American Comics: Something's Wrong with This Superhero World

Chapter 125 Isn't this a bit outrageous?

Pennywise was completely bewildered by Xiao Xian's words. "I'm threatening you, and you're telling me you'll get a movie? Can't you have any basic respect? I'm trying to scare you!"

Xiao Xian's interruption nearly ruined the scary atmosphere, not only startling Xiao Xian but also causing Pennywise to lose his composure.

If it weren't for the fact that Xiao Xian's fear tasted particularly delicious, making Pennywise completely intoxicated—a taste of fear that was extremely rare even in Pennywise's long divine life, and even more so on Earth, like scorpion droppings—Pennywise would have wanted to kill Xiao Xian outright.

"Oh, isn't that the Stone Man? Is he dead?" Xiao Xian flew to the giant tower, scanning the terrain with the S.H.I.E.L.D. equipment that Natasha had gotten for him, searching for the cave passage leading to Pennywise's lair, while asking in a nonchalant manner.

"Not yet, but if no one saves him, death is only a matter of time. Even if he doesn't starve to death, he will be tormented by endless fantasies and suffer a mental breakdown," Pennywise said with a sinister smile.

"What kind of illusion did you create for him?" Xiao Xian flew up and curiously examined the stone man, even slapping them both. As it turned out, although Xiao Xian's enhanced hands could pierce through steel with his flying ability, he still couldn't break through the stone man's defenses.

This guy was indeed something, but unfortunately, no matter how strong his physical defense was, he had no magic resistance at all, and he was controlled to death by Pennywise's control skill.

"In my dream, he was disgraced, kicked out of the Fantastic Four, and all the bad things he had done in the past were made public. He was locked in a small, dark cell until he died. In my vision, he had been locked up for forty years."

Pennywise softened his tone, speaking in a ghost story-telling manner. Pennywise could see the things people feared most, and his illusions were constructed from these fears. The Thing's biggest fears were being kicked out of the Fantastic Four and having his past misdeeds exposed, putting him in jail.

The Thing's illusion is above average among Pennywise's works. The key point is that he, like Xiao Xian, is a superhero, and their shared fear...

Pennywise looked at Xiao Xian expectantly, hoping that Xiao Xian would be frightened by the stone man's encounter, but Xiao Xian just curled his lips in disdain, with an expression that said it was nothing.

An ordinary person might be able to comfort themselves by thinking that Xiao Xian was putting on a brave face, but Pennywise didn't sense any increase in fear from Xiao Xian. He knew that Xiao Xian was genuinely not afraid at all.

This is a bit disrespectful to one's own work. Pennywise looked at Xiao Xian with great dissatisfaction. He dared not say anything else, but he was very confident in his ability to instill fear in others.

"You seem quite dismissive?" Pennywise said ominously. "The Stone Man is nearly insane in this illusion. He has even attempted suicide multiple times, but has been unable to do so due to his overwhelming defensive capabilities."

"Not bad." Xiao Xian shrugged. Pennywise could see the fear in other people's hearts and could also construct the illusions that people were most afraid of, but that was all. After all, the things that most people are most afraid of are only so-so. After all, what people are afraid of is limited by their imagination, knowledge, morals and other factors, and may not be that scary.

Just like Superman, what he fears most now is being cyberbullied by fans. But if Xiao Xian designs illusions, he can create a whole bunch of illusions that are even more terrifying than cyberbullying, leaving Superman with a lifelong psychological trauma. For example, he could make Superman lose his superpowers in the illusion and then be brutally ravaged by the seven Doomsdays for several months, ensuring that Superman will still feel a sore butt even when he sees Doomsdays after leaving the illusion.

Similarly, what the Thing is afraid of now is being kicked out of the Fantastic Four, having his bad deeds exposed, and being imprisoned. But if Xiao Xian designs it, he will directly turn him into those women he and Daredevil tortured. He will be resurrected when he is about to die and continue. He will also be given multiple romanceable characters such as the Hulk, Abomination, and Killer Croc, who will appear in turn or together, and they will be given some giant-sized buffs.

At that point, the Stone Man might think that his current state of being locked up in a cell in the Pennywise illusion is paradise.

"Found it."

At this moment, following the probes of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s instruments, Xiao Xian flew into a small cave. The spider-like Pennywise, seeing Xiao Xian fly to his lair, stood up and looked at Xiao Xian, who had willingly flown to his lair, and said...

"Since the dawn of civilization, you are the first human to come here voluntarily. You are braver than most people. To be honest, I'm really curious about what you're afraid of about me. There's always a faint fear in your presence when you're with me, but unfortunately, I can't read your mind."

"I'm not wearing the anti-psychic helmet anymore, why don't you try reading it?" Xiao Xian offered, believing that the best way to overcome fear is to face it directly.

Beverly's words made Xiao Xian realize that his fearlessness towards Pennywise was not the key to defeating Pennywise. The key was to overcome his fear of Pennywise, and the greater the fear he overcame, the more likely it would weaken Pennywise.

So, in order to overcome his fear and to help Pennywise understand what he fears so that he can target himself and amplify his fears, Xiao Xian decided to remind Pennywise to read his own mind. If Pennywise still couldn't, Xiao Xian planned to tell him directly.

"You've got guts, kid, but you'll regret this. You have no idea how terrifying Pennywise is!" Pennywise looked at Xiao Xian, once again feeling that his professional skills had been looked down upon by Xiao Xian. He was a professional scarester!

However, without Xiao Xian saying it, Pennywise really didn't know that the reason he couldn't read Xiao Xian's mind before was because Xiao Xian was wearing a telepathic helmet.

Pennywise was originally able to read other people's fears directly, but Xiao Xian's fear was too faint, so faint that Pennywise couldn't read Xiao Xian's heart unless he actively tried to read it, to savor and listen to the voice of that fear.

The reason Pennywise didn't do this before was because he thought Xiao Xian was special and couldn't read minds. But now that Xiao Xian has revealed it himself, Pennywise is naturally not going to hold back. As long as he knows what Xiao Xian is afraid of, he can take targeted actions, change his appearance, change the illusion, and amplify Xiao Xian's fear infinitely!

Your audacity will become your downfall.

Pennywise began smugly to mock Xiao Xian, but upon reading Xiao Xian's fears and listening to his apprehensions, Pennywise was stunned. He had to admit, Xiao Xian had completely changed Pennywise's understanding of humanity.

"Isn't your fear a bit outrageous?" After a moment of silence, Pennywise put away his spider form and transformed into a clown, looking at Xiao Xian.

(End of this chapter)