The End of Superheroes

"If this is a nightmare, then I'd better wake up soon."

Zhang Ye walked along Spadina Avenue in New York like a walking corpse.

The dazzling sunlight shone down on Zhang Ye, yet it could not dispel the gloom in his heart. Even standing on the busiest street in all of New York, he felt nothing.

It was as if everything around him was utterly out of place.

Zhang Ye was not from this world. He had forgotten how he had arrived here. It was like waking from a drunken stupor—when he opened his eyes, he had somehow ended up here, lying among a group of homeless vagrants.

It had already been a month since he came to this world. As he gathered more and more information, Zhang Ye sank deeper into despair. He tightened the shoulder bag on his body, as though the things inside could give him some small sense of security. Judging by its style, it had long been outdated, but to Zhang Ye, it contained his entire fortune.

He had found the bag, and everything in it had been found too.

When Zhang Ye first arrived in this world, he had actually been ecstatic. Transmigration was something that existed only in novels or anime. To experience it firsthand was enough to put him ahead of 99.9999% of the people in his previous life.

Especially after Zhang Ye saw the name "Stark" in the newspaper, his excitement grew even stronger.

Stark. Having watched plenty of Marvel works, Zhang Ye knew that surname all too well. Tony Stark, Iron Man—no one else with that surname could possibly make the front page of New York's biggest newspaper.

But.

Zhang Ye lowered his gaze, and the headline before him made his breathing stop for a second.

The separatist organization Avengers wiped out! Terrorist leader Tony Stark executed!

What?

Zhang Ye's eyelids twitched nonstop, and even the hands holding the newspaper trembled slightly. He could hardly believe what he was seeing.

The Avengers were a separatist organization? Tony Stark had become a terrorist?

And he was dead?

Zhang Ye had no time to think. He continued reading, trying to find more clues.

The incident had taken place in California many days ago. After the Avengers' last Quinjet was struck head-on by a Patriot Missile, the separatist organization known as the Avengers had effectively ceased to exist.

The Quinjet had carried all the Avengers' founding members. Their position had been exposed while they were evacuating their base, leaving none of them spared in the attack. Every one of them had died.

Tony Stark had originally been a scientific genius with hundreds of billions to his name. But after being injured by a National Guard grenade, he created a suit of metal armor. Under the alias Iron Man, he gathered a group of separatists and formed the terrorist organization known as the Avengers, beginning a rebellion against the sitting American president, President X.

It was said that every member of the Avengers possessed extraordinary talents. They were all exceptional figures in their respective fields, including Archbishop Stephen Strange, the scientist Hank Pym and his wife, Thor, who claimed to be the reincarnation of the God of Thunder, and others.

But now, the organization that had attempted to overthrow President X's totalitarian rule had long since perished. All that remained was the cleanup.

Four days later, Zhang Ye saw the execution of Clint Barton, codenamed "Hawkeye," on the street.

He had been betrayed while fleeing, and his identity had been exposed. Though he was highly skilled in combat and formidable in battle, even he eventually ran out of strength against the endless stream of soldiers charging at him.

Bang!

With the gunshot, Clint Barton, kneeling in the street, was shot through the head. He still wore the purple combat suit that represented his identity.

Blood flowed as the onlookers around him cried out in excitement. They were thrilled to witness such a spectacle. After all, these were the Avengers who had given President X headaches for so long. People like them were rare enough, let alone an execution scene like this.

As for why these Avengers had risked their lives to start a revolution and overthrow President X, the people around them did not care in the slightest. To them, it was nothing more than dinner-table gossip.

But Zhang Ye, standing among the crowd and watching it all, did not think so.

Why? What exactly happened to this world?

Why had Professor X, the founder of the X-Men, become an extremist ruler?

Why hadn't Iron Man's armor locked onto the Patriot Missile fired at them?

Why couldn't Doctor Strange use magic?

Why had Thor been blown to death by a missile while swinging that useless piece of junk he called a hammer?

Zhang Ye stared at Hawkeye's corpse, unable to calm his heart for a long time. Everything felt so unfamiliar and terrifying. At that moment, he did not even care about the nausea of seeing a dead person for the first time.

"What kind of world have I come to?"

Over the next few days, Zhang Ye continued wandering. Relying on memories from his previous life, he began searching this broken world for clues.

Since he had no identification and not a cent to his name, Zhang Ye could only join the Scavengers to keep from starving to death. But that identity came with considerable benefits, because the Scavengers knew plenty of information that many people in this world did not.

For example, the attack on the Avengers had been caused by a former Avengers member, Scarlet Witch, who had betrayed them. To protect herself, she betrayed the organization and told President X much of the Avengers' intelligence and the locations of their bases.

Perhaps even Tony Stark had never imagined that the true culprit behind the Avengers' annihilation would come from within.

The glamorous actress known as Enchantress had killed her producer, Namor, because he was a womanizer who had deceived her feelings. The story had made the tabloids that very night and was a favorite topic among the Scavengers.

Washington D.C. had now become an unmanaged district with no authority, no order, and no law. It was filled with all kinds of gangs. Calling it the most chaotic place in the world would not be an exaggeration.

Zhang Ye had originally planned to go take a look, but several Scavengers stopped him. They told him that place was "hell," even more terrifying than real hell. If he did not want to die in gang conflicts or be eaten by those Mutant Monsters, he had better stay far away. He should never go there for the rest of his life—not even think about it.

This was a world comparable to a nightmare. Every superhero and supervillain in Zhang Ye's memories had changed beyond recognition. They had become chapters in the most tragic endings, and the very circumstances that had once given them superpowers had become the culprits that brought them to ruin.

Like a curse, no superpowered person in this world had a good ending. Even aliens were no exception.

Zhang Ye had not forgotten the story a Scavenger told him last night about "the Kree Star Army being nuked into space junk."

As the recollection ended, Zhang Ye's footsteps came to a halt. He stopped in front of a house.

A sign reading "Repossessed, Pending Auction" was posted on the front door. Zhang Ye paused, took two pieces of wire from his bag, and fiddled with the lock for a moment before the door opened.

No one cared about houses repossessed and put up for auction before they were sold. This gave plenty of Scavengers an opportunity. After all, if there was a house to live in, no one wanted to sleep on the streets.

The previous owner of this house had been a man named Ben Parker. His unfortunate nephew had botched a chemistry experiment, then contracted a terrible disease after being bitten by a radioactive spider. After it destroyed the family, the boy had ultimately died in the streets.

Opening the door, Zhang Ye quickly entered the house. As he shut it behind him, he casually scanned the surroundings. Once he confirmed that no one had followed him, he locked the door.

"You're back. How was the haul?"

The moment Zhang Ye locked the door, a figure appeared beside him. In the blink of an eye, Zhang Ye had not even seen how he got there. Yet Zhang Ye showed no surprise. Clearly, this was not the first time.

"I told you, stop using your super speed whenever you feel like it." Zhang Ye pushed him away and walked toward the living room without looking back.

"I was too bored. Every time you go out, you're gone for days. Besides, I'm just staying in this house. No one should discover me."

Hearing that, Zhang Ye turned around and stared directly at the silver-haired man before speaking.

"Is that so? Have you forgotten how you were captured and dragged back before? Pietro, what do you want to lose this time—your left leg or your right? Isn't your only remaining left hand enough of a reminder?"