Hero? I've Long Stopped Being One

Volume 1 – Chapter 18: Keep On Digging!

"Big Sister, why isn't Brother Zero speaking?" The little loli asked while watching a movie.

"I don't know. The single line Zero says in the movie was the one he ever said in front of the public." Lin Wan replied.

"Eh? Isn't that Holy Maiden an S-level superhero? Why didn't they invite her to be a part of this film?" Xiao Zhan asked from the side.

"This just goes to show how ignorant and naive you are." Glasses bro pushed up his glasses and continued, "According to the information I gathered from many sources, prior to filming, they did invite the Holy Maiden. However, she refused because of a power struggle she was embroiled in at the time. That's why they invited an actress that looks like her to play the role. But, rumors say that the real reason why she rejected them was because she didn't want to remember what happened between her and Zero. After all, it's been more than five years since Zero has disappeared."

"I understand." Xiao Zhan said, "So it was the normal reaction after a breakup. Come to think of it, God's Hand was very involved in the making of this film."

"That's true, I really didn't expect that God's Hand, who the public sees as sagacious, would have this kind of stupid past." Glasses Bro said.

"Then…is the Holy Maiden Brother Zero's girlfriend?" At that moment, the little loli curiously asked.

"I don't know!" Lin Wan said, "But I've heard that they've fought together, and Zero had to rely on the Holy Maiden's supportto defeat that Demonic God."

"It looks like an affair must have occurred, after all, the people who experienced that event all said so. The plot of the movies is also based on what they personally experienced at the time." Xiao Zhan said, "The Holy Maiden didn't personally come out and deny anything that could have possibly occurred, right?"

"That makes sense…" Lin Wan said.

Your sister! Lin Jie looked at the group of people chattering noisily, discussing his scandalwith the Holy Maiden in the past. He couldn't help but sigh, Some people say that movie was the most accurate depiction of history. Come on! The Demonic God barely had any power. I only needed one slash to triumph over him. And where did the Holy Maiden's powerful protection come from!? There was never such a thing, alright?

"Brother, your complexion looks off." Lin Wan said.

"It's nothing, I was just wondering if the people back then had issues with their memory." Lin Jie said.

"How could that be?" Lin Wan said, "A B-rank superhero, an S-rank superhero, and a group of people who had personally witnessed the events all acted in the movie. There's no way all of them remembered it incorrectly, right?"

"That's true…" Lin Jie forced a smile onto his face.

Don't tell me I'm the one that forgot what happened? I remember that back then, the Holy Maiden had been knocked out and lay on the ground from the very beginning. According to the rumors, she was extremely beautiful, I almost wanted was to have an affair with her. Come to think of it, this movie series already has 5 movies in the set, and in every movie my female protagonist gets changed! Why is it that I completely don't recall such a good thing happening to me!!!

Just when Lin Jie was in the midst of being confused by the gap between reality and the movies, the epilogue began.

Right when the movie ended, an advertisement popped out.

"We are grateful for all those who have supported the Great Superhero Zero movie series. The sixth movie is currently in the midst of filming. In our next installment, we have invited a small team consisting of otherworldly SS-rank heroes to direct the movie with us. Everyone, please look forward to the sixth movie of the series [Devil & The Brave]."

Can't believe they dug up that event as well…

"Is the next movie going to be about when the otherworldlies invaded?" Xiao Zhan was pleasantly surprised. "As an outstanding RPG player, I've done intense investigations on that period of time for research."

Is this company not done yet? Don't tell me that digging out someone else's dark past is that enjoyable?! Lin Jie helplessly thought to himself, How about I return to my Zero mode and go find that company to tear it apart? Whatever, my disguise has already been placed in the World Alliance's Supreme Museum. If I wanna take it back, it'll be very troublesome.

……

In comparison to the calm and peaceful atmosphere at Lin Jie's house, at the Superhero Association President's office, Ouyang Rui's face was gloomy as he looked at the report on the screen in front of him.

"A bunch of trash!" Ouyang Rui cursed angrily, "They couldn't even deal with two E-ranks."

Today, he had sent his followers on a mission to bring Lin Jie, Xiao Zhan, and that little girl to him. That way, he could have a bargaining chip against Evolution Co. whenever they made transactions. But what he didn't expect was that the heroes he sent out were all currently in a pile of bodies featured in the news.

"It looks like in the future, I should consider their strength a bit more before supporting them." Ouyang Rui thought to himself.

At that moment, Ouyang Rui heard a knock on the door.

"Come in." Ouyang Rui faced the door as he spoke.

A beautiful secretary with mature sex appeal entered. "Sir, this is the latest information regarding Dong Xue'er's recent activities."

"Alright, leave it here." Ouyang Rui said.

After watching his secretary leave the office, he put the information drive into the computer.

"She actually ran to Dong Xiaoye! Ouyang Rui exclaimed in surprise, "It looks like I need to contact the Stalker…"

……

In a completely censored room, Shadow's whole body was censored out while covered in something that kept her from making a single movement. She used her full strength to struggle, but there was completely no effect.

Just when she was struggling, a completely censored, human-shaped organism holding a rapidly vibrating rod-like object appeared in front of her.

"Come drink some milk." The organism used a wretched voice to speak. As it spoke, the censored object was shoved into Shadow's mouth. A large amount of white liquid started spurting out.

"Wuwuwu!!!" Shadow's body was still struggling greatly.

"It's firing… It’s firing… hahahaha, shoot more, shoot some more…" The wretched voice shouted….

"Wuwuwuwuw! Wuwuwu… I can't drink anymore!" Shadow suddenly sat up from the bed and blankly looked around her. "So it was a dream."

Immediately, she tried to recall Xiao Zhan's face. "That scoundrel!"

Shadow then simply washed herself and left the room.

Going down the corridor, she arrived at a conference room.

In the room were two men waiting for her.

"You're late, Miss Shadow." One of the men spoke. This man was the person who wanted to buy the little loli and was the leader of the buyers that Lin Jie and company captured.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Gan." Shadow said.

"Since everyone is here, let's begin the meeting." Mr. Gan spoke, "Last night, our plan failed. Not only that, the demon also disappeared, right?"

"That's right." The other man replied.

"Bing Qi, what about your side?" Mr. Gan faced the other man as he asked.

"When I arrived at that Glasses' home, his family had already evacuated." Bing Qi said.

"Then what about you, Shadow?" Mr. Gan looked at Shadow once again.

"I'm sorry! I also failed." She bowed as she spoke.

"Oh? Tell me why you failed." Mr. Gan replied.

"I don't wanna say." Shadow bit her lip as she spoke, "Next time I won't fail."

"You think that there'll be another chance?" Mr. Gan asked.

Hearing his words, both Bing Qi and Shadow suddenly felt fear in their heart.

"I'm sorry, my words may have scared you two." Mr. Gan said, "There's no way I can send you guys anymore. The tracking equipment that we installed in the demon has shown that its life signal has disappeared. In other words, the person who took the girl has the power to kill a demon with the T-3 evolution liquid. Even amongst A-rank heroes, not many could do such a thing.

"What!!" Bing Qi was surprised, "Don't tell me they're S-rank?"

"Not necessarily." Mr. Gan said, "You should know that in H-city, the life signals of S-rank organisms aren't detected. However, it doesn’t eliminate the possibility that the monsters have some sort of vicious ability/means.

"Yes?" Shadow was unreconciled. "In other words, the next time we deal with them, headquarters will need to send personnel to deal with them?"

"There's no way that headquarters would do that." Mr. Gan said, "The Little Girl Project is going to be abandoned for now. News came in yesterday, the underground research lab on Heavenly Island was exposed."

"What!" Bing Qi was surprised.

"That's right, all the researchers participating in the hidden project have died. Not only that, we also lost a large amount of research data." Mr. Gan said.

"How could that be? How could the underground research center on Heavenly Island be exposed like that?" Bing Qi asked.

"When the sea people invaded," Mr. Gan answered, "a hero called Living Fright infiltrated our research lab."

"Is he the one who leaked the location of the research lab?"

"No, he was captured." Mr. Gan said, "But for some strange reason, the research lab experienced a series of machine malfunctions right at the moment the superheroes were fighting the sea people. And just like that, the research lab was exposed to both sides…"

"……"

"Currently, most of the headquarters' strength is stuck fighting on Heavenly Island, and the SS-rank hero, God's Son, has appeared on the island. The loss of manpower for the headquarters is currently disastrous. I estimate that if we want to reopen this project, we'd have to wait at least a couple of years."

"So that's what happened!" Shadow muttered.

"But our mission at H-city has not concluded yet." Mr. Gan continued, "Tomorrow night, the person in charge of trading the T-3 evolution liquid between the headquarters and the Ouyang family will arrive. The higher-ups treat this business deal with great importance, because this will decide whether we'll be able to enter C-district or not."

"So basically, our mission this time is to link hands with the people from headquarters and make sure that the deal goes smoothly, right?" Bing Qi asked.

"That's right, all three of us have already failed one mission. If there is any issues with this business deal…I believe I won't need to speak of the consequences." Mr. Gan said.

All the people present nodded their heads. There could only be one outcome for those who failed their mission twice: death.

∴ ∴