Little Cricket

When Li Wei finished washing up and was about to head out, the lovely Kate was still sleeping soundly. That was the result of overestimating herself and trying to challenge Li Wei.

All he could say was, if she was weak, she needed more practice. Though no matter how much she practiced, she would basically never be able to win.

Casually scrolling through his phone, Li Wei unsurprisingly found several news stories related to him trending again.

Since Edgar had agreed to let Li Wei join The Seven, there would definitely need to be a major publicity push beforehand. At the very least, as many people as possible needed to know who Li Wei was.

That way, once Li Wei became a member of The Seven, the profits from movies and endorsements could be maximized.

Then there were congratulations from superheroes who knew him relatively well, such as Blue Hawk. For superheroes, trending searches could further boost their commercial value, which was basically the same as money. Congratulating one another like this was a frequent part of their daily lives.

Li Wei used to handle that himself, but recently he had gradually handed it over to his little secretary, Firecracker.

After a while, he might hand it over to Kate.

With Kate's abilities, she had not entered Sage Grove Academy. Instead, Intralla had suggested that she learn some behind-the-scenes superhero work, such as securing endorsements and making movies.

Clearly, Intralla had never intended for Kate to become a true superhero, much less the guardian of a state or county. Her positioning for Kate was very clear: Golden Boy's ace support.

Because of her powers, Kate had originally been mildly socially anxious. She had never wanted to become a superhero and show her face everywhere every day.

On top of that, it was advice from Intralla, whom she trusted deeply, so she went along with it.

Now that Li Wei had gotten involved, she definitely would not keep working for Golden Boy. She did not even need to finish all four years. She was not planning to become a superhero anyway, so what did it matter if she dropped out?

Still, she needed to remain here for a while longer. Goda University had real strengths, and even if she was helping out as Li Wei's girlfriend, Kate felt it was necessary to learn more.

There were also two other messages worth mentioning.

One was from Firecracker. She said Kimiko had needed her last night, so she had left early, and asked whether she needed to come again today.

In truth, they both understood. It was her way of giving Li Wei an out, telling him that she knew absolutely nothing about what had happened between him and Kate last night.

But Li Wei had no intention of glossing it over. Now that he had Kate, it was time to find Firecracker some other work to do.

Unless she was willing to be the other woman, in which case they could maintain their current arrangement.

The other message was naturally from Starlight. She said she had something extremely important she wanted to discuss with Li Wei.

Clearly, she had seen Firecracker in the news and developed a strong sense of crisis because of it.

She worried that Firecracker would reveal the truth about what had happened before. Even more, she worried Firecracker would take her place. She might even suspect that Firecracker had appeared by Li Wei's side specifically to get revenge on her.

After replying to the more important messages, Li Wei called Edgar and got straight to the point about Kate and The Woods.

There was no need for empty formalities with an old fox like Edgar.

Now that he had obtained Kate's telepathy, there would be even less need to waste words if they met face-to-face.

Edgar did not waste time either. "In fact, this was exactly what I had originally planned to have Intralla and Ricky tell you. I didn't expect you to find out through other means."

"Heh, that works out perfectly. Arrange for someone to replace Kate. She'll become my assistant. In exchange, I can do one thing for you."

Edgar pondered for a moment. "Fine. I'll arrange for Mindstorm to go to Goda University this afternoon and replace her. To ensure safety, Mindstorm's first operation will require you and Kate to assist from the side. This concludes the deal."

"Deal!"

After hanging up, Li Wei turned around and saw that Kate was already awake, gazing at him affectionately, her eyes once again glistening with moisture.

Li Wei could not help grinning. Damn, had he awakened some hidden fetish in her?

Or did she have a sex addiction? No wonder she had kept coming back for more despite it being her first time yesterday.

But he had no time to keep playing with her now. As usual, he needed to check in with A-Train today and obtain his powers.

"Kate, sweetheart, get some proper rest first. We still have a mission tonight."

Kate nodded obediently. "Mm, I understand."

After a farewell kiss, Li Wei got dressed and pushed open the door.

Kate did not offer to see Li Wei off. Mainly because she looked a little too disheveled right now. If anyone else saw her, anyone who was not blind would understand exactly what kind of fierce battle had taken place between them last night.

Li Wei did not care, but she still had to study at Goda University for a while. As a lady, she also needed to maintain her public image.

He had barely taken a few steps after leaving when he saw Golden Boy approaching with a huge bouquet of flowers. The moment Golden Boy saw Li Wei, he visibly froze.

This was the VIP dormitory reserved for female students with exceptional grades. Only a handful of people were qualified to live here. Considering that Kate had been the one to receive Li Wei yesterday, a very bad feeling immediately arose in his heart.

But he was not stupid enough to ask directly. Kate should not have been that kind of girl. He merely forced out a somewhat awkward smile and greeted Li Wei.

Li Wei looked perfectly calm and did not say much. He believed Kate would handle this matter intelligently.

If she failed to handle it, or hesitated in the end, then she simply was not smart enough. Even if she left him, Li Wei would not feel the slightest regret.

When he reached the school gates, more than a dozen students happened to swarm over. Upon seeing Li Wei, they all asked for photos.

It was his alma mater, after all, and they were standing at the gates with plenty of surveillance cameras around. Li Wei naturally had to give them that courtesy.

After they had all taken their photos, Li Wei noticed that a short-haired girl with slightly chubby cheeks at the very back had not gotten one.

The smile on his face became genuinely sincere. He had not expected an accidental encounter like this to bring an unexpected gain.

Codename: Little Cricket

Type: Physique Type

Special Ability 1: Shrink her body, down to a minimum of 0.1 centimeters. Her strength and defense decrease proportionally during the process. If her control is insufficient, she can shrink by repeatedly triggering her gag reflex. Can be fully copied; estimated continuous contact required: 5 minutes.

Special Ability 2: Enlarge her body, up to a maximum of 20 meters. Her strength and defense increase proportionally during the process. If her control is insufficient, she can enlarge herself through continuous eating. Can be fully copied; estimated continuous contact required: 5 minutes.

Though Li Wei had no particular interest in them himself, these two powers were quite interesting and extremely rare.

So when she walked over, Li Wei took the initiative to greet her. "Hi, you're Little Cricket, right? I've seen your videos online, especially the episode where you fought a hamster. It was really interesting."

The cute short-haired girl was struck dumb, then leaped up excitedly. "Oh my God, Angel! I never thought you'd watched my videos too. Oh my God!"

"Heh, want to take a photo together?"

"Of course! When I bring it back to school, they'll all be insanely jealous!"

Li Wei was slightly puzzled. "Back to school? You're not at Goda University?"

"I'm still in high school. I'll be coming to Goda University next year!"

Li Wei nodded in realization. "I see. I think you have a lot of potential. Keep it up. Maybe you'll become an even more talented superhero than Termite."

Termite was a third-rate superhero who could shrink his body. He was a fairly capable fighter, but he was a damned gay man whose favorite pastime was crawling into his male partners' urethras to give them intense stimulation.

When Li Wei had learned that piece of information, it had disgusted him badly.

"Ah, Termite is the superhero I admire most. Ah, no, Angel too, now! You look way more handsome in person than in photos!"

Little Cricket giggled foolishly, looking like someone with no scheming bone in her body.

Li Wei quietly used the basic telepathy he had just acquired to listen to her thoughts, and she really did think that way.

Li Wei immediately understood. Fine, this was another foolish girl like Starlight had been, someone who held countless beautiful fantasies about superheroes.

Especially after this encounter with him, her faith in that idea had suddenly become much stronger.

Sadly, she had been born in the wrong place. The Boys was not a world suited for real heroes to live in.

After taking the photo, Li Wei also gave Little Cricket his personal contact information, telling her that she could come directly to him if she encountered any difficulties in the future.

That made Little Cricket's heart race wildly, and her round, chubby-cheeked face turned bright red.

Even without telepathy, Li Wei could guess what she was probably thinking. Girls of seventeen or eighteen were at the age when they loved to fantasize the most.

If he invited her right then, she most likely would not refuse.

But having just enjoyed the feast that was Kate, he was no longer particularly interested in a little snack like Little Cricket. Besides, he truly did not have the time. He still had plenty to do today!