Heroes Return

"I never thought that even the SS-class hero Captain Justice, who is recognized as the strongest, would be beaten so badly that he couldn't stand up!" Kira said with a hint of sarcasm as he looked at the disheveled Captain Justice.

“Indeed, this is the second time this month.” Captain Justice looked at Loki and Killer: “Did only the two of you come? I remember there were other people with you last time, right? Did they get separated too?”

"Only the two of us came here, and we just connected to the city's surveillance cameras when we unexpectedly saw you being dealt with by that monk." Rocky looked at the footage on the monitor, while the Bored Master was talking to Ivan: "Just who is that monk? I didn't expect that even you couldn't handle him."

“That person is Bored from the Bachelor Temple.” Captain Justice also looked at the computer on the cashier’s counter: “You may not know much about Bored. The Bachelor Temple has always been a fairly powerful hidden force. However, it only started to show itself little by little five years ago. And the most famous expert of the Bachelor Temple is that monk named Bored. Even in our Hero Association’s records, Bored is second only to Time and Cold Flame in strength.”

“However, his strength seems to be far more than what we’ve seen.” Loki clenched his fist as he looked bored. “But whoever it is, if he dares to stop me from eliminating Ivan, I will defeat him.”

“Loki, this time we're not just dealing with Boredom and that Ivan. There are hundreds of Ivans and a group of powerful beings they've summoned hidden here. So this time we'd better join forces.”

"What a joke! Why would we cooperate with a government lackey?" Kira said, turning to Captain Justice beside him. "We will not cooperate with despicable people like you."

"I'm not some government lackey!" Captain Justice jumped to his feet, looking directly at Kira. "I'm just doing my duty to maintain order and security in this world! And I'm protecting the other heroes!"

"By turning superheroes into the world government's army? Have you forgotten Project Ark?" Rocky said, grabbing Captain Justice by the collar. "Why do you think I should believe a regime that once wanted to abandon most of the world's population?"

"Back then, the government was just making the most difficult choice!" Captain Justice retorted, looking at Loki without backing down. "Besides, Project Ark was canceled because of Zero's victory, wasn't it?"

"So what? At least I won't trust those who are only thinking about protecting themselves." Rocky said, releasing Captain Justice. "Sure enough, ever since the bill was passed, our positions have been irreconcilable!"

“But we’re all on the same page now, aren’t we?” Captain Justice frowned and said to Loki, “We have to pool our strength now, otherwise we’ll have a hard time fighting Ivan! Torus and a lot of heroes have been captured by Ivan! We’re completely on the defensive right now! If you were still the Loki of the Fist of Glory, you should know what we have to do next!”

Upon hearing his words, Rocky paused slightly.

"You met Zero before, right? In J City." Instead of directly answering Captain Justice's invitation, Rocky suddenly asked about J City.

“Yes, I’ve seen Zero.” Captain Justice nodded.

“Then tell me what you were talking about!” Rocky looked at the computer monitor next to him again.

“Okay, I’ll tell you everything that happened during our last meeting.” Captain Justice then recounted the entire story of their meeting with Zero to the two of them.

"So, this is Zero's answer after all?" Kira murmured thoughtfully. "Neither opposing nor supporting? Is this why Zero didn't participate in the bill war?"

“It seems we’ve all misunderstood Zero!” Rocky said after a moment of contemplation. “It seems we’ve all been wrong. Zero may be the purest hero. He didn’t even care about the Act. He was simply protecting the world in his own way.”

“That’s right! Perhaps in his eyes, this so-called bill is completely unimportant; he’s just protecting the world according to his own will.” Captain Justice sighed as well. “Compared to him, we’re more like a bunch of monkeys. So, do you have an answer? Do you want to cooperate with me or not?”

Chapter 16

“Alright, I agree to cooperate with you this time, Captain,” Rocky said, looking at Captain Justice.

"Speaking of which, it's been a long time since we fought together!" The captain, who had almost fully recovered, said, "Are you really not planning to bring the heroes from the past back to the Hero Association? I promise you won't be wanted anymore that way. I admit the Hero Association still has many flaws, but we can work together to improve it."

“You should know that we will not join any Hero Association.” Loki turned and walked out the door. “Although we ultimately lost in that battle, none of us gave up. Even for the sake of those comrades who sacrificed themselves in the Law War, I will not be the first to join the Hero Association.”

"So what do we do next? Reunite with the other heroes? If so, I have a plan." Kira said, looking at the computer, but the screen had suddenly switched to a video of Ivan dancing.

“It seems that Ivan has discovered our intrusion into the surveillance system.” Captain Justice looked at the computer on the table: “Now we must rejoin Cold Flame and the others. In my opinion, Cold Flame is probably the only one in the entire city who can deal with Master Boredom.”

“Okay, but I still feel a strange sense of unease about this place.” Kira pondered for a moment and said, “Why would they choose to gather in this city? It would be far more terrifying if these Ivans were scattered all over the world or hiding. And I still can’t figure out what benefit they would get from holding a battle here. At least in my opinion, there is no benefit to them concentrating themselves in one city to fight.”

“I do have a feeling that something is off about me.” Captain Justice fell into deep thought after hearing Kira’s words: “The way they’re doing it now feels like they’re planning to commit suicide, but there’s no way that Evan would do something so bizarre.”

“Although I don’t understand what those Ivans are planning, I know we have to defeat them all.” Loki said to the two men as he turned and walked out of the convenience store. Captain Justice and Kira followed Loki out of the store.

Just as they were leaving the convenience store, a young girl was crouching trembling inside a building. This girl was Felicia.

Just now, for some unknown reason, everyone around her disappeared. And she found herself alone in a small room.

This terrified Felicia, who was already quite timid. After crouching in the corner, trembling with her head in her hands for over ten minutes, she finally mustered the courage to step out the door. But the moment she opened the door, Felicia felt her feet sink into the ground.

She never dreamed that her room was suspended in mid-air. Below her was a strange building shrouded in black mist.

"Ahhh..." With a series of screams, the girl fell desperately towards the building shrouded in darkness below.

Just as the girl was falling downwards with tears in her eyes, a soft light suddenly burst forth from the black mist below, and this light immediately caught her eye.

Immediately afterward, Felicia saw a beautiful blonde girl flying towards her. The pair of enormous wings on the girl's back, radiating a holy light, gave Felicia a sense of peace at that moment.

"Really? So it's an angel coming to take me away?" The girl's expression became somewhat dazed, and she murmured to herself. At that moment, her body drew closer to the angel girl.

"Really? Have I already been taken to heaven by angels?" Felicia came to her senses in a daze, but the next second she saw Ivan's mocking smile.

"Ah!!" Felicia screamed, then jumped up from her seat and hid under a table.

"Awake? Want some milk for breakfast? Hahahaha! I didn't expect you to have the interest in picking up girls all the time? Hahahaha! Why can't I pick one up?" Ivan laughed as he sat down at the table. And there, beside him, was a beautiful blonde angel.

“I need her help,” the blonde angel suddenly said to Ivan. “She is someone who has been given a mission and will become a citizen of God’s Kingdom.”

"Then I'll just send her straight to heaven! Hahahaha!!" Evan said, taking out a pistol and pointing it directly at Felicia under the table.

When Felicia felt Ivan point the gun at her, her entire body trembled, and in the next second, a massive surge of mental energy erupted from her. Ivan was blasted away by this mental attack.

"Don't worry, no one here will hurt you." At this moment, the angel directly broke through Felicia's mental power and gently stroked Felicia's cheek.

Not long after, Felicia's pupils lost focus. She sat motionless in the chair like a puppet. After helping Felicia into the chair, the blonde angel girl waved her hand, deflecting several shots that Ivan had fired at Felicia.

“I still have a use for this girl!” The blonde angel coldly turned to look at Evan.

"Seriously, you already have me, why are you still looking for a girl like this? Do you have a hobby of collecting pretty dolls? Hahahaha!" Ivan fired another shot at Felicia, but unfortunately, it was blocked by the blonde angel once again.

"What an annoying girl, hahaha!" Ivan looked at Felicia with some displeasure. "Are you planning to use her as a key part of the next part of the plan? I clearly said that I was the key part of the next part of the plan! So even angels can lie? Hahahaha!"

"..." The blonde angel did not answer Ivan's question, but nodded slightly.

"Is that really what you're planning? This is truly unexpected, hahaha!!" Ivan still wore a smile. In fact, after several failed attempts to kill the girl before him, Ivan had given up on attacking her. He knew that the angel beside her would be watching him closely.

Somewhere in this strange space, a thick fog appeared before Lin Jie and Ling Yu. The ground beneath their feet transformed into a massive cliff face.

"If you don't know the way, don't lead the way randomly! It's such a waste of time." Lin Jie looked at his communicator. Ever since the space was disrupted, his and Ling Yu's communicators had stopped working.

"What a joke! I'm a man with protagonist's luck! Trust me! As long as we follow my intuition, we'll definitely find all the Ivans and then beat them to a pulp." Ling Yu then gave Lin Jie a confident smile: "I'm the Great Gunner Ling Yu! How could I make such a low-level mistake?"

"It's obvious you've made this mistake." After following this person all the way here, Lin Jie had learned to calmly retort, "Besides, doesn't this guy even realize that his luck is actually E?"

While Lin Jie was saying something, Ling Yu seemed to be thinking about something as well: "I've figured it out! I know why we haven't found the way."

"Have you finally figured it out?" Lin Jie looked at the goofball in front of him with a relieved expression.

"First of all, for someone like me who's destined to be the protagonist, there's absolutely no doubt that as long as I follow my instincts, I'll find the right path or trigger the right event. So there's only one reason why we haven't reunited with our teammates or encountered any enemies yet! That's because the plot we're about to trigger is hidden in this fog. So all we need to do is jump over this cliff and then pass through the fog on the other side."

"It seems you haven't figured it out at all! And how exactly did you come to the illusion that you actually have the protagonist's halo?" Lin Jie said decisively to him.

But Ling Yu clearly wasn't listening to what Lin Jie was saying: "Don't worry! As long as you follow behind me, nothing will happen. With our unwavering faith and my protagonist's aura, we'll definitely be able to get through this fog!!"

As he spoke, Ling Yu made a jumping motion.

"I advise you not to do this! This is clearly the edge of the city's boundary!" Lin Jie advised again.

"Don't worry! My intuition is spot on! And we absolutely cannot back down now!" Ling Yu didn't even consider what Lin Jie was saying. He leaped directly into the thick fog opposite him: "I will definitely stop this! I will definitely defeat those evil Ivans!!!"

After shouting loudly, Ling Yu leaped into the thick fog amidst Lin Jie's caring gaze. His jumping ability was indeed extraordinary.

"Could this be the legendary Leap of Faith?" Just seconds after Lin Jie uttered those words, Ling Yu's figure flew back from the thick fog.

"Huh? I was clearly jumping forward the whole time! But why did I fly back?! Ahhhhh..." But there was no time for Ling Yu to be surprised, as he fell off the cliff.

"I thought it was a leap of faith, but it turns out it's just a tough guy falling into a pit!" Lin Jie looked at Ling Yu who had fallen in, and didn't even have the slightest desire to save him.

Ling Yu is an S-class hero after all; he couldn't possibly die from something as simple as falling into a pit. Moreover, Lin Jie suddenly realized he'd finally gotten rid of this goofball.

"My intuition was right!" Just as Lin Jie turned to leave, Ling Yu climbed back up from the ledge below: "There's a hidden level down there! We just need to go through that level and we won't go wrong!! What are you waiting for? Let's go! Don't worry, I, Ling Yu the Great, will protect my companions. Haha!"

"Why didn't you die from the fall?!"

Chapter 17

"Speaking of which, how long am I going to waste with this guy?" Lin Jie walked while looking at Ling Yu in front of him. Although he already knew that this guy was not very smart, even if Lin Jie knocked him out, this guy would not guess what the special reason was afterward. However, he was afraid that if this guy's thoughts went too far astray, who knows what kind of trouble might happen.

After spending some time with Xiao Zhan and his friends, Lin Jie had come to a profound understanding: never underestimate a comedian. In every sense of the word, no one could predict what they would do next.

As the two were walking down the street, Ling Yu suddenly stopped and turned around to pull Lin Jie behind a wall.

"See those two people in that room?" Ling Yu whispered to Lin Jie. "I told you my intuition and luck were absolutely right! Haha! Didn't we find Ivan?"

"We did find an Ivan." Lin Jie also saw the two people in the room, but in Lin Jie's perception, they had already been discovered. Ling Yu, on the other hand, seemed completely unaware.

"Alright! It's time to show you my strength!" Ling Yu said, and then jumped out.

"They've already spotted us! You'd better not make any rash moves." Lin Jie looked at Ling Yu, who had already jumped directly behind the wall, and immediately tried to persuade him: "If you go up like this, it will probably be very dangerous."

"My big gun has been itching for a long time!" Ling Yu exclaimed, displaying a powerful aura. "Don't worry! As long as I, Big Gun Ling Yu, am here, these two villains will definitely not get away! Haha!"

After saying that, Ling Yu transformed into a streak of light, smashed through the window of the room, and rushed into the small house.

"I'm worried about you getting into trouble! Not that I'm worried they'll run away." Lin Jie looked helplessly at Ling Yu, who was rushing out first.

"You villains! Today I'll show you the power of me, Great Gunner Lingyu!!"

A roar from Ling Yu echoed through the room for a moment, but the next second Lin Jie heard another voice: "May Buddha have mercy on me!!!"

Ling Yu came out the same way he went in, and as he flew backward, he crashed into a wall! And at that moment, a shoe print appeared on his face.

"Benefactor Lin Jie, we meet again! But I never expected to meet under such circumstances." Master Bored walked out of the room: "As expected, you are always surrounded by clowns! By the way, does this guy next to you rely on shouting for damage? He yells so loudly when he attacks?"

"Who knows?" Lin Jie glanced at Ling Yu, who had been knocked unconscious, and finally breathed a sigh of relief: "Master, your kick was too light. Speaking of which, has even you become a heroic spirit?"

"To my shame, I never imagined that my lifelong reputation would be ruined by this bastard, who turned me into a resurrected hero! If I hadn't been injured and shortened my lifespan in my early years, I wouldn't have died so young!" Master Wuliao clasped his hands together and asked Lin Jie, "I wonder what happened to our Bachelor Temple after my death?"

"Don't worry, nothing happened at Guanggun Temple." Lin Jie said to Master Wuliao, "Guanggun Temple was indeed attacked, and the entire J City was destroyed, but there were no major casualties, and everything is being rebuilt now."

"Then this humble monk can rest assured."

"Master, is this someone you know? Could you introduce him to me? Even though he's about to die. Hahahaha!" Ivan's figure appeared behind the Bored Master at this moment.

"That's not necessarily true!" The Bored Master suddenly smiled as he looked at Ivan: "This time, we've finally met someone who can tame this beast."

"Hahahaha! You mean that guy is stronger than you?" Ivan said thoughtfully, "So this guy isn't as simple as he seems? That's interesting! Hahahaha!! But I'll see for myself how strong he really is! Hahahaha!!"

"Be careful, benefactor!" Master Bored shouted to warn Lin Jie the moment Ivan finished speaking, but Master Bored remained standing still without making any significant movements.

However, just as the Bored Master finished speaking, Lin Jie finally felt a strange and subtle force attacking him. At the same time, Lin Jie immediately jumped behind the wall.

"My benefactor! This is a hidden force that strikes from afar! Blocking a wall is completely useless!" Master Bored had barely finished speaking when a metallic clanging sound rang out from behind the wall.

Both the Bored Master and Ivan were stunned by the sound of metal clashing.

In fact, they have recently seen many heroes and spirits, including quite a few whose physical strength far exceeds that of ordinary people. There is even a hero who has turned his entire body into metal. But so far, no one has been able to produce such a violent metallic clanging sound under the foot of the Bored Master.

"Could it be that Benefactor Lin has mastered the legendary Super Egg Technique? He has actually made his testicles as hard and solid as divine weapons!" Master Bored stared in surprise at the back of the earthen wall.

"Hey! If I surrender now, can he teach me this kind of kung fu? It's the kind of kung fu that every man in the world dreams of! Hahahaha!" Evan looked at the wall in surprise.