Located on Madison Avenue, the Metropolitan Life Building is one of New York's famous tall buildings. At its height of over 200 meters, it can overlook the entire Upper East Side without obstruction.
On a good weather day, from here you can see those densely packed luxury apartments neatly spread out —
Magnificent buildings, exquisite gardens, the green carpet-like Central Park, and the bright lights...
All of this makes the place seem like a fairy tale world.
The crisscrossed roads divide the ground into a regular chessboard, with vehicles flowing like a river of light.
Only, tonight the weather is foul, and sitting by the window looking out, one can only see the pitch-black glass and their own reflection, with no glimpse of the usual scenery.
Thus, the woman dining in the luxurious restaurant on the top floor glanced out the window, then disinterestedly retracted her gaze. She fiddled with the soft strands of hair by her temples, looked at the man across from her, and flashed a happy smile.
From this window upwards, to the very top of the building, where it should be spacious and cold, two people were standing at this moment.
Beside them was an enormous jellyfish, its round umbrella just right to shield the two from the drifting rain, with tentacles spiraling, blocking the cold wind from all directions; the tips of the tentacles elegantly bent to form two seats.
Below the jellyfish, there was also a circle of blue flames. Though the flames wavered weakly, they made the surroundings warm like spring.
These two were Grindelwald and Vid.
Grindelwald's white hair flew in the howling cold wind, and his eyes squinted, gazing at the city obscured by mist, making it exceptionally hazy.
Vid raised his head, his eyes reflecting the dark clouds. He knew his Poppets were flying within, like salmon struggling upstream.
When the first blinding lightning tore the night sky, Vid softly announced, "It's begun."
The Seagull Poppets fearlessly flew through the clouds, scattering a large amount of white powder. Those tiny particles quickly captured the surrounding moisture like a sponge.
In this suspended ocean, countless droplets formed in the blink of an eye. The droplets fell, constantly colliding and merging with countless smaller droplets, rapidly growing in size.
The surrounding temperature gradually dropped, and the originally uniform, cotton-like clouds started showing strands of texture — traces of young raindrops stirring the moisture.
Enveloped by the night, heavy clouds lingered. Grindelwald looked up at the sky and lamented, "Such a pity... can't witness the moment of this grand spectacle's birth with my own eyes..."
He smiled slightly and said, "Care to explain how you achieved this, Vid?"
"Of course."
Vid said, "Muggles often use de-icers and urea, as well as table salt, for artificial rainmaking."
"They can't create rainwater out of nothing but can absorb the existing moisture in the air, rapidly enlargening to form sufficiently large droplets."
"At the same time, urea lowers the surrounding temperature during its dissolution in water, destabilizing clouds and encouraging more moisture to condense."
"I positioned them in the middle and lower layers of the clouds, generating a large number of droplets, readying sufficient 'ammunition' for the subsequent 'downpour.'
"Next, the Seagulls will pass through the cloud tops, spreading silver iodide and dry ice above..."
...
Above was a silent starry sky, below was darkness breeding a storm, as white elves flying for this one time did their best to spread their wings, casting down a large amount of dry ice and yellow silver iodide powder.
A thick white mist diffused with a "whoosh," like a quick-freeze spray sharply lowering the temperature, forcing the moisture to begin sublimation.
At this moment, finely ground silver iodide appeared just in time.
It floated between the moisture with a crystal structure similar to natural ice crystals, like a perfect disguise, tricking the supercooled water, trembling from the cold, to gather around and rapidly freeze.
In the blink of an eye, even just a gram of the yellow powder could transform into tens of billions of tiny ice crystals.
So, within minutes, along the path where dry ice was spread, a dazzling ice crystal band formed, guiding the direction of moisture condensation.
...
"... as a large number of ice crystals fall, they will melt back into droplets, colliding and merging with the large water droplets catalyzed below, and swiftly grow like a snowball."
Vid waved his fingers, using the pitch-black night as a background, and the golden magic power as a brush, sketching the outline of the rain and the path it took, as well as certain areas to suffer 'saturating attacks.'
Grindelwald watched intently, with his gaze occasionally sweeping across Vid's face.
"This can be called a chain reaction of rainfall," Vid chuckled lightly: "But what truly triggers it is the final step — liquid nitrogen!"
...
The white Seagulls circled at high altitude, seeming to linger over the starlight above.
This height was one that normal seagulls could never reach in their lifetime!
Then, the Seagull group suddenly folded their wings, diving down, plunging straight into the 'heart' of the clouds — the most core, coldest, and most supercooled water-rich area!
As they reached their target, the Seagulls simultaneously released the last containers, super-cooled liquid nitrogen erupted!
At this moment, it was actually soundless.
Liquid nitrogen came into contact with the humid air, instantly vaporizing into a massive, billowing white mist, bringing the extreme cold close to minus two hundred degrees.
The deadly low temperature spread like invisible ripples, like a frost bomb detonating in the clouds!
Then...
"Boom —"
Deep within the clouds, a twisted electric snake suddenly brightened, tearing open the oppressive dark sky;
The light hadn't yet faded when another thicker lightning rapidly grew like a luminous giant tree, with "branches" extending far away, a series of deafening explosions erupted continuously.
The storm roared, the convection of gases was thrust to its peak in an instant, and ice crystals grew and enlarged at a terrifying speed!
The entire cloud layer seemed to be lifted and stirred by an invisible hand, becoming more violent and turbulent, brimming with destructive power.
Fierce winds swept!
Rain mixed with hail poured down like a breached heavenly river onto the brightly lit city below!
The reinforced glass was battered by the wind pressure, resonating with a hum; dense raindrops pelted the roofs and window sills, making explosive sounds like machine gun fire.
The world was dark and lightless, with fierce wind and rain madly lashing the earth, the whole city seemed to tremble under this force.
"Snap!"
Suddenly, the lights in the Upper East Side gradually went out, and the building under Vid's feet echoed with countless terrified screams.
Even the emergency lights failed to illuminate, and in the darkness, the so-called grace and poise of "upper society" vanished without a trace.
Arguments, screams, shouts, and cries mingled together, some lit lighters or candles, casting frightened faces that looked like phantoms.
On the rooftop, Grindelwald, at this moment, burst into laughter!