Chapter 13: Apprentice Hero

I took Zhong Mengfan to meet Xiao Xingyun at the agreed location.

Lucky is wearing a half-length cape-style combat uniform, a style favored by many superheroes these days. His cape is adorned with tassels, each adorned with a three-dimensional, multicolored lucky star. Lucky star elements also appear on his gloves and shoes.

Well, the style of the combat uniform is quite flamboyant and exaggerated.

I was mentally evaluating Xiao Xingyun's combat uniform, and Zhong Mengfan next to me praised it directly, "So cool."

…

Little Lucky waved to us and shouted enthusiastically, "Here, here."

I also nodded at Xiao Xingyun.

Xiao Xingyun first said to me, "Ye Shen, it's an honor to meet you."

"Hello, Xiao Xingyun. I'll leave today's newcomer to you." I pointed at Zhong Mengfan.

Zhong Mengfanye greeted Xiao Xingyun, "Hello, Mr. Xiao Xingyun."

Xiao Xingyun looked Zhong Mengfan up and down. "So, newcomer, what's your name?"

"My name is Zhong..." Zhong Mengfan had just said his last name when Xiao Xingyun raised his hand to interrupt him.

"I'm not asking for your real name, but your alias or pseudonym as a superhero, understand?"

"What's that alias doctor?" Zhong Mengfan asked me.

I said, "I was negligent. When we become heroes and carry out missions, we will not use our real names. This will protect our privacy to the greatest extent possible."

I've always followed Minister Zhang's advice and considered Zhong Mengfan the next Ranger successor, but he's clearly not in his element now. Using the title of Ranger too soon will only resent those who were once the reserve for the next Ranger, the true heroes in reserve.

After all, the Ranger's ability can directly upgrade an A-class hero to an S-class hero. Everyone has always worked hard to become the best hero and inherit the title of the next Ranger.

Now that the Ranger has died unexpectedly, his abilities have been passed on to an ordinary person who can't use them at all. I think no one would be able to accept this fact. Besides, the reserves are at least at the level of quasi-A-class heroes.

Therefore, it is not a good thing to reveal his identity as the Ranger's successor too early before Zhong Mengfan is able to use the Ranger's abilities.

I said to Xiao Xingyun, "Let's call him the new guy for now."

Then he turned to look at Zhong Mengfan and said, "You can think about your new name during this time."

"So you can choose your own hero name. Is the doctor's nickname Yashin?"

I shook my head. "Night Demon is my hero nickname, which is related to my abilities. However, because I've been an A-class hero for a long time, I've gradually gained some fame, and I'm a senior. Some young professional heroes who joined after me would call me Night God.

A hero nickname is just a way to prevent the enemy from recognizing our true identity. My name has no special meaning, and you can continue to call me Doctor."

I began to explain to Zhong Mengfan that he had no superpowers in the past, and he had not joined the trend of chasing popular heroes. Zhong Mengfan knew nothing about the world of people with superpowers.

Xiao Xingyun asked, "Newcomer, please tell me what your special ability is."

He seemed to realize that Zhong Mengfan was probably a newcomer who knew nothing, so he added, "Oh, just a brief description will be fine. We generally don't introduce all of our abilities to others, because in combat, every ability could be our trump card. Masks and exaggerated combat uniforms originally distinguished us during missions from our normal selves, serving as a form of protection. Some more cautious people would change their voices and hair color during missions. Of course, a large number of superheroes would not do this because they are always very confident in their own strength and therefore more flamboyant.

In short, when you're new, try not to reveal too much about your abilities when you're talking to people. This can easily allow someone with ulterior motives to gather intelligence on you and then conduct targeted retaliation."

"What kind of revenge?" Zhong Mengfan was obviously very concerned about his own safety.

I continued, "Superheroes aren't completely invincible. As long as you find a specific way to restrain their abilities and develop a comprehensive plan, a trained and physically strong ordinary person can still kill a superhero. On the dark web, when an ordinary person without special powers kills a superhero, they usually call it "deicide."

Zhong Mengfan swallowed his saliva and asked nervously, "Are there many superheroes killed by ordinary people?"

"Of course it's very, very rare! It's like you're in a game, your account is only level 1, but you want to challenge the boss of that level right away," Xiao Xingyun comforted. "And for newbies, killing a god requires taking down a famous, super-popular hero or a super-villain among the superpowered. Beginner heroes like us, just relax."

"After all this talk, what exactly are your abilities, newbie?"

"Well, I can control the airflow." Perhaps because this ability was too useless and embarrassing to say out loud, Zhong Mengfan said vaguely to Xiao Xingyun.

Little Lucky pointed at himself and said, "As you can see from my name, my ability can bring good luck."

I added to Zhong Mengfan, "Xiao Xingyun can use his powers all the time, without stopping or interrupting. You can discuss with him how to release his powers."

After listening to me, Zhong Mengfan exclaimed, "Mr. Lucky, you are so awesome!"

"Don't praise me so much. Good luck can make people happy, so for a long time, I've unconsciously controlled my abilities to a level where I can use them at all times. In reality, my abilities are very limited. For example, someone who gets hurt while riding a bicycle will still fall after coming into contact with me, but they won't be hurt. However, they are destined to encounter major accidents like car accidents, where they will be seriously injured or even die. I can't change their fate. If I force myself to use my abilities to change things, whether or not I succeed is another matter. I'll be hurt by them for a long time, and I'll go from being lucky to being unlucky."

I guess Xiao Xingyun would say this clearly, obviously having done something like this before and suffered the consequences. As for what state the unlucky Xiao Xingyun is in, I don't care.

But it was his next sentence that caught my attention.

"However, newcomer, you will become a formidable superhero. I can sense the recent fortunes of ordinary people and some professional heroes of similar skill level to me, but I can't tell yours or Ye Shen's fortunes, which means you both are very powerful. There's also a metaphysical theory that those with great power can change their destiny and break free from the constraints of fate."

"Me?" Zhong Mengfan pointed at himself in surprise and said embarrassedly, "I'm still a newbie who knows nothing, but I will work hard, Mr. Lucky!"

Little Lucky said, "Then let's start our one-day practice mission as a trainee hero now, newbie."

"Okay, Mr. Lucky." Zhong Mengfan said enthusiastically.

"However, Ye Shen, you are really a very good teacher. Even such a simple practical task requires you to follow it personally." Xiao Xingyun said to me, and then continued to say to Zhong Mengfan, "Only an outstanding newcomer like you is worthy of such teaching from your teacher." He could not hide the envy in his voice.

"Yes, yes, the doctor is a very patient person." Zhong Mengfan, who was still confused about the situation, nodded and said.

Originally, such a basic practical mission wouldn't require an additional psychic, but Zhong Mengfan inherited the Ranger's ability, the Heart of Justice, but couldn't use it. It was like someone possessing a huge treasure but lacking the power to protect it—how could anyone be reassured?

Because every successor of the Ranger is a powerful legendary hero, this made me, like Minister Zhang, overestimate the ability of this inheritance to allow A-level heroes to improve their strength and advance to S-level.

At the same time, I also underestimated how useless Zhong Mengfan was...

But with factors like the ranger's inherited special abilities, no one is qualified to be a teacher who might become a legendary hero in reserve.

Zhong Mengfan = The next Ranger

This sentence may need to be supplemented with a question mark, but the ranger's supernatural power and sense of justice in Zhong Mengfan is an affirmation.

I had to work as a partner and serve as a mentor to my master.

My heart is a little tired.

【Author has something to say】

Zhong Mengfan: Today is also a day of striving to become a superhero~

Wen Xiaye: Although I won’t grow old, I will feel tired.