Chapter 35: The New Serialized Story
"Boss, maybe you should go back and get some rest..."
At the Messenger Newspaper Office, Old John glanced at the coffee on the desk and reminded Colin. For several days in a row, Colin's busy figure could be seen throughout the Newspaper Office, putting immense pressure on his employees. Therefore, Old John advised, "You can leave the rest of the work to us."
"How much time is left until distribution?"
Yawning, Colin drained the coffee in his cup and asked Old John. It wasn't that he was unwilling to go back and rest, but because as soon as he closed his eyes to sleep, Colin's consciousness might be dragged back into another dimension, forced to face Ultron's pursuit.
"The general layout has been decided. We just need to arrange the final concluding parts, and then we can print it directly with the printing press."
Seeing Colin's resolute attitude, Old John couldn't say much more. He could only silently refill the empty coffee cup in front of him as he replied.
"Hurry up. I want to see the new issue of the newspaper before we finish work today."
Hearing that the newspaper's layout was basically complete, the tension that had been gripping Colin's heart finally eased a little. He blinked his eyes, red from staying up late for so long, took a sip of coffee, and didn't forget to urge Old John on.
"No problem." With the boss giving the order, Old John, as an employee, naturally had no right to refuse and immediately nodded in agreement.
...
As evening approached, the flow of people on the streets gradually increased.
On the streets of New York, one could see vendors everywhere standing impeccably dressed in clean suits and crisp ties, and the goods they sold were surprisingly consistent—apples.
During The Great Depression, every industry suffered heavy losses, yet the apple industry had welcomed a great harvest in recent years. To sell these surplus apples, the Apple Shipping Association came up with a solution: have apple companies pack the apples into wooden crates of the same size and deliver them to the hands of the unemployed in New York and other cities.
These apple vendors would take to the streets and sell the apples for the highest price possible.
At the end of the day, they would then pay the apple company a cost of $1.75 per crate.
This method was very effective in its early stages. It helped the apple companies solve the problem of overproduction while also bringing a measure of comfort and dignity to thousands of unemployed people in New York City—by selling apples instead of begging, these unemployed people felt as if they were still in control of their own destinies.
For a time, the men selling apples became a striking feature on the streets of New York City.
However, this 'boom' didn't last for long. After a brief period of glory, apple sales began to decline.
The rising cost of apples and the increasing number of vendors severely affected local traffic and public order. Citizens threw leftover apple cores everywhere, and cities like Washington D.C. even began to publicly ban the sale of apples on the street, calling it a public nuisance.
At the same time, the ever-increasing cost they had to pay back meant that many of the unemployed could no longer afford to do this work.
Perhaps, before long, these vendors selling apples on the streets of New York would fade from the stage of history.
For the price of five cents, he bought an apple from a vendor.
Savoring the crisp, sweet apple in his hand, Colin thought to himself. He finished the apple in a few bites, yawned, and shook his head to suppress the wave of drowsiness that washed over him. Glancing at the freshly printed newspaper under his arm, still smelling of ink, he said to himself.
"Just have to hold on for one more night."
...
"Is that a bird? Is that a plane? That's Superman!"
The next morning.
The newsboys, shouting a loud slogan and waving the latest issue of The Messenger in their hands, appeared on the streets and alleys of New York City.
"Give me a newspaper!"
Watching the skinny figures of these newsboys, a reader who had been waiting impatiently hurriedly called out to stop them. Shoving some change into the Newsboy's hand, he snatched a copy of The Messenger and opened it. The man's gaze was quickly drawn to the Superman comic serialized in the newspaper.
"Enjoy your read, sir."
Carefully putting the change in his pocket, the Newsboy glanced up at the completely engrossed reader before him. However, the man was clearly already lost in the story of the comic and didn't respond to the Newsboy.
The latest installment of the Superman serialized story featured a total of two supervillains.
The first was the Prankster King, whom Little John had seen before in Colin's original manuscript. His wildly imaginative, almost childlike crime sprees truly left readers in awe. Of course, the comic still ended with Superman's victory—justice triumphed over evil, and the Prankster King and all his henchmen were sent to prison.
But with the Prankster King sent to prison, Metropolis did not become peaceful.
The evil Luthor appeared once again. He stole a weapon secretly developed by the US Military, intending to cause a massive earthquake. Superman stopped him in time and destroyed the weapon. Humiliated and enraged, Luthor fired a specially made super-cannon to kill Superman, only to be unexpectedly blocked by Superman's powerful durability.
Next, the escaped Luthor didn't give up. He sank a city and created prehistoric monsters, attempting to control the world with these resurrected dinosaurs. At the critical moment, Superman appeared in time, thwarting another of Luthor's evil plans, and witnessed Luthor being killed by the very dinosaurs he created.
"The Prankster King, that guy's interesting."
"So much money... why can't I ever run into someone giving away money?"
"I knew it! How could an evil genius like Luthor die so easily!"
"So awesome! Superman is just too powerful, not even a super-cannon can harm him in the slightest..."
"What? Luthor died again!"
This weekend's issue of The Messenger serialized a total of four stories about Superman.
But no matter how carefully the man read, half an hour was enough to go through all the content in the newspaper. Still wanting more, he flipped through the paper in his hands, trying to find some part he might have missed in the folds. Finally, he reluctantly put the newspaper down.
A few minutes later, feeling unsatisfied, he opened the newspaper again to savor it once more.
Readers like this man were not uncommon in New York.
The influence of Superman was gradually spreading.
...
[Power—Super Durability (Black Iron)]
[Power Description: Ordinary bullets can no longer harm Superman, and the same goes for artillery. Only powerful special military weapons can penetrate his skin.]
"It's finally unlocked."
At the same time, inside the Messenger Newspaper Office, Colin looked at the latest content unlocked on the [Black Iron Mark]. Finally unable to resist the intense wave of drowsiness welling up inside him, he closed his eyes.
(end of chapter)