A-Train: We Are Friends!

Looking at the lifelike human doll in his hand, A-Train's tone was strange.

"Ha, never thought you used to be my super hardcore fan. This kind of thing isn't something a casual fan would just buy, you know, since it costs a few hundred bucks."

Hughie's dad was completely bewildered, having no idea what was going on.

He only knew that A-Train had suddenly burst in, acting extremely agitated, even manic—completely different from how he seemed on screen. He had no clue what had set him off, or if he was just high out of his mind.

Hughie signaled for him to stay calm, forcing himself to step forward steadily: "Hey, A-Train, I came alone like you asked. Now let him go."

"Alone?"

A-Train vanished like the wind, then reappeared in another spot in less than half a second.

"Ha, you really did come alone. Next time—though there won't be a next time—at least leave yourself a hand or two."

Despite being startled, Hughie's heart only grew steadier.

Just as Gambit had said earlier, when A-Train raced Shockwave, he was pumped full of Compound V as a special stimulant, hitting 371 m/s on a custom track. Now, A-Train was clearly not drugged, slower than before, and this was a complex residential area, not a specialized track.

He'd run out for less than half a second—how far could he actually go? How wide an area could he search?

He'd probably just glanced outside, didn't spot anyone unusual on the street, and came straight back!

"Alright, I think you mean this?"

Hughie flipped his hand and pulled a needle with a trace of blue liquid from his waist.

Butcher had already handed over the sample from the children's hospital to Susan, the CIA deputy director and one of his old flames. But just like Li Wei said, blue liquid was everywhere—unless he jabbed himself right then, how could A-Train tell real from fake?

And Hughie decided not to give him that chance. Once he was sure A-Train had a good look at the little thing in his hand, he pressed down.

"Don't want a hit of the good stuff?"

Though they didn't know the details, they'd roughly figured out that A-Train's body had some kind of problem—needing Compound V's stimulation, or maybe he was just addicted. That was why Robin had suffered that tragedy.

A-Train swallowed hard. Ever since that Asian female test subject went missing, Homelander had temporarily halted those experiments, so A-Train couldn't sneak any Compound V for himself anymore.

In fact, he'd been feeling his limits lately—his heart had serious issues. For him, Compound V wasn't just a stimulant; it was key to keeping his powers and staying in The Seven!

But he still gritted his teeth and bluffed: "I don't know what that crap is!"

Hughie seized the opening: "Oh? Then do you mind if I do this?"

Without waiting for a reply, he emptied the blue liquid from the syringe onto the carpet.

A-Train's emotions ignited instantly: "No, fuck, what are you doing?! What the hell is wrong with you? I'll—"

Suddenly, A-Train felt his mind go hazy. Before he could figure out what was happening, or if it was a sign his heart condition was worsening, a sharp pain shot through his calves!

"Ah, fuck!"

He screamed and collapsed, both shins cleanly broken.

Li Wei, dressed as Gambit, suddenly appeared in the room and let out a quiet sigh of relief.

To fight A-Train, who had Super Speed, he'd prepared multiple backup plans—thoroughly ready. But he never expected things to be this much easier.

A-Train had zero resistance to his Psychic Remote Sensing. Catching him off guard, Li Wei barely had to control him for a moment before ending the fight. If he hadn't wanted to avoid A-Train making too many connections later, Li Wei figured he could've held him for over five seconds—enough to kill him several times over!

Hughie quickly followed the plan, taking his dad to meet up with Butcher and the others. A-Train howled in pain, clutching his legs, before finally realizing who had done this.

"Gambit, you again!"

Li Wei twirled his staff idly: "I heard you've been investigating me lately. Who put you up to it?"

A-Train didn't dare sell out Homelander. Gritting through the pain, he changed the subject: "You're a superhero too—why are you on their side?"

Li Wei flicked his staff, coating it in a layer of energy: "Simple. Because I'm their friend, and I'm not yours."

A-Train was stunned, finding it hard to believe: "That's it?"

"That's it. And since you're not my friend, and you won't say who's behind you, well..."

Li Wei slowly raised his staff, eyeing A-Train with clear ill intent.

Though the staff was just ordinary alloy, with his strength backing it, he could easily kill A-Train. In fact, among The Seven, A-Train ranked dead last in attack power, defense, and fighting skill—even worse than The Deep. He'd always relied purely on speed to bully normals.

The Deep wasn't much better either. Never mind his equally pathetic combat skills—the gills on his waist were his fatal weakness. He was strong against weaklings, but once he faced a hero of the same level, as long as they found his weak point and didn't fight him in water, beating him wasn't that hard.

The real powerhouses in The Seven were always just one and a half: one was Homelander, and the half was Queen Maeve, who couldn't fly.

"Wait, you can't kill me! I'm one of The Seven! If you kill me, Homelander will avenge me for sure!"

A-Train tried to bluff with borrowed authority. In truth, even if Homelander did seek revenge, it wouldn't be for A-Train's sake—it would be because The Seven's reputation had been insulted.

"Heh, that's a problem for later. Right now, what I want is to rid my friend of a pest like you."

Faced with such a reckless hothead, A-Train felt a chill of dread. Was he really going to die here in such a pathetic way?

Then, at the brink of life and death, a stroke of inspiration hit him. Since the guy kept going on about his friend, why couldn't he become that friend?

"Wait, we don't have to do this. I can be your friend too!"

"Huh? What do you mean?"

Li Wei seemed intrigued, his movements hesitating noticeably.

Seeing it worked, A-Train ignored the pain in his legs and spoke rapidly:

"We're both supes. We were born to be friends. Trust me, once we're friends, I'll do my best to stay out of this and stop affecting you and your other friends!"

"Is that so? Then are we friends now?"

A-Train nodded frantically: "Of course, we're friends now!"

Then, as if suddenly remembering something: "Oh, right, there's a tracking system in my body planted by Vought. Homelander and the others all know I'm here right now."

"For safety's sake, my friend, you should leave quickly. I'll handle things from here!"

Li Wei was well aware of this. Translucent had a tracker too, which was how The Deep found his corpse even after it was boxed up and dumped into the sea.

But staring at the glaring string of prompts, he felt a bit greedy. Now that A-Train had personally confirmed it, he could already replicate many of his abilities.

Could he remove the tracker from his body and just take him away?

Codename: A-Train Type: Physical Special Ability 1: A-Train's Super Speed—greatly increases movement speed, specifics depend on physique and other factors, max speed 1600 km/h. Fully replicable, estimated continuous contact required: 365 minutes. Special Ability 2: Enhanced Metabolism—metabolizes 99.5% of calories from food, greatly improves absorption and utilization efficiency, accelerates cell regeneration and wound healing, etc. Fully replicable, estimated continuous contact required: 8 minutes. Special Ability 3: Enhanced Eyeballs and Lacrimal Glands—under high wind speeds and extreme temperatures, the liquid on the eye surface is continuously replenished and becomes more viscous, greatly increasing eye protection and strengthening the eyeballs themselves to adapt to high-speed movement. Fully replicable, estimated continuous contact required: 5 minutes. Special Ability 4: Accelerated Perception—greatly increases brain processing speed and body reaction speed to adapt to super speed and perceive surroundings while running, etc. Fully replicable, estimated continuous contact required: 29 minutes. Special Ability 5: Enhanced Stamina—greatly improves cardiovascular and respiratory system efficiency; high-intensity exercise does not produce lactic acid buildup leading to muscle soreness, etc. Cost: maximum lifespan of related organs may be affected. Fully replicable, estimated continuous contact required: 13 minutes. Special Ability 6: Intermediate RAP—fully replicable, estimated continuous contact required: 1 second.