Creak!
The closed door opened, and John quickly rushed inside, paying not the slightest attention to Aron as he passed by him.
Old Mr.
Howlett remained very calm.
He walked over, shook hands with Aron, and said with a smile:
“Thank you for your efforts, Mr. Blackwood. Please stay. I will order them to prepare a sumptuous dinner for you!”
Aron waved his hand.
He was in a hurry to study the system and did not want to waste time at the dining table.
“There is no need. Find me a quiet room. I need to rest for a while.”
Although he did not notice any signs of fatigue on Aron, old Mr.
Howlett still called the butler and ordered him to prepare a quiet room for Mr.
Blackwood to rest in.
Watching Aron’s back as he walked away, old Mr.
Howlett shook his head and smiled.
What an unusual man!
Then he entered the room and saw his young grandson chatting and laughing lively with John.
The tension that had been gripping his heart the entire time finally eased.
“Jamie, you’re all right now, aren’t you? You don’t feel any discomfort?”
That old man, who had always been firm and dominant, probably only showed such a gentle side in front of his grandson.
Even so, the expression on his face was very complicated.
It was as though he wanted to maintain the serious bearing of the head of the family, but could not hide the deep love and concern in his heart.
“Thank you for your concern, Grandpa. I’m completely healed!”
“If you don’t believe me, I’ll show you!”
James was extremely excited.
For the first time in his life, he felt so strong.
Ignoring his father’s attempts to stop him, he performed a backflip on the bed, landed safely, and looked triumphantly at old Mr.
Howlett.
Old Howlett watched his lively grandson, his eyes filled with relief.
James had been gentle and sensitive since childhood, very much like his mother Elizabeth.
He had even inherited his handsome appearance from her, and in speech and behavior he had always been extremely polite.
However, that differed from the rough features characteristic of the Howlett family, while his gentle nature did not fit the family tradition of toughness and dominance.
Even so, his thick black hair and brown eyes were completely in line with the family inheritance.
The Howlett family had endured for three generations.
Perhaps it was time for a change.
Since the situation in Canada had stabilized, there was no need for the next generation to retain such an aggressive nature.
While old Mr.
Howlett’s family enjoyed their happy reunion, Aron had already settled into a guest room in the northwestern corner of the estate.
He waved to the butler in farewell and locked the door behind him.
“System, claim the beginner gift package!”
It was something the system was giving him for free.
It would be a real shame not to accept it.
[Ding! Congratulations to the host for obtaining a special BUFF—One Shot Straight to the Soul! We wish the host many children and grandchildren, but please find a wife first!]
Aron immediately frowned.
Even after traveling through time, I still have to listen to pressure about getting married!
If the system had a physical body, he would definitely show it who it was dealing with.
He stood up from the chair and opened the door and window leading to the balcony.
A fresh breeze carried away the restlessness in his heart.
The system’s words reminded him of his grandfather from his previous life.
When the old man sent him to university, he told him to find a wife after graduation and that he must not allow the family line to die out.
Who could have guessed that Aron would suddenly die while working overtime before he had even gotten married?
When he opened his eyes again, the entire world had changed.
He exhaled deeply, then slowly closed his eyes.
He spread his feet slightly less than shoulder-width apart, lowered his relaxed fists beside his waist, and assumed the Wuji stance at the edge of the balcony that his grandfather had taught him.
The dense stars above his head and the lone bright moon scattered faint light over his slightly moving body.
The center of gravity of his whole body alternately rose and fell, while the movement extended from the cervical vertebrae, down the spine, all the way to the coccyx, like a dragon circling and twisting.
After a long time, Aron’s body became slightly warm.
The surging life energy and blood seemed as though they wanted to burst out of him, but he forced them back into his body with tightly closed pores.
The abundant power of Qi and blood, following his movements, descended into his dantian, and he slowly exhaled the stale air.
That breath shot out like a sharp arrow and dispersed only after nearly one meter.
Aron opened his eyes, from which a piercing light flashed.
He straightened his body, crossed his arms in front of his chest, then raised them above his head.
Afterward, he stepped to the left with his left foot and lowered himself into a horse stance.
He performed eight movements in succession, repeated the entire sequence several times, then stopped practicing and returned to the starting position.
Baduanjin was not some extraordinarily powerful skill, but together with Wuxingquan and the horizontal training of the Golden Bell Shield Thirteen Taibao, it represented one of the few memories he had left of his grandfather.
That was why he had to perform those exercises several times every time.
Whenever he completely immersed himself in practice, it felt as though his grandfather was still beside him, teaching him.
After several repetitions, he felt no discomfort in his body.
On the contrary, even his mind became very relaxed.
Aron lay down on the bed, deep in thought.
“It has been almost a year since I arrived in this world, but only today have I truly realized that I am in the Marvel Universe. I will have to adjust my future plan for developing my power. Both worldly and supernatural forces must become strong enough!”
“If I develop only worldly power and encounter someone like the Black King, no matter how powerful the Blackwood family becomes, it will be like a sandcastle on the shore that collapses the moment the first wave hits it.”
“On the other hand, developing only supernatural forces is not good either. Either I will become like Magneto, violently resisting discrimination and oppression, or I will end up like Professor X, trapped between the government and mutants.”
Aron’s thoughts moved at tremendous speed as he planned how to survive in such a dangerous world.
In his previous life, he had read countless novels about traveling through time.
After his grandfather’s death, he had been lured into illegal fights, where through training on the boundary between life and death he perfected his martial arts.
Adding to that the influence of the miniature star in his brain in this life, his mental state was already approaching a level where he could calmly accept fate without fearing for his own life.
Such a mentality was particularly suitable for the danger-filled Marvel Universe.
Bang!
A rather muffled gunshot, followed by the sound of splitting wood, broke the silence of the estate.
Immediately afterward, a man’s pained scream rang out.
“Elizabeth! Come out! Come out!”
Aron immediately rolled over, got up, and jumped from the balcony.
Just before he was about to hit the ground, the miniature star in his brain turned slightly, and he gently descended to the ground.
After determining the direction from which the gunshot had come, he took a light step, and his body shot out like lightning, leaving behind an almost visible trail.
At the same time, old Mr.
Howlett was also awakened by the gunshot.
He turned, got out of bed, and pulled a short-barreled pistol from the cabinet beside the headboard.
In the hallway, he encountered John, who had also thrown a coat over his clothes.
When he saw his father, John said irritably:
“Sounds like Thomas. I’m going to check. He must have drunk too much. Father, please go back and rest. Leave this to me!”
Old Howlett tried to grab his son, but John turned around and ran immediately after saying those words.
The old man’s hand managed to catch only the edge of his coat.
“Don’t worry, Father. Trust me!”
Watching his son’s firm bearing as he walked away, the old man muttered under his breath:
“John, you have finally grown up, but it is still too dangerous to go without a weapon!”
Old Howlett called several people who had already woken up, and together they went down the other side, armed with shotguns.
They had barely rushed out of the hall when another bang echoed.
The shotgun fired again.
Soon afterward, waves of painful screams rang out, so horrifying that they did not sound like something a human being could produce.
Old Mr.
Howlett’s cheeks twitched, and his gray beard trembled like chaff.
When he arrived at the stable, breathing heavily, he saw his son John standing there with a blank look, as though his soul had left his body.
Aron, their honored guest whom the old man had previously begged so persistently for help, was holding a man dressed like a servant with one hand, while a smoking shotgun was still in the servant’s hand.
“Damn you, Thomas! Have you gone mad?”
Everything immediately became clear to old Mr.
Howlett.
Gardener Thomas Logan had tried to shoot his son, but Aron had stopped him.
However, why did John look as though he had lost his soul?
He had already witnessed bloodshed and killed people before.
An ordinary attempted murder with a firearm could not frighten a Howlett that much.
Aron watched everything with cold eyes, like an ordinary spectator.
He had thought that the estate had been attacked by a large group of bandits, but in the end it turned out to be nothing more than a family tragedy in a wealthy household.