piratefiction Chapter 81 Insect-Based Governance
Chapter 81 Insect-Based Governance
Chapter 81 Insect-Based Governance
Cyborg led Shazam to the scene immediately after his drone body disconnected, but was intercepted by Joey at the underground entrance:
"Minors are not allowed here, I'm talking about you, Billy."
Billy, no, Shazam, pretended to put on a stern face at this moment:
"No, I'm 'Shazam!' Billy's gone to rest!"
The ownership of Shazam's consciousness when the six combine to transform is always a complicated issue. Although Shazam himself is in charge most of the time, when the situation is not so urgent, he will bring Billy or other children from the audience onto the stage to participate.
Seeing this, Cyborg grabbed Shazam by his white cloak and dragged him outside:
"Stop messing around, Billy. Shazam would never talk like that. What's happening right now is complicated and definitely not suitable for minors like you."
Since Joey is already here, it means nothing serious has happened underground, so there's no need to take Shazam down to put out the fire.
As for what exactly happened underground, Cyborg knew he would find out eventually.
"No, I feel like you're targeting me, especially when you talk about minors—"
Shazam pointed at Joey, who had just blocked his path, and questioned Cyborg with a face full of indignation:
"Cyborg, don't you think Superman is way too young? He looks like he's only two years older than us at most. This is pure discrimination! No way, I have to go down and check it out today!"
"Absolutely not! It's dangerous down there, and it's not suitable for children!"
"I want to see! I'm invincible! I've already completed all the rescue missions in Gotham City! We've been wandering around outside for over ten minutes!"
Watching Billy Batson sway back and forth, clinging to the alloy shell of the steel skeleton, almost like he was throwing a tantrum, Joey suddenly felt that the world wasn't so bad after all.
At least in this world, Cyborg is still the king of kids, and Billy still has a pure heart; the superhuman power bestowed upon him has not changed him.
The other person is much stronger in terms of mentality than I was in the past. If I had met someone like Billy earlier, I wouldn't have been so conflicted for so long.
However, Joey thought about how he hadn't had a single friend for three whole years, from ninth to eleventh grade, at the town's high school.
Social interaction—perhaps you once had classmates like Billy, but you've already missed out on that.
Even now, Joey still doesn't have the time to spend with Billy, so she has to find an excuse to shut Billy up for now:
"By Kryptonian standards, we're considered adults after the age of twelve. Why can't you go to the bar next door, order a honey water, and wait until we've cleaned everything up down there before coming back?"
"Isn't that the problem?"
Billy then retorted to Joey, "This is Earth. If you really want to follow those Kryptonian standards, why don't you go back to Krypton?!"
Okay—Joey takes back his previous praise for Billy's childlike innocence; this hot-blooded idiot just doesn't know when to say what.
After hearing the conversation between the two, Steelbone broke out in a cold sweat on the remaining half of his forehead.
Good heavens, does Billy even know what he's saying? Is this how you use Solomon's wisdom?!
Joey's Kryptonian brethren are preparing to wipe out the entire Earth's ecosystem, and while Joey is under immense pressure to help Earth find a way to fight Krypton, this is clearly the last thing he needs to hear!
Billy, quick to speak, realized the weight of his unintentional remark. He was about to apologize when Shazam himself took control, softly uttering a phrase familiar to everyone:
"Shazam."
A bolt of lightning struck down from the sky, splitting Shazam's original form into six, reverting him to his pre-merged form: a group of thirteen or fourteen-year-old children.
Freddy Freeman, Thunder of Zeus.
Eugene Choi, an Asian American boy, and the wisdom of Solomon.
African American girl Dara Dudley, Mercury's Speed.
Pedro Peña, a Latino boy, with the power of Hercules.
Billy Batson, the courage of Achilles.
Mary Batson, Billy's Lee sister, Atlas Endurance.
This caused even more chaos at the scene, with Mary taking the lead in attacking her "shark-like" younger brother:
"Billy, you idiot! Achilles' courage isn't for you to use to offend people with harsh words!"
Freddie thought even further ahead: "OMG, Superman isn't going to kill us on the spot, is he?!"
"Can you please shut up, you jinx!"
"No, if that were the case, Shazam wouldn't have voluntarily deactivated his transformation."
"Billy, you should apologize, and by yourself! What you just said was your own idea; it has nothing to do with us!"
Looking at this group of chattering middle school students, the noisy scene resembled a break between classes, and it truly was the kind of friendship characterized by playful bickering.
Joey couldn't help but think that if he had made a few more friends back then, his mental state in the previous world might have been healthier, and he wouldn't have ended up wiping out the entire G-Men.
However, after taking a look at the Shazam group of six, Joey found that they were a diverse group, including Asians, Latinos, and Africans, which, according to the two worlds he came from, was full of "diversity".
This group of six would be considered T2 in the Vought Corporation, where stacking buffs is a common practice.
Joey's thoughts had already quickly circled through the memories of the three worlds, and the anger he felt from Billy's sarcastic remark had long since disappeared.
Shazam himself even deactivated his transformation in order to avoid conflict with me. Since the other party has already gone to such lengths, even if I really have fire now, I can't just use it on a teenager, can I?
Eugene Choi, who appeared particularly calm and quiet amidst the noisy crowd, took the opportunity to whisper a few words to Billy, and then shoved Billy toward Joey.
Having reached this point, Billy had no choice but to cautiously move towards Joey and apologize:
"Super...Superman, I...I'm sorry! You're not an outsider, you're a true warrior, you fight for us, I shouldn't have said those things to you just now..."
At this moment, Achilles' courage seemed somewhat insufficient when facing someone like Joy.
This inevitably frightened Billy. Shazam's memories were shared with all six of them. Not to mention that Joey later unhesitatingly prepared to borrow Wonder Woman's sword to kill another "Superman" on the spot in front of Billy.
Billy even witnessed Joey's frenzied beating of the other party, a bloody violence that wouldn't seem out of place in a Quentin Tarantino film.
As for how Billy, who was only thirteen years old, saw Quentin Tarantino's R-rated films, don't ask. The answer is, "Life always finds a way."
"It's okay."
Joey had come to terms with it. He told Cyborg to lead the six children away from the ruins, which could be dangerous for ordinary people:
"You can still go to that restaurant over there and order a drink; Steelbone can treat you. Before he gets fired..."
They must have received quite a few "Franklins" from the Golden-haired President.
"Hey! That's not funny at all!"
Cyborg, of course, couldn't say he had no objections; he had plenty:
"Joey, if you keep attacking me like this, I'll find out your real identity and wipe out your bank account!"
Just as Cyborg said he would empty Joey's bank account, the seemingly complex financial system of today is as simple as one plus one equals two in his eyes. For people like Joey and Cyborg, money is an external thing.
Cyborg applied for the position of "North American National Security Advisor" to leverage one of the world's top administrative powers to save more people in the impending world war, not for the multi-million dollar annual salary.
Now that the war has been ended by Superman, this position has long since become a burden for Cyborg, who is preparing for the handover. It is almost a certainty that he will step down and hand over the reins to a more capable person.
However, his former boss was a perfect example of someone who discards a useful tool after it has served its purpose; before he could even resign, his former boss dismissed him from his post.
Cyborg had countless complaints to vent about this incident. If it weren't for the children around him, he probably would have addressed the other person with a word that started with "m" and ended with "er".
"Our president is a complete worm! His messes are making me, the Pentagon, the White House, and my old friend Captain Atom look incredibly bad!"
"Ha, it seems you still don't understand him enough. Someone like him doesn't care about anything embarrassing or awkward; in his eyes..."
People like you should pack your bags and get out the moment the war ends... : . ...
Joey, who was listening with a smile to Cyborg's rant and enjoying the brand-new version of the golden-haired president's jokes in the other world, originally wanted to listen a little longer and have some more fun.
But the powerful energy fluctuations emanating from afar made him involuntarily turn his head to look at the distant horizon. Now, he also wanted to use the same word that Steelbone had thought of to describe those inhuman bastards in the White House and the Pentagon:
"Scythebone, you're right, he really is a bug through and through—because something even more embarrassing is about to happen to us here."