To John, if it wasn't something directly life-threatening, it wasn't a big deal.
Knowing that someone was targeting his parents, John wouldn't stand by and do nothing.
From S.H.I.E.L.D.'s tone, it seemed the other party also had intentions of targeting him.
Then let's just spend this holiday openly and frankly.
He didn't believe that even if he walked around so brazenly, the other party would still be able to sit still.
Luring the snake out of its hole.
A rare holiday, perhaps a little tension and excitement would be good.
Since I'm seeking excitement, I'll see it through to the end.
Early the next morning, he stood in front of the mirror and tapped his clothes with his wand.
His suit vest changed into casual wear, and he changed several sets before finally settling on the brown one.
I have to say that Magic has a convenience that technology doesn't.
"This young face really easily causes misunderstandings."
A thirty-year-old man still sporting a high school student's face – a wealthy woman would pay a million to buy this maintenance method.
Opening the garage, one luxury car after another awaited its favor.
Unfortunately, John didn't have a driver's license.
As a law-abiding good citizen, John would not drive without a license.
Yes, he wouldn't.
...
New York is a diverse city.
You can see people of all races.
Rivington Street.
Guys with dark skin wearing thick gold chains and showing half their butt gathered together, calling it street rap.
Suddenly, a speeding sports car scared a young brother so much that his ancestral rapping talent was unleashed, breaking through his limits to rap here.
A yellow Lamborghini, with the roar of its engine, stopped in front of a bakery.
With the eye-catching design of the luxury car appearing, John, dressed in casual wear, stepped out with his long legs.
"Kowalski Bakery, I used to come here when I was a kid."
His first stop, revisiting an old place.
Standing at the doorway, John took a deep breath.
The aroma of baking and the unique shapes of the bread attracted passersby.
The bread inside had strange shapes.
For example, some looked like hairy monkeys, while others resembled rhinoceroses, platypuses, and dodo birds.
Only John knew that those strange shapes were all based on the Magical creatures from the Magic World.
This is an old shop that has been open for more than eighty years; in America's not-so-long history, this shop can be considered an antique.
The craftsmanship of this shop has been passed down through three generations.
It's impossible to verify why a Muggles' bakery would have Magical creature shapes.
Its loyal regular customers had long since gotten used to those shapes and tastes.
The glass door of the shop opened, and a long queue stretched out.
There was a reason why this shop could stay open for so long.
Women liked the strange and cute shapes, while men liked its affordable price, generous portions, and delicious taste.
Not long after John joined the queue, he heard the sound of someone running up in a hurry behind him.
"May, hurry up."
A ten-year-old boy pulled May's hand, his face red from running, and rushed to join the queue behind John.
The boy's eyes tried to look over the long queue to see the delicious bread inside.
The woman called May had long brown hair, a simple striped shirt, and wore rimless glasses, yet she didn't look unfashionable.
With sufficient good looks and a hot figure that her clothes couldn't hide, the woman was slightly out of breath, causing the men in the queue to secretly turn around.
John also turned back and looked. The boy was standing on tiptoes, counting the delicious bread in the bakery.
"Oh no, the hairy monkey bread is almost gone."
He saw that there were only three left.
The hairy monkey bread filled with jam was his favorite. The boy quickly closed his eyes and prayed that he would be able to buy one.
Perhaps his prayer was effective.
As the queue got shorter and shorter, the cute hairy monkey bread was still there.
There were only two people left in front of the queue.
The American lady at the very front was hesitating, making the boy's heart pound.
He muttered, "Don't choose the hairy monkey, don't choose the hairy monkey, please, God."
He even brought out God.
This made it hard for the lady not to give face. She heard the boy's muttering, turned back, gave him a friendly smile, bought a few rhinoceros jam breads, and left.
The boy smiled and gave the lady a grateful look.
Only one person left until it was his turn.
And there were still three hairy monkey breads.
He was already imagining himself and Aunt May each having a hairy monkey bread.
Full of anticipation, he heard the person in front of him speak.
"I'll take these three."
Reality was like a heavy hammer, smashing hard on the boy's young heart.
The boy stared blankly as the three hairy monkey breads were put into a bag. The person in front even turned back and glanced at the boy.
For some reason, he seemed to see a hint of mischievous amusement in that person's eyes.
After buying the bread from the shop, John leaned against the luxury car and enjoyed it.
It had a soft texture, and there seemed to be jam inside.
He saw the boy come out.
The boy who didn't get the bread he wanted didn't make a fuss, his emotional stability was surprising.
Despite feeling disappointed, he didn't cause trouble for his guardian.
Just on this point, the ten-year-old boy had surpassed too many children.
The boy saw the person who bought the three breads and reluctantly looked at the bread in John's hand.
Seeing his disappointment, May also felt unbearable.
"Peter, wait for me," she instructed the boy.
"Mr.," May quickly walked up to John and asked, "May I exchange a bread with you?"
John raised an eyebrow. He put down the bread he had taken a bite of and looked the beautiful aunt up and down.
She couldn't really be called an aunt, after all, compared to him, she was only about ten years older?
Big sister?
"I can exchange, but why do you want to exchange?"
He quietly looked at May.
May smiled generously and confidently, saying, "I think you might like other flavors."
"You really think of me," John chuckled lightly, "That's not a very good reason."
"But there was one thing you said that I appreciate very much."
John handed over the bag containing the bread and said, "You came to me to exchange, not to take."
"I like equivalent exchange," he shrugged and said, "So I agreed."
When the boy heard him agree, he was overjoyed.
"Thank you very much, Mr.," the boy said happily as he took the bag, "I'll give you the rhinoceros bread."
Seeing Peter happy, May was also happy.
She said gratefully, "Thank you, Mr., Peter really likes this bread. When his mother was still alive, she would bring him here to buy it."
Saying this, she looked at Peter with tenderness.
In this city, she and Peter only had each other to rely on.
"It's nothing worth special thanks, it's just equivalent exchange."
John raised the rhinoceros bread in his hand, shook it, and smiled, "You also paid a price."
May found this person very interesting, he kept talking about equivalent exchange.
Just as John was about to say goodbye to this special 'mother and son' pair, his trouble arrived.
"Hey, nice car." A bald man with dark skin walked over with a unique swagger, "Now we need to settle the matter of you scaring my brother just now."
The young brother, wearing 'fashionable' half-butt clothes and showing his leopard print underwear, stood beside his big brother.
People were implicitly surrounding John.
May and Peter suffered unwarranted disaster. When those people saw May, they let out contemptuous whistles.
They brazenly eyed May with unfriendly gazes.
This was a very offensive thing.
"Are you hitting on her?" The bald big brother chuckled and put his hand on John's shoulder, "Honestly, only I am worthy of her."
"I'm already calling the police."
May pulled Peter away from the approaching thugs, took out her phone, and threatened forcefully, "You'd better leave quickly."
"Hot, I like it." The thugs leered at May.
John ignored the bald man and asked, "Is this place always this chaotic?"
"No, this isn't Hell's Kitchen," May retorted.
Hearing this, John looked at the bald man pressing on his shoulder and said seriously, "You heard that, this isn't Hell's Kitchen."
"You should be glad it's not," the bald man leaned close to John's ear and threatened with a grin, "Maybe if you give me your car, I'll let you walk out unharmed."
"Okay," John immediately took out his car keys and said to the bald man, "If that guarantees our safety."
The bald man's mouth curved into a smile, just about to take them.
Then John seemed to discover something and said in surprise, "Wait, look what I found."
Under the bald man's bewildered gaze, John took a pencil out of May's clothes pocket.
"May, you didn't tell me you brought this thing."
His tone of slight blame made May confused. "It's just a pencil."
It's not a weapon or anything.
"This is a pencil!" John emphasized.
Picking up the pencil and twirling it skillfully between his fingers, he turned and said nonchalantly, "Now, you'd better hand over all the money you have."
These words, which seemed to have lost all sense, stunned this group of low-level thugs.
How many dishes did you eat to get this drunk?
Are you already dreaming before it's even dark?
The bald man laughed in anger, "I think you're seriously mentally ill."
"You might not believe it," John said with a serious face, "This thing in my hand is very dangerous."
"Fuck!" The bald man glanced around, saw no police, and was about to go up and teach John a lesson.
The rotating pencil in his hand stopped, and John gripped the pencil in reverse.
Moving so fast it left a blur, the bald man's outstretched palm was pierced through and pinned to the hood of the luxury car.
Before the scream could escape, John leaned in and whispered in the bald man's ear, "See, you're connected to this car."
"Lunatic, you're a lunatic!"
The bald man screamed, attracting everyone's attention.
John scanned the thugs who were stunned by this scene. He grinned and slowly, little by little, pulled out the pencil that was nailed into the car hood.
The blood squeezed out from the wound in his palm as it was pulled through made the bald man scream again.
Blood slid down the yellow car paint, leaving a shocking mark.
The thugs were just bullies who preyed on the weak; they had never seen a truly ruthless person like this.
They almost scrambled away, abandoning their big brother and fleeing.
May and Peter were both stunned.
The man who had seemed harmless just moments before turned into a paranoid, crazy lunatic in the blink of an eye.
It made people involuntarily step back.