Thriller Paradise

"on that note…" The Tap Monster continued. "The enemies are either dead or have run away…" He scratched his chin in thought. "How are we supposed to find Prof Sui Sui Sui Sui then?"

"Erm… if I may ask…" Feng Bujue continued. "That giant conspicuous building at that side…" he said as he lifted his finger to point at a building a distance away, "What is that for?"

"Oh. That is the official office building for Ja Ja Ja Ja's government." Pi Li Dance Hero replied, "That is the probably the most famous landmark of this planet."

"Then there is probably where Prof Sui is…" Feng Bujue narrowed his eyes to say, "Qiong Qiong Qiong Qiong and Cuo Cuo Cuo Cuo came from that direction and it was that same direction where Cuo Cuo Cuo Cuo had escaped…."

"Hmm… you have a point." The Tap Monster nodded. "No wonder you have super intellect."

[I can't tell it's because I'm clever or you're too dumb…] Feng Bujue mocked. [It feels like both the term 'super' and 'intellect' have their standard lowered at this place… Speaking of which, why didn't we pilot the spaceship right above that building before we jumped? Don't tell me it's because of anti-air weaponry… I doubt your brain can even fathom that concept…]

"Okay, we will move there now." Pi Li Dance Hero said.

"Oh, right, give me a moment first." Brother Jue was suddenly reminded of something. Then he moved towards Qiong Qiong Qiong Qiong's body. Both Pi Li Dance Hero and Tap Monster looked at each other, wondering what the Poker was up to. Actually Feng Bujue just wanted to search the body… Even though he knew that… Thriller Paradise was not the type of game where killing a monster would drop some treasure, in fact, even if you killed the boss, you might not get anything in reward.

[As I thought, the body armor cannot be removed…] Feng Bujue searched the body for a long time and did not find anything useful and could not remove the armor from the man's body. Brother Jue realized the black armor was not technically 'worn' on Qiong Qiong Qiong Qiong but 'embedded' into his body, it was an 'exoskeleton' through and through. The only part of the armor that could be removed was the helmet but that had already been destroyed by Defense-Break Cleaver so… it was basically trash.

"The Poker… are you looking for something?" Pi Li Dance Hero asked after he stood to the side and watched for a while.

"Hmm…" With his reflex, his acting, brilliant mind and narrative ability, Brother Jue could take the two for a spin. "I was just trying to see whether the helmet can still be used or not."

"Oh! I get it now!" The Tap Monster added, "You wish to use the com device or directional system in the helmet to locate Prof Sui's location?"

"Yes, yes!" Seeing that he was given an easy excuse, Brother Jue naturally took it. "But… this helmet has been totally destroyed." He stood up. "Looks like we'll have to take one step at a time…"

"Don't worry, the Poker. Even if we do not have enough information, we have plenty of time." Pi Li Dance Hero said. "Both me and The Tap Monster are 'star grade' superhero, that is more than enough to deal with Grade C Emergency. Even if there are some sudden accident, it will pose no threat to us."

"Star Grade?" Feng Bujue was introduced to a new term. By then, Pi Li Dance Hero and Tap Monster had already confirmed Brother Jue would be one of the central figures of USL so they naturally did not hide the information from him. Pi Li Dance Hero replied. "Yes, that is the internal delineation USL has for our superheroes. Basically there are four levels, they are respectively, city-grade, planet-grade, star-grade and universe-grade."

The Tap Monster added, "Of course, the categorization is not dependent on one's 'fighting ability' only. For example, Toad Man, even though he does not have any superpower, he is still a universe grade superhero because he can do many things other star-grade superheroes cannot even though he does not have superpower."

"Oh, okay…" Feng Bujue nodded as he turned around to point ahead. "Let's go. We can talk while we move." Since they had already said that, brother Jue stopped worrying about his safety. Therefore, this suggestion was born. The other two agreed so they started moving.

"Tell me more about the gradation of the danger event. I am interested in that." Feng Bujue asked.

Pi Li Dance Hero replied. "Hmm… that is more complicated…" He thought for a few seconds as if to arrange his mind. "From the lowest to highest, there are 7 grades in total. The lowest is Grade F or 'common criminal activity'. That points to activities that violates the planet's law, like murder, kidnapping, stealing and so on. Then comes Grade E, or 'criminal activity that can ruin a whole city' like creating a giant monster, releasing toxic gas or an organized team hostile take over of a city; beyond that would be Grade C or 'criminal activity that can ruin a country'. Even though most planets have a unified government, there are some planets that have multiple countries on one planet like Earth, so there is where Grade D comes in. This grade is between E and C, if a Grade E emergency is not taken care of, it might rise to become a Grade D event." At this point he paused. "These three grades normally could be settled by one or more of the local superheroes and most of the time, USL would not be involved."

The Tap Monster picked up the thread. "You already know about Grade C, it is 'criminal activity that can ruin a planet', it is what we're dealing with now."

"Okay…" Feng Bujue nodded and prompted them to continue.

Pi Li Dance Hero did. "Grade C, theoretically speaking, should still be handled by local superheroes, or rather, they have 'First Priority to Intercept'. But most cases at this grade cannot be handled by the local heroes alone. So some planets also organized their own superhero leagues, so when a single superhero could not handle the situation alone, they would band together."

"So kinda like the Avengers…" Feng Bujue blurted out.

"Em, what did you say?" Pi Li Dance Hero enquired in confusion.

"Erm…" Based on the man's reaction… Brother Jue believed Avengers and anything related to that universe did not exist here. "It's nothing… I was just suddenly reminded of a good organization name, what do you think of The Avengers?"

"Ah?" The Tap Monsters laughed. "You sure are a joker. How does that sound like the name for a superhero league?"

Pi Li Dance Hero added. "Yes… if anything, it sounds more like the name of a criminal organization. The Avengers… what are they avenging against? The society?"

Brother Jue laughed drily. "He He… never mind, forget I said anything." He pulled the topic back. "Oh, where were we. Right… what if the local superheroes cannot handle a Grade C emergency?"

"Then naturally USL will get involved." Pi Li Dance Hero answered. "Some planets have no or little city superheroes. Under that circumstance, once the league gets the news, they will send out reinforcement. To neutralize the threat as fast as possible and save as many lives, the league will assign those closest to the coordination. Of course, to deal with Grade C emergency, the reinforcement has to have at least one or more superhero that is star-grade or above."

By then, the three had reached the main street that led to the government building.

"Me ha ha ha ha ha ha…" Suddenly a loud laughter came down the street. Several hundred metres away, there was a group of humanoid robot that assumed a military position and were marching towards them. Leading the march was a small figure who wore white armor, it was him who was laughing earlier.

"Me ha ha ha ha ha, superheroes from Universe Superhero League, this is where your road ends!" The man shouted. "It is your misfortune to run into me. I am… the great, evil, invincible Professor Sui Sui Sui Sui's best warrior… Senior General Ai Ai Ai Ai!"

"I cannot stand it anymore…" Feng Bujue face-palmed himself and shook his head out of frustration. "Can't these people come up with better names?"