PUA

Once the plan was set, Li Wei couldn't be bothered to worry about Starlight anymore. He just focused on perfecting his scheme, switching taxis several times along the way.

If Starlight was so useless that she'd fall for such a simple trick, then she deserved to be fooled by Vought—today's business wouldn't include her.

When he reached the hospital, Li Wei found that only two of the four-man team had shown up: Butcher and Mother's Milk. Hughie and Frenchie were both absent.

Hughie had just gotten intel from Ezekiel and couldn't make it in time—that was normal.

But Frenchie, Butcher's loyal lackey, hadn't come either. Was he playing bodyguard for Hughie?

Or had his identity been exposed?

After Li Wei's earlier warning, Hughie had deleted the surveillance footage from The Mesmerizer's place.

But unless A-Train was a complete idiot, he'd eventually think to check other cameras around his home.

Using process of elimination bit by bit, he'd track these guys down eventually.

Butcher and Mother's Milk might be fine, but Frenchie had a pile of murder cases on his back. He'd apparently used drugs and other special methods to take out a few low-tier supes before.

If A-Train caught wind of him, he'd be the first to get dealt with.

Of course, Li Wei's identity as Gambit was definitely blown too. When he'd saved Kimiko earlier, who knew how many photos and videos had been taken of him.

But that wasn't a big deal. He'd made plenty of preparations beforehand—darkening his skin, using a voice changer and height boosters, stuffing padding into his uniform and mask to alter his build, and so on.

In fact, if Butcher and his crew had been paying attention, they'd have noticed slight changes in his height and weight every time they met.

Too bad Butcher and the others seemed to have completely missed it all. Li Wei felt like he was winking at a blind man.

And these guys claimed to be elite agents who'd worked for the CIA and pulled off countless special ops? Was the CIA just full of useless idiots?

Plus, the superpower he'd revealed had never been registered with Vought. Even if he was caught on camera, Vought would have a hell of a time actually finding him.

Not wanting to overthink it, Li Wei tore open a bag of chips, crunching away as he walked straight up to Butcher. "Just the two of you?"

Hearing his voice, the two men, who hadn't paid him any mind, suddenly realized this guy with glasses and a half-mask was Gambit.

Honestly, they hadn't recognized him.

Mother's Milk couldn't help asking, "Why aren't you in uniform? And you're eating cheap junk like that?"

Li Wei snorted. "Wear my uniform so A-Train can drag me back to Vought?"

"Never mind the Asian girl you found in that basement. Ever since Translucent got taken out by someone, with a message taunting Homelander left by his body, Vought's been all smiles on the surface but definitely hunting for the killer underneath. I don't want to walk into that crossfire."

"As for the chips, fried food's biggest perk besides tasting good is the high calorie count—it meets my daily needs. You didn't think supes have the same appetite as regular people, did you?"

Hearing this, Mother's Milk kept his face neutral, but his heart tightened.

He hadn't joined this special team back then, but now he was on Butcher's side. If Vought found out, they wouldn't care about that distinction!

Butcher's lips curled up slowly, clearly pleased.

Taking out Translucent, one of The Seven, had him waking up laughing in the middle of the night for days.

And he figured they'd always been on the back foot with Gambit. Maybe this was the chance to show him they weren't completely powerless against supes!

You've been scheming to join The Seven, but so what? We've already taken down a real member!

Li Wei caught Butcher's expression and smirked inwardly, but on the surface, he put on a look of shock and disbelief. "Wait, don't tell me you guys—"

Butcher nodded firmly. "That's right, just what you're thinking!"

After saying that, he felt every pore on his body open up. One word: satisfying!

Li Wei blinked. "Alright, I'll admit you've got some skill, even if you probably used some dirty tricks—like a butt bomb or something."

Butcher's face twisted like he'd just swallowed a huge mouthful of crap. It was agonizing.

They'd tried a dozen methods, and in the end, Frenchie had a flash of inspiration and came up with that. Now Gambit had just blurted it out!

Watching Butcher choke and cough like he'd been caught off guard by his own spit, Li Wei snorted. "Don't tell me I hit the nail on the head? Whatever, I don't care about your business. If you can wipe out all of The Seven, even better—my chances of moving up just shot up several times."

He paused briefly, swallowed the chips in his mouth, and said with pointed meaning, "But, Mother's Milk, you'd better not get too involved. Even if it's for your daughter's sake."

Mother's Milk tensed up immediately. "What do you mean?"

His daughter was his biggest weakness. He'd been doing everything he could to keep this stuff from affecting her!

Li Wei's expression didn't change. "Just a friendly, warm reminder for a partner. Or do you really think every one of your identities is that well-hidden?"

"God, you guys haven't even worn masks or face coverings, have you?"

Not giving the other a chance to retort, Li Wei pressed on. "By the way, why didn't Frenchie show up? Did his girlfriend sell him out?"

Frenchie had started as a hitman for the Russians. He'd tried to break away and go legit in America.

But, well, what could you expect from a drunk, drug-addled, murderous, gay Frenchman? How reliable could he be?

After an accident got his boss's grandson burned alive, going legit was off the table.

Before joining Butcher's team, he'd stuck to his old trade, selling illegal guns and drugs on the side. He had some talent for firearms and chemistry.

As for his girlfriend, she wasn't clean either. Besides guns, she dabbled in poison.

But Li Wei didn't look down on her for it. After all, she was poisoning Americans and illegal immigrants—nothing to do with him.

Oh, and one more thing worth mentioning—this wasn't the first time Frenchie and Mother's Milk had crossed paths with Vought's supes. The one who burned that kid to death was none other than A-Train, a former member of The Seven's previous generation.

A-Train's ability was amplifying fire. Well, he couldn't actually create flames himself, so he usually carried more than one lighter on him.

Without a lighter or some other external tool that could spark a fire, he was useless—almost laughably so.

Similarly, Mother's Milk had his own grudge against supes. Soldier Boy had apparently killed his grandfather as a side effect while fighting some other criminals.

So strictly speaking, every member of Butcher's four-man squad had a blood debt with some supe from Vought.

Even though they'd already taken out Translucent, that was far from the end. This was just the beginning of their revenge.

Li Wei acted like nothing had happened, but Mother's Milk couldn't calm down so easily, and Butcher's face was somewhat grim.

He still wasn't sure whether the other party had done it intentionally or not, but that no longer mattered. Before dealing with Homelander, he couldn't lay a hand on Gambit.

Otherwise, a supe who knew all their intel, possessed superpowers, and had intelligence could easily take out every friend and family member they had.

No matter how helpless he felt, he could only sigh and temporarily back down.

"It's Black Noir. Frenchie and his girlfriend have both been found. It's only a matter of time before he finds us too."

Seeing this, Li Wei couldn't help but chuckle. Yes, his purpose today—aside from that Super-powered Baby—was to needle Butcher and the others, to keep them from getting any messy ideas.

With Hughie and Mother's Milk, he could use soft tactics or favors, but with Butcher—that future cuckold—he had to apply some pressure.

Then he would keep chipping away at their confidence, making them realize a harsh truth: with their current strength, they couldn't possibly stand against Vought or Homelander.

In a way, this barely qualified as PUA.

After that, he'd find an opportunity to tell them about Temporary Compound V. He wasn't sure about the others yet, but Hughie would definitely be eager to try it!

As for Black Noir, he had once been Soldier Boy's teammate in Payback, and later spent decades as a member of The Seven.

Though he never spoke, he was still quite strong. In a straight fight, he could beat Starlight without breaking a sweat.

However, he had one fatal weakness: he was allergic to nuts.

That's right—if you shoved any nut-based product into his mouth, even an ordinary nut chocolate bar, he'd immediately start shaking like he had Parkinson's, completely helpless.

But for Frenchie, who didn't know about this fatal flaw, or for other third-rate supes, he was an unstoppable deadly killer. Black Noir's martial skills were formidable; someone like Kimiko had almost no chance against him.

Tossing aside the unfinished bag of chips, Li Wei pulled out a napkin and wiped his mouth. "Alright, for safety's sake, let's get today's business done quickly!"

Watching Gambit still carrying a mountain of snacks, Butcher and Mother's Milk were both speechless. With the way you're acting now, it's hard to connect you to the Gambit from before!