"Hello, Shawn, long time no see!"
"Long time no see, Brad, how have you been lately?"
"Not bad. What are you buying this time?"
In Rendell Town, at the Saibai Shop, Brad, the part-time clerk wearing a blue and white striped uniform, greeted Shawn with a familiar tone.
Although Shawn didn't come often, Brad had a very good memory; the experience of fighting off a foolish thief together made him more familiar with Shawn than with ordinary customers.
Of course, Shawn preferred to believe it was his outstanding temperament that made the other party remember him.
Anyway, after a few interactions, the two of them got to know each other just like that.
"Routine shopping." Shawn adjusted his glasses.
His gaze swept over the life-sized cardboard cutout standing next to the counter, and he suddenly paused, speaking nonchalantly: "Yo, there are more customers in the shop today. Having a promotion?"
Compared to the sparse business during his previous visits, the Saibai Shop was clearly much livelier today.
"Haha, you could say that."
Brad flashed a signature bright smile and pointed at the cutout next to him: "See that? Superman, Texas's own local superhero!"
He had already seen it.
Shawn carefully observed the life-sized cutout, which was almost the same height as himself, right now: the dark blue form-fitting combat suit, the bright red fluttering cape, the deep, gazing look with black hair and blue eyes.
No one knew better than him who this was.
But when was this pose taken...
And what was up with the fake signature on the cutout that read, 'I am your good neighbor — Superman!'?
In an instant, Shawn felt an overwhelming sense of shame.
He suppressed the strange feeling in his heart and said with a serious expression: "Did you pay for the endorsement? Watch out, or Superman might come over and kick your ass hard!"
"He wouldn't do that."
Brad was very certain, beaming with spirit: "I've talked with Superman. He had a very good attitude toward me and even said the things in the shop are excellent!"
After saying that, he gave a thumbs up.
Shawn smiled: "So, does that mean you know Superman well?"
"Of course!"
The other party patted his chest: "Superman is busy saving the world, yet he still finds time to come to the shop to buy things. This is all because I get along well with him. You get what I mean, right?"
"I get it, I get it."
Being able to know an incredibly popular superhero was indeed very cool.
Shawn pondered for a moment and lowered his voice: "I think Superman doesn't mind, but you'd better be careful. Don't invite other trouble because of this."
"Haha, what trouble could there be?"
Brad slicked his hair back and said nonchalantly: "Actually, I just helped suggest the idea. The one who really put up the cutout is the shop owner, Dalton, our patrol captain. He is already a fanatical fan of Superman and always feels that this way he can be closer to his idol. Don't worry, Dalton has plenty of money. Even if the shop gets messed up, it's fine!"
It seems Superman's charm was still quite significant.
Shawn didn't know whether to laugh or cry: "You guys just calculated that Superman wouldn't come back again, but things are unpredictable. Besides, that wasn't what I meant just now."
Brad waved his hand: "It's fine, don't worry."
Doing business and making money in The Boys' world, and playing a few tricks within a reasonable range, didn't seem shameful.
Shawn was not angry because of this.
A remote town with a sparse population didn't seem to have any danger.
After chatting with the clerk, he walked toward the meat and fresh milk shopping area.
His own appetite was not small, but it didn't matter if he ate a lot or a little; he could completely rely on the passive talent of 'Stellar Energy' to absorb daily energy.
But Mira was different; her appetite was becoming more and more astonishing, and recently it had reached a shocking level.
To ensure the nutritional needs of his wife and the child in her belly, Shawn was lavish with his procurement of supplies, and his shopping list was very long.
After a good while of sweeping through the aisles, he was finally satisfied and pushed the shopping cart to check out.
At this moment, a tall, thin, brown-haired young white man came to the front of the counter.
He was wearing a dark green form-fitting top paired with a heavy brown protective vest, and an exaggeratedly sized revolver was tucked at his waist.
It looked strange yet harmonious.
In Texas, it was actually very common for the public to carry firearms.
But this white teenager was only about sixteen or seventeen years old, and he was not ordinary at all.
In fact, he was indeed not an ordinary person, but a recorded and traceable super-human hero in Texas.
His attire belonged to a typical superhero and his combat gear.
"Superman is familiar with you guys? Contact him immediately and say someone is waiting for him here."
The young man issued a notice to Brad, but his eyes were fixed straight on Superman's life-sized cutout.
[Name]: Wrangler
[Gender]: Male
[Age]: 16
[Lineage]: compound v Super-human
[Abilities]: Super-Precision LV3, Hearing Enhancement LV3, Physical Enhancement LV2
[Evaluation]: Strong City-level, a super-human with not-so-high ability levels but a balanced combination.
A superhero with strong city-level strength at only sixteen years old truly had unlimited potential.
Vought International had a good eye.
But now, someone was in big trouble.
"Whoa! You are Wrangler, right?!"
"I've seen your film debut, 'Border Angel Wrangler'. Your performance was truly amazing!!"
Brad recognized the other party's identity, with a vivid look of surprise on his face, and chattered on: "You are the pride of our Texas. I didn't expect a Vought-affiliated superstar to actually visit our small shop..."
Shawn watched from the back and couldn't help but laugh to himself.
He had seen this cowardly look of the other party once before; his acting skills were really not bad.
'Click—'
The sound of a bullet being chambered.
Without even seeing how Wrangler drew his gun, he quickly raised his hand, and the cold muzzle was pressed against Brad's forehead in an instant.
"Uh..."
Brad's eyes widened, like a chicken whose neck was being throttled.
The scene went quiet.
"Oh, my god~"
The customers in the shop saw that something was wrong, looked at each other, and quietly retreated, leaving one by one, yet they didn't take any less of the things in their hands.
The situation was sudden; Brad would forgive them.
Wrangler ignored them, not even glancing to the side, just staring at Superman's cutout.
"I hate nonsense."
His voice was cold: "Contact Superman, or die."
He wasn't just trying to scare anyone; he could really do it.
Texas citizens who had some understanding of Wrangler would know that this problem teenager had used extremely brutal methods since the day he debuted. In addition to his hero identity of maintaining border safety, he also had a less glorious negative label: 'Texas Maniac'.
It wasn't illegal for a maniac to kill people.
"Li-listen to my explanation..."
At this moment, Brad was extremely terrified.
His previous joking around was completely useless. He said with a mournful face: "Superman did come once, but he bought things and left. We don't know him at all."
It seemed everyone had left, so he wasn't afraid to tell the truth, only praying that the other party would not actually shoot, considering he was being honest.
"Bang! Bang!!!"
Two gunshots.
Brad closed his eyes in fear, wearing a mask of pain, thinking he might be executed on the spot for being clever.
'Ding—'
The shop door opened and then closed.
"Am I still alive?"
When he felt his heart still pounding and gathered the courage to open his eyes, he found that he felt no pain at all, while the Superman standee in front had two bullet holes in it, one in the forehead and one in the chest.
Where was the figure of Wrangler now?
"I say..."
"Ahhhhhh~~!!!"
Brad was still shaken, and just as he took a few deep breaths, he heard a sound beside him and was startled again.
He clutched his chest and rolled his eyes: "Shawn, you haven't left yet?"
Why would he leave?
Was the show not good to watch?
Shawn smiled: "Do you still dare to hang up Superman's cutout?"
"I'll make a new one tomorrow!"
Brad said angrily: "That little brat, when he participated in the 'America Three-Gun Competition', I even voted for him. I didn't expect him to be such a rotten person in private."
Actually, he knew Wrangler's style.
Before, when the gun wasn't pointed at him, Brad thought Wrangler was cool, but once the gun was pointed at him, he didn't think so anymore.
Shawn gave a thumbs up: "Tough!"
He was thoughtful: "It seems Vought International is very interested in Superman."
"That doesn't concern us either!"
Brad yelled, feeling as aggrieved as a little girl: "You can tell with your ass that there's no way we could know Superman!"
Shawn found it funny: "That's not what you said at the beginning."
"Sigh, unlucky!"
Brad sighed, looked at the empty shop, and suddenly remembered something, then couldn't help but curse, "They haven't paid yet, right? These damn guys, next time I'll charge them double!"
He had lost a lot of money today, and he decided to have Dalton set up an even larger Superman standee tomorrow to recoup the losses.
Shawn didn't stiff him like the other customers.
After silently wishing him good luck, he chose to pay the bill before leaving.
Walking out of the shop, he was in a pleasant mood.
Before he was Superman, he had once complained that Superman's disguise was some kind of conceptual skill, getting by everywhere with just a pair of glasses.
Now he indicated that things could indeed be like that.
He was becoming more and more proficient in the use of the 'Bio-field'; super-humans like Wrangler who did not possess sensing abilities could not discover his true identity even if they stood right in front of him.
"The database doesn't match; Vought International must be anxious, right?"
"They can't find any information about Superman. They must be desperate to figure out where he popped out from now..."
Shawn would not, and did not want to, give them this opportunity.
To be honest, Wrangler's luck wasn't bad, but his strength didn't allow it; even if the opportunity was placed in front of him, he couldn't grasp it.
There won't be such good luck in the future.
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it is 30 chapter ahead