The Tracker

After Butcher finished collecting the evidence, both he and Mother's Milk let out a heavy sigh of relief. Now all they had to do was take it to the CIA, and they could finally gain the agency's genuine recognition and support.

This was the only good news in an otherwise string of terrible events that day.

Li Wei was also satisfied. Butcher had given him a large vial too, so he could now try running some experiments with it.

The many superpowers he had copied through his ability had nothing to do with Compound V.

He had always been curious—if he got hit by Soldier Boy's chest cannon, would he only lose Angel's ability, or all of them?

But as for the specific research candidate, he still needed to think it over carefully.

There weren't many people qualified to access Compound V, capable of researching it, not too closely tied to Vought, and potentially usable by him.

After thinking it over, Li Wei felt there were maybe only two and a half, but none of them were perfect.

The first was Dr. Edison Cardoza, who was in charge of the Woods project at Godolkin University. He had spent years specializing in superpower research, with more than enough relevant experience, and just from his name alone, it was clear he was no ordinary man.

The second was Head-popper's husband, Samir Shah, who was also the head of Vought's R&D center.

Back then, he had used his position to seduce Head-popper right after she came of age, which had greatly displeased her adoptive father, President Edgar. But his ability was unquestionable—he was very strong.

As for the last half, it was a third-rate superhero named Sage Sisters, a black woman with dreadlocks.

She claimed to have the greatest intelligence in the world, capable of developing a cure for cancer and reversing global warming, among other things.

But after her debut, no one paid her any attention. Vought quickly abandoned her entirely, not even inviting her to join their research team.

She had never released any useful research data or results to the public, and now she seemed to be holed up as a shut-in in that dump of a city, Detroit.

It was easy to imagine just how much of a fraud she was. Li Wei strongly suspected she was another product of political correctness, or perhaps Vought had hyped her up so much that even she had started believing it.

But compared to the first two, she had one advantage: she was very easy to handle, and the cost of trial and error was extremely low.

For any superhero, basic physical enhancement was a given, but this black woman was a special case. Her body hadn't been enhanced at all—only her head and brain had gained some degree of self-healing ability.

If Li Wei put a bullet through her heart, she would die on the spot just like an ordinary person!

After sweeping the area, Butcher couldn't find anything else useful, but there was still one issue to deal with.

"Gambit, what do you think we should do with this super-powered baby?"

Li Wei answered without hesitation: "Of course, we leave him here. I'm not raising a child, and I don't know if he has parents. The education I received and my moral standards don't allow me to do anything like kidnapping a child."

An adult like Kimiko was a different story, and he wasn't kidnapping her either—he was just trying to give her a safe home.

If she stayed with the main group, she would just be like a stray dog, running around all day, getting hunted, and constantly on guard against Vought's superheroes hunting them down.

Even though Kimiko was a bit stifled now, it was still far better than that.

And Li Wei was certain this situation wouldn't last long!

Hearing Li Wei say that, Butcher didn't dwell on it. He had to admit that for a moment, he had felt an impulse. He had once believed that all Vought superheroes deserved to be killed.

But this was just a baby. It would take many years before he grew up and became Vought's accomplice. He wasn't a real threat yet.

Mother's Milk's expression, however, wasn't so good. He had worked with Butcher for years—how could he not understand what Butcher meant by asking that question?

He hadn't acted on it this time, but he had indeed had that dangerous thought!

Damn it, this man was being driven mad by his thirst for revenge against Homelander.

Just then, Li Wei suddenly issued a warning: "Careful, I hear footsteps and guns being cocked!"

"Fuck, we must have been discovered!"

Their entry had been so smooth it was almost unbelievable, like walking into their own home. They hadn't even encountered any security, and there were no cameras in the house. They had thought it was absurd at the time.

But after staying this long, the other side had finally reacted!

Li Wei snorted: "I'll leave them to you for now. I have to watch this super-powered baby."

As he spoke, he couldn't help but mutter to himself. Where the hell was Starlight? Had she really been shaken off by him? If so, she was way too useless!

Even though Li Wei had given an early warning, when seven or eight well-trained security guards with submachine guns burst in, Butcher and Mother's Milk, armed only with small pistols, could barely keep their heads up after taking down two by surprise at the start.

There was no helping it—their firepower wasn't on the same level, and their shooting skills weren't that much better than the guards', certainly not enough to make up for the gap in firepower.

Seeing the guards closing in, even though he really didn't want to, Butcher had no choice but to keep signaling Li Wei, who was staying in the corner watching the baby, begging him to help.

Since Butcher wasn't stupid enough to shout Li Wei's alias, Li Wei naturally pretended not to notice his glances at all.

Only after thirteen minutes had passed and he had successfully copied the Cold Light Laser Eyes ability did he pull a pistol from his pocket.

Relying on his superior physical condition, he fired a few shots, each one a headshot, cleanly killing the remaining security guards.

This left Butcher and Mother's Milk dumbfounded. Seriously, man? You're a Vought superhero, and you're killing people with a gun?

Li Wei rolled his eyes: "Why are you looking at me like that? Did you want me to use my superpowers and have Vought come knocking on my door the next day?"

"Getting killed by a bullet and getting killed by my superpowers leave completely different wounds, you know?"

He had noticed this problem early on, so he always carried at least two different pistols on him.

At first, it was mainly for the old blacks. If any old black pissed him off during his daily beatdowns, he would carry out some righteous justice afterward.

In free America, the official records alone show about 40 to 50 people dying from gunfights every day. The actual number could be dozens of times higher, and that wouldn't be surprising.

Free America, gunfights every day—that's no joke.

America operates on a "no complaint, no investigation" principle, and those Old Black folks and their families are generally far from clean themselves.

Not to mention anything else, at least they've definitely all taken part in group activities like zero-dollar shopping sprees, so there's no way they'd be stupid enough to go to the police.

Thus, the Old Black men Li Wei shot dead didn't stir up even a ripple.

Now his pistol came in handy here too—the gun and ammo were all smuggled through the black market, so Vought had nothing to trace.

Butcher kept his mouth shut. You make such a good point I can't even argue back.

After stuffing the Super-powered Baby back into his original spot, Li Wei thought it over and didn't snatch the lollipop from the kid's mouth. Sure, sugar was bad for a baby's teeth, but the little guy hadn't even grown any yet, so it didn't matter.

With that settled, the group quickly cleared out. After the earlier shootout, the small hospital was nearly deserted, so they didn't run into any trouble.

But glancing at the big surveillance camera by the door, Li Wei couldn't help shouting at Butcher's retreating back, "Hey, when Vought catches you, don't rat me out!"

As he spoke, he raised his pistol and fired two shots, shattering both cameras.

In the distance, Butcher visibly stumbled. Fuck. Right now, he just wanted to get what he was carrying to the CIA as fast as possible, so he could at least scrape together an official identity.

That way, when Vought found him, he wouldn't get killed on the spot.

After they left, Li Wei got ready to go too. He'd run a dozen miles first, then catch a cab back to New Jersey.

He was growing more and more desperate to get a speed-type superpower; otherwise, a lot of things were just too inconvenient.

Unfortunately, Vought only had two famous supers in that category right now—A-Train and Shockwave—and both were doing so well that Li Wei could hardly make friends with them.

Just then, his ears twitched at a car engine he recognized.

After being late for so long, Starlight had actually tracked him down again. Li Wei decided to temporarily pull her name out of the trash heap.

Well, for someone who never went to Godolkin University or had any formal training, maybe she's feeling pretty proud of herself right now?

Thinking it over, Li Wei found a spot where the hospital staff wouldn't notice him but Starlight easily could, then pulled out his phone and started openly flipping through the photos he'd just taken of the Super-powered Baby.

Not long after, as he scrolled to a shot of the little guy using his Cold Light Laser Eyes, a gasp suddenly came from behind him.

"Oh my god, is this why you've been acting all secretive and avoiding me lately?"