Capture Starlight

Early the next morning, Li Wei received a phone call.

Starlight, stirred awake by the ringing beside her, said with a hint of languor, "Li Wei, do you have an emergency mission?"

Compared to yesterday, after being well-nourished, her complexion was noticeably better.

Li Wei kissed her on the forehead. "Yeah, a few clueless thugs in New Jersey have taken a kindergarten hostage. I need to handle it. And no, this time it's not scripted."

Even though Starlight's proficiency wasn't high, Li Wei could still confirm that this wasn't her first time doing this.

Just as he understood, she was a believer who supposedly forbade premarital sex, yet she'd already bitten into the forbidden fruit early on.

And if he'd wanted to, last night he probably could have pushed straight through all three gates. From the outside, you'd never guess it—this girl's whole deal was contrast.

But Li Wei had no complaints, because after that night of intimacy, he'd successfully copied all her abilities, even the dancing.

Though there was no visible change on the surface, Li Wei could feel that his body was at least forty percent tougher than yesterday.

Not just his skin, but his teeth, hair, eyeballs, internal organs—it was a full-body enhancement.

Combined with his original superpower as Angel, Li Wei felt that even if an ordinary person lugged an RPG, they posed no threat to him anymore—because they simply couldn't aim and hit him.

But the real key was, of course, Starlight's superpower. He was now extremely eager to run some experiments, to strengthen his existing abilities and develop new ones.

If he could actually fly using light wings, Vought International would surely value him more, and even the Vatican would likely change its stance!

However, casually drawing electricity from the city would obviously have very noticeable consequences. He figured he could buy a small generator and run some tests at home first.

Also worth mentioning, Starlight probably hadn't fully mastered her own superpower yet, because during last night's climb to the peak, her eyes had glowed uncontrollably several times.

Starlight's eyes went wide. "Then what are you waiting for? Get going!"

Li Wei nodded. "The helicopter's already on its way. Sorry I don't have much time to spend with you."

Even though she was a bit of a twig, given her status, Li Wei had to admit he was enjoying it somewhat.

Starlight smiled and pushed him. "You'll have plenty of time to make it up later. Now go save those innocent people, my big hero!"

Li Wei wasted no more time. After putting on his uniform, he quickly arrived at the designated spot, boarded the helicopter, and rushed back to New Jersey at top speed.

The rescue process wasn't worth much mention. With his current strength, he completely ignored their submachine guns.

And when they tried to threaten the hostages, Li Wei used just one move—from nearly a hundred meters away, he cast the Shield of Light for the hostages.

Then they broke down on the spot. They didn't even dare test whether it could actually block bullets with their submachine guns; they all dropped their weapons, put their hands on their heads, and knelt.

In fact, the moment Angel arrived, they knew this operation was already a failure. Better not give Angel a chance to kill them.

The governor, the mayor, and everyone watching the rescue live on TV were very satisfied.

Even though Angel hadn't been on standby in New Jersey and couldn't get to the scene immediately, he still guaranteed the safety of all citizens—that was a huge merit!

And Angel had shown this special ability too. In future rescue missions like this, he'd definitely deliver even higher value. This money was well spent!

So right after the operation ended, they called Li Wei first thing to give him a good round of praise.

But what they didn't know was that at Vought International headquarters, Vice President Madelyn, who was also watching the live broadcast, was deep in thought.

Angel's abilities seemed to have grown stronger. When the three-year contract ended, she'd have grounds to raise his price.

And judging by this trend, the feasibility of pairing him with Starlight as a couple for PR seemed higher and higher.

In less than a week, he'd gained over a million followers across various platforms combined. His potential was still very high.

But soon she couldn't dwell on that, because Translucent was still out of contact. Multiple operations he was supposed to attend had to be handed off to others.

She had a vague, uneasy feeling. Where the hell had Translucent gone?

After cooperating with various TV stations, newspapers, and live-streaming platforms for numerous interviews, Li Wei finally caught a break and found that Firecracker was calling him.

After a moment's thought, Li Wei found a secluded corner and answered. Had Firecracker seen him on TV and decided to come clean?

Sure enough, Firecracker got straight to the point. "Li Wei, I saw you on TV. With Starlight."

Li Wei immediately knew this wasn't just jealousy—it was about past grudges.

So Firecracker, who had never called him by name before, even pretending not to know his real identity, couldn't sit still this time either.

He replied casually, "It's all arranged by the company, you know. For the stock price."

"I understand, but I think there are some things we need to talk about."

Compared to his earlier warmth, Firecracker's voice was now very calm—a deliberately suppressed calm.

"Sure, when?"

Li Wei figured they could talk it out, or if not, part ways amicably.

After all, they'd started with just a chance encounter, no emotional foundation at all. Every subsequent meeting was straight to business. Even if you called it feelings, they were feelings forged in the act.

But he had actually secured a small dessert endorsement for Firecracker, probably worth a few tens of thousands. If the talk failed, consider it a breakup fee.

"How about the usual place tonight?"

"Alright, I'll be there on time."

"Good. See you then."

After hanging up, Li Wei looked up and saw an advertisement.

"Century Showdown: A-Train vs. Shockwave—who is the fastest in the world? The answer will be revealed today!

PS: Queen Maeve will be on-site in person to cheer for A-Train!"

Li Wei's spirits lifted instantly. He wasn't interested in the match itself, because according to the plot, A-Train would win by doping.

Compound V is the source of superpowers for supes, usually injected when they're still infants. If they survive the ordeal, it might awaken their abilities. But if a supe who's already awakened injects a temporary variant, it acts like a stimulant.

The side effects, however, are severe. The reason A-Train smashed through Hughie's girlfriend was that after the injection, he couldn't fully control his powers and became excessively agitated.

According to the original plot, Butcher and the others should have already noticed something off by now and followed the trail to The Mesmerizer's place, setting up cameras to monitor her movements.

Coincidentally, The Mesmerizer had just broken things off with A-Train because he refused to go public with their secret relationship. At home, she injected herself with Compound V, which tipped off Butcher and his crew that supes' powers came from it.

And because her powers were also out of control and she was short on rent, The Mesmerizer seduced her landlord when he came to collect, then crushed his head with her thighs.

Butcher and the others initially planned to check A-Train in the locker room, but found nothing. Instead, through the surveillance feed, they witnessed this scene and immediately gained leverage over The Mesmerizer.

The Mesmerizer's superpowers were completely useless against Li Wei. Aside from some minor physical enhancement, all she had were sharp bone spurs growing from her wrists. Even combining her abilities with Kimiko's wouldn't come close to Marvel's Wolverine.

But Li Wei was very interested in Compound V.

His own ability as Angel definitely came from Compound V, and such powers could potentially be removed—there was even more than one way.

Soldier Boy, currently locked up in Russia, had a special move: firing an energy blast from his chest that could permanently erase other supes' abilities.

Underneath Godolkin University, in The Woods, a virus targeting supes would eventually be developed. It not only neutralized the Compound V in their blood but also carried a host of diseases—another bane for supes.

But could the abilities he'd copied through the system be erased?

Meanwhile, the main team would later gain powers by injecting temporary Compound V. Butcher, aside from not being able to fly, was basically a knockoff Homelander, while Hughie got teleportation.

The rarity of these two abilities was undeniable. While experimenting on them wasn't feasible now, if he could get his hands on Compound V, he might find a chance to research it privately.

Among female supes, there were also those with enhanced intelligence, memory, learning speed, or thinking ability.

If he could get intimate with them, Li Wei might even act as an expert himself and set up a lab or something.

Along the way, he could also find time to meet the main team.

Even if they had no real plans, they were great at stirring up trouble.

He had no time or desire to investigate Kimiko's whereabouts himself. That kind of dirty, exhausting work was best left to them.

Once Butcher and Hughie took their doses, he might even run an experiment to see if those temporary abilities could be copied.

Later on, they'd also head deep into Russia to release Soldier Boy from Payback.

Soldier Boy wasn't just a top-tier supe in The Boys; he also had that special chest cannon that could neutralize the Compound V inside supes, weakening or even completely nullifying their powers. Li Wei was very interested in that.

This kind of dirty, exhausting work—he didn't want to do it himself, and it wasn't convenient either. But Butcher and the others would handle it.

See? Even a piece of toilet paper has its uses.

But before that, he needed to disguise his appearance. He didn't want to be recognized the moment he showed up.

Otherwise, they'd probably stick to him like chewed gum—maybe not too harmful, but definitely disgusting!