Chapter 16

"I'm saying, can you come up with something besides trash talk?" Lin Jie yawned. "I've got things to do tomorrow."

"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 supposed to be our company's last-resort weapon for B-Class members. But since you've got A-Class strength and speed, I have no choice but to use it to fight you."

As he spoke, the giant pressed the syringe against his neck. "You'll regret looking down on me..."

"You sure talk a lot." Lin Jie sent him back into the ground again.

"Heh heh heh." A huge shadow rose from the crater. This time, bright red markings had appeared all over his body, each one radiating a strange, powerful force.

"So this is what it feels like to approach S-Class? It's incredible." The giant's body had now completely transformed into a massive humanoid monster.

"Boring." Lin Jie jumped up with the Wolf Fang Club in hand and swung it down at his opponent.

"Hahaha, it's useless! To you, I'm so fast that you look like a snail!" The monster laughed and reached out with his thick arm to grab Lin Jie in midair.

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

"What!" The monster stared at Lin Jie in shock. He had clearly seen through Lin Jie's move, and he'd been confident he could catch him. Yet his entire arm had been smashed apart by a tremendous force. His outer body was so well-defended that even the latest armor-piercing rounds couldn't damage it.

"Who are you?" The monster looked at Lin Jie, wary. "But don't think you can beat me just because of that. I'm immortal now."

As he spoke, the stump began to writhe, and a new arm grew back at a visible speed.

"You think you're Piccolo Daimaou?" Lin Jie said, tightening his grip on the Wolf Fang Club. The next moment, he appeared beside the monster and swung. The monster's legs broke under Lin Jie's attack. As he began to fall, Lin Jie swung the club again and again, reducing his entire body to a massive torso with no limbs.

"I told you, it's useless!" The wounds on the monster's body began to writhe again.

"I'll break off as much as you grow back." Lin Jie gave him a strange smile.

Ten minutes later, Lin Jie looked down at the monster sprawled before him. He had shrunk to the size of an ordinary person and was still twitching uncontrollably.

"Looks like your drug's worn off. Berserk potions like that always have side effects."

"..." The big man stared at Lin Jie in silence. His body twitched violently a few times, then went still.

"Drugs feel great until it's time to pay the price," Lin Jie remarked. "I'll hand you over to the Hero Association when it's daylight."

"Heh heh heh..." The big man sneered. "You think beating me means you've won? You've made an enemy of the last organization in the world you should've crossed. Hahaha!"

"Pathetic loser's barking," Lin Jie said dismissively.

"I admit the organization underestimated your strength this time. That's why they sent me, a mere B-Class, after you. But next time, they'll send someone you'll never be able to defeat." The big man smirked. "Our Evolution Company is powerful enough that even real S-Class heroes wouldn't dare cross us."

"So what? Let them come," Lin Jie said.

"Heh heh, enjoy yourself while you can. The next time the organization makes a move, that little girl you're protecting will end up in our hands anyway. Your teammates should be dead by now, too. Oh, and don't you have a little sister? Once the Evolution Company takes care of you, I'll make sure to look after her."

"Really? I admit there was a time when I failed to protect someone I wanted to protect." Lin Jie's expression changed. "But I won't let that happen again."

A powerful aura surged from Lin Jie.

"Your words have made me want to kill you." With the moon behind him, Lin Jie's black eyes suddenly glowed with a strange red light.

"Wait! You can't kill me. That's not what superheroes like you do, is it?" The man was frightened by Lin Jie's aura. "And do you know who's backing us? The president of the H City Hero Association! As the one in charge of H City's superheroes, he'll never forgive you for this!"

"A hero? I quit a long time ago." Lin Jie spoke calmly. As he finished, a pitch-black long sword appeared out of thin air in his hand, its blade glowing with an eerie red light. "Besides, you have no idea who you've crossed."

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

An indescribable terror rose in the man's heart. Almost no one in the world failed to recognize that sword. The sword and those red eyes had once been the nightmare of every criminal in the world. He never would have dreamed that he'd come face-to-face with the legendary figure who had disappeared five years ago.

But the man's shock ended there.

Lin Jie opened the front door and saw Lin Wan coming out of her room in her pajamas, carrying a Little Girl who was fast asleep in her arms.

"Why's it so noisy outside?" Lin Wan asked sleepily.

"Nothing. Some superheroes were fighting a little monster outside. I just watched. It's over now," Lin Jie replied casually.

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

"The superheroes," Lin Jie said.

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

"Yeah, good night," Lin Jie told his sister. "Also, that thing you're holding isn't a pillow."

"Huh? When did that happen?"

After watching his sister return to her room, Lin Jie pulled out his phone. "Hello? ... Xiao Zhan? It's Lin Jie. How did things go on your end? You were attacked too? ... What! Your attacker was a busty woman! And she was wearing a skintight suit!!! This is outrageous! Why did I get stuck with a big, scruffy guy? As for me, I've already taken care of it..."

By then, the place where Lin Jie and the big man had fought was empty. All that remained where the man had lain was a human-shaped crater.

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

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

"Well, isn't it a little wrong to give her a name without asking?" Lin Jie said.

"What's wrong with that? She can't remember her old name anyway. We can't keep calling her 'little girl' forever." Lin Wan looked at Lin Jie. "Besides, Mumu likes the name, don't you?"

"Yeah. From now on, my name is Lin Mumu," the Little Girl said as she ate breakfast.

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

"There are lots of fun things? I love you best, big sister!" the Little Girl cheered.

"What a good girl." Lin Wan rubbed her cheek against the girl's.

"You're acting like a kid who just got a new toy," Lin Jie remarked.

"None of your business," Lin Wan said.

"Until this is resolved, it's best not to take Lin Mumu out," Lin Jie said. "It isn't safe. I'm planning to move her somewhere more secure today."

"No!" Lin Wan stood in front of Lin Jie like a mother protecting her child. "I don't agree. I'm taking her out today. I already promised her."

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

"No! Aren't you superheroes?" Lin Wan looked at Lin Jie. "Why don't you come with us? And if you don't agree, you can forget about eating my cooking ever again. You can eat your spicy strips every day instead."

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

Lin Jie, Xiao Zhan, and Glasses were crouching beneath a tree in the amusement park.

"I had no choice. If I didn't agree, I'd have to live on spicy strips..." Lin Jie said, changing the subject. "By the way, Glasses, were you attacked last night?"

"I hid last night and didn't even go home. But when I got back this morning, I found signs that someone had searched my room," Glasses said.

"Last night's attackers must've been from the Evolution Company," Lin Jie said. "I got information from the attacker I took down yesterday. Just as Dong Xue'er said, the Evolution Company went after us right away."

"There's something that's been bothering me," Glasses said. "We always wore our superhero costumes, and our faces were mostly covered by huge sunglasses. How did the Evolution Company find our homes so precisely? They even had detailed information about our households."

"Who else could it be? They must've gotten it from President Ouyang. He's the only one who can access the H City superheroes' files," Xiao Zhan said. "Great. Now, on top of being superheroes, we have to worry about our homes being raided. At least I don't have any family."

"That Superhero Registration Act really..." Glasses trailed off.

"Forget it. Complaining won't help now," Xiao Zhan said. "Speaking of which, are your family okay, Glasses?"

"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 also been secretly leaking superhero information to them," Xiao Zhan said. "No wonder kidnappings of superheroes' families have become so much more common over the past two years."

"Enough of that," Lin Jie interrupted. "My sister wants to name that girl Lin Mumu."

"Lin Mumu?" Glasses thought it over. "That's actually a pretty nice name."

"I don't mind, as long as you don't name her Lin Daiyu," Xiao Zhan said. "When this is all over, I'll get her registered so she can live like a normal kid."

All three of them turned to look at the Little Girl and Lin Wan, who were waiting in line to buy ice cream.

"She grew up in an organization that conducted human experiments. I bet she's never done any of the things kids are supposed to do," Lin Jie remarked.

"Forget that for a moment. Is it really a good idea for three grown men to crouch here whispering to each other?" Glasses asked. "I've noticed quite a few people giving us strange looks."

"Tch. Caring what other people think is stupid," Xiao Zhan said.

At that moment, a young mother walked past them with a little girl.

"Mommy, look! A panda!" the little girl said, pointing at Xiao Zhan.

"Come on, stay away from them. They don't look like good people," the young mother said, quickly pulling her daughter away.

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