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Chapter 20: An Unusual Family
Chapter 20: An Unusual Family
Leaving the street, Jerry, clad in a pitch-black wizard robe, began to navigate through some deserted alleys, heading toward areas with higher crime rates.
Speaking Mandarin to the Chinese grandmother was actually a deliberate move on his part.
He needed to earn Little Red Stars to boost his strength, and as he progressed, he would inevitably become more involved in preventing crimes and disasters. As his power grew, the scale of these events would also increase.
Sooner or later, he would come to the attention of the public, the police, the government, and even S.H.I.E.L.D.
When someone eventually investigated him thoroughly, they would uncover that this wizard, who could perform incredible magic, spoke fluent and authentic Mandarin the first time he did a good deed in public.
People tend to trust the answers they work hard to find.
A guy who always spoke English, dressed in a wizard robe, wearing a wizard hat, holding a magic wand, and hiding behind a mask, could easily expose his true identity through his language during his first mission, when he lacked experience.
Thus, his real identity might very well be that of a Chinese child living in New York.
See, this would perfectly mislead anyone trying to uncover his true identity.
Jerry believed that keeping his identity hidden was crucial, as he wasn’t alone; he had a loving father and a cute sister.
He would become very powerful in the future, but his family wouldn’t be as strong as he would be.
Although he had no blood relation to his father and sister, they had lived together for eleven years, making them the only two true family members he had in this world.
Speaking of which, the three of them were quite an unusual family.
They all had different last names: Jerry Carmen, his sister Elsa Hawthorne, and his father Has Wright.
While Jerry had no real blood relation to the other two, Elsa and Has were genuine father and daughter.
Elsa’s mother had passed away shortly after her birth due to health issues, and Has named his daughter after her mother to honor her memory.
Jerry’s situation was even more tragic.
His parents disappeared shortly after his birth, before he was even a month old, and no trace of them has been found to this day.
Has, being a close childhood friend of Jerry’s father, took him in and raised him as his own son after Jerry’s parents vanished.
This arrangement lasted for eleven years.
So Jerry was very grateful to Has. Although he had been reborn with his memories, he had no means of protecting himself as an infant.
On the midnight streets of New York, apart from homeless people, late-working office employees, and night owls, it was rare to see anyone else.
Of course, there were also the criminals who enjoyed taking advantage of the darkness, and the superheroes who prowled the night to combat them.
“Thief! Catch the thief!”
In the quiet of the night, a woman’s frantic cry for help suddenly echoed through the air.
Lucy was a small-time journalist who had stayed late to prepare materials for the next day.
She had just exited the subway when someone bumped into her.
With her years of experience, she immediately checked her bag and found a large slash, with her wallet missing.
So, the following scene unfolded.
Although she had noticed it in time, a career woman in a suit and high heels could hardly outrun a thief known for his escape speed.
Helplessly, she shouted for help, hoping some kind-hearted passerby would step in to stop the thief.
Unfortunately, the street was nearly deserted at this hour, and the few people around chose to stand by and watch.
No one wanted to risk being stabbed while trying to stop the thief!
As Lucy watched the thief's back recede into the distance, about to vanish from her sight, a strange mist suddenly appeared, enveloping the thief.
A moment later, when she panted her way to the scene, the mist had vanished, leaving behind the thief who had stolen her wallet, now unconscious, and the pink wallet in his hand.
"It's almost three; it's time to head back!"
After dealing with another street thief, Jerry checked the time and decided to end his first night's hunt.
Not bad, he had intervened in four criminal incidents that evening, none of them major, but they had earned him nearly two hundred Little Red Stars.
In the dead of night in New York, visible and invisible crimes of all sizes were as common as cow's hairs.
However, due to the lack of a good mode of transportation, Jerry's activity range was limited to the area around his neighborhood.
Moreover, he lacked an efficient way to locate criminal incidents, so his efficiency wasn't very high. Finding four incidents in one night was already considered lucky.
Unfortunately, he didn't have Superman's ears to hear crimes happening nearby at any time.
The next morning at seven, Jerry instinctively woke up from his sleep.
Ever since he gained some independence, Jerry would wake up at seven every day without fail. Over the years, it had become second nature to him.
He got up, put on his clothes and shoes, and left the house.
Leaving early in the morning wasn't to earn Little Red Stars by fighting crime, but for his daily morning run and exercise.
His muscular physique didn't come out of nowhere; it was the result of countless hours of training and piles of sweat.
"Good morning, Jerry, running again?"
"Good morning, Grandpa George!"
Even in the elevator, Jerry ran into a neighbor, an elderly man who lived next door and liked to take morning walks.
It was hard for anyone to forget a child who had been getting up early to run since the age of four or five, especially one who was always polite and helpful, like taking out the trash or carrying things for others.
Kind, proactive, optimistic, polite, helpful, academically outstanding, and athletic—these were the labels Jerry had earned over the years from his neighbors.
They were also the source of much envy for the children in the neighborhood and the entire building.
Forty minutes later, a sweaty Jerry returned home.
A ten-kilometer run in the morning was part of his daily routine. However, since he wasn't fully grown yet and his legs weren't long enough, plus the occasional detour to earn some Little Red Stars, it took a bit longer.
Otherwise, with his current physical condition, he could run ten kilometers in about thirty minutes.
He threw his dirty clothes into the washing machine, set it to automatic, and began his morning routine of brushing his teeth and taking a shower.
Ten minutes later, he changed into his house clothes, tied his scarf, and walked into the kitchen.
(End of Chapter)
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