Chapter 14: Captain China!
In a sudden blur of motion, a combat suit—crimson red with yellow markings—materialized upon Du Xin's body. To prevent anyone from recognizing him, he had even deliberately altered his hairstyle.
He retrieved a circular shield from his spatial storage—likewise emblazoned with a red background, featuring a large yellow five-pointed star flanked by four smaller ones—and grasped it firmly in his hand. An aura of dashing power and might immediately radiated from him.
Tightening his grip on the shield, Du Xin descended the stairs. Within his "Pocket World," he had imbued the shield with a rule ensuring it would always return to his hand; in reality, this effect was simply the result of the World Force contained within his combat suit and shield mutually attracting one another.
The sound of Du Xin descending the stairs finally drew everyone's attention. By this time—with the exception of the robbers—everyone else had crouched down on the floor, hands clasped over their heads. The robbers were currently interrogating the hostages regarding the whereabouts of Tan Xiaoxiao—or, more accurately, the whereabouts of the necklace.
"Stop asking them; *I* know where it is."
"Oho! Look what we have here—some kind of fool? Let's see... what are you supposed to be? Captain America? Or maybe... Captain China? Just some cosplay, I bet!"
The ringleader of the robbers rose from beside Tan Chengjun and sauntered leisurely toward Du Xin, his demeanor dripping with mockery and utter disdain. The other robbers nearby burst into raucous laughter, echoing their boss's taunts.
Du Xin quickly assessed the situation: the only two robbers wielding firearms were the ringleader and a middle-aged man standing by the window, keeping watch outside. The rest—armed only with knives—merely stood around or paced back and forth, occasionally glancing out the window to check for police presence.
"Who would have thought a simple mission would come with a bonus payout? And a bonus that's even higher than the original commission fee! Hahaha—it seems even the heavens are on my side!"
Seeing that none of the robbers were paying him any serious attention, Du Xin swiftly raised his arm and hurled his shield forward. The shield struck the ringleader's hand, sending his pistol flying through the air. Ricocheting off the ringleader, the shield then grazed the wall as it sped toward the middle-aged robber standing by the window; the sheer force of the impact knocked the man to the ground, rendering him unconscious. The entire sequence unfolded in less than two seconds—so quickly, in fact, that most of the bystanders hadn't even had time to react. Relying on his superhuman physical strength and speed, Du Xin snatched the shield out of the air as it ricocheted back toward him, then instantly hurled it away again. Flying right alongside the shield was Du Xin himself. The shield soared toward the two robbers standing closest to the crowd; it first slammed into a wall, then rebounded to strike one of the robbers squarely in the back. The sheer force of the impact sent the robber flying two meters through the air. The shield ricocheted once more, this time striking the raised blade of the other robber—who had finally managed to react. The blade snapped instantly; the severed tip flew past the robber's face, leaving a thin crimson line in its wake, before continuing its trajectory to embed itself deep in the thigh of yet another robber who was rushing toward the scene. Blood spurted out as the shield, still hurtling forward, slammed into the chest of the robber whose face it had just grazed.
The very instant he released the shield, Du Xin lunged toward a different robber. Moving with a speed that rivaled a sports car—propelled by explosive power—he appeared directly in front of his target almost instantaneously. With a sweeping kick of his long leg, he struck the robber in the gut. The robber curled up like a shrimp mid-air as he was sent flying. In the distance, the remaining robbers looked on in sheer terror, as if they had just witnessed a ghost. One robber, driven by panic, frantically hurled the long saber he held in his hand. To Du Xin, however, the speeding saber seemed to move as slowly as a drifting feather. Just as the blade was about to strike him, he casually swatted it aside with his right hand. The saber, now broken in two, saw one half embed itself in a nearby pillar, while the other half—mirroring the earlier incident exactly—slammed into the thigh of yet another charging robber.
With a single, effortless blow, Du Xin knocked out the robber who had thrown the saber. He then caught the shield as it flew back to him and immediately hurled it toward a cluster of three other robbers standing together, while simultaneously charging toward the final pair of remaining bandits—pausing briefly along the way to help an elderly person who had fallen to the ground.
Five seconds later, every single robber lay unconscious. The entire process, while appearing perilous, had actually been executed with absolute precision and control; perhaps the riskiest moment of all had been helping the elderly person back to their feet.
"Is everyone alright? My name is Captain China! Society calls, so I must be going now!"
Catching the eye of the elderly person who seemed about to speak, Du Xin decided it was best to make a swift exit. "Sigh, I'm not sure if this is actually how superheroes make their exit, but whatever—this will have to do."
Having just satisfied his urge to play the superhero, Du Xin was currently making his way up the stairs. He had already changed out of his costume, yet a faint trace of excitement still lingered on his face. In truth, no one had noticed that Du Xin had "pilfered" something on his way out: a robber—who had been disguised as a waiter—whom he had tossed into his "Pocket Dimension." It was the thought of this particular captive that was making Du Xin feel so exhilarated.
Turning a corner, Du Xin spotted Tan Xiaoxiao inching forward cautiously, clutching a fruit knife in her hand. The moment she caught sight of Du Xin, she lunged at him with a stab.
"Hey! What on earth are you doing? I managed to survive the robbers, only to nearly get killed by *you*!"
Having dodged the fruit knife, Du Xin felt a surge of annoyance—though, looking at Tan Xiaoxiao, he also found the situation somewhat amusing.
She was hugging the wall as she moved; her body—which had only just begun to relax—was now pressed tight against the plaster, her legs trembling ever so slightly.
"A-are you okay?"
"I'm fine. But what about *you*? Didn't I tell you to stay put? A superhero showed up—he calls himself 'Captain China'—and he took down all the robbers before leaving. I just came back to fetch you."
Du Xin stepped forward to steady the now-limp Tan Xiaoxiao. Finally able to let go of her tension completely, Tan Xiaoxiao collapsed right into Du Xin's arms.
"Stop spouting nonsense! 'Captain China'? Why not 'Captain America' while you're at it? The police must have arrived, obviously! The only reason I went downstairs was that I was terrified something might happen to you—I was trying to save *you*!"
Du Xin took a look at Tan Xiaoxiao's current state and chuckled.
"In the shape you're in right now, how exactly were you planning to save *me*? I think it's safer if *I* save *you*."
Without offering any further explanation, Du Xin simply scooped Tan Xiaoxiao up into his arms and carried her back down the stairs.
Before long, the police arrived. Although many of the robbers had already been neutralized, one had to admit that the police response time was impressively fast; strictly speaking, less than twenty minutes had elapsed between the robbers' initial appearance and the arrival of law enforcement—a swiftness likely due in no small part to the large number of people gathered at the party.
Once the police were on the scene, Du Xin handed Tan Xiaoxiao over to Tan Chengjun. With the Tan family now there to look after her, Du Xin took his leave shortly thereafter. Upon returning home, Du Xin immediately retreated into his "pocket dimension"; meanwhile, the outside world was in a state of mounting frenzy. Two names were rapidly gaining notoriety throughout the city. The first belonged to a young, fabulously wealthy tycoon who, at the birthday banquet of the Tan family heiress, had presented the most extravagant gift imaginable—the "Heart of the Rainbow"—valued at sixty million. Before long, images of Du Xin, Tan Xiaoxiao, and the "Heart of the Rainbow" had gone viral across the internet. Had it not been for the emergence of a second figure, Du Xin would almost certainly have claimed the top spot on the trending charts.
That second figure was "Captain China." Footage captured from various sources—hotel surveillance cameras as well as videos filmed by two bystanders (one from a distance, the other up close)—had recorded the entire incident with crystal clarity. The videos, having somehow leaked into the public domain, swept across the entire internet within just half an hour; within an hour, they had rocketed to the number one spot on the trending list. Countless experts stepped forward to verify that the footage was unedited, devoid of special effects, and entirely authentic. Yet, unexpectedly, the very next day saw a fresh wave of experts emerge to debunk the claims, asserting that the clips were merely short videos featuring special effects created by an internet user—videos that had gone viral and hit the trending charts solely due to their uncanny realism. The alleged "creator" even came forward to refute the authenticity of the footage. By the end of that same day, every keyword related to the incident had vanished from the search results—including the trending topic concerning Du Xin, whose name was linked to the location where the event took place. This sudden, systematic erasure of all traces served only to further solidify the perceived reality of "Captain China."
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