Confession

Hours later, the sun had long since set. Kate, drenched in sweat, stared blankly at the ceiling of the private dorm, her soul seemingly drifting somewhere far away.

Until she felt Li Wei's hand begin to roam over her body again. She jolted awake and quickly begged for mercy: "Li Wei, I really can't anymore. Let me rest. I have two very important events to host tomorrow."

Li Wei gently kissed her forehead. "Kate, darling, you've done wonderfully."

His attitude toward Kate was unusually tender—not just because he'd gained a slew of superpowers from her, nor solely for her beauty or figure, but because he was pleasantly surprised to discover she was still factory-original.

Perhaps many people couldn't care less about that, or might even find it off-putting, since factory-original meant she had virtually no experience to speak of.

But for Li Wei, who was somewhat conservative at his core, this was a massive plus—so massive that he decided to slightly revise his original plans.

If Kate was willing, he wouldn't mind developing a long-term relationship with her, even becoming boyfriend and girlfriend.

And honestly, among the myriad superpowers in The Boys' World, Kate's overall strength and future potential could easily rank in the top ten, or even the top five. Li Wei was definitely not losing out here.

Her biggest problem right now was her insufficient physical durability. Overusing her abilities could very well harm herself.

Mm, Li Wei had personally confirmed that over the past hour or so.

Compared to Starlight or Firecracker, Kate's physique was truly lacking, and she was far from being able to stand up and kick around like Maeve.

And so, the two of them held each other, exchanging sweet nothings. Even though this was their first meeting, their relationship had advanced by leaps and bounds.

Kate didn't even bother asking how Li Wei had known about her or fallen for her at first sight—that no longer mattered.

Now, she just wanted them to understand each other better. She didn't even shy away from telling him about the time her powers went out of control, causing her younger brother to completely disappear.

She couldn't read Li Wei's thoughts, and she didn't have to worry about what negative ideas he might have after hearing this.

She could communicate like a normal person, using words to understand his views and attitude!

Li Wei naturally kept comforting her, saying it was just an unintentional mistake—if given a second chance, he believed she would never make the same error again.

Li Wei also told Kate a lot about himself. By comparison, he felt his story was pretty ordinary.

An orphan, raised from childhood in Vought's subsidiary—Red River Orphanage—then adopted by a childless couple.

Unfortunately, that couple later died together in a plane crash, leaving him an orphan once more.

Luckily, by then he'd already shown considerable ability at Goda University, and with the inheritance, he had more than enough to support himself.

Later, he became the New Jersey Guardian, started The Boys, and so on—in a sense, he'd turned his life around.

Hearing this, Kate couldn't help but feel a pang of sympathy. "I've heard of Red River. It seems like an orphanage that specifically takes in superpowered babies."

Li Wei nodded nonchalantly. "That's right."

In truth, Compound V—or rather, using special methods to grant ordinary infants superpowers—was no longer an absolute secret.

Many people had signed special confidentiality agreements with Vought, using their own children as test subjects.

Aside from a small number of parents who hoped their kids would get a head start at birth, most did it for vanity or wealth.

Starlight was the most typical example. Her mother had long known that her abilities weren't a gift from God, and lately Starlight had been agonizing over how to broach the subject with her.

But that was already a relatively good situation.

When superhumans were young and living with their parents, their various powers would often start to manifest.

But what happened when parents discovered their children didn't have the revered abilities—like flight or laser eyes—but instead had something mundane or even severely detrimental?

Most of them abandoned them.

So those already registered would typically be taken in by Red River Orphanage in exchange for a certain sum of money or other compensation.

Thus, none of the kids Li Wei grew up with at the orphanage were normal.

Unfortunately, compared to Li Wei, their fates were far worse—they became Vought's test subjects.

After becoming the New Jersey Guardian, Li Wei had specifically looked into it. Of the friends he'd made at Red River, only a few survived to adulthood, and he was the only one who became a real superhero.

After hearing this, Kate felt even more sympathy. Even though her parents had been cold to her after her brother disappeared, harboring resentment and even disgust, they still loved her as a daughter.

Li Wei, on the other hand, had lost his biological parents early, and after finally gaining adoptive parents, lost them again.

But Red River Orphanage reminded her of The Woods.

Hesitating briefly, Kate gritted her teeth. "Li Wei, I actually have one more secret, but I'm not sure if I should tell you. It might put you in great danger."

Li Wei thought to himself, Here it comes. He'd assumed Kate wouldn't tell him so soon, but after just a few hours of contact, she was already this deeply invested.

Eileen Chang's saying—The path to a woman's heart goes through the winding lane below the navel—was perfectly embodied in her.

He immediately put on a serious expression. "So you're saying you're in danger right now because of this secret?"

Kate hesitated, then finally shook her head. "I'm not in danger. Principal Intralla still needs my powers to help her."

Since she'd started, Kate didn't hold back. She told Li Wei the whole story.

At first, her telepathy was a passive skill, beyond her control. Because of it, she locked herself in a room for nine full years.

Later, Principal Intralla gave her a special medication. Taking it daily turned her telepathy from a passive skill into an active one—she had to touch someone to read their mind.

This allowed her to move freely in society and even make friends.

As a trade-off, a price, or perhaps repayment, she had to do some dirty work for Principal Intralla.

Golden Boy had a younger brother named Sam. He was strong in strength and physique, but had no other special powers, and his mind was a bit unhinged—he couldn't become a qualified superhero.

In an accidental discovery, Goda University found that injecting Sam's blood into Golden Boy could enhance all aspects of his abilities.

So Kate's task came: she deleted and rewrote nearly everyone's memories of Sam, including Golden Boy's—their minds held no trace of him at all.

Sam was currently locked up in the Woods, the underground lab beneath Goda University, serving as both a lab rat and a blood bag.

On one hand, he underwent various experiments; on the other, he regularly donated blood to Golden Boy.

Naturally, she also had to regularly contact Golden Boy, control him into accepting the transfusions, and then delete the related memories afterward.

Originally, because Golden Boy had a crush on her, these tasks were easy, but now that she was in a relationship with Li Wei, she couldn't possibly continue.

And she vaguely sensed that Golden Boy would discover the truth sooner or later—her ability was still far from truly perfect.

Also, the Woods project didn't just have Sam as a test subject; there were other superhumans like him, though Kate didn't yet know their origins or if they were in similar situations to Sam.

After hearing this, Li Wei pondered for a moment. "Leave this to me. You've done so much for Principal Intralla that you've long since repaid whatever you owed her."

"Besides, I don't think relying on drugs to suppress abilities is the right way to develop superpowers. Have you ever heard of any other superhero doing that?"

"Think about it—since you started using the drugs, has your ability been weakening or strengthening?"

Aside from A-Train using Compound V as a stimulant, Li Wei had never heard of anything similar. He seriously suspected that Intralla had always seen Kate as nothing more than a tool, never genuinely considering her future.

Perhaps in Intralla's eyes, Kate and Sam held the same status—both were just means to make Golden Boy a stronger superhero.

But this girl, whether because she'd been cooped up at home for so long that she was severely out of touch with society, or because her ability had let her see too much of the darkness and evil in people's hearts early on, she didn't really care much about those being used as test subjects.

In Li Wei's view, that wasn't a flaw or a bad thing—he didn't want a saint for a girlfriend.

Li Wei's three consecutive questions stunned Kate. She had thought about these issues before, but never truly delved into them.

Kate bit her lip, somewhat self-deceptively. "But Principal Intralla has been good to me."

Li Wei kissed her. "Kate, you've just stepped into society—how could you see through an old fox like Intralla? I think you've never used your ability on her, have you?"

Kate nodded obediently. "That's right, I haven't."

"Then now I need you to think carefully: was it that you never considered it, or that she never gave you the chance? Or maybe you're afraid of the result, so you subconsciously chose to avoid it?"

Kate fell silent. Thinking back, she had to admit Li Wei was right.

Principal Intralla might have treated her well, but her actual actions didn't match her words—she had always been on guard against her!

Li Wei ruffled her hair, messing up her already disheveled, slightly sweaty blonde locks even more.

"Alright, if you want to know the truth, then try it. Leave the Woods to me."

Kate's Mind Control was indeed very rare, but not entirely irreplaceable.

Mindstorm from Payback could basically achieve something similar. As an old-timer who had retired for years, long lost his superhero glory, and probably hadn't saved much money, he'd surely be happy to get back to work.

As for moral standards, there was no need to worry. Payback was an old team founded decades ago, back when America didn't have cameras or the internet—they were far more unrestrained than now.

The most critical step was actually getting Intralla, or rather Vought behind her, to accept this approach.

Kate was also well aware of this. Anyone with mental or psychic abilities was never truly stupid—though the odds of them going crazy were higher.

So she couldn't help but look at Li Wei with a worried expression, not voicing it directly only because she didn't want him to think she doubted his abilities.

Li Wei chuckled, pulling this clever and sensible little darling closer.

"I was planning to give you a surprise, but to ease your worries, I'll tell you in advance."

"I'm going to replace Translucent and become the new member of Vought's The Seven. Vought will definitely be willing to give me that face!"

Of course, it depended on the person. If a waste like The Deep dared to make such a request, Edgar would probably just tell him to get lost.

But he'd probably still need to pay a small price as hush money.

Li Wei figured he might use his ability on Edgar once, make his little swimmers undergo hyper-speed proliferation, and let him feel the fullness down there too.

Just didn't know if that old geezer could still get it up—otherwise, he couldn't use this trick as leverage.

Kate was pleasantly surprised. Soon, her eyes grew moist as she looked at Li Wei. "Li Wei, I think I've rested enough."

Li Wei couldn't help teasing her. "Oh, aren't you worried about tomorrow's event?"

Kate pounced on him directly. "What event? To hell with it!"