In the Bronx, a northern borough of New York City, within an abandoned park…
Two African-American men in hip-hop attire were assaulting a Mexican woman.
“Filthy Latin old lady, you dare to resist handing over your wallet? Today, you’ll learn a lesson!”
As they were in the midst of their assault, suddenly, a sharp whooshing sound from afar caught their attention, making them instinctively look up.
But in the next moment, they were puzzled:
“What the… heck?”
What did they see?
They noticed a black dot in the distance slowly growing more prominent, and upon closer inspection, they realized it was a tree trunk with a diameter of at least one meter.
What was shocking wasn’t just that, but the fact that someone was standing on that vast tree.
A person stood on a tree trunk, flying in the sky. Rubbing their eyes, they thought they must have smoked too much before stepping out, hence the hallucination.
However, they soon realized it wasn’t a hallucination.
With a loud bang, the tree trunk plunged into the lawn about ten meters away from them.
And the person on the trunk had leaped off in advance, flipping 360 degrees in the air like a gymnast, landing steadily on the ground.
The dirt splashing onto their faces from the tree trunk embedding into the lawn was real.
“Calculations are correct, but the landing error is less than five meters. Perfect!”
Looking around the environment, Hawking nodded in satisfaction.
During a previous holiday, he had explicitly scouted the Bronx for spots, and this abandoned park was deemed the best landing site, with fewer nearby residents to avoid detection.
New York City has five boroughs: the Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan, Queens, and Staten Island.
Manhattan is the famous, wealthy district and the symbol of New York City, home to the headquarters of many large corporations, such as Tony Stark’s Stark Industries.
Queens is on the east side of Manhattan, separated by the East River.
Queens is the largest in the area among the five boroughs, second in population, and economically second only to Manhattan. It also hosts some famous enterprises, such as OsCorp Industries.
Adjacent to Queens and located south is Brooklyn, the most populous borough in New York and the birthplace of Captain America, Steve Rogers.
Of course, there’s no Captain America in this universe, only a Captain Carter.
The southernmost borough is Staten Island, the least populous and somewhat isolated, almost considered a small island in the sea, with excellent sea views.
Lastly, the current location of Hawking, the Bronx, borders Manhattan to the north, at the northern tip of New York City.
The school for mutants is built just north of the Bronx, in the suburbs, and the workplace and residence of Oleg and Elena are also located at the border of the Bronx and the suburbs, under a company owned by the Xavier family.
It was often said that the most dangerous place in New York was Hell’s Kitchen in Manhattan, where Daredevil frequently roams.
However, after three years of observation, Hawking realized that while Hell’s Kitchen is dangerous, it comprises only a few blocks. In terms of the number of crimes, the Bronx takes the lead.
Hell’s Kitchen is merely a slum in Manhattan, but the Bronx is the slum of the entire New York.
Because most of the African-American and Latino populations live in this borough, the crime rate in the Bronx is one of the highest in the United States and even the world.
Especially the southern part of the Bronx, which is notoriously chaotic and comparable to Sin City in video games.
Therefore, this naturally became Hawking’s first choice for earning justice points, being close to the school, and having a high crime rate.
“Is this… a good start?”
After a stylish landing, Stephen (a nod to Stephen Strange, also known as Doctor Strange) quickly noticed two stunned Black men holding a purse, as well as a middle-aged woman lying on the ground, her face swollen from being beaten.
With a cheerful stride, he approached the two Black men:
“I kindly suggest you return the purse to her.”
“F*ck you!”
The two Black men glanced at each other and pulled out daggers from their pockets, stabbing towards Stephen’s stomach.
This took him by surprise; he thought that after witnessing the scene just now, they would be scared off. He didn’t expect them to be so bold.
He was just here on vacation, occasionally inspecting the terrain. Although he was somewhat aware of the crime situation here, it was only through newspapers and gossip.
He didn’t know that the thugs who lived here at the bottom of society, living a day-to-day existence, might end up dead in the sewers at any moment. Their mindset was already different from ordinary people’s.
In their eyes, Stephen, though somewhat unbelievable, so what? Daring to ask them to return the loot they could use to buy drugs, they’d instead consult the knife in their hand first.
The key was that Stephen didn’t have a gun. In their eyes, a gun was the truly intimidating weapon they could understand.
Compared to these small-time thugs, those who had fought their way up and lived a good life were more cautious about their lives.
“Then don’t blame me.”
He quickly grabbed the wrists of the two Black men holding knives and twisted upwards forcefully.
“Snap!”
Along with the sound of bones breaking, the two Black men also let out a miserable scream.
He never showed mercy to those who wanted his life. And since there were no reporters or other people around, there was no need for a show, so he didn’t have to hold back.
“Better leave.”
He kicked the two Black men in the stomach, making them spit blood and fall to the ground, then threw the purse back to the middle-aged woman who had just gotten up.
“Thank you!”
The middle-aged woman picked up the purse, thanked him, and then ran away, fearing what happened next would involve her.
Stephen didn’t mind; his goal was for justice points, not for thanks.
“Poor thing!”
He searched the two Black men and only found less than twenty dollars, which slightly annoyed him.
The school provided food and lodging, so he naturally felt embarrassed to ask the Oglesby couple for more pocket money.
Putting the twenty dollars in his pocket, he didn’t care about the two Black men who had passed out and jumped away, disappearing into the park and onto the rooftop of a six-story building on the nearby street.
“Flavor Dimension!”
He stretched his hand to his sportswear and cast a transformation spell, instantly becoming a domineering golden armor. Picking up a leaf that had drifted by with the wind, he turned it into a golden helmet and put it on his head.
If he wanted to establish the image of a superhero, then a signature outfit was needed.
The more flamboyant and handsome he was, the more he could attract the public’s attention and gain more people’s worship. Wearing a helmet was not meant to reduce trouble but to create a sense of mystery.
This way, it would be explosive enough when his identity was finally revealed.
Besides earning justice points, everything he did was more important to lay the groundwork for the future Superhero International Company.
Simply showing off and being cool, he was not so naive.
…
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