Waiting by the Stump for a Rabbit

Halfway there, Li Wei unexpectedly ran into a third-rate Vought superhero by pure chance.

After lighting up the other's compendium entry and gaining a 0.1-ton strength boost, he was pleasantly surprised to find that his system had upgraded!

After the upgrade, the system's abilities were further enhanced.

First, after close contact for a period of time, without needing to ask that question, he could potentially see through the superpower the other person possessed.

Second, he no longer needed to copy a superpower all at once.

He could now copy for two hours today, three hours tomorrow, steadily accumulating progress until it reached 100%.

Of course, there were still some limits—the interval couldn't exceed 24 hours, or the progress would reset and he'd have to start over.

Even so, this was undoubtedly a massive boost for him.

In theory, just by shaking hands, he could eventually copy the superpowers of every superhero out there!

It didn't take long for Li Wei to find the shop without any trouble.

But he didn't go inside. Instead, he found a nearby café to stake out the place, while also chatting with some superheroes he'd added as friends over the past few days to arrange meeting times.

Even the lowest-tier, fourth-rate superheroes who didn't even qualify as third-rate could still light up his Hero Compendium and give him a 0.1-ton strength bonus—every little bit counted.

His main target right now was a Muslim girl named Sivler Kincaid, a third-rate superhero who, due to her country of origin, was very much looked down upon by Vought.

Her other abilities were unremarkable, but she possessed one power Li Wei desperately wanted—Mental Barrier, which could block mental control or mental attacks from others.

Next were Telepathy and Psychic Remote Sensing. The former allowed her to communicate directly with others within a certain distance through the mind, while the latter let her perceive and control distant objects to some extent.

Unfortunately, since she was only a third-rate superhero, her development of these abilities was severely lacking.

Right now, her Telepathy was roughly equivalent to a paper cup phone made with a string and two cups, with a maximum range of just over ten meters—basically useless.

Her other two abilities were similar—sounded cool on paper, but were actually very underwhelming.

In Li Wei's view, however, the potential of all three abilities she possessed was absolutely formidable.

In The Boys' World, known superhumans with mental or psychic abilities were extremely rare. Not counting this Muslim girl, they could be counted on one hand, and only three were famous.

One was a member of Payback—Mindstorm. With just a single glance, he could put someone into permanent sleep, turning them into a vegetable.

Of course, without eye contact or if his eyes were covered, he instantly became a complete idiot.

Next was a blonde girl still attending Godolkin University—Kate. She could manipulate people's minds through touch and also hear others' thoughts at close range.

In a way, she could be considered a knockoff version of Marvel's Professor X.

Then there was Mr. Mesmer, who could read minds through touch. Compared to the others, his superpower was much weaker—he could only sense the other person's current thoughts, and digging deeper was very difficult.

Still, he made a fortune writing books and making movies.

Li Wei wasn't afraid of enemies with immense strength or speed—given enough time, he was confident he could find ways to counter or even surpass them.

But when it came to psychic abilities, things were more insidious. He never knew when he might get ambushed, so he decided to deal with this Muslim girl first.

Progress was going smoothly. She came from a war-torn country and needed funds and supplies. When Li Wei played the role of a rich second-generation heir and threw money at her, it was easy to win her favor.

But Islamic law forbade premarital sex and any sexual relations outside of legal marriage. She didn't believe Li Wei just wanted to sleep next to her without any ulterior motives, rather than coveting her body, which left things at a stalemate.

Li Wei was considering whether to pretend to be gay to lower her guard.

Or maybe he should just reveal his true identity and make a promise in Angel's name—she should be willing to trust him then.

After all, he only needed close physical contact with her for a period of time, not actually sleep with her.

Next, he decided to go after some floating or flying abilities to improve his mobility.

Simple floating or flight wasn't particularly rare, and the superheroes who had them usually only excelled in that one area, so the process wouldn't be too difficult.

Hughie, on the other hand, was very busy. He needed to rent a car first to ensure they could evacuate immediately after catching their target.

And it had to be anonymous, with masks and all—Li Wei didn't want Hughie to be traced back and have his real identity exposed.

Things weren't like the original plot now. Without Starlight watching over him, he might very well be killed on the spot by A-Train.

Although in the later stages of the story, A-Train turned over a new leaf, for now he was still like most Vought superheroes—someone who treated human life like dirt.

Then there were the odd jobs, like buying Kimiko a new set of clothes and preparing some food.

Considering Kimiko was Asian, Li Wei specifically told Hughie to prepare Chinese food, Japanese cuisine, and Korean kimchi, among other things.

Of course, he knew Kimiko was Japanese, but on the surface, he had to keep up appearances.

Hughie wasn't smart, but Butcher would definitely grill him about the whole process afterward. Li Wei didn't want to casually reveal that detail, or it would cause a lot of trouble later.

For him now, killing Butcher and the others would be easy, but that would be too wasteful.

Li Wei needed them to fully leverage their ability to stir up trouble, keep Homelander and Vought occupied, and bring Soldier Boy back from Russia—only then would things be temporarily settled!

And so, Li Wei sat leisurely in the air-conditioned café, waiting for Kimiko to arrive.

Hughie ran around frantically, calling Li Wei, Butcher, and the others for help several times before finally rushing back, drenched in sweat, to regroup with Li Wei.

During this time, because of his outfit, Li Wei was frequently asked by passersby or café patrons to take photos with them, claiming to be his fans.

Ridiculous. Apart from Butcher, Hughie, and a few others, Li Wei had never revealed this alias to anyone outside. He had no idea where these fake fans came from.

It just went to show that thanks to Vought's propaganda, the concept of superheroes was deeply ingrained in people's minds. Whether they recognized you or not, if they saw someone dressed like a superhero, they'd ask for a photo first—just in case it became bragging material later.

If the miserable mutants over at Marvel saw this, they'd probably be green with envy, wouldn't they?

After Hughie returned, Li Wei first thanked him very seriously, then reimbursed him for the related expenses out of his own pocket.

Hughie was originally a broke loser. Ever since his girlfriend was killed by A-Train, he'd been running around with Butcher without even a job—no need to take advantage of him over something this small.

Besides, Li Wei was investing in the future.

After Hughie took a temporary dose of Compound V later on, the superpower he got was Teleportation, and the kind that could carry people along.

Whether used for offense or escape, this ability was undeniably ridiculously strong.

The only catch was a bit awkward: both he and anyone he carried would be stripped completely naked, one hundred percent.

If he suddenly charged at an enemy in the nude, the scene would probably turn extremely embarrassing.

If something like that happened, in Li Wei's view, it'd be best to silence the opponent on the spot. Otherwise, if the enemy spread the word, it'd be way too shameful.

His father also had Teleportation, but it was more uncontrollable and stronger—after gaining the ability, he killed a bunch of people in one go.

But regardless, this kind of space-related ability was extremely rare in the entire The Boys universe. If there was a chance, Li Wei really didn't want to miss out, and now was the perfect time to start building goodwill.

Hughie was pleasantly surprised, even a bit at a loss, momentarily not knowing what to say.

In fact, neither he nor Butcher and the others had ever imagined that Gambit would foot this bill.

Add to that Li Wei's previous actions, which were clearly different from other supes.

When Li Wei casually ordered him a coffee and some food, and paid for it first, Hughie's goodwill toward Li Wei shot straight up. He was practically pouring his heart out to Li Wei, almost ready to tell him his bank card password.

After Hughie had eaten and drunk his fill, suddenly, Li Wei's ear twitched. He keenly detected a slight commotion coming from the street corner.

He immediately closed the chat page, grabbed his staff, and stood up.

Hughie jumped up in a panic, following him: "Is she here?"

"That's right. Just stay put here, so you don't get caught in the crossfire!"

Although Hughie's performance in the plot was absurd—A-Train didn't kill him, Soldier Boy didn't kill him, Homelander didn't kill him.

The heavyweight female villain, Head-popper Newman, tried to play cards with him even though she had a husband.

The shapeshifter even turned into Starlight and did it with him twenty times in ten days, running through all sorts of cosplay, uniforms, and other stuff.

Things like that, one after another—he was practically a child of destiny.

But now that Li Wei had arrived, this world had already started to shift. He wasn't sure if Hughie might get casually clawed to death by Kimiko!