"Did I just do something unnecessary?" Lin Jie said, watching the Shishen family retreat. "I was looking pretty cool back there. Handling these guys shouldn’t be a problem."
"Shishen!! Shishen!! Shishen!!" The crowd began cheering for the Shishen family.
"Wait!! This is a misunderstanding! We don’t even know that kid!" Shishen shouted, stepping back two paces. He’d gotten gene-enhancing potions through an agency and learned karate, but his strength barely reached D Rank.
"Shishen!! Shishen!!..." The cheers drowned out his words completely.
"What did you say? Kid? Mocking me?" The chaotic noise twisted Shishen’s words, igniting the Black Hand leader’s fury.
"Wait! I—" A massive fist slammed into his stomach before he finished. Shishen flew backward. The other four Shishen family members stopped posing and charged the Black Hand leader together.
One punch each sent them all flying.
"Huh? His strength and reaction speed after transforming beat the Shishen family’s," Lin Jie observed. "Next should be the classic shonen moment: they stand up and unleash their inner cosmos."
Sure enough, Shishen, the family leader, staggered unsteadily to his feet. The crowd erupted into cheers again.
"Go! Lord Shishen!!"
Amid the cheers, Shishen foamed at the mouth and collapsed straight down. His body twitched on the ground.
"..." Silence fell, then screams of terror burst out.
"..." Lin Jie glanced at the scattering crowd and the fallen Shishen family. "Well, that’s creative. But striking a cool pose while falling would’ve been better."
The Black Hand leader ignored the fleeing crowd and strode toward the Shishen family. Armed police trying to help were blown away by exploding cars.
"Haha! Haha! Haha! On my first day as a Super Hero, I get a strong opponent like you to make my name!" A young man in metallic gear stepped forward. "I’m Zhan Chen, a new E Rank Hero. Perfect for proving my strength."
Hearing this, the Black Hand leader instinctively replied, "One-sided beatdown: 500,000. Even fight: 300,000. Pre-written trash talk: extra 50,000. Dangerous location? Plan an escape route. Plus medical fees."
"Huh?"
"Oh, and our ‘Let You Win, Join Your Showboating, Grovel for You’ package is just 998,000," he added habitually.
"Oh, I’ll take the 998,000 one." Zhan Chen pulled out a check, then snapped to his senses. "Almost fell for it! I’m a hero of justice! I’d never pay to fake fame!"
Zhan Chen pointed indignantly. "Oh, so that’s it. No wonder it felt off! You hired a plant!" Lin Jie realized from the sidelines. "What did I do to cause this misunderstanding?"
"Not here for business? Get lost. Today, I cripple these deceivers," the Black Hand leader growled.
Zhan Chen stood before the fallen Shishen family. "I fight for justice. I won’t let you hurt anyone." He slipped on metallic gloves, aiming at the hulking man. "Witness my high-power reaction force gloves—easily blows away elephants!"
He activated the palm reactor...
Then flew wildly like a deflated balloon.
"...That’s just a thruster," Lin Jie muttered.
"..." The Black Hand leader stared dumbfounded. "Ten years as a terrorist, and you’re the dumbest Super Hero I’ve seen."
"Unbelievable... urp! Under my gloves’... urp! attack, you... didn’t budge... urp!" Zhan Chen vomited, steadying himself. "I admit you’re worthy to be my... urp... opponent."
The Black Hand leader ignored him, striding toward Shishen. Just as his hand reached for Shishen’s neck, Zhan Chen whipped out a baton.
"Taste my 100,000-volt super electric baton!!" He swung it.
The leader grabbed the baton, flung it away, and sent Zhan Chen crashing into Lin Jie’s lamppost.
"Hey! You okay?" Lin Jie asked.
"As a hero, I’m fine," Zhan Chen replied.
"Then get up and fight again."
"Of course." Zhan Chen stood, pulling out two forks. "Behold my plasma decontamination forks!!"
"Decontamination forks?"
Before Lin Jie finished, Zhan Chen charged—and was thrown back seconds later.
"You okay?"
"I’m fine."
"Go fight again."
"Okay." Zhan Chen leapt up. "Witness my super homing throwing knives!"
Seconds later.
"Back again?" Lin Jie.
"Yeah." Zhan Chen.
"You okay?"
"I’m fine."
"Go fight again."
"Yeah... My high-tech electronic gun..."
After a dozen tries:
"You okay?" Lin Jie asked.
"I can’t... I’m an agility hero. Can’t break his defense..." Zhan Chen lay gasping.
"Clearly, your combat power is five."
"Tch. You know nothing." Zhan Chen eyed the advancing leader. "No choice. Too tired to move. But I have one last weapon: Old Wang’s three-month unwashed socks."
He pulled a small box from his backpack, opened it carefully, and hurled its contents.
The sock, reeking horribly, smacked the leader’s forehead.
"You damn fly! I’ll cripple you first!" The leader tossed Shishen aside.
"See? I saved him!" Zhan Chen told Lin Jie.
"But you’re dead."
"..." Zhan Chen paused, watching the furious leader charge. "Forgot myself while saving him. Damn! Handsome guys like me shouldn’t die here. Run, buddy. It’s dangerous."
"You two bastards ruined my plans—none escape today!!" The leader lunged.
"You run! I’ll hold him!" Zhan Chen shouted.
"You can’t beat him. Why not run?" Lin Jie asked.
"I’m a Super Hero! We don’t abandon civilians!"
As they spoke, the leader reached them. Lin Jie stepped in front of Zhan Chen.
"A hero? I quit long ago," Lin Jie whispered, pulling a spike mace taller than himself from his coat.
"Holy crap! Where’d you hide that? Are you a magician? Doesn’t it stab you?!" Zhan Chen yelped.
Lin Jie swung the mace one-handed. The leader collapsed unconscious in three seconds.
"He took down that tank in one hit!" Zhan Chen’s eyes sparkled. "Team up! We’ll be history’s strongest hero duo!"
"Not interested."
"My interest is enough!" Zhan Chen grabbed Lin Jie. "Bro, you’ve got monster-killing power. I’ve got gear and a superhuman brain. Together, we’ll be amazing!"
"You? Strong gear? Superhuman brain?" Lin Jie stared. "You look like a level-5 weakling pulling stunts."
"Tch. You don’t know my true strength. With full gear, I’d have won."
...
Hero Association reinforcements arrived soon after. A white-haired, elegant woman led them, eyeing the fallen leader, chattering Zhan Chen, and the ordinary man he clutched—Lin Jie.
"Explain the situation."
"Oh?" Zhan Chen gaped. "B Rank Hero Winter Witch! Autograph? I’ve always admired you!"
