Chapter 20: Mark Synthesis
May 2, 2023 Author: Yue Shang Xintou
"That's why I hate this so-called tipping system..."
Watching Nick Fury pocket the $5 that rightfully belonged to him, Colin silently grumbled in his heart.
[Touched Twisted Time Node, collected a small amount of Time Shard x2]
[Black Iron Mark (11/10)]
[Faith (272/1000)]
Then, his gaze swept over the displayed information, especially the number of [Time Shards] displayed for the [Black Iron Mark], and he felt a slight comfort in his aching heart.
Thinking about it from another angle, at least the person driving him this time was a 're-employed' Nick Fury and not someone else. Otherwise, he would have merely been out forty dollars with nothing else to show for it.
Silently comforting himself, Colin reached for the door handle of the rear seat and got out of the taxi.
"By the way, guest."
Watching Colin get out, Nick Fury rolled down the window and handed him a piece of paper from inside.
"Next time you have an urgent matter and want to take a taxi, you can call this number in advance. I can give you a preferential price."
Taking the slip of paper from Nick Fury, Colin looked down at the numbers and felt a peculiar sensation.
Especially when he thought about Nick Fury's identity, this peculiar feeling became even more pronounced.
The former director of S.H.I.E.L.D. had now 'fallen' to the point of needing to leave his number to solicit customers.
Of course, this pity only existed in Colin's heart for a few seconds before it quickly faded. After all, this 'pitiable' former director of S.H.I.E.L.D. had just taken $35 for the fare and $5 for the tip, especially that $5 tip. The thought of it made Colin's heart ache faintly.
"Well then, be careful on your way, guest, goodbye."
After handing out the paper with the number, Nick Fury rolled up the window, nodded at Colin outside the car, and drove off.
If possible, I hope this is the last time we meet, because my wallet can't withstand such torment.
Watching the departing taxi, Colin intended to grumble in his heart, but the next second his expression froze.
As Nick Fury rolled up the window, Colin saw a large trench coat lying quietly on the passenger seat, its style identical to the one he had seen in the thick fog earlier.
So, Nick Fury had been at the explosion site before!
He wasn't just passing by the explosion site in a taxi as he had said...
He had come out of the explosion site!
But why was Nick Fury at the explosion site? Could he be the mastermind behind this explosion?
Songbird had indeed mentioned that the perpetrator of the explosion had escaped the scene. Unfortunately, Colin hadn't been in much of a mood for interviews at the time and hadn't dwelled on the issue.
Of course, the main reason was that judging by the attitude of the Thunderbolts members, even if Colin had pressed for details about the explosion, they would likely have been evasive or refused to answer altogether.
Looking down at the slip of paper with the number in his hand, Colin's heart became extremely complicated.
The water in the Anti-World was much deeper than he had originally thought.
...
[Black Iron Mark (11/10)]
"Finally, it's complete."
Suppressing his emotions, Colin returned home.
He let out a long sigh, looking at the [Time Shards] from Nick Fury as marked in the text.
Honestly, even Colin himself hadn't expected that these last two [Time Shards] would be obtained in this way. In fact, he had already prepared himself for the long haul of reporting news for the Thunderbolts, or even going to the former owner of The Daily Bugle, J. Jonah Jameson, to obtain the last [Time Shard].
His gaze shifted away from the two broken [Time Shards] originating from Nick Fury. On the flashing surface of the shards, Colin could vaguely see the figure of Nick Fury wearing a black trench coat and fighting with a gun, which was more in line with Colin's impression of a S.H.I.E.L.D. director than his appearance in the taxi.
Next, it was time for the final step.
Shaking his head, he cleared the jumbled thoughts from his mind and took a deep breath as he looked at the (11/10) displayed in the text.
As his thoughts moved, the text in his eyes began to flicker.
The [Time Shards] Colin had collected over this period began to emit a faint metallic luster, enveloped by countless rays of green light.
As the metallic luster appeared, his hand suddenly felt intensely hot, as if someone had pressed a glowing-hot branding iron firmly onto his hand.
"Ah!"
The sudden searing heat made Colin cry out in pain.
However, before the pain could spread, the next second a cool sensation enveloped the area of his hand.
Under the contrast of heat and cold, Colin's original scream turned into a comfortable groan.
"So, this is the effect of [Time Shards]?"
In the room, looking at the mark on his hand that emitted a black metallic luster and was constantly changing, the expression in Colin's eyes flickered slightly.
Through his attempts with the [Black Iron Mark] on his hand, Colin had basically understood the mark's function.
To be precise, the mark Colin now possessed was not yet complete.
Currently, he had only completed the first half of the process, which was the shaping of the mark. The 10 [Time Shards] collected by touching the [Twisted Time Node] had synthesized the outline of the mark. If he wanted to fully unleash the mark's power, he needed to invest [Faith] into this blank [Black Iron Mark] to condense the pattern representing power.
This process reminded Colin of the initial birth of primitive religions, which originated from all things in nature.
Primitive humans turned everything in nature into totems and believed in them for protection.
But this is no longer a primitive society, and the [Faith] I have collected so far is not as pure as it was in the past.
His gaze fell on the text, and his brows furrowed as he looked at the numbers representing [Faith (272/1000)].
Before, when he didn't understand the specific situation of the mark, he had only treated [Faith] as a simple number and hadn't thought much beyond that. Looking back now, the 272 points of [Faith] represented by the text were clearly not something to be happy about.
The vast majority of these 272 points of [Faith] came from the sales of newspapers in the Main World. For weeks now, The Messenger Newspaper's content had been nothing but criticism of Hoover.
Colin found it hard to imagine what kind of pattern would be condensed after he collected enough [Faith] and invested it into the mark.
(end of chapter)