Shadow trail of the beautiful world

Chapter 18 17. The Story of the Past

For the next few days, Merlin and Bruce acted together.

They are like ghosts hiding in this freighter, elusive, but very disciplined, they will only take what they need.

Bruce learned quickly. In such an environment, if he wants to live for a long time, he must learn to restrain himself.

Only by not destroying the original order and environment can one hide oneself for a long time.

But to serve two people, the kitchen always lacked more food than before, which quickly attracted the attention of the head chef.The crew searched the cabin more and more frequently, and Merlin realized that the ship was no longer safe.

"The next time we dock, we have to leave."

Merlin held the lunch box and said to the unshaven Bruce sitting next to him:

"Let's find another ship, or find a way to make some money, and take the train. According to my experience, the train is much better than the freighter."

"Is this going?"

Bruce finished the last sip of soup, he looked at the surrounding cargo hold with some regret, and said:

"It's a pity that I've even grown a little fond of this place."

"Stop!"

Merlin patted Bruce on the shoulder, and he said:

"You stupid 17-year-old boy, you don't like this place. You like the thrill of stealing things...I just noticed that you've been getting more and more active these days, which is not good, Bruce! "

"I do not have."

Bruce denied it, but Merlin turned around, took out a bottle of wine from his "room", waved it in front of Bruce's eyes, and said:

"I can see it, Bruce, you're trying to cross the line... I still remember, the first night we met, how firmly you told me that you would never be a criminal, but alas, Right now, you're doing the wrong thing."

"Aren't you the same?"

Bruce asked unconvinced:

"You're also getting food from the fridge and borrowing things from the crew, we're no different, Merlin."

"We have!"

Merlin emphasized his tone:

"I never take what I don't need, everything I do is pure, just to keep the bare minimum alive."

"I know that is a bad behavior. If I could, I would never take the initiative to steal. If they agree with me, I would even do odd jobs on the ship in exchange for food. It's a pity that Stark Industries never hires outsiders."

Merlin sighed, stood up, and said to Bruce:

"Listen, Bruce, it's a trivial matter, but it means something serious. I've almost gotten myself into it, and I've almost killed hundreds of people, if it wasn't for a respectable old gentleman who helped me, I'm afraid I'm going to really be a monster."

He stretched out his finger, stroked under his feet, and said to the companion in front of him:

"Bruce, there's a line there, we can't see it, but it's there. Don't cross it, you can't get it back. Old Stan told me, if you don't want to be a bad guy, do it, Don't let yourself be the bad guy."

Merlin's words of warning made Bruce's rebuttal disappear in his throat.

He had nothing to refute.

He has indeed become more and more comfortable with his resistance to stealing from the beginning, and even learned to enjoy it.

He enjoys the kind of reaping for nothing, enjoys the stimulation of walking on the boundary line, he has been suppressed for too long, those dark things in the past have been affecting him, perhaps, he is indulging himself in this way.

In this world, some people are healed by childhood all their lives, while others are healed by childhood all their lives.

"Ok."

Bruce raised his head, looked at Merlin, and said seriously:

"I'll give it back, in a minute."

"Well, this is my Bruce, a good young man."

Merlin made a deliberate joke, which drew Bruce's glare.The silent young man rarely joked, and was not very comfortable with other people's jokes.

And after Merlin ate the last piece of bread, Bruce suddenly sat in front of him, looked at Merlin, and said:

"Don't you want to know my story? I think it's time to tell it."

"Ok?"

Merlin suddenly became interested. He sat up straight and looked at Bruce:

"Is it finally time for the story? I thought it would be a few more days."

"Then go ahead, I'm listening, it's always a relief to share suffering with each other, and if you want to hear it, after you've told your story, I'll tell you mine too."

"I'm really interested in your story."

Bruce put the cup in his hand aside, and he looked at Merlin:

"After all, you are the first real supernatural person I've ever seen. As for my story, it's actually not as complicated as you think."

The rich young man from Gotham intertwined his fingers. In this dim cargo hold, he seemed to be trapped in the memories of the past, and said to Merlin in front of him:

"I was born in 1973. My family is one of the oldest families in Gotham City. My last name is Wayne."

"Wayne?"

Merlin narrowed his eyes, and he recalled for a few minutes, looking at Bruce:

"I know this family. There is a factory of Wayne Industries in the suburbs of Madison. Many people worked there when I was a child, but it closed inexplicably 9 years ago, leaving many people unemployed. There was a riot at the time. There was quite a storm."

"1981 years?"

There was a flash of pain in Bruce's eyes, and he nodded slightly:

"Of course, because of that year, bad things happened to my family. My father and mother... were murdered, and a lot of problems happened to the family business in that year, and industries all over the world were affected by it. .”

Merlin's eyes changed, he looked at the young man in front of him, and after a few seconds, he said in a comforting voice:

"I'm sorry, I don't know...it must have been painful because you were supposed to be 8 at the time."

"Painful? No."

Bruce shook his head, and said in a calm voice:

"The pain can no longer describe that scene."

"Every night, I still remember, when my parents took me, to see that famous play at the Gotham Opera, Zorro, and honestly, that show is not very suitable for children. I am very happy I was terrified, the actors were applauded for their superb performances, but I was terrified."

Bruce's tone didn't fluctuate much, but Merlin saw his clenched fist.

Obviously, even if it was just a memory, this incident caused great fluctuations in the mood of the young people.

It must have been painful, and it had been tormenting him. .

"I asked my parents to take me away... I was always so self-willed, like a spoiled rich kid."

Bruce's voice became lighter as he said:

"My parents took me out of the theater and went to the parking lot, where old Alfred was waiting for us. It was only a few hundred meters away, but when we walked out of the theater, we were forced by a criminal there. He used to He was waving a gun, he wanted some money, some stuff. I was terrified, and I knew then, I shouldn't have come out of the theater."

Bruce covered his eyes, he breathed a sigh of relief, and didn't tell the ending of the story.

But Merlin could guess.

He picked up the wine bottle in his hand, stretched out his hand to twist it away, and handed it to Bruce. He patted Bruce on the shoulder without saying a word.

Bruce took the bottle, raised his head and took a sip of the wine. The pungent smell made his tears and snot pour out together, and he wiped it in a hurry.He gritted his teeth and said:

"For a while, I thought it wasn't that simple. I searched, I searched desperately for evidence of a conspiracy, but there was none. It was an accident, an accident, that took my parents."

Merlin looked at some choked Bruce, he said:

"I can understand that for a while, I also longed to find meaning in the tragedies that happened to me, and sometimes it did make sense, but more often than not... tragic things just happened, with no sinister intentions , and there are no secret societies, it just happens."

"But you know what the most ironic thing is, Merlin."

Bruce gritted his teeth and said:

"The most ironic thing is that in 1981, the entire Gotham City suffered from massive unemployment and the economic situation was very poor. The capitalists did not care about the lives of the citizens. Only my parents were calling on the rich to give generously and help the city. Survive the disaster. Zili, the murderer, the lunatic who was forced by poverty to take risks, personally killed the only two people in that city who really wanted to help them."

There was redness in Bruce's eyes, and he said in a tone of extreme disappointment:

"After my parents died again, rich people who felt the threat of death began to unite, fearing the same doom would befall them. Cities revived, millions of poor people got relief, but at the expense of my Parents, like offerings to Gotham."

"I don't like Gotham because it devoured my parents."

Bruce took another sip of his drink, and he said to Merlin:

"I can't hate it, because my parents died for it, and until the moment they died, they wanted that city to be better."

"I once wanted to avenge my parents and punish the murderer with legal means, but then I found out that Zili...he is just a dispensable little person, even without him, there would still be people on that night The emergence of others. That is the tragedy of an era, how can I punish that era that has passed?"

"So you chose to leave?"

Merlin nodded clearly, he seemed to understand Bruce's entanglement, he said with a hint of silence:

"If that's the case, I can understand why you don't want to talk about it. Besides, what about the murderer? Don't tell me, you just let him go?"

"No, he's dead."

Bruce stood up, put away his dinner cup, took out a shiny silver revolver from his pocket, and placed it in front of Merlin's eyes:

"Ziley has something to do with the biggest crime family in Gotham, and those bastards bribed the judge and jury. Ziley was released on the spot as a mental patient. I was standing in the crowd, holding this gun in my hand, what I thought at the time Yes, if the law cannot punish Zili, I will do it myself."

"But you didn't, did you?"

When Merlin asked, Bruce nodded:

"I really didn't. But while I was hesitating, a bullet pierced Zili's heart and he died outside the courtroom, surrounded by reporters. The shooter was from the crime family, Zili had lost If it is useless, he has no qualifications to live."

"I felt like I was being fooled and I rushed over to the crime boss with a gun in hand."

Bruce closed his eyes, and his face was full of loss and pain at this time:

"I rushed into his tavern and put a gun to his head, but I didn't have the courage to pull the trigger, even though he took away my last chance for revenge. I was a coward, Merlin, and I exposed my heart to him The biggest cowardice in the movie, I was laughed at by him, and I had to leave."

The young man paused, and he said to Merlin:

"I have to admit, Merlin, when I first met you, I didn't know where I should go, I didn't know what I wanted, and I didn't know the meaning of my self-exile."

"But just now, I know, you told me the answer I need."

"Oh? Is there any?"

Merlin shrugged and said to Bruce:

"I don't remember ever teaching you anything, didn't we always help each other?"

Merlin's answer made the former Kuo Shao smile.

There was a flash of stubbornness in his blue eyes, he took a step forward, held out his hand to Merlin, and said:

"I escaped because I was humiliated by those criminals. At that time, I didn't understand the rules of the game in Gotham. Under the oppression of crime, I could only escape helplessly. I knew that there was no way to defeat him alone." them."

"They walk in the dark. The criminals, how am I going to find them if I don't know them?"

"And there are sins in the dark, and how can I stop crime if I don't understand it?"

"It's like you taught me to live on a boat, you taught me the rules of being on a boat, you taught me to fit into the system."

"That's what I'm going to do, I'm going to learn about the criminals and their crimes until I discover all their secrets in the dark, until I know enough about their weaknesses. At that point, I'll go back, go back bro Tan!"

Bruce clenched his fists, and he said to Merlin word by word:

"I will go back and finish what my parents didn't finish... I will go back and protect my city, just like you discover your own strength, I will also discover what belongs to me, what belongs to Bruce Wayne Strength. Merlin, do you trust me?"

"letter!"

Merlin grabbed Bruce's hand, and he said to the young man in front of him:

"Why don't you believe it? You have enough reasons to do this, and I believe you can do it. You learn things quickly, although you are occasionally reckless."

"Speaking of which, you are actually saying goodbye to me, right? Are you determined to leave?"

"Next port."

Bruce gave a sincere smile and said:

"I can still accompany you for a few days, but after that, I'm leaving. I'm going to travel the world, broaden my horizons, and look for those evil rules in the dark."

"Don't worry, Merlin. I'll learn to be the worst villain ever, but trust me, I'll never really be one of them.

These words made Merlin slightly stunned. He originally wanted to remind Bruce not to be obsessed with darkness, but he didn't expect Bruce to come to such a profound conclusion.

It was as if unintentionally, he helped the young man in front of him find his future direction.

But this also made Merlin feel relieved, and he once again helped those in need.

He grinned, reached out and patted Bruce on the shoulder, and said with a smile:

"Come on, don't make it look like parting from life to death. If we are lucky, we will meet again in the future. Speaking of which, where is the next port? It is said to be in Maine?"

"Um"

Bruce took out a map that had been folded many times from his pocket, and spread it out on the ground.

"Maine is also the terminal of this freighter."

"It is said to be called..."

Bruce lowered his head and searched on the map, pointed to a place, and said to Merlin:

"Grace Port?"

(End of this chapter)