Please Tone It Down a Little

"Heh-heh..."

Jupiter watched The Deep flee in panic and smiled faintly.

"To the remaining three of you, is there anything you want to ask me?!"

"Relax. I'm a very approachable person. I believe our future cooperation will be quite pleasant."

Jupiter looked at Queen Maeve, A-Train, and Black Noir with a smile.

"Uh..."

Queen Maeve and the other two exchanged glances, then shook their heads.

"Good."

"Then we can disband."

Jupiter rose from his seat, nodded to the three of them, and left through the hall's main entrance without another word.

"WTF?!"

"Does he think he's our captain now?!"

After Jupiter left, A-Train stared at the entrance to the Seven's hall and frowned.

"From the looks of it, yes..."

Queen Maeve nodded lightly, expressing her agreement with A-Train's opinion.

"Can we just let this happen?!"

A-Train felt his position slipping away. He had already been near the bottom of the Seven. If another powerful superhero joined them now, he felt he might truly be kicked out of the Seven by the company, just like Lamplighter...

"A-Train, listen. This has never been about whether we want to see it happen. It's the company's decision. As long as the higher-ups want to see a brand-new, powerful superhero, we have to accept it."

Queen Maeve looked at A-Train calmly. She saw the situation clearly. Whoever the company wanted to join the Seven had nothing to do with their wishes. Whoever the company wanted to become a superhero could become one.

"Sh*t!"

After hearing Queen Maeve's words, A-Train cursed angrily. But he knew she was right. These glamorous superheroes who appeared to have everything actually had no power at all. They were nothing more than products packaged by the company.

At the same time, Vought's public relations team was working frantically...

Whether it was Starlight, who would replace Lamplighter as the newest member of the Seven, or Jupiter, who had killed The Invisible Man with his own hands and demonstrated his astonishing value, Vought would have to spend a huge amount of money promoting and building their images...

Especially Jupiter...

This unexpected new star who had directly replaced The Invisible Man.

For that reason, Vought had prepared a two-part promotional package for Jupiter.

The first part was to arrange a retirement interview for "The Invisible Man"...

That was right. To build up Jupiter's image, Vought had specifically arranged for The Invisible Man to appear at a retirement interview.

The interview would be held both online and offline. Its main story was that The Invisible Man had contracted a strange illness and could no longer use his superpowers.

Now that The Invisible Man was dead, the company had specifically arranged for The Transfiguration Man to take over his work. With The Transfiguration Man's abilities, no one could discover that the real The Invisible Man had already gone to hell to eat shit.

The second part was to film a promotional video for Jupiter. Nothing would win Jupiter more public support than displaying his abilities directly to the masses.

And so...

After Jupiter left the Seven's hall, he went straight to the set—the dedicated set for Vought's superheroes. Every superhero movie seen on screen was filmed there.

"So what do you need me to do?"

Jupiter raised an eyebrow as he looked at the huge camera pointed at him. It was his first time on a film set, and his first time there after gaining divine power. To be honest, the feeling was rather interesting.

"Free Man, the story takes place at a bank. In a moment, seven or eight robbers will rush out and hold it up. All you need to do is descend from the sky cleanly and decisively, defeat the enemies, and that's it!"

The director described an incredibly clichéd script. But it didn't matter. Whether it was clichéd or not, as long as the audience enjoyed it and it had enough commercial value, it was a good script.

"Descend from the sky!?"

Jupiter nodded, indicating that he understood the director wanted him to come down through the roof of the building before him, right?

"First scene, action!"

The director held the camera and began filming Jupiter's suave performance.

"Hey, put your hands up!"

"Otherwise, we'll cut your heads off and kick them around like balls."

Suddenly, the bank doors opened, and seven or eight armed robbers ran out. Facing the bank employees, they shouted and cursed loudly.

"..."

Jupiter looked at the robbers in front of him. They were holding their guns backward, and the word amateur seemed stamped across their entire bodies. He covered his face. Just look at these amateurs. They weren't robbers at all—they looked more like a group of comedy actors.

"Wait!"

Jupiter waved at the director, signaling for him to pause.

"Cut! Everyone, hold for a moment. Free Man has something to say..."

Although the director had no idea what Jupiter wanted, he still called for a pause.

"You guys, come over here."

After the director called the pause, Jupiter beckoned to the extras playing the robbers.

"Uh..."

Although the robbers had no idea why Jupiter wanted them, they obediently walked over.

"Take a good look in the mirror and look at yourselves. Does this look like you're playing robbers?"

"Can you rob anyone looking like this?! Do you think the people being robbed would be afraid of you!? We need to create a sense of fear. Stand up straight and take this seriously."

Jupiter seriously lectured the extras.

"Uh..."

The extras looked at one another, each of them seeming utterly confused.

"Is there a problem?"

Jupiter looked at the extras standing motionless and asked.

"Mr. Free Man, what are robbers supposed to look like?"

Among the extras, a burly man with short brown hair asked Jupiter doubtfully.

"WTF?!"

"You were born in Free Nation and have never seen a robber? Are you kidding me..."

Jupiter couldn't believe it. Come on—he had been born in Free Nation, where banks were robbed almost every day on average, and he was claiming he had never seen a robber?! That was more ridiculous than a BBC filter...

In Free Nation, robbery was politely called a "free zero-dollar purchase." It was part of their national culture. How could such an excellent traditional virtue be abandoned?

"Ah, I immigrated here from the Kingdom of Hans Beer."

The man explained his circumstances.

"F*ck, no wonder..."

Jupiter nodded lightly. Now he understood why the man before him didn't understand his own national culture.

"Since that's the case, watch closely. This is what a real robber looks like..."

As Jupiter spoke, he snatched the submachine gun from the man's hands.

"Click..."

Without another word, Jupiter skillfully disengaged the safety and loaded the submachine gun, then aimed it at the sky.

"Rat-a-tat-tat-tat..."

The next second, a fierce burst of automatic fire rang out.

After finishing his shooting, Jupiter was still unsatisfied. He raised the submachine gun in his hand and aimed it at the glass counter in front of him.

"F*ck!"

The several bank clerks were clearly local actors. As soon as they saw what Jupiter was doing, they immediately dropped to the ground.

"Rat-a-tat-tat-tat..."

"Bang-bang-bang..."

Just as the clerks hit the floor, Jupiter pulled the trigger and blasted the transparent glass apart.

"Holy shit..."

The actors playing the robbers saw Jupiter firing and all dropped flat on the ground, clutching their heads in terror.

Silence. For a moment, the entire set was eerily quiet.

"Heh-heh..."

Jupiter looked at everyone who had fallen silent and smiled with satisfaction.

"You little bitches, listen the fuck up. Open all the safes, then put the money into the black bag beside me. And listen carefully: if anyone dares call the police, I swear my bullets will arrive faster than the cops."

After the barrage, Jupiter roared at everyone on the crew through the smoke drifting from the barrel.

"Have you learned it now?!"

After shouting, Jupiter looked at the crew members sprawled across the floor in terror and tossed the gun to the actor playing the thug, who was crouched beneath him with his head in his hands.

"L-l-learned... learned it..."

The thug actor stammered, unable to finish a complete sentence.

"Um..."

"Mr. Free Man, sorry for the trouble, but could you tone it down a little..."

"But I have to say, your acting just now was really amazing!"

The director, who had been startled into falling to the ground when Jupiter suddenly opened fire, held his little microphone and urged Jupiter in an exceedingly gentle voice.

To be honest, he had been frightened out of his wits. Watching Jupiter fire while grinning viciously, he had thought he had really encountered a robber.