Looking at Peter, who was standing before him completely covered up, Herman's mind went blank.
Happiness... or rather, a shock, had arrived far too suddenly.
Work for "The Punisher"?
To be honest, Peter's earlier impassioned speech had indeed moved him immensely.
But after the initial excitement, the waves of stinging pain from his hands forced his attention back to reality.
This man before him was moody and ruthless. If he followed him, would there really be a good end for him?
Moreover... his hands had already been ruined by him!
In this state, he was no different from a cripple. What value could he possibly create for him?
Watching Herman stare at his own hands with a flickering expression, Peter easily guessed what he was thinking.
He let out a light chuckle and spoke up:
"You seem to still doubt my abilities."
As he spoke, Peter reached out and placed his hands on Herman's mangled and deformed hands.
"Watch closely."
Herman subconsciously looked over.
In the next second, he witnessed a scene he would never forget for the rest of his life.
A soft, warm white light radiated from Peter's palms.
This light seemed to possess a life of its own, holy and pure.
Peter gently covered Herman's twisted left wrist, where the bones were poking through the flesh, with his glowing palm.
Immediately after, an indescribable warm current rapidly spread from his hands to his entire body.
The agonizing pain that had reached his marrow was receding at an incredible speed!
Under Herman's astonished gaze,
his fingers and wrists, which had been snapped and twisted into pretzels, were resetting themselves at a staggering pace!
Broken bones healed rapidly under the white light, and torn flesh began to grow back at high speed, becoming as good as new!
In just three to five seconds, his ruined hands had miraculously returned to their original state.
Herman cautiously moved his fingers. All ten were flexible and moved freely, as if the heart-wrenching pain from moments ago was just a nightmare.
"This... this... this..."
Herman's mouth hung open wide enough to fit an egg, and meaningless syllables sputtered from his throat. He felt like his brain had completely shut down.
After a long while, Herman finally stammered out:
"Are you... an Angel?"
To the sheltered Herman, this near-miraculous healing method was something only a god could achieve.
Combined with Peter's earlier self-introduction as "The Punisher," Herman naturally thought of something like a Judgment Angel from Christian legends!
"If I were to cosplay as one of those, I'd probably need to switch to a white and gold suit,"
Peter joked with a smile, then patted Herman on the shoulder and said:
"Now, Herman, tell me your choice!"
"Do you want to continue being a rat in the gutter, or work for me and become one of the elite you never dared to dream of being?"
Thud!
Without any hesitation, Herman Schultz dropped to one knee and somewhat clumsily placed his hand over his heart in a gesture of loyalty:
"Boss, thank you for giving me the chance to reform. I am willing to follow you! As long as you give the word, I will do anything for you, except for murder and arson."
"Don't worry, I won't ask you to commit murder or arson."
Peter reached out with both hands to help him up from the ground, a subtle gesture that warmed Herman's heart.
This loser, who had been looked down upon wherever he went, felt what it was like to be respected for the first time.
Just as Herman was feeling deeply moved, Peter's next words left him instantly dumbfounded:
"If I need someone killed, I usually just do it on the spot. I don't need my subordinates to make an extra trip for that."
Herman:...If Peter had looked like a saint bathed in golden light to him before, now, Peter had become a being that was half-Angel and half-demon.
After a brief daze, Herman snapped out of it, swallowed hard, and asked:
"Then Boss, what are we doing now?"
Peter's ears twitched under his hood. He faintly heard the school bell coming from the direction of Midtown High School—lunch break was almost over.
After thinking for a moment, he pulled out his wallet, handed all the hundred-dollar bills inside to Herman, and then said:
"First, find a place to clean yourself up. Then... I'll give you a week to create a new battery of the same size, but with only about twenty percent of the capacity of the batteries you have on you now. Also, hand over the related research data. Can you do that?"
"No problem, Boss!" Taking the money, Herman couldn't help but feel his nose sting. He felt that since his parents died, no one in this World had cared about him like this.
He nodded hurriedly, but then, after hesitating, he couldn't help but ask:
"But, why do we want to make batteries with lower capacity instead?"
Nonsense, how else can you make money if you don't squeeze the toothpaste slowly!
Peter, who was well-versed in the various shady tactics of smartphone manufacturers from his past life, couldn't help but complain in his heart.
Of course, he wouldn't tell Herman that, so he just made up an excuse about "an innocent man getting into trouble because of his wealth" and not wanting to be targeted by tech giants too early.
Even though it was just an excuse, it still left Herman in awe.
No wonder he was the boss and Herman was just the employee!
After exchanging contact information with Herman, Peter intended to leave, but after glancing at Herman's suit and iron gauntlets, he quickly changed his mind:
"Wait! Take off that suit and equipment. Who knows if those witnesses have already described your appearance to the police?
You wouldn't want to get caught the moment you step out of the alley, would you?"
"Boss is wise!" Herman felt another wave of gratitude and immediately stripped off the gear in a few quick motions.
After Herman left the alley, Peter nodded with satisfaction and picked up the gear from the ground.
The moment his fingers touched the equipment, a system notification sounded in his head:
[Detected sacrificeable Dark Green item: Shocker's Tools of the Trade]
[Shocker's Work Suit and Vibration Gauntlets. Although they are only the first set of criminal equipment Shocker created, they hold extraordinary commemorative significance to him.]
[Sacrifice for: 800 points. Proceed with sacrifice?]
"Since you're going to be an honest man from now on, I, as your boss, might as well put this gear to good use!"
With that whisper, Peter chose to sacrifice it without any hesitation.
Seeing another 800 sacrifice points arrive, Peter couldn't help but be in a great mood.
Not only had he recruited a talent like Herman, but he had also gained a large wave of sacrifice points. Being a superhero is truly a wonderful thing!