Chapter 127: Area Assignment

Chu Cheng was shocked. Could he really draw five skills at once?

This game update was incredible. With more experience and a few more levels, he could max out his skills in no time.

But after reading the details, he realized it wasn't entirely random. The new feature allowed him to lock in one hero for skill draws, just like before. The other four skills would be extra rewards, randomly drawn from heroes he already had.

So, while he still had one guaranteed shot like before, the other four were just bonuses. But hey, free skills are still free skills, and who knows, he might land some high-level abilities. Even if he didn't, it wouldn't be a loss. You never know when a seemingly useless skill might come in handy.

He thought of Aquaman's ability to talk to fish. While it seemed silly, the scene of Aquaman commanding the seven seas was pretty epic. But then he remembered the funny moment from The Justice League movie when Batman asked Aquaman to have a fish gather intel—it still made him laugh.

Without hesitation, Chu Cheng locked in his top hero choice: Spider-Man. With over 40,000 pounds of arm strength, insane reflexes, and an all-around incredible skill set, anything from Spider-Man's list of abilities would be a win.

He clicked the button to start the five skill draws, and a series of fireworks-like special effects played on the screen. Excited and nervous, Chu Cheng quickly checked the results.

The first skill? Vehicle mastery.

It came from Huntress, one of the first heroes he unlocked. She was skilled in operating all kinds of vehicles, especially motorcycles—a must-have for any action movie protagonist. But for a guy like Chu Cheng, who didn't even own a car, it wasn't very useful. Well, maybe he could use it in the game... he glanced at Friday, his AI companion, who was watching him with a gentle smile.

Ahem, back to the skills.

The first one wasn't great, but no big deal. He moved on to the second skill, and this time, his eyes lit up.

Fighting Specialization (Batgirl Exclusive).

The description explained that Cassandra Cain, trained by her father in brutal, inhuman ways, had mastered the ultimate fighting technique in the DC Universe. This skill let her anticipate and counter any move, a talent even recognized by Lady Shiva, the top martial artist.

This was a huge win. Chu Cheng had been eyeing Cassandra's fighting skills for a while but had held off because his chances to draw skills were precious.

Some people think martial arts skills are useless in a world full of gods and superhumans. That's not entirely true. Sure, if you're just a regular person without any special equipment or powers, martial arts might not stand up against superpowers. But when it comes to evenly matched opponents, skills can make all the difference.

When the power gap is too big, brute strength wins—like with Superman, who's basically unbeatable. But when the gap is small enough, martial arts can turn the tide and make you a real threat.

That's why Chu Cheng was a huge fan of Cassandra. If she ever got her hands on a bat suit, even Batman would have to watch out.

He was thrilled with what he got from Spider-Man's guaranteed skill draw—spider sense. With this equipped, Chu Cheng could say goodbye to the fear of being ambushed. It was like having an early warning radar, making him feel completely secure.

Spider-Man's spider-sense also comes with his super-fast reflexes, which speed up the wearer's thinking and create a "bullet time" effect in emergencies. In this state, even the path of a bullet is clearly visible, giving the wearer almost superhuman perception.

Combine Captain America's strength, Spider-Man's sense, and Cassandra's combat skills, and Chu Cheng becomes nearly unbeatable in close combat.

Next up, Chu Cheng unlocked Green Arrow's unique cooking skills. One of his most famous dishes is his extra spicy beef stew, a favorite (and a bit of a fear) among the Justice League members.

Chu Cheng: "..."

It makes sense for me, the face of Green Arrow's Chewing Gum, to branch out into beef stew, right?

Ignoring some of the less useful skills, Chu Cheng checked out the final ability.

Super Healing (Moon Knight only).

Description: The protection of the moon god Khonshu gives Moon Knight multiple abilities, including super healing, allowing the wearer to recover from most injuries very quickly.

Chu Cheng: "!"

This one was definitely a surprise.

Moon Knight's healing ability is incredibly powerful. Gunshot wounds heal in seconds, and even severe injuries are no problem. With enough divine power, Khonshu can even bring Moon Knight back from the dead, making him more powerful than Wolverine—basically immortal.

Of course, the normal healing ability isn't that extreme, so it's best not to test it by trying to lose your head.

But still, this is a major life-saving skill.

Overall, this round of upgrades was pretty impressive. Chu Cheng's abilities took a huge leap forward, bringing him closer to his goal of becoming a god.

Additionally, this upgrade unlocked a new feature:

Hero Dispatch.

This feature allows Chu Cheng to temporarily remove a hero from his team, sending them offline to a specific location. The hero will become unavailable on the hero list until they're brought back online, returning to the last location where they were sent offline.

Chu Cheng quickly grasped how to use this feature with Friday's explanation.

Before, every time Chu Cheng logged off, his hero would be wherever they were last. Now, with this feature, he can send a hero to another location, switch to other heroes, and continue operations elsewhere.

This is like planting a hero in a specific place. For example, he could send a hero to another city, so if something urgent happens there, he doesn't have to fly the hero all the way from Jiangdu. He can just activate the hero already stationed in that city.

A plan started forming in Chu Cheng's mind.

If he could send enough heroes to all the major cities around the world, would he be a bit like a small god?

The new feature made him wide awake, itching to try it out immediately.

Chu Cheng had long thought it wasn't wise to keep all the superheroes in one city. Sure, Marvel might have a ton of superheroes hanging out in New York, but keeping them all in one place for too long would raise suspicion.

But even if Chu Cheng wanted to expand his hero roster, he was stuck. His heroes could travel long distances, but it was still a stretch to cover other places. If he sent all his heroes elsewhere, the home base would be unguarded. If something happened back at his city, they'd be out of luck.

Instead of relying on the cooks in the madhouse to defend the base, Chu Cheng figured it might be better to just hang up a bat- sign and hope the bad guys got scared enough to leave. Maybe the villains would see the bat-signal, freak out, and think, "I've outsmarted the old bat!" and run away, giving all the credit to themselves.

Expanding territory wasn't a priority before, but now, with this new ability, Chu Cheng could borrow Batman's Batwing to visit other major cities and drop a hero or two in each one. This way, he could keep tabs on different cities, as if he had eyes everywhere. Plus, if something big happened outside of his home base in Jiangdu, he could quickly respond and direct the local heroes.

Chu Cheng had been spending all his time in Jiangdu, dealing with the local criminals. But after Spider-Man crushed their last big operation in a way that blew their minds, the underground scene was in shambles. The gangs were so terrified they didn't even dare to collect protection money anymore. Even the entire city's underworld was collapsed.

While he could still find a few thugs to beat up in Jiangdu, it wouldn't last long. If things continued like this, most of the criminals would have to retire, and his source of "exp" would dry up soon.

So, the new ability felt like unlocking a new map in an RPG game. Jiangdu was his starting city, and now, after some development and battles, it was fully conquered. The Bat symbol was flying high. It was time to expand and find the next city to take over.

If he kept this up, sooner or later, every city on Earth would be under his control. He imagined setting up headquarters in Jiangdu, building an Avengers Tower with a giant "A" in the center, and installing a watchtower in low-Earth orbit with the letters "JL" to signal that the Justice League had the whole planet covered. Anyone thinking of causing trouble would have to consider whether their head was tougher than Superman's fist.

Just as he got excited about trying out his new power in other cities, Friday, his AI assistant, chimed in.

"It's 2:40 AM, and I strongly suggest you get some sleep."

"Alright, alright."

After some urging from his caring AI secretary, Chu Cheng finally shut down and logged off for the night. He knew if he didn't, she'd start lecturing him about his health. Knowing that you can say anything to a man but never insult his stamina, Chu Cheng decided to call it a day.

"Friday, set an alarm for 10:30 AM," Chu Cheng said. "Make sure I wake up."

As someone who struggles to get out of bed in the morning, Chu Cheng knew waking up was a challenge. He hoped his top-notch AI could handle the task.

"Okay, sir," Friday replied with a smile.

The next day, Chu Cheng slept comfortably until 10:30 AM, right on time. As soon as the minute hand hit 30, Friday entered the room.

First, she tried the classic wake-up method: opening the curtains. Sunlight flooded the room, but for someone as deeply attached to his bed as Chu Cheng, it wasn't enough. He grumbled and turned over, trying to go back to sleep.

Friday didn't give up.

Next, she tried the second method: loud music. Soon, the room was filled with a cheerful tune, and Chu Cheng, still half asleep, jolted awake to the sound of "Pleasant Goat, Beautiful Goat."

Wait, what? How does this even exist here?

"No, no, turn it off, Friday," Chu Cheng groaned, pulling the covers over his head. "I'm awake."

Friday smiled sweetly. "You said to make sure you were really awake, sir."

Chu Cheng sighed. She was right; this trick worked. He was awake but not quite ready to get out of bed. He tried to resist, pulling the covers tighter.

Then Friday played her trump card.

"I've installed an 8,000-volt shock device under your bed. If you don't get up in the next five seconds, I won't hesitate to activate it."

Now came the countdown. "Five, four..."

"Stop, stop, I'm up!"

Chu Cheng jumped out of bed like a spring, instantly wide awake.

"Good morning, sir."

Friday still had that sweet secretary smile as she elegantly crossed her hands in front of her and gave a slight bow.

"Breakfast is ready."

"Shock device?" Chu Cheng frowned.

"Oh, that," Friday said with a mischievous grin. "I was just kidding."

Chu Cheng was speechless.

Well, the little secretary might need some retraining, but he had to admit it worked. Chu Cheng was fully awake now, no longer interested in sleeping. Friday had done her job perfectly.

"Alright, turn off the music; I'm up."

Chu Cheng rubbed his eyes. The echo of "Pleasant Goat" still lingered in the room, giving him a slight headache.

Friday obediently turned off the music and headed out of the room as if nothing had happened. But before she left, she paused, turned back, and gave him a meaningful smile.

"Very manly, sir."

Then she walked out, closing the door behind her.

Chu Cheng looked down and realized what she meant.