It's not sparks coming out of the nostrils, but fingers.
Mason raised his left hand with his eyes wide open. Suppressed flames were rising from between his fingers. It looked scary but his skin was not burnt, he just felt slightly hot.
The young man panicked for a few seconds and kept shaking his hands to try to put it out.
But he soon found that he could control these flames. Although he was not very skilled, he could indeed slightly control the strength and shape of the flames burning in his palms.
"Is this the 'devil fire'?"
Mason let the flames float on his five fingers as if he had found a new toy. He stared at the flames, tilted his head and thought:
"But what's the use of it? You can't fire it out and pretend you're a high-ranking member of the 'Five Fireballs Cult'. Do you have to use your palms to burn people at close range?
Or is there some special usage that we haven't discovered yet?"
With this thought in mind, the young man turned his head and picked up a tailor's ruler on the counter and held it in his hand. The flames quickly bent the ruler and even melted it.
Mason raised his eyebrows and began to control the temperature and direction of the flame purposefully.
A minute later, as the young man watched in surprise, he successfully "reshaped" the thin iron ruler into a piece of postmodern steel "artwork" of some god-awful sort.
"Ha! It's 'Craftsman: Flame Manipulation' after all!"
Mason laughed and raised his left hand. He said:
"Now I don't even need a forge, and the forging branch that has been giving me headaches can finally be put on the agenda. I know that this power of rebirth is destined to make me a versatile craftsman!
very good!
That's all you want. I don't like fighting or anything like that anyway.
Too violent.
Not elegant at all. ”
——
Half an hour later, Mason, exhausted from playing with fire, returned to the balcony of Old K's magic apartment via the retractable escalator that had just been packed in the suitcase.
When he landed and looked back, he found that Catwoman was lying on the balcony "sunbathing" wearing sunglasses and Chanel's latest bikini this year, holding a fashion magazine in her hand.
When Mason fell down, the older sister lifted her left leg and placed it on top of her right leg, then changed to lying sideways as a greeting.
Mason curled his lips. This elder sister was really obsessed with formalism!
What are the conditions now?
Do you still want to deceive yourself and create a beach holiday atmosphere?
He took out his Batphone, switched it to camera mode, and nodded at Catwoman, saying:
"Lady Selina, please show me a pose that will make a man's eyes light up!"
"Are you crazy?"
The older sister lying on the beach chair pushed her sunglasses down and squinted her eyes at Mason and said:
"Are you still planning on teasing your sister? I told you, I can give you one of my hands."
"No, I really just need a picture."
Mason held up his phone and explained:
"I'm going to invite a scumbag to our party tomorrow night, but the only way to make him come willingly without any suspicion is to use your supreme charm of 'special attack against men'.
So, help me, okay?"
"Oh, party, I like it. But I need to confirm whether the party you are going to hold is a hot and intimate party with many men and women?
After all, my sister has a boyfriend.
You have to understand, I can’t play that crazy.”
Catwoman blinked and changed her posture on the beach chair, with her slender waist bent and her upper body raised, her legs crossed and she glanced back like a black cat, with a faint smile on her face.
The charm of that moment made Mason subconsciously turn his head away and cough twice.
Damn it!
Reacted...
This old lady is really annoying.
No wonder even the steel-like master is so fascinated by her, and people generally only use two words to describe this kind of woman: fairy!
“Done!”
Mason didn't even bother to edit the photo. He just saved it and planned to use it for fishing tomorrow. Catwoman became lazy again the next moment. She picked up the magazine at hand and read it casually while saying:
"So, when will you let me see the world? I'm almost sick from being idle."
"Didn't I tell you that?"
Mason coughed and said:
"Tomorrow night, big sister, this party is of course a ceremony to welcome the new members into the team. Tomorrow night we will temporarily leave the boring Gotham and go for a ride in the New World. I promise that it will definitely be a place where runaway cats can have fun."
