American comics: Praising the sun, starting from Gotham!

The Quinjet's rear hatch slowly closed.

It took off smoothly.

Xiu En's golden eyes glanced casually in a certain direction outside the cabin.

In the shadows of the junkyard they left behind, a man in a red tracksuit with a bullseye tattoo on his face stood there.

His gaze pierced through the night, through the stealth coating of the Quinjet, and landed on Clint Patton.

"Oh?"

"It seems to be a very interesting mouse."

He gave that direction a bright smile, and even raised his hand and waved in a friendly gesture.

In the junkyard, the man named Lester felt a chill run down his spine the moment he saw that golden figure smiling at him through the cabin!

He felt as if he were being directly illuminated by a sun rising from the horizon!

Clint sat on the metal bench, burying his face wearily in his hands, unwilling to move for a long time.

Kate, like a child entering Disneyland for the first time, curiously touched the cold metal walls, looked around, and finally her gaze settled on the golden figure floating in mid-air.

She finally couldn't suppress her gossipy nature and cautiously asked.

"Sir? Um, God? Your Excellency? What's the deal with that other green-haired guy you mentioned? Do you know him?"

"We know each other, but I wouldn't say we really know each other."

Xiu En's projection shifted to a more comfortable position.

"I went on a business trip a while ago and went to another, really boring world. There was a guy there wearing a green bodysuit and a hood, playing with a bow and arrow."

Kate's eyes grew brighter, while Clint impatiently looked up, wanting to hear what other outrageous stories this madman could come up with.

"It was a terrible place; the air smelled like that of losers."

Xiu wrinkled his nose, as if he could still smell the unpleasant aura of the Unjust Universe.

"That's where I met that other green-haired guy."

"How is he? Is he very good?"

Kate pressed on, her tone filled with curiosity about her colleague.

"sharp?"

"Him? When I saw him, he was locked in a wriggling, stinking can of meat with a group of people, so hungry that he could barely draw a bow."

"Canned meat?"

"Yes, it's alive and can swim."

Xiu En nodded.

"As for his archery skills, well, his accuracy is okay, but his power is too poor. The arrows he shoots are weak and feeble. However, the woman next to him who screams loudly has decent power."

"Wow..."

"So, you rescued them?"

I guess so.

Xiu En shrugged.

"I washed that can of meat inside and out, and I also emptied all the sardines out of the cans. You know, you always have to get rid of the tangled side dishes before the main course is served."

He has started spreading his bizarre food chain theory again.

Clint thought the guy who fell from the sky might be an Omega-class mutant who had escaped from a mental hospital.

But Kate's thought process is clearly different from Hawkeye's.

This gifted young girl, born with a silver spoon in her mouth and receiving an elite education from a young age, caught a glimpse of a possibility in Xiu En's rambling nonsense that was enough to excite her to the point of trembling.

"Wait a moment!"

Her eyes suddenly widened.

"You mean another world, another green-haired guy? You mean a parallel universe?! Like in Rick and Morty?!"

She stood up excitedly.

"So you're a transdimensional traveler? Or someone from a higher dimension?"

She stared at Xiu En, her eyes gleaming with a thirst for knowledge.

"How is that world different from ours? Are the physical constants the same? Is the flow of time synchronized? Is there another me? Another Stark Industries? Another Avengers?"

A barrage of questions came at Clint, who was resting with his eyes closed, and he had to open them.

He stared in shock at his temporary apprentice.

Parallel universe?

This little girl has an incredibly rich imagination.

Xiu En watched the little girl, who suddenly seemed to have been injected with chicken blood, with great interest.

"Not bad theoretical knowledge, purple pendant."

He nodded approvingly.

"That's pretty much what you're saying. As for the differences between those worlds, some worlds have red suns, some have two, some have giant robots fighting, and some have even lost their gods and are just a mess. They're all pretty boring."

"Oh my god..."

She murmured to herself.

Clint couldn't sit still any longer.

He initially thought Shuen was just talking nonsense, but Kate's reaction and Shuen's matter-of-fact attitude surprised him.

Could it be?

Is what this guy is saying true?

He recalled the myths Thor told him about the Nine Realms and the World Tree when he first came to Earth, and the mirrored dimensions that the Ancient One had shown him, which were even more bizarre than the wildest dreams.

This universe seemed far more vast and absurd than he had imagined.

"You mean there are countless parallel universes, each with an Earth, and potentially a version of me on each Earth?"

Clint asked with difficulty, feeling his voice was a little dry.

"Pretty much. That green-haired guy is indeed you in a sense. Some versions of you in other universes are already dead, or still wearing diapers. There are too many to remember."

Xiu En waved his hand.

"For example, the green-haired guy I just mentioned, Green Arrow, has been locked in the sea and fed to fish by a Superman who's not quite right in the head. The whole world is a mess."

Clint fell silent.

He remembered Loki leading the Chitauri army to invade New York, Ultron's attempt to exterminate humanity, and Thanos's snap that wiped out half of all life in the universe...

The world is also a mess.

They were just lucky enough to pull the world back from the brink of disaster each time.

A world ruled by a superman?

He doesn't read comics, but he's heard about Superman's reputation in the comics, and even if Superman really existed in that world, he'd become evil.

What would that be like?

Clint dared not think about it.

He suddenly felt that, in comparison, his gang of hoodlums in sportswear carrying guns were as cute as a group of kindergarten children.

Kate saw this as a perfect opportunity to build a closer relationship. She leaned close to Shum with an adoring look on her face and continued to press him for details about the other worlds.

Xiu En was happy to have some free time, answering her bizarre questions in a casual manner, embellishing his own experiences as he spoke, portraying himself as a lone wanderer in the multiverse.

Soon after.

The Quinjet landed on the top floor of an unremarkable skyscraper in Manhattan.

The rooftop silently cracked open, revealing a secret hangar below.

Clint left the cabin, followed closely by Kate, who looked around the space with a mixture of nervousness and curiosity, while Shuen floated out as well.

Two people were standing outside the cabin door.

A tall, stern-faced, black-haired woman held a tablet computer that was flashing a red alert.

Standing beside her was a taller, one-eyed black man.

He is Nick Fury, a living legend of S.H.I.E.L.D.

When Clint saw him, his face fell even more.

"Good evening, Agent Patton."

"You're right, the situation is indeed beyond our expectations."

Her gaze was fixed on Xiu En without any attempt to conceal it.

"Sir!"

Clint gave a weak salute.

Fury finally shifted his gaze from Shuen to his most outstanding yet most disobedient subordinate.

"Good evening, Agent Patton."

"It seems your retirement life is far more exciting than I expected."

"Trust me, sir."

Clint raised his hands, making a gesture of helpless surrender.

"This is definitely not the Christmas surprise I wanted."

The group entered a room.

"Barton, you and Miss Bishop were ambushed by the tracksuit gang while settling some personal scores, and then this friend..."

One-Eyed Dragon raised his chin in Xiu En's direction.

"It just appeared out of the sky, invulnerable to bullets, able to eat bullets like beans, crush cars into balls, and disarm everyone?"

"Yes, sir."

Clint answered listlessly; he had already repeated himself three times.

"Then."

Hill picked up the conversation.

"All losses, in accordance with the superhero incident settlement agreement between S.H.I.E.L.D. and the NYPD, will be charged to your account, Agent Barton. Your pension may be subject to some minor changes as a result."

Clint felt his heart bleeding.

Kate shrank back slightly.

She knew that her ronin outfit was the root of all this, and that in the end, her wealthy mother would probably have to pay the price.

"Hill, we, uh, have run into a little trouble..."

"It's not trouble, it's a miracle!"

Kate excitedly corrected her, looking at Hill.

"Are you the commander of S.H.I.E.L.D.? I'm telling you, we've encountered a real traveler."

"Shut up, Kate."

Clint interrupted her, his head throbbing with pain.

Hill ignored their nonsensical conversation. She took two steps toward Shum.

"A high-dimensional energy entity of unknown identity."

"There is no information about you in my database. Who are you? What is your purpose on Earth?"

"I?"

"I am a lost tourist, an amateur food connoisseur, and a mediocre archery instructor."

"What?"

Even a seasoned top agent like Hill was taken aback by this incoherent self-introduction.

She looked at Clint, her eyes saying, "Is this what you meant by 'beyond imagination'?"

Clint closed his eyes in pain.

This was worse than he had imagined.

"A connoisseur?"

Hill quickly adjusted her mindset and decided to start with the easiest word to understand in the other person's words.

What do you appreciate? Artworks? Antiques?

"No."

Xiu En shook his head and answered seriously.

"I mainly appreciate high-energy reactants, special alloys, and all sorts of interesting designs. Like your airplanes."

"The material is a mixture of vanadium and titanium, with some random stuff added to enhance its stealth properties. The taste is mediocre, astringent, like undercooked sweet potato chips. The design is also outdated, with very low energy efficiency; it's not even as good as the elevator installed in a friend's house."

What did he say?

Taste?

Xiu En continued.

"I'm mainly here as a coach, as for this novice..."

Hugh pointed at Kate again.

"He has good talent, but he hasn't even scratched the surface. He can't even grasp the most basic intentions."

Then he looked at Clint.

"As for you."

"To be the archer with the purest aura on this planet is a complete waste. Instead of developing the energy treasure trove within him that leads directly to the truth, he insists on playing with these jingling little toys."

"etc!"

Kate couldn't help but interject.

"What are these 'meanings' and 'treasure trove' you mentioned? How can I learn them?"

"Shut up, Kate!"

Clint felt like he was going crazy.

Hill stared silently at the three people in front of him.

A high-dimensional being whose thoughts are unknown, a top agent who wants to retire, and an overly excited rich heiress.

She felt like she was hosting a Saturday morning children's cartoon show.

Her gaze eventually returned to Xiu En.

Experience told her that the best way to get a normal answer from a madman was to ask him questions according to his logic.

"Alright, Mr. Connoisseur."

She softened her tone.

"You say you're a tourist. So, what do you want to see from us, or rather, from this planet?"

"bow."

"bow?"

"Yes, a good bow. A bow worthy of a true archer."

Shuen's gaze swept towards Clint.

"I can sense that one day he will need such a bow. And all I have to do is wait for that bow to appear."

This statement contains a causal law that transcends time and space, which even Xiu En himself did not quite understand.

He was merely relaying, relaying a small melody that his being had read from the strings of the laws of this universe.

Clint was stunned.

He didn't know why, but the feeling was like something he had forgotten for a long time being remembered again.

"so?"

"You went to all that trouble to show up in New York and dismantle an entire gang just to find a bow for an agent you'd only known for less than half an hour?"

"I didn't tear them down."

Xiu En corrected him.

"I just thought they were too noisy, so I helped this gentleman clean up the trash in the meeting room. Of course, this should be considered a kind of transaction; he owes me a favor, so he has to accept my guidance, which is reasonable, right?"

Hill: "..."

Clint: "..."

Kate: "That makes perfect sense!"

I highly recommend "American Comics: Praise the Sun Starting in Gotham!" Click to enter the story world.