Chapter 16

"I said, can you come up with something other than just running your mouth?" Lin Jie yawned from the sidelines. "You know, I've actually got things to do tomorrow during the day."

"Bastard, you dare look down on me?" The giant was thoroughly enraged by Lin Jie's dismissive attitude. He pulled a specially made syringe from his body. "This was originally the last-resort survival weapon the company left for us B-ranks. But since you've got A-rank strength and speed, I have no choice but to use this to fight you."

With that, the giant pressed the syringe against his own neck. "You'll regret looking down on me..."

"So much useless chatter." Lin Jie sent him back into the ground again.

"Heh heh heh." A massive shadow rose from the crater. This time, bright red markings appeared clearly across his body, each one radiating an eerie, powerful energy.

"So this is power close to S-rank? The feeling is incredible." By now, the giant's body had fully transformed into a colossal, humanoid monster.

"Boring." Lin Jie hefted his Wolf Fang Club and leaped up, swinging it down from above onto the creature before him.

"Hahaha, useless! In your current state, you're as slow as a snail in my eyes!" The monster laughed and stretched out its thick arm, reaching for Lin Jie mid-air.

Then... the monster's entire arm vanished.

"What!" The monster stared at Lin Jie in shock. It had clearly seen through his movements just now and was confident its grab would catch him. Yet its entire arm had been shattered by a powerful force. Its external body defense was so strong that even the latest armor-piercing rounds couldn't damage it.

"Just who are you?" The monster looked at Lin Jie, wariness filling its eyes. "But don't think that's enough to beat me. I'm immortal now."

As it spoke, the stump of its arm began to writhe, and a new arm visibly regenerated before their eyes.

"You think you're Piccolo Daimaou or something?" Lin Jie said, gripping his Wolf Fang Club tightly. The next moment, his figure appeared beside the monster, and the club swept horizontally. The monster's legs were broken under Lin Jie's attack. As it was about to fall, Lin Jie's club struck repeatedly, carving the monster's entire body down into a massive human stump.

"I told you, it's useless!" As it spoke, the wounds on its body began writhing again.

"I'll break as much as you grow back." Lin Jie looked at it with a sinister smile.

After ten minutes like this, Lin Jie looked down at the monster lying before him. It had shrunk back to normal human size and was twitching uncontrollably.

"Looks like your drug's time is up. Potions like berserker serum always have side effects."

"..." The man stared at Lin Jie in silence, his body convulsing violently a few times before calming down.

"Pop a pill, feel the thrill, end up at the crematorium still." Lin Jie sighed. "I'll hand you over to the Hero Association when dawn comes."

"Heh heh heh..." The man let out a cold laugh. "You think beating me means victory? You've already provoked the most dangerous enemy in this world, hahaha."

"Tch, the howling of a loser." Lin Jie said dismissively.

"I admit the organization underestimated your strength this time, sending only a B-rank like me after you. But the next one to come will be someone you can never defeat." The man said arrogantly. "You should know, our Evolution Company is a massive organization even true S-ranks don't dare provoke."

"So what? Let them come." Lin Jie replied.

"Hmph, enjoy your smugness while it lasts. When the organization moves next time, that little girl you're protecting will still fall into our hands. Your teammates are probably dead by now. Oh, and don't you have a sister? After the Evolution Company finishes you off, I'll take good care of her." The man said.

"Is that so? I admit I once failed to protect the people I wanted to protect." Lin Jie's expression shifted. "But that won't happen a second time."

A fierce aura erupted from Lin Jie.

"Your words have successfully made me want to kill you." Lin Jie stood with his back to the moon, and a strange red light suddenly flared in his black pupils.

"Wait! You can't kill me! That's not how you superheroes operate, is it?" The man was now terrified by Lin Jie's presence. "And do you even know who's backing us? It's the chairman of the H City Hero Association! As the manager of H City's superheroes, he won't forgive this kind of behavior."

"A hero? I stopped being one long ago." Lin Jie said flatly. As he spoke, a pitch-black longsword materialized in his hand, its blade glowing with an eerie red light. "And you have no idea who you've provoked."

"That sword!" The man stared in shock at the sword in Lin Jie's hand, then at the red light in his eyes. "The Judgment Sword! You're..."

An indescribable terror rose in the man's heart. There was hardly anyone in the world who didn't recognize that sword. That blade and those red eyes had once been the nightmare of every sinner on earth. The man never dreamed he would encounter the legend who had vanished for five whole years right here.

But his shock ended there.

Lin Jie opened his front door and found Lin Wan walking out of her room in her pajamas, holding a sleeping Little Girl in her arms.

"Why is it so noisy outside?" Lin Wan asked groggily.

"Nothing much. A superhero was fighting a little monster outside. I just watched the show, and it's over now." Lin Jie replied casually.

"Oh." Lin Wan nodded. "Who won?"

"The superhero." Lin Jie said.

"Oh, then I'm going back to sleep." Lin Wan said. "You should sleep too."

"Yeah, goodnight." Lin Jie said to his sister. "Also, that thing you're holding isn't a pillow."

"Huh? Since when?"

Watching his sister return to her room, Lin Jie pulled out his phone. "Hey?... Xiao Zhan? It's Lin Jie. How's it going on your end? You got attacked too? What! The one who attacked you was a big-chested girl! And she was wearing a bodysuit!!! No way, I'm protesting! Why did I get a burly man coming after me? My side? Already handled..."

Back at the site of Lin Jie and the giant's fight, the man was nowhere to be seen. Only a human-shaped crater remained where he had lain.

The next morning, at Lin Jie's dining table.

"I've decided. I'm calling her Lin Mumu from now on." Lin Wan said to Lin Jie, holding the Little Girl.

"Uh, isn't it a bit much to just give her a name on your own?" Lin Jie said.

"What's wrong with that? She can't remember her old name anyway. We can't just keep calling her 'little sister,' can we?" Lin Wan said to Lin Jie. "And Mumu likes this name, don't you?"

"Yeah, I'll be Lin Mumu from now on." The Little Girl said while eating breakfast.

"Our Mumu is the best! I'm off today, so big sister will take you to the amusement park later. There are tons of fun things to do there." Lin Wan said to the Little Girl.

"Are there lots of fun things to do? I love big sister the most!" the Little Girl cheered.

"So well-behaved." Lin Wan rubbed her cheek against hers.

"Why do you look like a kid who just got a new toy?" Lin Jie couldn't help but say.

"None of your business," Lin Wan replied.

"It's best not to take Lin Wan out until this is settled," Lin Jie said. "It's not safe. I was planning to move her somewhere more secure today."

"No!" Lin Wan stood in front of Lin Jie like a mother protecting her child. "I won't agree. I promised her we'd go out today, and I'm keeping that promise."

"Don't be stubborn right now," Lin Jie said.

"No. Aren't you all playing superhero right now?" Lin Wan looked at Lin Jie. "Why not come with us? Besides, if you don't agree, you'll never eat my cooking again. Go live on your spicy sticks from now on."

"So that's why you dragged us all here?" Xiao Zhan, sporting two dark circles under his eyes, looked at Lin Jie. "Do you have any idea how suicidal it is to take that kid out to play right now?"

At that moment, Lin Jie, Xiao Zhan, and Glasses were all crouched under a tree in the amusement park.

"No choice. If I didn't agree, I'd be stuck eating spicy sticks forever..." Lin Jie changed the subject. "Speaking of which, Glasses, did you get attacked last night?"

"I hid out last night and never went home. But when I got back the next day, I did notice my room had been rummaged through," Glasses said.

"Last night's attacker was probably from the Evolution Company," Lin Jie said. "I got some intel from the one I took down. Just like Dong Xue'er said, the Evolution Company hit us right away."

"There's something I'm worried about," Glasses said. "We've always worn superhero costumes, with big sunglasses covering half our faces. How did the Evolution Company pinpoint our homes? They even had detailed info on our families."

"Do you even need to ask? It must have come from President Ouyang. He's the only one in H City who can access superhero records," Xiao Zhan said. "Great. Now while we play superhero, we have to watch our backs in case our homes get raided. Lucky for me, I have no family."

"The Superhero Registration Act really is..." Glasses trailed off mid-sentence.

"Forget it. Complaining won't help now," Xiao Zhan said. "By the way, Glasses, is your family okay?"

"They're fine. They hid with me last night," Glasses said.

"Looks like Dong Xue'er was telling the truth. President Ouyang isn't just connected to the Evolution Company—he's been leaking superhero info to them privately," Xiao Zhan said. "No wonder the number of superhero family kidnappings has spiked in the last two years."

"Alright, let's drop it," Lin Jie cut in. "My sister wants to name that little girl Lin Mumu."

"Lin Mumu?" Glasses thought for a moment. "It's a nice name."

"I don't care, as long as it's not Lin Daiyu," Xiao Zhan said. "Once this is over, I'll get her a household registration. Then she can live like a normal kid."

All three of them unconsciously looked toward the Little Girl and Lin Wan, who were waiting in line to buy ice cream.

"Growing up in that kind of human experimentation organization... she probably never got to do any of the things normal kids do," Lin Jie remarked.

"Setting that aside, is it really a good idea for three grown men to be crouching here whispering?" Glasses asked. "I've noticed a lot of people giving us weird looks."

"Tch. Caring about other people's stares is the stupidest thing you can do," Xiao Zhan said.

Just then, a young mother walked by with her little daughter.

"Mommy! Look!! Pandas!!" the little girl said, pointing at Xiao Zhan.

"Hurry up, stay away from them. They look like bad people," the young mother said, quickly pulling her daughter away.

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