American Comics: Something's Wrong with This Superhero World

Chapter 111 No Fear

With the end of the match, Xiao Xian also completed his mission and gained Super Touch. Although Super Touch doesn't seem to have any particularly great use other than accelerating battle time and amplifying the joy of battle, it is still a superpower that he can control himself, and who knows, it might come in very handy someday.

"All of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s intelligence on the Joker is here." Xiao Xian gathered all the team members together.

"Also, let me share my personal understanding of the Joker. He calls himself Pennywise, though that might not be his real name. He enjoys scaring people and can transform into what people fear most. I suspect that fear is likely related to his abilities. So, when facing the Joker, the key is to overcome your own fear."

"I have no fear," the stone man said, arms crossed, looking quite pretentious.

"I have received professional training and can hypnotize myself to eliminate fear," Natasha also demonstrated in front of Xiao Xian.

"I...I'm afraid of a lot of things." Daredevil, covered in bandages and with his hands swollen, said timidly. In fact, his hands had already healed under the special medical treatment of S.H.I.E.L.D., but Daredevil insisted on leaving the bandages on in order to play the victim in front of Xiao Xian.

"I have things I'm afraid of, but I'm confident I can face them rationally," Dr. Lizard said confidently. As a scientist and biologist, Dr. Lizard had conducted numerous human experiments and was quite confident in his courage.

"Well then, Natasha, Stone Man, Dr. Lizard, you take men out to search for Pennywise's trail. Remember to focus on searching the sewers. I've discovered that Pennywise's crime scenes are highly related to the New York sewer system," Xiao Xian instructed Natasha and the others.

"As for Daredevil, you and I will stay at the base," Xiao Xian said, looking at Daredevil's bruised and swollen face. "It'll be good for you to recover from your injuries."

"Thank you so much!" Daredevil said, moved by Xiao Xian's words. He never expected that Xiao Xian would put aside past grievances and let him recuperate at the base.

"Don't thank me. Pennywise loves the taste of fear. Since you're scared, going out is just suicide. You might as well stay at the base like me and act as bait," Xiao Xian said with a smirk.

"Are you afraid of Pennywise? Maybe I should stay at the base too?" Natasha asked with concern.

"No, I'm not that afraid of Pennywise. It just said it would come back to play with me, so I stayed here to wait for it to attack."

Xiao Xian shook his head. Fear stems from the unknown. Ordinary people would be afraid when they see Pennywise's illusion, but if they knew beforehand that it was just an illusion created by Pennywise in response to his inner fears, then the level of fear would naturally be greatly reduced.

More importantly, Xiao Xian has super regeneration, so most of Pennywise's attacks are ineffective against him. Even if he is crushed into minced meat and sprinkled into wine to make Xiao Xian brand red wine, he will not die.

With his survival skills maximized, his fear level naturally decreased. Things that ordinary people fear, such as giant spiders, virus-infected individuals, and serial killers, posed no threat to Xiao Xian.

"Pennywise~ Heh, I wonder if it can break through my defenses." The stone man chuckled coldly, full of confidence.

If Xiao Xian was fearless because he knew a lot, then the Stone Man was fearless simply because he knew little and had an inexplicable overconfidence in his own defenses.

In the Thing's view, apart from being a bit ugly, unable to fly, and lacking heat vision, he was on par with Superman in every other aspect.

When Superman encountered the monster, although he was tormented quite a bit, the monster was never able to break through Superman's defenses.

The Thing felt that while it might not be as mobile or destructive as Superman, its defense was no less than Superman's. Since the monsters couldn't break through Superman's defenses, they naturally couldn't break through its own either.

This is also why the Thing was willing to listen to Mr. Fantastic and S.H.I.E.L.D. and participate in this S.H.I.E.L.D. operation.

"In that case, gather your equipment and supplies and let's set off."

Seeing the stone man's confidence, Xiao Xian didn't say much, since he wouldn't have to pay the death compensation himself.

Moreover, the Stone Man's mentality might actually be a good thing when dealing with Pennywise, as long as he doesn't act like he's invincible before seeing Pennywise and then beg for mercy after seeing him.

"I'm going to the restroom." Daredevil glanced at Xiao Xian with some fear as he watched the group leave with their weapons and agents.

Earlier in the ring, when the heat vision almost caught him and Xiao Xian choking him, Daredevil almost thought he was going to die.

Now that he's in the same room with Xiao Xian, Daredevil has a feeling that Xiao Xian's eyes will light up and his gaze will be drawn away at any moment.

Despite his name being Daredevil, Daredevil isn't actually that brave.

As for Xiao Xian's claim that the Joker would come, Daredevil didn't care. So many people in New York were afraid of the Joker, how low was the chance of him finding him?

Besides, this is a secret S.H.I.E.L.D. base. If the Joker wants to attack, he should attack his teammates who are searching for him outside. Why would he want to cause trouble for himself?

After whistling as he finished relieving himself, Daredevil walked out of the men's restroom and, using his super hearing to sense that no one was around, turned his eyes and walked into the women's restroom.

Locking the compartment, Daredevil retrieved a Stark Industries-specific miniature surveillance device from his tactical pouch. This device was almost transparent and virtually invisible unless one looked closely. He then searched for a secluded spot within the compartment.

After looking around, Daredevil decided to hide it in the water. He put his hand into the water and felt that the water seemed unusually cold today.

"What's going on?" Daredevil muttered to himself. The next second, a pair of cold hands suddenly grabbed Daredevil. Daredevil's super senses were completely unaware of the grab before the other party grabbed him.

"What the hell?!" Startled, Daredevil sensed through the ripples that it was an incredibly long hand. He immediately tried to pull the hand away, but couldn't budge it at all. Helpless, Daredevil could only call for help, but he was in the women's restroom, and it would be embarrassing if someone saw him.

The cold arm gripped Daredevil's hand, making his entire arm go numb. Under the threat of death, Daredevil disregarded his reputation and roared...

"Help! Someone help me!!!"

Normally, shouting like that inside S.H.I.E.L.D. would definitely attract attention, but Daredevil desperately discovered that no matter how much he shouted, his sound waves couldn't penetrate the cubicle.

If Daredevil didn't have his super senses, he might think that maybe others just didn't hear him, but at this moment, his super senses tell Daredevil that even if someone put their ear to the toilet stall door, they couldn't possibly hear his cries for help.

Coincidentally, a female agent walked into the restroom. Daredevil sensed her footsteps and screamed even more desperately, but no matter how much Daredevil shouted, the female agent couldn't hear a single sound. The sound waves were blocked the moment they hit the toilet stall.

Even Daredevil's wallet, which he tried to throw out of the compartment, bounced back.

(End of this chapter)