Tek Knight's Small Gift

When Li Wei saw the row of wanted faces on the TV, he couldn't help but feel a bit speechless.

That bastard Butcher really knew how to stir up trouble. They'd clearly agreed on the phone that he'd lead the team abroad to find Soldier Boy, yet he still pulled off something this big right before leaving. Now, Vought's Vice President—Madelyn—had been blown to bits in her own home, reportedly using a full 13 kilograms of C4. What started as a quiet Vought manhunt had turned into a nationwide official warrant. Mother's Milk and the others were probably cursing their luck.

Li Wei knew this had to be a setup. At the time of the incident, Madelyn's baby had mysteriously turned up dozens of kilometers away from her house, completely unharmed. Few people could pull that off. A-Train was one, but he was still lying in the hospital. That left Homelander as the prime suspect. Following that logic, both Homelander and Butcher—kindred spirits in their own way—must have already known that Becca wasn't dead and had given birth to a little Homelander.

But for Li Wei, this was actually a good thing. It meant those two bastards would have their attention drawn elsewhere, and Butcher's hatred for Homelander would only deepen, making it easier for Li Wei to quietly develop himself. As long as he visited A-Train a few more times and got his Super Speed, he'd practically be invincible!

After thinking it over, Li Wei gave Hughie a call to check on Butcher's situation. He quickly learned that Homelander hadn't killed Butcher—he'd let him go. They'd already left the country through connections Frenchie had found. And Frenchie's network was surprisingly strong over there, even knowing some things about Soldier Boy, which made them all the more confident about this trip.

After hearing that, Li Wei felt even more satisfied and sincerely hoped they'd come back with something.

After his usual patrol, Li Wei headed to one of Tek Knight's mansions. The guy had called him that morning, saying the custom weapons he'd ordered were finished, and Tek Knight had prepared a little surprise for him. Li Wei had been guessing what it was, but when he actually saw it, he couldn't help but show his surprise: "Oh, my god, no way!"

Besides the agreed-upon weapons, Tek Knight had thrown in two incredibly cool suits of armor for free! In designing them, Tek Knight had clearly taken inspiration from Homelander's uniform and added some fantasy game flair. One suit was pure white-gold, exuding nobility and power, obviously meant for formal daytime occasions. The other was a deep purple-black, full of mystery—when you looked at it, it seemed to absorb your gaze, clearly designed for nighttime stealth. Tek Knight had definitely put his heart into it.

Seeing Li Wei's expression, Tek Knight looked a bit smug and gestured toward them. "Chromium Carbide Alloy—not only incredibly strong, lighter than iron, but also highly resistant to high temperatures. Even if A-Train wore it, it wouldn't be damaged by the friction heat from his speed. It's also perfect for fire-type heroes. And the Reinforced CZTS Oxide Coating—as you can see, it's the best protection in the dark. The only downside is that its outer layer isn't as tough as the other suit. If it takes heavy hits, you might need to reapply the coating later."

Li Wei nodded firmly. "That's more than enough, Nate. Thank you so much for this!"

Li Wei had to admit he'd seriously misjudged Tek Knight at first. He never expected that besides Starlight and Maeve, there were still good people among the heroes.

Tek Knight laughed heartily. "We're friends, no need to be so polite. Come try out the weapons!"

Li Wei didn't refuse. He picked up a longsword and began to swing it through the air. As he'd requested, the weapons were all classic Eastern-style, perfectly matching his aesthetic. They felt great in hand, and Tek Knight had thoughtfully included sheaths and such. Some gems that didn't look cheap were embedded in them—Li Wei even wondered if the million he'd paid was enough to cover those stones. Tek Knight was truly a generous rich bastard.

After a quick glance, Tek Knight couldn't help but look surprised. "Wow, I had no idea you were so skilled with a sword!"

Li Wei smiled faintly. "I've been studying hard lately, but it's still just flashy moves, mostly for show. Now that I have these weapons, I'll keep working to improve."

Among the endless boasts the Sage Sisters had made—curing cancer, solving global warming, and so on—it turned out she was just a pure con artist. Her World-shattering Wisdom came with side effects that gave her a bunch of delusions. Li Wei, who'd copied all her abilities, didn't feel like his brain had improved much. But in terms of learning efficiency, it did help a lot. Memorizing dictionaries backward wasn't a problem for him anymore. He'd spent the past few days browsing books and watching videos, storing a ton of knowledge about cold weapons in his mind. But truly mastering them for real combat would take a lot of practice. What he'd just done was only mimicking what he remembered.

After some polite small talk, Li Wei asked again if Tek Knight needed any help from him. Being overly nice without reason was suspicious. Everything Tek Knight had done for him went far beyond ordinary friendship. Even for top-tier heroes, he didn't need to be this generous—his family's influence wasn't much weaker than Vought's. And Li Wei was sure Tek Knight didn't have any improper intentions toward him personally; he must want something in return.

Sure enough, maybe knowing Li Wei was always busy, Tek Knight didn't waste time. "To be honest, I recently found out I have a small tumor in my brain."

Li Wei's expression changed immediately, and he asked with concern, "What were the test results? Is it benign?"

"It's benign for now, but it could turn malignant at any time. The problem is its location—it's so sensitive that surgery might kill me on the table." Saying this, Tek Knight's face was full of frustration. For him, the greatest pain was knowing he could die at any moment, leaving his hundreds of billions in assets to someone else.

Li Wei felt the guy might be misunderstanding something. "What do you mean?"

"I heard about what you did for A-Train. If you can solve my problem, I'm willing to pay an even higher price!"

Li Wei thought to himself, Well, well. Though he hadn't exactly gone out of his way to hide it, every time he pretended to treat A-Train, the room basically only had A-Train, and occasionally A-Train's brother.

After all, that was Vought's exclusive VIP ward for superheroes—ordinary people had no right to enter.

And now, just two days later, Tek Knight already knew about it. He must have planted a high-ranking mole in that hospital.

By that logic, Vought likely knew too, since the hospital's doctors ran checks on A-Train every day.

After noticing the anomaly in A-Train's body, they'd casually ask a few questions, and later, when Vought's think tank analyzed it, they'd probably piece together the truth.

But for Li Wei, this was actually a good thing.

Among Vought's shareholders, there were plenty of old geezers in their seventies and eighties. How could they not want to obtain Li Wei's power to heal and save lives?

They might even be thinking about extending their lifespans!

However, this ability to rapidly proliferate cells required a relatively strong physique to sustain. A superhero like A-Train could fully withstand it without any side effects.

But if used on an ordinary person, their wounds might heal faster, but afterward, they'd likely be noticeably weakened for a while due to depleted vitality. Those with weaker constitutions might even fall seriously ill.

After a brief pause, Li Wei explained, "Nate, I think you might have misunderstood. I do have a bit of power, but I help A-Train by stimulating cell proliferation—not through magic or anything like that."

As everyone knew, tumors, or cancer, were diseases caused by abnormal cell growth in the body.

If Li Wei used the same trick on Tek Knight, he'd probably be dead by tomorrow from a rapidly expanding brain tumor.

That said, he could use this method to take out certain specific people. Even if experts came to investigate, they'd just conclude the person died of cancer.

Tek Knight's face fell with disappointment, but he still forced a smile. "I see. I really did misunderstand."

Li Wei could roughly understand how the other man felt, so he sincerely offered a few words of comfort.

"Don't lose heart, Nate. This is a strange world full of all kinds of superpowers. Maybe tomorrow a superhero who specializes in curing cancer will show up."

"I hope so. By the way, how are things going with you and Starlight?"

Li Wei put on a slightly embarrassed look. "I was planning to use the gift you gave me to confess, but after what happened with Translucent, I think I can do something better."

Given the intelligence Tek Knight had shown, he'd eventually notice that Li Wei hadn't handed over those two batteries to Starlight, so Li Wei had already prepared an excuse in advance.

"The Seven?"

Li Wei nodded firmly. "That's right, the Seven!"

No matter what he actually thought, that's what he'd say to anyone!

Tek Knight couldn't help but clap his hands. "Wow, Li Wei. That's a pretty ambitious goal."

"If you need it, I'm willing to offer some necessary support. You know, my family has a lot of business interests, including Vought."

Li Wei understood completely. In fact, in America, every private prison had a very tangled background behind it.

The crime rate here rose year after year—it wasn't just caused by immigration. Many big hands were pulling strings behind the scenes.

Only with enough criminals could private prisons demand enough subsidies from the government, and only then could they funnel enough profit into the prison system and the interest chains behind it.

Take a simple example: a regular hourly worker might need to be paid 10-20 dollars an hour.

But if it was a prisoner sent out by the prison, they might only need to be paid 1% of that!

As for the remaining 99%? Well, pay the feds what's due, leave enough for the state, and the rest is all the prison's!

And some states openly signed contracts with private prisons, guaranteeing that the prison's vacancy rate wouldn't exceed a certain percentage—otherwise, they'd have to pay to fill the beds.

To avoid spending that money, guess what the cops and judges in those states would do? Of course, they'd stuff as many people into prison as they could!

Tek Knight's family had a very long history. The connections and interest chains they'd built up over the years were practically endless.

So Tek Knight held a very special position at Vought. The only one who could truly ignore him was probably Homelander.

"Thanks, Nate. If it's necessary, I'll let you know."

"Heh, no need to be polite. You know I'm always generous with my friends."

Just then, Li Wei's internal phone, designated for Angel, suddenly rang.

Seeing the completely unfamiliar number on the screen, he felt a bit puzzled.

Regular phone scams couldn't get through to this line. Only Ashley, the dead Madelyn, and a handful of others knew it. Who could this number belong to?

Wait, could it be...

His mind racing, Li Wei directly showed the phone to Tek Knight beside him.

Tek Knight immediately understood Li Wei's intent. With a beaming smile, he congratulated him, "Wow, Li Wei, looks like your luck has arrived. That's right, that's Mr. Edgar's number!"