You Robbers Have No Manners

"Or what?"

Ron spread his hands.

His goal had already been achieved. He had come here to take a look and brought Starlight along, conveniently shattering her false illusions about superheroes and Vought.

As for whether Starlight, who had always regarded becoming a superhero as her life goal, could bear this all at once, that had nothing to do with him.

"Are all heroes like this?"

Everything supporting her dream of becoming a superhero had turned out to be fake. Starlight bit her lip and asked unwillingly.

"Do you think a truly upright and kind superhero could survive within Vought's environment?"

He threw back a question and turned toward the alley exit.

"Did you bring me here today on purpose?

So I could see what everyone else was like and think you weren't such a bastard."

"You're overthinking it."

"I don't want to go home. Could you take me somewhere high up where no one is around?"

Starlight followed quickly after a sorrowful silence, her voice low.

Tonight had dealt her too great a blow. She had even begun to question the meaning of all the effort she had put in since childhood. Lost and confused, she made her request.

"Use that ability you used last time."

"Somewhere high up?

With your physique, there's nowhere nearby high enough for you to jump and end it all.

Try taking some pills when you get home."

Ron kindly offered his advice.

Starlight's offensive power might not have been much, but her defense was excellent. Even sniper rifle rounds could not hurt her.

"No, I just want to go somewhere quiet."

"At a time like this, shouldn't a man comfort a woman?"

She was upset and needed comfort. Wasn't this exactly the opportunity people online called taking advantage of a vulnerable moment? Starlight felt aggrieved. She did not understand why Ron was so cold toward her.

Hadn't Ron still not gotten her?

"When you left me behind last time, I actually hadn't finished what I wanted to say.

I've never dated before. That was my first time experiencing something like that."

"Hm? Are you joking?"

Hearing that, Ron turned back in surprise and raised an eyebrow.

The next second, Starlight hugged him, burying her head against his back. Her dejected voice came from behind him.

"Let's go outside the city, to an empty mountain. I want some peace and quiet."

Ron did not know whether a woman needing comfort when she was sad was a good opportunity to take advantage of her vulnerability.

Because he had not done anything at all. The woman had thrown herself into his arms on her own, seeking comfort.

Under the starry sky, on an empty mountain.

He also verified Starlight's words.

The next day, around noon.

Amid the towering skyscrapers of the bustling downtown district, in a fifth-floor hotel room across from a building hosting a Jewelry Exhibition.

"It looks like some of my original twenty thousand-plus Ability Points came from Starlight."

Standing by the window, Ron thought about what had happened last night. His arrival in this world had likely created a butterfly effect.

Sometimes, slight changes in certain events could create a chain reaction with enormous consequences.

Especially since his identity was not that of some insignificant ordinary person. Under the butterfly effect he had caused, Starlight, who had been born into a religious family, had not dated anyone this time and had thrown herself wholeheartedly into her superhero career.

"Hey, that group of robbers learned that the Jewelry Exhibition organizers would transport the jewels out early, so they decided to act ahead of schedule. They're about to come rob the place fully armed."

An unhappy voice suddenly came from beside him. Queen Maeve frowned.

"And you're actually spacing out?"

Staying up late was a woman's greatest enemy when it came to skin. Since acting early meant she would not have to wait until night for everything to be over, she had been in a good mood.

But she had just seen Ron, the main figure in this promotional operation, staring out the window as though lost in thought. Robbers carrying heavy firepower were no joke.

Ron withdrew his gaze from outside and looked Queen Maeve up and down. She followed the same style as Wonder Woman: pretty features, a heroic bearing, and long brown hair draped over her smooth shoulders.

Facing Queen Maeve's displeasure, he replied casually.

"Nice suit."

Among all the colorful costumes worn by The Seven, Queen Maeve's was the only one he found acceptable.

She wore a circlet on her forehead, a women's half-suit of armor on her body, and a pair of long boots beneath her skirt. It was serious without sacrificing beauty, with a touch of regal presence.

"Suit? I'm talking to you about the robbers!

The people targeting this batch of valuable jewels will be carrying heavy weapons."

Ron did not take her words seriously at all. She angrily took two breaths and emphasized bluntly.

"Listen, don't think I care about you.

The company ordered me to work with you. If you die at the hands of the robbers, people will question my abilities as a veteran member, and I'll lose a lot of fans!

Don't drag me down, understand?"

"Mm-hm, got it."

Ron's response was still a weightless brush-off.

Within The Seven, Queen Maeve was the only one whose conscience had not completely died. When she had first joined Vought, she had looked much like Starlight.

Later, she had suddenly witnessed too much hypocrisy and darkness, then realized she lacked the power to change anything. Depressed and deeply shaken, she began drifting with the current.

But she had not given up on being a superhero. While cooperating with Vought International's false publicity and work, she still did what she could to save people.

"You..."

Seeing that Ron did not care in the slightest, Maeve grew even angrier, her face darkening.

But just then, in a high-floor window of the building opposite, a robber wearing a bulletproof vest and carrying a rifle cautiously looked outside before drawing the curtains.

"Dark Star, Queen Maeve, they've gone upstairs and taken the exhibition guests hostage. You may proceed."

Ashley's voice came through the walkie-talkie on the table.

Unlike the late-night, deserted dock drug bust Vought had arranged for Starlight, Ron's first appearance involved rescuing hostages at a prestigious Jewelry Exhibition. Many inside were either rich or influential figures in the city. It was a perfect chance to make a splash, become famous overnight, and build connections.

"I hope your body can withstand rocket launchers!"

With no time to say more, Maeve delivered one last mocking warning, opened the window, and prepared to leap from the fifth floor to quickly reach the building opposite.

Thump~

A faint sound rang out.

"Hm? Where did he go?"

Hearing the strange noise, Maeve stood on the windowsill and turned around, only to find Ron had vanished from the room.

On the eighth floor, the massive exhibition hall hosting the Jewelry Exhibition had already been taken over.

Everyone had been seized and turned into hostages. At gunpoint, they were driven to the wall. No matter how gentlemanly or elegant they had dressed, no matter their status or power, they were now trembling in fear, squatting on the floor with their heads in their hands.

"No crying, and no shouting either, or I'll make you shut up forever."

Holding a submachine gun in one hand, the Robber Leader fired two shots into the ceiling. Tall, burly, and radiating the air of a hardened criminal, his exposed eyes were savage as he barked the warning.

Some of his men aimed guns at the hostages, while others viciously smashed the display cases with hammers, stuffing valuable jewelry into velvet bags.

But suddenly—bang.

A handsome man in a stern, imposing black suit appeared in the exhibition hall.

"Did you draw the curtains because you're holding a secret party?"

With his hands behind his back, he looked around the room casually, like an uninvited guest.

"Who are you?"

The Robber Leader's expression changed drastically as he shouted.

"Shoot him! Kill this costumed freak!"

His sudden appearance, along with Ron's outfit, made it obvious he was one of those superheroes with powers who wore strange costumes.

Rat-a-tat-tat!

In an instant, twenty or thirty submachine guns aimed at him, their muzzles spitting flames.

Bullets capable of piercing human bodies struck him and immediately lost all momentum. Brass casings fell to the floor in a scattered heap, while even his clothes remained undamaged.

"You robbers have no manners."

He had merely asked a question and was met with a frenzied barrage of bullets. Ron stood with his hands behind his back, expressionless, as a deep crimson light ignited in his eyes.