"Gambit, the CIA told me that the Navy SEALs launched an operation against Al-Qaeda members in Damascus, Syria, and took out the mastermind behind the Flight 37 incident."
"Oh, and then?"
Li Wei thought Americans really were something else. Whenever anything happened, they always took it out on the people easiest to bully.
The hijackers on that plane had obviously all been typical white men, yet they still went out of their way to find a scapegoat somewhere else.
"Then they encountered a man with 'Nakib' tattooed on his body. His body released an energy blast that wiped out the entire elite squad on the spot."
"Hmm?"
Li Wei immediately put on a look of extreme surprise. "Butcher, are you saying Vought created a supervillain there too?"
"Supervillain? That's actually a pretty fitting term. Yes, that's exactly what happened."
"How did the CIA react?"
"They shelved action against Vought again. They need Vought's Superheroes to deal with Nakib. After all, no one knows how many Supervillains like him there are."
"Yeah. If you find one cockroach, there must be countless more lurking in the dark."
In terms of sheer destructive power, an ordinary third-rate Superhero definitely could not compare to a missile. But in terms of overall practical value, a third-rate Superhero was far more useful.
"When did this happen?"
Li Wei knew perfectly well that, given the value Butcher and his team had shown so far, the CIA would never provide them with real-time intelligence, even if Butcher had once been the deputy director's lover.
"Two days ago. Nakib has already been killed by Black Noir, and the Department of Defense has agreed to keep Compound V secret. Meanwhile, we've been put on the wanted list."
As he said that, Butcher sounded utterly frustrated on the other end of the call.
With Gambit's full support, they had finally obtained the key evidence. Yet not only had the situation failed to progress at all, Nakib's appearance had greatly accelerated Vought's plan to integrate its Superheroes into the military!
"All right, looks like you need to try finding a new patron."
"That's right. Next, we're going to find Soldier Boy!"
His old lover had promised him that the CIA would protect Mother's Milk's family and Hughie's father, but they could only leave the country for a while to lie low. While they were at it, they would bring Soldier Boy back.
But before leaving, Butcher had decided to do one more thing: hurt Homelander badly.
He had received another crucial piece of intelligence from his former superior, Colonel Mallory: Homelander had a weakness too. He shared some kind of twisted relationship with Vought's Vice President, Madelyn!
"Then, have a safe trip?"
Li Wei had no idea Butcher had such nerve for the moment. He only felt quite satisfied. Once those bastards left the country, he would no longer need to babysit them.
"Thanks. Also, do you want the CIA deputy director's personal number?"
"Oh, so they aren't completely stupid. Give it to me. It might come in handy someday."
When he had rescued Kimiko before, he had casually made up the alias Wolf Claw for her, which had indeed fooled the onlookers around them.
But after a thorough investigation, any smart person could tell there were far too many suspicious things about it. The CIA was not that useless.
After hanging up, Li Wei bought some gifts from a roadside supermarket and headed toward a Vought-owned hospital.
Next, he was going to visit a very special patient with both legs broken, just as he had done over the past few days.
That was right—A-Train, one of The Seven!
Compared to Butcher and the others' miserable lives, Li Wei's plans had been steadily advancing.
On the afternoon of the day he killed the Sage Sisters, Vought held a grand funeral for Translucent and announced that it would select someone qualified in ability, morality, and other aspects to replace Translucent and continue serving the people of America.
As a recently popular second-rate Superhero, it was perfectly understandable that Li Wei showed considerable interest in this.
The first thing he did was visit the Superheroes around New York one by one. After all, social circles were extremely important among Superheroes.
But in reality, Li Wei had two goals.
One was to freeload on their abilities. While the more capable Superheroes had basically all been sent elsewhere, the Superheroes who could remain under The Seven's noses were almost all bottom-of-the-barrel third-raters.
Still, gaining 0.1 tons of strength from each of them added up to something considerable over time.
This was far from the first time he had done it. Previously, he had centered his efforts around New Jersey and continually met with Superheroes from nearby Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Delaware, and other places.
Thanks to his reputation, status, and considerable generosity, he had already made quite a few drinking buddies.
And this was only the beginning. Aside from Washington D.C., America had fifty states and more than a dozen islands of various sizes, all with varying numbers of Superheroes spread across them. He had plenty of work ahead of him.
As for his other goal, it was to have them serve as informants.
Li Wei had known for a long time that once Kimiko had been missing for so long without being discovered, much less captured and brought back—
And with Vought being pressed step by step by the CIA, the FDA, and even Congress because of Compound V, its situation was becoming dire. Homelander would definitely release more people like Kimiko.
Homelander wanted them to stir up chaos across America so that Superheroes like them could come out and save the day, while also rescuing Vought from its unfavorable situation.
Especially after Nakib had unexpectedly been discovered by the Navy SEALs, Homelander would certainly speed things up.
Li Wei would have done the same in his place.
If nothing unexpected happened, Kimiko's Brother would soon arrive in New York as well.
When that time came, with these third-rate Superheroes acting as informants, he would be able to find him as quickly as possible.
Likewise, he had made similar requests of Blue Hawk and the others in New Jersey.
After learning about this, the misled Starlight eagerly volunteered to formally introduce him to The Seven.
Li Wei knew perfectly well that she genuinely wanted to help him, and she genuinely wanted to take the opportunity to repair their relationship.
But it was Starlight's goodwill, after all, so he did not refuse.
He had even generously rewarded her several times, stuffing her full like a cream puff.
Although they were not boyfriend and girlfriend now, there were still certain things they could do.
Thanks to Starlight's consistently positive image, as well as the increasingly popular shipping of her and Li Wei as a couple, The Seven naturally could not refuse her. That allowed Li Wei to investigate all of their superpowers.
Well, Black Noir was the exception. He had made an excuse and avoided him.
As for the heavily injured A-Train, Li Wei displayed tremendous enthusiasm. He visited him every day, and today was naturally no exception.
After all, if he wanted to obtain A-Train's superpower, he could not afford to interrupt the process.
It was indeed a little troublesome, but it was safe and risk-free. Today, Li Wei had decided to try something new!
After entering the hospital, Li Wei was once again surrounded by a large crowd of fans, just as expected.
His visits to A-Train over several consecutive days had long since been spread all over the internet by plenty of busybodies.
Considering that his combined followers across multiple social media platforms had already exceeded eight million, it was perfectly normal for people to wait around here every day.
Especially after Vought learned of this, it secretly bought some fake fans, making the crowd even larger.
Li Wei remained quite friendly toward people who could help him make money.
However, he did not have the time to sign autographs or take photos with every one of them. He simply selected ten lucky fans at random, then had the rest leave together so they would not waste hospital resources here.
Of course, he had not actually said it that rudely. He had used a more elegant way of speaking, one that was easier for people to accept.
As a Superhero who had professionally studied acting at Godolkin University, that was nothing to him.
Sure enough, these brainless fans ate it right up. They became even more fanatical about Li Wei, believing that even among Superheroes, he was among the most cultured.
One after another, they shouted for Li Wei to join The Seven, saying they were willing to pool their money to help promote him.
Just as running for president required massive publicity, running for The Seven surely required publicity too. At least, that was what they believed.
Li Wei found it utterly baffling, feeling like they had all gone insane.
Normal celebrity worship was one thing, but you poor bastards who made only a few hundred dollars a week wanted to pool money to help promote a millionaire like me? What the hell was wrong with you?
Shaking his head and clearing those messy thoughts from his mind, Li Wei adjusted his expression and pushed open the door. "Hey, A-Train. Feeling any better today?"
A-Train smiled in greeting. "Li Wei, you're here. I feel great today. I think in maybe another ten days, I'll be able to stand again!"
At first, A-Train had merely exchanged polite pleasantries out of consideration for Starlight.
On the second day, he began to feel surprised and suspicious. Did Li Wei want something from him? Or was he planning to do something underhanded?
After all, only one position in The Seven was vacant now. Li Wei might not necessarily get selected, but if he took A-Train out, his chances of standing out would instantly rise by one hundred percent!
But after Li Wei came to see him every day for several consecutive days without interruption, A-Train's thoughts gradually changed.
Perhaps, just as Li Wei had said, he really did envy A-Train's superpower and was truly his die-hard fan!
"Heh, not bad. Nathan came by today?"
Even Li Wei had to admit that compared to A-Train, his Brother Nathan was a rare good man. Considering that he was Black, that made it even rarer.
"Yeah, he came by. He had to go take care of the kids. You know how it is—those little guys are at their most troublesome age."
As he said that, A-Train could not help feeling a little dazed. Nathan's current life had once appeared in his own fantasies as well.
He had imagined marrying The Mesmerizer, having children, and growing old together. But reality would not allow him to do that.
Now that The Mesmerizer had exposed the secret of Compound V, he had sent her abroad, and Homelander temporarily had no time to deal with the matter. But as long as that Asian woman had not been found, neither of them was truly safe.
If Homelander suddenly remembered this one day and ordered him to kill The Mesmerizer personally, he would not be surprised in the slightest. Homelander was simply that brutal.
Li Wei casually set down the gifts, then said somewhat mysteriously, "Today, I have a little something special. Maybe it can help you leave the hospital sooner."
As he spoke, Li Wei gathered a tiny glow of warm light between his fingers, which gradually spread across his entire body.
Thanks to the angle he had deliberately chosen, he now looked exactly like a priest from a video game—one with wings of light unfurled behind him.
After all his experimentation over this period, he had finally developed a new use for it.
It was still nowhere near the effect of a healing spell, but paired with Superheroes' enhanced bodies, it could greatly increase the rate of cell regeneration and proliferation.
This would be especially noticeable on A-Train, who possessed the superpower Enhanced Metabolism.
But Li Wei was not kind enough to let him leave the hospital early. He would carefully control the efficiency, letting A-Train feel an obvious effect at first, then slack off while pretending to work for the rest of the time.
What he truly wanted was only to use this contact to copy A-Train's superpower!
A-Train also noticed the pose Li Wei had deliberately struck. Since he played video games in his spare time too, his mouth immediately fell open.
"Oh, my God, man. Don't tell me you can actually turn into an angel who heals the sick and saves people?"
"Heh, so? Want to give it a try?"
"Ha, why not? Whether it works or not, Li Wei, you'll be my best friend. I'll fully support you joining The Seven!"
Before you continue