The old saying holds true—plans never survive contact with reality. The world keeps shifting beneath our feet. You can prepare for tomorrow based on today's circumstances, but chaos always finds a way to tangle everything up.
Take Hong Fei's current situation. His original plan was simple: have Matt draft contracts, then personally visit every superhero with his pyramid scheme pitch and ironclad negotiation tactics—backed by fists when necessary. Who could refuse? But reality delivered a curveball. Since when were superheroes this broke?
Tony Stark and Black Panther were exceptions—the 1% of the superhero world. Most Avengers lived paycheck to paycheck despite daily life-threatening work. Even saving the world occasionally only earned them standard S.H.I.E.L.D. salaries. Wealth? Forget about it.
Single heroes scraped by comfortably enough. But start a family? That's when the real struggle began. One major disaster or medical emergency, and they'd be maxing out credit cards like everyone else. Superheroes still got collection calls! Banks didn't cut special deals for spandex-wearing clients—if anything, they charged higher interest rates for high-risk professions. What if you died before paying up?
Some heroes funded personal research projects or had expensive habits. Between missions, they pinched pennies and scoured job boards for side gigs. The superhero grind never ended. But the more Hong Fei considered their financial woes, the wider his grin spread. Poverty worked in his favor!
If every hero rolled in cash like Stark, how would ordinary people compete? With everyone wealthy, Hong Fei would have nothing to offer but his fists during negotiations. A little financial struggle kept things interesting. Being poor wasn't tragic—it meant room for growth!
Think about it. The less you have, the easier to double your assets. Turning pennies into millions? Possible. But when you're sitting on billions like Hong Fei, doubling that becomes a nightmare—you'd have to loot entire museums!
Moonlight filtered through the window screen as they lay in bed. Dr. Helen Cho rested her head on Hong Fei's arm, gazing upward.
"The Regeneration Cradle's nearly complete."
"You've done excellent work."
He stroked her hair absently. By now, Hong Fei held no illusions about the device dramatically boosting physical abilities.
The Regeneration Cradle remained revolutionary—limb regeneration, custom-grown organs—but its astronomical costs couldn't be engineered away. Helen had followed Hong Fei's directives religiously, implementing every cost-cutting measure imaginable with minimal impact.
Hong Fei could, of course, spend lavishly to reduce operating costs and save lives through philanthropy. But the cradle's rare material requirements already strained global supply chains. Flooding the market with purchases would spike prices, creating diminishing returns. Such was the nature of markets.
Hong Fei could also resort to brute force robbery, but how much could he really seize? Does he also have to develop upstream resources? So, tracing back along the chain, to what extent would he need to go to truly control an entire supply chain, and even then, would it really lower costs? What belongs to the market, must ultimately be left to the market.
The Regeneration Cradle must be promoted because it is indeed beneficial, but cost constraints prevent it from quickly benefiting the general public like antibiotics. For this, Hong Fei also has a plan: to produce more Regeneration Cradles, then fiercely fleece the rich worldwide, and then turn these funds to those in urgent need. Although it's still a drop in the bucket, it's better than nothing.
Times have changed, and today, Hong Fei no longer necessarily relies on the Regeneration Cradle to improve his physical fitness. It's not bad to consider it a small but stable source of income. In addition, the Regeneration Cradle has another excellent use: to create a Vibranium body for Arthur. Ultron is strong, and Six-Gem Ultron is absurdly strong.
If necessary, Hong Fei can bring out a Six-Gem Arthur.
"After completing the Regeneration Cradle, what else can I do for you?"
Hearing this, Hong Fei looked down and saw Dr. Helen Cho's gaze was extremely serious, with a hint of something unusual in her eyes. Hong Fei asked directly, "Are you worried?"
"I'm not worried, but I increasingly feel that you're moving very fast. The iron armor I made for you, except for the first few sets, you haven't really used the later ones."
"This..."
It was true. At first, Hong Fei needed the iron armor for assisted flight, but later Jessica dropped the physical flight card, and now he can fly and escape using Dragon Power without a card, so his iron armor's flight function was directly removed.
The nano armor's three main auxiliary functions are: flight, in-combat HUD display, and defense. Thus, the first one was directly scrapped, and the second, Hong Fei only glances at it when checking his Dragon Power integration, otherwise he rarely opens it, because he completely trusts his judgment and always makes the most correct reactions. As for the last one, defense.
Previously, Hong Fei himself could judge and evade enemy attacks, and later the Eyes of Death could dodge bullets. This habit has been maintained to this day, causing enemies to often not even touch him throughout an entire battle.
As a result, Hong Fei's most common reasons for using his nano armor nowadays have surprisingly become concealing his appearance and maintaining real-time communication with others, sometimes even wearing it as his last piece of clothing. If the nano armor were a treasure, then the above description perfectly fits the condition of 'a pearl cast before swine'.
Hong Fei shook his head and said, "This is actually a good thing. It means no one can hit me. Even if someone could touch me, they'd only win half... no, ten percent."
"That's true, but I always feel like I've become useless this way."
"Don't talk nonsense. Your existence, everything about you, is the greatest and best use for me."
"You just know how to sweet-talk people."
"I'm telling the truth."
"But I still want to do something."
"You can spend more time practicing Qi, and at the same time, make the Superpower Park bigger and stronger."
"Does that count too?"
"Of course, it's a good business that can make a lot of money."
"You don't lack money."
"Right, but I lack peace of mind and happiness."
"Hmm?"
"What you lack is what I lack."
Suddenly, with a 'woo-wah' sound, the air in the room instantly became chaotic and warmed up, and the moonlight also dimmed, as if the moon, embarrassed, had hidden directly behind the clouds. The next day. My Lord Dragon King's investment company was registered, and "Superpower Park" was officially launched as the first project, upgraded from "Super Hero Park".
Removing the word 'Hero' opened the door for villains to join the park. Villain characters often enjoy surprising popularity, and their copyrights are far easier to secure than those of heroes. The Superpower Park project's first order of business? A complete overhaul of Blackwater Town's existing layout.
To accommodate both heroes and villains, it wasn't just a matter of constructing a few extra buildings—Hong Fei's earlier suggestion barely scratched the surface. Even the existing structures needed to be torn down and rebuilt. All this was being done in secret, as Master Hong's next move was intricately tied to the Superpower Park's success. At noon, a guest arrived: Chen Qi, looking notably more polished than before.
Gone were his usual loose casual clothes. Instead, he wore a sharp suit and tie, flanked by a male and female assistant. Hong Fei greeted him with a grin.
"Promotion?"
Chen Qi chuckled, his enthusiasm undimmed.
"Not exactly, but more responsibilities, for sure. How about you? Everything good?"
"All good," Hong Fei replied, ushering him inside.
As they walked, Chen Qi's eyes flicked over the strange creatures roaming the grounds. Though he showed brief surprise, he recovered quickly. His assistants, meanwhile, looked like they'd been turned to stone. Hong Fei gestured casually.
"Nine-Tailed Fox, Qilin, Suanni, Phoenix, Dijiang. What do you think?"
All three visitors froze. Chen Qi's eyes widened.
"Are they... real?"
"Half and half," Hong Fei admitted. "The Nine-Tailed Fox and Dijiang are authentic. The others? Close enough in appearance, but not exact."
Chen Qi didn't seem disappointed. If anything, he grew more excited.
"They're all divine beasts! How strong are they?"
Hong Fei shook his head.
"Not very. They make good pets, though. Why? You want them?"
"Absolutely!"
Chen Qi replied without hesitation, then added quickly, "If it's convenient, that is. If not, no worries."
"Don't sweat it. It's easy. Take your team to the place I visited last time and wait. I'll send you a batch—two pairs of each, or even whole families."
"That'd be amazing! Thank you!"
"No need. Just remember, they're more about looks than substance."
Chen Qi smirked.
"You're laying it on a bit thick with the modesty."
They stepped into the main hall, where two red-based iron armors stood guard, flanking the space.
"You haven't used these yet?"
Hong Fei nodded.
"They're fine as they are."
"Next time, I'll send you better ones. Three displayed together would make quite the statement."
"Looking forward to it."
After sitting down, Hong Fei discussed the modifications to Blackwater Town's construction plan with Chen Qi. The conversation was straightforward—Hong Fei paid, and Chen Qi delivered.
"This park plan is solid," Chen Qi remarked. "Those waiting to photograph the Dragon are already sneaking into Blackwater Town at all hours. They're more dedicated than the construction crews."
Hong Fei chuckled.
"True. Compared to the Dragon, other legendary creatures pale in significance—especially for us."
Chen Qi tilted his head, curiosity piqued.
"That White Dragon... it's really yours?"
"Yes."
"Then the nickname 'Dragon King' suits you perfectly. It's already etched into people's minds."
They chatted for another hour before Hong Fei stood to see him off. As they walked, servants carried out a massive metal box.
"You've sent me two gifts. Consider this a return favor."
Chen Qi eyed the box, about to ask, when Hong Fei cut in.
"Good stuff. Lots of it. Go back and open it to see for yourself."
Out of mutual trust, Chen Qi didn't press further. With a simple "Good," he took the box and headed straight for the airport.