Chapter 208 Ancient One
The Hall family's address is in Queens.
It is the largest of New York City's five boroughs and the most ethnically diverse urban district in the world.
But compared to the large number of black people in Brooklyn, the most common faces here are Asian.
Bruce has been living here for three days as the adopted son of the Hall family.
He is about to enter a famous middle school in Queens, Midtown Middle School. Midtown is divided into junior high school and high school departments. Bruce's current age means he can only attend the junior high school department.
According to the files arranged by Hydra for him, Bruce and Wanda, brother and sister, had never attended elementary school and had always received home education.
This design is to prevent anyone from investigating their primary school in the future.
Explaining it with family education can save a lot of trouble and will not attract other people's attention.
In the United States, although family education is not mainstream, it is not a minority either.
And in the days to come, as school shootings increase and gender diversity laws enter campuses, more and more parents choose not to send their children to school, but to study at home.
After all, as long as you can pass the SAT or ACT exam in the end, you will be eligible to go to college.
As for whether you have attended primary school or middle school before, no one cares.
During these days, Bruce experienced a community culture he had never experienced before.
He had just moved into his new home when neighbors knocked on his door and greeted him, carrying home-cooked dishes.
The Hall family's neighbors are also diverse, including Asians, Latinos, and African Americans. Bruce spent a few days there and experienced some delicious food that he had never tasted before.
"When I was in Gotham, no one ever knocked on my door."
Bruce sat in the living room, eating with Katoom.
What was placed before them was a very famous Chinese dish in the United States - General Tso's Chicken.
This was sent by their Chinese neighbors next door.
In addition, there are egg foo young, sesame chicken, Li Hongzhang offal, and Mongolian beef.
how to say……
This is the most common dish in Chinese fast food restaurants in the United States.
After all, their next-door neighbor runs a fast food restaurant.
Bruce was holding a pair of chopsticks at this time, and his fingers kept pumping back and forth, trying to tame the two small wooden sticks in his hands, but the result was counterproductive and it felt strange no matter how he used them.
Katum, on the other hand, was extremely skilled in using chopsticks even though he could only use his wings.
He stood on the table, his chopsticks dancing, constantly picking up food from the lunch box. Often, as soon as a piece of meat entered his mouth, another piece of meat was picked up.
This situation made Bruce a little discouraged.
"Why do those Orientals use such complicated tableware?" he said. "Isn't it better to use a knife and fork?"
"Hey! What are you talking about! Chopsticks are a great invention."
Katum stuffed his mouth with meat and smacked his lips as he said, "Smart Orientals have long foreseen that people will play with their phones while eating, so they invented chopsticks.
"This is ancient wisdom, just learn it slowly!"
"I believe you are a ghost!"
Bruce sneered back and continued to focus on his chopsticks.
He just doesn't believe it, he can't learn this stuff.
After a while, Katum, who had eaten and drunk his fill, lay on the table, holding his bloated stomach and burping continuously.
"generally."
He commented, "It's a bit too sweet. If you eat too much, you'll get sick of it."
It seems that it is still a bit difficult to taste authentic Chinese food in the United States.
This is easy to understand.
In fact, when Chinese food first came to the United States, the chefs who came were all skilled, but Americans just couldn't get used to the dishes they cooked.
The chef at the time also felt strange. There was nothing wrong with the taste of the dish, so why couldn’t it be sold?
It was not until someone localized Chinese food in the United States and made it sweeter that it finally gained recognition from the locals.
Those newly developed dishes are today’s American Chinese food.
Katum was lying on the table digesting his food. Seeing that Bruce had almost finished using his chopsticks, he suddenly said:
"By the way, since I have nothing to do recently, I want to go out and play for a few days."
"Where are you going to play?"
Bruce frowned and said, "I'm about to start school, won't you come in with me?"
"Midtown High School is not Hogwarts. If you bring an owl with you on the first day of school, be careful that you will be treated as a freak and excluded."
School bullying in the United States has almost become a culture.
Even Bruce could hardly be immune.
For example, in the American TV series "Gotham", Bruce, who lost his parents, returned to school and also suffered from school bullying.
Of course, afterward he realized that he was the heir to the Wayne family, he quickly bullied back.
"Where are you going to play?"
Bruce asked, "When will you be back?"
"I'm not far away."
Qatoum said, "I will just go to the Middle East and come back soon."
"You're going to look for Tony Stark?"
Bruce quickly realized Owl's intention. Katum had no acquaintances in the Middle East, and the only person who could have a connection was Tony Stark.
"Why are you looking for him?"
Bruce asked in confusion, "Didn't you say that his kidnapping was destined to happen and was a necessary condition for the emergence of Iron Man?"
"Because the recent days are boring."
Katum said, "There is no super criminal, and there is no conspiracy. You have to go to school, so I have to find some fun for myself, right?"
Does it mean that he, the great King Katum, has to go back to junior high school to attend classes?
In fact, the current MCU universe is somewhat eerily quiet.
Apart from the common robberies or gang fights on American streets, there is nothing else to attract attention.
"Tony Stark is the root of it all."
"Once he becomes Iron Man, the MCU will have an explosion of superheroes and super criminals," Katum said.
Before this, most superpower crimes were still hidden in the open.
"alright."
Bruce thought that it was not a good idea for Katum, an owl, to stay in the house all the time.
Just let him go out and get some fresh air.
Anyway, if there is any accident, he can just Apparate back.
"Then you go early and come back early."
Bruce said, "At least you have to come back and take a look when I join ."
"Okay, okay, stop being so pretentious."
The owl waved its wings and said nonchalantly, "What you just said is like a child begging his parents to let him attend the school sports meeting. Don't worry, I will definitely not let you down!"
After saying that, he slowly got up from the table.
"Hiccup~"
The owl burped and flapped its wings, trying to fly. However, because he had eaten so much, he couldn't help falling down every time he flew a few centimeters into the air.
After trying several times, he finally gave up.
"Forget it, I'm a wizard, there's no need to worry about it."
Katum shook his head, "See you later, little bat."
As soon as he finished speaking, a strange noise was heard, and Katum used Apparition to leave the place. "What's that noise?"
Wanda rubbed her eyes and walked out of her room.
"nothing."
Bruce shook his head, pretending nothing had happened.
He wondered to himself how long the owl would be out this time.
Without me watching him, he would probably go crazy, right?
……
boom--
After a noise, Katum fell out of thin air. Before he hit the ground, he twisted his body in the air and landed smoothly.
"what happened?"
He frowned and looked at the scenery around him.
He was now on an island reef, with surging sea waves on all sides.
Even a fool knows that this is not the Middle East.
Katum had clearly located the Middle East just now, but now he has fallen out halfway. There is no need to think too much, it must have been an accident.
"I'm not a half-baked person like Bruce, how could I make such a mistake?"
Just as Katum was thinking this, a golden circle suddenly appeared in the air.
The circle continued to expand, and looking from inside the circle, one could see a picture of another space.
Apparently, this circle is also a means of traveling through space.
Then, a bald woman in yellow practice clothes walked out of the circle. She looked at Katum and smiled.
"Hello, little owl."
She said, "If I heard you correctly, your name is Katum, right?"
Ancient One!
Katum had already recognized the identity of the man in front of him.
The Supreme Sorcerer of Kamar-Taj, the Protector of the Earth, to be frank, she is the most powerful being on Earth right now.
I didn't expect that someone like this would target him so soon.
Not only that, Katum clearly heard that what came out of Master Ancient One's mouth was a sound like bird song, not human language.
"I can not understand what you say."
Katum shook his head and pretended to be harmless. "I'm just an owl."
"Okay, stop pretending."
Master Ancient One smiled and said, "I have noticed you since you and that boy came into this world.
"In fact, I have been observing you for several days and confirmed that you have no ill will towards this world, so I came forward in front of you."
This may not sound like anything, but if you think about it, it's pretty creepy.
I noticed Katum and Bruce from the beginning, but never said anything.
Wait until you are sure they are not a threat before appearing in front of them.
Then Katum couldn't help but ask, what if they were a threat?
Did Gu Yi intend to beat them to death with one blow?
"I want to talk to you, Katoom."
Ancient One said, "Where did you come from? What is your purpose? How long will you stay in this world? These questions are most appropriate to ask you.
"You don't want me to ask that boy, do you?"
She was smiling all the time and looked very friendly.
But Katum had no intention of underestimating her. After all, when this old woman attacked, even Katum had to avoid her.
"We are just traveling around the worlds, we don't have any bad intentions."
"If you want to keep watching us, I can only say you are wasting your time," said Qatoum.
The words were ambiguous, but the owl thought about it and then spoke the truth.
"If you must worry, then I can tell you in advance that there may not be only Bruce and I who have come to this world."
Katum said, "There are two zombies that look like us, and they may have entered this world."
Zombie Bu and Zombie-Headed Eagle, two guys who shouldn't exist in this world.
They only have the appearance of Bruce and Katum, but in fact there is no relationship between the two.
But with that face, even if it doesn't matter, it becomes important.
"Is that right?"
Master Ancient One thought for a moment, "But apart from you, I have not observed anyone else coming to this world."
“But they always come.”
Katum deliberately said, "It's a pity that you don't know any prophecy skills, otherwise you can predict the future and naturally see their existence."
Prophecy?
Ancient One didn't know if Katum was hinting at something, but she could indeed observe the future. No matter how many timelines there were or how many possibilities there were, she could see them all.
“I hope you will keep your promise.”
Gu Yi said softly, "Don't do anything strange in this world. If you are just passing through for a trip and staying for a while, I won't do anything to you."
After saying that, she turned around and wanted to leave.
The Ancient One came this time just to give a warning to prevent Katoom and Bruce from acting on a whim and messing up the future development of the MCU.
In fact, Ancient One’s previous style of doing things was not like this.
She can basically judge whether an outsider poses a threat after a few days of observation.
If all else fails, you can directly watch the future of these outsiders.
But this time things are different.
Ancient One did observe Bruce and Katoom, but never came to a conclusion.
The more she looked, the more confused she became.
Katum and Bruce's way of doing things is no different from that of the locals, they are just living an ordinary life.
Joining Hydra is also an ordinary life.
It was not until the owl left Bruce at this point in time that there was a chance for a conversation.
That's why Ancient One appeared in front of Katum.
Now, the warning had been given, and she displayed the power of the Sorcerer Supreme before Katoom, interrupting the Apparition directly and declaring her position.
As for more, there is no need to say more.
The mystery of the unknown is a deterrent that can inspire more awe in people.
Master Ancient One turned around and prepared to return to his Kamar-Taj through the teleportation array.
However, at the moment she stepped over the teleportation array, a figure suddenly passed by her with a whoosh, and followed Ancient One to her dojo in Nepal.
"I changed my mind."
Katoom flapped his wings and said, "I wanted to go play with Tony Stark, but now you've scared me!"
He stuck out his neck, looking as if he was going to stay there.
"You must be responsible for this kind of thing!"
The owl acted aggrieved, "I will follow you for the next period of time, just in case anything goes wrong and you blame me for it!"
After saying that, Katum flew away as if he had returned home, completely ignoring Master Ancient One.
"what?"
Master Ancient One had a helpless look on his face, having never expected this development.
Is this owl a little too familiar?
(End of this chapter)
