In Fawcett City, at 10:30 at night, the dark and heavy sky was filled with gray and wet fog drifting down.
"Extra, extra! An exclusive interview by the famous cosmic reporter Lois Lane with General Sadas of Lann Planet, exclusive news from the Daily Planet!" A thin boy stood under the neon light holding a stack of newspapers and shouted loudly, "This morning's interview
New news, Lois Lane interviewed General Thaddeus and asked General Rann about his views on 'Zero Hour Crisis' and the Galactic Admiral."
Everyone was in such a hurry that no one stopped to buy a newspaper or take a look at the boy.
However, the homeless man who was huddled on the street corner playing with his mobile phone raised his head and said sarcastically: "Silly pen, is the news this morning considered 'new news'?
Did your boy travel through time from forty years ago?
I heard that the Zero Hour Crisis broke out, and many people from the future and ancients sneaked into our 21st century."
Many people are working hard to live.
Billy Bassent worked harder than the others.
You can't survive without exerting yourself.
He is an orphan. An orphan who escapes from an orphanage will be caught by the police and sent back as a "fugitive".
Because of this status, he couldn't even find a more formal job.
No shop owner is willing to hire child labor.
There is no threshold for becoming a newsboy, but in 2017, when every homeless person has a smartphone, it is really difficult to make a living by selling newspapers.
From afternoon to now, in four or five hours, only ten copies have been sold...
But Billy was not discouraged, nor was he shocked by the tramp's words.
This is not his first day as a newsboy. He knows that some old-school gentlemen are not used to modern electronic products and prefer to hold newspapers with the scent of ink in their hands.
"Hey, kid, come here."
An Audi waiting for the light to turn green slowly rolled down its rear window, and an old white man with a bald head waved to Billy, "Give me a copy of the Daily Planet."
Like a sharp arrow, Billy walked to the car in a few steps and quickly handed over the newspaper.
He knew the red light wouldn't last forever and if he went too slowly, the car would pull away and his business would be ruined.
...
In the Eternal Castle, the half-human-high Book of Reflection was suspended in the air, projecting a lifelike picture in front of the two of them.
"How?" Old Shazam asked.
"Just looking at it now, it's okay."
Old Shazam turned his head and stared at her profile, his eyes meaningful and his tone full of pride: "His experience is very similar to yours. He lost his parents, had no money to eat, and had to sleep on the street.
But what he does is completely different from what you do.
Every cent in his hands was earned through hard work.
The environment in Fawcett City is not much better than Gotham. Many children of his age have embarked on the illegal path of stealing, robbing, and joining gangs.
Not one day, two days, three days... He lived like this for three full years!
Not only does he make money with his hands to support himself, he also has a strong sense of justice and will do his best to help the weak and resist violence."
Harry sarcastically said: "Such a good kid, but you ended up causing trouble."
"Yes, he is a good boy, but I have made him bear too many responsibilities and burdens. But without me, he would be the epitome of his future life without me.
It was me who helped him escape from mediocrity and hardship, and it was me who gave him endless possibilities, endless opportunities, and endless honors."
Harley sneered and said: "With his unique talent of 'magic superconducting', if I just throw a magic book at him now, he will be at least another Nick in ten years."
"Which Nick?" Old Shazam asked doubtfully.
"The number one young mage of our time."
Old Shazam shook his head and said: "Superconducting magic does not mean strong magical talent. In fact, I chose him not to inherit my wisdom, he is a magic warrior!"
"Stop talking about it, you asked him to be a magic warrior, not because he is only suitable to be a magic warrior, but because warriors can be stupid and do not have access to advanced magic knowledge.
As soon as a person learns, he becomes smarter, and as soon as he becomes smarter, he becomes "bad".
It's impossible to say that he originally had extraordinary magical talent, but when you poured the power of Shazam into it, you destroyed his talent, leaving only his physical strength.
Alas, at first I accused old Nabu of being cruel and cruel, treating Kent as a tool and controlling his body and will at will.
Now it seems that although I did not criticize Nab wrong, he is not the best person. At least he gave his wisdom to Kent."
Now, even if Kent throws away the Helmet of Destiny, he is still a learned archmage, and it is inevitable that he will become a master in the future.
"Aren't you talking about Billy? Why are you starting to mock me again?" Old Shazam said angrily.
Harley glanced at him lightly and said, "The discussion on Billy's matter has ended. Do you want to hand over your power to him now, or wait until he goes to Philadelphia?"
"What are you going to do?" Old Shazam asked.
"Tonight, the Fawcett police are going to catch him because he repeatedly escaped from the Green Willow Orphanage, and the Juvenile Management Committee of City Hall decided to give him a change of environment, and he went to Philadelphia...Then...
The plot, you decide, go to an orphanage, be adopted, or continue to run away."
Old Shazam's heart moved, and he took "The Book of Reflection of the World" in front of him, reciting a spell in his mouth, his eyes flashed with silver light, and lightning jumped between him and the book.
"Crash..." The pages of the book turned quickly, and Harley saw countless shadows. Some Billy went to the orphanage, only to run away again, and some Billy went to the church boarding school, stayed there honestly, and still loved
After falling in love with a female classmate, Billy became a street vagabond...
"That's it!" The lightning suddenly disappeared, and countless illusions collapsed into a page of pictures. Old Shazam pointed at it and shouted excitedly: "Let this family adopt Billy. This is his final and most perfect destination. It is what destiny has set for him."
His path."
Harry looked closely and saw a family photo, a couple and their five adopted children.
"Well, the couple is a combination of white Americans and immigrants from South America. They have five children. The eldest white sister is outstanding in character, ability, and appearance. The second brother is a disabled white man who has inconvenient legs and feet. The eldest brother is obese. The younger brother is Asian and black.
Little sister, do you want to be so politically correct?"
"The five children all have an 'electrical conductivity' of over 90% - they can bear over 90% of the magic debt, second only to 'Superconductor' Billy.
Normally I can't even find one, but now five of them are gathered together...
Omaika, praise God, thank God, God bless you, this is the destined ‘Shazam Family’!”
Old Shazam put down his Thunder Staff, looked at the sky with a pious face, and made the sign of the cross on his chest with his right hand.
Harley glanced at him and continued to complain: "This white couple is barely even middle-class, and their family is even a little poor. In other circumstances, I would have thought that these two people were defrauding the government's living allowance by adopting children."
In the United States, the government will provide subsidies for the adoption of orphans. The situation in each state is different, and the minimum is 500 US dollars. For example, when Harley was the mayor, because of the improvement in economic benefits, she increased the subsidy in Gotham to 1,000 US dollars.
.
"They have something more important than money - there is so much love between this family!" Old Shazam laughed.
...
There were nine members of the Young Watchers when they debuted. Five of them were killed on the day of their debut, leaving only the leader Moon Girl, the "Frozen Boy" who disclosed his gender identity, and the Indian-born "Wisdom" who was strengthened by a monk when he was a child.
"Boy", the devout nun "The Devil" who seals the devil inside her body... can compete with the Shazam family in terms of political correctness.
Later, their manager Jessica also selected a total of 18 second and third generation "New Young Watchers" through a TV show.
The next afternoon, the Big Four, together with their agent Jessica, came to Quinn Manor.
"Where was the original headquarters of the Young Watch?" Harley asked.
The four young watchmen looked puzzled, "Jersey City, what's going on?"
"Why moved to Philadelphia?" Harley asked again.
Captain Moon Girl said: "Your suggestion is that Jersey City is too close to you, which is not conducive to our independent development.
In addition, superheroes have entered a period of vigorous development, and we need to seize a prosperous metropolis in advance."
At this point, the purple-haired captain showed an expression of admiration, "You guessed it right. It's ten times more difficult to find a city without a guardian now than it was back then."
"I came to you this time to suggest that you change cities and move to Cleveland." Harley said.
"Cleveland?" The five people were shocked and exclaimed in unison.
Harley looked at them and said calmly: "Cleveland is just the beginning. We will continue to change cities in the future, maybe more prosperous, maybe worse. Wherever superheroes are needed but there are no superheroes, go wherever you go.
You will no longer be a fixed representative of a certain city, you will only represent the watchmen.
I had this idea long after the Beach City incident.
Yesterday I met a spiritual wizard, and one of his favored ones is about to make his debut. He needs a city to earn faith, so I found you today to turn my previous ideas into reality.
You can refuse, because I will only give orders to the 'Watchers', as long as you quit... Well, you have 'graduated' from the Young Watchers, which can be considered as sending talents to society.
Wherever you go and what you do then, it has nothing to do with me."
"I'm going to Cleveland." Moon Girl looked nervous and said immediately.
After saying that, she looked at her stunned teammates and added: "I only represent myself."
Jessica's expression was complicated, but she pursed her lips and said nothing.
"I -" the other three were about to speak, but were interrupted by Harley raising her hand, "Don't worry, you have three days to think about it slowly, and you will give me an answer in three days."
"Let me talk about the situation in Cleveland, where alien weapons are rampant and children with super powers often disappear there.
Zheng Lian launched several attacks with fruitful results but poor results.
They have made great gains every time, but they have never eliminated the roots. I suspect that someone is causing trouble - gods, demons, alien overlords, it is possible.
In the case of Cleveland, I have a question: Why did the mastermind behind the scenes put his headquarters in Cleveland? Why not Metropolis, not Gotham, not the most prosperous and high-profile city in the United States?
Moon Girl, what do you think?"
"Because there are no powerful superheroes in small and remote cities, it is easier for the Black Hand to develop and grow secretly." The purple-haired girl said thoughtfully.
Harley took out the "Thunder Necklace" given by the old wizard, threw it to the girl opposite, and said: "This is the reward for the wizard to let the watcher move. Take it and leave, and give me an answer in three days."
"I can make a decision now." Moon Girl said firmly.
"Text me in three days."
When the Big Four of Young Watch left, manager Jessica sat there without moving.
"You have always ignored the 'Young Watchers' before, so how come you suddenly planned a new career for them?" she asked doubtfully.
"I ignored them before because I didn't want to be troubled by you, but now..." Harley sighed, "You haven't seen Laurie in recent years, have you? The last time I went to the Metropolis, she
He held my hand and said, Watchmen shouldn’t be like this, they shouldn’t be a ‘boy band and girl band’.”
Jessica said awkwardly: "I don't want Watchmen to be overly commercialized, but the superhero industry has been booming in recent years. If Watchers doesn't occupy the top spot, it will be occupied by others.
If you lose traffic, you will lose endorsements.
Without a loose economic environment, there will be no funds to develop itself.
For example, they are recently considering building an energy body holographic simulation room similar to that of the Justice League, which would cost US$5 billion.
That is a good thing to improve your strength. Only by improving your strength can you survive the crisis.
But Young Watch has no government funding, so what else can it do if it doesn’t desperately accept endorsements to make money?”