With only one million yuan, buying a luxury home was out of the question.
Even high-end apartments cost over a million.
Since Gao Ming was determined to buy rather than rent, he had to settle for a more ordinary apartment.
Average-priced apartments ranged from 500,000 to 600,000 yuan, with some “coffin homes” starting as low as 200,000 yuan.
However, Gao Ming’s goal was to find a relatively good apartment within a budget of one million yuan.
Of course, he wouldn’t spend the entire million.
After accounting for daily expenses, his actual upper limit for the property price was 800,000 yuan.
With this target in mind, he met with a real estate agent and specified his requirements.
The agent showed him several apartments, but Gao Ming shook his head and said “no” to each one—either the price was unreasonable or the design was poor.
Finally, just as the agent was about to lose patience and her tone grew less enthusiastic, an apartment caught Gao Ming’s eye.
It was 47 square meters, but thanks to the designer’s clever layout, the compact space seamlessly integrated a bedroom, living room, bathroom, and kitchen.
The arrangement was perfectly balanced and felt natural.
Though small, the apartment had everything he needed.
After Gao Ming showed his interest, the real estate agent enthusiastically pitched the place to him.
Following a lengthy presentation, Gao Ming finally decided on this apartment.
Including all the taxes, it cost him a total of 850,000 yuan.
While this was a bit over budget, Gao Ming felt it was worth the price.
However, furnishing the place also cost a considerable amount.
Although Gao Ming could have moved the furniture in himself, he reluctantly hired movers—whom he considered unnecessary—to avoid drawing attention and causing trouble.
In the end, Gao Ming was left with just over 110,000 yuan.
For the first time, he realized how quickly money could disappear.
It didn’t take long for him to officially move in.
After terminating his lease on his old rental, he smoothly transitioned into his new apartment.
As he sank into his newly purchased sofa and looked around at the pristine interior, all his worries vanished, replaced by a profound sense of belonging.
This place would be his home in the Marvel Universe!
***
“Damn it, I really need to find a job…” Gao Ming propped his chin up with one hand, sitting by the window and staring at the sky with dead fish eyes.
It had been over three weeks since he moved into his new place.
The initial wild joy had gradually subsided, and Gao Ming helplessly realized he was once again fretting over money.
Well, to celebrate the move, Gao Ming had gone a bit overboard, indulging in eating, drinking, and playing.
After he calmed down, he found his savings had shrunk again.
Looking at the expenditures clearly recorded in his account, Gao Ming felt a pang of regret, wishing he could slap himself across the face.
*Never mind, I’m not a masochist.
And I’m so strong that if I didn’t control my strength, I might just snap my own neck with a ‘crack.’ I wouldn’t die, but I’d still experience a few seconds of a death-like sensation.*
Gao Ming couldn’t keep asking Wilson Zhang for money either; he couldn’t bear the humiliation.
After thinking it over, Gao Ming miserably realized that to maintain a normal material life, he still had to go out and work!
So, the problem returned to the beginning: What kind of suitable job should Gao Ming find, given he could use the power of talismans?
He definitely wouldn’t go back to the pizza shop.
That short-tempered boss wouldn’t let him work there again anyway, and delivering food didn’t pay much.
Pass!
*Sell his looks* to a newspaper, like Lois Lane?
He considered it, but decided against it.
After all, he hadn’t made a name for himself yet, and the idea of *selling his looks* was still a bit too shameful.
As for *low-class* ideas like doing manual labor or demolition work, Gao Ming immediately dismissed them the moment they crossed his mind.
He was a *transmigrator*, after all; he couldn’t bring shame to his kind.
Unfortunately, neither of his two past lives could offer any useful suggestions.
In his first life, he’d been a college student who spent all his time in his dorm and had never worked a part-time job.
His social experience was also very limited.
Gao Ming had actually thought about becoming a reporter.
After all, Superman and Lois Lane were both journalists.
Not only could a reporter’s identity serve as a cover for a hero’s activities, but their income was also relatively stable.
Unfortunately, even if Gao Ming wanted to pursue this path, he didn’t have the credentials.
While his first life’s self had been a college student, his second life’s counterpart was not.
He had started working in the real world right after high school.
With his current educational background, any attempt to apply for a job at a newspaper would be met with an absolute rejection.
Frustrated, Gao Ming ran his hands through his hair, making the already neglected mess even more disheveled.
It now looked exactly like a chicken nest.
After rolling back and forth on his bed a few times, Gao Ming sprang up in a single, fluid motion.
He walked to the wardrobe, opened it, and casually pushed aside the hanging clothes.
He then lifted the bottom wooden panel to reveal a hidden compartment.
Many wardrobes featured this kind of design—a removable bottom panel that buyers could use as a secret compartment to store their valuables.
Gao Ming’s hidden compartment held very little: only his Speedster suit and a photo album left behind by his double.
The album contained many pictures of him and his grandfather.
Gao Ming had looked through it before.
Staring at the kind, gentle old man in the photographs, he felt a simultaneous sense of familiarity and strangeness.
Yet, an endless wave of longing welled up within him.
The double’s past memories with his grandfather replayed in his mind, frame by frame, like a movie.
Every time he looked at this album, he couldn’t help but immerse himself in this nostalgia.
Gao Ming let out a soft sigh, shook his head to clear his thoughts, grabbed the Speedster suit, and replaced the wooden panel.
He quickly changed into the suit, pushed open the window, expertly activated his invisibility, and flew out.
*Forget it,* he thought.
*I’ve got no good ideas right now.
I’ll just go fight crime and keep the peace.
Maybe I’ll get some inspiration while I’m beating up some thugs.*
***
New York’s streets were always bustling, day and night.
There were office workers rushing to work, children playing and laughing, elderly people leisurely walking their dogs, couples on dates, and a mysterious group behind the couples, holding umbrellas and wearing cloaks…
All sorts of people formed this lively and chaotic scene.
An elegant female office worker, holding a cup of high-end coffee in one hand and her designer bag in the other, had just stepped out of a cafe.
Suddenly, a Black man rushed out from the side.
Before she could even react, he flashed past her, snatching her bag in one smooth motion.
The moment the bag left her arm, her love for designer bags made her scream instantly, “Robbery! That man stole my bag!”
Then, her body followed her reaction.
The office worker chased after him, her face pale with panic.
But her high heels became a burden at this moment, making her run in tiny, useless steps.
The surrounding pedestrians mostly watched with curiosity.
A couple of men, seeing the female office worker’s plight, chased after the black-clad robber, but he seemed to be a natural athlete.
Despite their pursuit, he steadily widened the gap.
The “righteous” men, realizing they couldn’t catch up, grew impatient.
They slowed their pace, yet feigned exhaustion, panting heavily.
As the robber neared the street corner, despair clouded the woman’s eyes.
The robber flashed a triumphant grin…
Suddenly, his foot stumbled as if he’d tripped over something.
But the ground was completely bare.
The comical sight drew bursts of laughter from the crowd.
A flash of humiliated rage crossed the robber’s face.
He tried to scramble up and continue his escape, but it felt as if someone were stepping on his back, pinning him down.
He struggled to turn his head, only to find no one or anything pressing against him.
This bizarre, supernatural situation instantly filled him with dread, and he began to scream in terror.
The bystanders watched as the Black Man writhed on the ground, howling like a banshee.
Confused by his bizarre behavior, they all stopped in their tracks to observe.
Neither the Black Man nor the passersby could see Gao Ming.
Invisible and bored, he kept one foot planted firmly on the man’s back, pinning him to the ground.
It was Gao Ming who had tripped him in the first place.
*So boring,* Gao Ming thought.
*If I weren’t waiting for Tony Stark to announce “I am Iron Man” to the world and usher in a new era, why would I be hiding like this?*
Without a doubt, after Tony Stark revealed his identity, superheroes would spring up like bamboo shoots after rain.
The probability of major crises on Earth would skyrocket, and Tony Stark would practically become the catalyst for every single one.
Calling him the herald of a new age was no exaggeration.
Gao Ming was determined not to take the blame for that.
He would wait until Tony Stark had fully stolen the spotlight before making his own appearance.
By then, with heroes and villains running amok, a new superhero like himself wouldn’t seem so out of place.
“But this is so boring…” Gao Ming muttered to himself in frustration.
*Why hasn’t Iron Monger shown up yet?
Hurry up and give Iron Man a run for his money, so I can swoop in and save the day in the spotlight.*
The office lady and the “righteous” men saw the mugger sprawled on the ground, unable to get up, and their eyes lit up.
They rushed over.
The “good Samaritans” began pummeling the mugger with punches and kicks.
Just as the woman was about to reach them, they gradually stopped their assault and began berating the bruised and battered man, who offered no resistance, with self-righteous indignation.
Meanwhile, Gao Ming stood to the side, invisible, watching the whole scene unfold.
“Thank you, thank you!” The office lady thanked the men profusely after retrieving her bag from the mugger’s grasp.
The men waved their hands in a modest gesture of courtesy before casually offering her their phone numbers.
The woman didn’t make any excuses to refuse.
She gratefully noted down each of their numbers, but Gao Ming noticed a flicker of disgust cross her face for a split second.
He figured she’d delete them all the moment she turned her back.
Seeing the office lady jot down their numbers, the men secretly rejoiced, already fantasizing about the blush-inducing encounters to come.
Suddenly, she lifted her leg slightly, her black-stockinged calf drawing the men’s gazes.
But before they could even begin to daydream, she delivered a vicious kick straight to the black man’s groin!
And she used the heel of her stiletto!
“Hiss—”
The men present instinctively clamped their legs shut and sucked in a sharp breath.
A wave of sympathetic pain shot through their own crotches, and they all looked at the office lady with newfound awe and respect.
Gao Ming stared at her, equally awestruck.
*Sister, you’re a real badass.*
The office lady stopped after the single kick, but the black man’s agonized scream revealed its sheer power.
She turned to the men who had helped her and flashed a perfectly polite smile.
But after witnessing her ferocity, any romantic notions they’d had vanished.
They could only offer sheepish grins in return.
Seeing her pull out her phone to call the police, Gao Ming knew they would arrive soon to handle the situation.
The black man was already incapacitated, so there was no risk of things going wrong.
Gao Ming quietly slipped away from the scene, leaving only a single man to feel a sudden gust of wind as he passed by.