Chapter 42 42. There is a trend of younger age of mentally ill patients in Gotham City, which is really scary
Time flies, and three days pass.
Mason quickly adapted to the new rhythm of life that was full to the point of explosion, and everything seemed to be on the right track, with good news one after another.
Two days ago, the first aid technique officially broke through Lv2.
Another boss in Gotham City, Mr. Falcone, is also a very "enthusiastic" person. He "sent" four or five drug test subjects to Mason every night for three consecutive days, which greatly improved the identification efficiency of unknown potions.
Kiteman's renovation of Bingshan Bar is also on the agenda.
He intends to keep the name of the Iceberg Bar but has to operate in style. He intends to make his bar a gathering place for street heroes in Gotham City, and he is very confident in his own business idea.
Mason doesn't care about these.
After getting enough "voluntary drug testers", his progress in specializing in alchemy skills was much faster, and he decided to officially "research" the production of the euphoria potion tomorrow night.
As for why not tonight?
The reason is very simple, because Mason's small shop will officially open tonight.
It was a small street shop located just across the street from Dr. Leslie's clinic near Crime Alley. It was originally a grocery store with a bleak business, but the owner quickly completed the transfer procedures under the money offensive of the kite man himself.
By the way, taking advantage of the east wind of the interior decoration of the Glacier Bar, the workers completed the cleaning and renovation of the small shop by the way. Mason spent some time last night with Charles to transport some of the things he had recently made to the shop.
He didn't hold any opening ceremony either.
Open the shutter door called "Cooper's Mystery Item Store" after getting off work from the clinic at ten o'clock in the evening.
The shop is not big, just a small shop facing the street. The second floor is Mason’s resting place, where there are beds, wardrobes and several workbenches.
The first floor is the main body of the store.
There are no tables and chairs for receiving guests. Instead, there is a circular counter and five large display cabinets, where Mason's handmade "commodities" are placed according to the distinction between alchemy creations and engineering creations.
There are only two showcases that look a bit shabby, but the remaining three showcases are reserved for the subsequent production branches.
Mason turned on the dimly lit lights to let the light shine along the store door on the street outside. The retro neon lights used for the sign outside the door, and the colorful carousel lanterns shining on the water stains on the street also have a wonderful feeling.
He pulled out a chair and sat behind the counter, where there was a rather peculiar thing.
A sewing machine.
He needs to spend three hours every day from opening the store at 10 o'clock to one o'clock in the morning to study tailoring skills. The importance of armor for a pioneer of the Stars Society like him who wants to explore different worlds is self-evident.
But the location of Mason's store is too bad.
Are there any serious customers around Crime Alley? As far as the law and order situation in Gotham is concerned, those who are still walking around the streets at night are definitely not good-hearted guys.
The store has been open for an hour and there is no customer. The only people who come to visit are a group of fancy-dressed punks. It seems that they are high and planning to have some fun.
But after seeing Mason's shotgun and a loaded magazine on the counter, the punks immediately came to their senses.
Obediently put away the baseball bat in his hand, then nodded and bowed and backed out.
As for Mason himself, after trying to make the simplest work with a slightly clumsy sewing machine, he finally spent an hour making a crooked apron that was too shabby for a dog as clothes, then he frowned and thought that maybe he should start from Tanned leather to prepare raw materials for tailoring?
Or do you really have no talent in this area?
"Boss, these potions look very bluffing, and why is there no price tag?"
Just when he was frowning and thinking about how to improve the proficiency of the tailor branch, a crisp voice sounded in the shop, and Mason, who was busy doubting his life, said casually:
"These medicines are exchange materials, my friend, not for sale. The specific exchange conditions can be found next to the cabinet."
The questioning voice was a little confused by the boss's indifferent service attitude. The small customer frowned and looked at the introduction next to the medicine showcase filled with various colors.
The first line on the header reads "All the products in this store are not for sale, they are only used for material transactions. If you fake it, you will pay ten, and you will not be deceived."
The customer who entered the store at some point frowned and continued to look down:
"Ten bottles of healing potions are exchanged for five goat stomach stones, which must be taken out of goats aged 4-7 in the last month of summer.
The exchange is valid for a long time. "
The next line is:
"Ten bottles of vitality potion can be exchanged for five sets of each of the four materials of dried nettles, ground snake teeth, porcupine quills, and tentacled slugs. This exchange is valid for a long time."
"Five bottles of paralysis potion can be exchanged for five sticks of any one of sneezeweed, scurvy and lovage. Because this material is relatively rare, the exchange must be inspected before exchange."
"A bottle of high-grade potion Veritaserum can be exchanged for ten sets of Narcissus root powder, wormwood extract, valerian root and sleepy bean materials. The production process of this drug is complicated, and four sets of materials need to be ordered one month in advance and a deposit must be paid."
This shows that there are various materials and items required on the cardboard, and the little guests who watched it frowned.
He also believed in his family background and felt that he was well-informed, but there were many strange herbs and item names on the cardboard listed by Mason, which even he had heard of for the first time.
This made the little customer in a black coat and a baseball cap feel that this store might be some kind of "performance art" that he couldn't understand.
But the little guest frowned and looked at the various potions in front of him. Relying on his intuition, he didn't think these things were fake. Well, the appearance of the least bottled ones was indeed somewhat similar to the real ones he had used.
So the little guest hesitated for a while, and then said:
"You have such a harsh exchange condition for the potion. Although you don't need money, it is much more expensive than asking for money."
Mason was thinking about how to get started in the tailoring branch. He didn't have time to play around with the guests, so he replied with a straight face:
"Look, how can there be a real alchemist in Gotham City now? This potion is the only one I have. The ingredients are solid and the effect is first-class. You think it's too expensive and I don't think it's too expensive."
This is a bit like driving people away.
The little guest sneered, and said in a drawn out voice:
"I didn't say no to buying it, but are these potions real?"
"I am a professional alchemist, can I sell you fake medicine?"
Mason finally raised his head and glanced at the busy little guest.
He looked him up and down, looking at the brim of the baseball hat that this guy pulled down to cover most of his face, but he could tell that he was a teenager at most, a child.
The young man's tone was milder, and he reminded with some helplessness:
"Go home, kid, don't wander around at night, it's dangerous around here. Come on, this bottle of soda is a gift from my brother."
"Who wants your soda!"
The little guest was blown up because of this kind gesture.
He stared at Mason closely, with a fierce look on his face under the brim of the hat, as if he was very angry because Mason treated him like a child.
He said fiercely:
"I ask you if these potions are real!"
Mason will feel that something is wrong with this, he frowned, when did this kid enter the store? How come he has no impression at all?
The young man stood up and grabbed the pistol in his hand, lying on the counter and looking at the fierce little boy in front of him.
He said:
"Are you here to find trouble? Who asked you to come?"
"I'm not!"
The little boy snorted, took a bottle of healing potion from the display cabinet, turned it up and down in his hand, glanced sideways at Mason, and said:
"If your medicine is real, I will definitely buy it. Although the ingredients you want seem outrageous, they are not impossible to find. My family is a veterinarian.
There are many such things as sheep stones.
But what if the potion you give me is fake?
Can I bring my friends back and smash your store? "
"You brat!"
Mason laughed angrily.
This was obviously looking for trouble, but he was too lazy to say anything to a brat of unknown origin, so he just waved his hand and joked to him:
Don’t look at the things over there.
are special accessories made for firearms, not for kids like you.
All right, I'm asking you to leave.
As you can see, I'm very busy right now. "
He pointed to the sewing machine in the counter and the various shapes of cloth that had just been cut.
"Just wait for me to expose your tricks!"
The bear snorted, picked up a bottle of potion, and walked away from Cooper's shop.
Mason watched him leave, squinted his eyes and thought for a while, then sat back at the counter and began to deal with his "needlework".
The brat who took the medicine turned a corner along the dark street and entered the side alley, where a low-key black car was parked.
Four bodyguards in black suits and sunglasses stood guard beside the car like an iron tower. The boy approached the closest bodyguard and took out a dagger from his arms, and slashed the bodyguard's wrist.
Suddenly blood poured out.
During the whole process, neither the bodyguard nor the boy showed any expression changes, as if this was an ordinary thing.
"Drink it and tell me the effect in five minutes."
The little boy threw the potion in his hand to the bodyguard, then took off his baseball cap to reveal his short black hair.
He bent down and picked up an oriental-style black and white devil mask from the open car door, put it on his face, and clicked the safety of the black military pistol in his hand.
The other three bodyguards also opened the trunk and took out the long and short guys from it.
This fierce brat said that if Mason gave fake medicines, he would smash his shop. It seems that he is not lying. He has already made all the preparations for the bloodbath of that small shop in advance.
Even outrageous things like individual bazookas are prepared in the trunk.
It's outrageous that this kind of thing appears in other cities, but in Gotham everything seems to be logical.
"Master, the number of the mistress."
Two minutes later, the bodyguard next to the brat sitting in the car with his eyes closed and resting his mind passed a special encrypted satellite phone. The little boy who was about to have a big fight suddenly frowned and put the phone to his ear.
Afterwards, a nice, magnetic but indifferent voice sounded on the phone:
"Damian, you're supposed to leave Gotham this afternoon, but you haven't left yet, which will put you off tomorrow's geography and history class. I need an explanation.
You better not lie to me. "
"Mom, I'm just verifying something I'm very interested in, so leave me alone, I've grown up."
The little boy said angrily and helplessly:
"I'll be on the plane at midnight and I promise I'll be home on time."
"What the **** are you doing?"
The indifferent mother on the other side of the phone asked again, saying:
"explain!"
"I just want to see what's so special about Mason Cooper who is being paid special attention by that man."
The bear boy answered honestly:
"As you know, Mason escaped the last time I commanded a hunt. It was the first time in three years that I failed a mission, and I hate shameful failures! Grandpa taught me the best way to face failure from a young age is to try again .
After you stopped me from killing Dick Grayson and Tim Drake, are you going to stop me from facing defeat? "
The voice on the other side of the phone was silent for a few seconds, and said:
"Here's an hour! And, Damian, don't think I don't know why you've been running away from being taught by my handpicked PhDs.
If you miss tomorrow's class.
Then the heads of your two teachers of geography and history will be placed on their dining table tomorrow afternoon! "
This sentence completely angered the little boy, he screamed angrily:
"Is there any difference? Even if they escape tomorrow's death, after I complete your coursework assessment, the two doctors who are considered useless will still be stuffed into cement by you and sink into the sea!
From the time I was six years old to the present, seventeen doctoral professors in various industries have died just because of the "study" plan you made for me!
I do not like this! Mother.
They are not puppies that I raised since I was a child, and you forced me to kill them with my own hands when you were eight years old. They are human beings! Real people, it’s good for us if they stay in the organization, it shouldn’t be just because of me.”
"You are too weak, Damian."
The little boy's rebuttal was interrupted by the mother's indifference, and she said:
"How can you, who is so fragile, inherit the great legacy that your grandfather will leave you in the future? How can you, who is so poor, fulfill the mission you shouldered when you were born?
You saw the man in Gotham with your own eyes!
You know how powerful he is, almost invincible, indestructible, like the **** of fear born in Gotham.
Now you don’t study hard and arm yourself with knowledge, how will you defeat him with your own hands in the future? Damian, you have half his blood.
But it’s a pity, I didn’t see the same potential in you that fascinated me and even the entire Assassin League!
If you go on indulging yourself in idle benevolence, you don't come back.
Stop calling me mom!
I will not accept a weak failure as my son.
That's all for now!
Remember, Damian, you have fifty-five minutes. "
"beep beep"
The phone hung up, and the vibrating busy tone was ruthless, bringing a wordless bleakness in the dark night.
But the little boy in the car seemed to be used to all of this. He handed the phone to the bodyguard with a blank expression, and gripped the gun tightly.
The bodyguard who tested the drug came over at the end of the five-minute countdown, and showed his young master the back of his hand that had been completely healed, leaving only a shallow scar.
Damian Al Ghul looked at the shallow scar in front of his eyes.
That proved that Mason Cooper's healing potion was indeed useful, and he had lost the justification for bloodbathing that small shop.
Of course, perhaps before the reason was lost, the little boy had already lost interest in acting tonight.
He threw the pistol aside, closed his eyes and ordered:
"Go prepare the materials and buy all the products in that store as much as possible. At the same time, I apologize to Mr. Mason for me, and say that I will visit his magical shop again the next time I come to Gotham.
Let's drive, I'm tired.
It's time to go home and go to class. "
The black car, which is low-key but can withstand rocket attacks at close range, starts silently and slides slowly into the night of Gotham.
In Cooper's magical little shop, Mason hummed and pressed the shining slug into the clip, while touching the shimmering eye of **** pin on his collar.
At his feet are eight flight engineering bombs, six bottles of weak petrochemical potions, and a whole row of paralyzing potions. The hand cannon is stuck in his waist, the penguin's armed umbrella is also placed by his legs, and the invisibility cloak is folded on his body. forward.
This set of armed forces is sufficient to deal with any crisis that may arise tonight.
But while Mason was waiting with great anticipation, not only did the attacker not appear, but the shimmer on his collar pin quickly dimmed.
This made the young man blink his eyes in surprise.
"Huh? Did Damian Wayne give up his plan to kill me? That little devil who was raised by the King of Assassins was so merciful once?
What a pity, I was ready to tie up that little guy and send him to Wayne Manor, and blackmail a billion dollars by the way.
Alas, Batman, your 'father and son reunion' seems to be postponed. "
(end of this chapter)