Origins

Just as Alex was wondering why a mysterious system voice had sounded in his mind,

Aunt Merri, a slightly plump white woman with a prosperous-looking face, had already pulled open the floor-to-ceiling window leading to the yard and called out to Alex, "Alex, go take a shower, then eat breakfast. Hurry up! You need to get to the Central City Police Department early today and make a good impression!"

The crisp morning chill blew in through the floor-to-ceiling window, making her plump, rather pretty face tremble. Her lips quivered with a puff, and that shiver spread through her whole body, leaving Aunt Merri, still wearing a short-sleeved shirt, covered in goosebumps from the cold.

After reminding Alex, Aunt Merri hurriedly shut the floor-to-ceiling window with a smack, gave her plump body a shake, and quickly headed for the kitchen to continue making breakfast, leaving Alex only her plump back.

Aunt Merri and Alex had no blood relation whatsoever. Even Aunt Merri's husband was not related to Alex in any way.

To outsiders, Alex was a tragic figure with a miserable background. His parents had long been gone.

Alex had been born in the late eighties, the child of an Asian man and a white American woman. Blessed with both parents' good looks, he had benefited greatly from his appearance throughout his school years.

When Alex was three, his father, who had suffered severe discrimination in America, had accidentally drawn the attention of a gang and was killed in a gang vendetta.

When he was five, during the final years of the Cold War, America and the Soviet Union had amassed enough nuclear weapons to make the entire world tremble repeatedly in fear of its destruction. The economy had been in recession, and people had been terrified. Raising a child alone, Alex's mother had endured unimaginable fear and pressure under those social conditions, eventually losing herself in drugs every day.

In the end, on a dark night, his mother had died from an overdose of marijuana.

Finally, a kindhearted police officer had adopted the well-behaved, sensible Alex, sparing him from being sent to an orphanage.

Later, when Alex was ten, that officer—his adoptive father—had married Aunt Merri, who already had an eight-year-old daughter. They had lived together steadily for more than a decade now, and everything in their lives had been going well.

"Got it."

Hearing Aunt Merri, Alex replied and temporarily set aside his doubts about this so-called system.

His sculpted, powerfully muscled body gave a shake, sending beads of sweat flying away. The damp ends of his black hair swayed, and together with his beautifully proportioned muscles, he glimmered with lively beauty beneath the morning sunlight, like a male mermaid emerging from the sea.

After shaking himself dry, Alex carried the steel spear barefoot back into the garage and hung it up. Only after rubbing the mud and sand from his feet clean at the doorway did he enter the house.

Returning to his room, he grabbed some underwear and headed to the bathroom for a shower.

While soaking in the bathtub, Alex called out to the system in his mind several times, but received no response. This left him deep in thought until Aunt Merri reminded him at the bathroom door that he had been in there too long and needed to come out. Only then did Alex snap back to his senses and hurriedly climb out of the tub.

After drying himself, he changed into clean underwear, black casual pants, and a relatively loose white T-shirt. Then he put on a pair of black rectangular-framed glasses, which neatly concealed his outstanding looks and hid the enchanting beauty mark beneath his eye.

The glasses did not diminish his appearance at all. On the contrary, the fashionable black rectangular frames, combined with his high, straight nose bridge and broad forehead, gave him an especially serious and cool air. Together with his thin, tightly pressed lips and blade-carved cheeks, everything about him conveyed an unusually cold, imposing feeling, creating another kind of charm.

"Why are you dressed so casually!"

"Alex, going to the police department isn't the same as going on a date with those butterflies that cling to you."

"You need to wear a proper suit and show those stinking officers at the department how professional you are."

Seeing Alex dressed so casually, Aunt Merri had barely set the fried steak on the dining table before she anxiously began lecturing him without pause.

This was her son's first official day at work. No matter how she looked at it, he was dressed far too casually.

At the very least, he should wear a proper suit, stand tall and straight, and blind everyone else at the police department.

Before Alex could say anything, the middle-aged man at the dining table—Alex's adoptive father—set down his newspaper, looked at Alex, and said, "All right. Alex doesn't need to dress that formally. This is fine."

"He's a metahuman on the Special Response Unit. Dressing casually is better."

Bert tapped the dining table, signaling for him to come over and eat breakfast.

Aunt Merri glanced at her husband. She was still dissatisfied with Alex's outfit, but since Bert was right, she said no more.

"Bert's right."

Alex looked helplessly at Aunt Merri, spread his hands, and shrugged, wearing a thoroughly helpless expression. See? Your husband told me not to dress too formally. It wasn't my fault.

Aunt Merri shot Alex an annoyed glare, then continued to warn and scold him. "Eat quickly. When you get to the police department, don't go provoking the other police beauties. Even if they throw themselves at you, don't be so eager."

"You've just arrived at the Central City Police Department, so rein in your temper. Don't hit officers. Talk things through properly!"

"Be careful. I know you can take down dozens of people at once, but they have guns. You need to watch out."

"Don't worry, Merri. I have a gun too!"

Alex raised his brows, a smile curling across his lips as he spoke. He pulled out a chair and sat opposite his adoptive father, Bert.

Merri glared fiercely at him and gave him another harsh scolding for still being so improper and flippant.

While accepting Aunt Merri's scolding and concerned reminders, Alex picked up his knife and fork, cut into the steak, and took one of the stacked newspapers from beside his adoptive father to start reading.

"Gotham Evening Post"

Roman Returns! Falcone's Revenge Against Batman!

The first thing he saw was news of Roman, one of Batman's enemies, returning and causing a huge stir in Gotham. The evening paper also detailed predictions regarding the former underground emperor of Gotham and the impact his clash with Batman would have on the city.

Roman had been Batman's first enemy after Batman debuted. Alex had seen reports of his downfall in the newspapers years ago—Batman had brought him down and driven him out of Gotham. He had not expected Roman to return recently.

"So he's back."

Alex took a bite of steak fragrant with beef and cumin. The sauce, carrying the rich flavor of meat and a slight numbing spice, lingered between his teeth. Come to think of it, Batman had already been active for seven years. He flipped through the rest of the Gotham paper, which contained nothing but reports on Gotham's corruption, darkness, and Wayne Enterprises' plans for Gotham's future.

After finishing the Gotham Evening Post, Alex pulled out Metropolis's Daily Planet from the stack and began reading it. The front page featured Lois's interview regarding Superman's handling of the situation in the Middle East.

After finishing the Daily Planet, Alex pulled out another newspaper. He subscribed to newspapers covering superheroes in most cities where famous superheroes were active, keeping track of events around the world.

The next paper was the Washington Daily, its front page displaying a photo of a beautiful, valiant woman.

The newspaper headline read: Wonder Woman Has Left Themyscira, Now Resides in Washington as Themyscira's Friendly Ambassador and Liaison to Earth.

This had recently become a world-class event. The beautiful woman had caught the eyes of countless men around the world. The moment she appeared, nearly the entire world had been shaken, stunned by her beauty and revering her as a goddess.

"She really is quite beautiful."

Alex glanced at her, nodded, and praised her. This Wonder Woman truly lived up to her reputation. She was very beautiful.

Then he set the Washington Daily aside and took out the Seaside City Daily.