STB Chapter 32: Frank

This is machine translated and all copyrights belong to the author. Please note that the translator might take creative liberties for better readability. Thank you for reading.

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Jian Hua’s expression looks like he’s about to tear the author apart.

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“Johnson Brown, a native of South Texas, codenamed Hurricane. In phonetics, it’s pronounced as Hulakan, which means hurricane. Hulakan is the Mayan god of thunderstorms and whirlwinds in American mythology.”

Zhang Yaojin paused for a moment, looking serious. “I think you’ve already understood. He is an S-Class Dual-System ability holder.”

The protagonist, huh? In professional script terms, this is the “Son of Destiny,” after all.

It’s really different, even the abilities give double the power.

But the damage inflicted on Jian Hua is also doubled—-why do other people’s abilities sound so cool? He doesn’t want to compete, he just wants an ability he can use openly. Is that too much to ask for?

“Dual-System ability, with twice the power of ordinary abilities?” Li Fei’s main concern was here.

“Not exactly,” Zhang Yaojin answered quickly. It was clear he had also researched this matter. “It’s just that the power has two different manifestations.”

Jian Hua’s heart skipped a beat. Does that mean he might have a way to get rid of the mushrooms?

“Hurricane Jennifer made landfall in South Texas, USA, four days ago,” Zhang Yaojin emphasized, “Johnson Brown should have awakened his ability by now.”

“You mean?”

The numbers on the energy detection device on the table were jumping again. Li Fei glanced at it very quickly; he had seen this thing before. In the Haicheng Military Region, the members of the Red Dragon used this thing to inform Li Fei that his energy levels were exceeding the limit, and he couldn’t pass security checks in the future.

—-It even fluctuated with emotional changes.

Li Fei remained calm and returned to the question he had originally intended to ask. “Did the hurricane’s impact cause his ability awakening to start at a higher point than others?”

He wasn’t particularly interested in this American, but when it came to the relationship between the protagonist and the antagonist, what kind of ending there would be, Li Fei, who had read countless scripts, couldn’t be unaware.

“Start at a higher point? Some informed individuals do believe so. Hurricane Jennifer is the strongest hurricane to form over the Atlantic in the last twenty years. It destroyed two coastal towns… Our country’s meteorological satellite captured an unusual thunderstorm phenomenon in the city of Pedrion, sixty kilometers from the hurricane’s landing point, on the evening of November 7th.”

Zhang Yaojin carefully chose his words and said, “The released energy is roughly equivalent to a new type of Earth-Cleaving Missile, which, after hitting the ground buildings, can still target underground defensive structures.”

“…”

It was difficult to describe Jian Hua’s expression in words.

He hadn’t fully immersed himself in the story so quickly and regarded this Johnson Brown as his mortal enemy. Such a terrifying ability was enough to make anyone uneasy.

Could it be said that he truly deserved to be the protagonist?

“The author of this book… is also an American,” Li Fei raised an eyebrow, sounding affirmative.

This was without a doubt.

Ability awakenings worldwide, monsters everywhere, battles destroying city facilities—-the aesthetic setting could be found in plenty of Hollywood superhero movies.

And then the protagonist is American, while the antagonist is on the Chinese side. With the protagonist being an S-Class Dual-System ability holder and Jian Hua left with a bunch of mushrooms… With such an obvious gap, what else could be said?

Major Zhang lit a cigarette and shrugged.

-—Since you’ve already guessed, I won’t bring it up.

Discovering that you’re a character in a book can be infuriating. When Zhang Yaojin found out that the book was just a popular novel written by an American, he uttered a curse.

Relatively speaking, Jian Hua and Li Fei’s reactions were quite calm.

“Now you can tell me, what terrible thing have I done to become…” Jian Hua’s lips twitched, “…the ultimate antagonist in a typical American action movie?”

Li Fei corrected, “It’s not a movie; it’s a novel.”

“What’s the difference?” Jian Hua asked with irritation.

“If this were a book, all you need to think about is whether your life belongs to you. If this were a movie, you’d have to doubt if that’s really your face.” The actor, crossing his arms, said casually, as if it were effortless.

“…”

Spoken from the perspective of an actor.

But isn’t this focus a bit off?

Jian Hua did a mental substitution, imagining General Wu’s agonizing face while contemplating a problem. Li Fei suddenly didn’t look very good, and his gaze at Li Fei became somewhat strange.

Li Fei who had brought trouble upon himself: “…”

Major Zhang, smoking a cigarette, thought that it made sense. Who would want to be someone with their own face, possibly a Hollywood playboy who races cars, drinks heavily, smokes marijuana, and changes girlfriends more often than clothes? There are plenty of foreigners with black hair and black eyes who can play the role.

Among the people in the room, Major Zhang’s subordinate was the only relaxed one, with the advantage of being just a nameless extra. Apart from the troubles in his life, his personal experiences, personality, and appearance were all fine.

Jian Hua abandoned his dilemma over General Wu. Feeling uneasy about the smell of smoke in the private room. His tone carried a hint of interrogation. “Am I like a mad scientist or a machine overlord trying to destroy humanity? Give me a gun, and I wouldn’t even know how to change the magazine. Just because a ridiculous book says I’m the antagonist, does that mean I’ll commit crimes?”

Li Fei was also curious. He couldn’t see the potential for Jian Hua to become the final boss of an American hero novel, not because Jian Hua’s ability abilities weren’t suitable, but because Jian Hua’s personality was so cold and unwilling to do anything extra. Would he really go all out, using his wits and courage, to fight against a thunderstorm-hurricane dual-system American ability holder?

Even if he were well-fed and had nothing to do, he might not do it.

“Oh, that!” Major Zhang casually put out his cigarette and said, “The book says you want to control the world.”

“…”

That’s even worse than destroying humanity!

Jian Hua’s expression looked like he wanted to tear the author apart.

The young man behind Major Zhang chuckled softly. Before they came here, the Red Dragon members were all very nervous. According to the data they had compiled, Jian Hua’s image had been seriously demonized—-he was described as cruel, dark, vengeful, highly distrustful of others, and a complete anti-social element.

Even after Major Zhang returned from Jian Hua’s house and suggested that the information might be incorrect, most of the Red Dragon members remained skeptical.

Seeing Jian Hua in person and as the conversation deepened, the young man began to feel that the image from the information was starting to blur. Indeed, as Jian Hua had said, how could a normal person have such overly dramatic and juvenile thoughts like those in hero movies or comic books?

Typically, individuals with twisted minds and destructive desires, upon gaining immense power, would eagerly experiment with that power and become obsessed with its capabilities, unable to restrain themselves.

However, this wasn’t the case with Li Fei and Jian Hua,

–whether in the “original plot” or in the present.

Li Fei suddenly smiled, breaking the tense atmosphere. “I think it’s a good thing. You see, we can distinguish ourselves from the book. You are still you, not a patient suffering from delusions.”

Am I still me?

Jian Hua’s expression softened, and he nodded at Li Fei, no longer appearing angry.

The other two people in the private room looked at Li Fei with mixed expressions. Red Dragon’s internal information analysis on the actor Li Fei would probably need to be updated.

Li Fei, casually interlacing his fingers, gracefully continued, “As for that American hero who awakened during the hurricane, I’ll leave it to Major Zhang to worry about. As for me, I need to talk to Jian Hua about the upcoming movie to be filmed in Beidu.”

“You!” Major Zhang was taken aback.

“But?” Jian Hua was also surprised. Wasn’t he unable to pass security checks?

Li Fei pointed to the energy detector on the table. “I noticed something interesting just now.”

When Jian Hua was angry, the readings didn’t seem to change. Even for Li Fei himself, if he consciously controlled his emotional fluctuations, the readings could decrease.

The young man quickly pulled up the graph of the fluctuating values over the past hour and then his expression changed.

Jian Hua’s ability had a concealment property, so it wasn’t strange that the readings couldn’t be measured. But how was it possible that for a period of time in the private room, the values approached normal? Li Fei had been sitting here the whole time!

Major Zhang looked at the graph thoughtfully. “For S-rank ability holders, does their suppression and control of power increase as they become more familiar with it?”

He couldn’t discuss every detail in the book with the transmigrators, especially since there were only five S-rank ability holders worldwide. Major Zhang wasn’t one himself, so he couldn’t verify it.

Li Fei answered, not addressing the question directly. “I won’t shy away from disasters, but I also don’t welcome them. If Red Dragon can provide effective measures to prevent the monsters from causing damage to the real world, we’re happy to accept.”

As he spoke, he glanced at Jian Hua, who didn’t oppose this decision, reinforcing his belief.

“But joining a national secret department and dealing with world-saving heroes is something we’ll pass on. Everyone’s initial wish in this world is to ‘just be themselves.'”

Major Zhang looked at Li Fei, then at Jian Hua.

Finally, he sighed, knowing that he couldn’t influence these two individuals, whether their characters were good or bad.

“We will temporarily take care of Geng Tian. As for the ability holders’ safety, we have arranged secure shelters for them. They won’t be able to return for a short period of time. I suggest you hire bodyguards separately.” Major Zhang thought for a moment and added, “Our true purpose in moving Geng Tian is to keep ability holders away from densely populated areas and prevent them from affecting the real world. If you encounter monsters like the giant squid again, engage in a quick battle, or, if necessary, lead them to open areas. After Red Dragon organizes and analyzes data on the monsters in the abandoned world, we will send you a report.”

With the conversation at this point, they were being open and honest, and Li Fei didn’t refuse.

The young man pushed the wheelchair. When Major Zhang was leaving the private room, he suddenly remembered something and turned back. “By the way, it’s still quite some time before that Johnson Brown comes to find you. He’s only fourteen years old this year.”

“…”

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The author has something to say：

I noticed that many readers didn’t understand the concept of a Category 4 hurricane in the update from yesterday…

They asked why the “transmigrators” didn’t beg Johnson for help…

Typhoon HaiKui is the strongest typhoon that landed in our country (China) since 1950. It took 14 days before it landed, maximum wind power is 50.9 meters per second. This intensity is enough to become a Category 3 Hurricane, Category 3!! And it still barely reached the threshold for Category 3!!

A wind speed of over 50 meters per second is Category 3! OK, what is the concept of Category 4? It should have a wind speed of 59 to 69 meters per second!!!

Greater than or equal to 70 meters per second is a Category 5 Hurricane!! There have been five cases in the history of the United States! Category 5 Hurricanes!!! How many people died, look at the documentaries (really), it was hell on earth, a city was completely gone.

–(update)–

During the serialization, there wasn’t a reference group that everyone could understand because the United States hadn’t experienced a strong hurricane in over a decade. Today, we have one – Hurricane Harvey in August 2017 (it was reaching Category 4 when making landfall).

It was somewhat similar in intensity to Hurricane Moranti, but it’s not the same as the Moranti that hit Fujian, China, because Taiwan’s mountains broke up Moranti, preventing it from reaching its full strength.

In U.S. history, there have been Category 5 hurricanes – true hell on Earth, where entire cities were completely wiped out.

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Last Edit: December 20, 2023 at 9:53 AM

This is machine translated and all copyrights belong to the author. Please note that the translator might take creative liberties for better readability. Thank you for reading.