48 Hours a Day

“Well, although we didn’t get Vandal King or Flame Girl to help us, think on the bright side. At least the kway teow here is really delicious. I want another serving,” the waiter said as he passed the empty bowl to the kitchen.

Seconds later, the Lianxiang Restaurant located nearby was rocked by a mighty explosion, its shockwave shattered all the glass windows into tiny 1*1 blocks while throwing pedestrians onto the ground. The ceiling of the kway teow shop trembled, dropping a piece of plaster right into the bald man’s bowl.

“Damn it. It’s Evil Scientist again! Can’t he just let us have a meal in peace?” the bald man complained. “I saved my favorite beef meatball for last… is this what I get?!”

The explosion was in no thanks to a five-meter tall giant mechanical spider that appeared at the other end of the pedestrian street. As soon as it appeared, it caused a massive panic, where people started dispersing in a frenzy as they ran for their lives.

Flame Girl rushed to the cash register and dished out all the money as fast as her hands could grab them. Just when she was about to close the shop’s door, she suddenly froze with panic on her face. “Ah Gang, Ah Gang is there!!!”

Ah Gang, the first child of Vandal King and Flame Girl, had just enrolled in an elementary school near the shop. At this hour, he was supposed to be walking home with a schoolbag on his back. The explosion took place just as he passed Lianxiang Restaurant, and he was unfortunately hit by the massive blast. No one knew if he was alive right now.

The mechanical spider approached them as its eight sickle-like legs clacked and cranked along, digging deep craters in the tarmac with each passing step. “Leave it to us!”

The bald man got up from his seat, took out a pair of sunglasses from his pocket, and put it on. “Consider this as my gratitude for the delicious kway teow. Rest assured, we will help you solve this!”

Then, he turned the chopsticks in his hand and the table beside him into an RPG. Placing the grenade launcher over his shoulder, he took aim at the mechanical spider that was coming for them.

“Game over!” exclaimed the bald guy as he whistled a tune.

The high-explosive armor-piercing rocket burst out of the launcher at a speed of 117 meters per second! It flew directly to the spider, hitting its body right on target. The results were surprising, though, once the smoke cleared. The rocket-propelled grenade powerful enough to destroy a light tank failed to kill it, leaving only a small dent on its body. “I take back what I said before, and I suggest you have another child,” sighed the bald man as he put down the launcher and sat back. He then asked the waiter beside him, “Aren’t you going to try to defeat it?”

“I don’t know; there are too many people here, and my butcher will hurt the innocent. This mechanical spider is obviously Evil Scientist’s new weapon. I doubt my butcher is powerful enough to defeat it.”

When the waiter was talking, no one would have thought that Vandal King, still in the kitchen at that time, would suddenly rush out of the kway teow shop. Without saying a word, he went after the mechanical spider.

“Uhh… can anyone tell me why he’s throwing his life away? Is your marriage coming to an end, or is married life giving him too much pressure?”

The bald man looked at Flame Girl, who stood at the side.

Initially, Zhang Heng wanted to do something about the spider, but something suddenly crossed his mind, and he stopped himself from charging at it. That didn’t mean he was about to stand there and do nothing as he took advantage of the time to build a weapon. After transforming from supervillain to chef, Vandal King rarely got to exercise, and after running for a bit, he started panting. The excess fats on his chin bobbed along as he ran, but despite the fatigue, he didn’t stop running, managing to get to Lianxiang Restaurant before the mechanical spider did. The first thing he did was to pick up his unconscious son from the ground. Just as he turned around to leave, the whole area was suddenly overcast by a black shadow that descended upon them.

The mechanical spider crashed down Vandal King with one of its legs. Fortunately, the chef moved his bloated body aside in time, dodging the lethal attack by the skin of his teeth. However, the sudden movement caused him to trip, and he fell to the ground, his son dropping out of his arms as well. Without any hesitation, the mechanical spider raised another leg and was about to strike at him.

“I’m not sure if I want to watch what is about to happen.”

The waiter couldn’t help but close his eyes. The bloody scene he imagined did not happen though. For whatever miraculous reason, the spider’s leg magically disappeared. The attack wasn’t blocked by someone, and neither did the mechanical arachnid malfunction. It simply vanished completely, as if it never existed in the first place. Mei Nan rubbed her eyes and counted again, discovering that the mechanical spider had indeed only seven legs left. Immediately, everyone turned their attention to Vandal King, who had just gotten up from the ground. He bent down, gasping for air as he clutched his knees.

The loss of a limb threw the big spider into a furious rage. To everyone’s horror, it lifted both of its legs at the same time and was now about to stab the unconscious Ah Gang on the ground. The people who were watching the whole thing finally saw what happened to the mechanical spider. Vandal King took a deep breath, suddenly became more nimble and faster than ever before. The hands that were still covered in butter and green onions flew all over the place, and it took less than three seconds before two of the mechanical spider’s legs were disassembled into a pile of blocks.

He did not stop there, proceeding to climb onto the spider’s back. Now, the creature started showing traces of fear, as if it had just encountered its nemesis.

Its seemingly indestructible armored skin was no different from an onion. Vandal King stripped off its armor layer after layer, and the mechanical spider kept shrinking! After a few moments, the once five-meter tall mechanical spider was now as small as a fingernail. Before it could escape with its tiny legs, Vandal King stomped on it, squashing the bug with all his strength.

Vandal King wiped the sweat from his forehead, looking at the dumbfounded people around him.

“Why are you looking at me? What happened just now?” he asked.

“Your destructive abilities… are they back?” the waiter asked in excitement.

“My destructive abilities? How’s that even possible?”

Vandal King was taken aback. Earlier, his attention was focused on saving his son, and his body couldn’t keep up with the instructions sent from his brain. His hands simply acted out of his basic instinct. He then looked at his hands, and his voice started to tremble.

“My destructive abilities… are really back?”

When he realized what was happening, he took a look at Flame Girl, who was standing not far away.

Then, Vandal King rushed to Ah Gang who was still on the ground. When he found out that his son had simply passed out and wasn’t injured, he let out a massive sigh of relief.

“I’m so sorry. I know that it’s not easy to stay with us. I’ve been suppressing my true nature, trying my best to be a good husband and father.”

Vandal King then scratched his head. “Erm… actually, I tend to lock my eyes on female customers with good bodies. I hide money from you too. Sometimes I pretend to have washed my feet before going to bed…”

“Just be yourself.”

“Huh, what?”

“I said it’s time to be yourself. You heard what they said before. This time, you can use your abilities to do the right things… do things that are good for the world, save the city, become a hero, and make up for the previous mistakes that you made! Take care of Ah Gang, and I will be proud of you.”