Why is his holy light red?

The time from dinner to bedtime is family time. Mercury was just caught cheating by his own father, so it's impossible for him to run out at night. He'd probably be beaten up by holy light the moment he stepped out the door.

After a brief discussion, the two decided to meet at 4 p.m.

Mercury wanted to resolve the matter quickly, since he had nothing to do at the school anyway, but the other party was clearly busy and couldn't find the time until the afternoon.

There's nothing we can do; they're the creditors now.

Mercury had no choice but to stay at the school for the time being, and they would discuss the meeting in the afternoon.

Mercury wasn't very popular at school because while most students were busy playing with marijuana and being children, he usually chose to read.

Perhaps it was a habit from a past life, but reading was always a very important thing for Mercury.

Even though he awakened his superpowers very early on, he still did not give up studying.

As the number one "nerd" in this lousy school, basically no one wanted to hang out with Mercury.

He is a loner and taciturn.

According to the old script, this kind of "freak" will definitely be the target of school bullying. After being bullied to the point of psychological distortion, he will raise a gun, either to himself or to others.

But after Mercury shoved the most notorious group of school bullies into the same trash can, basically no one dared to mess with him.

However, when "unconventional" is combined with the prefix "powerful," the two create a unique charm.

Despite his seemingly out-of-place appearance, Mercury actually attracts the silent admiration of girls wherever he goes.

Because in this chaotic place, having a strong boyfriend can save you a lot of trouble.

So he had only been reading for a short while when a long, white thigh appeared on Mercury's desk.

Mercury looked up.

Mini skirt, tank top, gothic makeup, pigtails—this girl blends sexiness and youthful energy. Even with an outfit that's utterly tacky, her looks still manage to catch the eye.

Mercury knew the girl; Emily was a new transfer student from the next class.

Emily boldly reached out and rubbed Mercury's hand, whispering, "Hey, handsome, you're not going to reject me three times in a row, are you?"

Mercury knew the girl, but that was all he could say.

As a new transfer student, Emily had already taken a liking to Mercury, this unusual "nerd," and invited him twice, either to her home for coffee or to the gym to practice yoga.

Mercury, however, was not interested in this benefit that was practically offered to him.

Those long, white legs look beautiful from afar, but if you get closer, you'll find they're covered in fine hairs, and they'd probably feel prickly to the touch.

There's nothing we can do about it; it's their racial talent.

Moreover, the girl wasn't really interested in him.

Mercury leaned closer to Emily and whispered, "I know what you're thinking. You just transferred from those rich neighborhoods and got scared of this place, so you're looking for someone to back you up, right?"

Emily's expression froze, and her body trembled.

She asked nervously, "How did you know?!"

"You're too clean. Kids around here all have tattoos; that proves they're not afraid of pain and are not to be trifled with. Only families with strict upbringing would be as clean as you, and those families don't belong in the Roots District."

Emily quickly said, "You don't have any tattoos either!"

"That's because I don't need tattoos to prove I'm not someone to mess with."

Every year, many people in the City of Pomegranates inexplicably go bankrupt, become homeless, and then disappear. Some wealthy people are forced to move from the canopy area to the root area, but they often cannot adapt to life there and also disappear quickly.

Some places are like the stomach of a demon, digesting all that is beautiful and turning it into something ugly.

Emily was clearly the kind of rich girl who had lived a life of luxury but suddenly ended up in this run-down place, and could only rely on this exaggerated disguise to integrate into the community as quickly as possible.

Unfortunately, judging from her expression, the plan was not very successful.

Because she was still alone, without any of those similarly dressed delinquent girls by her side.

Exposed, Emily's face turned even paler. She pleaded, "Please, save me. On my first day of school, they almost dragged me into the woods. If you hadn't happened to be passing by..."

Emily will never forget her first day of school. The teachers and security guards there were just for show, and when she was surrounded by the bullies in her class, no one was willing to help her out.

Until Mercury appeared.

The boy didn't even glance in her direction, calmly walking past her. The once aggressive school bullies, like wilted weeds, lowered their heads in disarray and quickly hid in a corner, afraid of being seen.

Emily seized the opportunity, mustered her courage, and followed Mercury, thus successfully escaping disaster.

The horrors of the Root Zone were only the tip of the iceberg. Emily finally understood that in this place, she could not rely on her father, who only drank all day, or her mother, who only cried. The only thing she could do was to find a powerful backer as soon as possible.

Mercury was the powerful figure she wanted to rely on.

Unfortunately, her attempts to seduce him failed twice. If she delayed any longer, her boast about having an affair with this boss would be exposed, and she would be back to being bullied by everyone.

"Please..." Emily was on the verge of tears, and she said in a trembling voice, "I'll do anything, please."

Mercury smiled and said, "Anything?"

Emily nodded quickly, agreeing to whatever conditions Mercury proposed.

"Do you have any money on you?"

Emily's face immediately fell. Her family had fallen into this dirty and impoverished neighborhood because her father had gone bankrupt, and she didn't have much money at all.

But Emily knew this was her only chance, so she quickly took out her wallet and handed it directly to Mercury. Since the money would be stolen anyway if Mercury refused to protect her, she figured she might as well give it away now.

Mercury pulled out three ten-dollar bills and said, "Here are three pieces of advice. First, no one can protect you forever. Carry a gun with you, or a knife if you can't get one."

"Secondly, if you really need help, go to the church in the south and find Sister Mary, provided that you have faith in God."

"Thirdly, even if you want to pretend to be my girlfriend, at least do your research. I dislike this kind of smoky makeup the most."

After saying all this, Mercury put the money into his pocket.

Emily remembered every word Mercury said. As a newcomer, she was like a blind fly, bumping into walls everywhere, lacking this kind of clear guidance.

Just when Mercury thought she understood him, Emily suddenly hugged him and left a lip print on his face.

"Please let me borrow your name for one more day, thank you."

After saying this, Emily turned and left Mercury's classroom.

Mercury reluctantly wiped the lipstick mark off his face, thinking that if he had known he was going to be taken advantage of, he should have taken more money.

However, this girl is quite clever; she quickly learned the essential survival skill for the root zone—shamelessness.

It seems she can persevere.

At this very moment, a figure stood a thousand meters in the air, his gaze piercing through layers of obstacles, clearly seeing everything about Mercury.

The world's most powerful superhero muttered to himself, "He didn't take advantage of me and even offered help as much as possible; his nature isn't bad after all. I overlooked his feelings; I didn't even realize how terrible the school environment was."

El is now extremely remorseful. The school's atmosphere and environment were quite good when he first enrolled, so how did it become like this in just a few years?

He was such a bad father that he hadn't noticed anything at all.

But how can the relationship between the father and son be repaired now?

After a moment's thought, Al dialed Robert's video call.

The brilliant inventor appears to be modifying his mech, with several robotic arms behind him constantly emitting welding sparks.

Robert asked, puzzled, "Another new problem?"

"Robert, do you know what young people like these days? I mean, fourteen or fifteen-year-old boys."

Upon hearing this, Robert immediately became gossipy: "Why are you suddenly asking this?"

"You know, I have a friend, El from the Hero Times, who recently had a fight with his son and wants me to help mediate. But I don't understand young people these days, so I'd like to ask you for some advice."

Robert listened and showed a very interested expression.

"You've come to the right person! I know all about young people's trends. But everyone has different interests. What does this kid like? Games? Music? Sports stars? Or anime movies?"

"this……"

El looked hesitant.

Robert, however, didn't sense anything amiss and continued, "That's right, you probably don't know. Why don't you ask the child's father first?"

Elton became even more embarrassed and whispered, "What if his father doesn't know either?"

Robert said disdainfully, "That father is so irresponsible. He doesn't even know such basic things. He must be someone who's never home and doesn't care about his child. Now he's thinking about repairing his relationship with his son. Where was he before?"

El: ...