Superman Termination Manual - Chapter 170

Chapter 170 – 125 Family Meeting Time
Ke Yinzhi turned the doorknob downward and walked out of the room expressionlessly.

He moved toward the railing, crossed his arms and rested them on the stair’s handrail, closed his eyes, and let out a long sigh with his head bowed low.

Then he went downstairs, shuffled towards the living room on the first floor, and casually sat down on the couch, picking up the remote control and pressing the power button.

The TV screen lit up, and the first thing that came into view was a breaking news report.

“The vigilante calling himself ‘Blue Owl’ has apprehended a group of bank robbers at the crossroads of the Hongdeng Commercial District. According to the police confirmation, the targeted bank was ‘Huanjing YGA Central Bank.’ But following Blue Owl’s defeat of the mutant criminal ‘Mechanical Mod Man Lester,’ Class C wanted felon Dice Monster appeared in Hongdeng District…”

On the TV, a neatly dressed news anchor was smiling at the camera, narrating today’s superhuman crime events, occasionally glancing down at their script.

In the upper right corner of the screen, within a red-framed area, was footage from the Hongdeng Commercial District showing a figure in a red-and-blue bodysuit sparring with a mechanically enhanced being.

“Lester, I remember he’s a survivor of that low-efficiency modification program by the Management Bureau, really makes you wonder what the hell those old men are up to…”

Ke Yinzhi thought to himself while watching the TV and resting his arm on the back of the couch.

As the TV host finished outlining the main thread of the incident, the on-site footage zoomed in to show Blue Owl defeating Lester with a Tai Chi move, followed closely by the arrival of a bizarre grey humanoid figure.

“Wow… what kind of strange thing is that up to now?”

Ke Yinzhi raised an eyebrow, musing to himself with interest.

Ke Xiao Mo came down from upstairs, sat down beside him, hugged his shoulders and looked at the TV to ask.

“Is it that Dice Monster causing trouble again?”

“No, it’s a mechanical mod man called ‘Lester.’ Your favorite Dice Monster just came to join the fray.”

Talking, Ke Yinzhi yawned, “It seems that a rookie vigilante who claimed to be ‘Blue Owl’ beat Lester.”

The two watched the rest of the on-site video in front of the TV, and the last scene showed Blue Owl hobbling into an alley, vanishing into a world refracted by neon lights.

“This vigilante’s suit is really similar to Qing Ya’s, rather, it’s as if it was deliberately made to mimic Qing Ya’s.”

Ke Xiao Mo paused, “Even the name, Qing Ya, Blue Owl, the pattern is exactly the same.”

“A follower of Qing Ya, huh? That’s rare.” Ke Yinzhi smiled, “If I remember correctly, a few years ago, there was a period when many Muggles were imitating Qing Ya, wielding hockey sticks to fight crime, but in the end, they were personally sent to prison by Qing Ya. Since then, I haven’t seen anyone daring to imitate him.”

“So that’s why Qing Ya has such a bad reputation, isn’t it?”

Ke Xiao Mo commented expressionlessly.

“No,” Ke Yinzhi shook his head, “In Qing Ya’s eyes, those people were just fools who put on spandex and wanted to pose as superheroes, not his followers… Does that help you understand him a bit more?”

“I don’t quite get it, why do you think so highly of Qing Ya? It feels like my perception of him has been influenced by you since we were kids.”

“If that’s the case… when I was very young, he once saved me.”

“Ah?” Ke Xiao Mo was startled, turning to look at Ke Yinzhi, “How come you’ve never mentioned this before?”

“Because there’s nothing much to tell.”

“Are you kidding?”

Ke Xiao Mo stared at his profile, speaking expressionlessly.

Ke Yinzhi sighed and began to speak slowly, “Back then, a superhuman criminal who had escaped from prison infiltrated our middle school, and when the police discovered him, he kidnapped our class and threatened the police to retreat with our lives. I remember it vividly; one of the robbers was pointing a gun right at my head.”

He paused, smiling slightly, “And just when the police were leaving the campus, a huge crow suddenly swooped down from the sky. You can probably guess what happened after that. There’s not much to tell.”

Upon hearing this, Ke Xiao Mo remained silent for a while.

“No wonder you respect him so much; he saved your life.” He said.

“No, no, no, it would be the same without that incident. I told you… he’s interesting.”

Ke Xiao Mo shrugged, “Anyway, let’s not talk about him. Let’s talk about this Dice Monster. Why does it feel like he has to provoke everyone he meets?”

“Perhaps because… he lacks love,” Ke Yinzhi said with a slight smirk, sipping his Wong Lo Kat.

Ke Xiao Mo pondered for a moment, “All I can say is that his motives are inscrutable. If it’s really just for lack of love, that would be too good to be true.”

“I’ve seen plenty of these lunatics whose behavior defies logic. Among the various criminals, you just have to get used to it, and you’ve got a long way to go.”

As he spoke, Ke Yinzhi suddenly turned his cheek aside, glancing at the foyer from the corner of his eye.

The next moment, the electronic door at the entrance was opened, and Ke Mingye, sweating profusely, came in, bent over to remove his shoes and put on slippers.

“Where have you been?”

Ke Yinzhi withdrew his gaze from him and asked casually.

“Went for a night run. What else could it be?”

Talking, Ke Mingye limped into the living room, brushing past the couch, and grabbed a bottle of sports drink from the fridge.

“What happened to your foot?”

Ke Xiao Mo noticed something was off, turned his head to look at him, and asked.

“Tripped while running. Just skinned it a bit, what else?”

Ke Mingye said flatly, gulping down the sports drink, his Adam’s apple bobbing.

And to think… he really did go for a run.

While he and the strange thing were performing their double act in the Hongdeng Commercial District, he didn’t forget to run back and forth in the abandoned train station, promptly completing his daily mission–unfortunately, the roulette only yielded 500 Mall Coins, hardly worth the effort.

But it wasn’t a “better luck next time,” so he had no reason to complain too much.

“Fell down?”

Bai Ziling muttered under his breath, his brows furrowing slightly in confusion as he inexplicably thought of “Blue Owl,” the superhero who had just hobbled away from the scene on TV.

Mingye was about to speak to Ke Yinzhi, who was watching TV beside him, when he was interrupted by Ke Mingye.

After taking a big gulp of his drink, Ke Mingye twisted the cap back on the bottle and asked, “So, what exactly were you all up to just now? Looks like I was the only one being left out, huh?”

“Well…”

As he spoke, Ke Yinzhi recalled the scene of the meeting they had just had and tilted his head helplessly.

……..

……

Twenty minutes earlier, on the second floor of Bai Ke’s home, in Ke Yongzhu’s room.

“Now it’s your turn. Where were you at that time?” Bai Zini said.

Standing behind the door, Ke Yinzhi was fiddling with his cell phone in one hand and had the other hand behind his back as he slowly said, “When it happened, you and I were at Gibran Bookstore. Right as we stepped out the door, we saw this kid getting pummeled by a ninja, turned into a dragon… We were so shocked, we were speechless.”

As he spoke, he glanced at Ke Yongzhu, who was curled up in the corner of the bed hugging her knees, and then returned his attention to his cell phone.

Ke Yongzhu was wearing pajamas, her eyes drooping as she looked at the panda toy on the bed, silent.

Bai Zini, sitting on the floor with her knees bent, frowned at Ke Yinzhi and asked, “And then what did you do?”

Ke Yinzhi replied, “What else could we do? We got caught by the ninjas.”

Bai Ziling said, “We fought back, but we couldn’t beat them.”

Their tones were innocent as they played off each other.

Bai Qiuwu hesitated for a moment before speaking, “Then you must not be hurt too badly…”

Bai Ziling cut her off, “Got some superficial injuries, but it’s nothing serious.”

“Are you guys stupid? You knew they were ninjas and still tried to fight back,” Bai Zini said irritably.

Bai Ziling sat on the bed, silently nodding in agreement.

“Anyway, let’s not talk about this for now,” Ke Yinzhi shrugged. “Regarding our younger brother being a dragon, we must keep it strictly confidential, whether it’s towards dad or mom, understand?”

“Got it,” Bai Zini nodded.

“Mm,” Bai Ziling said.

“I get it,” mused Bai Qiuwu. “They indeed might not be able to accept it.”

“Then I have one last question,” Bai Ziling looked around at everyone and said calmly, “aside from Yongzhu, does anyone else in the family have any secrets they’re hiding? As family, we shouldn’t keep things from each other. We should face them together.”

“I’m just a normal person, I don’t turn into a dragon,” Bai Zini said with a huff. “Even if I did, I wouldn’t keep it secret from the family for so many years like someone did.”

“I’m a normal person too,” said Bai Qiuwu.

“Same here,” said Bai Ziling.

Ke Yongzhu’s head dipped even lower, her ears reddening slightly, her expression a touch forlorn.

Seeing this, Bai Ziling fell silent for two seconds before turning his head to look at Ke Yinzhi, who was looking down at his cell phone, and then asked, “What about you?”

“I’m a normal person too.”

Ke Yinzhi said nonchalantly, lifting his idle left hand while continuing to look at his phone, as casual as a student answering a question in class.

At this, Bai Zini turned and glared at Ke Yongzhu on the bed, “Fine, fine, fine, so the only traitor in the house keeping secrets from us is this damned grade-schooler!”

Bai Qiuwu glanced at her helplessly, thinking to herself, “Look who’s talking, Magic Girl, accusing someone else first…”

“I’m sorry…”

Ke Yongzhu turned her cheek away and said quietly.

Looking at him, Bai Zini grew more and more agitated, thinking to herself that she had no idea the dragon had been him and almost unleashed Cinderella to shoot him dead. Insane!

So she said aggressively, “Sorry my foot, you’re being punished to run errands and buy drinks from the supermarket downstairs for the next week!”

Bai Ziling nodded gently in agreement, her pale tresses swaying softly.

“Okay.”

Ke Yongzhu buried her head in her knees as she spoke.

Then there was a silence that lasted several seconds in the room, with only the clicking sound of Ke Yinzhi’s fingers tapping the screen of his phone.

Bai Ziling’s eyes were downcast and after a moment of silence, she suddenly said, “Little brother… might not have done it on purpose.”

Ke Yongzhu was startled and her nose twitched suddenly, but she continued to keep her head buried in her knees without speaking.

“Don’t make excuses for him, Xiao Ling, I think he did it on purpose!” Bai Zini snapped.

With a sigh, Bai Ziling said, “Let’s leave it at that for now. Remember to keep it secret. Whoever breaks the rules from now on will be a runner for life with no complaints, understand?” Your journey continues with

Everyone in the room except Ke Yongzhu nodded their heads.

“I’ll go get some fresh air. You guys continue whatever it is you’re discussing.”

Ke Yinzhi said casually, pocketing his cellphone in his black coat, pushing the door open, closing it behind him, then leaning on the banister, his head hanging low as he breathed out softly.

How absurd this world is, dragons, Divine Communicators, ninjas… Can this family give me any more headaches? He thought to himself with a self-mocking smile curling the corners of his mouth.