The cold wind swirled in the alley, picking up a few dead leaves on the ground and blowing on Benjamin's bloodless face.
He was like a rusty iron sculpture, leaning against the red brick wall for a long time.
The screen in his hand had long gone dark, but the man in the black suit and the dagger piercing the heart could not be removed.
Benjamin is not a person who is good at expressing sadness.
On the battlefields of the last century, or later in the years when Vought International was packaged as a spiritual idol, he was accustomed to covering up all emotions with fists, swear words, and arrogance.
But now, he felt as if his chest was filled with a lot of broken glass, and even his breathing was accompanied by bursts of dull, splitting pain.
Liberty is dead.
Died in the hands of Black Noir.
He died at the hands of the family member to whom he had just apologized and even helped wash the paintbrushes.
Benjamin lowered his head and glanced at the brown paper bag tightly held in his left hand.
It contained metal parts that he had just bought from the hardware store to repair the Lawn machine.
The edge of the paper bag had been deformed by his rough fingers.
Benjamin took a deep breath and forced himself to calm down.
He's not smart, but he's definitely not stupid.
The man who deliberately bumped into him on the street and stuffed the player into his pocket must be Vought International.
It was the bastard Edgar who deliberately handed this bloody knife into his hand.
Benjamin knew that this was a conspiracy. Someone wanted him to go crazy and wanted him to go back to Long Island Estate to make a big fuss.
Reason told him that he should crush the broken player, then go back to work with the hardware parts, eat dinner cooked by Lynn as usual in the evening, wash the dishes as usual, and pretend that nothing happened.
However, reason has never been a useful thing in this veteran's mind.
He slowly stood up straight, put the player back in his pocket, and walked out of the alley.
He did not go in the direction of Long Island Estate.
The further he walked, the more evil fire burned in his chest.
He remembered the way Liberty once leaned on his shoulder to smoke, and remembered her crazy and disdainful laughter.
Then, these pictures were instantly torn apart by the cold dagger of Black Noir.
Emotions were like a beast trapped in an iron cage, hitting his rational defense line crazily.
Benjamin began to breathe heavily. He felt that his body temperature was rising sharply, and it seemed as if there was a nuclear fusion flame in the center of his chest that was losing control.
"Damn..."
He cursed under his breath, forcibly changed direction, and stumbled towards an abandoned factory area on the edge of the town.
He ran faster and faster, and the asphalt pavement under his feet was cracked by his heavy steps.
That energy can no longer be suppressed.
When he plunged into the deserted and abandoned building complex, the dazzling light in his chest finally erupted completely.
Boom!
A deafening loud noise tore through the tranquility on the edge of the town.
The dazzling energy beam centered on Benjamin and exploded in all directions.
The violent shock wave instantly overturned several abandoned red brick buildings around it. Under the high temperature and huge force, the steel and concrete shattered like fragile biscuits, turning into dust and fragments all over the sky.
This outburst without warning lasted for more than ten seconds.
When all the dust settled, only a huge pit with a diameter of more than ten meters was left.
Several abandoned buildings around have been completely razed to the ground, and the air is filled with a pungent burnt smell and high temperatures that have not yet dissipated.
Fortunately, this is an industrial area that has long been abandoned. There are usually no homeless people here, so this devastating blow did not hurt anyone.
Benjamin knelt in the center of the pit, holding on to the charred ground with both hands, breathing heavily.
The gray sweatshirt he was wearing had been burned into rags by the high temperature, revealing his solid muscles.
After venting, a deep feeling of powerlessness followed.
He raised his head and looked in the direction of Long Island Estate not far away.
He thought of the new gray mug left for him in the kitchen, the cup of hot cocoa John handed him, and the two twenty-dollar bills Lynn handed him casually.
That's a home.
A place that he had dreamed of integrating into and that had just begun to accept him.
But now, he can't go back.
He couldn't act like nothing happened and sit at the dining table to have breakfast with Black Noir;
He couldn't rush into the house and twist off Black Noir's head in front of Lynn and those children.
That family doesn't need an Avenger who can explode at any time, let alone a bloody fight.
Benjamin slowly stood up from the bottom of the pit.
He glanced at the brown paper bag that had fallen into the charred soil not far away. The hardware parts inside were scattered all over the floor and had been deformed by the high temperature just now.
He didn't pick it up, he just turned around, stepped on the ruins and debris on the ground, and walked in the opposite direction step by step.
When night falls again New York, the city's neon lights light up again.
Benjamin followed the familiar route and came to the hidden dead end of Queens again.
He bent down, lifted the heavy rusty iron manhole cover with dusty hands, and climbed up the iron ladder into the sour-smelling darkness.
It's very cold and humid in the sewer.
But he felt that this cold darkness made him feel at ease, without having to face those complicated human hearts and calculations.
This is a place where you can escape from it all.
He walked along the pipe for a few minutes and came to the familiar corner.
A rustling sound soon came from the darkness.
The Big Rat wrapped in dark red rags walked out with a small wooden stick, followed by the four Mutant Turtles who were poking their heads.
Little Turtles, who was tied with an orange cloth strip, sniffed the air vigorously, as if looking for the aroma of pizza, but found that this big man was empty-handed today. Not only did he not bring anything to eat, but his clothes were in tatters, like an unlucky guy who had just been robbed by a gangster.
Little Turtles hung his head in disappointment, but quickly ran forward and touched Benjamin's big hand hanging by his side with his small paw.
Big Rat walked up to Benjamin, raised his head, and looked at him quietly with his black bean-like eyes.
Benjamin slowly slid down along the moss-covered brick wall and buried his face in his rough hands.
The dripping sewage from the water pipes made a soft tapping sound, echoing in the empty underground tunnel.