American comics: You're asked to fish, but you catch a Superman template?

Page 1417

Kara was somewhat surprised. "Don't you object to using superpowers for...profit?"

“Why would you think that?” Clark laughed. “These abilities are our gifts. You don’t have to use them like I do. I don’t mind using them to make life better. I do it because there’s no need. I don’t need money, and my parents are old and don’t want to leave our family farm. They have nothing to ask for. So I do what I want to do, and I’m grateful to them.”

Kara hesitated for a moment. “I thought you didn’t do it because you thought it was cheating, and unfair to the others.”

"Do I look like a nerd?" Clark said helplessly.

“Yes,” Kara said without hesitation.

Josie carried the plate and served the food herself. Clark pointed to a plate of pancakes on the table and reminded her, "I don't think we ordered these, but did anyone else order pancakes?"

The plump proprietress smiled and said, "This doesn't cost any money, it's free, Mr. Kent. Consider it a reward for a loyal customer."

"Thank you," Clark replied with a friendly smile.

Xu Fu whispered in Kara's ear, "I bet he's very popular with middle-aged and elderly women."

“You know I can hear you,” Clark smiled, not angry. “Besides, yes, I get along very well with them.”

Xu Fu felt a little embarrassed, smiled awkwardly, and fell silent.

For the rest of the time, the three of them remained silent, focusing on their food and occasionally comparing their dishes. Finally, Xu Fu and Kara both agreed that Clark's food was indeed quite good.

"Also, I think I heard recently that you went to Borada Island," Clark suddenly said halfway through the meal.

“Ah…yes.” Xu Fu stared at his food subconsciously. “But there’s nothing wrong with that.”

“Tell me about it, or don’t even mention it,” Kara interjected. “I can tell the trip wasn’t very pleasant, but what happened there? Tell us, even just hearing about it would be very helpful.”

“Very good,” Xu Fu sighed silently. He put the cutlery aside and began to tell the story of what had happened last weekend.

Initially, it was just a sudden tsunami, nothing special, something that happens almost every year near Borada Island. Sometimes people die, and if too many die, it might make small international news headlines, but most of the time readers aren't interested because the island is a small country and doesn't concern most newspaper readers.

Xu Fu was on the scene when the tsunami struck. An invisible airflow and roaring waves engaged in a fierce battle on the coastline, which ultimately ended in victory for the airflow barrier. Humanoid waves angrily rushed towards him, but as if they had lost the battle, they retreated into the sea.

The locals cheered and worshipped the new Superman as if he were a living goddess who had saved their lives. Unfortunately, not everyone thought so. A green military jeep rolled over the rubble of buildings, and a white-haired general with a scar on his single eyelid walked up to Xu Fu with his head held high and sternly ordered him to leave.

“I just wanted to help,” Xu Fu explained.

"Most people here are working for the opposition who want to overthrow me, and natural disasters are the best punishment for them," the white-haired general said coldly. "If I were you, the new Superman, I would know better than to cause trouble. I know we are just a small country, but we have our own sovereignty, and you have no right to interfere in our internal affairs. My regime, like any other country in the world, is recognized by the United Nations, so if you want to interfere in my affairs... you don't want to make enemies in the world. This is what they call 'the one with the guns calls the shots.'"

· ·Requesting flowers····· ·······

"So, you just left like that?" Kara took a sip of her drink through the straw, and a buzzing sound came from the empty glass.

"For a moment, I really wanted to burn his guns and blow his tank force to smithereens... I guess it was the moment he said that the one with the guns calls the shots, because frankly, when he said that so arrogantly, it sounded ridiculous to me," Xu Fu said helplessly. "But not long ago, I gave a speech at the United Nations, threatening all countries that I would be tougher, so I didn't want to make them nervous again right away. Besides, I've always insisted that I only help those I can help, and since they refuse to help, there's no need for me to add fuel to the fire."

0.....0

“You’re right. If I were you, I would do the same,” Clark said.

“But the government there oppresses the people day after day, and General Samsa’s rule has plunged them into misery.” Xu Fu absentmindedly twirled his fork. “When I went there myself and saw the people’s miserable plight of oppression and bullying, I couldn’t help but think: ...I could help them change all of this without lifting a finger. I could threaten General Samsa to change the status quo...I could even depose him. And yet, I chose to stand by and do nothing. Was that right or wrong?”

“I don’t know the answer to that question,” Clark said, setting his cutlery aside. “But one day you’ll face that choice when you’re choosing your cloak and uniform. But we’re not gods, and no matter how powerful we are, we must remember that. So, maybe it’s the right thing to do, maybe it isn’t… who knows? But we simply don’t have the power to make choices according to our own will.”

“I understand,” Xu Fu said.

Yes, he realized it. If he decided to intervene, it wouldn't just be a small matter concerning one country, but an open provocation against all regimes on Earth. Not long ago, the new Superman appeared at the United Nations General Assembly, threatening all countries to stop developing anti-Superman weapons, which may have reached the limit of their tolerance. If he continues to push the boundaries, he may be forced to tear the entire world apart, and he clearly has no intention of doing so at present.

He simply felt that doing so was wrong.

Chapter 1794 Recklessness

Gotham, the Iceberg Casino.

Oswald Cobblepot, known as "The Penguin," is the owner of Gotham City's infamous Iceberg Casino. He sits at a rattan table covered with a white tablecloth, a mountain of raw fish piled in front of him. The Penguin occasionally grabs a piece of raw fish, stuffing it into his mouth with his stubby fingers, chewing it along with the bones. His eyelids are swollen with red and black bags, and his small, angry eyes glare wide through a single lens.

Just as the penguin was feasting, a fierce battle erupted in the only passageway leading to his table. Gladiators in purple cloaks stormed into the Iceberg Casino, kicking open the doors and rushing inside. Black-clad bodyguards rushed forward, but within two rounds, all the bodyguards had their arms and legs torn off, and were thrown down the suspended passageway amidst screams of agony.

He was only five or six meters tall, not tall enough to kill these strong men, but enough to keep them in line for a while.

The huntress kicked the last bodyguard in the shin, sending him sprawling down the aisle, clutching his leg tightly, whimpering through tears. She then walked towards Cobblestone's table. The penguin glanced sideways at the dozen or so claws lying on the ground, then, without batting an eye, spat out a string of fish bones.

"Would you like some?" He picked up a raw fish and waved it in front of Helena. "Don't let its appearance fool you, it tastes amazing."

“I don’t have time for you, penguin,” Helena said sullenly. “I need information.”

Cobot snorted and tore off a piece of shredded pork with garlic sauce: "You bats really don't know anything. Is this how you do business?"

“A new player has recently arrived in Gotham City, a very powerful one.” Helena ignored him and asked in a low voice, “You’re the head of Gotham’s underworld, you should have heard of him at least a little, right?”

"Didn't hear me?" Cobo took another bite of fish without looking up.

“You’re lying. No one who comes to Gotham City can escape your intelligence network.” Helena asked sharply, “The equipment, weapons, ammunition, and anything else they need to get in Gotham can all be found by you. You can’t possibly be completely unaware.”

“But I really didn’t hear anything,” Cobbert scoffed. “Even if I did hear it, why would I tell you, given your curious nature?”

Helena lost her patience. She overturned the table piled high with raw fish in front of Cobblestone and strode over, yelling, "I'm in a bad mood, Cobblestone, don't test my patience!"

As soon as she finished speaking, Helena felt her feet sink into the ground. The floor in front of Copperfield suddenly caved in, splitting open. She lost her balance and fell into the dark hole.

Helena's pupils contracted, but her reaction was swift. Almost reflexively, she grabbed the folding crossbow, and with a "whoosh," the arrow and bowstring flew out, embedding themselves in the casino's ceiling. But before the string could retract, the sliding floor panels closed, blocking out all light. Two seconds later, the string snapped, and Helena plummeted like a feather.

Cobbett clapped his hands, looked at the closed floorboards, and muttered to himself, "Little girl, you're too green to fight Batman. You wouldn't dare to fight me."

Helena's cloak billowed under the pressure of the falling wind, preventing her from falling. She estimated that she had fallen about twenty meters, and when she landed, she was frozen in place.

"Careless," she scolded herself inwardly.

Her father was right: she had indeed been far too distracted lately. Under normal circumstances, she would never have missed such a basic trap. She thought of that wretched Kryptonian brat: it was all his fault that she had become so terrible. Subconsciously, she blamed everything on that brat, silently cursing him several times in her heart.

Helena stood up, put on her night-vision goggles, and began to look around. It was a circular clearing no more than ten meters in diameter, shaped like a deep well. Dirty garbage was scattered on the ground, and a strong, nauseating stench filled the air.

Soon, she saw the sole owner of the deep pit, and her pupils involuntarily shrank.

“Damn it,” she said.

He was a towering, blue-haired giant, over three meters tall. His blue skin was wrinkled and dry, like a withered tree stump. But his eyes were still piercing, devoid of any intellectual gleam, containing only primal instincts, as if they would erupt at the mere sight of someone intruding into his territory. His hands were firmly handcuffed to the round wall, the muscles in his arms bulging as if they were about to explode.

Upon seeing the fallen female hunter, the usually taciturn young man suddenly came to life, like a wild beast seeing its prey invade its territory. With a hoarse roar, he tore off the shackles binding his arms and the base fixed to the wall, and the large screws clattered to the ground.

Solomon Grandi Helena recognized him; he was the poor man murdered by his wife in 1894, his body thrown into the Gotham River and submerged in a swamp. Over 100 years later, he emerged from the foul-smelling swamp, transformed into a walking corpse with superhuman strength. As a walking corpse, he was practically immortal.

The Eagle Nymphonic folk rhymes, Mother Goose, contain a dreadful verse: "Solomon-Grandi, came ashore on Monday, was baptized on Tuesday, married on Wednesday, fell ill on Thursday, was seriously ill on Friday, died on Saturday, lay down on Sunday, Solomon-Grandi, life came to an end."

Solomon Grandi, that's his name.

"Monday...landing!" Grandi shouted in a hoarse voice, swinging the chains at high speed as the metal base crashed down from above Elena's head. She quickly rolled to the side to avoid it, and the next second, her footing was shattered.

"Tuesday...baptism!" Grandi showed no mercy, the chains swinging back and forth in the room, the air thick with the smells of decay and metal. Helena's breathing quickened, she dodged the chains and ran a few steps away.

"Wednesday... Ah!"

Before Grandy could utter a third word, a small black iron ball exploded in front of him. Mud-like slime sprayed out of the iron ball, splattering onto Grandy's face with a "plop," covering his mouth and nose.

This wouldn't slow him down. Grandy wiped the sticky liquid from his face and muttered to himself, "Wife on Wednesday, wife on Thursday..."

Before he could finish speaking, a hard lump of metal was shoved into his mouth. Helena jumped onto his neck, grabbed an ice grenade, and stuffed it into his mouth. Grandy twisted and struggled, but Helena suddenly brushed his strong little hand off his neck. The exaggerated force pierced through the Kevlar armor, and Helena felt as if her ribs had been hit by a truck, her back slamming against the wall of the crater.

Thankfully, her ribs were fine. Helena rubbed her lower back and squatted down against the wall: her right leg was numb and she could barely stand, thankfully Grandy hadn't been following her the whole time. An ice bomb exploded in Grandy's mouth, ultra-low temperature overflowing, pale blue ice crystals scattering onto her lips.

But he recovered to 5.8 much faster than Helena had expected. Grandy exhaled a large puff of cold air, his frozen mouth mumbling something incoherently, probably "Thursday sickness." He walked with light steps, the ground trembling with each step, the metal base attached to the chain in his hand scraping across the ground at an extremely fast speed, making a creaking sound and shooting sparks.

Grandy raised his fist high, ready to smash it down on Helena's head. Helena tried to dodge, but her legs gave way, so she could only sullenly raise her hands to protect her head.

But the powerful fist did not land.

Just then, the ceiling above them was pierced. A red and blue shadow descended with incredible speed, a razor-sharp wind sweeping between Helena and Grandy. His hands confidently blocked Grandy's slamming fist, the metal base of the chains clanging to the ground, echoing in the confined space.

Xu Fu hugged Grandi, turned his head to Helena, and said, "Hey, looks like I can still do it."

Chapter 1795 Love

Solomon-Grandi's actions came to an abrupt halt as an unbreakable, immense force blocked his path.

But the word "retreat" seemed to be absent from his vocabulary; if it were, it would have long since sunk into the rotten swamp that nourished him. He continued to mutter "Friday sickness" sullenly, stubbornly raising his hand and waving it again. Xu Fu easily caught his hand, and the collision of fist and palm stirred up a cloud of dust in the confined space.

He casually swung his fist, dodging Grandy's punch, and landed a blow on the ugly face. Grandy suppressed a groan, took a step back, his nose caved in, and two yellowed front teeth were knocked out.

But this still didn't stop his attack. Solomon Grandi straightened up and kicked out with all his might. Xu Fu grabbed his rapidly rising, massive knee with one hand and struck his back with the other. Grandi staggered back a few steps, a thick, dark green liquid oozing from his mouth, intensifying the stench in the air.

Of course, this didn't stop him: no matter what injury he suffered, he could recover quickly—that was the advantage of immortality. Furthermore, he had no pain receptors, so even if severely injured, he wouldn't feel any pain. Grandy took another step forward, his thick arm swinging through the air, the chains clashing with a crisp metallic sound.

However, seeing the chains drawing ever closer, Xu Fu reached out, grabbed them, and yanked them back, pulling Grandi towards himself. Grandi staggered and was dragged to Xu Fu, looking utterly pathetic. Xu Fu raised his right fist high, pointing downwards. The force of his fist pierced through Grandi's body, crushing the ground beneath his feet. The unstoppable force sent the blue-clad man drilling through the earth like a drill, disappearing from sight.

Even with immortality, the absolute gap in strength cannot be bridged.

"Deal!" Xu Fu turned to Helena and extended his hand: "Are you alright?"

To his surprise, Helena slapped his outstretched hand away in a very unfriendly manner, then stood up and leaned against the wall to rest.

“Nobody sent you here,” she replied coldly. “I can handle this. Mind your own business.”

Really? If I had been half a second later, you wouldn't even have had time to sob.

Of course, Xu Fu was also secretly thinking about it, but he hesitated to say it aloud. He was already used to Helena's cold attitude, and although she looked particularly bad today, it wasn't hard to explain considering the pressure she had been under recently.

“You’re putting too much pressure on yourself,” Xu Fu said, hugging himself. “You’re putting too much pressure on yourself, and it’s making you a terrible person. We’re all worried about you… I’m worried about you too.”

Helena looked up, her clear blue eyes gleaming with undisguised worry and anxiety. She wasn't fully an adult yet, but she was certain she had already seen the dark side of the world. The eyes are the windows to the soul, and she had seen countless eyes through which she had seen dark, filthy, and desire-filled hearts, some even filled with bloodshed and madness.

However, the eyes of the Kryptonian child standing before her were like a clear, deep blue lake. Moreover, those eyes were filled with care and love for her; he always appeared promptly when she needed him most, taking care of things perfectly.

Helena couldn't help but wonder how many people in the world cared about her so much.