Heroes Return

"Kuhoo! Looks like I won! Zero's perfectly fine." Alice was the happiest person there: "That's Zero! The power of a mortal, the skill of a master. How could something like that possibly defeat him?"

"Damn it!" Looking at the scene on the screen, Leng Yan clenched his fist again. "If that's the case, we have no choice but to fight them. Notify all heroes of the Hero Association, all senior heroes, that we are about to face the most powerful enemy in history."

You can only see his back to you all this time, but when he actually turns around and looks at you, that's when you're truly terrified!

Of course, Alice was actually quite pleased with this situation: "Those people weren't killed. It seems Zero deliberately showed mercy. Not killing anyone? That's so typical of Zero's naivety! But naivety based on strength is often just that willful! But since you don't want to kill anyone, that means there are still some blind spots, Kuhoho."

Upon hearing Alice's words, Gear's gaze suddenly turned to Alice: "What are you planning to do? Since you're in the Hero Association, I won't let you succeed in any illegal or harmful means! Although I don't know what you encountered with Ivan, what you did to Holy City last time was just too similar to that madman's actions!"

"Kuhuhu, I'm just observing for now. It's not my time to make a move, is it?" Alice said with a smile. "Zero is the strongest being in the world. Defeating such a being is not something that can be achieved by any means."

"Do you really have a way?" Delis, who had been silent beside Alice, suddenly spoke up to her.

“Who knows? But at least one thing I’m sure of is that if I can kill Zero, then it means I’ve truly surpassed Ivan! Kuhoo, just thinking about it is really exciting! My new game with Zero.” Alice said, her eyes shining with excitement.

“But you are not Ivan,” Delis suddenly said to Alice. “We are not them. Do you really have to kill him?”

"Kuhuhu, does my cute little sister think about these things too?" Hearing Delis's words, Alice smiled and pinched her sister's cheek: "If we didn't do these things, what would be the point of our existence?"

As she said this, Alice walked towards Leng Yan's office.

Watching Alice's retreating figure, Gear's face showed a helpless expression. At the same time, her communicator rang: "The research on the new weapon is complete, and I think it's time to use it. I know what you're talking about. I understand that the new weapon is indeed still in the experimental stage, but I think right now there's someone who can help us test the weapon, isn't there?"

As Gear spoke, its gaze involuntarily turned to the screen: "Just wait and see, I will definitely prove to you that the power of technology is the future of mankind. Only when the power of technology continues to improve will mankind move towards becoming stronger!"

……

In the desert, after a period of awkward silence, Zero finally couldn't help but speak first: "Hey, you guys are here to rescue those people, right?"

Upon hearing Zero's words, everyone immediately nodded. Since Zero had already asked, they couldn't very well say something like, "No, we're here to trap you and take you away. Our main mission is to capture you!"—something that would be suicidal.

Since Zero had mistaken them for a medical team, they simply admitted that they were a medical team.

Seeing the group nodding frantically, Zero turned back towards the small oasis where he was, then sat down again and started playing his game console: "Don't worry, none of them are in mortal danger. I didn't fight them to the death; I avoided all their vital points as much as possible, only temporarily immobilizing them. They should be healed soon."

Hearing Zero's words, everyone was stunned. To hold back and avoid vital points during such a battle? Just how powerful must that be? Compared to him, those so-called combat masters were nothing! Was this Zero's power? The power wielded by someone who had fought monsters for years?

Thinking of this, everyone looked at Zero with awe.

As a hero who saves the world, even if the warriors have differing opinions, Zero is ultimately a member of the world's most powerful faction. Even as an enemy, he deserves the respect due to them. At least this time, facing Zero's challenge, the World Government military did not launch a full-scale attack, but only provided limited assistance.

Of course, external pressure also plays a significant role, as there are plenty of people willing to side with Zero and support his actions. After all, the end-of-days catastrophe and the disappearance of mysterious powers have no effect on those people. They simply don't possess those powers to begin with.

Ultimately, with Zero ignoring them, the devices originally intended to bind Lin Jie were temporarily used to bind Xiao Zhan and the others, and then they were lifted onto the airship.

Just as Xiao Zhan and the others were being carried by the airship on the stage, a huge shadow also loomed over the desert where Lin Jie was located.

chapter Ten

As shadows enveloped the oasis beneath Zero's feet, a floating island finally appeared above him. Looking at the massive island, Zero shook his head helplessly. "So these guys came too? But that's fine."

"I think we should talk." The first person to descend from the floating island was none other than Number One, though he looked much more weathered than when they last met. "Old buddy, I've always wanted to have a proper talk with you. As a former comrade, you don't mind talking to me, do you?"

“I never said we were comrades,” Zero said directly at this moment.

"Hahaha! So you never really accepted me? Back then you didn't say anything, and I thought you had already accepted our relationship as partners. It's such a pity now." Number One sighed helplessly: "But thinking about it carefully, it's all in the past. It's really strange, I never thought I would be chatting with you under these circumstances one day."

"I never expected there would be such a chance," Lin Jie said helplessly. "I always thought there was no hope left."

"So you've been working on something all this time? Is this why you disappeared six years ago?" Number One said helplessly, "Don't worry, although you said those things before, the floating island doesn't want to be your enemy. Look at our vote results; most citizens think we shouldn't fight you. In fact, no one on the island wants to fight you. Without you, the island's residents would probably all be dead, right?"

"Is that why? Besides, those who agreed to fight me must all be former heroes like you, right?"

"Haha, I can't hide it from you after all. That's right, it's a former hero like me." Number One nodded: "By the way, since you're doing this, there must be something you have to accomplish, right? It seems you've made up your mind. Of course, I don't intend to try to persuade you."

"So what brings you here?" Lin Jie asked, somewhat puzzled by Number One's words.

“I just wanted to chat with you. The last time you came to the floating island, you were an imposter, right? Thinking about it, although we did talk back then, it doesn’t seem like we talked much. After all, I was busy with other things at the time.” Number One’s face turned slightly red as he said this: “I should thank you back then. You saved the floating island.”

"Back then? It wasn't me, it was you who saved the floating island." Lin Jie gave a negative answer to Number One's words.

"I'm really embarrassed by what you're saying. By the way, would you like to hear about what happened during the years you disappeared?" Number One suddenly asked Zero, "Anyway, waiting for half a month is quite tedious."

"You mean those years I spent at home? I'm really interested. I've only heard some details before." Lin Jie couldn't help but ask after hearing his words.

"You probably already know the reason, it's the Hero Professional Registration Act. The act invites all professional heroes to register their true identities with the Hero Association and undergo ability registration and rating. Afterwards, the association will give them a rating and assign them suitable tasks for registration, as well as publicity, and they can receive a corresponding amount of bonus." Number One said, "Actually, at that time, I didn't have any aversion to the Hero Association, it's just that there was one requirement that I couldn't accept."

"Do I need to register my real identity?"

“That’s right, that’s the clause. To quell public panic, some heroes were even required to reveal their true identities to the public when necessary. In return, the Hero Association would be subject to the unified management of the World Government. This was the only thing we couldn’t accept. You should know that at that time, a superhero’s real identity was arguably their biggest secret. Who would really want to tell someone else? We weren’t against the existence of an association-like organization at that time, but what we really opposed was the trampling of heroes’ privacy and the restriction of their freedom.” At this point, Number One sighed helplessly: “The heroes at that time argued about this contract for a full three months.”

"Three months? And then what?"

"As you know, a fight broke out. It all started with the death of my lovely daughter!" Number One said sadly. "As for the reason, we finally figured it out during the last time on the floating island. That damned Ivan! He actually used that meeting to ignite the fuse."

"The first magical girl?" Hearing his words, Lin Jie couldn't help but say, "I have a deep impression of her. She was a very good girl. I never expected that five years later, her life would end like that..."

“Yes, no one expected that bastard Ivan would be so cruel as to harm a little girl!” Number One said, his expression full of regret: “Speaking of which, I saw her heroic spirit during the last War of the Gods.”

"Heroic spirits?"

“Yes, and there are many heroes who fought alongside us in the past,” Number One couldn’t help but say, “but in the end, we had to bury her once again with our own hands. That girl, Tinis, still hasn’t recovered. It’s a pity; she had only recently started to smile again, and then she heard about you…”

"I'm so sorry," Zero said helplessly.

"This isn't your fault; it's the result of our own incompetence. All along, we've just been living in your shadow." Hearing Zero's words, Number One retorted directly: "Teenis only took over her sister's identity and became the new generation of magical girl after her sister was killed, while Buggy seems to have been greatly affected, and later went from being a perfectly healthy rabbit to what he is now."

"..."

"After that, something like this happened on our side, and almost everyone was blinded by rage. Because of this, we fought a huge battle in the plaza in front of the World Government. It was during that battle that one of the heroes on Captain Justice's side was seriously injured by an uncontrollable force, ending his heroic career. That's when the war between the two sides was truly ignited." Number One said helplessly, "You should know what happened after that. At that time, your cape had just been salvaged from the sea, and many people suspected that you were dead, even the media said so. As the only person who could have stopped the war, you didn't show up. And by the time we realized that continuing to hurt each other like this was not a solution, many people on both sides had already died."

“Evan…” Upon hearing his words, Lin Jie suddenly remembered Evan.

"It was Ivan, it was all Ivan's scheme. He wanted us to fight and make things spiral out of control. Because Ivan knew that as a hero, you would definitely stand up to stop him. He even got his hands on a very dangerous device." Number One said as if he had thought of something terrible. "If Ivan had really detonated those things to deal with you, then probably not many of us old guys would have survived."

"How did you stop Ivan later?" Lin Jie asked curiously.

“Ivan surrendered. He didn’t wait for you to arrive, so he voluntarily surrendered after our battle ended.” Number One said as if he had thought of something. “Because you didn’t come, he abandoned all his plans. As for Rocky, he was captured by the suddenly appearing Son of God at that time.”

"Is that so?" Zero was somewhat surprised to hear his words.

"I didn't expect that he would still..." Number One couldn't continue, so he changed the subject: "By the way, during the time you were gone, Cloud, Killer, and the others didn't want to believe you were dead, especially Killer, who used his portal ability to search for you all over the world. As for the Hero Association, they seem more inclined to believe you're dead, right?"

"Isn't it actually a good thing? Nothing major happened during the five years I was gone?" Lin Jie thought for a moment and said.

"No, actually, many major events have occurred, but it is precisely these major events that have led to the rise of many new heroes in the Hero Association. However, no matter how big those events were, they were nothing compared to the recent descent of the gods. Of course, they were also not as dangerous as those foreign invasions or alien invasions." Number One thought for a moment and replied, "It must be said that in the past five years, many powerful superhumans have emerged, and the world has changed a lot. As for us, we have signed an agreement with the World Government, a peace treaty, after all, there are hundreds of thousands of superhumans on the island. I think that's probably why you had our floating island fly around several major cities in the world, right? Speaking of which, these five years have been a rare period of recuperation. Both for us and for the Hero Association."

"Now that we've come to this point, I'm actually embarrassed to tell him that I actually wrote the wrong rune back then..." Lin Jie felt a little awkward listening to Number One's words.

"By the way, where exactly did you go during those five years? Would you mind telling me?" Number One suddenly asked, as if he had just thought of something.

"Actually, the answer is very simple. I just stayed at home for five years." Lin Jie thought for a moment, and then couldn't help but say, "Back then, I had a lot of doubts about myself."

"Doubting yourself?"

“Yes, I doubt if I’m really doing anything heroic,” Lin Jie suddenly said. “Remember the invasion of the Sea Clan? Didn’t I lead the charge into the heart of the Sea Clan’s territory? I wasn’t exactly a righteous hero back then, was I? Do you know what the Sea Clan called me after that? Black Death. Do you know what I saw when I calmed down and thought things through? A mother standing in front of me protecting her daughter. And before that, I even thought about swinging my sword at them! That’s when I realized that the Sea Clan weren’t monsters. They also have joy, anger, sorrow, and happiness.”

The current Princess Haizhu, whom I almost killed all her relatives, yet ironically, she recently asked me for help, and in doing so, she's now on the side of bestowing favors upon him? Does someone like me really qualify as a hero?

When the other world invaded, after repelling the invaders, out of anger at what their king had done, I forced a good person to jump off the city wall and die from the fall…

Chapter 11

“None of this is your fault. In war, the fault should always be borne by the party that initiates it, shouldn’t it?” Number One said with some helplessness. “These things are often unavoidable, but I think the justice you uphold is correct.”

"Is that really true? Is it because of my insistence on justice that something like the Salvation Army came into being?" Hearing Number One's words, Zero spoke up again: "Maybe my thinking back then was too naive? Killing all the criminals and the world would be at peace or something."

"I don't think your idea is really wrong, Zero," Number One said again. "In the past, people became heroes for all sorts of reasons. Everyone harbored ideals of justice, and everyone was doing what they thought was right. Not just you, we were the same. That's what the bill war was like, wasn't it? We fought each other because we insisted on our own sense of justice. Who can really say whether it was right or wrong?"

The only thing that's certain is that you've always been a hero who saved humanity, someone we should all look up to, Zero! Even now, many people are still chanting the slogan of becoming the next you and joining the heroic cause, aren't they? You shouldn't regret what you did in the past. If you hadn't done it back then, humanity might be finished.

“But I think I could have done better back then.” He added, “Maybe I was too extreme back then. When I see the Salvation Army this time, I can’t help but see a reflection of myself in them.”

“You weren’t some omniscient and omnipotent god back then.” Number One patted Zero on the shoulder: “Is that why you gave up your life as a hero?”

"That's only one reason. I was indeed questioning my own sense of justice at the time, and I also suffered another blow. I was tricked, completely deceived." Zero looked at the bottle in front of him and calmly said to Number One, "By the way, there shouldn't be any surveillance cameras around here, right?"

"Don't worry, we blocked all surveillance when the floating islands appeared," Number One said to Zero. "Why are you asking this all of a sudden?"

"It's nothing, I just don't want this kind of thing to spread all over the world, my lifelong reputation is at stake."

"Hahaha! You're truly unfathomable. We've always thought of you as a solitary and powerful figure, but now it seems you're not like that at all." Number One suddenly laughed. "Don't worry, no one else will know about our conversation today. But I never imagined that Zero, the most powerful being in the world, would be deceived. Were you defeated by him?"

“I really wish I had been the one defeated back then.” Upon hearing Number One’s words, Zero suddenly said, “She saved my life by deceiving me, but the person who saved me died because of me.”

"Her? Is she important to you?" Number One couldn't help but ask upon hearing this.

“Without her, there might not be a Zero today.” Lin Jie said without hesitation, “I never thought that after so many years, I would still have the opportunity to talk about these past events with someone. I owe her a life, and before she died, all she wanted was for me to live for myself.”

"So you've given up on becoming a hero?"

"Yes, I've been thinking about this question for the past five years: how do I truly live for myself?" Hearing Number One's question, Lin Jie replied, "Perhaps letting go of the past and embracing a completely new life is the most suitable choice?"

"Is this why you've reappeared after five years? If so, why are you still working as a low-level hero?"

"I don't know, I just started doing it naturally." Hearing his words, Lin Jie shook his head: "Even now I still can't understand why I ended up accepting an invitation from a idiot."

"So, are all these things you're doing now for that person?" Number One suddenly asked, looking at the points of light that kept appearing in the distance.

"Haha, who knows? It seems I've never truly let go." Lin Jie suddenly laughed.

“I understand you. The death of someone important isn’t something you can easily let go of. I have no right to say anything to you about this,” Number One suddenly said. “I think I can understand how you feel.”

"Alright, so what are you going to do next? Uphold your justice, or leave?" Lin Jie suddenly asked Number One, who was standing to the side.

"I don't know. To be honest, I don't want to fight you, and the residents of the floating islands don't want to fight you either." Number One shook his head. "If nothing unexpected happens, perhaps we'll just observe as bystanders?"

"Never mind, but I bet someone here is planning to stop me, right?" Zero said suddenly, looking at the figures that were beginning to appear on the floating island.

“Indeed, after all, everyone will uphold their own sense of justice and beliefs.” Number One stood up at this moment: “And you, as Zero, have caused far too much harm with what you did this time. So even if you don’t want to believe it, the heroes will do everything in their power to suppress you, even if the floating island is full of unrecognized heroes.”

"I understand. It was nice chatting with you." Lin Jie smiled at Number One, then stood up. At that moment, dozens of figures appeared in front of Lin Jie. These people were all heroes from the Zero Era. In the past, Rocky led the way, but now their leader was Claude.

“Zero, I never expected to meet you again under these circumstances!” Claude looked at Zero with an indescribably strange expression: “If possible, I hope you can stop everything from going on. You know, you are the last person we want to become an enemy.”

"I've made myself very clear. If you want to stop me, then defeat me." Zero suddenly spoke to Number One, "The same goes for you. If you want to stop me, then unleash the full power of the floating island."

"What did you say?" Number One was shocked to hear Zero's words.

"Use all your strength to defeat me! This number of people won't be enough!" Zero couldn't help but say again.

"Hey! You're not kidding, are you? Is this really okay?" A certain older magical girl descended from the sky, looking at Zero with a complicated expression. "Long time no see. Why did you do this? Do you know how terrible the consequences will be if this continues? You're Zero, aren't you?! You even fooled me back then! Who's ever heard of someone impersonating themselves?!"

"Hey! Calm down first," Lin Jie said helplessly, looking at the person in front of him. "Besides, it's all you unilaterally making demands of me, isn't it?"