Chapter 3

"Did I just do something unnecessary?" Lin Jie said, watching the Ten Gods Family retreat. "Come to think of it, I looked pretty cool just now. Taking on guys like these should be no problem."

"Ten Gods! Ten Gods! Ten Gods!" The onlookers began cheering for the Ten Gods Family.

"Wait! It's a misunderstanding! We don't even know that guy!" Ten Gods said, taking two steps back. He had indeed gotten his hands on some genetic enhancement drugs through his agency and learned quite a bit of karate. But his strength had only just reached D-Class.

"Ten Gods! Ten Gods!..." Unfortunately, the cheers completely drowned out his words.

"What did you say? 'That guy'? Are you mocking me?" The crowd's chaotic cheering made Black Hand Boss mistake Ten Gods's words, and it only enraged him further.

"Wait! I..." Before he could finish, a huge fist slammed into his stomach. Ten Gods went flying. The other four members of the Ten Gods Family stopped posing and charged Black Hand Leader together.

One punch each, and every member of the Ten Gods Family went flying.

"Oh? His strength and reaction speed after transforming are both better than the Ten Gods Family's," Lin Jie remarked as he watched the fight. "Next comes the most classic moment in a hot-blooded battle: the Ten Gods Family gets back up and unleashes their Cosmo."

Sure enough, just as Lin Jie had predicted, the leader of the Ten Gods Family, Ten Gods, staggered back to his feet. The crowd erupted in enthusiastic cheers once more.

"Keep it up, Lord Ten Gods!"

Then, amid the crowd's cheers, Ten Gods spat foam from his mouth and toppled straight back over. His body even twitched on the ground a couple of times.

"..." The crowd fell silent for a moment, then erupted into terrified screams again.

"..." Watching the crowd scatter, then looking at the fallen members of the Ten Gods Family, Lin Jie couldn't help saying, "Well, that was pretty creative. It would've been even better if he'd struck a couple of cool poses while falling over."

Black Hand Boss didn't bother with the fleeing crowd. He headed straight for the Ten Gods Family. The armed police who tried to help were blown away along with several cars.

"Ha! Ha! Ha! I never thought that on the very day I became a superhero, I'd run into such a powerful opponent and get the chance to make a name for myself." A young man in metal armor walked out of the crowd. "I'm Zhan Chen, a newly registered E-Class hero. You'll be the perfect proof of my strength."

Hearing that, Black Hand Leader instinctively replied, "A one-sided beatdown costs five hundred thousand. A well-matched fight costs three hundred thousand. If you want us to prepare your lines in advance, that's another fifty thousand. If the location is especially dangerous, you'll need an escape route arranged beforehand, plus the corresponding medical expenses."

"Hm?"

"Oh, right. We've also got a whole package deal—'Let us beat you up, help you show off, and grovel at your feet'—for only nine hundred and ninety-eight thousand." Black Hand Leader answered automatically, out of habit.

"Oh, then I'll take the nine-hundred-and-ninety-eight-thousand package." The young man instinctively pulled out a check. Then he realized what he was doing. "You almost tricked me! I'm a hero of justice! I'd never pay someone to hype up my reputation!"

Zhan Chen pointed at him righteously.

"Oh, so that's what's going on. No wonder it felt so weird! He's a hired actor!" Only then did Lin Jie, who'd been watching from the sidelines, catch on. "Come to think of it, I must've done something to make the two sides misunderstand each other earlier."

"If you're not here to do business, get lost. This has nothing to do with you. I'm going to cripple these liars today," Black Hand Leader said.

But Zhan Chen stepped in front of the fallen members of the Ten Gods Family.

"I told you, I fight for justice. I won't let you hurt them." Zhan Chen put on a pair of metal gloves, then aimed them at the giant in front of him. "Feast your eyes on my high-powered Reaction Gloves! They can blow an elephant away with ease."

As he spoke, Zhan Chen activated the reactor in his palm...

Then he flew around in the air like a deflated balloon.

"...Those are just thrusters, aren't they?" Lin Jie said.

"..." Watching Zhan Chen fly wildly through the air, Black Hand froze. "I've been a terrorist for ten years, and you're the dumbest superhero I've ever seen."

"I can't believe... Ugh! Under the attack of my Reaction Gloves... Ugh! You can still stand there without moving... Ugh!" After finally managing to steady himself, Zhan Chen spoke to Black Hand Boss between bouts of vomiting. "I admit you deserve to be my... Ugh... opponent."

Faced with the man's provocation, Black Hand Boss decisively ignored him. He continued toward Ten Gods, but just as he was about to grab him by the neck, Zhan Chen somehow produced a stick.

"Behold the power of my 100,000 Volt Super Electric Baton!" Zhan Chen swung it at Black Hand Boss.

Black Hand Boss turned around and grabbed the baton in Zhan Chen's hand. Then he flung it with all his strength. The baton slipped from Zhan Chen's grasp, and he went flying toward Lin Jie, crashing into the lamppost beneath which Lin Jie stood.

"Hey! Are you okay?" Lin Jie asked.

"Don't worry. I'm a hero. I'll be fine," Zhan Chen replied.

"Oh, then get up and fight again."

"Of course." Zhan Chen stood up again and pulled out two forks. "Behold my Plasma Decontamination Fork!"

"Decontamination fork?"

Before Lin Jie could finish asking, Zhan Chen charged again. A few seconds later, he was tossed back.

"Are you okay?"

"I'm fine."

"Then go fight him again."

"Oh." Zhan Chen jumped up once more. "Behold my Super Tracking Throwing Knife!"

A few seconds later.

"Back again?" Lin Jie asked.

"Yeah," Zhan Chen replied.

"Are you okay?" Lin Jie asked.

"I'm fine," Zhan Chen replied.

"Then go fight him again."

"Yeah... Behold my High-Tech Electronic Gun..."

After trying more than ten times...

"Are you okay?" Lin Jie asked again.

"I can't go on..." Zhan Chen said, lying on the ground. "I'm an agile hero, but I can't get through this high-defense fighter's defenses at all..."

"Obviously, your combat power is only five."

"Tch. What do you know?" Zhan Chen looked toward Black Hand Leader, who was walking toward Ten Gods again. "There's no helping it. I'm too exhausted to move, but luckily I have one last weapon. A pair of socks my next-door neighbor hasn't washed in three months."

After saying that, Zhan Chen took a small box from his backpack, carefully opened it, then threw its contents at Black Hand Leader as fast as he could.

The sock, trailing a disgusting stench, smacked Black Hand Leader right in the forehead.

"You damned fly! I've decided—I'm going to cripple you first." Black Hand Boss tossed Ten Gods aside.

"See? I managed to save him this time," Zhan Chen said to Lin Jie.

"But you're dead for sure."

"..." Zhan Chen paused, then looked toward Black Hand Boss, who was bearing down on them. "I was so focused on saving people that I forgot what would happen to me. Damn! I can't believe someone as handsome as me is going to die here today. Buddy, you'd better run. It's dangerous over here."

"You two bastards who ruined my business aren't getting away!" Black Hand Leader charged toward them as he spoke.

"You run! I'll hold him off," Zhan Chen said.

"You clearly can't beat him. Why aren't you running?" Lin Jie asked curiously.

"I'm a superhero. What kind of superhero would run off and leave a civilian unprotected?" Zhan Chen said.

But while the two were talking, Black Hand Leader had already reached them. Just then, Lin Jie stepped in front of Zhan Chen.

"A hero, huh? I gave that up a long time ago," Lin Jie murmured, speaking too quietly for anyone but himself to hear, as he pulled a Wolf Fang Club taller than a man from his coat.

"Holy crap, where were you hiding that vicious weapon?" Zhan Chen exclaimed. "Are you a magician? And wouldn't keeping a Wolf Fang Club in your coat stab you?"

What happened next shocked Zhan Chen even more. Lin Jie picked up the Wolf Fang Club with one hand and swung it at Black Hand Boss's head.

Black Hand Boss collapsed, unconscious. The whole thing, from Lin Jie swinging the club to Black Hand Boss hitting the ground, had taken only three seconds.

"He took out that high-defense tank in one hit!" Zhan Chen stared at the man in astonishment, then said with shining eyes, "Let's team up! We'll become the greatest hero duo in history."

"I'm not interested," Lin Jie replied.

"I'm interested, and that's what matters." Zhan Chen grabbed Lin Jie, who was about to head home. "Buddy, you've got the powerful attacks needed to take down monsters like that. I've got powerful equipment and a mind that's beyond ordinary. If we team up, I'm sure we'll become an amazing hero duo."

"You? You're sure your equipment is powerful and your mind is beyond ordinary?" Lin Jie stared at Zhan Chen in shock. "You look like a combat-power-five clown who keeps getting himself killed."

"Tch, you don't know my real strength. If I'd brought all my gear today, I would've taken him down ages ago."

Before long, reinforcements from the Hero Association arrived. At the head of the group was a beautiful woman with white hair and an air of elegance. She looked at where Black Hand Boss lay, at Zhan Chen talking nearby, and at the ordinary man he was forcibly holding onto, Lin Jie.

"Can someone explain what happened here?"

"Oh?" Zhan Chen looked at the elegant beauty and exclaimed in surprise, "You're the B-Class hero, Winter Witch! Could I get your autograph? I've always admired you."