“Superpowers? Me? Are you drunk?” Nemo’s first reaction was to count the empty cans beside Толя.

“I’m perfectly sober! I’m just curious—since you lost your memory from getting hit, maybe you had superpowers before that,” Толя said, his eyes gleaming.

“Superpowers are just urban legends, aren’t they? Even if they existed, the government would lock them in basements as lab rats, turning them into super weapons before any civilian could witness them.”

“Lately, more and more real videos are being leaked, and many people are stepping forward claiming they awakened strange abilities after coming into contact with meteorites from the Meteor Shower Event. Some cities already have their own superhero.”

“So what’s the logic between my amnesia and me having superpowers?” Nemo asked. The truth was, he had indeed appeared in this world shortly after the Meteor Shower Event, he must keeps his secret sefe.

“Well, you’re just different from everyone else—whether it’s the skills you know or that bizarre brain of yours,” Толя waved dismissively.

“That’s because the environment you grew up in is too narrow-minded. Imagine this: no state religion, so you can worship whatever god you want; wives support husbands wearing women’s clothes and makeup to work; same-sex marriage being perfectly ordinary,” As Толя 's pupils quivered, Nemo seized the moment to strike again. “And besides, we knew each other a year before the Meteor Shower Event. Did you secretly see me fly, or did I get bitten by a mutant spider?”

“Oh, right!” The Russian finally realized. They ate and lived together every day—basically just short of sharing a bed. If his roommate had superpowers, how could he not know?

Толя grinned mischievously. “Just asking.”

“I didn’t realize superpowered people had already started to operate publicly. If ordinary citizens might face new types of dangers, we should prepare in advance,” Nemo told his roommate seriously, deciding they’d go to the hardware store and supermarket tomorrow to buy supplies for an emergency escape backpack.

Толя’s face fell. The cost of en emergency backpack was enough for several trips to the bar.

“You spend so much time online every day. How come you’re clueless about trending topics that everyone else is talking about?”

“I’ve been using various information sources to understand the outbreak and progression of the Taiwan Strait war, as well as studying the details of the daily battles,” Nemo replied. If he ever got the chance to return to his original world before the war began, his knowledge—while not necessarily predicting the future—could at least provide critical clues. It was a matter of life and death for his homeland, so he had no choice but to prioritize it above everything else. He needed to memorize as much as possible since he couldn’t exactly bring a flash drive back with him.

“I thought you said you had no home to return to. Why are you so concerned about the Far East island war?” Толя asked.

“Because I can’t remember anything. Sunny Jie said I came from Taiwan, so naturally, I have to start caring about the war that caused my homeland to fall. What else would I care about? Besides, the Taiwan Strait is going to erupt into war again soon, and this time the international coalition forces will definitely intervene.” What Nemo didn’t say was that when Taiwan launched its independence war, he might volunteer to join the international legion. That could provide a way for him to enter Taiwan.

No matter what, he had to go to Taiwan to see what had become of his homeland.

Maybe he could confirm his true identity, which would allow him to make longer-term plans for living in this parallel America. At the same time, he needed to prepare thoroughly for entering a dangerous war zone.

Толя lowered his brows and muttered softly, “Yeah, the war back home is still going on too. But I don’t want to go back. Screw patriotism!” The Russian followed up with a string of curses.

When Nemo first crossed into this parallel world, if he hadn’t been overwhelmed by the Taiwan Strait war, he might have paid more attention to the supernatural aftermath of the Meteor Shower Event. But this war to absorb information is limited. Nemo was so focused on a specific topic that he barely paid attention to the strange events that fascinated the rest of the world in this post-disaster era.

Nemo understood the Meteor Shower Event immense global losses. Occasionally, when researching news, he’d stumble across headlines about superpowered individuals, but he dismissed them as fake news and urban legends.

After all, even during the height of Taiwan’s obsession with Mazu and the World Cup, Nemo could still grind quests in Nobunaga’s Ambition or World of Warcraft without knowing what year it was, much less the difference between “positioning” and “offside.”

Superpowers and the world’s richest man—what did that have to do with him? Gods fought and mortals suffered. Billionaires driving inflation by speculating on housing and stocks, or corrupt politicians and businessmen enacting insane policies, getting involved with the powerful individuals always caused more harm than good. The farther away he stayed, the better. That was Nemo’s mindset.

Since governments hadn’t formally acknowledged the existence of superpowers, Nemo figured it didn’t matter if he ignored them. It was like women’s suffrage—who knew how long it would take to go from nonexistence to acceptance?

“Let the starry people deal with the starry problems. We’re just ordinary folk.” Nemo raised his cup as gunshots rang out from the movie. “Cheers to Толя’s terrible movie choice!”

“Cheers to having work tomorrow!” the Russian howled.

The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

※※※

The next day, Nemo was, predictably, teased by the boss couple and coworkers for living under a rock. They had assumed he was just shy but still secretly kept up with public discourse.When they realized their chef genuinely knew nothing about the Grimm Group and the increasingly active superpowers, they launched into a passionate effort to convert him to their superhero fandom.

Objectively speaking, superpowered people hadn’t yet lived up to the traditional “superhero” image. So far, only three battles with confirmed videos and significant eyewitnesses had showcased superpowers. In each case, superpowers attacked major cities, and other superpowers stepped in to stop them, creating a rough division between good and evil camps. Neither side bothered with names or declarations of intent, and they vanished as soon as the dust settled—probably afraid of paying for damages.

Still, fervent fan culture sprang up, and forums proliferated like mushrooms after rain.

The most prominent and authoritative forum, Meteor Shower Watchers, even established a global power ranking system, updated 24/7.

Millions eagerly awaited forum updates, reverently abiding by the rules set forth by Meteor Shower Watchers:

1.Respect copyrights. Do not name new heroes after modern fictional characters.

2.Protect new heroes’ backgrounds and identities. Even if you accidentally discover them, you must keep it secret to prevent government persecution.

3.Evacuate conflict zones immediately and observe from a safe distance. Don’t create trouble for the heroes.

4.If you discover you have superpowers, stay calm and avoid crowds. You may seek help from the forum’s advisory team.

5.Important! Important! Important! Do not interact with or consume non-terrestrial objects.

Despite these rules, the quality of hero names still depended heavily on the literary skills of the first person to post about them.

Nemo figured anyone planning to go public with their powers should print business cards with their preferred name as soon as possible—before it was too late.

“I support Leviathan, the number one on the rankings. He’s already shown four types of giant beast transformations, and his aquatic form is bigger than a blue whale!” Boss Liu, though speaking to a customer, raised his booming voice as he deliberately glanced toward the kitchen.

Nemo realizing the comment was meant for him, reluctantly removed his headphones and nodded in feigned support.

Nemo usually wore headphones, listening to world news while scanning order tickets.

Official news channels didn’t cover superpowers, so people had to turn to online rumors and gossip. Meal times at the restaurant were surprisingly passionate once Nemo tuned into the chatter.

"But what if Leviathan isn’t even human? What if it really is some shapeshifting alien creature? Gaining superpowers by turning into a monster sounds pretty miserable," someone hesitantly countered.

"Ranking fifth, Michael is better. He’s got a golden longsword, he can fly, and he’s handsome. When he speaks, it’s like his voice echoes right next to your ear, huhuhu." A laugh of unclear meaning followed.

"I only support Rapunzel. Among the top twenty, she’s the only one who actually looks like a woman…"

The customers, tearing into chicken legs, shoveling rice, and gulping free iced tea, were bickering loudly across tables in Mandarin, Cantonese, and English, spittle flying.

"Let’s be reasonable—there are already 152 ranked superpowers, and 95% of them are based on blurry photos and unreliable eyewitnesses. Not a single one of those sightings happened in Lone Star City!"

"Kansas hasn’t had any either. Why don’t you move there and wait it out?"

"It’s so peaceful here! Maybe I should move to California or New York to find work. I could capture firsthand footage of a new superhero’s debut—those videos are worth a fortune now!"

"What a joke. Isn’t watching heroes online or on TV better? You want to get killed by falling debris while they’re flying around fighting? What’s the use of money if you’re dead?"

"There’s even a city-rural divide with superheroes—everyone flocks to New York or Tokyo. Why not settle in a place like Little Rock?"

Nemo didn’t want to shatter these big boys’ and veteran girls’ heroic dreams, but he was convinced that the first batch of awakened superpowers most likely emerged in secret government labs or fortified prisons. The next possibility was in third-world countries, where language barriers prevented news from escaping until intense conflicts erupted between the superpowers and local government forces.

Anyone with common sense would hide out in the countryside and observe the situation. Only in gun-loving America, which fiercely protected the Second Amendment, could immature superheroes emerge so quickly to put on a show.

During the Meteor Shower Event, Nemo and Толя had already been living and working in Lone Star City. Of course, that was the previous Nemo. When his roommate had reinstalled his “memory,” He pointed out that Lone Star City had nearly reached the highest level of its “evasion” stat during the disaster. The worst thing that occurred was a power outage. It’s no surprise that the Grimm Group chose this place for its new headquarters.

"Nemo, which hero do you like?" Толя asked, his tone suspiciously mischievous.

Without hesitation, the curly-haired chef replied, "I pick Matthew Grimm. After all, money is the greatest superpower."

Amid a chorus of boos—"Boring!" "Lame!"

Nemo successfully escaped the conversation. He felt wrongly accused. He had merely uncovered this planet’s truth.

The Russian came into the kitchen, whistling as he carried a stack of dirty dishes. He elbowed Nemo in the waist, the chef spun around and shot him a sharp glare.

"You know, I even bent my knees just now. Otherwise, I’d have hit you in the neck," Толя said, quickly washing the dishes in the sink.

"I curse you to never get it up," Nemo retorted in Mandarin.

"What does that mean? It’s definitely not good!"

"Heh." Nemo stood at 172 centimeters—average in Taiwan. Back home, he was neither tall nor short, but in America, even women on the street could look him straight in the eye. His roommate just had to rub salt in the wound.

Boss Liu had privately mentioned to Nemo that when they first met, Толя was gloomy and quiet, like a howling blizzard on a winter night. A typical Russian man—one even the boss found intimidating.

It was Nemo who had first extended a hand to Толя, telling him that to survive in this “new world,” he would need to reshape his character. As the saying goes, life is like a play, and acting is everything.

Nemo had sent him a Saturday Night Live YouTube compilation and told Толя to study hard. This Moscow youth was tough—he reinvented himself overnight. If he had lived in Soviet times, he would have made a perfect KGB agent.

Just because Толя had let himself go didn’t mean he could mess with Nemo. After all, who had been his English tutor and guide to American common sense?

"Alright, enough teasing. Let’s talk business," Толя said in a low voice. "One of the customers mentioned something important earlier. Fragments from the meteor shower are part of a new booming economy. On the black market, even a pinky-sized meteorite fragment can sell for tens of thousands of dollars. If this stuff really can trigger superpowers, the price will only keep skyrocketing."

"And?" Nemo said, still skeptical. If the meteorites really were that radioactive, cancer seemed far more likely than superpowers.

"Currently, larger meteorite craters and disaster zones are strictly controlled by military forces. Civilians only have two ways to acquire 'Fragments': either buy them from the original finders, which makes spotting people with potential superpowers crucial, or go searching for tiny fragments in the wild."

"I get it. If Lone Star City was completely unharmed, then the odds of meteorites landing on its outskirts increase." Nemo hadn’t ventured far from the restaurant’s surrounding area—not because he didn’t want to, but because chef work kept him busy.

"Some gang friends shared a rumor with me. Right now, applicants for Lone Star City forest ranger positions are required to have military or police backgrounds. Former gang members even get extra points. They’ve tripled the job openings." Толя stared at the soap bubbles disappearing under the tap’s flow. " Sunny Jie mentioned that even before the Meteor Shower Event, Lone Star City already had over two thousand disappearances a year. Of course, we know some are debt-dodgers, people escaping abusive spouses, or kids running away from home. But now, every week, abandoned cars are showing up on forest roads—people just vanish."

"Goddamn gold rush." Nemo sneered.

"That’s why I hope the first to appear in Lone Star City are superheroes, not supervillains." Like many skittish new immigrants, Толя had finally found some stability here and feared a disaster might drive them to another city.

"Superhero or supervillain, who cares? Once they appear, they’ll start attracting and fighting each other, destroying GDP and dragging bystanders into it. If Lone Star City gets screwed, you bet I’ll move the hell out!" Nemo had no desire for his life to become even more dramatic.

"As if! You’d never quit your job. Where else would you find such caring babysitters to look after your amnesiac self? Boss and Sunny Jie are already worried danger will find its way here—they just don’t say it out loud." Толя couldn’t hold back anymore and spilled the local gossip. Otherwise, Nemo would have continued living in oblivious indifference.

In comics, any city hosting even one super-rich person practically had a disaster flag planted on it. And Lone Star City wasn’t just hosting any billionaire—it was the world’s richest man. Anyone who’d ever read American comics knew Lone Star City was doomed.

"Hmph. I’ll figure something out." Nemo said, flipping the wok with an enigmatic remark.