Chapter 4820

Seeing that these two people had misunderstood something, Arrogance smiled smugly.

Arrogance is not conspicuous in Gotham. Or rather, Gotham makes arrogance seem normal, because everyone here is eccentric in their own way. Those who don't know Arrogance won't notice how outstanding he is among them.

But once the environment changes—for example, if he comes to New York—Arrogance will seem out of place. Whether it's his way of speaking, his behavior, or his personal demeanor, wherever he goes, it's as if he never left Gotham. To ordinary New Yorkers, such a person appears extremely strange.

After being reminded by Greed, Arrogance restrained himself somewhat and did not act too much like a Gothamite. Even so, he could easily frighten the Afs couple, even making them feel as if they were possessed by Greed.

Of course, it's more likely that some people are guilty thieves.

The visiting couple revealed an important piece of information: the Hampton people are well aware of Dracula's existence, not only in contact with him but even seeking his help. There may be some cooperation between them, for Mrs. Afs said Dracula cannot leave this place, meaning he has some responsibility.

On the way back to the manor, Arrogance kept thinking. A guess formed in his mind, but the evidence is currently too scarce, and he needs more information.

The moment Arrogance pushed open the manor's front door, the entire living room seemed to be swept by a terrible hurricane. The chandelier swayed, the utensils trembled, and even the tables and chairs began to creak, as if the evil spirits in the castle had been awakened and were about to turn into man-eating monsters.

Arrogance felt the anger within and said, "Calm down. Is it me who made you angry? Or someone else?"

No one answered him, and Arrogance could feel that this power had no reason, was not a thinking living thing, but more like an instinctive reaction—like completely unwelcoming visitors.

Yet when Greed and Stark came, there was no such situation. Later, when Arrogance, Natasha, and Coulson came, there was no problem either, and even so many agents staying here for a considerable time did not encounter this. Therefore, the problem must lie with the Afs couple.

This house dislikes Hampton people. Arrogance easily reached this conclusion and said, "I won't let those people downstairs come up again tonight, and there definitely won't be any visitors. Can you keep quiet?"

The house showed no change for a moment, so Arrogance waited a while. After about ten or so minutes, it finally quieted down. Arrogance stepped inside and found that the rattling utensils and tables and chairs had never changed position, the chandelier seemed never to have swayed, as if everything just now had merely been his illusion.

Moonlight streamed through the window, and the manor at night took on a different appearance—everything became cold and eerie. The music started again, but Arrogance merely walked upstairs while saying, "Sorry, I can't listen to you play tonight; I'm going to rest."

Upon reaching the upper floor, he stood by the well railing, looking down at the first-floor floor. The moonlight was strangely bright, falling to the ground, sliced by the window lattice into fine fragments, like gold sand scooped from a golden river of the last century, scattered on the ground. When he examined it closely, he discovered it was a handful of tears.

Arrogance returned to his room to rest and never heard any strange noises again. He rested very well, sleeping until dawn. When he came out of the bedroom, morning light filled the hall, bright and warm, as if last night's storm had merely been an illusion.

"Indeed, this is a classic paranormal phenomenon," Arrogance muttered to himself, "If it happened elsewhere, it would probably drive many people mad. But I prefer to see it as a confession. Whether you still have reason or are merely an echo of an era."

Arrogance did not expect any answer, but suddenly a breeze brushed past him. He turned his head—the window was not open, the door was tightly shut. He took this as some kind of response and smiled.

Arrogance went out and, taking advantage of the early morning, began walking in East Hampton. Don't look now that it's winter; the snow from a few days ago hasn't completely melted, but the temperature is actually not low. The road maintenance here is also good, making this environment most suitable for morning joggers.

Sure enough, shortly after Arrogance set out, he saw several morning joggers. They ran past from the other side, all giving him a salute. Although Arrogance didn't look at them, he basically knew them like the back of his hand.

Without a doubt, they are all wealthy people. Two rich heirs, one more valued, the other completely invisible. Plus a man who married in, resentful but helpless.

Arrogance continued forward, heading toward the beach. He tightened his coat, just as in every Gotham night, brushing past the whole bizarre world.

Suddenly he heard footsteps behind him, as if someone was running toward him from behind. Arrogance kept walking, neither stopping nor turning back. The footsteps behind gradually faded, but then came a shadow flashing across the sky.

"Shiler, what are you doing here? I went to your new house to find you, didn't see you……How come it's you?!?" Stark, floating in mid-air, changed expression, "What are you loitering around here for?"

Arrogance ignored him and kept walking, pulling up his coat collar to block the wind. Stark could only land and said, looking at him, "I advise you not to loiter around here; wouldn't it be better to go back inside?"

"I have things to do." Arrogance also didn't care about Stark's attitude, he said, "How much do you know about Hampton's secrets?"

Stark's action paused. "Not much."

"You had Greed come buy a house here, hoping he could solve Hampton's troubles?"

"For anyone, Shiler is the biggest trouble, I thought you knew that." Stark paused slightly then said, "Especially this time."

"Because of Dracula?"

"If I say I saw Dracula when I was young, would you be very surprised?"

"Of course not," Arrogance replied, "Hampton's secrets are not recent; they were deeply rooted even in your birth era. With your intelligence, it's impossible you didn't notice clues—you must have tried to solve it, but back then you couldn't."

"No." Unexpectedly, Stark denied it, saying, "Back then I already had a way to solve it, just never put it into practice. Now is the time."

They exchanged only these words, then Stark flew off, ignoring Arrogance. Arrogance also didn't ask him what he wanted with Greed, and walked straight to the beach. There was no one on the beach.

This beach is not open to the public, and the current temperature isn't really suitable for sunbathing or surfing. The entire beach is empty, yet under the morning light it remains beautiful.

Standing at the beach's edge, Arrogance saw that strange house. In other words, just as he expected, everyone here knows that house, but they choose to pretend not to see it.

Suddenly, he saw several figures flying toward the house. Besides Stark, there seemed to be a few Avengers as well, looking like they were helping move house. But coming this early, they were probably here for breakfast.

"Hurry in," Greed shouted, "Breakfast is still being made; you wait in the living room for a bit, and if there's any strange noise, shout loudly."

As Greed walked toward the kitchen, he low-voiced threatened: "Today I'm entertaining guests, you better behave. If you dare break anything, I'll make you watch cartoons all day."

The corner of the carpet curled up, as if expressing dissatisfaction. Greed didn't care, as long as no big trouble is made—small movements are fine. He went to the kitchen to cook, while the Avengers all toured the house.

"Wow, this place is really not bad." Hawkeye spoke first in praise, "Very……aristocratic bearing, but also combined with modern practicality. This probably isn't cheap, right?"

"Expensive to death," Natasha said, "And payment is in interstellar universal currency."

Natasha talked about yesterday's house purchase, astonishing everyone, who didn't expect the owner to be Dracula, and that he actually wants to emigrate to outer space. Matt already took out his phone to notify Blade Hunter.

"He'll chase him to the ends of the earth," Matt said while dialing, "Then stir up the Shi'a Empire into chaos. They'll definitely seek trouble with humanity in the Interstellar Council; we must first legally separate vampires from humanity in law. Let me see……"

"I have a question." Steve looked at Stark and asked, "How's your father lately?"

"Uh," Stark paused, "I don't know where he is; I guess he might be playing in the Battle Arena's creation system."

Howard actually doesn't have a Battle Arena ticket, but because Battle Arena opened the family visit system, it not only facilitated parents bringing kids, but also facilitated kids' parents. The old Stark couple can also enter Battle Arena, and as adults, their permissions are higher than children's, and they can also use some functions.

"You should listen to their opinions." Steve said, "About Hampton, about this house."

Stark looked left and right, Natasha perfectly in sync received his signal, then said: "I'll take you upstairs to look."

Everyone else went upstairs, only Bucky stood on the stairs, glanced at Steve. Steve gave him a look, reassuring him. But facing Stark, his expression turned stern: "I was also born in New York, I know what kind of place South Fork is."

Stark also knows, he referring to South Fork actually means the Hampton area. On Long Island's east side there is a south and a north, fork-like places, thus called South Fork and North Fork. The north is mostly vineyards, while the south is the famous Hampton. However, after years of development, Hampton's regional name is more famous than the geographic name South Fork; young people basically call that place Hampton, not the original South Fork.

"Of course I know," Stark said, looking at Steve, "Do you know the Long Island Rail Road? That's what my grandfather built; the Stark family's old manor in Hampton was built after the railway was completed. We all know this place well."

Steve stared at him for a while and then said: "It seems we both have some connection to this place."

"You go first," Stark said, "You, a poor kid born in Brooklyn, have no connection to Hampton."

Steve gave a cold smile. "Saying these manor villas appeared out of thin air. Should I remind you this place used to be just a rotten fishing village?"

"But in your era, Hampton was already a rich district. Even if there are still many things to build, you're not a construction worker—could you go lay bricks?"

"I can't do physical labor, doesn't mean I can't do other things." Steve looked at Stark and said, "Back then, South Fork had thousands of summer resorts, water parks, tennis courts, and golf courses. The waiters, ball boys, doormen, parking attendants—all were poor kids from Brooklyn."

Stark's face finally showed some seriousness, but he quickly fell into memory. He suddenly realized, the Stark family's encounter with Captain America might have been much earlier than anyone thought.

In the 1920s, the Stark family, already moved to Long Island, was at its peak, while the unmodified Steve Rogers in Brooklyn's chaos and poverty, struggling to get by, very likely brushed past them at some Hampton golf course.

Fate is just so wonderful. Decades later, these two beings who should have had no interaction at all, standing together like today, talking about Hampton, all seem like familiar strangers.