Starting from scratch, Batman crushed my dream of getting rich

Chapter 473 The Super Brain Suddenly Goes Online
Arrogance, jealousy, anxiety, and condescension. Few people can see so many negative emotions in their eyes.

The moment Clark saw Homelander, he understood that Homelander simply wanted to be the last to appear and emphasize his leadership.

Recalling how Homelander had reacted when he stopped the three robbers from hijacking the armored truck, his behavior seemed somewhat similar to what he was experiencing now. It was a kind of childish and idiotic, heartfelt hostility, which even led him to use some rather crude methods of resistance.

For example, deliberately being late at this moment.

"He seems to have a very strong reaction to my joining the team," Clark thought. "My arrival has made him very unhappy and flustered. It seems to be the first time he has encountered this situation, which is why he is so flustered and making such a childish response."

"But it's still not right."

Clark has lived on Earth for almost thirty years and has met all sorts of people. He knows that jealousy can indeed make a person lose their mind, but would a normal adult feel such intense jealousy over such a small amount of interaction?
Even if they would, they wouldn't show it so openly.

Therefore, the people of our motherland are abnormal.

Clark was still lost in thought when Homelander withdrew his gaze and began to speak.

"Now that everyone's here, let's get down to business—the Invisible Man, let's start with you."

"Okay!"

The Invisible Man, who couldn't wait any longer, picked up the list he had brought in: "Let's start with this more important thing—my movie is still three weeks away from release, and these bastards have already started plagiarizing. Pirated merchandise is selling like hotcakes on Fifth Avenue. This kind of copyright infringement costs Vought $1.2 billion every year."

"This is a crime! They're stealing money from our pockets! We each get four percent!"

"You have four percent?!"

"He also has even more expensive lawyers; people with high earning power really do get different treatment."

"No, why?"

Clark suddenly didn't want to sit there any longer.

Even though he had already glimpsed the true nature of Water Corporation from Ma Zhaodi's reminder, he really didn't expect that the new employee meeting would be such a simple business meeting, without any other elements mixed in, and even with elements such as sarcasm, envy, jealousy, and unequal distribution of benefits.

People's goal is not to make the world a better place, but to make their own wallets fuller.

In this world, the spirit of heroism has indeed died.

"Alright, alright." Homelander shook his head coldly, waving his hand to stop everyone's argument, and then gradually smiled again.

Clark could tell that he was quite satisfied with his current, undisputed position within the team.

“We’re a group of seven, what kind of behavior is it to argue over such a small amount of money?” he said. “We also have two new members joining the team today.”

"Now, we should talk about the people we've saved recently."

Shen Hai seemed to want to shake off the embarrassment of his earlier setback, or perhaps he was genuinely interested in the topic. He raised his hand with a fake smile, as if he wanted to speak.

However, Homelander didn't even glance at him, instead turning his head to look at Black.

"You go first, Xuanse."

However, Xuanse is mute.

Deepsea's fake smile froze instantly, and he slowly shrank back into his seat. Even though Homelander ignored him, he didn't dare to utter a sound.

"He's a complete coward," Starlight thought to himself.

As for Clark, he found the Homelander's righteous indignation utterly hypocritical. He was pretending to be a hero, Clark thought, and worse, the others at Vought International didn't even seem to want to pretend.

This world is terrible.

It was noon, and Ma Zhaodi had just checked out of the hotel.

With Clark gone, finding a place to live became much easier. The reason is simple: the most time-consuming part used to be finding a studio apartment with two adjacent empty rooms, and then furnishing it. But now that Superman is gone, he only needs to find a regular studio apartment for rent.

As for furniture—just buy a makeshift bed and bring it over; it's just for show anyway. He usually lives in the wallpapered room, which he decorated nicely after he went back.

“From today onwards, you can trust me more, and trust Walter more.”

Ma Zhaodi glanced at the program playing on the television next to him. It was the locomotive's speech at a press conference. He didn't watch it because he guessed what it would probably say.

He confuses concepts and blurs boundaries. He can easily gloss over events that don't cause serious consequences with a few words.

Ironically, the two people at the hotel reception desk looked at the scene on the screen and their faces showed genuine emotion.

Ma Zhaodi knew that their attitude was actually a microcosm of the attitude of most people in New York, and even the whole of America—after more than a decade of Walter’s tireless propaganda, broadcasts, and promotion, the heroes had long been equated with beautiful concepts such as justice, fairness, and honesty in people’s minds.

"There's a reason why the Butcher can become a hero in this universe."

He stopped watching TV and walked straight out of the hotel.

"Jingle Bell"

A notification tone came through the earpiece; it was Clark calling him.

Ma Zhaodi didn't say much, and the three-wheeled vehicle naturally answered the call.

"Hey Superman, where did you go after your meeting?"

The voice coming through the headphones wasn't Clark's, but Starlight's.

“They went to test my abilities,” Clark replied. “The Vought Corporation said they needed to determine just how sensitive my X-ray vision and hearing were.”

"Oh, our abilities have already been tested countless times during the hero selection process. Haven't you ever had a physical examination at Vought International before?"

“Never before, I wasn’t really into superheroes before.”

"Alright. But why do we need to test your X-ray vision and hearing first? Your abilities are so similar to Homelander's. Shouldn't thermal vision, flight ability, and physical strength be the most important?"

“If I had to say, intelligence gathering and combat capabilities are both quite important,” Clark replied. “But perhaps Vought Corporation has deeper considerations; they feel it’s more important to test my intelligence gathering capabilities first.”

"So, compared to the people of your motherland, whose eyesight and hearing are better?"

"He's stronger; he can't see through zinc, while I can't see through zinc and lead materials together."

What about your hearing?

"He's also stronger; he can hear explosions several blocks away and conversations between floors, while my hearing is greatly reduced through the walls."

Upon hearing this, Ma Zhaodi smiled.

(End of this chapter)