Chapter 21
1326 Words
A mere 18 days remained until the world’s demise.
It was another early morning.
Sheng An was getting ready to leave with Hao Jingye, and before they departed, she made sure to drag Jiang Yu out of bed.
Jiang Yu, with dark circles under her eyes, looked like she was drifting through a haze.
Hao Jingye, puzzled, asked, "Why are you so exhausted? Didn’t you get six and a half hours of sleep last night?"
—That was already considered a relatively long sleep duration.
Jiang Yu replied groggily, "Don’t you play with your phone in bed?"
Hao Jingye responded, "…No."
Jiang Yu: "???"
Instinctively, she glanced at Sheng An.
With a blank expression, Sheng An smiled and said, "No."
These individuals did not suffer from "phone addiction"; their phones were merely tools for work, not entertainment. In fact, the models they used were different from regular phones.
They used customized military-grade phones with very high security.
Jiang Yu: "..."
—What a bunch of oddballs!
Then, Sheng An handed Jiang Yu over to Academician Zhou and the others and left with Hao Jingye.
Hao Jingye was a bit puzzled, "Where did Team Leader Qiu and the others go? Why haven’t we seen anyone for days?"
Sheng An was reviewing the feedback on her phone and didn’t even lift her head, calmly saying, "They might have found some very powerful superhumans in other regions, maybe even more than one."
Hao Jingye's expression was complicated, his face full of conflict, "What is Team Leader Qiu planning?"
Sheng An: "She seems gentle, but she's actually very proud, especially when facing me. So, you're right, she's preparing a big move to shock us when she appears."
"Sister Sheng, aren't you worried?" Hao Jingye was already anxious.
Sheng An: "Not at all."
She switched screens, remaining quite composed.
Hao Jingye wanted to say something more, but seeing her expression, he swallowed his words.
—The emperor is not in a hurry, but the eunuch is.
"The preparations are complete, and the SWAT team has surrounded the Fu'an Community. Let's go meet the Iron Man who believes in the light." Sheng An put away her phone.
Last night, she had given the orders, and by 6 AM, other departments had coordinated with the Doomsday Special Affairs Department to make all the arrangements.
At 7 AM, the SWAT team quietly surrounded the Fu'an Community.
Everything was ready.
Upon hearing this, Hao Jingye immediately stood up straight, entering work mode, "Okay, Sister Sheng, I've already arranged for the assembly of the interrogation room for the metal ability user. Once we bring Li Xin back, we can use it."
Sheng An nodded and got into the car.
A low-key black car drove towards the Fu'an Community.
Before 8 AM, the car stopped at the entrance of the community.
Sheng An met up with the SWAT team and took the box they brought.
Seeing what was inside, Hao Jingye's expression was complicated, "Sister Sheng, Li Xin is our future teammate, and the Song family has been quite cooperative. Do we really need to use force to capture him?"
—He was ultimately worried about damaging teammate relationships.
Sheng An understood what he meant.
But—
Sheng An smiled slightly, "Do you think a 16-year-old boy who believes in the light and calls himself Iron Man, after gaining superpowers, will really listen to his parents and cooperate with us?"
In fact, if the metal ability user were Song Linwei or Li Xin's father, the situation would be much better.
At least the first two were calm and could be reasoned with.
But Li Xin, a boy with a middle school syndrome, was the hardest to control and predict.
Who knows what strange things are going on in his mind?
If the metal ability wasn't so useful, Sheng An would definitely choose to "ignore" this anomaly.
A metal ability user who steals children's Ultraman figurines—just thinking about it gives her a headache.
Hao Jingye: "…Got it."
*
Meanwhile.
At the Song family residence in Fu'an Community.
Li Xin had returned, so Song Linwei didn't go back to Huayu Community but stayed with his parents. Song Linlin's family was also there.
In the face of the apocalypse, careers and jobs seemed insignificant.
After the calm and discussion yesterday, they gathered again early this morning to continue their talks.
Song's mother asked, "Is Xiao Xin still not up?"
Song Linlin shook her head, "No, he always sleeps until 11 AM during holidays. Just leave him be."
Song's father asked Song Linwei, "When are we going to negotiate with the government?"
Song Linwei replied, "Let's wait a couple more days, gather more information first. I'll contact someone from the government. That Sheng An seems to have high authority. I have her assistant's phone number, just in time—"
At this moment.
"Bang—" A sound echoed as the door to the room suddenly opened.
Everyone was startled and quickly looked over.
The metal on the doorknob had melted, and a young boy ran out from inside, full of energy.
The boy was dressed in gold, with golden mechanical arms, a metal mask on his face, and a metal helmet on his head, clearly dressed up to conceal his appearance.
At first glance, he looked like a "metal man."
But once he spoke, it was unmistakably a boy's voice—
"Why contact the government? I don't want to be studied or controlled. The apocalypse is coming, and as the chosen one, I will dominate the world and rule the apocalypse!"
As soon as he spoke, he sounded like a boy with a middle school syndrome.
The Song family: "..."
Song Linwei rubbed his head, feeling a headache, his voice helpless:
"Xiao Xin, why are you like this again? Didn't I tell you not to use your special abilities lightly? What if the government finds out?"
"Call me Iron Man!"
Li Xin slammed his hand on the table, and the tabletop instantly shattered, dust flying.
"Cough, cough, cough—" Li Xin wasn't prepared and choked a couple of times, feeling a bit embarrassed.
But he had a thick skin and quickly recovered, raising his chin again, proudly saying, "Let them find out. The apocalypse is coming anyway, and superheroes fear no government!"
He patted his chest with his mechanical hand, making a "bang bang" metal collision sound.
"I'm no longer the old Li Xin. I'm the superhero Iron Man Li Xin. I'm invincible. Even bullets can't penetrate my indestructible body!" Under the mask, his face was full of pride.
Even if his expression couldn't be seen, just listening to his arrogant voice, one could imagine his smug look.
Song Linlin felt a headache coming on.
Li Huai's hand itched, wanting to grab something.
Li Xin moved his mechanical arms and said loudly, "Don't worry. From now on, I will protect you all, but superheroes belong to all humanity."
After saying this, he raised his foot and walked out.
"Li Xin, what are you doing!!" Li Huai couldn't hold back and roared.
Li Xin stood by the window, turned back, and gave a pretentious smile—
"Saving the world."
After saying this, the window instantly opened, and he jumped out from above.
In fact.
He had long wanted to do this.
The day after awakening his ability, he skipped school to show off to his uncle, and even took a tour of the neighboring kid's house.
When his uncle found out, he ordered him to return to school. Of course, he didn’t want to listen, but his uncle said he wanted to verify if the meteorite would really bring about the apocalypse.
Li Xin agreed.
Now it had been verified, and they got the answer from the authorities.
The apocalypse was really coming.
And the government was still hiding it from the public.
—Ha, he decided not to hide anymore. He was going to save the world!
- Writer
