[Zhongyingmei] The beating heart

New York is a well-known metropolis in the whole country and even in the whole world. It is said that this place can realize any of your wishes.But just like other big cities on this planet, New York, made of steel, has the terrifying power to devour mortals.

You may come here to pursue your dreams, or you may just want to live the life of ordinary people, but no matter what, if you are not careful, you will be swallowed by it, and you will be merged into this steel and you will never be able to escape.It's not just New York, it's the same for all big cities.Where the sun can't find it, in the shadows of their gleaming towering great landmarks, there's always something that people willfully ignore.

Mountains of garbage are compressed and then sink into the sea. The waste of resources has put the earth in a huge predicament. The severe pollution has made clean air a luxury. Seasons watched through the foggy glass windows of the double-storey villas where people enjoyed their leisurely weekends, while they themselves were likely to freeze to death before the next cold snap came.

No one really pays attention to how many bodies are put into the NYPD morgue every day.Some of them were murdered, some were killed by robbers, and some were killed by the ruthlessness and cruelty of this city.And there are others, even experienced police detectives and crime investigators don't know what kind of hell they have gone through to finally get their own eternity.

Bucky once thought that such a horrible scene would only be seen during the war, and he found that he might also be swallowed up by this city.At least, during this time, he was devoured.

"No one cares about them," Bucky said, looking under a bridge that marked one of the great innovations in modern architecture. "I'll bet this has been happening here for months."

"All these people..." Steve looked at the various missing persons notices pasted on the wide pier, those papers were superimposed layer by layer, and seemed to become an indispensable force to support the bridge above, "They all disappeared within the last three months."

"Tali, are you sure the energy source is near here?" Bucky looked around, except for homeless people who lit trash cans to get together for warmth and some smaller delinquent youths, there was nothing special here.It is also very empty, and there is no hidden secret facility.

"Yes. I'm sure." Tully's voice came from the communicator, and Bucky had long noticed that Tully's voice was a bit strange, as if she was speaking through some kind of electronic device, and the voice was mixed with Strange electric sounds and electronic responses, and the accent is a bit strange, but he can't ask directly.

"I don't see anything weird here...we'll have to ask someone." Bucky regretted the words as soon as he said them.He doesn't think the people here are going to talk to them properly, "You know what, Steve, we should change our uniforms and come here, especially you."

"There's no time for Bucky. We don't know what will happen next." It's getting late, and humans have lost their advantage. Although there is no large-scale movement yet, it is very likely that humans don't have much time left.Steve said, walking towards the group of homeless people warming up, "Sorry, everyone. I found that there seemed to be a lot of people missing around here, and I thought—"

"Hey, come and see. The great Captain America is here to care about the sludge of our society." Before Steve could finish speaking, he was interrupted by one of the homeless men, "Maybe he will give I'll sign something."

"..." Bucky knew it would be like this, these people are different from others, they are the dark side of the city that lives in the shadows, and Captain America and the hero who saves the world?That probably only survives where the sun can reach it.Bucky wanted to go and say something to Steve, but before that, Steve had already said: "I know you guys are upset about losing your companion, sorry I didn't... I don't know what happened here thing. Have you ever thought about calling the police?"

"You think we haven't been there?" Another, younger homeless man poked his eyes a little out of his tattered woolen hat. "But the police never listen to us. They see people like us." The disappearance doesn't matter at all. We're the ones who don't matter."

"..." No, you... Steve hesitated to speak, he didn't know what to do, he didn't know how to help these people.He knows that every city has this kind of thing, every city has people like this, everyone knows that even a great hero can't help everyone, but when you really face it yourself, you will find out How unspeakable this is.

"Go to the east." Suddenly a voice came from the corner on the other side, a young man wrapped in a blanket and huddled under the pier looked at Steve and said, "If you want to help, go to the east Factory. They all disappeared around there."

Relieved to hear that someone cooperated with Steve, he walked up to the young man and knelt down to look at him: "Can you tell me the details?"

"...can you get those people back?" the young man blinked at Steve with his clear green eyes, which now had a glimmer of hope in those despairing eyes, "you're Captain America, if you say If you can, then I will believe you."

"I...I can't promise." Steve wanted to give him hope, but he couldn't give a blank promise, he said, "but I will try my best to find out what happened."

"Okay..." The young man looked away from Steve's eyes a little discouraged, and he said, "After the beginning of winter, everyone began to look for a place to keep warm. It is no longer possible to live under a bridge like this. .When the cold snap comes, you need to find a place that can keep out the wind. People who can't find a bed at the aid station go back to the old factories in the northeast to try their luck."

"You mean, these missing people went to the old factory to escape the cold and then disappeared?"

"Everyone wants to find a good location before everyone else. Some people have been scouting since the beginning of summer." The young man said, "Those factories have been abandoned for a long time for some reason, but there are still some places to give We spent the winter. But since three months ago, the people who went there for the night never came back."

"It seems that we have found our target." Steve looked to the east, and he could still see the outline of a row of low factory areas through the night, "Thank you. I promise you, I will find out about this matter the whole story."

"My uncle... disappeared there." Seeing that Steve was about to leave, the young man immediately added, "If...if you find him..."

"I'll bring him back as a kid." Steve can still promise that, and if someone is being kidnapped, then he can't sit idly by.

"Should we call for backup?" Bucky said, following Steve, who had begun to walk into the dark factory area, "I think we should call for backup."

"Bucky... isn't the two of us enough?"

"Back in the day, I would have said 'we're absolutely fine'. But now, especially after seeing so many bizarre events in just six months. I can't say that at all."

"No problem, Bucky. We don't need support." Steve said this, and he was about to reach the factory area, because there was no one here and it had been abandoned for a long time, so there were basically no lights, and it was pitch black. .Dilapidated factories may have been decommissioned due to pollution problems and were not planned for other facilities in time.But now, I don't know if it's an illusion, but the darkness around the factory seems to be slowly spreading outward.

Bucky felt that even if they really didn't need support, they needed a flashlight.It took his eyes a while to adjust to the darkness, but more than the darkness, what caught his attention was, "Did you hear anything?"

"..." Steve didn't answer. He listened carefully. From the depths of the factory, there was a sound. It was very small at first, but it gradually became louder and closer, and then became louder and closer. With a hoarse roar—

"Destroy! Destroy! Destroy!!"

Such a sound erupted from the factory, and then the rusty gate was blown away by something!A black figure tumbled out of the door, followed by the faint lights around him, his clothes reflected a dark red light, and he was also a human being from his figure?

However, it didn't take long for the Daleks to emerge from the darkness. The small light bulbs above their heads emitted blue light, which was particularly conspicuous in the darkness. At the same time, the deadly lasers they emitted also struck Break through the darkness and rush directly to that shadow!

Steve rushed forward, raised his shield to help the shadow block a laser beam, he wanted to help the stranger half kneeling on the ground, but his hand touched something wet...Is it blood?

"Bucky! He's injured!" Steve reminded, he supported the man's body with all his strength, and Bucky punched a Dalek who was approaching at this moment: "We found the right place?" Bucky helped Watching Steve support the injured man, it's better for them to take a step back and talk now.

"That's right. Maybe it has something to do with the shield covering the Earth, we have to go—" Gotta investigate.Before Steve finished speaking, his communicator suddenly made a harsh noise, and then, a strange male voice came from inside——

"Steve Rogers? I'm Commander John Shepherd of the Star Alliance! No time to explain now!" This man is called Shepherd, and it seems to be the 'captain' that Tully mentioned before. He speaks very fast, and Very nervous, "No matter where you are, go back indoors immediately! Immediately!"

Shepherd watched the blue earth slowly turn white through the huge observation window of the Shanghai. He couldn't explain to Steve what happened right away, but one thing was very important: "Don't get in the rain! I repeat, get inside immediately! Keep out of the rain!"