Preparations

10:00 a.m.

"Hello, we're from the Daily Bugle. We want to interview your boss. Please let us in!"

"Damn it, we're from the Daily Planet! Superman's hometown is our newspaper! Let me in!"

"Fuck, this is America! Freedom every day! You can't stop us from exercising our freedom to report!"

"Don't waste words on them. These guys are all mafia thugs!"

"Charge in! It's not like they'll actually shoot us!"

"Let us in, Billy! I'm your friend! I know the manager of the Academy of Sciences Nightclub!"

Countless reporters had tried to approach the Nightclub to interview Heisenberg, the suddenly emerged Superman.

They had nearly blocked the entire entrance to the Nightclub!

Fortunately, this building had once been Kingpin's property. After Bullseye paid a portion of his bullets, ownership of the building had ultimately been transferred to Heisenberg.

As a result, they had driven the reporters from the Nightclub all the way down to the base of the building.

Heisenberg lay on the rooftop, basking in the sun. He should have been enjoying the peace and quiet.

After all, he had absolutely no desire to activate his super-hearing.

He wasn't Superman, needing to constantly pay attention to who in the city was injured, who had encountered a disaster, who was being robbed, and so on.

He didn't have the heart to save people all over the world.

So, aside from a few voices he had specially marked, he normally kept only ordinary human hearing active.

Only that way could he enjoy some peace.

But today...

Forget ordinary human hearing.

Even a deaf man could probably hear the commotion downstairs!

"What the hell?!"

Heisenberg lay in his lounge chair, thoroughly irritated. He had even lost interest in drinking.

He climbed to his feet, shuffled to the edge of the rooftop in his slippers, and glanced down.

The moment the reporters below saw him show his face, they erupted into astonishing cheers.

"Look over here! Look over here!"

"He's here! Let us in!"

"We're reporters! We have the right to interview Mr. Heisenberg!"

"Heisenberg, are you Superman?"

"Your power is stronger than Iron Man's armor, and you can fly with your own body. You're Superman, right?!"

"Are you a couple with Captain America, like in the comics?"

Huh?

Where had that colleague come from? What kind of wild comics was he reading?

Even amid all that noise, countless reporters froze for a moment at those words.

But it was only a moment.

"A plane crashed in India last night. Why didn't you help with the rescue? Is it because you're only America's Superman?"

"You ignored the earthquake in Japan too. You must have grown up in America, right?"

"Superman, how long have you been Superman?"

"Heisenberg, say hello to your fans alreadyyyy!!!"

Faced with such deafening shouts, Heisenberg's brows nearly knitted together.

"I'll warn you only once. Disperse!

If you have questions, come drink at the Nightclub tonight. We'll talk over drinks!!!"

Heisenberg shouted down from the rooftop, but who would care about his promise at a time like this?

"We won't take up much of your time! Five minutes, just five minutes, okay?"

"We understand, but could you give us a chance to ask one question?"

"Superman, think of your fans! Countless children are waiting for the latest news about you!"

Not only did the reporters' voices not stop, they grew even more intense.

"Motherfucker!"

Heisenberg pursed his lips in displeasure, then turned and walked toward the Swimming Pool.

He exhaled sharply, and Frost Breath instantly froze all the water in the pool solid.

Then he plunged his hand into the ice. With the Biological Field, he effortlessly lifted the swimming-pool-sized block of ice in one hand.

With a casual throw, he hurled the enormous ice block down at those damned reporters.

But he did not go all the way. A red flash passed through his eyes, and the heat from his Heat Vision rapidly shattered the ice upon contact.

Even so, countless shards of ice fell from hundreds of meters in the air. Those reporters were still in for a painful time.

Sure enough.

The next instant, the cheers beneath Heisenberg Mansion immediately turned into wails.

"Ahhh, what is that?!"

"It's hail!"

"Hail my ass, it's ice!"

"Runnn!!!"

More than a hundred reporters scattered madly. This was reality, not a movie. Who would stupidly stand there watching things fall from the sky without running?

But what could running do?

Heisenberg's Swimming Pool held at least twenty tons of water. Even shattered, that much ice hitting the ground was enough to injure the reporters.

Apart from a few reporters who had forced their way into the building with brute strength, and those agile enough to slip beneath nearby cars.

Nearly everyone else had blood flowing down their heads.

And their suffering had only just begun.

After throwing away the ice, Heisenberg casually picked up the phone on the drinks table atop the building.

"Hello, Bullseye? Bring your people and check on those paparazzi downstairs.

Send everyone seriously injured to the hospital. I'll cover their medical bills.

As for the uninjured or lightly injured ones, beat them until they need hospitalization. Got it?"

"Understood, BOSS, but should we do the same to female reporters?"

Bullseye asked cautiously.

A moment later, Heisenberg frowned.

Female reporters!

Female reporters like Lois Lane, the kind who could become a Kryptonian's weakness?

Terrifying!!!

With that thought, Heisenberg drew a breath.

"Hit them harder, but don't touch their faces. Use your judgment!"

"Understood, BOSS!!!"

Bullseye eagerly accepted the assignment.

After hanging up, his admiration for Heisenberg was beyond words.

Not even under his former boss Kingpin could something like openly beating reporters ever happen!

Of course, Kingpin had indeed sent him to deal with a few reporters before.

But that had only happened when Kingpin had been driven into a corner and enraged beyond measure, and even then, he had only dared act against reporters in secret.

As for publicly challenging those supposed representatives of free speech in America?

Kingpin did not have that kind of nerve.

But now, Heisenberg did!

The boss hated reporters, and Bullseye hated them even more.

More than that, Bullseye had long hated those damned paparazzi to the bone!

Thus, before the reporters downstairs had even recovered from their shock.

Heisenberg Mansion had dispatched more than eighty vehicles and two hundred men.

They swiftly loaded the seriously injured into cars and sent them to the hospital.

As for those who had not been taken away immediately...

They were dragged into relatively spacious vehicles, then... beaten viciously before being sent to the hospital as well.

Just like that, ten minutes later, Heisenberg's ears were finally quiet.

But Heisenberg was not finished yet.

He pressed the service bell, and Billy respectfully came upstairs.

Heisenberg gave Billy his instructions.

"Contact two PR teams, the most expensive ones. Spin what happened today and throw it online. You know how to spin it, right?"

"Of course. Your image will not suffer any damage. After all, you were fighting enemies just now, and the battle was exceptionally intense.

You saved New York. What do a few reporters' injuries matter?"

After saying that, Billy gave a mysterious smile and turned to leave.

Heisenberg nodded in satisfaction.

See?

Having money, subordinates, and a team felt this good!

If Superman in the DC World had possessed plenty of money to handle publicity from the beginning, how could countless anti-Superman groups have forced him into court?

It had been fine when he did not think about it, but once he did, Heisenberg—who had long cast himself in the role of a Kryptonian—felt furious on behalf of his foolish descendant.

Letting a group of weaklings, weaklings you had repeatedly saved, put handcuffs on you!

That was not the kind of humiliation an Eastern Kryptonian could tolerate!

If it were Heisenberg, then sorry.

He would not care who was right or wrong. They could just see whose fists were harder!

If you were strong, he would yield. If you were weak, he would dominate. That was the law of the jungle.

Even if he yielded for now, a vengeance spanning ten generations could still be repaid.

Gongyangru Heisenberg had not earned his name for nothing!

But honestly, from an observer's perspective, Heisenberg would not be dissatisfied with Luthor or Batman for wanting to kill Superman.

Heisenberg greatly approved of their way of thinking.

It was nothing more than one principle: those who were not of our kind must have different hearts, and everyone had the right to eliminate them.

If Heisenberg were not a Kryptonian, he would definitely find a way to kill Kryptonians too.

Back to the point, let's continue talking about Superman.

What annoyed Heisenberg most was the reason Superman had been summoned to court in the first place.

It was because when Superman had fought General Zod with everything he had in order to save Earth...

He was saving the fucking planet, and some people had gotten hurt in the process.

So those people sued him.

Was being sued a big deal? Of course not!

Either keep saving people or stop saving people. No matter what, there was no need to pay attention to people trying to cause you trouble!

Had he hidden his identity for nothing?

Did they know who the hell he was?

If those people sued Heisenberg, then within three days, every major plaintiff suing him would disappear.

If Heisenberg were an ordinary person and got injured in a battle between Superman and his enemy.

Then he would definitely sue Superman too, as long as he was sure Superman could truly be put in the defendant's seat.

After all, whether he won or lost, he would become famous. Once he left the courthouse, Heisenberg could live off having sued Superman for the rest of his life.

He could go on shows whenever he wanted, talk about his feelings, become an influencer, write books.

Wouldn't that be great?

But from Superman's perspective, watching people he had saved shout that he should be punished.

Wouldn't he wonder whether Zod had killed the wrong people?

Should he just let Zod rule Earth, and as long as Zod did not turn Earth into Krypton and strip him of his powers, Zod could breed however he wanted?

If Zod could truly accomplish that, then after Zod became Earth's ruler.

Even if Kal-El became a Kryptonian representative of the resistance, he would still live a much better life than he did as a superhero.

If Kal-El were replaced with Heisenberg, then he...

He...

Fine, he would still first see General Zod's attitude before deciding whether to kill them.

Heisenberg was not Kal-El. He had ambitions.

One god on Earth was enough. Did there need to be an entire race as well?

But if Zod knelt and surrendered, Heisenberg would reluctantly accept him.

After all, they were kin... tools.

Forgive Heisenberg. He had always been shamelessly hypocritical.

In short, Heisenberg would not follow Kal-El's old path.

He would absolutely never lose on the battlefield of public opinion.

He would spend however much money he could and hire however many people he could.

Whether it meant manipulating a presidential election or forcing capitalists to improve the Hero Act...

Heisenberg would absolutely raise a banner for himself, one that would keep him from being attacked.

As for how much hypocrisy lay buried beneath that banner...

Heisenberg thought about it. No matter what, he could not be more hypocritical than those capitalists in the United States, could he?

After all, capitalists were hypocritical beyond all limits.

After the melancholy of the past few days, Heisenberg had already seen himself clearly.

He now possessed a Kryptonian's limitless potential, the miraculous ability to travel through the multiverse, and a system with the power to fulfill any dream!

With so many uniquely blessed advantages, if he still let himself suffer even the slightest grievance, wouldn't that make him pathetic?

As for whether he was irritable, bloody, evil, or cruel.

Was that even a question?

Just like how, with a casual word from him, the reporters had been properly dealt with.

He had ways to resolve the trouble he caused, and he had the ability to bear the consequences he brought about.

As an adult, wasn't being able to do those two things already enough?

As for that line some hero's adoptive father had once said.

With great power comes great responsibility.

Wasn't that just shameless nonsense?

Obviously, the better the treatment, the greater the responsibility should be!

As for ability...

Isn't whether I have ability my own business?

Morality might be considered a kind of benchmark, but everyone had their own moral standards.

In Heisenberg's eyes, he would not lay a hand on harmless young children, elders without malicious intent, or pregnant women who posed no threat.

But take note: even those three kinds of people came with conditions attached.

After all, the world was vast. Who knew whether there were children or old people rotten to the core?

Even those people who had always enjoyed special privileges would not receive Heisenberg's absolute pity.

Much less adults with mature wills.

When Heisenberg had barged into the S.H.I.E.L.D. Director's office, he had already prepared himself to be attacked.

The bullets struck his body, and he bore them himself without complaint.

But when agents fired at him, shouldn't they have been prepared for him to retaliate?

When Kingpin had ordered Bullseye to test him the moment he saw him.

Kingpin had already prepared himself for Heisenberg to resist, hadn't he?

Even Heisenberg himself, when he blew someone's head apart.

Hadn't he also prepared himself for someone else to blow his head apart?

It was just that no one could beat him.

It had been nine days since I started publishing this book. Time flew.

My usual publishing schedule is two chapters a day, with each chapter running from 3,400 to 4,000 words.

I won't change that habit until the book is finished.

After all, this is my first book. Writing more free content for everyone can count as a little bonus.

As for bonus chapter rules: one extra chapter for every thousand monthly votes, one for every five thousand bookmarks, one for every ten thousand recommendation votes, and one for every alliance leader.

Once the book goes premium in the future, there'll be one extra chapter for every five hundred new average subscriptions.

Aside from bonus chapters, I'll basically maintain two updates a day. It's a habit, and it also helps me write more smoothly.

Today is a good day. It's both Monday and the first day of February, so all the rankings are being reshuffled at high speed.

Last week, Ban Si stayed at the top of the new book rankings for an entire week thanks to everyone's support, but there won't be a chance this week.

After all, Ban Si's contract has already been received. The signing status will probably change soon, either today or tomorrow.

At that time, it'll leave the new book rankings and compete on the signed-book rankings.

But I won't place any hopes on the signed-book rankings. They're all gods up there. As a little newcomer, I wouldn't dare dream of it, so everyone shouldn't work too hard for me either. Save some votes for the gods you each support and let them fight their god wars.

Ban Si is a newcomer, after all. I definitely won't have any ambitions of slaughtering gods, right? Right?

Lastly, thank you all so very much for supporting Ban Si.

As long as Ban Si isn't completely dead, I definitely won't disappoint everyone.

As I always say, let's keep working hard together and carve out a path on Qidian in these times!