It turned out that although Butcher and the others had no real tactical strategy, they were quite competent professionally. It did not take Mother's Milk long to find a lead.
"Roberta Chu, female, of Mexican descent. On the surface, she ran a Nail Salon in Pennsylvania, but in reality, she secretly smuggled large numbers of illegal immigrants into the country from all across the Pacific."
Li Wei lightly tapped the ground with his staff. "So if she wanted to traffic living people, organs, or blood in the process, that would be very convenient too."
Hearing Li Wei say that, even Butcher did not dare respond for a moment. The matter was simply too sensitive.
In recent years, the related news that had been exposed mostly involved prisons. But everyone knew that, as the country with the largest number of immigrants and illegal immigrants in the world, illegal immigrants were the greatest victims.
A considerable number of people in prisons were Americans. Other than making them work assembly lines, prisons could at most take some blood.
Those illegal immigrants, however, did not even have official identities. Even if they died or vanished, no one except their families would truly care.
Many illegal immigrants came here chasing the American dream, hoping to strike gold, never realizing that in many people's eyes, they themselves were "gold."
Sometimes, dead people were worth even more than living ones.
So the fact that quite a few illegal immigrants suddenly disappeared after medical examinations every year was nothing particularly surprising.
Likewise, Frenchie and Mother's Milk stayed silent. Only Hughie, dumb as ever, had not fully understood what Li Wei meant.
Seeing their reaction, Li Wei shook his head in considerable disappointment. Couldn't you at least talk tough for a bit? This is just pathetic!
Frenchie scratched his head and pulled out a charred scrap of paper from his pocket. "After getting her revenge, I think she might take a train home."
Li Wei snorted and casually spun his staff. "I understand. Then we'll split up. I'll go to the Nail Salon, and you go to the train station."
"And have you figured out how you'll deal with her after catching her?"
Butcher spread his hands. "I don't think we have enough energy to deal with that right now. I just found the mailing address for Compound V. It's Samaritan's Embrace."
Li Wei frowned again. "Ezekiel?"
Ezekiel was not a real name, but the codename of a Superhero, taken from a prophet in the Bible.
Ezekiel had chosen that name to ride the popularity of Christianity and the Bible.
As for him, he was a Rubber Man. Though he could not go Gear Six, he could freely stretch parts of his body, including his hands, feet, and dick. That had earned him quite a following among Superheroes with more adventurous tastes.
Li Wei also knew that Ezekiel publicly preached against homosexuality and cited the Bible and such.
In reality, he was an all-purpose plug himself. Work was work, life was life, and the two did not interfere with each other.
The Samaritan's Embrace he had founded was a charity organization, and on the surface, it had done some good.
At the same time, he was undeniably a second-tier Superhero. That had little to do with his own combat ability. Vought mainly needed him for charity fundraising and the like, which was undoubtedly excellent publicity. Just as The Deep was mainly responsible for marine animal conservation, Vought would certainly promote Ezekiel.
"That's right. So this isn't A-Train's business alone. Think about it: who could make both of them work for them?"
Although Butcher did not finish his sentence, everyone present understood. It could only be the leader of The Seven—Homelander.
At that, Butcher's breathing grew heavier. It was excitement. Once again, he was certain that he had been pursuing the right path.
No matter what conspiracy Homelander was plotting, as long as they kept digging, he would eventually uncover the truth. When that happened, it would be a bombshell on the level of Watergate!
Li Wei was just about to say something when nearly every television channel around them suddenly began broadcasting urgent news.
"We have learned with great regret that Flight 37, traveling from Paris to Chicago, has been hijacked. Authorities have lost its radar and satellite image and are preparing for the worst."
Given America's government's usual behavior, if they were willing to release such a statement, the plane's fate was already obvious.
Li Wei could not help driving his staff into the ground. Within several meters, the floor tiles immediately cracked and shattered.
The people around him were instantly startled. Perhaps Li Wei had always seemed too friendly and approachable, to the point that they sometimes forgot he was also a Superhero!
Before anyone could say anything, Li Wei spoke through gritted teeth. "Damn it, what is Homelander doing?"
Hearing Li Wei's tone, Butcher's eyes immediately lit up.
In fact, during their previous meeting, he had vaguely suspected that this Gambit seemed deeply dissatisfied with traditional Superheroes. Now, he was almost certain!
Actually, Li Wei roughly knew about this incident.
Vought's Vice President, Madelyn, had originally intended for Homelander to save the passengers in order to push forward legislation allowing Superheroes into the military.
But Homelander had screwed it up. One blast of Heat Vision had taken out the hijackers, the pilot, and a whole pile of the plane's precision instruments.
Putting aside whether his strength could lift an airplane, he did not possess Superman's bioelectric aura. If he tried to forcibly hold the plane up, he would pierce straight through it like a needle.
As for flying back and forth to carry the passengers to the ground one by one, that was not realistic either.
First, the passengers' fragile bodies could hardly withstand the pressure of high-speed flight. Second, how many passengers were on a plane? How many trips would he have to make?
If he flew slowly, there was no way he could save everyone in time. But if he only saved some of them, the rest would become a problem and would inevitably damage both his public image and that of every other Superhero.
So he simply chose the easiest option: let everyone on the plane die!
As for Queen Maeve, one of The Seven who had gone with him to take part in the rescue, she could not fly at all and could offer no help. If she disagreed, Homelander might even leave her on the plane to die as well.
Even knowing about it in advance, Li Wei could not do anything.
Leaving aside that it was not his place as the New Jersey Guardian to handle this matter, he could neither fly nor create a bioelectric aura. He could not save anyone at all.
But that did not stop him from putting on a little performance in front of Butcher and the others, further polishing the image he had deliberately cultivated.
However, this plane crash was not truly the end of it.
If nothing changed, two passengers aboard had rather special identities: they were the husband and daughter of Godolkin University's female dean, Intralla Shetty.
Given her status, it would not be particularly difficult for her to learn the truth afterward.
Then what kind of power could a mother and wife consumed by grief and rage unleash when driven by hatred?
She was not a superpowered person and could not personally take revenge on Homelander, but she would absolutely not let the matter rest.
She knew that Compound V was what gave Superheroes their extraordinary powers. As long as she turned around and conducted research targeting Compound V, there would naturally be hope for revenge.
As it happened, beneath Godolkin University was a place where Vought specifically conducted human experiments, known as The Woods.
It had originally been established to study Superheroes' weaknesses and how to control them, giving the female dean a heaven-sent opportunity.
But that was not something that could be accomplished overnight. Before then, Li Wei had ample time to develop.
And frankly, with his current strength, secretly killing the female dean would be effortless.
Before Butcher and the others could speak again, Li Wei gave a muffled snort. "Fine. After we catch that Asian woman, I'll handle the aftermath. You investigate Ezekiel. How about it?"
"Deal!"
With the plan set, they immediately headed for Pennsylvania. As a Superhero, Li Wei was responsible for Kimiko, while the others handled the station.
Frenchie had originally wanted to come along as well. Somehow, beneath Kimiko's filthy clothes and bloodstains, he had taken a liking to her at first sight.
But Li Wei gave him no such chance. The future little brother I've got my eye on—no, little sister—you'd better not come meddling.
He only had Butcher, Mother's Milk, and Frenchie head to the train station as the second line of defense, while also searching online for suspicious information.
According to Frenchie and the others, when Kimiko escaped, aside from her dirty clothes, she had not even been wearing shoes, much less carrying a wallet. No ordinary driver would pick her up looking like that.
She was not someone who casually killed innocents either, so she was unlikely to rob and murder anyone for transportation. She would probably have to run all the way here, giving them some time.
Hughie, meanwhile, served as Li Wei's lackey. Butcher's intention was for him to relay messages, share intelligence, and so on.
But from Li Wei's perspective, if Hughie was only doing that little bit of work, why did he need him? Wouldn't that make Li Wei a supervisor?
Since Hughie was here, he might as well work honestly for Li Wei!
Before you continue