"There's roast chicken tonight, and authentic German fried sausages?"
Cicadas chirped in the summer night, the bright moon hung high outside the window, and a gentle breeze drifted through the hall, caressing their faces.
Russell and his cousin, Mark, returned home from their part-time jobs at the burger joint, and the moment they pushed open the door, they were greeted by a fragrant aroma.
Unlike his usual introverted image, Mark stood with his hands in his pockets, a smug look on his face while pretending to be casual. He glanced at the food, occasionally peeking at his mother, Debbie, as if he couldn't wait for someone to ask him what had happened.
Looking at him like this, Russell, who had pulled out a chair and sat down, felt a sense of emotion.
Mark looked as if he had won the lottery, and in reality, the good news he had encountered was even more worth celebrating than winning any lottery.
It was just that others couldn't envy him; Mark had won the genetic lottery.
Either you were born with it, or you weren't.
"Mom, I had something really interesting happen today." Seeing that his mother wasn't looking at him, Mark, who had smugly glanced at Russell, couldn't help but speak, ready to make his formal announcement.
"What is it?"
After setting the plates, Debbie looked up.
"I…"
Before Mark could speak, a tall figure appeared beside the dining table at super speed, almost as if teleporting, and the wind it created nearly knocked over the wine glasses.
Debbie, as if she had experienced it thousands of times, calmly steadied the glasses with a casual hand.
"A dragon attacked Hong Kong, and I went to provide support." The man had fair skin, deep blue eyes, a neatly trimmed beard and hair, and a robust physique.
He kissed his wife and explained the reason for his lateness to the family members.
"A dragon, cool."
Gods, robots, monsters, Debbie was already used to her husband fighting various Supervillains. She praised him supportively and continued the previous topic.
"You're back just in time, Mark was about to tell us about something interesting he encountered today."
"Did you encounter it alone?"
Speaking to Mark, she looked at her nephew, Russell, who attended the same school as the two of them and worked part-time at the same burger joint.
"No, Russell." Mark quickly stopped him.
As the most important thing in his life, he wanted to announce it himself.
"Mark wants to say it himself."
Russell spread his hands.
"What is it?" Omni-Man, the most powerful Superhero on Earth, looked at his son, Mark, who was so excited he seemed about to fly to the sky, and had a faint sense of foreboding.
"I… I've awakened my powers!" Mark shouted loudly, full of exhilaration.
He had been looking forward to this night for nearly eighteen years.
"What?" Upon hearing that her son had suddenly awakened his powers, Debbie was stunned.
"Are you sure?" Omni-Man showed no emotion on his face, but his eyes subtly darkened.
"Very sure, when I was at work, I threw a bag of trash so far it disappeared. Maybe it's floating in low Earth orbit, maybe it's already in space."
If Russell hadn't known his aunt's husband, Omni-Man's reaction in advance, he might not have noticed the subtle change in his eyes, while Mark was still excitedly talking, completely unaware.
"Russell saw it too, he can testify for me.
You can ask him."
"Russell?" The couple looked at their nephew, who had been raised by them since his parents died in a car accident when he was eight and had always been a source of peace of mind, wanting to verify the truth of the matter.
"Mark's powers awakened very suddenly. As usual, we were cleaning up the trash left by customers after closing.
One second, Mark was struggling to throw a bag of trash into the dumpster just like me.
The next second, the next bag of trash was thrown into the sky, turning into a star, and disappeared without a trace."
Russell nodded.
Despite seeing it with his own eyes, there was still a sense of unreality.
It was hard to imagine that this morning, at school, Mark had wanted to emulate his father, Omni-Man, and act heroically, trying to help a girl who was being harassed by the football team members, but ended up with a bloody nose from a punch from the other side.
If he hadn't helped catch the next punch, Mark would have been knocked to his knees in public.
But by night, in just a brief moment while throwing trash, Mark possessed power comparable to, or even stronger than, the gods of this world.
"Nolan, is this normal?" Not understanding the normal situation for Viltrumite descendants awakening their powers, Debbie looked at her husband.
Her husband, Nolan, slightly frowned, lost in thought, and only reacted after being nudged a few times.
"It's very normal, this is how our Viltrumite descendants awaken their powers.
His power is still very weak now, it will slowly grow."
If other Superheroes on Earth heard Omni-Man say this, they might be so ashamed they would bash their heads in and die. Throwing dozens of pounds of stuff out of Earth with ease could still be called weak.
Russell's mouth twitched.
…
"This is the Viltrumite, the strongest race in the universe, with defenses that can withstand a nuclear blast at close range, flying speed that can circle the Earth in ten seconds, and strength that can punch through any large mountain on the planet.
They are completely and utterly overpowered."
Lying on the bed in his bedroom late at night, Russell rested his arms behind his head.
If he turned his head, he could see Mark outside in only his pajama pants, full of energy, practicing flying. After a while, he flew straight up and disappeared.
Actually, when he saw the news of the Mauler Twins attacking the White House this morning, he had already anticipated that Mark would awaken his powers as scheduled tonight.
"The moment Mark awakens his powers, it means the plot is about to begin.
This world with Superheroes and Supervillains is about to usher in a life of double the disasters and hardships."
Before, you might just go out to buy a cup of coffee, and when you came out, you might find that your new car had been thrown at a Supervillain by a Superhero.
Or the house you just started paying the mortgage on might be destroyed in a battle between Superheroes and Supervillains, or you might come home from school and find that you are the only one left in the family photo.
It will be different from now on.
Tens of thousands of people dying in a disaster will be commonplace, the destruction of a city will not be strange, and even the world suffering a devastating blow will happen.
Even the protagonist, Invincible Mark, who possesses power comparable to a god, will be abused all the way and narrowly escape death multiple times.
This is the American comic world of 'Invincible.'
In the future world, what will his place be?
Unfortunately, he is just Mark's Cousin, not his paternal cousin, and does not have the abnormal bloodline of the Viltrumite.
He can't open a cheat from birth.
However, fortunately, he opened a little one later.
Ding!
Conquest System
Host: Russell Hanson
Conquest Points: 8
Recorded Templates: John Bruce, Owen Clinton, David Jackson…
Currently Applied Template: David Jackson.
Ability: Peak Human Physique.
Connected Universes: [The Boys Universe], Other Universes Searching…
A simple system panel.
The system appeared a few days ago when Russell turned eighteen.
The least important function of the system is that it can allow him to travel to other worlds.
The main function is that he can obtain the ability templates of the people he has defeated and combine the abilities of multiple people into one, but he can only use one person's ability at the same time.
"Conquest Points, when a person naturally shows emotions such as genuine liking, admiration, reverence, etc., to a certain extent, when their mind is conquered, the points increase.
Using Conquest Points can permanently solidify the template on oneself, without occupying an applied template slot."
In the boxing interest class he usually attended, Russell defeated multiple younger students while practicing techniques with each other, recorded their templates, and also gained some Conquest Points.
Solidifying the strength of two people, plus his own strength and the strength of the applied template, allowed his overall physical attributes to almost comprehensively surpass Olympic champions, reaching the peak limit of the human body.
"With this kind of strength, wanting to level up all the way and defeat monsters to gain power comparable to the Viltrumite, it seems destined to be a long and arduous journey!"
"Fortunately, there is a loophole I can exploit.