American Comics: Something's Wrong with This Superhero World

Chapter 9 Superheroes

To gain powerful and lasting hatred, Xiao Xian had two ideas. One was to do what Tomie did: to inflict harm on certain individuals that they could never forgive themselves for the rest of their lives. Moreover, the stronger the individual's self-awareness and the more intense their emotions, the stronger the hatred that could be generated.

If you were like Tomie, making the other person fall in love with you first, and then tormenting and abandoning them, you would naturally generate a lot of hatred, and it would last a long time. As long as the other person or their family is alive, this hatred will inevitably continue.

Just like Daniel's family naturally hates Tomie to the core, especially Daniel's son and father. Even decades later, as long as they are still alive, their hatred for Tomie will remain. However, the premise is that they don't encounter Tomie herself, otherwise, no one is sure if the hatred will turn into something else.

Xiao Xian certainly didn't have the patience to slowly manipulate other people's feelings like Fu Jiang did, nor did he have any interest in that. He would rather use that energy to kill someone with a single shot or cripple them; the effect would be about the same.

Of course, even in free America, where Amelia is shot every day, you can't just shoot anyone else. Xiao Xian doesn't have such a serious antisocial personality.

Besides, Superman is still flying in the sky. Even if Superman is just a vain hypocrite like Homelander, becoming a public enemy is not a good idea.

Even if he were burned to death by Superman's heat vision thanks to his super regeneration, he could be resurrected. But Xiao Xian isn't a masochist like Tomie, so it's best to die as little as possible.

Xiao Xian's other approach was to focus on quantity. He believed that as long as he was popular enough, famous enough, and had enough acquaintances, like those idol stars, he would not lack people who hated him.

Although the number of people who hate Xiao Xian may be different every moment, as long as there are always people who hate Xiao Xian, the effect should be about the same.

So, should we prioritize quality or quantity? Xiao Xian thought for a moment and said, "Only children make choices; adults want both."

Xiao Xian not only wanted to increase his own fame, but also to leave his mark on certain people's minds. Of course, he couldn't just pick any people. Xiao Xian felt that criminals, especially supervillains, were excellent targets.

On the one hand, cracking down on them can increase one's reputation without breaking the law. On the other hand, criminals, even super criminals, are also human beings, and they have families, at least most of them do. They can also generate hatred, and their hatred is often much stronger than that of a coward like Jack.

Standing in front of the mirror, Xiao Xian, dressed in a stylish black trench coat and wearing the mask originally prepared for the masquerade ball, took off the mask after a moment's thought. Looking at himself in the mirror, he nodded in satisfaction. Today marks the debut of superhero Xiao Xian.

Xiao Xian is all alone and has no one to protect. Rather than hiding his identity, he might as well show it off openly and attract the media to dig deeper.

It would be best to wait until Xiao Xian becomes famous before Jack steps forward and exposes to the media Xiao Xian's past of poaching his girlfriend, sparking controversy among netizens, making Xiao Xian a target of hatred, and allowing Jack to earn some appearance fees and whistleblower fees.

Amelia doesn't seem to care as much about poaching, especially from unmarried men, as Dongfang does, at least not as much as the ancient Dongfang did. It's unlikely that Xiao Xian would be blacklisted across the internet because of this. Many Western celebrities have cheated on their partners, but this matter still has a serious impact, severely damaging his public image and attracting hatred. It's a very suitable black mark.

As for the potential online backlash that might result, it's no big deal. Xiao Xian didn't even bother to look at the online insults. As long as it enhances his superpowers, that's all that matters. Reputation is important if you care about it, but it's nothing if you don't.

If any haters dare to come and cause trouble in person, Xiao Xian can stage another scene of beating them up, which will generate even more buzz. Xiao Xian has become a superhuman; how could he be bullied by ordinary people?

In comics and movies, ordinary people can easily bully honest superhumans. Normally, it's good enough if superhumans don't bully ordinary people. Of course, this refers to powerful superhumans; weak superhumans like One-Armed Man are exceptions.

In a normal superhero world, this might seem a bit out of place, but in this world, even the good-natured Spider-Man isn't afraid of cyberbullying and just breaks into houses to steal things, and the Flash has even transformed into the Hawaiian God of War. What is Xiao Xian afraid of?

Ultimately, whether between individuals or nations, strength is fundamental. In a world where individual differences are not significant, this strength is mainly composed of economics and reputation, power and appearance, connections and resources, wisdom and knowledge. However, in a world where individual differences are vast, the role of individual military force is amplified to a great extent, and this strength often refers primarily to military force itself.

Just like in the world of cultivation, even if a Qi Refining cultivator is given a mountain of spirit stones, a Nascent Soul ancestor who is penniless and heavily in debt will still be treated with respect by the Qi Refining cultivator, who will politely bow and hope that the other party will not kill him to steal his treasure.

Even if constrained by sect rules, market regulations, and karmic consequences, the Nascent Soul Ancestor did not kill to steal treasures, but instead kindly borrowed money from Qi Refining cultivators. That was not because of the money, but because of the stronger power represented by the sect rules, market regulations, and karmic consequences.

From the moment he transmigrated to the superhero world, Xiao Xian realized that this world was vastly different from his original world.

In this world, whether they are billionaires or President America, the aftermath of any major event can take them away.

No matter how rich an ordinary person is, if they are shot in a vital spot, they will still die. This is the same as in the original world. However, in the superhero world, the probability of encountering such a thing is completely different from that in the original world.

If you replaced the bullets with bombs, the aftermath of a superhero battle, the heat vision of a Kryptonian, or the energy blasts of an alien, it would all be the same; the only difference would be the way you die.

Let alone ordinary people with money, even superpowered individuals face numerous dangers in this world. Superman and even the five cosmic beings have died countless times in the comics, and the Living Tribunal has even been defeated.

But Xiao Xian was not afraid at all; on the contrary, he was very happy. Although this world was dangerous, it was full of opportunities. Becoming a god, or even surpassing a god, was not impossible.

If the five great gods remain forever high above and the Court of Life never overturns its judgment, then how can Xiao Xian reach or even surpass them?

Xiao Xian was not afraid of danger or hardship, but he was afraid that the danger and hardship would not bring him the reward he deserved, or even a possibility.

Just like a job that often makes people work overtime and exhaust themselves without giving them a raise or overtime pay, it's a dead-end job. Even though you do the most work, the hardest work, and the most tiring work, after careful consideration by the leaders, they still chose to promote Xiao Li, who slacks off at work every day, leaves on time, and whose work is a mess.

Of course, this has nothing to do with Xiao Li's uncle being a manager. Xiao Li earned this promotion opportunity entirely through his own personal abilities.

(End of this chapter)