Why is his holy light red?

The week-long intensive training is coming to an end.

The Magic Eye Man left behind the words "I won't be here next week" and then left without even mentioning the third test.

This person never came to make things difficult for them.

Although the Eye of the Demon is stern and doesn't smile much, his eyes are indeed very sharp, easily able to see everyone's weaknesses and flaws.

Whether others benefited or not, Mercury may not know, but he was truly transformed.

However, the issue of the golden holy light remains unresolved.

Mercury had mentioned this to his father, Al, hoping he could help "contact" the Angel of Light. Al simply said he would help make the contact, and then there was no further news.

Mercury almost couldn't hold back and wanted to yell at his father: "Ask yourself if you still have network latency?"

But he held back.

Since the father is still acting, there must be some reason.

Movies often feature similar plot points where the truth behind some superpowers is itself a curse, and knowing it only hastens death.

Since he can currently suppress the urge to destroy the world with the red holy light, and if all else fails, there's always Flora's song as a backup, Mercury can only try his best to avoid touching the golden holy light.

Speaking of Flora, the girl had taken good care of herself for a week, and her originally withered, skeletal face finally regained some color. Although she was still thin and bony, her eyes finally had a bit of life in them.

Black Egg wasn't idle either; he displayed a talent for managing accounts that astonished Mercury.

As the legal controversy died down, the official silence caused "Evil Little Sheep's" popularity to nearly plummet. Flora didn't show her face, and simply humming a few songs wasn't enough; a drop in popularity was inevitable.

At this critical juncture, Heidan came up with an idea for an AI visual novel from somewhere, and named it "Angel Engine".

The story is set against a depressing and absurd backdrop: the world is on the verge of destruction, and all of humanity has imprisoned the Holy Angel in a massive core, frantically extracting his powers as the sole engine to sustain civilization.

Black Egg has only released two episodes, but it has already gained a lot of popularity online.

The most brilliant part of this story is that the angel of light was captured not because he was defeated, but because he could not refuse the pity of all mankind kneeling before him and begging for salvation.

This setting precisely hit two extreme camps: worshippers of the Holy Angels saw the God's compassion, which perfectly matched their image of the selfless angel; while haters were frantically waiting for when this tormented "angel engine" would completely turn evil and backfire.

This dynamic comic, full of gothic dark aesthetics, combined with the conspiracy theory-driven tone of the account "Evil Little Sheep," quickly gained popularity.

But Black Egg wasn't up to that level. Mercury knew very well that this guy hadn't read many books. Even if he could access the internet out of thin air, he would only watch porn secretly. He couldn't even read long articles.

When Mercury questioned him, Black Egg patted his chest and said proudly, "My brother wrote it. He's a high school student, the most bookish person in our family. He reads all the instruction manuals for the appliances in the house!"

Mercury was taken aback, thinking to himself, "No wonder this is a Black family with both parents; they produce so many talented people."

He offered a few words of encouragement and then specifically instructed Heidan to clarify the copyright and profit-sharing arrangements with his brother. It's better for brothers to keep clear accounts to avoid future conflicts over interests.

However, while traffic has stabilized, monetization seems a long way off.

Mercury sighed as he watched the million dollars Robert had given him slowly dwindle. Living off his savings wasn't a long-term solution; it was time to start making money.

Flora is Mercury's most valuable trump card, and he has no intention of going all in before her popularity reaches its peak. He's waiting for the right moment, the moment Flora is launched, when the signing bonus alone will earn him his first fortune.

Unfortunately, John's negotiations with Fia's company have not yielded any substantial results yet.

In the current market, Mercury could at most get a B-level contract. For a complete newcomer, a B-level contract sounds respectable, at least the company should clearly state in black and white how much promotional resources will be provided.

Most newcomers who signed contracts with Fia Company didn't receive many benefits, yet they had to hand over all their rights first—essentially a contract of servitude. Many were sidelined for years, starving to death without being able to switch careers because they still had to pay breach of contract penalties.

However, the restrictions of the B-level contract are no less, almost giving away most of the power to the company, and the company takes away most of the money earned.

This is the tragedy of ordinary people. Big platforms don't need you at all. If you don't sign, there are plenty of people waiting in line to sell themselves.

Robert offered Mercury another option: signing with a smaller company that could offer good terms. But Mercury knew that smaller companies had limited potential and couldn't compete with giants like Fia in terms of resources. He didn't rush to agree, after all, the "Evil Little Sheep" account still had a lot of potential to be tapped, and there was no need to sell this golden goose now.

What Mercury should do now is find a sustainable source of revenue to support this small team. Once the traffic grows, it will naturally be able to sell for a good price.

Currently, Mercury's only source of income is his salary from the Hero Association.

After a week of intensive training, payday finally arrived. Mercury excitedly ran to collect his money. According to the law, the income of underage trainee heroes like him should be directly deposited into their guardian's account, and they should only receive a statement.

In reality, the association defaults to issuing cash.

As for the reason... many superheroes are actually similar to Vincent in that they always have some unspeakable problems at home.

To avoid disputes, the association defaults to cash payments, which are directly deposited into the hero's hand, unless the hero specifically requests a transfer.

After all, most heroes don't have much of a base salary.

I arrived at the paycheck collection point, and all my colleagues were there.

Mercury greeted them and took his letter. He opened it and saw a thin stack containing a full seven hundred Federal Credits.

The weekly salary of 700 is slightly lower than that of an average white-collar worker, but considering that the association provides meals, accommodation, and full medical insurance, this 700 is almost pure "pocket money".

Unlike ordinary wage earners who, after deducting taxes, rent, and utility bills, are considered thrifty if they can save a couple hundred dollars in the bank, being a hero is indeed a high-welfare profession.

Mercury assumed everyone received the same envelope, but Rex suddenly boomed out: "Nora, why is your envelope so much thicker than ours?"

Mercury glanced at it and saw that the envelope in Nora's hand was indeed bulging, at least two or three times thicker than theirs.

Nora didn't rush to explain, but simply smiled and said, "Rex, you're a young master, why would you care about such a small amount of money?"

"This isn't about money, it's about fairness," Rex said, pursing his lips.

They were all trainee heroes who joined at the same time, so why is there such a big difference? Unless Nora stuffed her pockets full of loose change, this disparity is really disheartening.

Vincent, who had been silent all week, as if he had cut off all ties with the world, now perked up his ears. Rex could use his salary for leisure, but he couldn't; he had to bring every penny home to supplement his income.

Mercury was also curious, but since it involved privacy, he was trying to figure out how to smooth things over for Nora when Nora herself spoke up generously.

"I did some extra work for the association," Nora said, waving the envelope in her hand. "Didn't you guys see that official promotional video recently? The scene with me at the end was a full three seconds long. Plus, I reported a few leads on crimes in this neighborhood, so all these points were converted into cash and paid out."

Rex retorted indignantly, "Why do you get three seconds of screen time?!"

These association heroes are required to regularly submit self-made videos as promotional material, and they receive corresponding rewards if their videos are selected. Mercury had also heard about this, but his submission wasn't even selected for half a second.

On the other hand, Nora's superpowers are not outstanding, and her appearance is only average. Why should she be allowed to appear on screen for three seconds?

Faced with Rex's questioning, Nora helplessly shrugged: "You're asking me? Who am I supposed to ask? I'm not in charge of reviewing films. But I guess the association is trying to demonstrate its 'fairness and impartiality.' Think about it, if the promotional videos are full of established superheroes, how are those unknown heroes from the bottom supposed to survive?"

She chuckled self-deprecatingly, her tone extremely frank: "I just happen to be the most ordinary one among the four of us. You really can't match this 'approachability' advantage."

That answer is brilliant; you can't find any fault with it.

Although Nora's superpowers are quite ordinary, she is able to turn disadvantages into advantages. This girl is much more mature than the boys present.

Mercury knew he couldn't learn the first way to make money, but there seemed to be room for him to find out the second way: how to report intelligence.

Mercury asked curiously, "Nora, we've spent the whole week at the training grounds, where have you found the time to gather intelligence?"

"I have fans," Nora said, puffing out her chest with undisguised pride. "My hero account has 50,000 followers, mostly from local Arugi Tree City. They keep an eye on these followers for me, compile the data, and then I report it to them. Mercury, you're from the Root District too, you should know that those kinds of scumbags are actually everywhere."

Mercury was stunned. He had no idea there was such a "crowdsourcing" way to make money?

"Aren't your fans afraid of retaliation?" Mercury frowned.

The root district of the city of Alou is a notorious lawless place. It is indeed easy to obtain so-called intelligence there, but it is also easy to attract retaliation.

Nora smiled mysteriously: "That's my trade secret."

Having said that, no one dared to ask any further questions.

But Mercury didn't give up. He knew the Roots area too well. He didn't have fans to help him, but he could look it up himself. It just so happened that the weekend holiday was approaching.

A surge of pride welled up in Mercury's heart. Now that he had become a hero, it was time to return home in glory and uphold justice.

Moneybags of the Tree Root District... no, sinners, your red holy light has returned!