Superman Termination Manual

In the deathly silence of the abandoned train station,

Ke Mingye sat frozen on a public wooden bench, his gaze fixed on the name on the business card. He swallowed hard, his Adam's apple rolling slowly up and down. Cold sweat seeped from the back of his hand.

Regaining his composure, he slowly lifted his eyes again, looking toward the name on the chat panel.

There was no mistake... the first ordinary person in the city to be controlled by a parasite had the exact same name as the "Commander of the Superhero Association" on the card in his hand:

——"Che Zhengchen".

Ke Mingye inhaled sharply, only now belatedly realizing that the offer of an olive branch to Blue Owl by this commander could very well be Gastella's doing.

"Is it really true? 'Che Zhengchen' has already been controlled by Gastella with worms..."

"Why else would he be interested in me... after all, I had the strange thing commission Gastella to kill Blue Owl. Was Gastella trying to lure me into a trap through 'Che Zhengchen'?"

Ke Mingye muttered to himself, shocked by this revelation and breaking into a cold sweat.

If he were to join the Superhero Association as Ke Mingye, revealing his identity in front of Che Zhengchen.

And, only when he donned the battle suit would he have the superhuman information panel on his body.

If Gastella were to see his true form through the eyes of Che Zhengchen after he shed his battle suit and realize that Ke Mingye did not have an information panel on his person, it would all be over...

"Good thing I didn't fall for the trap."

Ke Mingye took a deep breath, thinking to himself.

Upon further thought, he suddenly realized something strange: if Che Zhengchen was controlled, the high ranks of the association should have noticed, and the members of the superhero teams would likely have detected it as well.

So Gastella must be leaving Che Zhengchen unattended, allowing him to act freely. When needed, Gastella would then activate the worms inside him to manipulate his actions.

From previous observations, a person infested with worms wouldn't remember what they did while being controlled, which could explain why Che Zhengchen himself was unaware.

"Thinking about it, his offer to me must have been of his own volition, not Gastella's control. Otherwise, the new superheroes would have questioned him about it afterwards, and he would have noticed something wrong," Ke Mingye thought.

Che Zhengchen was definitely a good card to play, an ordinary person holding certain qualifications and status within the Superhero Association; he might even meet the association's top brass.

Gastella would never be so foolish as to overplay this card on a regular basis, risking Che Zhengchen realizing he was infested with worms.

After all, getting rid of a small fry like Blue Owl wasn't just a matter of ease; there was no need to involve Che Zhengchen, especially since she hadn't fully trusted the strange thing's words.

Ke Mingye opened the chat panel with his thoughts and sent a message to Cai Bing.

[Failed Man: The "Che Zhengchen" you found out about, he's a commander of the Superhero Association, isn't he?]

[Cai Bing: No bro, I was just about to tell you, how did you know?]

[Cai Bing: I just found out his background. You haven't planted surveillance devices in my rental, have you? Or have someone peeping at me, that's a bit over the line. I suggest keeping some distance.]

[Failed Man: Can you not misunderstand me? I just went out in the Blue Owl Battle Suit to bump into a newbie superhero and got this "Che Zhengchen" business card from him.]
Stay tuned for updates on My Virtual Library Empire

[Failed Man: That person said Che Zhengchen is his superior, the kind of commander who specifically manages superhero teams. From what I've heard online, this role usually involves acting as a psychological counselor for superheroes, as well as giving them orders and assigning missions.]

[Cai Bing: Ah, I see.]

[Cai Bing: That's quite a coincidence. Anyway, I suggest you don't join the Superhero Association for now. This guy has been controlled by Gastella's worms and might do anything unexpected.]

[Cai Bing: By the way, the surveillance camera there was damaged, but I used some special means to restore the footage. Right now, it should just be the two of us who know about it.]

Ke Mingye typed in the chat box: [No worries, I can actually interact with him, see if I can get some information on Gastella from him...]

Before he could finish, Cai Bing sent another message.

[Cai Bing: Even though I said that, I feel like with your personality, you're definitely going to want to try anyway. So good luck.]

Ke Mingye's eye twitched as he silently retracted what he was about to type.

[Failed Man: Haha, you know me too well.]

[Cai Bing: Right, I have a one-time "hypnosis" gadget at my disposal, given to me by Fan Quan last time. If you need it, you can ask me for it.]

[Failed Man: What use would that be?]

[Cai Bing: For example, those who are controlled by the parasitic worms tend to selectively forget about the worms, but they may not have actually forgotten. Hypnosis might help them retrieve these memories.]

[Failed Man: I see, you want me to hypnotize Che Zhengchen to see if we can find any leads on Gastella?]

[Cai Bing: You'll also need a brain imaging helmet so that you can recreate Gastella's likeness from Che Zhengchen's brain.]

[Failed Man: I'll try my best. Maybe my old man will stuff a brain imaging helmet in my hands to play with, or I could ask Xizi Yue for one. Shouldn't be hard.]

[Cai Bing: Is this the charm of living off women? I'm a bit envious.]

[Failed Man: Heh, aren't you on a date with my brother? Have the nerve to talk about me, huh.]

[Cai Bing: By the way, to be fair, Gastella is indeed dangerous, but for us players, she's also a good card to have. To be honest, at this stage, she might be more useful than you are. Of course, in the long run, if we choose to trust you, taking her out to keep your identity secret is also an option.]

[Cai Bing: It's just that we don't know her stance and background, and that Blood Clan Hunter organization behind her is also quite suspicious.]

[Cai Bing: So what do you plan to do, take out Gastella?]

[Failed Man: Depends on the situation.]

[Cai Bing: Are you planning to betray your vampire sister?]

Ke Mingye's fingers hesitated for a moment before typing on the chat panel.

[Failed Man: Still depends on the situation.]

[Cai Bing: Depends, depends. Anyway, I follow Fan Quan's lead. If he thinks you're trustworthy, then I don't need to say anything.]

[Cai Bing: Off to sleep.]

[Failed Man: Okay, thanks for your help today, hacker girl.]

[Cai Bing: One more piece of intelligence.]

[Cai Bing: So far, Gastella's parasitic worms have only attacked ordinary people, not superhumans. In surveillance footage, there were a few instances where it could have chosen to infect superhumans but didn't.]

[Cai Bing: This means Gastella's worms can't infect superhumans, only ordinary humans. By the same logic, they should have no effect on players, so you don't have to worry about being infected.]

[Failed Man: So you're saying Che Zhengchen is an ordinary person.]

[Cai Bing: Who says the commander of the Superhero Squad has to be a superhuman? He just needs to use his brain, sit in a chair, and command others, get it?]

[Failed Man: Makes sense. You go to sleep, I've got some things to do.]

[Cai Bing: Bye.]

Ke Mingye closed the chat panel and sat quietly on the public wooden bench at the platform, staring at the text on the business card in the moonlight.

After a while, he got up and walked toward the storage locker, took out the Blue Owl Battle Suit from the locker, and detached the "badge" voice changer from the neckline of the suit.

Then, holding the voice changer, he walked back to the public bench, took out a spare phone, entered the phone number from the business card into the contacts, and dialed the number.

Beep...

Beep...

Beep...

The call was quickly connected.

"Hello?" a rather warm voice came from the other side of the phone.

Ke Mingye was silent for a moment, then raised his hand, brought the badge voice changer close to his mouth, and then spoke with a changed voice.

"Che Zhengchen?"

"Who is this?"

"Blue Owl," Ke Mingye said. "I've made up my mind. I will join the Superhero Association."

As he spoke, he paused for a moment and slowly lowered his voice, "But I have one condition. I hope to keep my identity secret... even from you."