"Qiuwu still hasn't come back?" Ke Youqing asked.
"She went to pick up Yongzhu. Yongzhu had a basketball game today; he'll be back late," Bai Wenna answered.
Ke Mingye, with chopsticks in his mouth, listened to his parents' conversation. Bai Qiuwu was his sister; Ke Yongzhu was the youngest brother in the family and, like him, was adopted.
Bai Wenna seized the opportunity to scold Ke Youqing, "Look at you, claiming you care about the kids."
"You're right, I won't argue with you," he said.
Ke Youqing shrugged his shoulders; the earlier drama at the dinner table had already taught him a lesson.
Ke Mingye glanced at the "Justice Knight Azure Crow" identity above Ke Youqing's head and thought to himself that his old man did care about his kids, just didn't have the time to show it.
He had searched for news about "Azure Crow" on his phone, knowing that it had been exactly twenty-eight years since this Chinese superhero first appeared globally. Calculating based on Ke Youqing's age, it indicated that he had worn the mask and donned the battle suit at seventeen and had been combating troublesome super-criminals around the world ever since.
However, in every country, the reputation of Azure Crow was consistently terrible.
In China, "superheroes" are referred to as "Justice Knights."
With the concept of "Justice Knight" gaining popularity nationwide, the national government began a serious examination of each Justice Knight's image management, overall quality, and especially their impact on the public, particularly minors, to ensure they set a proper example with their actions.
If a Justice Knight received numerous complaints from the public and faced mass vilification in the media, the Superhero Association might take measures to "force them offline."
If the issue wasn't too severe, they might first put them on ice for a while before enrolling them in courses like "Justice Knight Behavioral Management." They would then cautiously leak some updates on the superhero's recent activities in the media and buy traffic to boost posts to salvage their reputation, until public sentiment warmed up again, legitimizing the superhero's return to the public eye.
In this complex era, superheroes have gradually moved beyond the scope of "special police" and have replaced most celebrity idols worldwide.
As such, public expectations for their image have steadily increased, making each superhero ensure their conduct is flawless lest minders leverage any slip-up into a storm of public fury.
Yet, under these conditions, "Azure Crow," who was Ke Mingye's old man, had become someone who completely acted against the norm.
His reputation in the media was especially poor. People described him as a vigilante who used peace as a guise for his tyranny, a rogue who didn't hesitate to impose his own brand of justice, a beast who only brought psychological shadows and violent influences to teenagers, utterly unworthy of the superhero title symbolizing hope and peace.
Despite "Azure Crow's" extreme and controversial methods among superheroes, he was still a veteran figure of the Superhero Association and held significant influence within the Round Table Council.
So, even as the public criticism grew louder and hot searches came in waves, he remained active and only received a few mild sanctions from the Association.
On his first day transplanted here, Ke Mingye delved into "Azure Crow's" details on the internet.
In every photo, "Azure Crow" was always in the same unchanging attire, his face covered by a sinister mask meticulously crafted with sharp contours, his eyes within the eye sockets glowing bright and deep. The center of the mask featured a protruding blue bird's beak, sharp like a sickle, making him appear brooding and beastly aggressive.
His attire was a sleek black metallic bodysuit and a cape that enveloped his whole body.
Overall, true to his moniker, he indeed dressed like a giant raven. The "Azure" in his nickname, Azure Crow, came from the blue bird's beak on his mask.
Quite the eccentric, bordering on mentally disturbed; it's no wonder why a "superhero" dressing so frighteningly villain-like received complaints.
That was Ke Mingye's first impression upon viewing the photos.
He couldn't help but internally remark, "Funny that you lecture at the dinner table about 'correcting a slouch to be taken seriously first for appearance, then for skills' when you dress like this to fight crime. Maybe there's something seriously wrong with your head?"
Reflecting on this, he took another look at Ke Youqing. His heart still found it hard to imagine how his normally affable old man, once masked, could act so dark, tyrannical, and extreme. Whether the man at home was the real him, or the one behind the mask, remained unknown.
As his thoughts wandered, the "click" of a lock suddenly reached his ears.
Then, the front door at the entrance was opened.
"Who's here?" Bai Wenna asked.
Bai Ziling poked her head out from the kitchen, looked with a blank expression, and said, "Sis, and the little brother." Then she lowered her head and continued eating.
The two who entered locked the door behind them, washed their hands in the bathroom, and then walked into the kitchen where Ke Youqing and Bai Wenna greeted them and told them to hurry up and sit down to eat.