Superman Termination Manual

In a daze, Ke Yongzhu had a dream.

He dreamt of the time when he was still in the orphanage.

At dusk, the children would gather in the courtyard behind the orphanage, either chasing and roughhousing or sitting together, playing with puzzles.

But he was never among those figures.

Ke Yongzhu could only pluck a blade of grass from the ground, silently sitting in a corner of the yard.

With his eyes cast down, he idly scratched the ground with that blade of grass.

Sometimes he would look up, pretending not to care, glancing at the children playing eagle catches chicks, envy flashing in his eyes.

He often hoped to be noticed.

But whenever he got a bit closer to the other kids, someone would throw stones at him, toss sand, shouting that the monster was coming and everyone should run away.

Ke Yongzhu would return each time dirty and would be scolded by the orphanage's nurse, yet he couldn't utter a single word of protest.

Even if he tried to explain, the other kids would only intensify their bullying, so he kept it to himself.

At dinner time, everybody would sit at the table, except for him alone in a corner.

Kind nurses, seeing this, would place a few "friends" at his table.

Only during meals did he have "friends."

Ke Yongzhu, with a spoon in his mouth, hung his head, only daring to stealthily watch them from his bowl.

He wanted to talk to them, so he spoke up.

But no one listened to him.

One of the "friends" said that someone saw Ke Yongzhu suddenly grow a tail while sleeping, that he was a monkey spirit.

One of the "friends" said not to be afraid, superheros would defeat such monsters.

One of the "friends" said, when I become a superhero, I'll be the first to yank out its tail.

One of the "friends" said, I'll become a Magic Girl, so I won't be afraid of it anymore.

Ke Yongzhu held back tears in his eyes.

He sat quietly listening to them talk while eating his meal with a spoon, then walked away alone.

There were so many times, so many times…

Ke Yongzhu wanted to transform into a dragon and bite them, thinking that way he wouldn't be bullied anymore.

But each time he just hugged his knees and endured, his eyes cast down, staring at the grass on the ground.

At night, Ke Yongzhu would often curl up in bed, gazing out at the night sky through the window, wondering why in the world he was the only dragon?

Sometimes he also thought, maybe the stars are lonely too.

Perhaps like a star, he was too far away from another being like himself, maybe he would never find another star in this lifetime…

Would anyone see me?

After that, whenever he played in the courtyard, he always sat far away from the other kids;

During meals in the cafeteria, he would always take his bowl to a corner to eat alone, while the "friends" arranged by the nurse laughed at him from the table.

But he didn't mind it at all.

Then one day, a strange woman appeared, who came to the orphanage every day to talk to him. They often sat in the courtyard watching the sunset.

Slowly, Ke Yongzhu learned that she wanted to adopt him.

So, he quietly wrote a note, slipping it into the woman's hand.

It read, the kids all hate me, they all say I'm a monster, I don't have a single friend, you'll definitely regret adopting me.

The woman gave him a note back.

That night, Ke Yongzhu hid in his dormitory bed, curling up under the covers and opened the note.

By the light of the moon shining through the window, he could see the words on the note.

It read, they are the ones in the wrong, once you enter my home, your brothers and sisters will look out for you, trust me, no child will bully you again.

Brother…

Sister…

Will I have family?

Staring at the words on the note, Ke Yongzhu thought blankly.

Then on a later day, the woman came for him again, and as usual, they sat in the courtyard chatting, she would ask, and he would answer.

But when the woman was about to leave, she suddenly asked, "Have you decided, do you want to go with me?"

Ke Yongzhu was silent for a long time, then softly nodded his head.

"If you regret it, just tell me," he whispered. "I won't cling to you."

"Of course, I won't."

The woman smiled at him.

And adopted him.

Then he somewhat bewilderingly became part of a new family.

The first time he stepped through the front door, everyone was gathered on the sofa playing "Hot Blood Soccer."

Ke Yongzhu didn't know what to do, so he just stood at the door for a long time, then carefully moved closer, sitting next to a white-haired girl.

Not until the game was over did the tallest child in the house suddenly turn around, her bright eyes looking at him.

"Hey, who's this? Is it Zi Ling's classmate?"

The white-haired girl shook her head.

At that moment, Mom walked in the door, gathered everyone in front of the blackboard in the house, wrote the name "Ke Yongzhu," and declared that from then on he was a member of the family.

Everyone exclaimed "Huh—" and turned their curious gazes upon him, examining him closely.

Ke Yongzhu's face flushed, and he hung his head, too shy to speak.

Then a lively-looking girl said, "Mom, this is too casual, you didn't even communicate with us beforehand, otherwise we could have thrown him a celebration party!"

Mom replied, "What party for little brats, I'm not cooking tonight. Yin Zhi, Xiao Mo, take your new brother out for a good meal."

Ke Yinzhi smiled, ruffled Ke Yongzhu's hair, and said, "Let's go," then wrapped an arm around his shoulder and walked him out of the house.

Ke Xiaomo just stood silently on his other side, looking down at his phone.

Ke Yongzhu had never felt so surrounded, and in that moment, tears streamed down his face.

"Hey, big brother, why did you guys make him cry?" a child from behind said.

"Did we?" Ke Yinzhi blinked, pointing at himself, "My fault?"

Everyone nodded their heads.

Someone said, "You're way too familiar for just meeting him, big brother. Have you been excluded by others at home for so long that as soon as a newcomer arrives, you rush to cozy up?"

"Who hugs someone's shoulder right off the bat like you did? You obviously scared him!" another remarked.

Ke Yongzhu cried even louder, his tears rolling around in his eyes.

Ke Yinzhi shrugged his shoulders, standing by helplessly, receiving a verbal barrage from his siblings.

Ke Xiaomo held his forehead and sighed, thinking this big brother of his is just unreliable.

Finally, among the children, the girl with white hair came over, holding a panda doll. She offered the panda doll to him.

After his crying subsided, Ke Yongzhu hugged the panda doll and said with a choked voice, "Thank you, it's the first gift I've ever received."

The girl with white hair shook her head, didn't say a word, and walked back to the side of the lively girl.

Later on, Ke Yongzhu formally joined this family. He really liked his new name and didn't dislike these flawed brothers and sisters.

The neurotic and annoying eldest brother, "Ke Yinzhi";

The quiet second brother who always did strange little things, "Ke Xiaomo";

The overly serious and stern eldest sister, "Bai Qiuwu";

The third brother, "Ke Mingye," who had a sharp tongue but actually had delicate thoughts;

The always energetic second sister, "Bai Zini";

The often pensive "Bai Ziling," who always carried a doll.

Not long after Ke Yongzhu arrived at this family, he discovered that everyone was a bit strange. Among these people, he was most curious about his third brother.

Rather, Ke Yongzhu felt that the strangest child in the family had always been him, from a very young age.

Very, very strange...

Ke Yongzhu couldn't explain it, it was like an intuition.

But Ke Mingye always seemed very normal, as if hiding something. Only in the last few days did Ke Yongzhu feel that the dissonance about his third brother had vanished.

It seemed that his third brother had truly become normal, as if something about him was missing.

But Ke Yongzhu didn't pay attention to it, nor did he investigate further.

Because he often recalled the time when he was young, when Bai Ziling locked him in the bathroom.

That night, he really wanted to say something but never found the courage to speak. It was only Ke Ming who convinced Bai Ziling to unlock the bathroom door.
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Then, he secretly followed Ke Xiaomo and Ke Yinzhi to that barbershop, and saw Bai Ziling sobbing in Ke Ming's arms.

"Why am I the only one who is like this?" she said.

Ke Yongzhu stared blankly at his sobbing sister, standing outside the barbershop for a long, long time.

That's when he realized that he was the same as his sister...

Ke Yongzhu opened his eyes, having dreamed he was sitting at home, watching TV and making a ruckus with everyone.

The sea spread out beyond the window, and turning to look outside, he saw an ugly dragon and a girl with white hair sitting together on the beach.

They sat quietly, gazing at the sea.

Ke Yongzhu stared blankly for a long time, then climbed out from the window sill and went down to the beach, listening quietly to their conversation.

"We are all monsters, aren't we?"

"So we are friends, so we are not alone."

"Thank you."

"Hmm... to be together for a long, long time."

The sea breeze caressed his cheeks, and the cold sea water washed over his ankles.

Ke Yongzhu's face twitched slightly as his tears flowed incessantly from his eyes.

He watched the sea, the beach, and the white-haired girl grow farther and farther away. Everything shattered like a dream.

"To be together..."

Within the booming sound of the bell, Ke Yongzhu knelt on the ground, gazing up at the pitch-black world. A line of liquid trailed down from his eyes, like blood, yet also like tears.

"I still want... to see them."

The boy's body underwent a violent dragon transformation, his jaw cloaked in a metallic layer, his facial contours increasingly fierce.

"I really want, really want to see them."

"And stay by her side."

Sharp claws reached out and pressed against the inner wall of the massive bell, unleashing a deafening boom.

"I want... to keep living."

Inside the bell, the dragon species roared, a pair of pitch-black wings vast enough to cover the sky unfolded behind it, its body armored in scales as sturdy as steel and iron.

Keep living.

Keep living.

Keep living.

The cacophony of the bell and horn swelled like a tsunami, threatening to engulf it. It used its claws to tear open a wound on its hard head, gasping with fury.

The body, expanding and evolving, crashed against the bell, the maddening clamor nearly splitting its brain, but it continued to strike over and over again.

Finally, the ancient bronze bell tilted upwards.

The dragon collapsed on the ground, its body faintly twitching. It struggled to its feet, the sound of the horn still scorching its flesh like torches in a pyre.

I must... keep living.

Live by whatever means necessary.

The next moment, the sound of the horn abruptly ceased, and instead, all enemies within a hundred meters were dissolved into a dense black blood and faded away.

The dragon slowly raised its head, squinting its eyes.

In between the furious and deep gasps, the reflection of two figures glimmered in its crimson pupils.

One of them wore a black tailcoat and donned a pitch-black mask with a blood-red V embedded in the center;

The other, draped in a silver and black metallic coat, wore a monkey mask, and held a dark gold staff in his right hand.