Chapter 48: An Unconventional Daily Life (Part 1)
After that evening's semi-frank conversation with Price, Price no longer objected to Sherlock contacting his clients.
As Sherlock made contact, he was surprisingly found that the Water of Marvel was truly deep, and its main characteristic was being in dire straits.
To use a somewhat inappropriate analogy, if all the ordinary people in the Marvel Universe were likened to the surface of a vast ocean, then the Avengers, led by Tony, could be said to be icebergs exposed above the sea level.
Tall and mighty, they were beings that everyone looked up to, high above yet exposed in everyone's view, just like Hollywood stars.
The terrifying thought was that beneath these icebergs, beneath the dark sea level, there was a massive iceberg Base, quietly submerged in the cold Water.
If nothing unexpected happened, these beings beneath the sea level would have no connection whatsoever with the ordinary people who made up the sea level throughout their lives.
However, this did not mean they would have no connection with Sherlock's gun shop.
In just a few days, Sherlock saw a World he had never imagined; gangs and the like were just small fries.
The real big players were mercenary guilds or assassin groups like the Continental Hotel. These individuals, along with information brokers, S.H.I.E.L.D., and a small number of super-powered individuals, formed this vast underground World hidden beneath the ordinary World.
Sherlock even met a character in this unfamiliar domain whom he had only known from movies in his previous life: John Wick, also known as the Boogeyman.
That is, the great killing god with Keanu Reeves' face, who killed from the first movie to the last, all because of a dog.
Sherlock even, after meeting him, endured the strange gazes of Price and Soap and took a photo with this great killing god. Although John Wick in the photo looked bewildered, Sherlock was still exceptionally satisfied.
As for how Sherlock came to know this killing god, it was quite dramatic. Who would have thought that his small gun shop and the training Base behind it would have some connection with all the underground forces?
After just a few days of contact, Sherlock was amazed to find that his training Base was the only recognized safe zone in the entire underground World.
The gun shop handled weapon modifications and sales, while the training Base handled training, as well as the cultivation and instruction of Rookies.
Throughout the entire underground World, whether information brokers, assassins, or mercenaries, no one was allowed to engage in combat within the gun shop's premises. Otherwise, they would be hunted down by all factions.
After all, no one wants their Rookie village to be destroyed, right? As for what happens after leaving the Rookie village, that's where the various factions compete.
For the safety of these Rookie, even the most basic intelligence exchange was not allowed. The only things one could do here were buy weapons, modify weapons, train, and pay for training.
John Wick was naturally one of the trainers at the Base and occasionally moonlighted as a training instructor to earn some extra money.
Sherlock naturally met John Wick at the training Base. After learning Sherlock's identity, John Wick did not refuse Sherlock's friendship.
Sherlock also learned something different from the movies: although John Wick also had a wife he deeply loved, unlike in the movies, John Wick's wife was exceptionally healthy.
Even their residence was not very far from Sherlock's gun shop.
Knowing this, Sherlock also breathed a sigh of relief. No matter what, at least John Wick wouldn't slaughter the entire underground World like in the movies. Knowing that his own place was actually somewhat connected to the Continental Hotel, Sherlock was genuinely afraid that his home might be stolen one day.
Of course, aside from these things that shattered Sherlock's worldview, the only thing that made Sherlock pull his hair out was the little loli, Lorna.
He didn't know if Price's teasing remark about a child bride when they first met was taken seriously by the little girl, or if Sherlock's cooking was too delicious, or if Sherlock, in her eyes, was a "kindred spirit" with abilities that ordinary people didn't possess.
In short, after dinner that evening, Lorna liked to cling to Sherlock whenever she had nothing to do, almost to the point where wherever Sherlock went, Lorna would follow.
This made Price quite jealous for a while. Finally, after Sherlock promised many benefits and signed many humiliating treaties, Price reluctantly suppressed his anger about his daughter being abducted by a blond.
Of course, Sherlock did not forget Price's promise and began to find ways to train Lorna's abilities.
According to his memories from his previous life, Lorna's ability should be inherited from Magneto, which is the ability to control metal. Sherlock would take Lorna to the training Base every day after business hours.
He required Lorna to use her ability to clean up the shell casings on the training Base and the bullet heads stuck in the walls.
Initially, Lorna couldn't use her abilities very well and even failed to use anything all night. In the end, Sherlock had to clean the Base with magic.
Fortunately, Sherlock possessed the magic knowledge of an entire World. Since Lorna's ability couldn't be trained like muscles, it was better to train it like magic.
So, under Sherlock's intervention, little Lorna also received her magic book.
"Mental Power Training and Control"
"Detailed Analysis of Metal Composition"
"Electricity and Magnetism—The Fourth Fundamental Force in the Universe"
"Advanced Mathematics"
"Metal Smelting and Development"
"World Geography—Detailed Analysis of Metal Minerals in Various Regions"
It could be said that besides the first book, which was slightly related to magic, the rest had nothing to do with magic at all. Even Price and others exclaimed in shock when they saw them.
But these books were precisely what Sherlock, as a magician, brought out, and the first one was indeed a magic training manual. Coupled with Sherlock's packaging of these books, little Lorna firmly believed that these were Sherlock's magic books.
Furthermore, every time Lorna applied the formulas and knowledge from the books, she was able to complete Sherlock's training very well. This led Lorna to firmly believe that these were pure magic formulas, even though she didn't understand what those formulas specifically meant or where they came from.
Once she learned them, she would certainly be able to use her "magic" as freely as Sherlock.
Because of this strange belief, whether it was Price and others, or Skye, who was ostensibly a gun shop clerk, or even Sherlock himself, they often saw little Lorna diligently studying those "magic books" that looked ancient but had extremely advanced content.
Regarding this outcome, Sherlock's uncles, who knew little Lorna's background, would always give Sherlock a thumbs-up whenever they saw him, and they deeply detested Sherlock's cunning methods of deceiving children.
Sherlock, however, expressed indifference, simply asking if it was useful or not.
The only one who seemed to care was the innocent girl Skye. This poor orphan, who found a job with free food and lodging, after seeing little Lorna's efforts, also felt bad just sitting idly behind the cash register every day.
After getting Sherlock's permission and receiving a month's salary in advance, Skye, according to her own interests, bought a set of second-hand programming books from the market and began to study diligently.
As for the situation where the only two females in the gun shop inexplicably started to compete, Sherlock could only shrug and say, "As long as you're happy."