Heroes Return

DouDou glanced at Xiao Zhan, then looked at its own legs and barked twice.

"You want to massage my legs? Don't worry, Dou-ge, I'm a professional massage therapist." Xiao Zhan said, and started massaging Dou-dou's legs.

"Damn. This guy's abandoned all integrity for the sake of improving equipment?" Lin Jie glanced at Xiao Zhan with disdain. "By the way, if Glasses Bro can't come, who should we ask to run the dungeon together? How about we ask Thirteen to come along? I heard he was finally discharged after going to eight different hospitals."

"Do you know what the wipe rate is for teams that team up with Thirteen?" Xiao Zhan said to Lin Jie. "The wipe rate is one hundred percent."

"But I heard that Thirteen is pretty good at it, and that he's never died."

"He certainly didn't die, but none of his teammates survived."

"...Then what should we do?" Lin Jie thought for a moment and then looked at Bu Feiwu: "Let's play a game together."

"I'm sorry, I have a lot of work to do today."

"Damn it, what do we do now?" Lin Jie thought unwillingly.

"Why don't we just let Brother Dou lead us?" Xiao Zhan said. "Brother Dou is the number one warrior in the game right now."

"Really?" Lin Jie asked.

“Of course it’s true,” Xiao Zhan said.

"DouDou, how about you take us to a dungeon later?" Lin Jie said, looking at DouDou.

At this moment, DouDou's eyes swept around and then looked at its other leg.

Lin Jie quickly rushed over and pinched Dou Dou's leg: "Don't worry, I have an ancestral massage technique, I guarantee you'll be satisfied. You must take me to a few dungeons later, Brother Dou."

"Weren't you just looking down on me for having no morals?" Xiao Zhan said, "I didn't see any morals in you at all!!"

"You don't know anything!" Lin Jie said, "I have to endure this humiliation for the sake of our great future cause."

"Isn't it just that you want top-tier equipment?"

……

Watching two men massaging a dog, Bu Feiwu silently walked out of the room...

chapter Five

Today, a special guest arrived at the small island prison in the Pacific Ocean, and was personally received by the warden.

This was a middle-aged man in his forties wearing a white coat. He shook hands with the prison warden who came to greet him as soon as he got off the plane.

“Hello, Warden, I am Professor Smith from the World Association for the Study of Mental Illness,” the middle-aged man said.

“Hello Professor Smith, I am the warden here,” the warden replied politely.

“I think you know why I’m here,” Smith said. “Don’t waste time, I want to see my patient now.”

"Professor Smith, before we go, I want to confirm, are you really going to try to treat that damn madman?" The warden looked at the psychiatrist with a strange expression and said, "I don't think his mental state can be resolved with ordinary psychiatric treatment. It's better to just kill this kind of person."

“This is our latest topic,” Smith said. “Just think about it. If one day a criminal like him could confess his sins in public, what a success that would be! Our credibility would reach an unparalleled height after the disaster.”

“I don’t care about public trust; I care about whether my prisoners are behaving themselves,” the warden said. “Also, I must remind you, Professor Smith, this man is an SS-class extremely dangerous criminal who may pose a threat to your life.”

“You can rest assured about that,” Smith said, shaking his head. “I myself underwent the government’s latest physical enhancement experiment before coming here, and my physical strength has reached Grade B. Although this criminal’s danger level is Grade SS, his combat strength is only Grade D.”

"It has nothing to do with rank! You have no idea how dangerous he is!" the warden said. "He's a dangerous individual who has escaped from here five times! His level of danger surpasses that of all SS-rank criminals!"

“I am well aware of this, but that is precisely why his repentance is of great significance to the World Government!” Smith said. “If we successfully convert him, we will truly transcend zero, especially at this time. You know about the museum incident a few days ago, right? Public trust in the World Government is declining.”

“You and those politicians are playing with fire!” the warden said. “You’re all insane.”

“This is a rather meaningful experiment, sir.”

"Alright, please follow me." The warden led the person in front of him toward the elevator.

……

At this moment, at the very bottom of the prison, in the place where SS-level criminals are held, Evan was eating his lunch while watching the news on the television outside his cell.

"Thanks to the preferential treatment policies for prison inmates, at least I learned about such an interesting thing."

At that moment, the television screen was frozen on a single image: the person wearing a cloak and holding a long sword, captured by the museum's surveillance cameras.

"Is it really you? It's exactly the same, hahaha!" Ivan laughed maniacally as he watched the scene on TV, then slapped the wall next door: "Hey buddy, do you think it's him? Is this person even real?"

But then a terrified voice came from next door: "How could this be? Didn't he disappear? He... he's back!! He's coming to kill us!!! He's going to kill us all... just like he killed the other criminals... Ahh!! No!!"

"Tch, SS-level strength, huh? You get scared like this just from watching TV." Ivan laughed and said, "Looks like you actually believe it, hahaha!! Whatever, whether it's true or not, we'll find out by trying it out, hahaha."

Just as Ivan was laughing wildly, two men and a large number of guards appeared on this floor.

"Evan, someone has come to see you," the warden said to Evan.

“Hello, Mr. Evan, I am psychotherapist Smith. You can call me Dr. Smith,” Professor Smith said, looking at Evan.

"So what brings you here? Hahahaha!!" Evan laughed as he looked at Professor Smith: "You know what? The last professor I saw was boiled down to bones by me with strong acid, hahahahaha."

“I can see your sorrow in your smile, Mr. Evan.” Smith said, looking at Evan. “I know about your past. When you were seven, your parents were imprisoned for a crime and later died in prison. You were an orphan from a young age and suffered discrimination from many sides. Your orphanage teachers also had strong prejudices against you. You did not receive any love when you were a child. All you received was the scorn and discrimination from those around you.”

"How do you know all this?" Ivan's expression changed.

“I’ve looked into your past,” Smith said sincerely, looking at Ivan. “I’m sorry, but I hope I can help you.”

“Help me? Hahaha! What a boring joke,” Ivan said mockingly.

“Yes, I want to help you. I sympathize with your past. The indifference and discrimination around you have darkened your spirit.” Smith looked at Ivan and said, “In the end, when you were twelve, you killed your teacher because of his abuse, which drove you insane. From then on, you embarked on a path of no return.”

"It's none of your business what I did in the past! You bastard!!" Evan said angrily, glaring at Professor Smith.

“No, Evan, I want to help you. I can give you love again. And I'm willing to accept you and embrace you.” Smith said, taking out a handheld computer: “Take a look at these.”

A man appeared on the computer screen: "Hello, Evan, I'm Jack, your former classmate. I'm sorry for what I did to you when we were kids; we were both immature back then. But I hope you can become normal. I'm willing to make up for my mistakes, and I'm willing to accept you, Evan, even if you're a notorious criminal now. Let me hope I can make up for everything I did to you in the past..."

“Evan.” This time it was a woman: “I’m so sorry for how I looked down on you in the past. Do you know how much I regretted it when I found out you were trying to destroy the world? I shouldn’t have done those things to you. I want to make up for it all, Evan. No matter what you become, I want to accept you.”

“Evan…” This time it was an old man again: “I’m sorry for my past indifference towards you… I forgot the basics of being a teacher, and I’m ashamed of what I did to you back then… Evan, I hope I can help you and make up for all of this…”

……

A variety of people appeared in the video; they were all people Ivan had met when he was a child.

“This…” Looking at these people’s words, Evan looked at Smith in disbelief.

“Yes, Evan, they want to help you just like I do,” Smith said. “Your mental state is very unstable, but I believe that if you can receive treatment, you will become a normal person.”

“No, it’s too late, Professor. It’s all too late. You should know what I’ve done before.” Evan looked at Smith dejectedly and said, “No one will accept me, and even if I do, I’ll spend the rest of my life here.”

“No, I’m willing to accept you, Evan,” Smith said. “They’re willing to accept you too, and we can make up for what you’ve lost in the past.”

“What’s the point?” Ivan said.

“I can give you a chance to change, Evan. I can help you return to a normal life, and we are all willing to help you.” Smith looked at Evan and said, “Believe me, Evan, I sympathize with you. Your situation is pitiful, and you shouldn’t be here.”

"Are you really willing to give me another chance?" Evan asked.

“Of course, and I’m willing to accept you, Evan,” Smith said gently.

"Are you really willing to accept what's wrong with me?" Evan asked, tears streaming down his face.

“Yes, Evan,” Smith said. “If you’re willing, I can take you away from this hellhole. You’re just sick, Evan. With treatment, I believe your past sins can be forgiven.”

“Thank you, Professor.” Ivan said, bowing his head before putting on that mocking smile again. “But if I want to go out, I can.”

"What did you say?" The warden, who was standing nearby, was very displeased, but Smith stopped him.

“Evan, control yourself. You’re having another episode. You need to learn to control yourself,” Smith said.

"I'm so touched, hahaha!!" Ivan laughed as he looked at Professor Smith: "I was almost moved by you just now, ahahaha! If my experience is the same as what you said, ahahahaha, I feel like an Oscar winner right now. Should I consider acting in a movie when I go out later?"

"Control your emotions!!" Smith said, still unwilling to give up. "You just have a rare mental illness."

"Hahaha, don't you understand?" Ivan laughed as he looked at Professor Smith and said, "All these experiences you've described are actually fabricated by me, hahaha!! Back when I was using a certain brainwashing machine, hahahahaha."

"What did you say?" Smith was taken aback.

"But it's not all fake. At least what happened with my parents is true, but I framed them, hahaha! Because they were so bored!!" Ivan said, looking at Professor Smith, whose expression had frozen in shock. "Keep smiling, Professor, hahaha! Their deaths in prison were also something I arranged on purpose, because I wanted to test my control over the local underworld at the time, hahaha!"

“I told you, he’s a complete bastard!” the warden said, looking at Ivan.

“This is it. I can leave anytime.” Evan said to Smith, “I came in because the housing prices after the disaster were too high, but not only is it free to stay here, but it also provides meals, so a poor person like me moved in, ahahahahaha!! Was the joke I just told funny? Ahahahaha.”

“It’s not funny at all,” the warden said, looking at Ivan. “You can stay here until you die.”

“I told you, I can get out whenever I want,” Ivan said, looking at the warden. “Unfortunately, I want to get out right now, hahahahaha!!!”

"What did you say?" Upon hearing his words, both the warden and Smith had a bad feeling.

……

Chapter Six

Smith and the warden both felt a chill run down their spines, and the armed guards behind them pointed their guns at Evan. If Zero represented the deepest fear in every criminal's heart, then Evan represented the fear in the heart of every normal person.

A person who doesn't destroy the world through strength is often more terrifying than anyone who dominates through power, especially a madman like Ivan, almost no one can guess what he'll do next.

"Keep smiling, relax, comrades. Hahahaha!!" Ivan said, glancing at the guards who were on high alert.

"Hahaha, Professor Smith, didn't you say you were willing to accept me?" Ivan laughed, looking at Smith beside him. "Then why are you trembling? I'm in what's known as the world's most secure cell, aren't I?"

Looking closely at Evan, Smith was surprised to find that his decision to come here was definitely a mistake.

"As expected, everyone in this world except Zero is so boring! Ahahahahaha!!!" Ivan continued to laugh wildly.

"What do you want to do?" The warden narrowed his eyes slightly, already prepared to kill Ivan if he made any unusual move.

"I was just laughing, Your Excellency Warden. Hahaha!"

At that moment, an alarm sounded in the prison, and then an image was transmitted to the warden's computer.

"This is... the World Government's Sky Carrier?" The warden stared at Ivan in shock. "Your men actually managed to steal this?"

"It wasn't a robbery, it just drove right over," Ivan said. "In fact, 70% of the people on the Sky Carrier are my men, hahaha! That brainwashing machine is really effective, hahahaha."

Above the island, a huge flying object was slowly descending towards the prison. The massive building was several times larger than the entire prison island.

"Kill him!" the warden ordered directly. Given the state of their prison's defenses, it would be difficult to withstand an attack from an aircraft carrier in the sky.

"Hahaha, you're quite the impatient one, aren't you? Give me a smile," Ivan said, looking at the warden.

No sooner had he finished speaking than a bloody hole suddenly burst open in Smith's stomach, and a large amount of silver gas floated out of Professor Smith's body. Strangely, Smith did not show any signs of pain at this time, but instead laughed incessantly.