Gambit: I Will Become One of the Seven!

Although that Super Speed was slightly different from what he had imagined—it actually had an upper limit—setting aside the RAP requirement, none of the other special abilities were useless. Li Wei wanted them all!

The reason A-Train now had to constantly take drugs to maintain his Super Speed was entirely because his heart could no longer handle his superpower.

But if it were him instead, he could definitely unleash even greater speed.

The only problem was that the time needed to copy it was a bit long, almost second only to Otherworld Teleportation.

And the fact that the first ability came with A-Train's alias—did that mean it had some special property?

Just then, Butcher's somewhat urgent voice suddenly reached Li Wei's ears: "Gambit, Homelander just came out of Vought Tower and is flying in your direction. You need to evacuate now!"

As the person directly involved, Hughie naturally had to go home and meet A-Train.

Li Wei was helping out as a favor, but Butcher and the others certainly couldn't just stand by and watch. They were monitoring multiple locations across New York to ensure that once Homelander set out, Li Wei would receive a warning immediately.

Li Wei gritted his teeth. Fuck, Homelander had to cause trouble at this critical moment. Looked like it wasn't going to work this time.

Everyone already knew that Homelander could fly at supersonic speeds when he was ten years old. After all these years, he had only grown stronger.

However, Homelander didn't have abilities like A-Train's Accelerated Perception, so while his straight-line speed was formidable, his turning speed in complex terrain wasn't particularly impressive.

But the straight-line distance from here to Vought Tower was less than fifty kilometers. That left him at most a minute or two—nowhere near enough time to copy anything.

In that case, it was time to activate the backup plan: change identities and make contact with A-Train!

With that thought, Li Wei didn't waste any time: "Alright, since we're friends now, I won't keep attacking you. You won't hold a grudge against me for the harm I just caused, right?"

A-Train quickly shook his head: "How could I? That was just a misunderstanding earlier. We're friends!"

Li Wei paused slightly, then immediately changed his attitude, speaking with great concern: "Good. Later, you can contact Vought yourself to come pick you up, right?"

A-Train finally breathed a little easier: "No problem. My hands are still fine."

"Alright, let's leave it at that for today. I'll treat you to a meal sometime."

"Oh, and one more thing—remember this: I hate it when people mess with my friends, but what I hate most of all is betrayal!"

Seeing the serious look on his face, A-Train, who had been secretly plotting revenge, was startled again.

He nodded guiltily: "Please rest assured, I swear I won't betray you. We're friends!"

Only then did Li Wei nod with satisfaction: "Good. Translucent is dead, so there's an open spot in The Seven."

"Maybe in a few days, I'll officially register an alias at Vought and become one of The Seven. Then we'll be colleagues."

"I'll have your back. Even Homelander won't be able to push you around!"

Gambit's tone was so arrogant, as if he could waltz into The Seven anytime he wanted. A-Train couldn't help but feel a little disdain—he knew damn well how much effort he had put in to reach his current position.

But somehow, recalling Homelander's attitude toward him over the years—especially since Translucent's death, with all this chaos lately, his increasingly blatant contempt, and his almost Tyrant-like cruelty—

If this hotheaded Gambit really joined The Seven, maybe it wouldn't be such a bad thing.

If he stood up front and clashed with Homelander, A-Train's own situation would definitely improve a lot!

Besides, compared to the strength Gambit had shown, the little trouble he had caused Vought didn't seem like a big deal.

Many second-tier supes already knew that superpowers didn't come from God's blessing but from Compound V. Since Gambit hadn't leaked that information, it had no real impact on Vought.

The only one who might be unhappy about it was probably Homelander, who was used to throwing his weight around...

Just as he was thinking, A-Train unconsciously fell into a daze. When he snapped out of it, Gambit was already long gone.

He grew even more frustrated. Damn it, he really needed to get a thorough medical checkup. His heart problems seemed to be starting to affect his brain!

On the other side, after using mind control on A-Train and changing his disguise at top speed, Li Wei ran into a coffee shop. He hadn't even sat down when he heard a tearing screech in the air.

No doubt about it—it was Homelander.

Li Wei had to admit that although he had seen Homelander a few times before when he went to Vought Tower to find Starlight, the usual fake-smile-boy Homelander was completely different from battle-mode Homelander!

Too bad he was still too late. Aside from A-Train with his broken legs, he couldn't find a damn thing.

Li Wei leisurely sipped his coffee and wasn't the least bit surprised to see Homelander fly back toward Vought shortly after, leaving the severely injured A-Train abandoned there alone.

In places without cameras, he really couldn't be bothered to keep up the act.

But now, he needed to deal with the main group's problems.

Thanks to his interference, Starlight had only met Hughie and the others through photos so far.

Kimiko had been snatched away by him directly, and now she spent all day in the house eating chips and watching TV, living a pretty leisurely life.

If she didn't spend a lot of time every day practicing martial arts with Firecracker, Li Wei would even suspect she was turning into a shut-in.

Without their support, the current main group didn't have a single capable fighter. If it weren't for him today, Hughie would probably have been the first to suffer, and the others were all in the same boat—just a matter of dying sooner or later.

To prevent Homelander from wiping them all out in one go, he might as well tip them off with some intel in advance.

Otherwise, if Homelander had free time, he'd definitely come looking for trouble with him.

After spending a little time, Li Wei arrived at Butcher and the others' base.

Aside from the main group and Hughie's dad, there were also two black women—one older, one younger—presumably Mother's Milk's wife and daughter.

The moment he walked in, Hughie was the first to rush over, eagerly thanking Li Wei.

He might be a cowardly, pathetic loser, but he was definitely someone who knew how to repay a favor.

Mother's Milk followed closely behind. Thanks to the surveillance at that children's hospital, he had been exposed too.

It was precisely because Li Wei had warned him in advance that he'd kept his guard up, successfully avoiding a dangerous situation similar to Hughie's.

Likewise, Frenchie and Butcher's gazes toward Li Wei had clearly shifted.

No matter how much doubt or prejudice they'd held against Gambit before, knowing that A-Train was out there and that Homelander and other Vought supes were highly likely to provide backup, Gambit still chose to go. That alone was enough to earn their trust.

Li Wei, however, didn't take it to heart. Right now, none of them had any superpowers, and they were all broke—not much use to him. His investment had always been in their future.

He just brushed them off with a few casual words, then looked around. "You're planning to hide from Vought's supes in an abandoned factory like this? Looks like things fell through with the CIA."

Hearing that, almost everyone instinctively turned to Butcher, especially Mother's Milk and Frenchie.

They didn't know exactly what had happened, but they knew their situation was dire. Without the CIA as a safety net, they weren't sure how many days they had left.

At this point, Butcher knew he couldn't hide it anymore. He laid it out bluntly. "The CIA can't go after Homelander, so yeah, we fell through."

The moment those words left his mouth, Frenchie and Mother's Milk understood immediately. Butcher's goal had always been Homelander. If it weren't for his hatred of the man, he'd never have gotten tangled up in this mess.

Since the CIA wouldn't—or couldn't—take on Homelander, there was no way the talks could continue.

Hughie frowned. "That vial of Compound V?"

"Still in my hands. For now."

Li Wei snorted. "I thought you'd stay a cold-blooded butcher, ignoring your own friends and family just to achieve your end goal. Guess that's not the case."

Mother's Milk lit up. "Did you call Susan Raynor again?"

"That's right, boys. Uncle Billy said he'd look after you."

Frenchie and the others couldn't help but show their relief. If they didn't have to, they really didn't want to live this kind of unstable, nerve-wracking life.

But Li Wei said slowly, "Running away forever isn't a solution."

Butcher felt a twinge of irritation. It seemed like every time he got a little smug, Gambit would come along and knock him down a peg, like his natural-born nemesis.

At the same time, he had to admit Gambit had never been wrong. He must have something important to say.

"So what's your take?"

"Two pieces of intel."

Li Wei swept his gaze across the group, finally stopping on Mother's Milk. "First, Soldier Boy is still alive."

"What?!"

Mother's Milk lunged forward. "How can he still be alive? Didn't Vought say he died decades ago?"

Soldier Boy was the nightmare of his childhood—the man who'd killed his family while fighting someone else!

Butcher, meanwhile, latched onto another issue. So Gambit knew everything about all of them. Did that mean he knew the truth behind Becca's disappearance?

His heart started racing. Even as his fingers dug into his palms from the pressure, he felt nothing.

Li Wei snorted. "Vought's done so many bad things. What's a little lie to them?"

He was interested in Soldier Boy's powers. Sure, it took a long time to charge up, but once it hit, it could neutralize the Compound V inside a supe, turning them back into an ordinary person.

That kind of unique ability was one of a kind in the entire Boys' World.

But he didn't have the time or the leads. Let Butcher and his crew do the legwork.

Mother's Milk's eyes were practically bloodshot. "Gambit, please, tell me where he is."

Li Wei answered readily. "The Northern Ice Kingdom. I'm guessing they want to use him as a test subject to create their own supes."

"But Vought not only covered it up without any rescue attempt, they publicly declared him dead in action. What do you think Soldier Boy's attitude toward Vought will be if he manages to escape?"

"And after being a lab rat for so long, it's hard to say if his mental state is still stable."

Li Wei decided to point them in the right direction. Since you guys don't have the strength yourselves, use an outside force.

Butcher understood again. Gambit wanted them to rescue Soldier Boy and use him as a tool to fight Homelander!

He had to admit, he was tempted.

Soldier Boy had been the undisputed ace of Payback back in the day, and Homelander was the leader of The Seven. Even if there was a gap between them, they could still throw down.

Besides, if those two tore each other apart, no matter who died, it would be revenge for their side!