Heroes Return

……

World Defense Headquarters.

"He's shown up!" Captain Justice rushed into the office while watching the news. "He's shown up!"

“I understand!” Torus said with a serious expression. “I just watched the video of him making the move! It’s most likely true; I’ve seen that move before.”

Thorus's words were like a bucket of cold water, completely calming the still excited Captain Justice down: "I'm sorry, Thorus! It seems that things are starting to develop in the worst possible direction this time."

“That’s right! He not only appeared in public, but also said things that were very detrimental to us,” Torrus said. “Now, calls to repeal the bill are starting to spread online. Millions of comments in just a few hours! And the number keeps increasing!”

“It seems we have no choice but to take action against this guy. If it’s true, we’ll be infamous this time!” Captain Justice said. “Taking action against a hero isn’t in line with our justice, but if he causes another uproar, then we must take action.”

“That’s right.” Torus nodded. “But I still want to talk to him first! Before the battle, I want to ascertain his true identity! I need to know whether the person we’re fighting is real or fake!”

"Does this make any sense?" The Son of God walked in at that moment. "Or do you hope he's a fake, using this method to alleviate your guilt? How pointless. Anyway, we have to fight him anyway, so what does it matter if he's real or fake?"

“This is crucial!” Torus said.

“It all seems the same to me,” said the Son of God. “We’d better get to H City immediately before he does anything more outrageous.”

“I’ll go prepare the shuttle right away,” Captain Justice said.

“No need,” said the Son of God. “Move.”

As soon as he finished speaking, a portal appeared in front of the three of them: "We can go directly to the Hero Association in H City through this."

……

Chapter 12

Just as Lin Jie was still wondering why pirated versions were more popular than the official ones, an urgent notice from the Hero Association appeared on his notification.

"Damn! We have to assemble so late at night?" Lin Jie glanced at the notice and couldn't help but say, but he still put on his clothes and tiptoed outside.

"Brother! Where are you going?" Lin Wan came out of the room at this moment. Judging from her appearance, she hadn't gone to sleep yet.

Why aren't you asleep yet?

"I'm so excited! Did you see it today? It was Zero! He actually appeared in H City. It feels like a dream!" Lin Wan said excitedly. The usually mature and composed Lin Wan seemed like a little girl who was a fangirl who knew that her long-retired idol was going to hold a concert again.

"The association has issued an urgent summons; I need to go there," Lin Jie said to Lin Wan.

"It must be about Zero, right?" Lin Wan looked at Lin Jie excitedly. In fact, ever since Lin Jie came home, Lin Wan had been talking about Zero non-stop: "You must tell me the first news when you get back, I'll be waiting for you to come back."

"You should go back to sleep." Lin Jie flicked Lin Wan's forehead. "Don't you have research work to do tomorrow? And don't you have your graduation thesis to write?"

“But I want to know as soon as possible,” Lin Wan said.

“If it really is about Zero, I’ll tell you first thing tomorrow morning, okay?” Lin Jie said.

"Okay, it's a deal!"

"It's a word."

Lin Jie said goodbye to his younger sister and headed towards the Hero Association.

When Lin Jie arrived at the Hero Association meeting hall, most people were already there. However, to Lin Jie's surprise, Xiao Zhan, that goofball, was already sitting there obediently. Not only that, but even Dong Xiaoye, who had become the president of the Hero Association, was sitting below.

"Why are you, as the president, sitting on the floor instead? Didn't you gather us here?" Lin Jie asked Dong Xiaoye, puzzled.

"Sitting properly now that you're here!" Dong Xiaoye said sternly, "Three important people have come today."

"That's right, didn't you see that even Xiao Zhan didn't dare to say anything out of line?" the bespectacled man whispered to Lin Jie.

"Oh? What important person is it?" Lin Jie wanted to ask more.

"Stop talking, they're here," Dong Xiaoye interrupted Lin Jie.

At this moment, Lin Jie saw three people walk onto the stage. According to Lin Jie's classification criteria, they were two muscular men and a young, handsome man.

"Who are they?" Lin Jie asked in a low voice.

"Are you even human?" the bespectacled man said. "These are three of the ten SS-class heroes who protect the Earth! The three SS-class heroes are the Sons of God, the seven SS-class heroes are Captain Justice, and the nine SS-class heroes are Iron Warriors, Torus."

"Oh? These are the SS-level people. Come to think of it, they do look familiar," Lin Jie muttered to himself.

At this moment, the captain of justice on the stage spoke up.

"Hello everyone, I'm sure you all know us, so I won't introduce myself. Thank you all for coming here so late," Captain Justice said. "Let me just explain why we've gathered you all here so late at night. We're mobilizing all the superheroes in H City to catch the thief who stole the cape."

As soon as he finished speaking, an uproar erupted below!

"Should we go grab zero?"

"How is this possible?"

"There's no way we can beat them..."

Various murmurs arose below, and Captain Justice seemed to have anticipated this, so he added, "That person is not Zero! He's just an imposter who stole the cloak! So we absolutely cannot allow Zero's reputation to be exploited by someone like that."

"In fact, we have already gathered a great deal of evidence that he is not zero," the Son of God said, stepping forward. "Anyone with doubts can take a look at the materials we have prepared."

After hearing their words, the people below gradually quieted down.

"We have sealed off all entrances and exits and the skies of H City. We can now confirm that the imposter is somewhere in H City. So we hope that you locals in H City can help us find him. As for the task of capturing him, I will personally take charge," said the Son of God. "By the way, because of the appearance of this fake Zero, Rocky and his companions, who are currently wanted, are very likely to appear in H City. Please be careful."

Upon hearing the name Rocky, another stir erupted from the crowd. Almost everyone present knew Rocky; after all, he was once a powerful superhero. However, he had committed many extreme acts in opposition to the superhero registration bill.

Finally, after the bill was enacted, Rocky became the World Government's most wanted criminal.

What those present didn't know was that Rocky had been secretly imprisoned in the Pacific World Prison. He had only recently escaped from prison.

"I remember now! That person was Rocky, the Fist of Glory! No wonder he looked so familiar," Xiao Zhan muttered to himself.

"Alright, that's the general situation. This time we will be facing two SS-class threats, so please be careful," said the Son of God. "May the glory of God protect you."

"Wait!" At this moment, a relatively ordinary-looking person stood up and shouted loudly. This person was Lin Jie. Dong Xiaoye and the bespectacled guy next to him tried to grab him and pull him back to his seat, but the two of them couldn't hold Lin Jie back: "Why do we have to arrest them? I don't understand."

In the hall where the Son of God had just spoken, Lin Jie's voice stood out particularly loudly.

“They have broken the laws of this world, so it is only right and proper for us, as the protectors of this world, to arrest them,” said the Son of God.

“I don’t understand, but at least that fake Zero didn’t do anything bad, right? He helped defeat a group of monsters yesterday.”

"That's just a way to deceive the masses; he wants them to believe he's truly zero!"

"That's why I don't understand. If he's using this identity to do good deeds, then let him continue. Why do we have to arrest him? Anyway, it's just another good guy fighting monsters."

Hearing Lin Jie's words, Dong Xiaoye and the bespectacled guy below were already trembling with fear. They knew Lin Jie was speaking to one of the three SS-rank "Children of Gods," beings considered close to gods.

"That's a really stupid question. If people believe he's truly Zero, the consequences are unimaginable. You know, it would be very dangerous if he used that identity to incite civilians."

"But..." Lin Jie wanted to say something, but the guy with glasses covered his mouth. Dong Xiaoye and the guy with glasses used all their strength to pull Lin Jie back to his seat.

"It seems there are no other problems. Let's now assign the tasks to different levels," the Son of God said with a smile.

“That’s an SS-class hero! Do you want to leave him with a troublesome impression?” Dong Xiaoye said to Lin Jie, “If you don’t want me to introduce you to my sister, then go outside and continue talking.”

"..." Lin Jie sighed helplessly: "I'm just curious. Since this person did something heroic, as long as he didn't do anything bad, why do we have to arrest him?"

“What do you know? If he uses this identity to incite unrest, who knows how many people will die,” Dong Xiaoye said.

“But that should have been done after he instigated it. I really can’t accept arresting someone for something that might happen,” Lin Jie said.

"You're already in your twenties, how can you still be as naive as a child!" Dong Xiaoye sighed and said, "No wonder Sister Xue'er chose to go to District M. Besides, the fact that he's impersonating Zero is enough to make many heroes join forces to take him down."

"I have to say, you Hero Association people are really troublesome. As long as you don't do anything bad, it doesn't matter who takes on the Zero identity, right?" Lin Jie said indifferently.

"I've never seen anyone like you who has absolutely no admiration for Zero before," Dong Xiaoye said, looking at Lin Jie as if he had seen some rare animal. "Do you know how much glory Zero's identity brings? The scene of everyone flocking to see him wherever he goes is something no hero can achieve. Do you know how much glory that is?"

Hearing Dong Xiaoye's words, Lin Jie couldn't help but recall when he was still a zero in the past. Every time he appeared, it was so quiet that you could hear a pin drop.

There were indeed many people watching him, but there was none of the cheering that Zero is experiencing now, let alone the mindless worship of those people.

In Lin Jie's view, every time he appeared, the people present were almost in a daze, not to mention cheering, they didn't even have a single expression.

"..." Thinking of this, Lin Jie couldn't help but say, "I don't feel anything at all."

"Sigh!" Dong Xiaoye sighed helplessly, "You really are a weirdo. Oh well, almost everyone in your team is a weirdo."

"Don't include me in this," the bespectacled guy said at this moment. "I'm not like those other guys; I'm a normal person!"

After listening to what the bespectacled man said, Dong Xiaoye looked him up and down, then sighed softly.

"Hey! What's wrong with you sighing? Why do you seem so unwell?" the bespectacled man asked.

"You're even worse than a weirdo," Dong Xiaoye sighed softly.

"What you're saying is really hurtful..."

"Alright, that concludes the mission." The Child of God had finished speaking: "Everyone can now return. President Dong, please stay behind for a moment."

"Finally, I can go back to sleep." Lin Jie said, preparing to get up and leave.

"You'll stay here for a bit," Dong Xiaoye said to Lin Jie. "As the strongest superhero in H City right now, you have to stay too."

Chapter XIII

"Huh? I have to stay too?" Lin Jie looked at Dong Xiaoye in confusion and asked, "Why do I have to stay too?"

"I've recommended you as the strongest hero in H City right now," Dong Xiaoye said. "You need to perform well. If you do well, you might be able to be promoted to S-rank. After all, you have the record of defeating Ouyang Zihao in a one-on-one fight."

"This feels so troublesome," Lin Jie complained.

"Alright, enough nonsense, let's go." Dong Xiaoye glared at Lin Jie: "Watch your words later, the other party is an SS-level hero, don't say those idiotic things again."

After saying that, Lin Jie and Dong Xiaoye walked towards the president's office in Room H.

The three SS-rank heroes were talking in the office at that moment.

"Excuse me," Dong Xiaoye said as she walked in.

"Are you the president of the Hero Association in H City? You look very young. I heard you have A-rank strength, that's impressive." Captain Justice said, looking at Dong Xiaoye.

"You flatter me," Dong Xiaoye quickly said. "This is currently the strongest hero in H City, his name is Lin Jie."

As soon as Dong Xiaoye finished speaking, Lin Jie's information appeared on the screen in the room.

"You were that naive person just now," the Child of God said, looking at Lin Jie. "A D-rank rating? This is the strongest you're talking about? Your recent record is quite impressive; you might be promoted to C-rank. Your hero nickname is City Hammer Man? Are you sure this D-rank is the strongest hero in H City?"

“Yes.” Dong Xiaoye quickly explained, “Although Lin Jie is only D-rank, that’s just because he became a hero relatively late. His strength is indeed very strong.”

“Yes, we see that. He only became a hero in the last few months.” Torus frowned as he looked at Lin Jie’s file. “Since you have such great strength, why didn’t you become a hero sooner? Maybe you would already be at a very high level.”