Starting from scratch, Batman crushed my dream of getting rich

Chapter 455 The Unavoidable Battle Power Showdown

"Heroes. Commercialization?"

Clark pondered this concept he had never heard before: "I know what a hero is, and I know what commercialization is, but hero commercialization—what does that mean?"

“Haha, good question. After all, the culture of live-streaming e-commerce hasn’t developed to our area yet.” Ma Zhaodi laughed. “Or rather, our superheroes are basically born out of necessity. They become heroes because someone needs help, rather than becoming heroes first and then helping others.”

"But you see, there's a very simple logic here. If heroes have the same charisma as you and are liked by so many people, then heroes can be managed as a special kind of star, so they will naturally have commercial value. In that case, being a hero star becomes their profession."

Ma Zhaodi raised his eyebrows at the bus next to him: "Did you see that?"

Clark turned his head and looked over; the huge poster advertisement on the bus was particularly eye-catching.

"The Invisible Man's new film, *Invisible Power 2*, is coming soon—the unseen heroes are unkillable!"

"I see it, isn't that a sci-fi movie poster?" Clark asked, puzzled.

"No, that's not a science fiction movie, it's a live-action movie about superheroes."

"?"

"And over there too."

Ma Zhaodi pointed to the electronic screen in the square, which was displaying the image of the super-powered "Locomotive" from earlier. He was holding a can of sports drink, clearly an advertisement for him.

“The superhero franchise, my friend.” He shrugged. “Can you imagine Barry or Bruce endorsing an energy drink? Or making a movie?”

"Oh my god."

"Don't worry, you'll see more. The internet is so advanced now, you can find anything on your phone—oh, speaking of which, give me your phone."

Upon hearing this, Clark instinctively handed over his phone, then stared blankly at the giant screen in the square—this city was very similar to the metropolis, bustling, noisy, and full of vitality. The people on the street seemed quite happy, and from this point of view, the two worlds seemed to be no different.

But when he stood on the street and looked around, he found that everything about "superhero stars" was densely scattered in every building, every screen, shoes, clothes, movies, cell phones, and vehicles in the city. It was as if everything about heroes had been extracted, turned into commodities, and then surrounded the city.

Being in a world full of "heroes" made him feel a little suffocated.

"Is this what heroes should be like?" he asked silently to himself. "Is this huge industry chain, worth at least billions, supported by real heroes, or by celebrities who appear to be heroes—that is, 'commodities'?"

"Can a superhero truly avoid being swept up in a massive flow of capital?"

Unable to come to a conclusion immediately, and instinctively disliking the current situation, Clark thought to himself, if he could use norms and commercialization to get superhumans to do good deeds, then whether they were doing it for money or for ideals, the outcome might not be so bad, right?
"Here you go, the phone is fixed."

Ma Zhaodi handed the phone back to Clark: "I've done some security work on the information, it's safe enough now."

"Thanks, Lao Ma." Superman took the phone from Ma Zhaodi: "You know some internet technology?"

"Understood."

"A very humble answer."

As he was talking, Clark tried to put his phone back in his pocket, but he couldn't find it. When he looked down at himself, he realized that he was still wearing his Kryptonian suit.

Although it's not uncommon for heroes to go out on the streets in this world, he still hopes to wear normal clothes in his daily life.

“I think I need to get some clothes,” he said to Ma Zhaodi. “Can I overdraft the credit card you gave me?”

“Sure, but there’s no need.” Ma Zhaodi waved his hand. “We can just go and get some money.”

"Huh?" Clark was stunned. "Looking for day-wage jobs? But we don't have a place to live. No one will hire us if we don't have a fixed address." "No, we're not looking for jobs."

Clark's expression immediately changed: "Breaking the law is unacceptable!"

"It's not illegal either."

Ma Zhaodi dragged Clark straight to the entrance of a gold shop on the street—fortunately, the two landed in a relatively bustling and prosperous area, so the gold shop was not far away.

Twenty minutes later, Ma Zhaodi and Clark came out carrying small bags.

Clark asked curiously, "How did you get all that gold? Did you earn this much gold in our universe?"

“As those who frequently travel through time will know, currencies in different universes are not necessarily interchangeable,” Ma Zhaodi explained. “Preparing some gold is a basic requirement—of course, there are worlds where gold is worthless, but I haven’t seen such a world yet.”

"As for why I have these assets—that's a bit of a long story. I can only tell you that Bruce's money power is truly terrifying, and the gangsters in Gotham City and the people in Central City are also very wealthy."

Clark nodded, seemingly understanding.

"Let's go, we should buy you some clothes, then we'll find a place to live, whether we rent or buy, I don't have any money to do anyway."

"Thank you, Lao Ma. I'll pay you back when I get back."

"It's all a small matter, it's all a small matter."

The original Superman was like this: no matter where or when, he always lived an upright life.

Just then, two children who looked like high school students walked past them.

"Invisible Force 2 is amazing, I really love this one."

"Please, Invisibility Force 1 is already pretty bad, but High Tide is not bad."

"High tide? Deep sea? An invisible man could beat up the deep sea, okay?"

"But he can't do anything except be invisible."

"Isn't that enough? He can just walk right up to Shen Hai and give him a good whack."

"The deep sea could allow a shark to bite off an invisible man's penis—"

"Hey, hey, kids, this is a bit inappropriate for children."

Clark couldn't help but speak up to dissuade him: "And you should watch out for cars when crossing the street."

"Uncle, where did you come from, you old fogey? Judging from your clothes, you're not a fan of Homelander, are you?"

Ma Zhaodi remained completely unmoved: "It's time for my favorite part—the battle of fighting power between comic characters. This is a familiar feature for fans of each character, and we can only say that we have to experience it."

Beep—beep—bang!

Just then, a huge armored truck, sirens blaring, rammed through a police car on the street and sped toward the two high school students.

"I told you to watch out for cars!"

(End of this chapter)