Kamen Rider ZZZ from the American comic book world

Li Ai guessed that Obadiah no longer had the chance to dream, and turned to walk towards an unfamiliar door.

Chapter 42 The Earth's Native Demon (Seeking Monthly Tickets)

In the dreams of strangers

Li Ai stood in a cornfield taller than a person. The moon in the sky was half-hidden by dark clouds, and it was so dark that he couldn't see his hand in front of his face. He pushed aside the crops and came to a country dirt road.

The dirt road stretched out to both sides, seemingly endless. Just as Li Ai was completely bewildered, a ten-year-old boy in a baseball uniform ran past him.

The boy looked terrified; his back was already soaked with sweat, and his shoes were worn out, yet he continued running.

"Is he the owner of this dream?" Li Ai wondered, watching the little boy's back.

Just then, a gust of wind swept across the peaceful cornfield, ruffling Li Ai's hair. He suddenly felt a chill down his spine, and the silver ghost appeared in his hand. He turned and fired in one swift motion.

bang——

After the gunshot, Li Ai watched as the bullet pierced into the body of a figure.

The figure was entirely black, its face obscured, and it was about three meters tall. It had a pair of wings on its back, allowing it to soar freely in the sky.

Even after being shot, the winged monster did not stop, bypassing Li Ai and continuing to chase the boy.

It seems its instinct is to kill the boy at all costs.

"A child dreaming of being chased by a mysterious creature?" The ZZZ Driver appeared on Li Ai's chest, and a purplish-red Wing Capsule appeared in her hand.

【Wing!】

"Henshin!"

【Good Morning! Rider! Z?Z?Z! Wing! 】

Li Ai immediately used the newly acquired Wing Capsule, and the black and red mist surged, quickly transforming into the form of a flying wing.

The power of this form is reduced even more severely than that of the transformed form, but in exchange, he gains the ability to fly at supersonic speeds, and a red wing like a cape appears behind him.

Crimson eyes locked onto the winged monster in flight in the darkness. With a flick of his cloak, red light flowed, and he lifted Li Ai off the ground.

Li Ai was overjoyed at his first flight. He quickly mastered his sense of direction in the air and rushed towards the winged monster.

The little boy kept running on the dirt road, but the winged monster behind him was getting closer and closer. He glanced back and found that the face that was pitch black and whose features he could not see was almost within reach.

"Don't eat me!" the little boy cried out, and the monster stretched out its hands, trying to grab the boy's head.

But at that moment, a red light flashed and severed the monster's hands. Then, a tremendous force stomped on the monster's back, causing it to lose its balance and fall heavily to the ground.

"Don't be afraid anymore." Li Ai's figure quietly landed beside the boy.

The boy, whose shoes were worn out, stopped and looked at the person who seemed to be protecting him.

The winged monster stood up again, its hands quickly restored, and its killing intent shifted to Li Ai.

They exchanged a glance, and then simultaneously flew into the sky, where the two figures engaged in a fierce battle.

A series of muffled thuds came from mid-air. Li Ai seized the opportunity, his wings glowing red. He grabbed the hardened tips of the wings with both hands and used them as sharp blades to cut the monster's body.

In an instant, the winged monster was split into several pieces and finally turned into a cloud of black smoke.

Li Ai landed and looked up at the spot where the winged monster had disappeared. The wisp of black smoke seemed unwilling to give up, and it slowly dissipated after a few breaths.

The plume of black smoke gave Li Ai a chilling feeling, making him feel out of place in this dream, as if it were deliberately haunting the little boy.

To put it simply, this little boy is being haunted by unseen evil spirits in real life.

After watching the plume of black smoke dissipate, Li Ai said, "Sweet dreams."

"Thanks."

The little boy said in a trembling voice, but he only blinked once, and the masked adult disappeared.

Li Ai left the little boy's dream and returned to the dream transfer station. He looked at the door corresponding to the little boy's dream world and memorized the boy's name.

Subsequently, Li Ai woke up in reality. He recalled the boy's name and used the ZZZ phone to hack into the database to find him.

However, there was no ten-year-old boy in the database whose name and appearance matched. Only a thirty-three-year-old adult male's appearance bore some resemblance to the boy in the dream.

"Did the incident 23 years ago cause childhood trauma?" Li Ai believes that this person encountered a supernatural event 23 years ago and has been troubled by that mysterious force ever since.

With this in mind, Li Ai decided to consult the New York Sanctuary, where the sorcerers would certainly be more professional in this area.

..............................

After a while

Li Ai arrived at the Sanctuary in New York, met Daniel, the black sorcerer stationed there, and asked him her question.

"You want to know if there's a mysterious creature with wings that likes to eat people, and even those who just see it are tormented by its power?" The mage Daniel repeated Li Ai's question, thought quickly, and answered:

"This could be a demon."

"A demon?" Li Ai asked curiously. "Then how did it get to Earth?"

"Come to Earth? No, no, no, I need to correct your understanding." Master Daniel said "no" three times in a row, then said in a serious tone:

"To put it simply, there were many magical creatures in the ancient times of the Earth. Civilizations around the world recorded their existence in different ways. Among them, some fed on the fear and death of other creatures and drew power from violence. These creatures were collectively called 'demons'."

Even the first demon was born on Earth.

Furthermore, not all primal demons disappear over time; some mages have even witnessed new demons that were not previously recorded.

"So these native Earth demons can reproduce?" Li Ai asked curiously.

“The word ‘proliferation’ is not accurate. Rather, demons will continue to appear in other ways. For example, the curses left by some mages who possess dangerous magic before their death can also lead to the birth of demons. Some malicious individuals will even transform themselves into demons through rituals.” Mage Daniel gave two examples.

Upon hearing this, Li Ai nodded. It seemed that the original demons of Earth were indeed difficult to eradicate completely.

Seeing that Li Ai remained silent, Master Daniel assumed the child was overthinking things, so he explained:

"The Sorcerer Supreme also led us in eliminating some native demons of Earth, but the pressure from the extradimensional invasion is much greater, so we've always had a manpower problem..."

“I understand, even the Sorcerer Supreme isn’t omnipotent,” Li Ai replied calmly, then changed the subject.

"Could you help me find some books about mythical creatures?"

“Alright, wait a moment, but according to the rules, books cannot be borrowed for more than a week.” Master Daniel found a few books at the New York Sanctuary.

"Although many of the books in the New York Sanctum Sanctorum are written in English, if you really want to understand the magical world, you'd better learn some Latin, because many ancient books are written in Latin. Also, write down my phone number..."

"Okay, I know."

Afterwards, Li Ai took the books and left the New York Sanctuary.

Chapter 43 Parker's Barbecue Party

January 2, 2009, the second day of the new year.

In Queens, Li Ai was in the war room flipping through books borrowed from the Sanctuary of the Holy See in New York. The yellowed pages were printed with illustrations of all sorts of strange creatures, with their habits and weaknesses marked next to them.

"Ghost monkey, giant ape, thunderbird..."

The book Li Ai was reading was titled "Illustrated Guide to Mysterious Creatures of the Americas." This book was compiled by the previous sorcerer stationed at the Sanctuary in New York and recorded all the mysterious creatures he had encountered in the Americas.

He has been living a very regular life these past few days, with his daily routine consisting of unwavering physical training and dream patrols, and he spends the rest of his time studying.

The mobile library donated by Tony Stark and the books borrowed from the Sanctuary of the Dead in New York are sufficient to meet Li Ai's current needs.

Li Ai's abilities have also been developed to a certain extent. Now he can make the Code Zero Eroder appear in reality without entering the operations room. He can simply concentrate his mind to determine the coordinates and make it return to the parking garage in the operations room.

Ding--

The ZZZ phone on the table suddenly vibrated. Li Ai picked it up and saw that the ZZZ sensor, which was being used as a surveillance device, was trying to send an image. He tapped the screen and saw someone ringing the doorbell.

The man was thin, wore glasses, and a fleece hoodie with a Star Wars poster. He reached out and pressed the doorbell, but Li Ai couldn't hear it because she was in the war room.

"Isn't this Peter? What does he want with me?" Li Ai recognized the person and went downstairs to open the door.

With a click of the door lock, Li Ai appeared in front of Peter. He made room for him and said:

"It's cold outside, come in and talk to me if you need anything."

“No, no,” Peter shook his head and said, “Uncle Ben sent me to invite you to the barbecue party.”

At this moment, Li Ai, who was standing at the door, could also smell a hint of meat.

American-style barbecue is said to be 'grilled', but it is actually 'smoked'. After a long time of slow smoking at low temperature, the sweet aroma brought by the fruitwood fuel will permeate the ingredients, making them melt in your mouth.

This method does taste good, but it takes too long, requiring a group of people to work all day, so it also has a strong social aspect.

“No problem,” Li Ai agreed. “You go home first, I’ll be there in a bit.”

“Okay.” Peter nodded. “Then I’ll go help Aunt May chop the vegetables.”

After saying this, Peter ran away.

"Watch out for the snow on the steps," Li Ai casually reminded him. She went back to her room, found a black windbreaker without a fleece lining, put it on, and then went to Parker's house for a visit.

Li Ai's residence was right next to Parker's house, and it didn't take long to walk there. He pushed open a wooden fence and arrived at Parker's backyard.

The rich aroma of meat wafted into my nostrils first, followed by the sight of several figures surrounding the smoking oven.

A white man, about the same age as Uncle Ben, noticed Li Ai and then called out with a smile:

"Ben, you have a little guest."

Uncle Ben was using tongs to take a plate of freshly roasted pork ribs, beef shoulder, and German sausages out of the smokehouse. He placed the fragrant roasted meats on a large stainless steel bowl, using the winter cold to quickly cool them to a suitable temperature for eating.

After finishing his work, Uncle Ben handed over the task of watching the smokehouse to his friend, and then greeted Li Ai.

"It's so good that you could come. Last time, Peter was lucky that your family helped him, otherwise he would have been late." Uncle Ben said with a smile. He always remembered that Li Ai and her son helped take Peter to school and was thinking about how to repay them.

“It was just on my way, Mr. Parker,” Li Ai said modestly, without even thinking about repaying him.

"Don't mention that. You guys helped me back then, and I've always remembered it."

Uncle Ben found a clean white porcelain plate and fork on the makeshift outdoor table. He put a large plate of meat on Li Ai's plate and said warmly:

"Eat more. Judging from your physique, you must eat a lot."

"Thank you." Li Ai took the plate of roasted meat.

"By the way, isn't your mother home?" Uncle Ben asked casually.

"She had to go on a business trip due to some unforeseen circumstances. I'm used to her busy work schedule," Li Ai said with a smile.

Just then, Peter's Aunt May and two other women came into the backyard carrying a plate of cut fruit.

"Don't just eat meat, have some fruit to keep your health up," Aunt Mei said to everyone.

Aunt May's main job is a nurse, so she pays great attention to the nutritional balance of her family, even at rare barbecue parties.

"Mei, let's make everyone happy today," joked the woman next to Aunt Mei.

“Alright, then let’s indulge ourselves for a day.” Aunt Mei chimed in.

The people on the field were all middle-aged, around the same age as Uncle Ben and Aunt May, while Li Ai and Peter sat on the side eating the barbecue on their respective plates.

"So, is high school difficult?" Peter asked abruptly.

"It's alright, I don't think it's too difficult," Li Ai said, poking a piece of rib with her fork.

Did you participate in any clubs in junior high school?

"Junior high was alright, I'd say. I was in a board game club, and Dungeons & Dragons was the game I played the most," Peter said calmly.

Li Ai's impression of Peter Parker, the Spider-Man, was indeed that he had a talent for this, at least he could make his own combat suit, so she recommended him:

"But you look like the type who should join a science and technology club. When you go to high school in the second half of the year, you can really try to sign up for a science and technology club. Maybe you can even participate in the academic decathlon competition."

The Academic Decathlon is a competition open to all high school students in America. It consists of seven objective subjects: art, economics, literature, mathematics, music, science, and social sciences, as well as three subjective subjects: speech, interview, and writing. It is held annually around a specific theme, and high school students who have participated in this competition have a significant advantage when applying to universities.

"The academic decathlon competition, huh? I think I've heard of it."

Peter scratched the back of his head and said that Li Ai's words had piqued his interest, and he decided to try studying science and technology after entering high school.

Just then, a black bulletproof car pulled up in the front yard of Parker's house, and two bodyguards in suits escorted a well-dressed teenager into the backyard.

The bodyguard stood guard at the only entrance to the backyard, while the boy looked around, searching for his good friend.

"Peter!" A hint of joy flashed in the boy's eyes, and he ran to Li Ai and Peter.

The boy looked even thinner than Peter, with neatly styled blond hair and wearing an expensive, bespoke suit, as if he were going to a dinner party.

“Harry, I thought Mr. Osborn wouldn’t let you come.” Peter couldn’t believe his friend was attending such a ‘cheap’ party.