So-Called Superheroes

Starlight's eyes immediately widened. "Li Wei, someone needs us!"

This was her first day as a member of The Seven, and it would also be her first superhero operation in New York!

Li Wei first swept his gaze around, confirming that this street was a busy area with a great many security cameras, before straightening his clothes.

There was no time to change into his uniform for now, but the Light Wings on his back were more than enough to make people recognize his true identity.

Still, he needed to deliberately restrain himself. Otherwise, if he went all out, the cameras would be overexposed and unable to capture anything at all.

Starlight could do the same. In modern society, their abilities were actually quite suitable for killing to silence witnesses, or things like breaking into homes to steal.

Of course, no one else was stupid. If they really used their powers to do evil, it would be easy to trace the trail back to them.

Whether they came from the Red River Assisted Living Center, Godolkin University, or were superheroes like Annie who had debuted through talent competitions, all of them were registered with Vought International.

"Annie, I need to tell you something now. Many of the superheroes in this world aren't as good as you imagine them to be."

Starlight was momentarily confused, but she did not dwell on it, because the cries for help were growing louder and louder.

"Okay, I understand. Scum like The Deep are practically a disgrace to The Seven, but we're different, right?"

Li Wei neither confirmed nor denied it. "Watch how I handle this next. Remember, don't act rashly, and don't use excessive force. Even if they really are guilty of heinous crimes, understand?"

Seeing that Li Wei was in no hurry to save anyone and was instead saying all this, even taking out his phone as if he were about to call someone, Starlight's initial excitement gradually cooled.

She began to feel that Li Wei was probably about to reveal another side of superheroes that people did not know about.

Could it be that Angel, whom she had secretly begun to admire, also had some secrets in private?

But considering how well Li Wei had conducted himself before, she still nodded firmly. "Okay, I understand!"

After racing to the scene like the wind, Li Wei discovered that the culprits were merely a few knife-wielding Old Blacks committing robbery.

Naturally, they could not cause much trouble. In just a few moves, Li Wei and Starlight easily took care of them.

This time, Li Wei did not hit them too hard either. They had not even bled.

Even then, Starlight still did not understand why Li Wei had said those things earlier.

Once the rescue was over, the surrounding bystanders began shouting their names, constantly taking pictures and videos, even stepping forward to ask for autographs.

Li Wei responded enthusiastically, even subtly reminding Starlight to do the same and strike a few camera-friendly poses. Only then did Starlight suddenly realize.

At that moment, they were less superheroes than superstars!

Vought International reacted quickly as well. After all, New York was their home turf. In just over ten minutes, a group of people arrived carrying cameras.

Ashley was among them. Li Wei had called her earlier, since she was a professional.

They filmed numerous shots from every angle, ensuring they would have material for television, newspapers, the internet, and more. After praising Li Wei and Starlight lavishly, they finally let them leave.

Ashley found Angel more and more pleasing to the eye. Giving advance notice was completely different from having bystanders upload footage online afterward and forcing them to rush into damage control.

On that point alone, Angel's intelligence and overall qualities already surpassed more than ninety percent of superheroes.

If other superheroes could do the same, they would not have to work overtime every day.

Well, this still counted as overtime, but this incident would definitely raise Starlight's approval rating and bring Vought International more money. When the time came, they would all get bonuses!

But because of that, although Li Wei and the others had spent less than half a minute saving people, dealing with the aftermath took more than an hour.

After leaving the crowd, Starlight, who had been forcing a professional smile onto her face, immediately became somewhat dejected.

Li Wei found it a little amusing. "So? Is it very different from what you imagined?"

Starlight nodded without hesitation. "Yes. If there hadn't been no script, I would've thought I was filming a TV drama. Do other superheroes normally do this too?"

Li Wei chuckled. "Yes. More than half of them really do have scripts."

"If today's incident hadn't happened, Ashley would probably have arranged an operation for you tomorrow, making you go to a designated place at a designated time and subdue several designated 'criminals.'"

He deliberately emphasized the final word, and Starlight immediately understood something.

She looked utterly incredulous. "It's all really scripted?"

"Mm. At least most of it is. You know that performing arts is a required course at Godolkin University, right?"

Starlight grew even more dispirited. "I know, but I never paid much attention to it. I never thought it would be used for this."

She had not gone to school. She had taken the talent competition route. From the time she was less than ten years old, after displaying superpowers, she had begun entering talent competitions of all sizes.

Most people qualified to become official superheroes under Vought came from professional universities—Godolkin—but it was not absolute.

At present, the American government only gave Godolkin University five slots each year, allowing graduates to serve as protectors in certain cities.

Yet Vought had nearly three hundred active superheroes. Could they have been accumulated over the past sixty years?

Of course not. They had other ways to select superheroes, including talent competitions.

She had started in Des Moines, then moved on to Iowa, and finally toured all across America. She had no idea how much effort, hard work, and sweat it had taken to reach this point.

Yet ever since entering Vought headquarters, one thing after another had shattered her previous understanding of Vought and superheroes.

Li Wei nodded slightly. "Vought is a publicly traded company. They need to answer to their stock price and shareholders. If you acted recklessly and seriously injured those punks just now, a good deed could turn into a bad thing. So Vought needs to control the variables, and scripts become the best option."

Because of the developed internet, slander often cost nothing. Or merely cutting out one shot, a few key frames, could turn his act of saving people from a good thing into a bad one.

To quote out of context, quote from Don't Quote Out of Context.

Li Wei only wanted to slowly improve his strength, so naturally, he had to avoid a lot of trouble.

He had no interest in actually safeguarding America's security or saving its people. They could keep struggling in misery for all he cared.

Still, he felt like he was becoming Starlight's nanny, nagging on and on about all this.

Fortunately, Starlight was probably the only female superhero he needed to woo this way, right?

Most other female superheroes were probably like Firecracker—if they liked the look of someone, they could just get straight to it, never mind becoming friends first.

Even so, Starlight was unable to accept it for the moment. It felt like her dreams had come crashing down.

Before joining The Seven, she had investigated intelligence herself and rescued innocent civilians herself in Des Moines. She had never used any scripts or anything like that, yet hadn't she done a perfectly good job?

"Alright, don't take it too hard. Today is your first day as a member of The Seven. You still have to share that joy with your mother, so don't make her worry, okay?"

Only then did Starlight's expression finally change somewhat. She took a deep breath and tried to calm herself. "That's right, Li Wei. You're right."

"Heh heh, cheer up. Want me to drive you home?"

Li Wei made the polite offer, but in truth, he planned to change clothes later and continue tonight's The Boys.

To preserve his public image, those Old Blacks just now had not been seriously hurt. Naturally, he needed to find some other Old Blacks to vent on.

To his surprise, Starlight nodded readily. "Then I'll trouble you."

Li Wei raised an eyebrow. "I thought you'd refuse."

Driving a girl home often signified the beginning of something ambiguous.

Starlight finally showed a heartfelt smile. "Li Wei, I believe you're different. If it were anyone else, they probably wouldn't have told me these things."

"Heh heh, alright. So we're friends now, right?"

Starlight answered without hesitation, "Of course!"

Before her words had even faded, her profile appeared in Li Wei's mind.

Codename: Starlight

Type: Energy Type

Special Ability 1: Electricity Conversion. Without needing physical contact, she can absorb nearby electricity and release it in the form of light.

Its specific effects include destroying others' retinas, causing temporary or permanent blindness, melting metal, producing powerful concussive force, and more. When sufficiently charged, she can also briefly levitate or fly.

At the same time, she can make her eyes glow, greatly enhance her vision, and see in the dark.

The maximum amount of electricity she can absorb and store, its duration, conversion efficiency, and so on depend on many factors, including physique, control, and proficiency.

Can be fully copied. Estimated continuous contact required: 185 minutes.

Special Ability 2: Super Defense. Can withstand direct fire from ordinary sniper rifles and possesses matching strength, endurance, and self-healing ability.

Can be fully copied. Estimated continuous contact required: 90 minutes.

Special Ability 3: Master-level Dance. Can be fully copied. Estimated continuous contact required: 9 seconds.

Li Wei's heart immediately surged with excitement. In a city filled with electricity everywhere, the power of Electricity Conversion was beyond question, and it also suited his abilities when he was Angel exceptionally well!

Moreover, in the late stages, after a series of battles and stimulation, Starlight learned how to fly, and her speed reached supersonic levels. Her potential was enormous.

All that could be said was that she had slacked off too much in the early stages and had never truly developed her abilities.

Li Wei felt that, combined with his Wings of Light later on, he might be able to come up with some interesting tricks.

There was no need to say much about Super Defense either. In the original plot, Starlight had been beaten up by several top-tier powerhouses, and she was extremely weak when it came to fighting skills.

Yet no matter how badly she got beaten, she only looked miserable. In reality, she had barely bled at all, and most of her fights did not even leave superficial wounds.

As long as he could obtain it, then aside from the strongest, Homelander, the absurdly fast A-Train, and a few people who could control minds, he would basically have nothing to fear from more than ninety-nine percent of superheroes!

The only problem was that it required rather too much time. Unless the two of them lay in the same bed, how could they possibly stay in contact for that long? It seemed he still needed to make some slight adjustments to his plan.

Li Wei laughed heartily to hide the excitement in his heart. "Then I'll play the knight for once. Princess, please get in."

New York was less than one-tenth the size of Beijing, so it naturally did not take long to drive Starlight home.

Perhaps because there were no cameras around, or perhaps because the alcohol was simply kicking in, Starlight began talking nonstop along the way, reminiscing about the past, reflecting on the present, and looking ahead to the future.

Only then did Li Wei realize that this girl was such a chatterbox. Mm, her tongue must be very nimble.

Once they arrived at her home, she reined herself in somewhat, and it was her mother who became enthusiastic instead.

Although he was not yet a member of The Seven, Li Wei was still the famous New Jersey Guardian. Coupled with his outstanding looks, he had fans ranging from eighty-year-old grandmothers to teenage girls.

Clearly, Starlight's mother was one of them—or at least, she was pretending to be at the moment.

Besides, she was no fool. Even after becoming a superhero, her precious daughter still needed some friends, and Angel was undoubtedly an excellent choice.

Even if her daughter suddenly announced that she was dating Angel, she definitely would not object.

Angel might be Asian, but dating did not mean they had to get married!

Li Wei more or less saw what she was getting at. It was hilarious—she barely bothered to hide it, making Starlight feel a little embarrassed.

Meeting one's idol, inviting one's idol into one's home, and dating one's idol were three things with entirely different implications.

It was not that she truly rejected the idea; things were simply moving a little too fast, weren't they?

But Li Wei had no such intentions. Starlight's petite figure was not his type. Having fun once or a few times was one thing, but she should not even think about tying him down.

After saying goodbye to Starlight, Li Wei changed clothes and completed his daily The Boys task before leisurely returning to New Jersey.

Today's score increased by another +8, but the road ahead was long. New York City alone had several million Black people, so he still needed to work harder!