American Comics: Something's Wrong with This Superhero World

Chapter 40 A Change in Attitude

"I saw in the news that Captain America is dating Sharon Carter, Peggy Carter's niece, right?"

Seeing that the beautiful driver seemed to have inside information, Xiao Xian quickly asked another question.

"Oh, that's for their convenience when they meet up, like those green gloves." The beautiful woman winked and said, "That way, even if someone takes a picture of them together, it won't look out of place."

"Ah, this..." Xiao Xian's lips twitched. Now that he mentioned it, it sounded even more like the entertainment industry. "You know quite a lot. What do you do? You're not with a superhero company, are you?"

"I'm a journalist," the beautiful woman said, winking.

"A reporter? If you know those scoops, wouldn't you be going to expose them?" Xiao Xian asked in surprise.

"How could that be? I don't want to be shot six times in the back at home and commit suicide. Many people know about it, but few dare to say it out loud. And even if I wanted to publish it, our editor-in-chief wouldn't agree. Peggy Carter is the founder of S.H.I.E.L.D. She could make a reporter disappear in the blink of an eye."

The beautiful woman shook her head and said to Xiao Xiandao

"You can talk about this kind of news in private, but anyone who dares to say it in public has to consider whether they can withstand Peggy Carter's wrath."

"I thought it would be Captain America's wrath," Xiao Xian said, somewhat surprised.

"What's there to be afraid of, Captain America?" The beautiful woman laughed upon hearing this, as if she had heard a funny joke.

"Don't be fooled by how powerful he is on TV, like a WWII commando, dominating the battlefield, and beating up Red Skull. That's all just scripts and propaganda. Captain America is just an ordinary superhuman, and not even that strong among superhumans. He has strength but no combat experience. A team of special forces could easily take him down."

"Huh." Xiao Xian's lips twitched. This was quite different from the Captain America he remembered. This was the first time he had seen one who had become weaker after turning evil.

However, Captain America's superpowers don't protect him from bullets. In this world, Captain America has turned evil and fallen into depravity. Without the fearless fighting spirit and hard-earned combat skills of the movie version's Captain America, it's hard to say whether he could defeat a team of armed special forces soldiers.

Captain America's shield can deflect bullets, but it's only so big that it can't protect his whole body. In the movie version, Captain America dared to use this shield on the battlefield to carry a machine gun because he was prepared to sacrifice himself. But in this world, Captain America doesn't know that the shield actually has a taunt effect, meaning others have to attack the shield first.

To a normal person, what's the use of holding such a small, shabby shield? A sniper rifle could just shoot the exposed part of the body.

Ultimately, the problem lies in the direction Captain America takes when he turns to the dark side in this world. If his path to darkness is one of greed or world domination, his fighting power should increase. However, if it's one of hedonism, sloth, or cowardice, then his fighting power might actually become weaker instead of stronger.

"Among that batch of super soldier serum test subjects, Captain America was only chosen as an ambassador because he was the most handsome and had the best physique. There was a black super soldier who was assigned to the front lines, but because of his skin color and personality, his deeds were not publicized."

The beautiful reporter then revealed that she had told Xiao Xian almost everything she knew.

"Ah... what about the story of the frozen Arctic? Is that also fake?" Xiao Xian wasn't surprised by the black super soldier story, after all, he had appeared in Falcon and Winter Soldier.

However, the story of Captain America being frozen in ice feels unnecessary. Although it might give people a sense of heroic sacrifice, the battle was almost over at that time. Moreover, if Captain America hadn't been frozen in ice, his popularity as the world's earliest superhero would be much higher than it is now.

"Ah, that's true. Captain America was indeed frozen for a long time, but not because of fighting Red Skull. It was because the Arctic sightseeing cruise ship he was on crashed into an iceberg and sank. Everyone thought he was dead, and he was only discovered a few years ago."

The beautiful reporter spoke as she drove into the parking lot of Osborn.

"We've arrived."

"Thanks, I'll call you when I'm done. Or I can come over for dinner later. Do you know any other gossip? Tell me, I'm really interested."

Xiao Xian said to the beautiful woman with lingering interest, "As for the source of the information, the reporter is indeed a professional. What kind of reports are those online? If Xiao Xian didn't know Homelander, looking at the online propaganda and copywriting, he might really think that Superman is a kind and charitable person."

"Ugh~" She covered her face, her cheeks flushed red, whether from shyness or excitement, it was hard to tell. After feigning shyness, the beauty immediately gave Xiao Xian a flirtatious wink and said, "I'm nearby, remember to call me."

"Definitely." Xiao Xian nodded. He wasn't sure before, but now he definitely would, since he still wanted to watch the drama unfold with this world's superheroes.

In the office, Ike saw his subordinate bring Xiao Xian in, and immediately gave Xiao Xian a big hug.

"Oh, bro, it's so good to see you're okay. I was so worried when I saw the news about you being killed by Spider-Man. We were all glued to the TV praying for you. I believed that with your super regeneration, you wouldn't die so easily. Sure enough, we saw the news later that you were alright. The boss even called to ask me about you. We were all worried about you, man."

"Ah~ Thank you so much, bro." Although Xiao Xian didn't believe a word the other person said, he still put on a touched expression, hugged Ike and patted him on the shoulder.

After all, he was his boss's boss at Osborn, so he had to give him some face. Since the other party wanted to act, Xiao Xian would play along, but in his heart, Xiao Xian felt no gratitude whatsoever.

However, ever since Ike found out he signed a C-level contract, he's not only been ignoring me, but also trying to sabotage me because he dislikes me. Why is he suddenly in the mood to play along with this kind of act?

Although everyone here is a veteran actor and doesn't need to put in much effort for this kind of scene, and can easily spout clichés, there's generally no need to act for people who have no value. After all, even if you don't put in much effort, you still have to spend time.

"Let's talk later. The boss wants to see you; it seems he wants to discuss the contract with you." Ike released Xiao Xian and congratulated him, "The boss seems to be in a good mood. Maybe he's going to upgrade your contract and arrange for you to debut as soon as possible. I congratulate you in advance."

So that's what happened. Looking at the smiling Ike, Xiao Xian thought to himself, no wonder Ike's attitude towards him had completely reversed. It turned out that his contract level was about to be upgraded.

That makes sense. Norman Osborn used to hate Xiao Xian because of Xiao Xian's Spider-Man-like superpowers. Now that Spider-Man has been sent to jail by Xiao Xian, Norman Osborn has no reason to hate Xiao Xian anymore. He might even be quite grateful to Xiao Xian.

(End of this chapter)