American Comics: Something's Wrong with This Superhero World

Chapter 116 Avenging Xiao Xian

On the streets of New York, an unprecedented rally is underway. Among the crowd, fans wearing various memorabilia and clothing representing Xiao Xian are in tears.

Between the high-rise buildings, a huge electronic screen continuously plays footage of Xiao Xian from the past, his handsome face captivating his fans.

Superman, wearing a new suit with his cape cut in half to symbolize his deep mourning for Xiao Xian, hovered in the air, looking down at the dense crowd of Xiao Xian's fans below, who were crying their hearts out. These fans were far more devoted than his own. Even his own most hardcore and die-hard fans would only be considered above average in this regard.

Looking at these enthusiastic fans, Superman couldn't help but feel a little jealous of Xiao Xian. But then he thought, since Xiao Xian is dead anyway, why should he be jealous of a dead man?

Landing on the platform set up by the staff, Superman picked up the microphone and said...

"Thank you all so much for coming today to bid farewell to my good brother, Xiao Xian."

"Superman!" Upon hearing Superman's voice, a fan shouted, looking at Superman, "Avenge Xiao Xian!"

"Revenge! Revenge! Revenge!" The fans' voices quickly united as they shouted at Superman.

"I know everyone is heartbroken and desperately wants revenge for Xiao Xian. Believe me, I feel the same way. He's one of my best brothers." Superman said according to his prepared script, while also adding a few improvisational lines.

"If I ever encounter that monster who killed Xiao Xian, I will mercilessly incinerate it to ashes with my heat vision!"

"Superman!!!" Many fans in the audience chanted, "You are the real superhero!"

"Mr. Superman, if you can avenge Xiao Xian, I will become your fan, and I will get all my friends and family to support you!"

A young female fan excitedly spoke to Superman. Her eyes were filled with tears, and her emotions were so palpable that Daredevil would recognize her as one of the female agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

"Thank you all for your enthusiasm, but S.H.I.E.L.D.'s secret base is top secret. Unless S.H.I.E.L.D. requests permission, I neither know its location nor have the authority to go there," Superman said, feigning helplessness, continuing according to his prepared script.

"Moreover, I believe that with the strength of S.H.I.E.L.D., they will definitely be able to handle this incident properly. They are a professional intelligence agency that deals with strange events, spends hundreds of billions of dollars in military spending every year, and have a superhero team like the Avengers. They will definitely be able to defeat the strange."

"No~" Many fans showed disappointed expressions upon hearing this, as this was exactly what they were waiting for: an official explanation.

"Whoever avenges Xiao Xian, we'll support them!" a female fan shouted. "Our 'Xiao Xian is My Husband' fan club, with 380,000 members, has made a joint pledge: whoever avenges Xiao Xian will be our second idol after Xiao Xian for the rest of our lives!"

"Our 'Xiao Xian, I Want to Have Your Baby' fan club is the same! 680,000 fans have collectively signed a petition! We will never back out!"

"And then there's our 'Xiao Xian is the Most Handsome' fan club, with three million fans!"

"We're still here."

Similar voices rose and fell, even giving Superman the feeling that whoever avenged Xiao Xian would inherit Xiao Xian's fan base.

"Look! A female agent from S.H.I.E.L.D. has revealed the location of a secret base! She's calling on capable fans to avenge Xiao Xian!" Suddenly, a fan exclaimed, having just come across a short video. In the video, a female agent looks at the camera and says:

"I know this violates S.H.I.E.L.D.'s rules and regulations, and I know S.H.I.E.L.D. will be able to send someone to eliminate the monster soon, but I really don't want to wait another second! Because that monster killed my idol, Xiao Xian! So after much thought, I made a decision that violates S.H.I.E.L.D.'s rules: to reveal the location of the secret base and call on capable superheroes to avenge Xiao Xian!"

As if they had planned it together, many fans took out their phones and showed the video to those around them.

"The location has indeed been made public, but I..." Superman was just thinking of using Bruce's backup plan—that he had to abide by the law and couldn't enter S.H.I.E.L.D.'s secret base without an invitation—to refuse to go and confront the supernatural when a female fan jumped up excitedly and shouted...

"Hahaha~ Great! The Hulk is on his way to the secret base. According to insiders, the Hulk is a complete counter to that weirdo. He will definitely be able to avenge Xiao Xian."

"Really? That's great! If the Hulk can defeat that monster and avenge Xiao Xian, from now on, my whole family and I will be Hulk fans."

"The Hulk is so powerful! I love him! I'm going to vote for the Hulk on the most popular superhero rankings right now!"

"Cough cough~" Upon hearing this, Superman immediately had the illusion that if he didn't go soon, someone else would steal his head. But after thinking about it carefully, it was just a weird thing. At most, it would only disgust him for a while. Anyway, it couldn't really hurt him. At worst, he could just go to Paradise Island again and ask Diana to help him get rid of it.

The key is to avenge Xiao Xian, and those are the fans who could inherit Xiao Xian's legacy! Although Xiao Xian's fighting strength is trash in his eyes, Xiao Xian's fans are many times stronger than his own.

There are plenty of people online who dare to criticize themselves, but very few dare to criticize Xiao Xian. Xiao Xian's fans are experts at exposing online trolls; they are not only fierce in their online attacks but also initiate offline confrontations.

For the sake of so many powerful fans, being disgusted a little isn't unacceptable. Besides, ordinary weirdness isn't usually that disgusting; the last one was just a rare exception.

Thinking of this, Superman said to his fans...

"Now that the location of the secret base has been revealed, I can't just ignore that weirdo that hurt my good brother!" Superman slowly rose into the air, shouting to the fans below.

"Please rest assured, everyone, I will definitely defeat the monster and avenge Xiao Xian!"

"Superman! ~ Superman! ~ Superman! ~"

The fans in the audience cheered loudly. Although they were Xiao Xian's fans, they also knew that Xiao Xian was an idol-type superhero, mainly because he was handsome, while Superman was a powerful superhero, who had been ranked number one in the superhero combat power rankings for many years.

Bruce's rhetoric was actually fine; he even anticipated S.H.I.E.L.D.'s plan to reveal their secret base and had already devised a countermeasure.

If S.H.I.E.L.D. doesn't actively invite him, Superman will have an excuse not to go. But if S.H.I.E.L.D. actively asks Superman for help, it proves that they are powerless to fight the supernatural, which not only damages their reputation but also shows that they are not worthy of such a large amount of funding every year. Next year, the Sky Eye will be able to snatch a large sum of funding from S.H.I.E.L.D., and the benefits that Wayne Enterprises and Superman will receive will definitely not be small.

However, not everyone makes decisions rationally, based on maximizing their own interests. Even though Superman has a super brain, he still lost himself amidst the cheers of his fans.

(End of this chapter)