To hail a cab in New York, you basically have to flag one down on the street, and the prices are ridiculously expensive.
Fortunately, Xia Shang was in the city center, so there weren't too few taxis. If you were in some remote area, you might wait half an hour without seeing one pass by, which is one of the reasons why most American families choose to buy a car.
"Hey, you going to Chinatown?" A yellow-orange taxi stopped in front of Xia Shang, the driver looking like he was Chinese.
"No, go directly to this address."
Xia Shang showed the driver the address on his phone.
"OK, I can get you there in half an hour." The driver was obviously familiar with the terrain of New York.
"Are you Chinese?" The driver asked as soon as he got in the car.
"My family moved to the United States more than ten years ago."
"Then your Chinese is pretty good." Being talkative might be a characteristic of most drivers, and this one next to Xia Shang was no exception.
The driver chatted with Xia Shang while driving, which Xia Shang didn't mind.
"Wow, you're actually an employee of Vought! My son really likes Homelander from your company. Homelander is his idol. By the way, do you have Homelander's autograph? I can buy it for $200."
Xia Shang saw a lot of superhero stickers in the car. He had to admit that Vought's marketing ability was really strong. Throughout New York, there were traces of superheroes almost everywhere, whether it was on billboards on the street or on beverage packaging. Superheroes could be said to be ubiquitous.
"I don't have Homelander's autograph, but I have a ticket to his fan meeting."
This ticket was an internal benefit for Vought employees, usually given to relatives' children, but Xia Shang couldn't use it, so he took out the ticket and handed it to the driver. The driver originally wanted to pay for it, but Xia Shang refused.
He could get one of these every few days, especially Homelander's tickets.
To be fair, Homelander is nice to his fans, of course, provided he's in a good mood. He seems to enjoy being revered.
"And you, my friend, you are the real hero." The driver drove with one hand, imitating Homelander's catchphrase.
Xia Shang got out of the car, and the driver didn't even want his fare. Instead, he gave Xia Shang his phone number, telling him to call directly next time he needed a ride.
The Sword Master was an old man with a gray beard. His dojo was laid out a bit like a Taekwondo gym, and it was very clean and tidy.
After changing clothes, Xia Shang waited with a dozen other students for the arrival of Sword Master Jensen.
The next second, shouts of surprise came from the students beside Xia Shang.
"Queen Maeve!" Many of the students were fans of Maeve, so they were very excited when they saw Queen Maeve appear in the dojo. Many of them even screamed, while Xia Shang seemed quite calm in comparison.
The tall Maeve enthusiastically took photos with fans, and she was obviously at ease with this kind of small scene.
"Master Jensen used to be my teacher, so I came to see him specially."
Maeve explained the reason for her appearance here.
At this time, the cameras behind her kept snapping. It was not difficult to see that this was a premeditated marketing event, after all, Vought Group held a significant stake in this dojo.
"Maeve, the noisy world has crushed your desire to keep getting stronger. You disappoint me a little." Sword Master Jensen, although short in stature, stood upright. Just standing there gave people a strong sense of oppression.
Jensen's words made the smile on Maeve's face freeze. She had to awkwardly comb her auburn hair.
Her staff, seeing this, immediately led people out of the dojo.
Xia Shang vaguely remembered that Maeve's personality was not bad, but after being with those superheroes for a long time, she inevitably picked up some bad habits.
"Let me see how much of the swordsmanship I taught you is left." Master Jensen threw the wooden sword in his hand to Maeve.
After Maeve took the wooden sword, she stabbed it towards the rubber target.
The extremely tough rubber mannequin was instantly pierced, and this power made Xia Shang, who was watching from the side, quite envious.
"It's half an inch away from the heart. Being able to pierce the mannequin is only because of brute force. Your control over your own power is not as good as a newcomer who has been here for less than a month." Jensen reprimanded mercilessly.
"How is that possible?" Maeve frowned, not believing that a student who had only been practicing for a month could surpass her.
Crap!
As soon as Master Jensen finished speaking, Xia Shang, who was trying to minimize his presence, felt bad.
Sure enough, Jensen's hawk-like gaze quickly found Xia Shang in the crowd.
"Xia, come and demonstrate your swordsmanship."
Facing his proud disciple, Master Jensen's attitude was obviously much better, and even his expression became kind.
Helpless, Xia Shang had to bite the bullet and walk out of the crowd.
"Have I seen you somewhere before?" Maeve felt that the Asian kid in front of her was a bit familiar, as if she had seen him somewhere.
"A month ago, in the short drama you filmed, I played a robber."
"So it's you." Well, even if Xia Shang said that, Maeve still didn't remember. Just like Asians have difficulty recognizing Western faces, Westerners can't tell Asians apart at all.
Looking at the confusion in Queen Maeve's eyes, Xia Shang knew that the other party had definitely forgotten who he was.
Xia Shang picked up the wooden sword, stepped on the soft rubber mat, and after casually twirling the sword, he slashed or stabbed the mannequin several times in a row. The movements were so fast that most people didn't even see them clearly, only seeing a few strands of sword light passing through the air.
Only Maeve, whose dynamic vision was extraordinary, could completely see Xia Shang's movements clearly.
"Eyebrows, throat, heart, all fatal wounds. The control of power is just right." Maeve said softly with a solemn expression.
"Not bad, the movements are very fast, without being sloppy. Now the only thing lacking is actual combat." Master Jensen nodded in satisfaction. To be honest, he felt that Xia Shang now was like Maeve a few years ago, with the same amazing talent in swordsmanship. Even Xia Shang's lethality was stronger and more suitable for actual combat.
"Your swordsmanship is indeed very good."
Maeve extended her left hand to Xia Shang, "Are you interested in participating in the superhero selection competition?"
Xia Shang didn't expect Maeve to extend an olive branch to him. He immediately felt his scalp tingle, and his mind even flashed with the image of someone introducing his sword to Homelander as being very fast, only to be shot through by Homelander with a laser, and saying, "I believe nothing is faster than lasers."
"No, I don't have that thought for the time being." Xia Shang hurriedly refused.
Some characters are created by the author and do not affect the original work, mainly used to enrich the world view. I hope everyone understands.