"You know what?"

Catherine held a cup of iced coffee, she pulled the brim of her baseball cap, looked at the hurried crowd in front of her, she took a sip of her drink, and whispered, "I hate New York, this place where everyone talks about money, ideals hang on everyone's lips, but the criminals here don't even have faith." ”

After saying that, she kicked on the leg of the thief who put his hand into her pocket next to her, causing the caught off guard guy to stagger to his knees, Selena, who was standing next to Catherine, snorted, because she already had bags under her eyes because of staying up late to "work", Miss Thief was in a bad mood, because last night's "work" could not be completed.

She snorted coldly, and the long legs of more than 1.2 meters flicked, kicking the dagger that the thief had taken out into the air, and then stabbed the sharp heel into his palm, blood splattered everywhere, without mercy.

If this is in the downtown area of Manhattan, it is estimated that a group of people have attracted a group of onlookers at this time, but unfortunately this is just an alley in the back street of the West Village, which is full of humanistic atmosphere, no matter how much the thief howls, he can't change the end of his imminent beating, Catherine casually threw the finished drink into the trash, put her hand into the cello case she was carrying behind her back, and when she took it out again, there was already an extra metal stick that emitted a black and cold luster.

"Block Me"

The 14-year-old girl said a word to the young lady in a black trench coat next to her, who stood up knowingly and stood in front of the two people, and then there was a burst of screams, and there seemed to be the sound of teeth being crushed, 5 minutes later, the refreshed Catherine took out the bloody mobile phone from the arms of the thief lying on the ground, who did not know whether she was alive or dead, pressed 911, and glanced at the nearby door number,

"No. 27 Greenwich Village, someone is dying, a lot of blood has been shed, come on!"

She hung up the phone, threw the phone on the ground, and smashed it with one foot, Selena hugged her shoulders and watched Catherine's actions, she frowned,

"Wow, I found out that you came back this time with a lot of murderous spirits, who provoked you?"

"Nonsense"

Catherine rolled her eyes at her, "I'm not a little thief like you who can't get on the stage, my sister is going to inherit a big gang in the future, and now I'm just practicing my hands." ”

"Okay, okay, I can't afford to mess with it. ”

Selena shrugged her shoulders, she took Catherine's arm, and the two young and beautiful girls, one big and one small, laughed and blended into the flow of people, but after a few minutes, the two of them stood at the end of the avenue with puzzled faces, standing in front of a store that exuded a quaint atmosphere, Selena scratched her head, Miss Thief, who had recently become famous in New York, looked at the strange sign above the store, a circle that had been cut into several parts, and she said suspiciously,

"Is there a store here?"

Catherine shook her head, looked left and right, and said in the affirmative, "Mr. Jonathan lives near here, and I have been studying cello with him for half a year, but I never knew there was such a shop here, you see, it actually sells incense! ”

Selena's instinct as a thief began to warn her wildly at this moment, instinctively telling her that something was wrong here, but when she saw the religious ornaments on the counter of the 19th-century style store in front of her, her heart began to beat feverishly again.

"Let's go in and have a look!"

Selena whispered, then dragged a struggling Catherine into the quirky shop.

"Hey, don't pull me, I'm going to be late for class!

From the outside, this store is nothing special except for the simple and quiet, no signboards, no decorations, quiet like a dying old man, but after the two girls really walked into it, they found that everything around them had changed, the glass door was like a boundary, stepping into it, the light suddenly became dim, but it was not the kind of disgusting dimness, on the contrary, it also gave people a sense of purity and depth.

The classical staircase made of mahogany, the various collections placed around it, and the glass separating them from the outside world, it is like the private collection of an old professor, and even the air seems to have become much better.

Catherine looked left and right at the furnishings, and she found that the walls of the shop were covered with all kinds of pictures, some of which recorded the battle between man and god, and some of which recorded some epic wars, and in the center of the picture, there was a hand-painted picture of a majestic snow-capped mountain, each of which was so expressive that it was as if it were immersive, and Selena had already figured out a small magnifying glass, and her eyes were full of light to observe the copper tiger seal that was placed on the table.

She didn't come to be a black cat thief for the money, she just liked the job, as Cyber once said, she had restless blood in her bones, and she was also very talented.

"Two, do you need any help?"

A low but gentle voice suddenly sounded, making Selena and Catherine put on a defensive posture at the same time, with their perception, it was impossible for someone to approach quietly, but when they raised their heads, what they saw was a yellow man in a black practice uniform, with black hair, small eyes, and a face full of horizontal flesh, which looked difficult to touch, and if you only looked at the face, it always made people want to retreat.

But there is a kindness in his eyes that is completely different from his appearance, and that kindness makes people forget his bad appearance and makes people unexpectedly want to get closer.

"Who are you? What is this place?"

Catherine's hand reached into the cello box behind her, and if you looked closely, you would see that her palm had "melted" into the wooden box, grasping the black metal stick, and the instinct of the alpha-class mutant told her that the person in front of her was powerful.

Selena's left hand was also on her belt, and don't get me wrong, she wasn't going to use it to whip someone, it was a black leather whip wrapped around her belt, a weapon of the great thief Catwoman.

The person in front of him didn't seem to notice the small movements of the two people, and he smiled gently,

"It's a sanctuary, and I'm the host here... According to your custom, you can understand it as a temple, and you can call me "king". ”

"Temple?"

Selena had an expression of "I don't read much, don't lie to me", she looked left and right, and raised her pretty eyebrows, "Here?"

"Come, sit down and talk. ”

Wang stretched out his hand and made a "please" gesture, Catherine and Selena glanced at each other and sat down opposite him, the latter's left hand flicked lightly on the table, and three cups of fragrant hot tea appeared on the table, as if magical, this hand made the two girls' eyes widen, but the latter just smiled mysteriously, he looked at Catherine and whispered,

"You're from Xavier's Talented Junior Academy, right?"

"Huh?"

Catherine stared at him and did not answer, but the king took up his teacup and said with satisfaction,

"Don't be afraid, kid, we have a good relationship with Professor Charles, you can understand that we are friends. ”

After saying that, he looked at Selena again,

"So, what do you want?"

"Why do you ask?"

Selena countered, "How do you know we have a wish in our hearts?"

"Because people who don't have a desire, who don't have a "fate", can't see here, can't enter... As I said before, this is a temple, and we believe in the truly great power in this world, which guards all the peace in this world, and that is the power hidden under the surface of the world, which is the "Ancient One", the Supreme Master. ”

Speaking of this, Wang sincerely folded his hands and muttered to himself, at this moment, he looked like a real ascetic, and after a while, he opened his eyes and said kindly,

"Say, I can do a divination for you for free. ”

Wang waved his practice robe lightly, narrowed his already small eyes, and stretched out a finger,

"There's only one chance. ”

"Oh oh oh, look at you, does it really matter if you tell us this? What kind of supreme mage, this kind of thing can't be known to everyone when you hear it, right?"

Selena was another sharp string of questions, and her eyes sparkled with distrust,

"Say, what do you want?"

After she asked unceremoniously, she was pulled by Catherine's arm, and the power of Wang's phrase "hidden under the world" touched her very much, because as an alpha-class mutant, she was one of them, and she vaguely felt that this was a real, very rare opportunity.

"Don't worry about that. ”

Unmoved, the king said, "When you leave here, you will not be able to remember everything about the Sanctuary except for the answers you have received, which is also the power of the Ancient One, or I can send you away now..."

"Wait a minute, Master Wang, I have a question to ask!"

Catherine had more contact with Seiber, and also knew some etiquette about that ancient country from Seber, she put aside the cello case behind her, stood up, folded her hands, and bowed sincerely, this attitude satisfied the king, and he nodded.

As a follower of the Ancient One and stationed in the Sanctuary of New York, he is essentially a believer, his world is separated from the real world, and Selena's doubts have actually made him resentful.

"Ask, kid"

Wang put down the teacup, his expression became solemn, "I can feel that there are doubts in your heart, like a black hole, devouring your mercy and kindness, a really good boy should not have this kind of sorrow..."

"I want to know..."

Catherine pursed her lips, her big eyes sparkled with longing, and a little apprehensive, Selena couldn't help but hold her hand, Miss Thief could guess what Catherine was going to ask, the little girl whispered,

"I want to know, my brother is still alive, where is he?"

"Tell me his name!"

Wang took a palm-sized sapphire pendant from his neck and held it in his hand, the gemstone pendant that emitted a unique light made Selena's eyes immediately straighten, she had been a thief in New York for 4 months, but she had never seen such a perfect gem, Wang ignored her, he seemed to be communicating some kind of powerful power, he stretched out his hand,

"If you have anything related to him, it's best to carry it close to you, and leave it to me. ”

"Hmm"

Catherine hurriedly took something out of the cello box, and when she saw it, Selena's face became sad, it was a mask, almost destroyed by the flames and explosions, but she could barely tell that it was a distorted ghost face, which Robin had brought to Catherine, the last relic of Cyber, and she placed it discreetly on the king's palm.

The latter glanced at it, placed it on the table, and stroked it with his chubby fingers, he frowned.

"The smell of blood, the smell of killing, the ghostly... It seems that your brother is also not an ordinary person. ”

"His name is Cyber, Cyber Hawke, can he do it? Master Wang?"

Catherine asked eagerly, the king motioned for her not to worry, he closed his eyes, he silently recited the great name, and the next moment, in the air behind him, a golden halo of six-pointed stars flashed out, constructing a more complex light.

At the edge of that halo, there was a string of beating golden runes, Selena was stunned to see this scene, 1 minute ago, she thought that the king was just a liar, but now, she wanted to bow to the king... It's a lot more exciting than magic.

The golden light that overflowed with the aura vibrated in the air like lines, like gauze woven by the light, and Catherine and Selena looked directly at the light, and could even faintly see a mountain surrounded by wind and snow, a golden temple, and the woman meditating in front of a mysterious pattern with her back to them.

Is that... The Ancient One, the Supreme Mage, is truly one of the most powerful forces in the world.

"Ancient One, please tell me about Cyber Hawke..."

The king was spiritually connected to the all-pervasive spirit of the Most High, with the help of the name and the message of the mask in the palm of his hand, a place surrounded by wind and snow appeared in front of his eyes, and there was a large dam looming in front of him, and the king's spirit continued to go deeper, and he saw the secrets hidden under the dam, and he saw many forbidden soldiers, and many poor people who were locked up, and the cruel experiments, but just as he was about to find his target, a crisp and gentle voice sounded in his ears.

"Stop, King... That is the one who does not exist in this world, do not enter into his destiny, and do not change his destiny..."

The king was startled in his heart, and the picture in front of him was suddenly shattered, but after a moment, he lowered his head and replied in a sincere whisper,

"Yes, Ancient One. ”

Five minutes later, Selena and Catherine, who looked dazed, were standing on the side of the street in Greenwich Village, they were holding their heads, no matter how they remembered, they couldn't remember what had been done in the previous 10 minutes, their minds were blank, they looked back, there was an empty alley behind them, but they had clearly come out of this alley just now... There seems to be a very gentle person, what is it called? Wang or Li?

"What's wrong with us?"

Selena checked her clothes nervously, "This kind of sudden situation is really enough! I don't know if it's XX or not! Hell!"

Catherine, on the other hand, looked at the note in her hand, on which was written a line of words in English with dragons flying and phoenixes dancing,

"He's alive, and he'll be back to you soon..."

Catherine clutched the note, but it turned into golden smoke and disappeared into her fingertips, and the little girl looked left and right, and then breathed a sigh of relief, although she forgot what happened, she felt an inexplicable sense of peace.

"Thank you, great power..."