American Comics: Something's Wrong with This Superhero World

Chapter 4: The Young Meryl Streep

Ten minutes later, under Xiao Xian's watchful eye, the wound on his hand had completely healed. Although it was just a small wound, the fact that it healed completely in just ten minutes was enough to prove the power of the super regeneration.

The power of super regeneration lies in its ability to regenerate even when only one cell remains. As for the recovery rate, it does seem a little slow now, but it's not actually weak.

More importantly, the regeneration rate can be increased by nutrients and the hatred of others. For example, in the later part of the manga, Tomie was burned, and her cells escaped directly into the air, instantly restoring her human form.

In theory, if enough people hate Xiao Xian and the hatred is strong enough, Xiao Xian could regenerate instantly like Tomie. However, if he is hated to that extent, he would most likely die a terrible death immediately.

After all, this is a hybrid world of Marvel and DC, not the world of Tomie's comics. Forget about super regeneration; even if you could summon yourself from the timeline, or infinitely rewind your life after being killed to before your death, messing with the wrong thing will still get you killed.

Of course, if one's regenerative abilities reach that level, as long as one doesn't provoke God, OAA, the Living Tribunal, or anything like that, dying on Earth wouldn't be easy, which would be considered a guarantee of safety, at least on the physical side. On the mental side, if someone were to directly destroy one's soul, Xiao Xian didn't know if super regenerative abilities could bring them back.

Despite the excruciating pain, Xiao Xian cut off several pieces of his own flesh and decided to hide them in a secluded and safe place to prevent himself from dying unexpectedly.

Xiao Xian took a few pieces of his own flesh and blood out of the house intending to hide them. As soon as he opened the door, he saw Daniel upstairs looking expectantly about to knock on Tomie's door. He could vaguely see a box of small umbrellas in his pocket.

"I'm just visiting my neighbor, it's just friendly neighborly talk~"

Upon seeing Xiao Xian, Daniel visibly panicked, awkwardly scratching his head to explain, before looking at Xiao Xian with a pleading expression.

"You won't tell my wife, will you?"

"Five hundred dollars." Pointing to the pocket where Daniel carried the small umbrella, Xiao Xian held out his hand and calmly announced the number.

Xiao Xian wasn't interested in saving Daniel, a guy who cheated on his wife, but since Daniel was going to be finished anyway, he figured he might as well give some money to himself as start-up capital rather than leave it to Tomie.

"Damn!" Daniel cursed in frustration, reluctantly taking out his wallet and counting out five hundred dollars to hand over to Xiao Xian.

"Goodbye." Putting away the money, Xiao smiled, walked past Daniel, and pressed the elevator door button. For the sake of the money, he hoped that Daniel wouldn't discover Tomie's true appearance while playing cards, so that at least his death wouldn't be so disgusting.

Of course, being targeted by Tomie doesn't necessarily mean death; it could mean a fate worse than death.

Going downstairs, Xiao Xian started the secondhand Volkswagen that the original owner had left him. He carefully selected some places to hide his flesh and blood cells, and finally even put a drop of his blood in a bottle and threw it into the sea, so that even if New York was nuked, he would not die.

Of course, the least amount of blood is put into the message in the bottle, since Xiao Xian doesn't want to find himself on some deserted island after being reborn. He can't exactly swim back to the civilized world, can he?

After concealing his own flesh and blood, Xiao Xian did not return immediately. Instead, he went to a real estate agency, intending to find another place to live.

Although Xiao Xian has temporarily withstood Tomie's mental pollution and has super regeneration so he is not afraid of being dismembered by Tomie's other suitors, living next to Tomie still feels very dangerous.

On one hand, the danger comes from Tomie. Tomie's innate assimilation attribute is too terrifying, especially its mental influence. Once you are affected, even super regeneration may not be able to save you.

On the other hand, there's the possibility that Tomie, as a monster, might attract various beings, such as superheroes. Furthermore, the setting of different Tomies killing each other also means that other Tomies might deliberately lure some beings over to eliminate this Tomie.

While he was scattering his own flesh and blood everywhere, Xiao Xian had already decided where he wanted to move to: near Spider-Man's house.

The reason for choosing Spider-Man is simple. As a well-known superhero and the protagonist of the Marvel universe, Xiao Xian felt that Spider-Man and the people around him had a high probability of being able to complete missions. Even if they couldn't, he might be able to take advantage of the situation and get a symbiote suit to play with in the future.

Moreover, Spider-Man and most of his enemies deal physical damage, which poses little threat to Xiao Xian's super regeneration.

Finally, there is another important reason: Spider-Man's real identity is Peter Parker, and the place he lives in is both cheap and easy to find, which is very friendly to Xiao Xian, who is short of money and has few connections.

While looking at houses with the real estate agent, Xiao Xian found that the house closest to Peter's was even right across the street. He decided almost without hesitation that this was the one.

Of course, he made the decision without hesitation. On the surface, Xiao Xian still acted picky, pointing out a series of problems with the house, including ventilation, floor level, and age, in order to lower the rent. There was no way around it; the original owner was used to overspending and didn't leave Xiao Xian much money.

Strictly speaking, the savings the original owner left for Xiao Xian are not even enough to pay off the bills left by his installment purchases, such as the iPhone and the second-hand Volkswagen, which were all bought with loans and the loans have not yet been paid off.

Speaking of iPhones, if it weren't for the worry that being reborn from someone else's body would affect his personality due to that person's memories, Xiao Xian would almost have considered using special channels to make money. After all, Xiao Xian won't die even if he's completely drained.

However, with his super regenerative abilities, becoming an assassin might not be bad. Anyway, Xiao Xian has no intention of going back to inherit the original owner's business and becoming a plumber. The salary is actually okay, but it's hard-earned money. He can make a living, but there's no hope of becoming a capitalist and getting rich in another hundred years.

More importantly, this is America, not Japan. In Japan, plumbers would be such a promising career that Xiao Xian wouldn't mind continuing to work part-time even if he became rich.

After haggling for a long time, Xiao Xian finally shook hands with the sales manager and signed the rental contract in the evening.

The two had just signed the contract when a sexy older woman knocked on the door and said in a very friendly manner...

"Are you a new tenant here? Your door was open, I just happened to hear that."

"Yes, who are you?" Looking at the sexy aunt in front of him who looked very similar to Marisa Tomei, Xiao Xian asked knowingly. She looked even younger and prettier than Aunt Meryl Streep in Tom Holland's movies. Of the three versions of Aunt Meryl Streep, only this version looked so young.

Of course, "young and beautiful" doesn't seem quite right. Women of this age should be described as having a mature charm, like a ripe peach.

So, does that mean Spider-Man is also the Tom Holland version? Xiao Xian thought for a moment and decided that it might not necessarily follow that version. After all, no matter which version of Spider-Man it is, it's impossible for him to commit burglary, just like no movie version of Batman would open a superhero management company and sign Superman.

"I live next door, and since we'll be neighbors from now on, I thought I'd come over and say hello," Aunt Mei said with a smile.

"Oh, I'll definitely visit you once I officially move in." Xiao Xian nodded and said very politely. This Aunt Mei seemed quite normal, at least much more normal than Superman saying to the camera, "And you, my friend, you are the real hero."

"Okay~ Goodbye, I need to go prepare dinner for my nephew." Aunt Mei gestured, lifting the plastic bag in her hand.

"Goodbye," Xiao Xian waved in response.

(End of this chapter)