Heroes Return

“Mr. Swain, please do not engage in such provocative duels at my banquet. Your actions will cause great inconvenience to the other guests.” The admiral appeared beside Swain at this moment: “If you insist on dueling with this new instructor of the World Superhero Academy, I can provide you with the ship’s simulation training room.”

Swain's expression instantly changed when he heard the admiral mention the position of new instructor at the Super Hero Academy. Only then did he realize that he was challenging a powerful superhero. In fact, the minimum strength required to become a teacher at a world-class superhero academy is B-rank, and one must also have experience capturing A-rank criminals or higher to even be considered for a position.

Swain was quite familiar with his own swordsmanship, so he immediately took advantage of the admiral's position to say, "In that case, let's let this country bumpkin go for a few days to avoid causing trouble for everyone. However, Miss Alice, I must remind you. If you want to revive the Elaine family, you'd better consider a noble like myself when you come here."

After saying that, Swain walked in another direction.

"Well then, I apologize for disturbing you all. Please enjoy the ball for the next few days." With that, the admiral left with Sho.

"How strong are they?" the admiral asked Xiang after leaving the crowd.

“Very strong,” Xiang said, his arm trembling slightly. “Power above A-level…”

On the other side, Lin Jie's side.

"Kuhu, how boring," Alice said to Delis, who was constantly stroking the carnivorous plant. "Let's go back."

"Okay." Dai Lisi nodded obediently.

"Are you going back, Miss Alice?" Thirteen asked, looking at Alice who was about to leave.

"Yes, I'm a little tired. I enjoyed our conversation today," Alice said, bowing slightly to Thirteen. After saying this, Alice bid farewell to Lin Jie and Master Wuneng, who were eating, and then left the banquet hall with Delis.

"Kuhuhu, isn't my beauty powerful, Delis?" Alice said to the little girl beside her as they left the banquet hall. "I just mentioned it casually, and that Swain actually agreed to duel with Lin Jie. Kuhuhu, too bad that boring admiral stopped him."

"I don't understand," Dai Lisi said calmly.

“Kuhuhu, our current identity is the sole heir of the Elaine family, an old noble family in District O. And that Swain is the heir of the Harut family, a noble family in District O. When I was checking the crew data on the computer earlier, I found out that old Harut is dying.” Alice said to Delis as they walked. “Kuhuhu, the competition for the succession is at its fiercest right now. Kuhuhu, so when he heard that I was the heir of the Elaine family, he was eager to make me prove myself.”

Because if Cheng wins my favor, it's equivalent to gaining the support of the entire Elaine family.

"Because I'm bored," Dai Lisi said casually.

“Kuhuhu, this is really boring,” Alice said. “So I wanted Lin Jie to teach him a lesson, and I’m also very curious about him. Kuhuhu, I’ve heard that when a woman becomes curious about a man, it’s often the beginning of love. Kuhuhu, unfortunately, I’ve been a man for seven or eight years now.”

"Is he strange?" Daisy asked, puzzled.

"Kuhu, that's strange." Alice patted the little girl's head and said, "His hero rank is only C right now. I'm also very curious about why the president of the Hero Association would make an exception and hire him as a hero instructor. So, while I was in the room, I took five minutes to look up information about him. You know what? He actually defeated an S-class hero in a one-on-one fight! And there's no record of how he acquired or developed his power. So, I looked into his family and found a lot of interesting things."

"So that's why you approached him? Is it possible that he's a zero?"

“Kuhuhu, although he hides many secrets, I still can’t see anything in him that he has in common with Zero,” Alice said. “Zero is the kind of person who takes your breath away just by appearing, and he never wastes words. Lin Jie is completely unlike Zero.”

"..."

"Kuhuhu, it should be alright for someone bored at sea, after all, he's the only S-rank on the ship. Also, I found the admiral and that guy named Sho on this ship quite interesting. They seem to be up to something, but they're hiding it very well. And that Mr. Swain doesn't seem to have any pure intentions on this ship either. Kuhuhu, otherwise why would he leave his family at this crucial moment?"

"..." At this point, Daisy was completely dizzy from what Alice had said.

“Kuhuhu, it’s not just the body that hasn’t grown.” Alice said, pinching Delis’s cheek. “But that’s good. Kuhuhu, I suddenly feel like this trip is going to be really interesting. In the past, I could have easily killed everyone on the ship and then slowly uncovered the secrets. That would have been much simpler. But obviously, I can’t do that now. Kuhuhu, but this makes it even more interesting.”

After saying that, Alice took the little girl back to her room.

"Kuhuhu, if you find anything interesting, just kill everyone on the ship."

. . . . .

At this moment, in the banquet hall, Lin Jie was eating and chatting with Thirteen.

"That guy named Xiang is really strong," Lin Jie said. "The weight of my stick is no joke, but he was able to withstand it. Anyone else would probably have broken a bone. It's a real shame that someone with that kind of strength is working as a waiter."

"Perhaps he was one of the Admiral's former subordinates when he was still in the Navy," Thirteen said casually. "I heard that this Admiral participated in the three World Wars and made considerable military achievements."

"Oh? Tell me about it," Lin Jie asked.

"I heard that he was known as the invincible man at sea when he was fighting naval battles," Thirteen said to Lin Jie.

“Amitabha, this humble monk also knows this,” Master Wuneng said. “Did you see the scene just now where Benefactor Swain went to pick up the soap? That was the soap that the Admiral threw away.”

"What do you mean?"

"Admiral, you possess the ability to make a designated person pick up your soap," Master Wuneng said. "That is to say, whenever Admiral throws out a bar of soap, you must pick it up."

"What's the difference between this ability and **?!" Lin Jie looked at the Incompetent Master in shock.

"There is a difference. The Admiral's ability makes you bow down in front of him. This is usually done by a man to a woman, while the Admiral's forced sword soap is an action by a man to a man."

"So he can just go and fight whoever he wants?"

“That’s right,” Master Wuneng said. “That benefactor Xiang might have been bullied by the admiral, which is why he was willing to stay and work as a waiter.”

"This admiral is terrifying." Lin Jie couldn't help but recall whether he had done anything to pique the admiral's interest when they met. "But how did he achieve such military merit? Could it be that all his enemies have just become his own people?"

“Of course not,” Master Wuneng said. “During the naval battle, the Admiral threw hundreds of boxes of soap into the sea, and his enemies all jumped in to retrieve them. After that, the Admiral ordered his crew to open fire, and the scene was basically a massacre. That’s why I said the Admiral’s hands were covered in blood…”

"..." Lin Jie couldn't help but sigh, "I never imagined that such a high-tech fleet would end up being defeated by a few hundred boxes of soap. They really died with their eyes wide open in disbelief."

"Let's put that aside for now. Lin Jie, what do you think of that Miss Alice?" Thirteen changed the subject at this moment: "She might be interested in you, because she was testing you when she was talking just now."

"Damn! Thirteen, you can tell when someone is testing you?" Lin Jie couldn't help but look at Thirteen.

"Don't equate my intelligence with yours. How do you think I found out about illegal human experimentation organizations?" Thirteen looked at Lin Jie with dissatisfaction: "I'm a man who makes a living with my brain."

"I didn't see it coming at all," Lin Jie said.

"Stop dawdling and tell me your feelings for that young lady," Thirteen said. "She's a rare beauty, and she's clearly interested in you."

"Feelings? I can't quite put my finger on it. She's clearly a beautiful woman, but for some reason, I don't feel any attraction at all," Lin Jie said. "It feels like I'm facing a buddy..."

Chapter VII

Two days passed, and to Lin Jie's bewilderment, he and Thirteen's ship had not encountered any trouble. This was completely abnormal; Thirteen's ship had not suffered any mishaps for two days.

However, Lin Jie still got to experience life on a luxury cruise ship these past two days, with pool parties almost every night. During the day, he could sunbathe on the deck and pick up girls. The cruise ship even had a casino and many entertainment facilities. There was also a glass walkway on the lower deck that allowed direct observation of the underwater scenery, with searchlights illuminating the surrounding underwater landscape.

"Hey Thirteen, it's been three days and nothing's happened..." Lin Jie said to Thirteen, who was also lying on a deck chair, while sunbathing on the deck. "Hey Thirteen, has your ability weakened? I've been on guard for days and have stocked up on a lot of food and water, but why hasn't anything happened yet?"

"I wonder if the book Master Wuneng gave me will be of any use," Thirteen said.

"Speaking of which, what's Master Wuneng doing? I haven't seen him since yesterday?"

“Amitabha, yesterday I was invited by several female benefactors to give a sermon to them all night long.” Master Wuneng suddenly appeared beside Lin Jie at this moment.

"Master, please wipe the lipstick off your face first," Lin Jie said, looking at the lipstick stains all over Master Wuneng's face.

"I'm sorry," Master Wuneng quickly wiped the lipstick stains off his face and said, "Those female benefactors were just too enthusiastic."

"Master, you have completely destroyed my image of monks." Lin Jie said to the incompetent master, "Now I'm starting to wonder how you became the abbot of the Guanggun Temple?"

"Of course, it's because this humble monk is well-versed in Buddhist teachings."

"Stop blowing, Master, your blowing is making the fog rise." Lin Jie looked at the fog that was beginning to spread around him and said, then he had a bad feeling: "It can't be such a coincidence, can it? Nothing happened right after I said it and now something has happened."

As soon as Lin Jie finished speaking, a series of screams rang out from the crowd on the deck.

"Look! What's that?"

"Something has appeared on the surface of the sea."

Many tourists were now perched on the masts, peering into the mist. Lin Jie and Thirteen, of course, followed suit. In the distance, a gigantic shadow floated silently on the sea, stretching as far as the eye could see, like a continuous mountain range. Many had the illusion of seeing a vast landmass, but everyone knew in their hearts that it was impossible to see land at this moment.

"Why does this outline look so familiar?" Lin Jie stared at the shadow in the mist, somewhat dazed. "Where have I seen something so thick and long before?"

……

It wasn't just the deck where Lin Jie was located that was thrown into chaos. The admiral's captain's cabin was also in disarray.

"Has the communication device been repaired?" the admiral asked Future beside him.

"It's still not fixed. Moreover, we lost all external communication signals when the fog rolled in just now."

"What about the ship's internal signals?"

"Inter-ship communications are normal."

"That's good." With that, the admiral took out his ID card, pressed it twice, and Xiang's image appeared on the ID card.

"Captain, what's the matter?"

"What were the results of the equipment inspection?"

"The equipment is working perfectly, with no signs of damage." At this moment, he was in the best communications room on the entire ship, and behind him he could see the huge shadow that seemed to extend out of the sea like a wall.

"Did you find anything?"

"Aside from that enormous shadow, the problem must lie with this fog."

"In the future, let's find a way to get out of this fog, and then we'll try to connect to the communications satellite." The admiral said to Future beside him, "Are the radar and scanning devices inside the ship still working?"

"The radar is functioning normally."

"That's good. Let's probe the direction closest to the edge of this fog. You leave this fog first, and then we'll figure out how to connect to a positioning satellite."

"Report: The entire area within radar range is shrouded in dense fog."

"What did you say? Are you out of your mind, Future? Our radar is a super radar that can scan a thousand nautical miles!"

"No malfunction."

"Looks like we're in trouble this time." The admiral said, picking up his identification card and shouting into it, "All sailors, go on alert, ready for battle at any moment. Damn it, it's definitely not going to be easy to transport that thing safely. Did you detect what that wall-like shadow is?"

"Too far to scan," Future said in her usual calm tone.

"What did you say?" Upon hearing Future's words, the Admiral couldn't help but look at the enormous shadow outside the window: "You mean that such a huge shadow was actually seen from a thousand nautical miles away?"

“Yes, the distance is too great to determine the shadow’s true form,” Future said. “How should we proceed from here?”

Is there a problem with the compass?

"The compass readings are normal."

"Indeed, in times like these, the ancient methods of navigation are more suitable for dealing with emergencies than those high-tech positioning devices." The admiral sighed. "Notify all sailors to be ready for battle at any time, and adjust our course. As long as we are still on Earth, we can't go wrong by following the pre-set direction."

"learn."

……

"Damn, why do I feel a sense of familiarity every time I see that shadow?" Lin Jie said to Thirteen on the deck. "You said last time that you also infiltrated Young Master Long's camp for three days, right?"

“That’s right.” Thirteen smiled and looked at Lin Jie.

"That's it then. Today is the third day. It seems something bad is about to happen again." Lin Jie said to Thirteen, "Let's prepare for battle. That dark figure gives me a bad feeling."

"Don't worry, with Master Wuneng here this time, he'll surely be of great help." Thirteen said, glancing at Master Wuneng.

“Amitabha, never forget the worst-case scenario.” Master Wuneng put his hands together and said to Lin Jie, “Perhaps it is just a mirage. Don’t judge things by appearances. Fog at sea is a common occurrence. You can rest assured, benefactor.”