"Mutant, superhuman?"
Max held out his hands and stared blankly at the electric currents darting beneath his skin.
He had become one of those so-called superhumans?
"But..."
Shen Fei smiled. "This is the best birthday gift God could give you. From today onward, you'll say goodbye to your past."
Max looked at his blue-glowing skin. The inferiority he had always carried made him doubt himself. "But doesn't this make me a monster?"
Shen Fei suddenly rose into the air. "Then do you think I'm a monster?"
"Of course not." Max hurriedly shook his head. Superman's popularity in New York now rivaled Iron Man's.
How could he possibly be a monster?
"You're not alone."
Shen Fei patted Max on the shoulder, completely unafraid of the electric light coursing over it. He continued, "And you'll be the captain of Osborn's elite unit."
"An elite unit?"
Shen Fei's friendly tone immediately made Max feel valued.
On top of that, Shen Fei had given him a birthday cake before and had even let him avoid working overtime on his birthday.
With both things combined, Max held almost no resentment toward Shen Fei. He was even filled with gratitude.
Now, hearing Shen Fei suddenly mention an elite unit...
When had Osborn ever had something like that?
"A superhuman team I'm about to establish, meant to deal with people who bear us ill will.
Come to my office and we'll discuss it in detail."
"Is this contract real?"
After reading the contract, Max still looked utterly dazed. The salary and benefits written on it had nearly stunned him senseless.
Several hundred thousand dollars a year, a house he could live in as long as he worked for the company, and various allowances.
The price was that he would join Osborn's superhuman team, called the Guardians