Chapter 483: Universe Superhero League (USL)
“During a fight with a supervillain, I was forcibly transported.” Brother Jue voiced out the spiel that he had formed in the few minutes he was left inside the room. “When I recovered… I have already appeared inside this piece of desert.” Hearing that, He He He He was silent for a few seconds. His eyes appeared to wonder to the mirror behind Brother Jue. After a while, he opened his mouth to speak, “Do you think I will believe something like that?”
“It is not important whether you believe me or not.” Feng Bujue used his finger to point at the mirror behind him. “As long as the people behind that mirror behind me, I’m good.”
He He He He’s facial expression shifted obviously in that moment. Seeing that Brother Jue confirmed his suspicion further so he continue, “You are not some ‘Lieutenant General’ are you… based on my observation, your ranking is probably even lower than that colonel, Ku Ku Ku Ku that I encountered earlier.” He scratched his chin and continued, “taking aside the performance issue… from your body frame, your presence and habitual mannerism, you are quite possibly a security captain attached to a high ranking officer…” Feng Bujue titled his head and looked at the mirror behind him. “Of course, if I am that high ranking officer, I would have done the same choice…” At this point, he stood up.
He He He He reacted at the same time. He bolted up from his seat and assumed the offensive pose immediately.
“Relax.” Feng Bujue said. “The chair was uncomfortable, I just wanted to stand up for a walk.” He smiled. “After all, this is an interrogation, I couldn’t have asked you to get a sofa in here for me, could i?”
“You better don’t push your luck…” He He He He warned severely. He seemed like he was ready to apprehend Brother Jue, looks like Brother Jue’s talent to attract ire worked at every single corner of the universe.
“from the moment I ran into your ‘Unit 1’ until I was sent into this interrogation room…” Feng Bujue ignored the man’s warning and continued his analysis. “Throughout this whole process, there is no one that came to search my body.” He paced back and forth before the mirror. “At least back on earth… that will be highly illogical and unreasonable. What if I carry some kind of highly powerful explosive on me, wouldn’t it be very dangerous to bring me back to the base?” He chuckled. “Even though I have many theories for that, like your species is generally not that clever or the concept of ‘death’ on this planet is different from that on Earth and so on… but the most logical supposition is undeniably… you people believe fully that I do not carry any dangerous object on me.” Brother Jue licked his lips and looked into the mirror. He fixed his hair that was become dishevelled from the sweat. “I believe… on your large robots, at the corners of the bases, and…” he used his hand to knock lightly on the glass before him, “…behind this single-sided mirror, there is a very advanced metal detector.”
At this point, he turned around to address He He He He, “But… even though you guys knew that I have nothing too dangerous on me other than some magazines, you did not put your guard down. So you have this soldier who is physically capable to come in acting as a lieutenant general to come to talk to me. Even if I do something sudden and dangerous, the real lieutenant general would not be harmed in any way.”
Buzz Buzz Buzz—
As Feng Bujue finished, a buzzing like bees suddenly appeared. The ‘mirror’ in the room started to change and in two seconds, it turned into clear glass. Brother Jue turned to look and another room appeared on the other side of the glass. The size of the other room was slightly bigger than this interrogation room and it was loaded with many devices. At that moment, the real lieutenant General He He He He was standing on the other side of the glass, staring at Feng Bujue.
…
“You can come back now, Ji Ji Ji Ji.” The general said, his voice travelled clearly into the interrogation room.
“Yes, sir.” The officer who called himself ‘he he he he’ but was really ‘ji ji ji ji’ answered before he moved to the door. When the electronic doors opened, he walked out.
“Earthling, you appear to be too clever for your own good…” The general on the opposite of the glass told Brother Jue. “But I am no three years old child either. Even if I admit you’re clever, and can come up with reasonable analysis…. But things have not changed really.” He paused. “You said you are a superhero from Earth, sure why not… But talk is cheap, I need evidence to support that.”
Without saying a word, Feng Bujue snapped his finger flashly and the next second, a golden shiny poker card appeared in his fingers.
“Hmph…” The general responded with a scoff. “That at most can prove that you are a magician.”
His smile though soon froze on his face.
Tsk—
An extremely disgusting sound echoed through the room. Brother Jue used the Death Poker to cut at the glass and thus the sound of nails scratching on glass reverberated through the room.
“How is this possible!” General He quickly retreated. The officers who manned the machines all stood up and retreated to the wall. Ji Ji Ji Ji who just returned to the other side and the soldiers who were already in the other room all raised their weapons to point at the glass and ready to fire.
“Hmm… So it is indeed an impressive technological product…” Feng Bujue soon cut out an opening that was oval and was big enough for him to pass on the ‘glass’. He looked at the edge of the glass and said, “The thickness is about 3 cm and between the two layers of glass, there are tons of nanobots, this is some high tech gadget…” He was not wrong, the ‘glass’ that partitioned the interrogation room and the control room for people of the Shrugging Planet was a very advanced and very expensive military equipment. It cost more to produce than a tank. This ‘surveillance board’ could not only transfer and adjust single or double-sided sight and hearing signals, it possessed many other functions like camera lens and metal detectors. Most importantly… it had very high tensile strength, even if someone self-exploded in the interrogation room (it had happened before), it would not affect the people in the next room.
Therefore, when the people of Shrugging Planet saw Feng Bujue used a glowing poker to cut through the glass, the shock was indescribable.
“See, this is the power of a superhero.” Feng Bujue told the people on the other side of the room through the hole that he cut open.
“Do not move! Put down your weapon.” Ji Ji Ji Ji stood at the front with the gun and shouted at Brother Jue through the hole. Feng Bujue smiled and with a wave of his hand, the poker disintegrated, “I told you to relax already…” he tilted his head around to look at the general that was guarded by the layers of soldier. “I do not mean any harm and I am not a spy. Honestly, I know basically nothing about people on your planet. You can consider me an actual visitor…” he also raised his arms to shrug. “As long as you do not threaten my personal safety or limit my freedom, I have no reason to harm any of you.”
“Put down your gun, Ji Ji Ji Ji.” General He pushed away the soldiers and walked forward. He pressed down on Ji Ji Ji Ji’s gun. “Okay… I believe you.” He fixed his military apparel. “And what would your name be?” When he asked this question, he quickly changed his mind and corrected himself. “Oh, sorry, I forgot, superhero operates in code names and you are?”
“The Poker.” Feng Bujue said.
“Oh, okay…” General He replied. “Ha… misunderstanding, this is all a misunderstanding…” His tone softened a lot. “Since you are a superhero… how about this, I will help you contact the universe superhero league and I’ll have them escort you back to Earth.”
“What?” Feng Bujue was truly shocked.
“Erm… is there anything wrong with that?” General He asked.
“No… nothing… it’s fine…” Feng Bujue arranged his facial expression swiftly but in his mind, he was thinking, [No way… there is actual superhero in this world? And they are acting at a universe level?]
“I’m sorry but have you not heard of the universe superhero league before?” The shocked tone was too obvious that even though they were from different species, General He could pick up on it so he followed it up with this question.
“Hmm… it’s because I just became a superhero not too long ago and I’m very new at it…” Seeing the suspicion, Feng Bujue had no choice but to continue to weave his tapestry of lies. “Basically… I am still practically unknown.”
“Oh, that’s why.” General He nodded. “It does not matter… When the people from universe superhero league is here, you can directly ask them more about it.” He said as he turned around to whisper some command to one of the soldiers. Even though Brother Jue stood quite a distance away, he could hear clearly… General He really did order his people to contact this ‘universe superhero league’.
…
Long story short… several minutes later, Feng Bujue was invited to wait in a resting room. In the rest of the period, he was sitting on a bed of needles and his heart was worried. [Now things get much complicated… I just wanted to come up with an excuse that they cannot prove and use that cover up the fact that I have suddenly appeared at their planet’s secret military zone… but who knew things would turn out like this…
[Based on that general’s reaction, the superheroes are well respected in this universe, at the people of this planet are friendly towards them… I wonder what kind of superhero I will meet in a minute, what if a character like ‘Doctor Manhattan’ came and exposed me as a traveller from another world and viewed me as a threat… then things will not be good…]
Based on what General He said, all the official government army could connect the universe superhero league in the galaxy alliance. As long as there is a valid reason, they will answer your call. Someone will come within a universe week (about an hour); based on the emergency of the situation, they might arrive sooner than that. But Feng Bujue’s issue was very not an emergency, if one wanted to find an analogy… it was a child who had gotten lost and needed an escort home.
If Brother Jue was just a normal earthling, after surviving the Shrugging Planet’s strict interrogation and confirmed that he was not a spy, he would be sent back to Earth (of course, they could just kill him too) but now since he had stated that he was a ‘superhero’ and showed his ‘superhero’, then things changed. Feng Bujue was not wrong, superheroes had a very high status in this universe. They were basically the ‘law enforcement of the universe’. There was a complicated setting behind that one shan’t get into at this moment… and we shall return to the story.
Tsk..
The door opened and with General He leading the way, two men in tights walked into the room. The one walking ahead was about 1.8 metres tall and wore a white pantsuit. His color scheme was golden and purple, he even wore a similarly colored mask on his face. The man had long black hair, brown skin and no beard. Due to the tight fit of the suit, it could be seen clearly that this person had the body frame of a human and appeared to be a superhero from earth as well.
The person who walked at the back had the same appearance as the one in front. He was brown-skinned but he had a five o’ clock shadow on his chin and his tights were blue and white in color.
“Let me make the introduction.” General He led the two to Brother Jue. Feng Bujue had never been so nervous before, he was sweating bullet. His eyes swept the two and when he saw two justice-filled eyes stare back at him, he thought to himself. [Ah… my skin is crawling… as they say, yin and yang, good and evil should never mix…] For some strange reason, he had aligned himself with the side of ‘evil’.
“This is… the Poker.” General He extended his hand to say.
Feng Bujue stood up from the sofa and forced a smile. “he… he he… nice to meet you, I have just arrived here… and actually I just made up a random name, got a not so impressive outfit and came out to do superhero business. I have not affiliated myself with any organization….”
“Aiz! Don’t sell yourself short, young man.” The leading man added quite openly, “As long as you have a heart after justice, the door of the universe superhero league will be forever for you.”
[Pfft…] Feng Bujue tried to keep himself from laughing that his face was red from holding the breath in. He shouted in his heart. [Hey! What is up with this Indian accent? Is this some kind of joke! It makes the serious sounding content sound so laughable!]
“Hmm, well said.” General He nodded at the superhero who spoke. “This is a superhero from the Planet Cheat Code, and has been proving his might around the northern side of the galaxy recently—Pi Li Dance Hero.”
The introduction… was like a sledgehammer slammed into Brother Jue’s heart.
[Hey!] he almost shouted. Due to extreme discomfort, he weakened and collapsed to the sofa. [he has really appeared! This madman has appeared in game? Isn’t this a character that I randomly made up? He really exists? This does not really matter? No wonder he is Indian! But at the time, I did not go into this superhero’s details… so the system added them in on its own?] (Please refer to Chapter 232 for more details)
“And this… is his partner.” General He pointed at the man in blue and white tights. “the Tap Monster.”
[Why do I expect anything else?!] Feng Bujue continued to shout in his heart. [This universe is over now! Everything’s over! I better shift to a new world! The desert is not bad now! Let me run away in the sun towards the horizon!]
“Oh, I’ve heard all about it, the Poker.” The Tap Monster moved forward and said in the same Indian accent. “You were dragged into an interdimensional porthole during a fight with a supervillain. And after multiple adventures and trials, you broke through the interdimensional barrier and landed on Shrugging Planet. You tore open an opening in the desert and successfully returned to this world? That’s impressive.”
[That is indeed impressive! Too impressive if you ask me… I never said any of those things. This must be the work of that He fella! Why don’t you just tell them I am Ultraman! At least it will be extra for me to round up that lie! I only need to xia xia xia and then things will be over!] Feng Bujue was burning up within. [I want to turn into light! Turn into light… light…]
“Erm… are you okay?” Pi Li Dance Hero asked Brother Jue. “The Poker? Why aren’t you speaking?” When they saw Feng Bujue collapse on the couch with a pale face and said nothing, they thought he was sick.
“he he… it’s fine…” Feng Bujue replied weakly, “I was just… spacing out… a bit…”
…
After some brief introduction, Feng Bujue followed the two strange superheroes and left. With the accompaniment of General He and some soldiers, they soon arrived at the base’s fourth hangar. There were many mechanized robots in the hangar. At that moment, among the robots, was mixed a small spaceship that was obviously different from the others via its shape and color.
The spaceship was about 15 metres long, 8 metres wides, and 6 metres tall, it looked like a shoe without laces. The main color of the ship was sea blue and the second color was orange-yellow. A line of black characters was imprinted on the side. The translation provided by the system told Brother Jue it said, “Universe Superhero League.”
[Hmm… This should be some kind of lingua franca in this universe…] Feng Bujue looked at the untranslated version of the language and thought to himself. [Speaking of which… the worldbuilding of this scenario is more complicated than I thought… I wonder how many allies and different sentient races are there in their ‘galaxy alliance’. How is the diplomatic affairs between the different planet and do they exchange technological advances…]
While Brother Jue was thinking, the group arrived beside the spaceship. By then, General He and the other people from Shrugging Planet stopped. The general said, “Then… this is where we part.” He paused. “The runway has been cleared, you can leave at any moment.”
“Thank you for everything you have done for me, general.” Feng Bujue politely thanked He He He He.
“It’s my pleasure, the Poker.” General He replied. “Superheroes are the guardian of the universe, it is normal for us to support you.” After another round of meaningless flattery, Brother Jue finally bad farewell to the people of Shrugging Planet and got onto the two superheroes’ spaceship. The interior of the spaceship did not look that weird, it looked straight out of the set of a sci-fi flick. The corridor, the door and the seats, they were all designed according to the human size. The two heroes led Feng Bujue to the cockpit at the front of the spaceship and assigned him the third seat and reminded him to put on the seat belt.
“I have to say you are quite lucky, the Poker.” Pi Li Dance Hero operated the control of the space as he tilted his head to the side to say, “The atmosphere at Shrugging Planet is similar to Earth,” he paused. “If you have landed at a planet with incompatible atmosphere and no sentient lifeform, then you’d be in dangerous situation.”
“Yes…” Feng Bujue replied. “I would be dead if I had landed on a planet with an ozone layer.” That was not wrong but he knew very that… this would not have happened. The system would not drop the player into a sure death situation. Therefore, this was not luck but an inevitability. Or else the company would be prepared to face many complaints from the player base, although with Dream Inc’s previous handling of their Public Relation, it was another issue whether they would answer to the player’s complaint or not.
“By the way, the Poker.” The Tap Monster turned around to ask, “You have not registered with the league, right? That was what you said earlier, yes?”
“Now that you mention it…” Brother Jue pretended to be shy and asked, “I only just found out about the organization of ‘universe superheroes league’ today…”
“ha ha… looks like you really do not know anything.” The Tap Monster laughed in response. He seemed to get a kick out of this.
“Isn’t that a good thing?” Pi Li Dance Hero added, “At least that proves that the Poker became a hero simply because of his pursuit of justice.” Once he said that, Feng Bujue’s expression shifted slightly. Instantly he caught the underlying meaning in Pi Li Dance Hero’s words. [In other words…] Feng Bujue speculated. [Some people… did not become a superhero for the sake of ‘justice’?… Hmm… Looks like there are some benefits involved here…]
Even though he was calculating it inside but on the surface, he appeared unfazed and unaffected. He even managed to reply in an even tone. “Then… is there a requirement to join the league? If possible… I would like to be a part of your group.”
“Hmm, of course, there is a requirement to join.” The Tap Monster replied, “But I do not think you should be worried… Based on what General He He He He told us, you easily cut through their planet’s ‘super metal’ with your superpower. With that command of superpower, it should be no problem for you to obtain the basic ‘right of a superhero’.”
While they spoke, Pi Li Dance Hero had already done everything to prepare to lift off. He picked up a communicator and fixed the frequency before saying, “General He, this is Pi Li Dance Hero. Our spaceship is ready to depart, request for take off.”
“Request accepted. Please use the third runway outside the hanger. The door has been opened and the guiding lights are ready.” General He’s voice soon came back from the communicator.
“Understood, thank you for your cooperation again, general.”
When they were speaking, the spaceship had lifted off the ground. The buzzing sound echoed in Feng Bujue’s ears, his body could feel directly the giant momentum gathering in the propellers. Brother Jue then realized he was going to experience his first space travel in his life. Even though it was in a virtual world, it was still quite exciting.
“Then why don’t you come back to the league with us, the Poker?” Pi Li Dance Hero drove the spaceship at high speed but he was able to split his attention to chat with Brother Jue. “Or… we can drop you back at Earth first, if you need to.”
“That won’t be necessary, I can directly follow you to the league.” Feng Bujue replied.
“Is there really not necessary?” Pi Li Dance Hero said, “With your disappearance, your friends and family back on Earth much be worried, you should return to inform them…”
“There’s no need.” Feng Bujue cut the man off and said in a melancholic tone, “I have no one to report back at home.”
“Hmm… Understood.” Pi Li Dance Hero appeared to catch something. He stopped pressing and focused on his driving. The Tap Monster though turned around and took a good look at brother Jue. There was a complicated look in his eyes.
[Hmph… my acting is so good that… even I have impressed myself…] Feng Bujue thought to himself but the saddened look hung on his face. Obviously, our Brother Jue had gotten into his character… The Poker that he player was undeniably one with a sad background, one that would make good sob stories. And Feng Bujue decided on this background because those who observed normal social cues would not press further and that provided him with a perfect cover, it was one stone that could kill many birds.