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Chapter 434: The Little Girl
Author: Great Demon Spirit
The air was still, without a trace of the mundane.
Tony lay lazily on the lawn of Donnie's Estate, his right arm around Wanda, quietly watching the azure sky and smelling the fragrance of the fresh grass.
This was one of his favorite ways to relax, as always, lying on the lawn.
If this were the past, he probably wouldn't have been able to lie here for long. A grumpy old man would have come out with a gun, shouting and cursing at Tony for ruining his lawn again. But that old man had been gone for several months now, and that familiar scolding could no longer be heard.
Only when lying on the lawn could Tony enjoy a rare moment of peace and quiet. Especially after relinquishing the duty of Guardian of Earth, he deserved to take some time for himself, enjoying the sunlight and tranquility.
"I'll go get you a glass of water." Wanda gave Tony a quick kiss and got up to go back inside.
Nearby, Krypto's ears drooped listlessly. He lay on the ground, occasionally sniffing it and pawing at the dirt a couple of times before flopping down again, lethargic.
His new friend, Cosmo, on the other hand, was still wearing his conspicuous spacesuit, wagging his tail furiously and circling Krypto, seemingly desperate to befriend the other dog.
But no matter how hard he tried—even using telepathy, a power Tony didn't know he had (or so Cosmo thought)—Krypto couldn't be bothered to pay him any attention.
At first, Tony's eyes were half-closed as he listened to the barking and the sounds of the world around him, but soon he closed them completely.
When he opened them again, a figure had appeared beside him at some unknown moment.
The barking had vanished.
The sound of the wind was gone.
The unique, somewhat unripe, not entirely pleasant but reassuring scent of the fresh grass had also disappeared.
In an instant, it was as if the entire world had vanished, leaving only Tony.
Oh, and the little girl beside him.
A completely unfamiliar little girl, with long, raven-black hair and a face as exquisitely carved as a masterpiece. On both cheeks, she had playfully stuck on something like colorful decals.
At first, Tony thought it was Raven. The young girl had been exploring Donnie's Estate, finding everything novel. In less than a day, she had already blown up two small ponds, snapped seventeen chopsticks and eight sets of cutlery, and eaten over twenty different brands of cigarettes, all while complaining about how bad they tasted.
Someone had tried to reason with her, but the young Raven wouldn't believe them, insisting that cigarettes were for eating. She had probably been corrupted by the unscrupulous Constantine, turning it into some bizarre ritual. Tony had just chuckled at all this and didn't interfere.
Tony opened one eye, glanced at the strange little girl, and then casually closed it again.
"Who are you?" Tony asked.
It was as if those were the only three words in the world, echoing in the terrifying silence.
The little girl stared at him without blinking. Her black pupils seemed to contain an immense gravitational pull, making anyone who looked into them feel an overwhelming desire to embrace her.
"Did you know, you give off a very special aura? You're different from everyone else." After waiting a moment and seeing Tony had no interest in continuing the conversation, the little girl spoke.
Her voice was soft, but every word entered Tony's ears clearly. It was like a whisper, spoken directly beside his soul.
Once again, Tony opened one eye and gave her a cold look. "You smelled wrong."
"You can't fool me." The little girl covered her mouth and chuckled.
"You heard wrong."
"You can't hide it from me."
"You're blind."
The little girl's expression changed slightly. There was no sign of rage, but rather a hint of... surprise?
She tilted her head and thought for a moment. It had been a long, long, long time since anyone had dared to curse at her.
Especially in such a blunt and direct manner.
"You're very brave," the little girl said flatly.
Tony rolled over, a chill flashing through his eyes for an instant as alarm bells screamed in his mind.
This girl... she didn't evoke any sense of hostility in him. This was a spine-chilling realization. Tony had never felt anything like it before—this sense of peace, a tranquility in his heart so deathly still it was without a single ripple...
It was unnatural.
It was as if the one sitting and talking with him wasn't a living creature at all.
Seeing that Tony was ignoring her, the little girl's eyes showed even more surprise. She suddenly developed a keen interest in this person.
"What's your name?"
"You're very strange..."
"Aren't you going to ask who I am?"
The little girl fired off the questions at Tony like a machine gun.
Tony just gave her a cold look, watching her silently for a long moment before finally forcing out, "Don't want to. Not interested."
The little girl smiled without a word, stood up, and calmly ran off, her steps perfectly steady.
Tony watched her retreating back, his expression suddenly darkening, his eyes becoming incredibly dangerous and terrifying. Only then did his willpower and body seem to react, realizing they should have been preparing to face a powerful enemy.
His hairs stood on end sluggishly, and his muscles tensed with immense slowness.
The Plot Gem embedded in his chest showed no reaction, same as always.
The Allspark, as ever, continued to pulse and burn slowly.
"...Tony? Tony? Don't scare me!" A familiar voice came from far to near. Tony blinked, and everything returned to normal.
Before him, Wanda was looking at him with a worried expression, holding a steaming glass of water in her hands.
"Woof woof woof!"
Cosmo's exasperated barks could be heard. He was circling Krypto, yapping nonstop, trying to get Krypto to play with him.
This finally annoyed Krypto, who sent Cosmo flying with a kick, scattering dog fur everywhere.
Wanda looked at her love with a pained heart. In those few short seconds, she felt as if Tony was very far away from her, and his gaze had been terrifying.
As if... he were facing a great threat.
"It's nothing. I was just thinking about the research later; it's going to be very troublesome." Tony hugged Wanda tightly, leaned in, and whispered in her ear, even giving her earlobe a playful bite.
"Stripping that... what was it, the Codex of Life?" Wanda's ears turned bright red as she blinked her big, radiant eyes.
"That's right. Trying to extract a billion gene templates without harming the Kryptonian descendant is quite a troublesome task."
Tony smiled. Out of the corner of his eye, he glanced at the carefree Cosmo, who was barking angrily at Krypto, striking a dueling pose.
In an instant, he calculated all of Cosmo's possible movements, including his travel distance, jumps, and the frequency of his tail wags, then compared them to the real Cosmo's current actions.
No issues.
What he had just experienced seemed to be an illusion, a figment of his imagination.
Tony understood. His uniqueness, his candidacy to become the new Singular God, had already been noticed.
What was this? A test? An attempt to win him over? Or were they sharpening their blades, preparing for the harvest?
After a moment of contemplation, Tony chuckled softly. He shared a tender moment with Wanda before refocusing his attention on the upcoming experiment.
What's coming will come. Even if he used the Plot Gem to conceal himself, there was no guarantee something wouldn't be exposed. Nothing was certain.
"Still, the matter at hand is more important. As for everything else... heh!"
(end of chapter)
Author: Great Demon Spirit
The air was still, without a trace of the mundane.
Tony lay lazily on the lawn of Donnie's Estate, his right arm around Wanda, quietly watching the azure sky and smelling the fragrance of the fresh grass.
This was one of his favorite ways to relax, as always, lying on the lawn.
If this were the past, he probably wouldn't have been able to lie here for long. A grumpy old man would have come out with a gun, shouting and cursing at Tony for ruining his lawn again. But that old man had been gone for several months now, and that familiar scolding could no longer be heard.
Only when lying on the lawn could Tony enjoy a rare moment of peace and quiet. Especially after relinquishing the duty of Guardian of Earth, he deserved to take some time for himself, enjoying the sunlight and tranquility.
"I'll go get you a glass of water." Wanda gave Tony a quick kiss and got up to go back inside.
Nearby, Krypto's ears drooped listlessly. He lay on the ground, occasionally sniffing it and pawing at the dirt a couple of times before flopping down again, lethargic.
His new friend, Cosmo, on the other hand, was still wearing his conspicuous spacesuit, wagging his tail furiously and circling Krypto, seemingly desperate to befriend the other dog.
But no matter how hard he tried—even using telepathy, a power Tony didn't know he had (or so Cosmo thought)—Krypto couldn't be bothered to pay him any attention.
At first, Tony's eyes were half-closed as he listened to the barking and the sounds of the world around him, but soon he closed them completely.
When he opened them again, a figure had appeared beside him at some unknown moment.
The barking had vanished.
The sound of the wind was gone.
The unique, somewhat unripe, not entirely pleasant but reassuring scent of the fresh grass had also disappeared.
In an instant, it was as if the entire world had vanished, leaving only Tony.
Oh, and the little girl beside him.
A completely unfamiliar little girl, with long, raven-black hair and a face as exquisitely carved as a masterpiece. On both cheeks, she had playfully stuck on something like colorful decals.
At first, Tony thought it was Raven. The young girl had been exploring Donnie's Estate, finding everything novel. In less than a day, she had already blown up two small ponds, snapped seventeen chopsticks and eight sets of cutlery, and eaten over twenty different brands of cigarettes, all while complaining about how bad they tasted.
Someone had tried to reason with her, but the young Raven wouldn't believe them, insisting that cigarettes were for eating. She had probably been corrupted by the unscrupulous Constantine, turning it into some bizarre ritual. Tony had just chuckled at all this and didn't interfere.
Tony opened one eye, glanced at the strange little girl, and then casually closed it again.
"Who are you?" Tony asked.
It was as if those were the only three words in the world, echoing in the terrifying silence.
The little girl stared at him without blinking. Her black pupils seemed to contain an immense gravitational pull, making anyone who looked into them feel an overwhelming desire to embrace her.
"Did you know, you give off a very special aura? You're different from everyone else." After waiting a moment and seeing Tony had no interest in continuing the conversation, the little girl spoke.
Her voice was soft, but every word entered Tony's ears clearly. It was like a whisper, spoken directly beside his soul.
Once again, Tony opened one eye and gave her a cold look. "You smelled wrong."
"You can't fool me." The little girl covered her mouth and chuckled.
"You heard wrong."
"You can't hide it from me."
"You're blind."
The little girl's expression changed slightly. There was no sign of rage, but rather a hint of... surprise?
She tilted her head and thought for a moment. It had been a long, long, long time since anyone had dared to curse at her.
Especially in such a blunt and direct manner.
"You're very brave," the little girl said flatly.
Tony rolled over, a chill flashing through his eyes for an instant as alarm bells screamed in his mind.
This girl... she didn't evoke any sense of hostility in him. This was a spine-chilling realization. Tony had never felt anything like it before—this sense of peace, a tranquility in his heart so deathly still it was without a single ripple...
It was unnatural.
It was as if the one sitting and talking with him wasn't a living creature at all.
Seeing that Tony was ignoring her, the little girl's eyes showed even more surprise. She suddenly developed a keen interest in this person.
"What's your name?"
"You're very strange..."
"Aren't you going to ask who I am?"
The little girl fired off the questions at Tony like a machine gun.
Tony just gave her a cold look, watching her silently for a long moment before finally forcing out, "Don't want to. Not interested."
The little girl smiled without a word, stood up, and calmly ran off, her steps perfectly steady.
Tony watched her retreating back, his expression suddenly darkening, his eyes becoming incredibly dangerous and terrifying. Only then did his willpower and body seem to react, realizing they should have been preparing to face a powerful enemy.
His hairs stood on end sluggishly, and his muscles tensed with immense slowness.
The Plot Gem embedded in his chest showed no reaction, same as always.
The Allspark, as ever, continued to pulse and burn slowly.
"...Tony? Tony? Don't scare me!" A familiar voice came from far to near. Tony blinked, and everything returned to normal.
Before him, Wanda was looking at him with a worried expression, holding a steaming glass of water in her hands.
"Woof woof woof!"
Cosmo's exasperated barks could be heard. He was circling Krypto, yapping nonstop, trying to get Krypto to play with him.
This finally annoyed Krypto, who sent Cosmo flying with a kick, scattering dog fur everywhere.
Wanda looked at her love with a pained heart. In those few short seconds, she felt as if Tony was very far away from her, and his gaze had been terrifying.
As if... he were facing a great threat.
"It's nothing. I was just thinking about the research later; it's going to be very troublesome." Tony hugged Wanda tightly, leaned in, and whispered in her ear, even giving her earlobe a playful bite.
"Stripping that... what was it, the Codex of Life?" Wanda's ears turned bright red as she blinked her big, radiant eyes.
"That's right. Trying to extract a billion gene templates without harming the Kryptonian descendant is quite a troublesome task."
Tony smiled. Out of the corner of his eye, he glanced at the carefree Cosmo, who was barking angrily at Krypto, striking a dueling pose.
In an instant, he calculated all of Cosmo's possible movements, including his travel distance, jumps, and the frequency of his tail wags, then compared them to the real Cosmo's current actions.
No issues.
What he had just experienced seemed to be an illusion, a figment of his imagination.
Tony understood. His uniqueness, his candidacy to become the new Singular God, had already been noticed.
What was this? A test? An attempt to win him over? Or were they sharpening their blades, preparing for the harvest?
After a moment of contemplation, Tony chuckled softly. He shared a tender moment with Wanda before refocusing his attention on the upcoming experiment.
What's coming will come. Even if he used the Plot Gem to conceal himself, there was no guarantee something wouldn't be exposed. Nothing was certain.
"Still, the matter at hand is more important. As for everything else... heh!"
(end of chapter)
