[Comprehensive Anglo-American] Gem Merchant

A few hours before December 24, there was light snow outside.Alphonse drank the glass of champagne very slowly, slow enough for Tony Stark to think about it, the entire top floor of the hotel was occupied by him, there was only one bed in the room, and the size was large enough .

However... as soon as he set his sights on a gem dealer who was still frowning and smacking the smell of sparkling wine, all his rich experience was useless.

The other party looked strong, rational, and unshakable.Such a person, like a symbol, does not contaminate the vitality of any crowd, as for other things... let alone.

At first glance, it looks like the type who has neither an ex-boyfriend nor an ex-girlfriend.

"cough."

Tony gave a dry cough, and the jeweler immediately put down his wine glass, turned the wheelchair and faced him.Facing Alphonse who could almost be said to be sitting upright, Tony stuck a few words in his throat, and finally said something completely different:

"Hey... so, what else do you think about the acquisition of Sivana Industries? I mean, since the company already has contamination from some creature from hell..."

Damn, why did you start talking about work as soon as you opened your mouth!

No, it must be that this guy is too upright to make people feel embarrassed to think about it.

"I'll fix this."

The jeweler promised solemnly, "I won't let the pollution affect you, don't worry."

"Well, if there is a need later, I can pay for the price of the gems that need to be consumed..."

Tony opened his mouth a little cautiously, and while he was talking, he berated himself in his head for not being very good at finding topics, so that except for krypton gold trading, which belonged to the work content of the Avengers, none of them sounded like they could promote the atmosphere. content.

"If it's a matter of personal safety."

Alphonse seemed to think about it for a while, then looked up again with a serious face: "——No matter the cost. I will definitely do it no matter what."

"..."

In his life so far, he has heard countless promises.

From parents who frequently miss appointments, to classmates who can’t remember the fleeting time in school, business partners, intending to annex Stark Industries’ board of directors; of course, there are some sonorous and powerful promises, such as an old popsicle Righteous words during the meeting of the Avengers.

Tony was stunned for a moment. If he was in danger, he knew that many people would do their best to save him. Captain America and the others would never give up on their companion, even if this companion had a bad temper.

But the "regardless of the cost" from Alphonse's mouth sounds more isolated-if you have never seen the dream about the goblin, you have never seen the dark dimension and Dormammu's previous sacrifice. It may be difficult for him to imagine how heavy the other party's promise is.

However, compared to these shocks and emotions, most of the remaining content in Tony Stark's head is not very suitable for minors to read-in a word, he still feels that he still has something to play.

Although it may not be now, he should always invite the other party to visit the nearby museums, and then discuss how to celebrate the festival.If the other party has no plans to return to the UK, he can hold a Christmas celebration in the Avengers Mansion.

"Al, about Christmas..."

As a result, as soon as he spoke, Alphonse's cell phone rang.The jeweler glanced at the other party hesitantly, not knowing whether to answer the phone first or wait for the other party to finish speaking first.

Tony: "...it's nothing, you pick it up first."

Alphonse turned on the speakerphone, and the shop assistant's heart-piercing shout came from the phone. The voice was almost crying, and Alphonse couldn't help but want to hold the phone farther away:

"Boss, no, I'm cursed—"

Tony: "..."

I don't know why he didn't feel nervous at all when he heard this tone.

Alphonse is obviously not in a hurry. His jewelry store has very powerful magic protection, and it is difficult for ordinary malicious curses to penetrate into it, and it is also difficult for agent Kevin's usual good luck on the way to and from get off work. Come across something really dangerous.

"Tell me as much as you can about what happened to you."

Alphonse said: "From the time I left the jewelry store, the protection in the store is very powerful. It is Vanaheim-style magic from the age of the gods, and it is difficult for magicians to break through."

"When I closed the store tonight and took the subway home, suddenly the lighting of the subway failed. When I came back to my senses, I was the only one left in the whole car."

The little clerk recalled with some fear: "The subway stopped in an emergency stop in a cave surrounded by rocks. After I walked out, I found a canyon in front of me. A Dumbledore with a magic wand said that he would give me strength and let me Be the hero who saves the world."

Alphonse: "..."

He remembered the famous strange talk on the Internet recently.

"So what did the old gentleman say to you?"

He asked in a strange tone: "Trial, do you have the courage to become a hero?"

"He said the world was about to fall into crisis."

The clerk replied honestly: "But he has nothing left to test me, so he can only ask me directly if I am ready to inherit the mysterious power to fight against the evil of this world."

"Sounds like the beginning of a cheesy RPG."

Tony commented quietly.

Alphonse had a guess in his mind: "—so, you refused?"

"Of course I refused!"

The other party was very sad and angry: "I'm not 12 years old this year, the age of waiting for the owl mail from Hogwarts, adults of this age know that there is no free lunch in the world, and Mr. Strange is about to pass I died because I asked you to heal my hand once."

Alphonse: "..."

He suddenly felt a little guilty, shouldn't he just leave the work of hydrological analysis to the New York Temple.

Alphonse's voice froze for a moment: "So, how did you answer?"

"I told him that it's best to find minors for this kind of pyramid scheme. The work of social animals is very stressful and they don't have the energy to do this kind of amateur work, or let him contact some guys who are not short of money in life. People generally have enough spare time to engage in side jobs. And I have already seen the Supreme Master and the god of Asgard, and your sales pitch can't fool me at all!"

The little clerk recounted what he said at the time in one breath. He is not the type who can't speak when he is frightened. On the contrary, the more nervous he is, the more he talks, so he directly pissed off the elderly guy who claimed to be a wizard. Half step: "..."

Tony Stark, who watched the whole process: "..."

He suddenly didn't know how to describe this S.H.I.E.L.D. agent. He thought he was just a timid and uncharacteristic guy, but after years of work experience, the other party seemed to have made a lot of progress—although the direction It might be a little weird.

Alphonse also felt a little complicated, and he continued to ask: "And then? What did that person say?"

"He waved at me in shock, and when I opened my eyes again, I found myself still sitting on the subway, just asleep."

The little detective said: "But I can guarantee that it is definitely not a dream! I checked the Internet, and there are many people with similar situations! Boss... I won't make that guy angry, right?"

The last sentence was a little uneasy, Tony Stark rolled his eyes, now he knew why he was not cautious when he was afraid.

"No, although that guy has a weird temper, he shouldn't be a bad person."

Alphonse said in relief: "Instead of worrying about whether you will be cursed, I think you'd better think about writing the report first. This matter should be related to our investigation work."

Little detective: "...boss, I just got off work."

He lamented that life would be worse than death: "You can at least tell me the news tomorrow."

"But tomorrow is Christmas Eve, and it will be after Christmas vacation when you come back."

Alphonse said as a matter of course: "And it's a coincidence that you just ran into me. Stark's battle suit should have a video record of the whole process. Anyway, he can't write a battle summary, and then he will encrypt the data together. Send the email to you, I remember that you SHIELD has a general intranet."

- The phone was hung up with a beep.

Putting down the phone, Alphonse and Tony Stark looked at each other.The blond jeweler made a quick decision, apparently resting was impossible. According to the little detective's description, they should even work overtime to solve this trouble as soon as possible.

"How do you judge that these two things are related?"

Tony followed behind Alphonse: "And you can't stand up now, are you sure it's okay to go on like this?"

"Although the information on the Internet before is different, and most people can only recall intermittent fragments due to the persistent memory of dreams, but one thing is for sure, the wizard in the dream is very helpful to everyone. All he called were tested, and so far none have been able to pass that test."

Alphonse said.

Tony was keenly aware of the difference: "And—your clerk said that when he was summoned to that place, the other party said that he had no way to test. In other words, he lost A portion of the power, or..."

"—or something has already escaped. Considering the current situation of Sivana Industry, this speculation is obviously infinitely close to the truth."

Alphonse said firmly: "I can't stop injecting the thing I once sealed. That magician must have been injured. If we make it in time, maybe he can survive."

"Well, you're always right."

The metal gradually clings to Tony Stark's body like layered armor, and after a few steps, the golden-red battle suit has completely covered the opponent's body: "So where should we go to find him? Know that the reason most people get into this situation is because they are dreaming, and not everyone gets an invitation to Hogwarts."

"Subway."

Alphonse said: "The subway can almost be regarded as a closed space that travels through the leylines. From the perspective of mysticism, this is the most suitable area for magical induction. Under the interference of the opponent's magical power, the entire subway is affected. It will become a workshop for a short time, and the entire closed space will be cut off from the real world—that’s exactly what happens, and many calls happen spontaneously in the subway or inside the closed car.”

"Oh, well, it's up to you."

Tony Stark selectively ignored the previous long list of content - he may indeed have no fate with magic. Although every word can be understood literally, it is completely impossible to imagine the more detailed principles in it. Why.

Iron Man riding the subway would obviously cause a sensation. Alphonse reached out and wiped the forehead of the golden-red battle suit lightly. When he appeared in front of everyone again, the expressions of passers-by became indifferent.

It was as if something was completely erased, and the sense of existence of the whole person was compressed to the minimum.

"Cognitive interference."

Alphonse took the initiative to explain: "It's a small trick that most magicians use."

"I've heard of this, but never had the chance to experience it before."

Tony rushed in front of a passer-by and put on an exaggerated pose. The other person's expression remained unchanged, as if he was going around a wall, he took a turn from the side and passed through it as a matter of course.

"Whoa, I should have had this on my way out of the press conference."

He couldn't help whistling and exclaimed.

"This can only ensure that human eyes don't stay on you. It's useless even for sonar-located animals like bats. This is why many magicians like to keep familiars in captivity."

Alphonse steered his wheelchair towards the subway ticket gate: "Of course the camera can also capture you. With the passage of time, many magic tricks that were effective in the past are no longer so effective."

"After all, the times are developing."

Shrugging his shoulders in his steel suit, Tony Stark picked up his subway ticket with Alphonse - man, it's definitely his first subway ride in nearly a decade.

Unlike the 24-hour subway in New York, the Philadelphia subway will stop at 10:[-] every day, so they don't have much time left.Fortunately, Alphonse seems to be full of confidence in this plan. They don't need to do anything extra, just take the subway repeatedly on the designated line-after reaching the terminal station, go back to the other side, and repeat The earth is running back and forth in the Philadelphia underground.

Tony Stark and Alphonse sat on the seats of the subway, and after applying cognitive interference, no one would give them even a single look, so everyone present would have fallen into a crazy iron suit. Sometimes quite neglected.

Tony is particularly novel about this experience: "We look like ghosts in the subway now."

"In a sense it does."

Alphonse nodded following what the other party said: "This subway line coincides with the direction of the spiritual vein. The subway car is a natural closed space, and the interior is easily separated from the real world. Unlike ordinary people, people with magical power It will be easier for us to be captured by that old man's magic spells - judging from the fact that the same dream is happening all over the world, he is probably in a hurry, as long as anyone with a magic circuit is planning to pull in and have a try ..."

Alphonse shrugged: "However, this kind of thinking is also correct, but any mature magician will have some defensive spells on his body, and his summoning spells are difficult to take effect, so the ones captured are indeed those that have not been tempered. An amateur who only has a magic circuit."

"Hey, it's not fair for you to say that."

Tony said: "You said I don't have that thing, I mean, the magic circuit."

"There are means of cheating."

Alphonse glanced at him: "You have to lift up the mask first."

Tony Stark: "..."

These words made him subconsciously think of the magic workshop under the deep sea, and the alchemist who was holding his face said to himself in the same tone: Lift up the mask.

"Uh……"

Alphonse rolled up his sleeves and exposed his wrists, with pale blue blood vessels showing through his skin.The blond jeweler stretched out a finger, and the magic power covered the fingertip, turning it into a sharp blade.

"Although the taste is probably bad, I can only force you temporarily."

He said, "I don't think you'd mind that, um—"

"——There's no need for that."

The following words were gently sealed.

Lake green eyes and warm brown eyes are very close together.

He gets a brief kiss.

The author has something to say: Clerk: Boss!I've run into a liar!The trick is exactly the same as you fooling Dr. Strange!

Al:?