Heroes Return

Chapter VII

In City H, a person with unsteady steps walked out of an eyeglasses store, wearing newly bought glasses on his nose.

Looking at the endless stream of people, this person couldn't help but shed tears.

"Finally back... Waaah!" the person exclaimed.

The man crying in the street is none other than the guy with glasses: "I've finally escaped that damned underworld!"

Looking at the bespectacled man crying and shouting in the street, most passersby were looking at him with this kind of expression: 'What a moron.'

'My king, congratulations on passing the difficult test. The Hero Glasses pledges his allegiance to you.' A voice suddenly appeared in his mind.

"Thanks to you, I was able to get out of that damn place," the bespectacled man said. "From now on, we'll fight together to the very end."

While he was talking to the Hero's Glasses on the bridge of his nose, the guy with glasses didn't notice that the crowd around him disappeared.

A huge monster is wreaking havoc in his neighborhood.

"When did this happen?!" The bespectacled man looked at the monster in front of him in surprise. "Perfect, let's test the strength we've improved in the inner world."

A surge of fighting spirit rose within the bespectacled man, and he made a pushing motion towards his glasses. At the same moment, a hand slapped him on the head from behind, and he instinctively pushed his glasses away, sending them flying!

"Isn't this the glasses? I knew Thirteen was just trying to scare me." Lin Jie patted the guy with glasses on the head and said, "When did you get back? Why didn't you contact me?"

"Just got back," the bespectacled man said. "Ah!! My glasses!"

As he spoke, the man with glasses ran towards his glasses, which had fallen to the ground.

"Let's talk after we've dealt with him," Lin Jie said, picking up his spiked club and charging towards the monster.

"There it is!" The bespectacled man vaguely spotted the Hero's Glasses and ran towards them. But someone else was faster than him.

"Master!! Wait for me!! I want to fight alongside you." A man with a handsome face that could make countless girls scream stepped over his glasses.

"Hero Glasses!!" Glasses Guy rushed to his glasses in a panic.

At this point, obvious cracks had appeared in the hero's eyes.

"Hang in there, comrade! Don't worry, I'll fix you." The man with glasses looked at the man with glasses and said, "Doesn't that damn guy watch where he's going?"

'My king! I can feel my life slipping away; I'm about to die.'

"Don't speak! I'll find a way to cure you," the bespectacled man said sadly.

"This must be fate's arrangement, but rest assured, there are countless other glasses in the world waiting to serve you."

"You're my partner! Don't say things like that," the bespectacled man cried sadly to the glasses lying on the ground.

'It seems my mission is nearing its end. Before I die, I hope you can pass on a message to the lady wearing glasses in the third row of the 20th shelf at the eyewear store. Please tell her…'

Before the Hero with Glasses could finish speaking, a foot descended from the sky and stomped on him…

"Ah! The Hero's Glasses!" the Glasses-wearing man said sadly.

"Oops! I accidentally stepped on and broke your glasses." Lin Jie scratched his head sheepishly.

"It's you again! Last time it was the Sage's Glasses! This time it's the Hero's Glasses! You glasses killer!" The guy with glasses looked at the guy in front of him with grief and indignation. If he could beat him, he probably would have already given him a good beating.

"It's just a pair of glasses, isn't it?" A handsome young man ran over. This man was none other than Shishin. "How about this, I'll buy you a pair of high-end glasses in place of my master?"

"What do you know? This is my brother who's been through thick and thin with me!" the bespectacled man roared.

"Never mind that for now, let's go get something to eat. You look like you haven't eaten in days," Lin Jie said, looking at the bespectacled man's disheveled appearance. "I guess you need some psychological treatment too."

“Master, I know a nice upscale restaurant where we can eat,” Shishen said.

"I've told you a hundred times, don't call me master! I wasn't planning on having dinner with you anyway," Lin Jie said. "I can't afford to go to places like that."

"Don't worry, Master, this time it's on me, eat whatever you want," said Shishin.

"Oh? Let's go then."

……

"Tell me, what exactly happened to you during this time?" Lin Jie said to the man with glasses. "When Thirteen came back, he brought back a pair of glasses."

The three of them were sitting at a table, and the guy with glasses was shoveling food into his mouth like crazy. He was wearing a pair of expensive glasses, which Togami had bought for him when they passed by an optician's shop.

“Don’t even mention it!” the bespectacled man said. “On my very first day there, I was transported to a strange world because of a malfunction in the equipment.”

"A strange world?" Togami's interest was piqued.

"Well, it's almost exactly the same as the real world there, the only difference is that it's more like a rotten real world," the bespectacled man said.

"The Inner World?" Lin Jie asked.

"You actually know the name of that place!" The bespectacled man looked at Lin Jie in surprise. "I met a few heroes there, and they said it's the other world. They said it's almost full of monsters and spirits."

"It has a soul?" Togami said in surprise.

“Yes, I walked all the way to H City. In that world, there were hardly any people in the city, and even if there were, they were the kind who were struggling to survive,” the bespectacled man said. “The buildings were almost all rotten, and the river water was highly polluted.”

“That’s a really scary place,” Togami said.

"The most crucial thing is that my glasses are all in the surface world, so I can't use teleportation at all," the bespectacled guy said while frantically devouring the food in front of him. "These past few days have been truly unbearable."

“The Inner World is an existence that is basically inexplicable by current science,” Lin Jie said. “If I remember correctly, it should be a place similar to a magical realm, like hell.”

"No way? A magical realm?" Togami exclaimed in surprise.

"I didn't expect there were still people researching the Otherworld," Lin Jie said. "I remember the controller there was a guy named END."

"When did you, you academic underachiever, learn so much?" the bespectacled guy said to Lin Jie.

“I’ve been there before,” Lin Jie said.

"What?" the bespectacled man exclaimed in shock. "No wonder you knew so much!"

"As expected of my master, he is indeed a powerful hero," said Togami.

"Don't call me master," Lin Jie replied.

“I’m serious,” Shishin said to Lin Jie. “I truly want to become a powerful hero. Even if I can’t be as great as Zero, I at least want to be like my master, single-mindedly focused on justice and completely unaffected by fame and fortune.”

"Are you sure you're talking about this guy?" The bespectacled man looked at Togami in shock. "I remember now, aren't you that popular idol from the Togami family? How come you've suddenly started idolizing this kind of scum?"

"Don't say that. Master is a rare true hero who is single-mindedly devoted to justice!" said Togami.

“You’re right, there aren’t many people like me with such a strong sense of justice these days.” Lin Jie also chimed in, supporting his brother.

"So you finally acknowledge me, Master!" Ten God said.

"Admit your ass!" Lin Jie said. For the past two days, this Shishin had been sticking to him like a leech. That wasn't the main point; the main point was that Shishin was clearly much more handsome than him. Walking together made Lin Jie feel like a supporting character.

"Him? A hero with a sense of justice?" The bespectacled man looked at Togami and said, "Are you blind? Someone who spends all his free time teaching little girls to 'cut down anything they can't understand' is a good person? The master you've been calling is about to go to jail for instigation."

"Tch, you don't know anything." Lin Jie looked at the bespectacled man with disdain and said, "Mu Mu will definitely not be able to be a normal person in the future. I'm just letting her get used to the things about so-called superpowered people in advance. Developing a habit of fighting at any time from a young age will greatly ensure her safety in the future."

"She's only seven years old, okay?" the bespectacled man said.

“I think Master is right,” said Shishin.

"How is it?" Lin Jie asked, looking at the man with glasses.

"You've really been brainwashed by this guy," the bespectacled guy said.

“I truly believe that Master’s idea is absolutely correct. As heroes, even future heroes, we must have the determination to fight against evil forces at any time and in any place,” Togami said.

"Don't call me master anymore," Lin Jie said. "I'm not even a hero."

"How is that possible?" Togami said, "Didn't you save a girl just a couple of days ago?"

“But I can’t save the one who’s been parasitized by the Shadow Demon,” Lin Jie said. “That person is dead, and he wasn’t a sinner in life.”

"Don't think like that," the bespectacled man said. "No one is perfect, after all, you're not a great hero like Zero."

"That's why I said I don't even qualify as a hero," Lin Jie said. "Even if it's zero, it doesn't qualify as a hero. We're just garbage collectors cleaning up the mess."

“Even if you say so, Master, I still can’t agree! Zero is a hero who saved all of humanity,” Togami said.

“He didn’t save all of humanity, at least he didn’t save my parents,” Lin Jie said.

"Don't you think it's selfish of you to say that?" the bespectacled man said.

"I'm not criticizing him, this is just reality." Lin Jie took a sip of his drink and said, "Zero did save the world, but do you know how many people died before that? Those were the people Zero couldn't save at the time. Why are so many homeless children being used for human experiments? No one saves these people in the new era. Do you remember Mu Mu? She did survive, but before her, more than two hundred children like her died because of that damned experiment. Where were we then?"

“This is not your fault at all; it’s the fault of those criminals,” Togami said.

"So what is the duty of a hero?" Lin Jie asked.

“Fight crime,” Togami said.

“That’s just one of them,” Lin Jie said. “A true hero can lead the world towards a better future, eliminate discrimination and arrogance, and save those who need saving, instead of belatedly fighting after things have already happened, because by then it’s just cleaning up the mess. So, even Zero can’t be considered a hero.” Lin Jie took another sip of his drink. “In my opinion, Zero is more like a weapon used to fight powerful enemies when a crisis occurs. But weapons can never save people’s hearts.”

“No, at least Zero saved me,” Togami said. “Otherwise, I wouldn’t be who I am today.”

“That’s right,” the bespectacled man said. “Without him, I wouldn’t be a hero, and without him, there wouldn’t be thousands upon thousands of superheroes today. Zero has always been a hero in our hearts.”

"Haha." Lin Jie laughed at this moment, and then took another sip of wine: "This is really an unfair statement to those who have not been saved."

chapter eight

After finishing their meal, Shishin bid farewell to Lin Jie and Glasses Bro because of an afternoon performance.

Seeing that it was already 1 p.m., Lin Jie bought a few packs of spicy strips and walked towards the Xiao's Building with the bespectacled man: "Is it time to feed Dou Dou lunch?"

"DouDou?" The bespectacled man looked at Lin Jie curiously: "Who's that?"

“It’s a dog that Xiao Mumu and I adopted,” Lin Jie said.

"Then why did you keep it at Xiao Zhan's house?" the bespectacled man asked, puzzled.

"That's a dog, the famous one that's practically a demolition crew. If I kept it at home, Lin Wan would kill me." Lin Jie said, "Anyway, Xiao Zhan's rooftop is big enough, let it run wild. I won't have to clean up after it."

"As expected, shamelessness suits you best," the bespectacled man said.

And so the two of them went to the Xiao Group Building together. Surprisingly, Xiao Zhan was already there.

"What a coincidence," Lin Jie said, looking at Xiao Zhan who was standing at the door.

"What the hell?!" Xiao Zhan snapped angrily upon seeing Lin Jie: "Can you explain to me what's going on with this husky?"

As he spoke, Xiao Zhan picked up a dog and looked at Lin Jie.