The promotional video was a live broadcast clip of the welcome party on the night the new member Starlight joined The Seven—
Russell raised his eyes and looked at it twice, not paying much attention.
However, some pedestrians in the bustling square stopped and pointed curiously.
On the giant screen, the Superheroes Starlight, wearing a meticulously designed Superheroes costume interwoven with white and gold, walked from the end of the red carpet, smiling brightly.
Along the side of the red carpet, a galaxy-like brilliance erupted, and the flashlights of hundreds of cameras simultaneously lit up, tearing a Blazing white crack in the night sky.
The air seemed to be ignited, and every inch of space pulsed with electric excitement.
"Starlight! Look here!"
"Left! Left!"
Shouts surged like a tide from all directions, the arms of reporters raised like a forest, and the lenses reflected countless images of Starlight—each one perfect, every frame full of star power.
Flashlights flickered wildly, forming a dazzling sea of light, and Starlight's figure appeared and disappeared in this silver-white storm, like a goddess of light walking out of a myth.
Just a few days ago, Starlight was a little-known Superheroes, but in the blink of an eye, as soon as Vought announced the news of selecting her to join The Seven, her popularity quickly rose to the global peak.
Now Starlight doesn't need to dance, doesn't need to sing, just a gentle wave of her hand, and the media and traffic are madly obsessed with her.
"—Joining 'The Seven' is my lifelong dream!" The clip of her being interviewed by the host played again, and her voice spread to every corner through the square's speakers.
"She's so beautiful..." A girl in the square looked up at the screen and sighed enviously.
"I heard she was the champion of the Youth Superheroes Talent Show when she was a child, well deserved!" Another passerby echoed.
"Hehe, well deserved..."
On a park bench not far away, several empty beer cans were scattered around, and Firecracker stared intently at that screen, her face already a little drunk, a mocking arc on the corner of her mouth.
It was unclear whether she was mocking the seemingly flawless and glamorous Starlight on the screen, or mocking her own down-and-out state.
Starlight's bright laughter in the promotional video pierced her eardrums like a sharp knife.
—Why?
It's really funny, a bitch who would rely on slandering others for sleeping with old men judges to get rid of competitors when she was a child, didn't get retribution, but instead transformed into a goddess everyone envies.
And her.
She had been working hard for many years, thinking of surpassing Starlight and one day getting revenge, but now it seems impossible. She doesn't know what meaning her past persistence and efforts have.
"You don't have to be limited to the characters in the plot. This is a real World. There are more flying Superheroes than that. You can check. The information about those star-like Superheroes should be available online..."
As Russell was thinking, a woman's figure, staggering from drinking, walked past him, and a strong smell of alcohol wafted over, making him wrinkle his nose.
The person didn't leave. Seeing him, her drunken eyes lit up, and she stopped. A deliberately mature and sexy female voice entered his ears.
"Hey, I'm drunk and can't find my way home. Do you want to take me home, boy?
I can teach You some things You can't learn in school."
"Get lost!" Glancing at the hand on his shoulder, Russell reached out to push this drunken, horny woman aside, so she wouldn't disturb his thinking.
Looking up, the blue and red battle suit wrapping her ample curves looked a little familiar.
"Firecracker?"
Brown long hair, a pair of almond-shaped eyes that flowed with emotion, a high nose bridge, a beautiful face with a bit of classical beauty.
She didn't look like someone cosplaying Firecracker.
"Oh? You know me, are You my fan!" Firecracker actually sat directly on Russell's lap, put her arms around his neck, and flirted with him face to face in an aggressive manner.
"Are You drunk?"
The extremely shrewd Firecracker in the plot actually got herself drunk. Russell's gaze went past Firecracker and saw the radiant figure of Starlight on the large screen behind her, and he found the answer, smiling slightly.
Yes, it's not surprising.
What is more uncomfortable than one's own downfall is when one's enemy is doing well and at the peak of their life during one's downfall.
"I am indeed drunk, do You have the guts to take me home? Boy." Firecracker raised her chin, her condescending gaze deliberately provoking him.
"How about going to Your place?"
Since someone took the initiative to come to his door, Russell sneered coldly.
He wouldn't be polite.
He could think about checking which Superheroes in this World can fly later.
...
"Where am I, my head hurts so much.
Water, I want Water..."
The morning sun poured in through the gap in the curtains, and a hand reached out from under the White bedding, fumbling around on the bedside table. Firecracker's head was splitting, and her throat was as dry as if she hadn't drunk Water for days.
Especially, there were multiple places on her body that hurt. What was going on?
A glass of Water was casually handed to her.
Firecracker looked up along that arm and saw a young man wearing a bath towel, with handsome features, a slender figure, well-defined muscles, a tight waist, and the whole person like a lean cheetah, giving a feeling of explosive power.
"He looks like a student when he's wearing a tracksuit, I really can't tell he has a body full of muscles."
Everything came back to her, Firecracker drank a sip of Water and lay back with a sigh.
It doesn't matter anymore, anyway, years of persistence have no meaning anymore, she can't have the chance to take revenge and mock that woman anymore.
At least this boy is not bad, young and strong.
Firecracker sat up and looked at the young boy in front of her, his muscles showing the perfect combination of strength and agility as he moved.
That's right, and endurance...
A curve appeared on the corner of Firecracker's mouth.
"What's Your computer password."
But when the young man whose name she didn't even know brought her laptop and leaned against the headboard, trying to turn it on, his casual attitude as if no one else was around, as if he was the Master of this home.
Firecracker frowned slightly.
Images of high school students who were often short of money flashed through her mind, but she still gave him the password.
"I didn't expect You to be... Hmm? You're a bit of a surprise." Russell skillfully typed on the keyboard to search, while busy with his own business, he said casually.
This casual tone, like a scumbag, made Firecracker have a worse premonition.
When this was mentioned, Firecracker seemed to have a stress reaction, and couldn't help but instinctively speak in a sharp and sarcastic tone.
"What, are You surprised?
How could a bitch who was willing to sleep with several old men judges to enter the talent show finals when she was just over ten years old still have her virginity?"
"That's the rumor Starlight spread about You, right?"
With the computer screen reflected in his eyes, Russell said without turning his head.
His indifferent tone, as if he knew what was going on from the beginning, surprised Firecracker, and a hint of hesitation.
"You... are You really my fan?"
Regarding what happened when she was a child, Firecracker tried to clarify many times in the early days, but those clarifications were all drowned out by the strange looks and pointing fingers that followed her wherever she went. She had become powerless and used to it.
She no longer did futile work, only focusing on managing her personal blog well.
Many people followed her blog, but few really believed that she was slandered back then. People are often willing to believe what they are inclined to believe.
How sensational was the news that a teenage girl slept with old men judges in rotation to enter the talent show finals.
It's interesting if it's true, and it can satisfy people's dark psychology of curiosity.