"Ding Dong"

The door to the Gotham City Port District back office was pushed open, and Dr. Ethan hummed a song and walked into the office full of documents and various data parameters, the middle-aged man who had almost died in the Afghan desert had died, but after two easy years, his mental state seemed to be much better.

At least it's no longer the sick and cynical it used to be, eager to explode on the spot.

He happily sat at his desk, eating a hot dog he bought on the street, spreading out the intricate design in his hand, putting on high-multiplier glasses, picking up a pencil to write and draw, and soon immersed himself in this simple pleasure.

Ethan Roque Maldini, an Italian expert in experimental physics, cryptography, and data science, with three PhDs and one of the most knowledgeable people in the whole of Gotham, should be in a lab rather than a non-functional manager in the logistics department of the port area.

But the lack of talent in the Devil's Gang is a situation that cannot be concealed, especially for highly educated talents, they often wear multiple hats, and even Professor Hawkins, the veteran of the Devil's Gang, also made a cameo appearance as a guild president in the port area, which is something that cannot be helped.

"I said, Ethan, Sr., you haven't given me the Pier 14 sewer renovation plan I asked for last week!"

An angry, but well-dressed middle-aged man jerked Dr. Ethan's office open, unceremoniously tossing aside the lab reports on the chair across the desk, and sitting on it himself, holding a thermos mug in his hand, as he slammed the cup on the table.

"How many times has this been, and if you continue like this, I'm going to complain about you!"

In the face of the angry middle-aged man, Dr. Ethan was not angry or afraid, he just shrugged his shoulders, bit off the last hot dog, rolled his eyes at the person in front of him, and said with a smile:

"Don't worry!Ben, your temperament is too anxious, I said to give it to you today, I will definitely be able to do it today. ”

He pushed his eyes, threw the plastic bag in his hand into the trash, rummaged through the huge locker behind him, and finally found a drawing, took it out, spread it out, put it on the table, and said casually while drawing with the pencil in his hand:

"By the way, I saw you send your nephew out of Gotham on a boat yesterday, that's a handsome boy. ”

"You said Peter. ”

Manager Ben touched his belly, which was getting rounder and rounder, and looked at the quickly completed transformation in front of him, he snorted, and his expression softened, especially when talking about his proud nephew, his conversation box was opened:

"Peter came to Professor Hawkins' lab for an internship, but unfortunately he hasn't graduated yet, otherwise he would have stayed in Gotham and let him live alone in New York, and his aunt and I are not very comfortable coming, but in the last few months he seems to have grown a little, which is somewhat gratifying. ”

Yes, Ben Parker, the uncle of Peter Parker, who is now the logistics manager of the Gotham Port Authority, is much better than the original bad position, he was worried about his nephew's future and moved to Gotham, but later he was surprised to find that the living conditions here were far less bad than the news had reported.

Of course, this is an area under the control of the Devil's Gang, which is very safe, but once you enter other areas, there will be some trouble, but generally no one will rob or hurt the people in the port area, everyone knows that it is the official identity of the Devil's Gang, and once it moves, something will happen.

"I've heard Professor Hawkins say that your nephew is a real genius. ”

Dr. Ethan's fingers slid rapidly over the drawing, and his words did not seem to interfere with his work at all, and he chattered:

"Hawkins thinks Peter might be recruited by other labs, and I've heard he's been pestering the boss lately to send Peter an invitation in advance, but I've rarely seen Hawkins take a young man so seriously, you know, that old guy is arrogant, old-fashioned, and kind of anachronistic stubbornness. ”

As he spoke, Dr. Ethan became a little excited, and he waved his arms and complained to his friend:

"I submitted 4 applications to him, but until now, my lab has not been approved, you look around, I have 3 PhDs, and now I can only stay in the office and study my quantum experiments, it's a mess. ”

"Bang"

The pencil in his hand was tossed aside, and he reached out and picked up the drawing on the table, handed it to Ben Parker, and shrugged his shoulders at him with a wicked shrug:

"That's it, give! the best design you'll find on the East Coast, and for its sake I think you should at least treat me to Black Cat and Gun for a drink tonight, I've heard they've got a great new batch of cocktails. ”

"You can drink at any time..."

Ben picked up the drawings and looked at them, he was also an old builder, and he could see at a glance that the drawings were indeed perfect, but after rolling up the drawings, he looked left and right, and lowered his voice:

"Ethan, do you think it's a bit strange that the board is suddenly going to repair Pier 14, I've heard that this place has been abandoned for several years, and that many people consider it a bad place. ”

After saying that, Ben seemed to feel that this sentence was a little inappropriate, and he added: "Well, I mean, if you want to renovate, why not repair it along with the dock facilities, but only build one sewer, and the length and width of this sewer are a bit too big, right?"

Ethan paused as he picked up the pencil, he looked up at his new friend, he pushed his eyes, and a strange light flashed in his eyes:

"I said, Ben, you haven't forgotten the non-disclosure agreement you signed on your first day of employment, and think about the things stored in the warehouse at Pier 13... In short, just keep these questions in mind, don't ask them everywhere, we just go to work and get paid, and most importantly: don't get yourself in trouble. ”

Ben Parker's expression froze for a moment, he rubbed his forehead, and nodded:

"Okay, I see... I'll call some of the old people in the docklands to do something, thanks for the reminder, Ethan, at the bar tonight, I'm going to have you a drink. ”

The manager pushed open the door and walked out, Ethan smiled, and began his work again, less than 5 minutes, the office door was pushed open again, Ethan raised his head, and saw a young man he had never seen before, standing at the door, and said to him indifferently:

"Ethan Roque Maldini, Seber Hawke is looking for you in his villa. ”

With that he had said this, the young man turned and left, and Ethan flickered for a moment, then quickly grabbed his clothes, straightened his bad appearance in front of the office mirror, pushed open the door, and walked down to the garage.

Ten minutes later, a somewhat restless Ethan appeared in the living room of Cyber's villa, and frankly, Ethan's memory of Cyber was still stuck on the plane that flew out of Afghanistan, and that fierce look, especially those eyes, could attract the soul.

Although he studied very materialistic science, after experiencing the pain of being ignited in his soul, his fear of Cyber was really from the heart.

Opposite Ethan who was fidgeting, Cyber slowly put down the newspaper in his hand, he sat on the sofa with his legs crossed, stretched out his hand to put the newspaper aside, he looked at Ethan who was a little nervous in front of him, and smiled:

"What? Are you having a bad time here? I don't remember me restricting your freedom, and you took your wife and children from your hometown a few months ago, did you?"

Seber took out a box of delicate cigars from his pocket, gave one to Ethan, and in the midst of the mist, he leaned back on the sofa very lazily, and said to the silent Ethan:

"Don't worry, I'm not one to coerce you into doing something bad, starting tomorrow, in the Ulsund neighborhood, you will have your own experimental physics laboratory, Stark Industries will provide you with at least 3,000 research funds every year, and this laboratory is supervised by you, you recruit manpower, you can study what you like, and I don't care about the results of your research..."

When he said this, he paused and looked up at Ethan: "That miscellaneous uncle of Tony ruined the first half of your life, so we will compensate you for the second half of your life now, don't you have anything to say?"

Ethan was already stunned there, as a greasy middle-aged man over 40 years old, he had experienced too many things, from the theft of experimental results, to being caught by the Ten Rings Gang, and forcing them to work, to the nine deaths in Afghanistan, and finally the peaceful life of Gotham, he thought that this was the end of his life, and there would be no more waves.

To be honest, he doesn't hate this calm, especially after experiencing life and death, and he enjoys the feeling of being with his family now... But suddenly, Cyber threw out such a bait.

Ethan knows very well that once this bait is eaten, there is no turning back, Cyber is not a mysterious Mandarin, the Devil Gang is not the Ten Rings, this is not the chaotic Middle East, in Gotham, Cyber wants someone's life, then he will never live to see the sun the next day.

But he is more clever than the Ten Rings, he knows very well what Ethan really wants, and he gives Ethan a temptation that Ethan simply can't refuse, which is what every qualified scientist wants, recognition from the mainstream of society and the honor he deserves.

"Gollum"

Ethan's throat moved, he reached out and picked up the tea on the side, poured down a big sip, and then took a hard sip of the cigar, the greasy middle-aged man rubbed his nose, and finally ripped off his tie in annoyance, he looked at Cyber, he whispered:

"And what am I going to pay?"

"This!"

Cyber calmly watched Ethan's struggle, his final decision was not unexpected by Cyber, he flicked his left hand, a black, surface covered with complex marks, like a metal scroll-like thing appeared in the palm of his hand, he put it on the table, and pushed it to Ethan:

"You're the best cryptography expert I've ever found, and this is your first assignment and a bargain for everything I've given you. ”

Cyber's fingers pressed on the black scroll, he looked up at Ethan, and said in a serious tone:

"I want something in it, unscathed!"

Ethan didn't answer, he just reached out and held the scroll in his hand, looked left and right in great detail, and then frowned:

"It's a special way of physical encryption, 128 key combinations, and finally analyzes the answer of 4 symbols, frankly, this is the first time I've seen this kind of thing, but... I can give it a try. ”

Cyber shook his head:

"If you want to do it, you do it!" Without giving this option a try, all I can say is that if you fail, I'll be irritated. ”

He rubbed his chin, and the red light in his eyes flashed:

"You don't want to see me irritated, do you?"

Dr. Ethan hesitated, took a silent puff of his cigar, and finally, he nodded, looking at Cyber:

"I need a lot of specialized equipment as well as my lab. ”

Cyber nodded:

"You're going to get everything you want tomorrow morning, and then you're going to give me everything I want, right?"

"I'm doing my best... Uh, I mean, I can do it!"

Ethan put the black steel scroll in the box that Cyber had prepared, held it in his hand, and left the villa under Sergei's guidance, Cyber rubbed his forehead, sat on the couch, and looked down at the newspaper, the contents of which were meaningless, he cared about something else.

There's a lot of interesting information in Lady Viper's soul, and in it you see that the original reason why Hydra attacked the Devils was not because of anything else, but because of this scroll, the one that Cyber brought out of Stryker's dam base.

To be honest, this thing has long been forgotten by Cyber, but now that Hydra wants to get it at the expense of all-out war, this has made Cyber interested, and Yuriko, who brought back the scroll, only said that the scroll was connected to a mysterious place in Siberia, and she couldn't figure out what was hidden in the scroll.

So Cyber doesn't know what kind of harvest this scroll can bring him in the end...

In the midst of the current situation, he desperately needs good news.