Bab 4: [4]
After taking a brief snack break, I ended up returning to the kitchen counter and practiced a bit more with making items. However, since I had been rather focused on merging things for the sake of weaponry, for the most part anyway, I planned on eventually making a return to Walmart in order to grab some cleaning supplies and then, at the very least, cleaning up the apartment I chose to use as my temporary living space. It was only right.
I doubt I would clean the entire building, though, since that would no doubt catch some attention, and that was the last thing I needed at the moment. Stabbing a dude in the stomach was already bad enough, so having suddenly revitalized an abandoned apartment complex would likely be considered rather counterproductive, as tempting as it was. Also, I wasn't really comfortable using it on such a large object, because there was no telling how much of a drain that would be on my energy.
I wasn't entirely certain whether or not the actual size of something had anything to do with it, but it was better to be careful with these things, or at least that's what I thought, especially when it involved myself in the equation. It would suck total balls if I just passed out right after doing it, that amount of vulnerability made me uncomfortable.
Before I stowed away the most notable things I made, or at least the creations I got after the Saw Blaster and Rat Edge, I took one last glance at them.
[Appraisal function activated. Treasure detected. BlazeForge Emberblade - F rank. Coming from the fusion of a propane torch and a wrench, this formidable sword can unleash controlled bursts of intense flames upon striking, leaving foes scorched.]
Nodding in admiration at that, I tossed it into my inventory space without even looking.
[Appraisal function activated. Treasure detected. ElectroVortex Mixer - F rank. Combining a power drill with a blender, this potent handheld device generates a swirling vortex of electrical energy, capable of immobilizing or stunning adversaries.
I chuckled at the description. Normally, I would likely consider these to be good results, but with the constant reminder of their ranks, I didn't really think much of them. The last one, however...
[Appraisal function activated. Treasure detected. Titanium Toaster Cannon - F rank. Repurposing a toaster and a PVC pipe, this ranged weapon launches scalding-hot toast projectiles with impressive force, making breakfast a formidable affair.]
I grinned to myself, just out of pure childishness. I'd be keeping this one for myself, all because I felt like it. I most likely wouldn't ever even use it, but I didn't care. Not to mention, it was probably for the best, anyway. I planned on making more of these within the very near-future, and I still actually had some materials available, but I had also been thinking about selling my creations for monetary gain or something. It seemed like a good idea, and I wasn't really intending to make anything too crazy, so I figured it wouldn't hurt all that much.
Turning away from the kitchen once I put everything away, I stepped into my bedroom and smiled as my eyes landed on the generator I had picked up. Just a few minutes ago, after I had finished up with all the stuff in the kitchen, I started working on the energy source that I so desperately needed.
All I really ended up doing to it was merging the thing with a few batteries (I also fused those together first in order to form one big battery), which seemed to enhance it's lifespan quite a bit, especially when I guided the process with certain desires of mine. Then, right after that, I added a charger into the mix and got exactly what I wanted.
It was essentially a self-charging generator, and I meant that in quite a literal sense. The damn thing would essentially run until the end of time now. The only problem with it was that I hadn't acquired sufficient enough materials to increase it's capabilities when it came to power output, which would introduce the possibility of killing it if it were to be overloaded or something. I'd just have to work on that later, but I was fine with it for now since I pretty much had everything I needed to live comfortably at the moment. Well, except a working shower and a clean toilet, and even those things had other requirements that I needed to fulfill.
I wasn't exactly sure what to do with the lack of water or anything, but I planned to figure it out eventually. At this point, aside from finding a dealer or whoever to sell some of my merged inventions, I wanted to gain access to the internet and work on temperature regulation within the apartment. I had always heard that winters in New York were fairly brutal, and I absolutely did not want to be stuck in that without any sort of heat to keep me nice and toasty in here.
That simply would not do.
Taking a sniff of the room, I licked my lips. It smelled like the frozen dinner I just recently finished devouring, which I had heated up in the microwave that was currently sitting next to the generator. I'd place it in the kitchen later on, preferably after I cleaned this shithole up nice and good.
Glancing out the nearest dirty window, I noticed the sun was still up. If I had to guess, it should be around lunch time for those that were working nine to five jobs, which made me contemplate on whether or not I should just head back to Walmart now and grab a bunch of other stuff. After a while, I eventually concluded that I'd do it tomorrow, and also made sure to keep in mind that a television was definitely needed if I was going to stay in this place for much longer.
I needed some entertainment if I didn't want to go insane while being surrounded by complete silence, at least for the most part.
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The next day, I was walking down a populated sidewalk after having just left the neighborhood in a hurry, not really looking forward to potentially getting caught by the same guy that tried to rob me.
…And if his buddies came searching for me, that would be even more of a problem, so I decided to lay as low as possible for a while. In order to accomplish that, I would have to acquire a better method of concealment, which I would work on, but I was on a mission at the moment.
I briefly passed by an Islamic cultural center, and respectfully nodded in greeting to one of the guys standing around that glanced in my direction, before my eyes set on a nearby basketball court. As I got closer, I kept walking but continued to stare in that direction, watching as a group of kids ran back and forth with the ball, in the middle of a game. The sight left me somewhat nostalgic.
The rest of my journey passed by in a blur, and eventually, I made it to a library that a random native of the city had given me the directions to. It wasn't very hard to follow either, since the interaction that led to my arrival at the decently-sized building had occurred not too far away. I had been in the midst of searching for a place to catch up on some of the world's unique history, and when it began to seem like an impossible task since I had no familiarity with the city's roads and landmarks, I finally made the decision to ask for help, which was something that I always had quite a bit of trouble with.
Walking through the entrance, I found myself near the front desk, my eyes landing on an older man who was lazing behind the table. I waved in his direction, and when he did the same but didn't say anything, I simply passed by him without a word. After making it past a few bookshelves, I noticed an area off to one side that sat an array of computers, which is the direction I quickly beelined towards. Intent on utilizing an hour or two to catch up on the world's most recent news, along with some other stuff like searching for specific individuals and whether or not they even exist at this point, I slid into a seat near the back and got right to it.
The library was quiet, with not that many people occupying the inside of the building aside from the older man sitting at the front desk and maybe a couple of kids I thought to have spotted casually walking around, which were likely just students from a nearby school. There was also a mature woman, however, who was sitting not too far away from me, zoned in on her own computer screen.
My eyes didn't linger on her for very long, although she did receive more than just a passing glance from me. I never had a problem with older women, after all. Not to mention, it helped that she notably possessed a decent physique for her age, which was something that had clearly had an slight effect on her physical appearance as the passage of time continued to move forward.
Focusing back on the keyboard and mouse sitting in front of me, I eventually pulled up an archaic-looking browser and clicked on the search bar, before I simply just contemplated what I wanted to search for first. I sat there, eyes narrowed in a concentrated manner, and then came to a decision just a few seconds later.
It turns out, as unsurprising as it was unfortunate, that I had no clue which alternate earth of the Marvel universe I was in. Tony Stark still appeared to exist, or Iron Man rather since he had also went down the familiar path of donning the iconic armor, but the man himself possessed a few notable differences. I was kind of expecting these things, however, and not to mention, it was quite common for there to be multiple incarnations of a single character, so there was a lot to pull from.
Similarly, many things in the past existed as well, like the awe-inspiring birth of Captain America for instance, most notably during a time when outright war was fairly commonplace across the planet. On that note, though, it seemed Rogers had yet to be found by a certain organization, submerged within a block of ice over in the arctic waters.
Aside from that, there was quite a bit of information to sift through, and that was even after limiting myself to some of the more recent stuff. I did crack a smile once I briefly skimmed through an article detailing an incident that occurred over around two decades ago, however. It was something I honestly just searched for myself, but it didn't take me very long when I realized it actually seemed to have happened in this world.
The turning-point moment for a very young Mathew Murdock in which his vision was taken away from him due to a chemical spill in the middle of a street, all for a pretty crazy tradeoff of then somehow acquiring a mind-boggling set of senses that would eventually lead him to becoming an incredibly skilled crimefighting vigilante named Daredevil.
There were a few other instances like that, which I couldn't help but get a little fanboyish about. It just kind of sucked in hindsight because, with what I was willing to do to get farther in this new life of mine, I knew I would most likely be doing a lot of things that certain individuals I had loved since a little kid wouldn't react too kindly about. That was fine, though, I figured I would just look at them with a nostalgic fondness from a distance.
Eventually, I pushed myself away from the computer and stood up, as I stretched with a pleasurable groan. I glanced over at the same woman from earlier after that, and realized she was still just as intently focused as before, and couldn't help but grow a little curious. It'd be funny if she was just checking out some porn or something.
Pretending to leave as I walked around the long table, I stared forward and stepped past the woman, and once I was standing in her blind spot, I turned back around and scrutinized what was displayed on the screen. Gradually, my eyes widened in surprise at the things she was reading about and searching up.
To put it simply, whoever this woman was appeared to be in desperate need of answers, mostly on whether or not she was a mutant due to the fact that she had recently been having problems at night and, unknowingly, reflexively producing a transparent bubble of biological material around herself while sleeping.
Glancing between the computer screen and the back of the woman's head in a contemplative manner, my mind ran rampant with a few potential ideas. The existence of mutants quickly reminded me of the fact that I knew practically nothing about this world's version of them, including Charles Xavier, who I completely forgot to search up. It also brought up the possibility on whether or not he had that weird helmet thing he could put on and locate other individuals with the x-gene whenever their powers kicked in for the first time. If he did, and I could somehow find a way to get closer with the woman currently sitting in front of me, who was notably desperate for anything to quell her curiosity, I could potentially have an in with the mutant side of the world.
However, it would also no doubt bring me another plethora of problems. I stood still, continuing to glance between the two most notable things in front of me, before I eventually made a decision.
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I'll be adding a picture of the woman in the next chapter's comment section for reference.
Status Power Mingguan
-- Peringkat
Power 
-- Power
stone