442 Cathulhu Epilogue (1) – Era of Superhuman
Chapter 442 – Cathulhu Epilogue (1) – Era of Superhuman
Ten years after the Solomon War, Earth underwent a dramatic change and hundreds of new bills and laws had been passed to control its population.
The new president of the United States stood on the podium. Behind him, four superhumans in their uniform crossed their hands behind their back, looking sharp.
Hiiro Narukami, Lee Jinyong, Bianca Dullahan, and Seo Jungwoo listened to the long speech of the president while enduring the flashes from cameras. They were expressionless. However, their fingers wiggled around behind their back as they felt uncomfortable in front of the crowd.
Bored and sleepy, Jungwoo secretly sent a voice transmission to the secret agent on his right side.
‘Hey, Chase. Can you pretend to spot a terrorist and drag this old coot off the stage? We’re tired.’
Chase Sheffield in a black suit and sunglasses glanced at Jungwoo. The corners of his mouth slightly curved up.
‘You’re the star of this show. Be patient.’
‘But you also fought in the war. How come they keep your identity a secret? They should have put you together with us!’
‘That’s because I didn’t protect Earth directly like y’all did. Anyway, I’m busy. Don’t talk to me.’
‘Oh, come on!’
Hiiro, Lee, and Bianca overheard their voice transmission. They deeply sighed as these two were still as immature as ever even though they were fellow protagonists of this era.
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After that fateful war, Lee Jinyong, Bianca Dullahan, and Seo Jungwoo were acknowledged as the heroes of humanity because of their great contribution and fame – They directly took down Clem, so people recognized them and praised them for their achievements. The governments capitalized on their fame and made them the heroes of humanity.
Hiiro Narukami returned to Earth later together with Mao Miaomiao. Nobody thought highly of Hiiro at first until Mao Miaomiao showed the world that he fought on another battlefield against Zeus. Afterward, the US government revealed the conversation when Hiiro left his post to challenge the incoming yellow star.
Because of Mao Miaomiao’s testimony, humans misunderstood Hiiro as the unsung hero. They nominated him to the same league as the three heroes, turning them into symbols of heroism and superhumans.
On the other hand, Chase secretly returned. Because of his connection with the media, nobody was aware of his identity until the secret service found him. He was recruited to the force, and he had been working behind the scene ever since.
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After hours of boring speech and ceremony, the superhumans finally had a break. However, Chase left together with the black-suited people and followed the president.
In a private room, reserved for the four, Jungwoo threw his body to the couch and put a cold towel on his forehead. Then, he complained.
“I’m so exhausted. How long do we have to go around in these stupid rubber suits?”
Lee Jinyong pursed his lips and compared his green rubber suit and Jungwoo’s white suit. They looked like Batman without the bat mask, and the paint job was horrible. Moreover, the suit collected their sweat and humidity, making it uncomfortable to wear.
Agreed with Jungwoo, Jinyong opened his game menu and switched his clothes with casual clothes. He then brought out an ice crystal, which instantly reduced the room’s temperature by 5 degrees Celsius.
The group enjoyed the cold air and let out a long sigh. Bianca copied Lee Jinyong by switching her clothes to casual wear. However, because of her clumsiness, her head fell from her neck and landed on her right foot. It bounced and hit the ceiling, then ricocheted around the room.
“NOOOOO!! WHY IS THIS HAPPENING TO ME!?”
Bianca’s head flew around the room while her body blindly chased after it. Fortunately, Hiiro raised his hand and caught the head before it hit somebody.
“Oh, thanks. Can you put me on the neck, please?”
Hiiro dryly laughed, “Want a superglue?”
“No. It’s bad for my circulation.”
“Try tapping it when you go outside. It might help.”
“I tried, but it only works for 30 minutes. I don’t know why, but my neck keeps making oily juice and becomes slippery.”
“…”
Everybody pitied the only heroine in their party. However, nobody said anything to console her as they knew she was taken. Moreover, her husband was someone they were afraid of.
As if the boyfriend had heard their thoughts, he came knocking on the door.
“Bianca, is your break time over? Wanna play?”
The voice sounded familiar to them. After all, he was the most famous angel that humanity worshiped as their new deity.
“Oh, give me a second, Miaomiao. I’ll be right there in a moment.”
Bianca adjusted her clothes and brightly smiled at the mirror. Then, she rushed out to meet her sugar daddy. When she opened the door, the black-winged angel and his three-eye caracal cat were there.
Mao Miaomiao looked into the room and found the protagonists. He grinned and waved his hand, “Howdy.”
“You’re not even Texan. Get outta here,” Hiiro complained.
“That’s not the tone to speak to your benefactor,” Mao Miaomiao grinned and looked at Bianca. “You should also teach your colleagues not to bad-mouth your sponsor.”
Bianca nodded and immediately turned around, “Did you hear that? No swearing to the god.”
“You mean, the Devil,” Lee Jinyong and Jungwoo spoke in unison.
“He’s still the protector of Earth, okay?” Bianca pouted and turned around to Mao Miaomiao. She hugged his arm, “Let’s go back to your dantian universe. I heard the Dryad Eurobeat made a new movie. I want to see it.”
“Haha, okay! Oh, take care guys. We’re off!”
“Scram!” The trio shouted at Mao Miaomiao and slammed the door at him. They clicked their tongue in envy and frustration.
After Mao Miaomiao and Bianca had left, the three men sat on their seats and looked at each other. Having nothing to do during the break, Lee Jinyong brought out a chessboard and chess pieces.
“Western Chess?” Hiiro had never played international chess before as he only played Shogi. He was interested in the activity.
“Want me to teach you?”
“Sure!”
“How about you, Jungwoo. Do you play chess?”
Jungwoo widely grinned. He sat in front of the board and started arranging pieces, “Yup. What’s your elo?”
“1900,” Jinyong smirked. “You?”
“Pfft. Only 1900? I’m 2200, you fool. You’re challenging the wrong person.”
“I doubt you even reach 600 with your IQ.”
“Oh, yeah? Bring it, punk!”
The two began playing chess while Hiiro observed from the sideline. Nobody knew that he got 7-dan in shogi, and he knew more about chess tactics than these two Koreans. Still, Hiiro quietly watched, respecting the two youths.
.
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An hour quickly passed by, and their break ended. Bianca returned to the room in her uniform. However, her hair was strangely sweaty as if she had been through an intense workout. The boys sniffed and noticed the strange scent from her.
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The boys coughed. They knew about the hidden deed, but they kept quiet about it.
“Break time is over. Time to work people,” Hiiro reminded the team.
Everybody changed their clothes back to their superhero rubber suit and walked out of the room. They proceeded along the hallway and reached the entrance of the building.
As soon as the team came out, journalists swarmed them and tried to get an interview.
“Mister Lee, you subjugated five rogue superhumans yesterday. What is your opinion about the uprising of unregistered superhumans?”
Lee Jinyong quickly turned toward the journalist and calmly responded, “Every superhuman has the obligation to register their names to the local government. If they hide their identity, obviously, they are up to no good. To be honest, I would like to advise everybody with superpowers to come out. After all, being a superhero is a lucrative job.”
Hiiro, Jungwoo, and Bianca glanced at Lee Jinyong. He handled his image well, and he was fluent in speech.
While Lee Jinyong handled one of the journalists, the other got swarmed as well.
“Mister Narukami, you are in charge of extraterrestrial beings and space patrol. Everybody has a lot of questions about the entities in space. Could you answer some of them for us? The trending search nowadays is the upcoming supernova blast from space. What are our thoughts about that?”
“Totally rubbish. Entity Mao Miaomiao has already dealt with the supernova blast from Zeus Star. What the telescopes detected was the light from that supernova 10 years ago. Had the blast still existed, Earth would have been blown away before we can even see the light.”
“Right. Then, is there anything that will affect Earth?”
“Absolutely nothing. Well, if I’m here, that means I have nothing urgent to do. But if I’m missing, you can start speculating. Hahahaha!”
Bianca and Jungwoo broke a sweat when Hiiro messed around with the journalists. The latter didn’t bother with the microphones and leaped to the sky, escaping the scene.
However, Bianca was too slow to react. The journalists surrounded her before she could fly away.
“Miss Bianca Dullahan, I’m from TMC. There are rumors around that you and Entity Mao Miaomiao are dating. Is that true?”
Bianca quickly became expressionless. She deeply sighed, “I have been busy hunting down rogue superhumans. Sometimes, I wonder how that rumor came out. It’s like… I’m here, working myself to death. If I had the time to go out on a date, I would have done that in the open. Trust me.”
“But several new sources claimed that they always found Entity Mao Miaomiao wherever you went.”
“Lord Mao Miaomiao is our team’s mentor and sponsor. Of course, he always watches over us whenever we are in danger. To be honest, I’m the weakest among my team, and I haven’t graduated from his training courses, yet. Obviously, I’ve been dragging the team down, and he has been paying extra attention to my welfare. Do you know how many times Lord Mao scolded me because I failed to capture rogue superhumans alive so many times?”
Hiiro and Lee Jinyong’s expressions turned dark as Bianca lied through her teeth. Still, they didn’t comment on her interview and moved on with their businesses.
A few minutes later, the team flew to the sky and went on a separate way to do their job. Bianca’s head almost fell off again. However, Mao Miaomiao’s [Personal Glue] kept her head on her shoulders.
Nobody noticed the white centipede choker that kept the head attached.
While flying in the sky, Bianca gazed at the newly developed world. Round saucers replaced commercial planes in the sky as they emitted no carbon. Hundreds of superhumans flew about as if it was a common thing to do. On the road, different EV vehicles moved in straight lines as if they were ants, and no car tried to take over or change lanes randomly. As the new law forbade humans from driving, every car was now driven by AI.
Bianca giggled and wondered how the world came this far during their generation.
“That game really changes the world. Oh, I haven’t seen Uriel and others for three years. Are they still managing the game worlds? I forgot to ask Miaomiao.”
Bianca picked up the speed and flew across the North Atlantic Ocean, heading to France as her next target was reported to be in that area. She gazed at her game system.
DING
<Villain Hunting System has been activated.>
<Current Target: Epstein Jr.>
<Strength: Level 18,000.>
<Crimes: Human Trafficking. Child Prostitution.>
<Distance: 2,975 Miles.>
Rereading the crime record, Bianca narrowed her eyes. With the hunting system, Bianca continued her hunt and her adventure.
Her life story as a protagonist continued, and so did Hiiro Narukami, Seo Jungwoo, Lee Jinyong, and Chase Sheffield.