Chapter 32: Bat-Signal?

Chu Cheng recalled his limited memories of American comic book heroes.

He vaguely remembered that in Marvel's Civil War comic, when the Superhuman Registration Act was implemented to collect information on all superhumans, someone mentioned that there were over three thousand registered superheroes in New York City, the main world of Marvel.

And that was just in New York, not counting the miscellaneous superheroes scattered around the world in the Marvel universe, including mutants and other beings. Moreover, if you added up all of them, it still only accounted for Marvel's side. Even in terms of the number of heroes, DC Comics was no slouch either, with a plethora of relatively unknown heroes.

No one knew how many obscure heroes, who were of no use in this game, might be hidden in this damn hero pool.

The excitement of pulling heroes faded instantly. It felt as if someone had forcibly interrupted a season of the "Boruto" anime just when things were getting heated, and even if you piled up firewood for it, the excitement couldn't be rekindled.

He used up all the remaining hero points in one go, getting two more heroes that were practically useless. In between, he also acquired an equipment item, Hawkeye's wrist guard, another seemingly useless thing.

All the points were completely spent, and just a few minutes ago, Chu Cheng, who felt like he was going to get rich, now felt as if he had returned to square one. Over 2,400 points were thrown in, and all he heard was a sound, reminding him once again of the fear that had once gripped him in gacha games.

But it didn't matter! Yesterday, along with the points he gained from the mission, he also received a hero voucher that could be exchanged for eight single draws!

As a great person once said, a hero cannot flee in the face of battle.

And another great person said that it would be meaningless if it's not used when needed.

I must draw cards immediately!

When he reached the third-to-last draw, a dazzling light burst forth, and a solid blue figure appeared in the radiance. He stood tall and straight in the center of the screen, wearing a blue uniform. The forehead of his helmet bore a clear white letter "A," and on each side, there were a pair of pristine white wings.

It was none other than the renowned leader of Marvel's Avengers, the one who wields the shield, Captain America.

Speaking of Captain America's fame, it should be known by everyone. However, compared to the other god-like teammates in the Avengers, the reason he could shoulder the responsibility of leading the team was mainly due to his rich combat experience, command potential, and his role in providing psychological counseling and ideological guidance to the members.

Of course, Chu Cheng didn't care or pay attention to that aspect. What mattered to him were the hero's abilities and equipment performance.

The previously obtained heroes couldn't compare to Batman, and they were basically completely overwhelmed from all angles. However, Captain America, who was obtained this time, was different. Although Captain America couldn't match Batman in terms of wealth and technological equipment, he had superior hardware qualities.

After all, no matter what, Batman was just a human, while Captain America was a super soldier.

As a representative character of Marvel's super soldiers, he possessed physical abilities that surpassed the limits of a human body. As for the exact extent of his abilities, it has always been a mystery in the world of Marvel comics.

Mainly, it was due to the abstract nature of the super soldier serum, which belonged to the realm of idealistic science. It was said that this substance could respond to the innermost desires of the injected individual, not only making good people better and bad people worse but also amplifying the strength of the individual based on their inner strength.

This gave rise to various confusing scenes involving Captain America. Officially, it was stated that he could bench press 1,200 pounds without any additional assistance, which is approximately 545 kilograms when converted.

But everyone knows that these kinds of settings are understood by comic book writers as "I say it, you hear it, and if you take it seriously, you lose."

So, you can see Captain America locked in a fierce battle with Crossbones, and at the same time, you can see him single-handedly stopping an ascending helicopter. In reserved episodes, you can even see him going head-to-head with Thanos.

He is strong against the strong and weak against the weak. His passive skill is being evenly matched against anyone he encounters.

The only question is whether this idealistic notion of passiveness works well when applied to game characters.

If it were before, Chu Cheng would probably think that such mystical settings were not necessary. However, after the battle last night, he became less certain. Because the Batman he controlled clearly demonstrated a powerful will to resist the infection source, and even during the battle, there were flashes of memories of the Wayne couple being killed.

This made Chu Cheng begin to realize that the characters he controlled possessed more than just abilities.

To say that they have their own consciousness, clearly they do not. After all, they have no subjective will and completely accept Chu Cheng's commands, following his intentions and actions. They log out when he tells them to log out, charge forward when he orders them to charge forward, even if it means going to their deaths without wrinkling their brows.

But if we say that they have no consciousness at all, it's clear that Batman is influenced by the infection source and exhibits his unique superhuman willpower.

So Chu Cheng tends to believe that it lies somewhere between the two.

The heroes in the game are indeed just virtual characters, but they are imbued with more than just superpowers and equipment; they also have their backgrounds and spirits. For example, Batman's no-kill rule, his difficulty in letting go of his parents' death, and his extraordinary mental willpower—these are all elements written into his character design, and they are perfectly reproduced as part of the character.

By analogy, perhaps the characters in the game are projections of the superheroes into another world, possessing the complete characteristics of the heroes from their spirits to their abilities, but they are still game characters in the hands of the players.

Players draw characters from the gacha pool and can control and command these characters to carry out missions. However, players are not playing as these characters; they exist as the behind-the-scenes commanders and leaders.

We generally refer to this role as the captain or admiral.

However, the main function of this role often lies in utilizing other features behind the scenes, without even showing their face in the book, and their impact on the main storyline is almost negligible.

If the newly obtained Captain America comes with the passive ability, that would be great, but even without the enhanced physical abilities of Captain America, he is already quite powerful. Coupled with his world-class combat skills in the Marvel universe, he is more than capable of dealing with ordinary infected individuals.

Another major feature is his iconic vibranium shield, which represents his identity.

This item is also exclusive to Marvel as advanced technology. Despite its unassuming appearance of a star-striped round shield, it has an incredibly powerful defense. Not only is it virtually indestructible, but it is also designed to absorb kinetic energy. Captain America can use this shield to perfectly absorb the explosive impact of a grenade by flipping it like a lid, and he can withstand a single RPG attack without any damage while holding it.

Although it was easily cleaved by Thanos with a few strikes in Avengers: Endgame, it doesn't diminish the extraordinary nature of this shield.

Regardless, this new addition to Chu Cheng's has somewhat balanced his mindset. After all, this is the first legitimate super-powered character he has drawn from the gacha pool.

There are only two draws left.

After obtaining Captain America, Chu Cheng's state of mind has become somewhat balanced. It's as if he has already eaten the guaranteed reward and is resigned to his fate. He doesn't have much hope for the remaining two draws, so he has adopted a casual attitude towards them.

Once again, a ray of light flashed after the last draw, and unexpectedly, a massive object appeared in the center of the screen.

Chu Cheng was stunned at the sight of it.

Was that the Bat-Signal?