The track of dawn in the world of American manga

Chapter 12 12. Destroy your home, kill your dog, even tear your hat to pieces

After solving the trouble caused by Ms. McGonagall, the rest of the journey went smoothly. In the evening, dancing with the sunset, the magic train finally arrived at the station.

As the whistle sounded, the four people, led by Old K, left the train and entered the deserted Hodmod Station. The station was in a village, so the group of people naturally encountered the "enthusiasm" of the zombie villagers.

Welcome.

There are not only humans, but also wizards, house elves and halflings like goblins and strange species.

Maybe they had such characteristics in life, but turning into zombies after death is just as dangerous. However, for the three people who have been "suffering" along the way, these ordinary zombies can no longer threaten them.

Old K didn't even take action, and the three Masons used explosives and bullets to clear the station and the village.

It is worth mentioning that Bomb Girl performed very well during this process.

She no longer looked carefree and became much more silent. After she became serious, her ability to make anything she touched explode was indeed very suitable for such a large-scale cleanup battle.

From the edge of Hodmode Village, you can see a large lake in the distance in the sunset. According to the description in the movie, from here you can already see the main castle of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in the center of the lake.

However, when Mason, who was holding a gun, looked in that direction, he saw nothing.

There is no castle and no academy.

Under a miserable moonlight, all that was left on the island in the middle of the lake was a dark ruined wall, like King's Cross Station that had been opened by a bomb, and the damage to Hogwarts was obvious.

more serious.

The entire building was almost completely flattened by invisible hands.

From this distance, only an endless black forbidden forest can be seen spreading beyond the ruins, like a black scar on the earth.

"Is that the destination?"

The kite man next to Mason asked somewhat cowardly.

He was now standing on the side of the hillside, having already popped out the big kite from his backpack, and holding a high-speed camera in his hand. Old K told him to go to the island where Hogwarts is located to conduct high-altitude reconnaissance.

Get back before it gets completely dark.

This is not difficult for kiteers.

He also played a detective role in the Clown Gang before.

But after opening so many "eyesights" along the way, Kite Man felt very guilty now. He was afraid that he would fly over but not come back alive. There are magical creatures in this world!

What should I do if a zombie fire-breathing dragon emerges from the black forest?

"There are certainly a lot of things with wings, but not as many as you think. Go ahead."

Mason no longer maintained his mute character, looked away from the ruins of Hogwarts and patted Kite Man on the shoulder, then took out an engineering gun and handed it to him.

In this way, having two modified pistols to protect his body would at least allow the Kite Man to die with more dignity.

"My kite was damaged before. It needs to be repaired when I get back."

The villain-comedian in green tights curled his lips, and then took a peek at the expressionless Mason. While making preparations for takeoff, he rubbed his hands and whispered:

"You seem to be very familiar with these mechanical creations. How about you help me?"

"OK."

The young man nodded and said quietly:

"We'll wait until you come back alive."

These words made Kite Man's face look even more ugly.

A few seconds later, the kite man jumped up against the hillside, quickly lifted into the air with the headwind, and then changed direction and floated towards the island in the middle of the lake.

Mason withdrew his gaze and turned towards the meeting point. Old K was a cautious guy and did not camp in the bloody village. Instead, he followed the mountain road all the way down to a flat grassland by the lake. When Mason came back, it had been set up there.

A bonfire that makes people feel comfortable and warm.

There was also a pot set up on the bonfire, in which fragrant potato stew was cooking.

Old K was sitting by the campfire polishing two swords with a whetstone, while Bomb Girl was on the other side with her legs crossed, looking at the dancing flames in front of her with a melancholy expression.

Mason sat down in front of the fire and took off his backpack to use as a table, and deftly dismantled the engineering bomb at hand.

"Are there enough bullets?"

Old K asked, and Mason shook his head.

The high-intensity battle left only one-fifth of the bullets he carried. The old hunter laughed and took it out while Mason watched, and the heavy bullet box hit the ground with a thud.

This made the young man raise his eyebrows and said:

"Storage pocket?"

"Well, the official name is a travel backpack. It can hold a small warehouse of supplies without any problem. You will have the opportunity to get it after you officially join the company."

Old K said casually:

“Of course if you want good things, you have to find a way to get them yourself.

For newcomers, internal trading once every three months would be a good choice, provided that you have something that can interest veterans.”

Mason nodded as he collected the bullets.

He is actually very interested in these inside information, but he doesn't want Lao K to see this emotion now.

"What on earth is going on with this disaster?"

After the two fell silent, Bomb Girl, who was hiding something in her heart, finally couldn't help but asked Old K:

"You said stars would travel between worlds. Seeing how skillfully you deal with these troubles, have you seen such a zombie crisis before?"

"Then I can see more, little girl, not every world is as peaceful as yours."

Old K said casually while serving himself a bowl of rice from the pot on the fire:

"In the multiverse, there are nearly infinite parallel worlds. The original intention of establishing the Star Society is to explore these worlds and establish a cross-world organization with the goal of coexistence and cooperation.

But unfortunately, the more we explore, the more we find that destruction and doomsday are the keynotes of the parallel world. The world in front of you is just zombies and nuclear wars, which is gentle enough based on the meaning of doomsday.

I have also seen with my own eyes that the deformed earth was wiped out in an instant.

But let’s talk about these horror stories that disturb our dreams later.

A special manual will be issued after you become an official member of the Club of Stars. Now have something to eat and rest for the night.

We will land on the island tomorrow morning.

There are still three days to explore, and I think we will definitely come back with a full load this time."

This answer obviously did not satisfy Bomb Girl, but seeing that Old K was unwilling to say more, she had no choice but to ask again. Mason kept his ears pricked and kept this information in his heart.

Thirty minutes later, the kite man successfully completed the reconnaissance and returned to the camp.

He obediently returned the camera in his hand to Old K. The latter looked at the photos and nodded with satisfaction. He encouraged the Kite Man a few words and then asked him to rest.

But this guy still remembered Mason's promise, and ran over to him with his jetpack in his arms to ask Mason to help repair his beloved kite.

Mason took apart the Kite Man's backpack by the firelight and found that this simple-looking flying device was actually quite interesting.

After the character card included the drawings of the jet backpack, preliminary modification drawings were quickly provided.

While the young man was looking at the kite man with distress and worry, he dismantled his meal guy into pieces and reassembled it in a way that made him raise his eyebrows.

Mason asked while driving the screws skillfully:

"This thing is so exquisite. Did you design it yourself?"

"Yes! Am I awesome?"

Kite Man held his lunch box and ate potato stew while snoring. He replied with a slightly satisfied look:

"I used to be an aerodynamics expert in the R&D department of Wayne Industries, but I prefer this simple and magical gadget to those cool aircraft.

Maybe it's because I was obsessed with kites when I was a kid.

But after my divorce, I

At this point, the kite man suddenly fell silent.

He shook his head as if to get those bad memories out of his mind. When he noticed Mason looking at him, he forced a smile and said:

"In short, this jet backpack is my proud work!"

"Indeed, the kite you designed still has a lot of room for in-depth modification."

Mason lowered his head, tightened the hexagonal screws, and said:

"If there is a chance in the future, we may be able to cooperate. By the way, I have always wanted to ask, do you know Poison Ivy?"

"Poison Ivy?"

The kite man was stunned for a moment, then he touched his head and said awkwardly:

"He is one of Gotham's top villains. How could I, a little guy, make friends with a guy like that? The only big guy I'm familiar with is probably my former boss, the Joker.

It's a pity that he is so crazy that it scares me a little.

He brutally killed Batman's Robin. The kid named Jason Todd looked a little older than you, but he died miserably.

I left his gang after that.

I may not be a good person, but taking action against children still exceeds my bottom line."

"Jason Todd is dead?"

Mason raised his eyebrows and said:

"When did this happen?"

"Uh, about a year and a half ago?"

The kite man tilted his head and thought for a while, then said:

"Batman almost killed the Joker. I swear, that was the first time I saw Batman so angry, like a father who lost his child."

"Um."

Mason nodded.

His expression was as usual. When he stuffed the jetpack into the kite man's arms, a rolled up note was also put into the guy's palm.

Kite Man suddenly raised his eyebrows and saw Mason wink at him under the light of the bonfire. Then the two of them tacitly said good night to each other and turned to leave.

It was a very restless sleep.

Especially at the darkest hour of dawn, Mason clearly heard the weird roar coming from the island in the center of the lake.

The shrill, hoarse and hollow voice sounded like some kind of large creature that had gone crazy and had been transformed into a zombie. When he thought of the strange things that existed in the dark forest, Mason immediately felt that the future was not good.

"Hagrid has raised an acromantula, a dragon and a three-headed dog. I hope a zombie dragon won't suddenly pop up during tomorrow's exploration."

This was Mason's last thought before falling asleep.

And at the same time.

Kite Man, who was sleeping wrapped in a warm Hagrid coat on the other side, also took a look and opened the note in his hand. The content inside made him uneasy, but he finally calmly tore up the note and stuffed it into

In the mouth.

Ten minutes later, a warm and trembling body suddenly got into his coat, startling the decadent man, and then he felt a pair of hands hugging his waist.

Bomb Girl's voice rang in Kite Man's ears, saying:

"What did you eat just now? Hehe, no matter what you two are planning. I want to join! I don't want to die in this hellish place."

"This is not something I can decide."

The Kite Man struggled for a moment.

But the next moment, Bomb Girl snorted and whispered:

"So, I have to 'pay' in advance, right? Lonely old man, but I have no money, what do we do between us?"

——

Early the next morning, everyone got on a small boat and crossed the lake to the island in the middle of the lake. The kite man flew in the sky to search and guide the direction.

Under his leadership, the boat quickly docked at the island in the middle of the lake.

The heavily armed old K walked at the front, Bomb Girl followed closely, and Mason took charge of the rearguard. They quickly set foot on the stairs to enter the castle.

But there was only a huge pedestal left standing in place.

There shouldn't have been an explosion here, but there must have been an almost invincible force sweeping through, tearing everything apart like a passing storm.

Only half of the towering city wall remains, and three of the four branch spiers were destroyed.

And those strange buildings that had been given space magic and were usually hidden in the castle were all "sprinkled" because the space system was destroyed.

They were thrown around the entire island in a chaotic manner like debris thrown from the sky. Mason also saw a three-story wizard tower that was inverted and inserted diagonally into the ground.

Like a sword stuck in the ground.

The supposedly solemn castle gate was completely missing, leaving only a headless gargoyle sculpture standing alone on the base.

All the magical miracles were destroyed, so that after Mason walked up the steps, he could even see the remains of the school's auditorium, which was the grand banquet hall used to welcome new students and hold annual celebrations.

It too was destroyed, as if clawed from the sky by the claws of a giant beast.

There are still imprints on the ground that go deep into the earth. All the luxury and wonder have disappeared with the wind, and all that is left here is a dead silence.

"Spread out and explore freely!"

Old K used his special ability to explore the circle. After confirming that there were no dangerous objects in the ruins of the castle, he put away his crossbow and gave the order.

When Mason and Bomb Girl left, Old K gave another "friendly" reminder:

"Bring everything you find back and deal with it together. I don't think you two sensible young people would choose to hide anything, right?

Especially you, Mason."

"We don't have storage bags."

The young man said without looking back:

"Where are you going to hide the things after you take them? In X's eyes?"

"Well, I like crude jokes."

Old K laughed, turned around and disappeared with a flash, while Bomb Girl glanced at Mason with complicated eyes, then turned around and disappeared on a road leading to the depths of the ruins.

Mason stayed where he was and looked around among the ruins of the auditorium.

"Huh!"

With sharp eyes, he quickly spotted something familiar under a brick.

He ran over and picked up the thing buried in the dust and patted it, and found that it was a tattered wizard's pointed hat that must have been dusty.

And anyone who has seen the movie knows what this is.

Magic branch hat.

It already had a sloppy appearance, and now it was roughly torn open, like a piece of rag sack. Only a little shape could be seen. When Mason got it, the character card immediately gave a label:

Name: Godric Gryffindor's Wizard Hat/Magical Branch Hat

Quality: Epic items·Excellent craftsmanship

Traits: Spiritualization·Fairy Thinking·Invisible Divination·Danger Prediction·Treasure Storage

Status: Severely damaged (you can try to repair it. Complete repair requires Tailoring Lv7, Enchanting Lv6, Alchemy Lv8, Inscription Lv7)

Usage: You can try to talk to the broken branch hat, but you may not get a response from the other party.

Item description: It might have been a nice neurotic hat before, but now it's just a psycho who wants to be sewn up.

"Is this the legendary opening?"

Mason blinked, casually put the branch school hat that was almost completely torn like a rag on his head, patted it with his hand, and joked:

"Hey, are you there?"

No one answered him, and the young man curled his lips.

He reached out to take it off and throw it back into his backpack, but when his fingers touched it, a harsh and shrill scream suddenly came from the tattered branch cap:

"You! Returned from the dead! You belong. No, no! You belong. Azkaban!"

Mason was startled.

The sound of this thing is really penetrating.

It's very much like the half-mad old man's dying cry in those horror movies, but it's not over yet.

The tattered branch school hat shouted like crazy:

"The castle falls, glory fades forever, death howls, despair agitates. Noble blood is spilled, mortal blood mourns, misery and tumult arise. The storm blows, the sun shines, the swords and spears ring, the inferno cries.

This resentment cannot be repaid, and this hatred cannot be forgiven!

Mason Cooper, you have gone astray! I swear an oath of revenge! Or I will eat you!"

(End of chapter)