A few days had passed since the Kryptonian incident.
However, the global fervor did not cool down; instead, it skyrocketed exponentially.
This real-life version of an "alien invasion" revitalized the KPIs of all global news media, as simply reporting on any related topic could easily harvest massive traffic.
Among them, the most noteworthy were undoubtedly the few Superheroes who stepped forward during the battle in Metropolis.
The news media called them the Earth Guardians, and the battle footage spread wildly across all major platforms.
Overnight, they became hero idols in the hearts of countless people around the World.
Of course, they weren't the only ones who arrived at the scene that day.
Many super-powered individuals scattered across the World, after hearing the message Darian broadcasted through his megaphone, also rushed to Metropolis with the intention of watching the excitement or helping out.
However, upon entering the city of Metropolis, they saw a bunch of Kryptonians flying around in the high sky, their eye lasers easily slicing through reinforced concrete, a casual wave of their hands blowing up entire buildings, and missiles hitting their bodies without even scratching their skin.
They fell silent for a few seconds and then decisively turned around and fled.
This was simply a battle of gods; it was not a fight that small fries like them could participate in.
Major media outlets wanted to conduct exclusive interviews with The Seven, but less than twenty-four hours after the battle ended, the members of The Seven had already dispersed and left.
Diana returned to the Louvre where she worked, and Arthur returned to the deep sea, saying he was preparing to do something big.
Clark, after properly handling the Kryptonian ship and the remains of his kin, put on a pair of black-rimmed glasses, combed his hair into an adult style, and went to the Daily Planet to apply for a reporter position.
His home in Kansas had been smashed to pieces by General Zod, and rebuilding the house required a large sum of money. Since his family didn't have any savings, he could only mortgage the house and take out a bank loan to cover the reconstruction costs.
In order to pay off the debt as quickly as possible and avoid the execution line, Clark had to come out and find a job to earn money.
It was quite absurd; Superman, who possessed the power to destroy the World, actually had to work to pay off a loan.
However, Darian felt that Clark's choice to work as a reporter at the Daily Planet was more for the purpose of getting close to Lois, solely for natural reproduction, spreading his lineage, and completing his evil conspiracy to rebuild Krypton.
On this matter, Bruce's thoughts were surprisingly consistent with Darian's.
Therefore, he didn't intend to show off his "money power" to solve Clark's economic problems; instead, he gave Clark tips on how to pursue girls.
As long as Clark had more bonds, the probability of him becoming an enemy of Earth would be smaller.
It was just a pity that those techniques had no effect on Clark; Clark was not as "approachable with billions" as he was.
Furthermore, he had realized a more powerful technique himself: if you like a girl, just ask her out directly. Every time he used this move on Lois, it worked; it never failed.
Darian: "..."
Bruce: "..."
The stat-monster thinks he has great skills, huh.
As for Barry, he originally wanted to follow his idol, Darian, and learn more things.
But Darian found him to be a "chatterbox," second only to that guy Wade, so he simply shoved him to Bruce, letting this veteran player with over a decade of experience as a Superhero guide this new rookie who just entered the field.
It just so happened that Gotham City was a place of outstanding people and spirits; it never lacked small monsters, and there were no oversized bosses that exceeded specifications, making it the most suitable place for a beginner like Barry to grind experience and level up.
Although Bruce also disliked Barry, he thought that he could use this to collect Barry's ability data. Moreover, having an extra pair of hands could help him handle those trivial incidents, allowing him to free up time to research a new type of anti-Superman armor, so he reluctantly agreed.
Thus, the Gotham criminal circle welcomed a new Superhero: The Flash.
Since Barry arrived in Gotham, the already worrisome crime rate plummeted again.
Often, criminals would be committing a crime one second, and the next, they would be tied up tightly with ropes, thrown on the side of the road waiting for the Gotham City Police Department officers to pick up the bodies.
Even those veteran villains who had run rampant in Gotham for years were not spared.
As long as Barry activated his ability, no one could keep up with his speed. Opponents couldn't even see his movements, let alone fight back. The whole process felt like just a gust of wind blowing past, and then everything was over.
This made the criminals of Gotham miserable.
In the past, when Gotham only had Batman, once that bat-freak acted, he would at least break a few bones or limbs, and at worst, turn people into vegetables, making every criminal live in the shadow of fear, suffering double torture in body and mind, just like a psychopath.
But people could grit their teeth and endure such things.
But then there was an additional Spider-Man, whose methods were even more ruthless than Batman's.
Any criminal who fell into his hands could consider themselves lucky if they survived until the court trial.
Now, on top of that, this Flash had popped up, coming and going without a trace. The criminals caught by him were confused from start to finish, not even understanding what had happened, with absolutely no "crime experience" at all.
Nowadays, Gotham City had become a hell-level crime dungeon.
Anyone wanting to commit a crime here might randomly trigger the spawn of these three Gotham bosses.
Of course, it was also possible to encounter officers from the Gotham City Police Department.
But now there was an extra rule in Gotham: if you encounter Gotham City Police Department officers, never think about fighting back or resisting.
Because it would trigger a special mechanism called "administrative leave," where they would empty their magazines at the criminal from several different directions simultaneously.
Even those powerful super-villains dared not easily provoke the Gotham City Police Department.
Because if they went too far, the Gotham City Police Department would release their ultimate weapon, the Gotham Gun God who had once single-handedly washed half of Arkham Asylum in blood; then their fate would only be worse.
Nowadays, the criminal employment environment in Gotham was becoming increasingly harsh, and many criminals had to quit the Gotham criminal circle and move to the neighboring Metropolis.
At least there, they wouldn't encounter any bat-freaks, spider-freaks, or lightning-freaks.
Clark: "Ah, yes, yes, yes!"
Shortly after the battle in Metropolis ended, Darian suddenly received a call from a stranger.
The person on the other end of the line claimed to be a government official, their attitude respectful, stating that there had been some issues with the process of distributing the whistle-blower bounty.
To express their apologies, the government decided to increase the original bounty several times over and distribute it to Darian's account as soon as possible.
Obviously, those high-level government officials were worried that Darian would be angry at them because of Commissioner Smith embezzling the bounty, and in a fit of rage, wipe them out too, so they intended to use money to smooth things over.
If it were any other Superhero, they wouldn't be this worried, even if it were the powerful Clark.
Because those Superheroes all followed the rules and had firm moral bottom lines, just like when Clark was detained by the Air Force and didn't resist despite facing various unfriendly treatments.
But Darian was different.
He didn't care about so-called rules at all, and his moral bottom line was practically non-existent.
He really would kill his enemies, and he was particularly petty, taking revenge on the spot without leaving a grudge overnight.
If they dared to treat Darian the same way they treated Clark, I'm afraid the fate of these people wouldn't be any better than Commissioner Smith's.
Most importantly, Darian was just too powerful.
Offending such a vindictive monster meant they probably wouldn't be able to sleep peacefully in the future.
Although Darian had already retrieved his bounty from Commissioner Smith, and it was much more than the original amount, he still unceremoniously accepted this windfall; it would be a waste not to take it.
After hanging up the phone, Darian glanced at the dungeon quest progress.
[Objective: Become a Superhero, the nemesis of evil, and resolve three major crises (1/3)]
The intensity of the Kryptonian incident definitely counted as a major crisis, and the progress bar finally moved.
"I just need to wait for two more major crises to complete it."
Darian wasn't in a hurry.
As the saying goes, everything is difficult at the beginning; with the Kryptonian incident as a lead-in, he believed various crises would soon follow one after another.
Of course, he didn't forget the mission Satan had issued him, and immediately dialed Constantine's number.
The phone was answered in a second.
Before Darian could speak, Constantine's voice came through: "Darian, my good friend, we really have a telepathic connection. I happened to have something to ask you, and you called me. Did you come specifically to help me?"
Darian pondered for two seconds: "Oh no, I've been clearing out my contacts recently, and I just forgot who this guy marked as 'scum' was. It turns out to be you; then it's nothing."
Constantine: "..."
Darian hung up the phone directly.
He knew Constantine too well; nothing good ever came from this guy looking for him.
Soon, the phone rang again, the ringtone persistent, with the stance of calling until the end of time if not answered.
Darian had to answer the phone, only to hear Constantine anxiously say: "Buddy, don't hang up. This is a real emergency. Remember that matter I was investigating? I already have a lead, but I can't explain it clearly over the phone. Can you come to Los Angeles? This might concern the fate of the human World."
[NPC John Constantine has issued a new quest to you]
[Quest: Constantine's Plea for Help]
[Objective: Go to Los Angeles to meet with Constantine and learn about the relevant events]
[Reward: Experience Points +500, Constantine Affinity +10, Random Item *1]
[This quest is a prerequisite quest; completing it will unlock the next quest]
Seeing this reward, Darian was a bit disdainful.
It wasn't because the reward was too small, but because of Constantine's affinity.
As everyone knows, Constantine's affinity is directly proportional to the mortality rate; the higher the affinity, the higher the probability of sacrificing oneself as a good friend.
Los Angeles.
Darian followed the address to find Constantine's rented apartment and pulled out a universal key to open the door.
Inside, Constantine was leaning against the table smoking, wondering what he was thinking about. On the sofa next to him sat a woman in a police uniform, her eyes staring blankly at the ceiling, unconsciously inhaling Constantine's secondhand smoke.
Hearing the sound of the door opening, Constantine turned his head sharply, the cigarette almost falling from his mouth: "God, how did you get in? I clearly locked the door."
Darian chuckled: "As a priest, it's normal to know some lock-picking skills."
How the hell is that normal!?
Constantine's mouth twitched, but he quickly threw this bit of snark to the back of his mind.
He stubbed out his cigarette, and a flattering smile immediately piled up on his face: "Truly worthy of being my good friend, you really come to help when there's trouble, unlike those bastards, friends in heart, but when things happen, phone calls don't get through, every one of them playing dead all day."
If they didn't play dead, they'd probably really be dead.
Darian sneered and walked to the sofa to sit down: "Don't misunderstand; I came for the sake of peace in the human World, it has nothing to do with you."
Constantine was long used to being disliked by various friends and didn't care about this at all.
He pointed to the woman next to him and said: "Let me introduce you; this is Detective Angela Dodson, from the Los Angeles police department. This matter has a lot to do with her."
Then, Constantine began to narrate the course of events.
This matter was mainly related to Angela's sister, Isabel. Isabel's experience was similar to Constantine's; both had extremely high spiritual sensitivity from a young age, often seeing some heart-dropping weird things. After telling their families, they were suspected of being on drugs.
After the urine test confirmed no drug use, the family breathed a sigh of relief and turned around to send her to a mental hospital.
As everyone knows, how to prove one is not sick is a World-class problem; even the most professional psychologists, when locked in a mental hospital, cannot prove they are not sick and walk out.
Isabel was thus locked in the mental hospital.
Just a while ago, she suddenly jumped off a building and committed suicide in the mental hospital.
But the problem was, Isabel was a devout Catholic believer and would not commit suicide.
As a police officer, Angela began to investigate the true cause of her sister's death herself. Following the clues left by her sister, she finally found Constantine.
Constantine happened to be investigating the abnormal events of demons frequently appearing during this time and found a large number of demonic traces on Angela, immediately realizing that she must have been targeted by demons.
So he played along, keeping Angela by his side as bait, wanting to fish out the mastermind hidden behind the scenes.
However, Constantine flipped his car this time.
The mastermind wasn't fished out, and instead, he dragged himself into the water.
Just moments ago, he and Angela were chased by a group of demons. Fortunately, Constantine took out his bottom-of-the-box props and barely managed to expel that group of demons, saving both their lives.
Constantine said seriously: "To be able to command so many demons at once, the mastermind is definitely not a small character; it might be some major demon from hell."
Although he said so, a look of excitement appeared on his face.
The more serious the matter, the greater the merit.
If he solved this, he might be able to get a first-class merit in Heaven. By then, not to mention going to Heaven, he might even be able to get a formal Angel position, without worrying about going to Hell and picking up soap with those demons.
Darian nodded: "Then what do you plan to do next?"
Constantine grinned: "I plan to go to Hell once, find Isabel's soul, and ask clearly."
Click!
A crisp sound of a bullet being chambered rang out.
Darian pulled out the Golden Desert Eagle and pointed it at Constantine's head: "Should have said so earlier; I've been waiting for this opportunity for a long time. I'll send you to Hell right now."
Constantine: "???"
***************************
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