Phil stood in the perfect position: the position of an outsider.

Because he had no vested interests with the superheroes and was completely giving pointers from God's perspective, Phil himself had no weaknesses. The public also strongly supported and encouraged his behavior. Even if other superheroes were unhappy and wanted to teach Phil a lesson, they had to consider the impact on the public.

Just like that, ten months passed.

The fans Phil accumulated as a mentor on the show "Successor" were perfectly converted into his personal fans. A large number of people truly believed that Phil was a truly talented person.

Everyone knew that Phil had staff, but which superhero didn't have staff and agents? Having staff was a very normal thing. Most people still believed in Phil's personal abilities.

Ten months later, Phil finally waited for another opportunity.

This time, the black apprentice in "Successor" was seriously injured and fell into a coma during a mission because of a misjudgment of the criminal's strength. He was beaten by a more powerful supervillain.

As Phil, the mentor of this black apprentice and the one who led him into this world, his evaluation of this matter naturally held a pivotal position in the public's mind.

Phil first went to the hospital to visit the black apprentice. His sad expression was touching. At this moment, the barriers between white and black, rich and poor, seemed to be broken, and everyone only saw the sincere feelings between a mentor and his apprentice.

Phil met the black apprentice's girlfriend, sent her many valuable gifts as condolences, and very generously offered to pay all of the black apprentice's medical expenses.

The black apprentice's girlfriend was deeply moved and spoke in front of the camera about the daily trivial matters of her relationship with the black apprentice.

The black apprentice respected Phil very much, believing that Phil had recognized his talent. Before each mission, he would ask himself: what would mentor Phil do if he encountered this situation? And after each mission, whether successful or not, he would ask himself: would mentor Phil have a better way to handle this situation?

Finally, the black apprentice's girlfriend said the famous saying of a superhero senior: with great power comes great responsibility, hoping that Phil could become a superhero and truly contribute to changing this world.

Phil was silent for a long time, but did not give an immediate answer. Instead, he said that he needed to consider it and then announce his decision on Twitter.

Two days later, Phil posted an inspiring tweet.

He said that his current life was easy and comfortable, and he had a career he was willing to work hard for. Becoming a superhero meant that he had to give up his media company and his current free life, which was a huge sacrifice for him.

But then, his tone changed.

Now, the successors of World Captain have become corrupt, and the superhero system that the people are proud of is gradually declining.

Those long-established superheroes are obsessed with fame and wealth and are increasingly unconcerned about the lives of ordinary people. They are in high positions but do nothing and are completely detached from the grassroots;

The Superhero Association has obtained massive commercial value from superheroes. They are increasingly keen on creating stars, packaging, and eliminating negative news. They often deceive the public, and many ordinary people are harmed by crime because of stupid arrangements;

And there are those ordinary people who are full of enthusiasm to become superheroes like this black young man. They only have enthusiasm but not enough strength to change the status quo.

Phil said in his tweet that although becoming a superhero meant a huge sacrifice for him, he had had enough of the superheroes' inaction and the suffering that the crime problem had brought to this city. He decided to stand up and become a superhero to change the status quo.

He hoped that all the people could support him and work with him to recreate the spirit of World Captain, reduce the crime rate, save those tragedies that might happen in the future, and bring the superheroes back on track.

This tweet immediately triggered a warm response, and he took the opportunity to skip the first stage directly and obtain the power of a superhero.

Phil's behavior aroused the vigilance of the Superhero Association. For the association, Phil was an uncertain factor. They were worried that Phil's entry into the association would cause greater damage to the existing system. Therefore, they did not extend an invitation to Phil, but used the excuse of "association regulations" to shut him out.

Phil, on the other hand, was more than happy to do so.

For ordinary superheroes, joining the Superhero Association is the only option, because not joining means no fame, no exposure, no missions, and it is also difficult to contact sponsors to provide themselves with the next stage of campaign funds.

But Phil didn't need these. Joining the Superhero Association would be a constraint on him.

So, Phil chose to become a "lone wolf." He roamed outside the entire superhero system and only took action when he encountered events that were 100% sure to succeed.

Not only that, but Phil also continued to spend a lot of money through intermediaries to bribe criminals, learn about their plans in advance, and perfectly stop the crimes.

Because most of the missions to be carried out were risk-free, and a small part were arranged, and there were no unknown missions forcibly assigned by the association like other heroes, Phil's success rate in carrying out missions was particularly high.

Whenever Phil successfully completed a mission, he would arrange for his media company and well-connected TV stations to report on it, and afterwards, he would also frequently disclose some details of the operation on Twitter to his supporting fans.

Moreover, Phil made a big deal out of the fact that he did not join the Superhero Association, which had three benefits:

First, it can create a feeling of "doing volunteer work" for all fans. Compared with those who become superheroes for fame and wealth, Phil would appear more noble and more independent;

Second, he can avoid some events that are difficult, have a low success rate, and he is unwilling to participate in, and fans will not question his picking and choosing. After all, being outside the Superhero Association means he cannot obtain detailed information about various events. Phil can say that when he knew about the event, it was already too late;

Finally, he can continue to evaluate some events he did not participate in from an outsider's perspective, and at the same time, he can freely complete some events. In this way, he not only shut the mouths of those who said "if you can do it, then you do it," but also avoided exposing his weaknesses by participating in events he could not control.

So, Phil continued to accumulate fame through this method, and in the hearts of his fans, he was a truly capable, faithful, and emotional superhero. The only problem was that he did not have enough supporters, so Phil's superpowers were limited, and he could not do some bigger things.

The Superhero Association's "jealousy, suppression, and obstruction" of Phil made Phil suffer unfair treatment, and also made many fans stand up for him. The fans were increasingly developing towards an extreme trend of banding together.

But Phil knew that this state could not continue forever.

His constant "touching porcelain" of the Superhero Association would one day arouse the resentment of the superheroes. He had to enter the next stage as soon as possible and obtain more powerful strength.

So, he entered the third stage, preparing his own program as a superhero and began to prepare to participate in the superhero election.

After Phil released the news, many superheroes scoffed at it. Because Phil's qualifications were completely insufficient to participate in this level of election.

Other superheroes often need two to three years of accumulation before they can begin to prepare for the superhero election, but Phil was obviously too fast, and his foundation was not solid.

In the eyes of other superheroes, Phil had three very difficult problems to solve in order to participate in the superhero election, gain more support, and more powerful superpowers:

First, no large consortium would provide him with campaign funds. Of course, Phil can use his own money to act as campaign funds, which is relatively easy to solve.

Second, because Phil did not join the Superhero Association, he cannot give public speeches and debates in the venues of the Superhero Association. His name will be nominated, but this nomination is only symbolic, because there is no chance to appear, so it is difficult to get votes.

Finally, Phil does not have a very clear representative group. Minority groups, transgender people, foreign immigrants, and other groups already have their own representative heroes, and Phil's image is incompatible with the demands of these groups. Relying solely on his few fans, even if they are strong in combat, they are only one vote per person, and at most they will be eliminated after one round.

Therefore, most superheroes, and even the association officials who organize the superhero election activities, feel that this is another performance by Phil to attract attention and do not take it to heart at all.

But soon, they found that they were wrong: Phil had obviously already considered these issues.