Marvel: A Lazy-Ass Superman Chapter 740: A Sense of Crisis

Against a Spartan protected by the Isu artifact, the Staff of Hermes, and possessing such powerful abilities as limitless regeneration, self-healing, agelessness, and immortality, the Kryptonian hadn’t gained the slightest advantage.

Instead, it was the people outside who couldn’t take it anymore.

Tina came knocking on her old friend’s door early in the morning. She suggested that Cassandra have soundproofing installed in her home so she wouldn’t disturb the neighbors.

The Spartan amazon naturally laughed and agreed, without the slightest embarrassment.

Henry wasn’t there. He had returned to Turtle Bay on East 49th Street while dawn was still breaking.

To use Cassandra’s words, he had looked like a little boy sneaking out on a date without letting his family know, rushing home before they woke up.

Speechless, Henry had rubbed his nose and left.

There would always be next time!

According to the memories he had from before his transmigration, the day of Catherine Hepburn’s death was drawing closer and closer. Henry didn’t want to experience that helplessness again, watching the first Miss Hepburn slowly wither away until she was finally laid beneath six feet of earth.

However, Henry had never considered making her young again, granting her immortality, or giving her some form of cybernetic immortality by replacing her body with mechanical prosthetics and letting her live another thousand years.

He simply didn’t dare put such options before her.

What if he messed around recklessly and ended up turning her into a piece of Tang Monk’s flesh? The entire old-money circle would have their eyes fixed on her, wanting to cut her open and study her. That would be quite the spectacle.

Both Miss Hepburns were equally at peace with the arrival of their final days. In fact, they weren’t afraid of it at all. There was only so much outsiders could do: reduce their suffering and help them make the final journey with dignity.

Treating dementia was merely the first step. Taking the tiger out for a walk every day was the second, ensuring that she maintained a certain level of physical activity.

Henry had wondered whether he should use his mecha technology to develop some sort of assisted prosthetic limbs. After thinking it over, however, he abandoned the idea.

Besides aging, the human body also operated according to the principle of "use it or lose it."

Simply put, functions that were regularly used and exercised could be maintained or even improved. But when a person stopped using certain bodily functions, those functions gradually deteriorated.

Using mechanical prosthetics to assist with walking and prevent loss of balance and falls might appear safer. Yet, imperceptibly, the corresponding limbs would inevitably deteriorate, making the person increasingly dependent on the prosthetics.

The psychological dependence on external aids could further accelerate the decline of bodily functions. That was another reason Henry hesitated over whether to give the elderly woman prosthetic assistance.

Until he found a good balance, it was better to proceed cautiously.

As long as she could still move, there was nothing wrong with moving slowly. She wasn’t trying to catch a train or board an airplane.

Apart from treating dementia and taking the tiger out for walks, daily care and nourishment were naturally also of paramount importance.

Henry wasn’t going to line up a whole shelf of health supplements and have the old lady take a pill every hour. These weren’t snacks that you could eat without consequence, nor was skipping them necessarily harmful.

The best approach was an old tradition from his homeland: dietary therapy.

Since he wasn’t treating an illness and didn’t need anything excessively potent, he prepared mild, balanced dishes designed to nourish the body.

The ingredients were easy enough to obtain. It wasn’t as though everything produced in North America was unusable. Henry simply had to put some thought into how they were prepared.

Thus, under the care of Henry, her personal life assistant who moonlighted as nutritionist, chef, nurse, physician, and physical therapist, Catherine Hepburn managed to escape the physical decline that had begun in 1993.

Not only did she regain her health, she became increasingly energetic. She was practically one step away from looking like a young girl again.

It seemed there was no need to worry about her approaching final day next year.

But with elderly people, nothing could ever be said for certain.

For all anyone knew, she might simply sit in a chair one day, decide she was too tired to breathe, and quietly pass away.

So Henry didn’t dare become careless or negligent.

Watching Henry constantly travel back and forth between Turtle Bay and Tribeca, while Cassandra frequently engaged him in their friendly matches, she couldn’t help asking curiously, "Why would someone like you be willing to stay by Catherine Hepburn’s side? You don’t seem like the sort of person who’s some kind of obsessive movie fan."

Henry, who was hammering away at a mecha armor plate, paused.

After thinking for a moment, he resumed swinging the hammer as he replied, "Maybe it’s because when I needed help, she helped me without worrying about what she would gain or lose.

"At the time, besides owing her a favor, I had nothing I could repay her with. I couldn’t offer her anything, nor did I have any bargaining chip that would make for a fair exchange.

"So now that she needs help, and I have the time and ability to do it, I came over to help her.

"That’s all."

"That is quite some favor." Cassandra flipped through a catalog on the touch screen. "But it’s clearly a good thing. Why does it sound so strange when you put it that way? You make it sound like a business transaction."

"I don’t like being taken advantage of, so naturally I remind myself not to take advantage of others either.

"To prevent things from becoming unequal when favors go back and forth, the best approach is to settle accounts immediately rather than keep a running tab. Who knows how much interest a favor might accumulate if you just leave it on the books?"

"Does he really calculate things that precisely?" Cassandra asked the Eternal sitting nearby, who was testing the Minotaur and Bonnie’s two mecha.

Gilgamesh laughed and cursed, "Don’t believe a word that guy says. That’s just the rules he talks about. In practice, he still acts according to his mood and who he’s dealing with.

"If he wants to help you, he’ll help you. If he doesn’t want to deal with you, don’t even bring it up."

Tina chimed in, nodding vigorously.

The man receiving Cassandra’s death glare could only give an awkward couple of laughs.

"So, which side am I on?" the Spartan amazon asked coyly, flicking her long braid.

Henry couldn’t bear to look at her. He rubbed his forehead and said, "Sis, just tell me what you want. Don’t do that. It’s painful to look at."

"Malaka!"

The amazon slapped Henry heavily on the shoulder.

As though worried that the hit hadn’t hurt enough, she put as much force into it as she could, practically preparing to stand up and launch a full-power attack.

The Kryptonian pretended to be delicate and staggered.

"Ow!"

He rubbed his shoulder with an innocent expression.

Don’t think the performance was meaningless. If he had simply acted as though nothing had happened, there would have been a second slap, then a third, and the beating would never end.

Sure enough, Cassandra, satisfied that she had achieved her goal, burst out laughing.

Then she suddenly asked, "Are you interested in Isu technology?"

That question...

For a moment, Henry couldn’t tell whether she was testing him or genuinely asking.

He could only blink and remain silent.

Cassandra, however, turned toward a row of unfinished mecha nearby.

"You haven’t said so, but my intuition tells me you aren’t making these things just for fun. You’re preparing for the possibility that they might come in handy someday.

"Because if all you needed was equipment equivalent to a limiter, then what you’re wearing now would be enough. There’d be no need to build anything else.

"If that day really comes, I think I might need a suit of armor too.

"It’s just that compared with these mecha, I’m more accustomed to using Isu technology.

"Unfortunately, most ordinary Isu equipment has lost its original power over the passage of time.

"That’s why I asked. If you’re interested, perhaps you could try repairing or modifying mine."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~