The Beginning of the Plot

"I extend my deepest condolences to the family of Robin Ward."

Li Wei, who had been testing his abilities one by one, turned his head to see a Black man in a blue-and-white uniform appear on the big screen, reading a script with a distracted air.

Clearly, he didn't care much about it—just like many superheroes when they accidentally kill civilians.

Li Wei immediately understood that he had landed right at the start of The Boys storyline.

It was the moment when A-Train, one of The Seven, hopped up on drugs and unable to control his speed, had smashed Hughie's girlfriend, Robin, into a pulp, leaving only her arms behind.

So, could he do something about it? The answer was yes.

At this point in time, Lamplighter, another member of The Seven, had ostensibly retired but was actually off doing Vought's dirty work.

That meant Vought International needed a replacement, and they'd been holding nationwide competitions and auditions for quite a while, now nearing the end.

According to the plot, the chosen one would be the sweetheart from Iowa—Starlight.

Her power was absorbing electricity to emit light, and her eyes would flare like exploding bulbs when she climaxed.

Since he could also emit light, Li Wei figured he could easily play the senior mentor role and sweet-talk her a bit!

Then there was A-Train's girlfriend, The Mesmerizer. She was a retired third-rate superhero, and these types all lived for the moment, blowing their money on booze and parties when they had it.

After retiring, she hadn't saved a dime. She lived in a rundown dump and even had to stall on rent by selling herself to her landlord.

A-Train didn't want to go public with their relationship either; seeing her once a week was a stretch, leaving her lonely most of the time.

Li Wei figured with his looks, tossing her a few perks and finding an excuse to "train martial arts" together, he could easily snag her ability.

Even though all of New Jersey wasn't his—he only ran the capital, Trenton, while the counties below had other people—

Because he was Asian, representing a sizable chunk of potential clients, and his looks were top-notch, especially photogenic in movies, he was a solid high-tier second-rate superhero, alright?

Last year at Vought's big meeting, he sat in the third row, a pretty prominent spot.

Too bad The Mesmerizer's power was weak—just two sharp bone spurs growing from her wrists. Even if he got it, it wouldn't mean much unless he wanted to cosplay Wolverine. Unfortunately, this world didn't have Marvel comics, only DC.

Then there was the original team's mute wolf girl, Kimiko, who inherited Wolverine's healing factor. Where was she locked up for experiments again?

Some basement under a grocery store in Chinatown?

Man, even though he'd watched the show back then, eighteen whole years had passed. Even as a superhero, he only remembered the major plot points; the details were almost gone.

But Kimiko had Homelander behind her, so he couldn't just act recklessly. Was he supposed to rely on the main team?

Thinking about it, Li Wei felt a bit annoyed.

Not counting Starlight, the main team had five people.

Hughie was just a clerk at a corner store; no point expecting much from him.

Later, after going through a ton of events, his growth was obvious, and plenty of people saw him as The Boys' conscience and moral bottom line.

Butcher—Billy Butcher—would do anything to get what he wanted. Lying and selling out teammates were second nature.

He was also a cuckold who, to protect the brat his wife had from cheating on him, gave up on getting revenge against Homelander.

What's more ridiculous was that he cheated first. His wife only hooked up with Homelander to get back at him and because she genuinely admired the guy.

So from the start, the one he should've hated most was himself.

Of course, aside from Li Wei, who was just watching from the sidelines, Butcher was still clueless, not knowing his wife was alive and had given Homelander a son.

And Homelander had no idea he'd hit the bullseye on the first try. Butcher's wife was still hidden away by Vought somewhere.

Before this, every superhero in this world was made with Compound V. Homelander's son was the only one born naturally, making him completely different from the usual lot.

Plus, with his catchphrase "OI," Butcher was also called "OI Man" in Li Wei's past life.

Frenchie was bisexual, a killer, and a junkie. He had no mercy for anyone—young, old, man, woman—and had even wiped out someone's whole family before hooking up with the survivor multiple times.

Uh, or maybe he was the one getting hooked. Either way, with all his crimes, dying ten times wouldn't be too much.

Then there was the mute wolf girl, once a member of the extremist group Shining Light. She'd been trained with brutal methods since she was a kid. Her survival came at the cost of at least dozens of comrades she'd killed with her own hands.

After her training was complete, the dirty work she did was countless. How else would Shining Light be called an extremist group?

But after being rescued, she worked tirelessly for Butcher for free, living in the shadows as an assassin, craving light and warmth.

Later, she and Frenchie had something like a spiritual romance, but Frenchie would rather mess around with guys than be with her. Whether it was insecurity or something else, who knew?

Or maybe it had to do with her power. She had Super Healing—her head could be blown off, a leg chopped off, and none of it would kill her; she'd recover in no time.

Theoretically still a young girl, she obviously couldn't handle any ordinary man, because even that part might heal at high speed. With superheroes' physiques, a normal guy would probably get cut clean off, right?

Finally, there was Mother's Milk, or MM for short. Li Wei didn't like him much, but he had to admit the guy was probably the most reliable in the group.

But in a world with superheroes, without plot armor, even the shockwaves from a fight could kill an ordinary person many times over.

Just as he was thinking, Li Wei heard footsteps outside the door, followed by a loud voice: "Hey, buddy, it's dark out—time for our daily beatdown!"

Li Wei thought, I was just talking about him, and here he comes.

He opened the door with a smile to find a white guy wearing a helmet even in the heat, looking none too bright.

Seeing the light wings Li Wei had summoned for his experiments, the guy grinned. "Buddy, still staring at your big wings? Too bad you're Asian. Even if you couldn't fly, the Vatican would be all over you."

These days, even the Vatican had political correctness.

There was once a woman named Faith, who had angel wings, who was deliberately suppressed—she couldn't even secure a government contract and spent her days running around singing and doing gigs to work for Vought. Calling her a third-rate superhero would be a compliment.

In comparison, Li Wei's situation was infinitely better because his strength was enough.

But if they were white, both of them would probably have had a chance to become one of the Seven!

Li Wei smiled. "Let me correct you: I'm of Chinese descent, and I've always been proud of it."

The other person was the one assigned alongside him to New Jersey, and also his schoolmate—Blue Hawk.

Actually, their relationship hadn't been particularly smooth at first. Blue Hawk used to call the shots in New Jersey, but then Li Wei came and took his spot.

On the surface, Blue Hawk couldn't defy Vought's orders, but he was deeply resentful. He caused trouble openly and covertly several times, until Li Wei taught him a lesson physically, and they became outright enemies.

But soon, both of them discovered they shared a common hobby: they liked beating up black people in their spare time.

Plus, the appearance of The Boys greatly increased Blue Hawk's success rate in sting operations. When he learned that The Boys was developed by Li Wei, who still held a significant stake, and that a Vought subsidiary was secretly involved behind the scenes, Blue Hawk immediately switched from hater to fan, becoming Li Wei's close friend.

Or maybe "bad influence" was more accurate. It was hard to say how much of the pissing and such was Li Wei's own idea and how much was egged on by the other.

Blue Hawk even repeatedly invited him to orgies and smoking weed. For superheroes' physiques, these things were about the same as alcohol—side effects were almost negligible, so you could just enjoy yourself.

But Li Wei never accepted.

As someone of Chinese descent, even if he grew up in an orphanage, even if he hadn't awakened his past life memories, he still had his own bottom line and principles.

Blue Hawk was a bit embarrassed but said nothing. In America, whenever race came up, it was best to keep your mouth shut.

And he also knew very well why Li Wei was so stubborn. The Asian category was broad, and Japanese, Korean, and Chinese descendants all looked down on each other.

He was about to bleed a little to make up for his careless words when he saw Li Wei ask very formally, "Blue Hawk, are we friends?"