Superpower: Energy Injection

A few hours later, as the sun began to rise, Li Wei watched Firecracker snoring away and had to admit once again that Lu Xun was right—the two most important things in a person's life were, without a doubt, three meals a day.

Beating up Old Black every day, sipping some wine, and playing cards with beauties—this little life was just too comfortable.

He also had to admit that this kind of thing wasn't just about physical stamina; experience played a huge role too.

To avoid losing, he'd had to go all out in the end, and she'd seen through his superhero identity.

Even though Firecracker didn't yet know he was Angel, there weren't that many Asian superheroes under Vought International, and even fewer as young and handsome as him.

Even just using process of elimination, it wouldn't take Firecracker long to figure out his real identity.

But Li Wei didn't regret it. It was a matter of a man's dignity—how could he, a proud Chinese Man, suffer the humiliation of being beneath a foreign woman?

At the same time, through personal experience, he truly understood why so many people ended up severely injured or disabled from dating superheroes.

She was only a third-rate superhero, yet she was fiercer than Pipe Wrench. How could any normal man handle that?

Li Wei hadn't forgotten his original goal either. After going at it with Firecracker in the RV, while she was still dazed, he'd successfully gotten her superpower from her.

She'd been calling him "daddy" at the time, so naturally, she hadn't thought twice about why he asked if she was a friend.

Since all her other attributes were lower than Li Wei's, Firecracker only had one option available for copying—her superpower.

Codename: Firecracker

Type: Energy Type

Special Ability 1: Energy Injection—injects energy into an object to make it explode. The more energy invested, the sturdier the object carrying it, and the faster it flies, the stronger the explosion.

From the name "Firecracker" alone, it seemed like it required lighting and throwing to cause an explosion and damage enemies.

In reality, her ability was Energy Injection, which reminded Li Wei of Gambit from Marvel—well, a bootleg version.

Marvel's Gambit was incredibly powerful; at his peak, he could compress time and space, freely traveling through past and future.

Compared to that, Firecracker's superpower was just a toy.

Still, she put effort into it. Besides snapping her fingers, she'd developed a few simple ways to use it.

The most obvious was in her usual weapon. Unlike most superheroes who used fists and feet, she used a custom pistol.

Combined with her ability, she could amp the pistol's power up to sniper rifle levels, with some explosive capability. Dealing with ordinary thugs or gangsters was child's play.

But if she went up against other superheroes, this trick's effectiveness dropped significantly.

For top-tier superheroes, tanking a sniper round was basic.

Homelander, Maeve, Translucent, Starlight, and now Li Wei with his active skill—all of them could do it.

But that didn't mean it was a useless ability. The key was still the amount of energy.

Firecracker herself had little energy, so her superpower seemed weak, but for Li Wei, who could control light, this stolen ability's power would far surpass the original.

Ah no—maybe he'd be the original by then!

But the specifics would require diligent practice.

He figured he might as well get himself a Gambit costume sometime. After all, this world only had DC comics, not Marvel, so no one would sue him for copyright infringement.

From the start of copying to actually obtaining Firecracker's superpower, the whole process only took a few minutes. Such high efficiency even made Li Wei waver—should he sell his looks to seduce that Nazi Bitch, Stormfront?

In the plot of The Boys, the currently imprisoned Soldier Boy in Bear Country and the leader of The Seven, Homelander, were basically the two strongest contenders.

Right behind them were Maeve, also of The Seven, and the wife of Vought's founder, Liberty Belle, who'd survived since WWII and later renamed herself Stormfront, that old hag.

Even if Stormfront was nearly a hundred years old, at least her appearance was still that of a beautiful woman in her twenties or thirties. In those Xianxia mythological worlds, the protagonists could even get it on with immortal beauties thousands or tens of thousands of years old—this was nothing.

And it didn't necessarily have to involve intimate contact. His cheat was "make friends to get stronger," not "offer up his body." Maybe he could first find a chance to get close to her and see how long it took to copy her ability.

But after careful consideration, Li Wei temporarily set the idea aside.

Stormfront was the wife of Vought's founder, with an extraordinary status, and she wasn't easy to meet.

Plus, that woman had a secret dream—to birth an army of Supermen and conquer the world.

If she really took a liking to him, would he end up locked away and squeezed dry? He'd better develop a bit more.

After all, with his current identity and strength, as long as he didn't provoke Homelander, there was basically no real danger.

Ordinary people posed no threat to superheroes, and the superheroes with power—aside from a few scattered experiments Homelander ran in secret—were almost all Vought's own people!

Oh, right, there was also the Church of the Collective, which had been trying to recruit superheroes abandoned by Vought.

But they had no ability to create superheroes themselves, so they weren't a real threat to Vought.

Just then, Li Wei suddenly heard Firecracker's breathing change behind him. Clearly, she was awake.

Li Wei immediately started getting dressed to avoid awkwardness later.

He'd already gotten her superpower; he had no particular cravings left.

But the moment he moved, Firecracker suddenly sat up, not caring about the exposure, and hugged him from behind.

"You're leaving already?"

"What, you want to play overtime?"

"Can I still come find you later?"

Hearing this, Li Wei immediately understood that Firecracker had most likely confirmed his identity—no wonder she never once tried to remove his mask again.

This woman was hardly the type to be all looks and no brains; otherwise, she wouldn't have dared to call herself a writer and political commentator.

After a moment's thought, Li Wei casually left her his phone number. With a figure and face like hers, she'd make a fine long-term hookup, and given the typical behavior of supers in this world, she probably wouldn't cling to him.

Firecracker accepted it with delight, and without Li Wei having to say a word, she volunteered, "Don't worry, I won't bother you on a regular basis."

She felt she needed a little time to investigate his true identity, while also putting on a show of restraint. If she started asking for things right off the bat, how would she be any different from a street hooker?

Li Wei nodded without saying anything, feeling like a total jerk.

Seriously, casual hookups were common as dirt in America—why did this girl seem like she was getting serious? Was his charm really that strong?

Once they were dressed, Li Wei thought for a moment and said, "Between you and The Deep—Prime."

Before Li Wei could finish, Firecracker quickly explained, "No, no, he's just a very ordinary friend of mine. He always wants to do things for me, and I find it hard to refuse, but I think he's kind of disgusting."

As she spoke, undisguised disgust showed on Firecracker's face. That bastard had jerked off to her photos—did he really think she didn't know?

But they'd been classmates, and they ran into each other all the time. Plus, he had helped her out a few times before, so she couldn't just bite the hand that fed her. She had to hold her nose and let him hang around.

But letting him get any real benefit? Absolutely impossible!

At the same time, she felt a little thrill. She and The Deep were both nobodies on the fringes of Vought International. She hadn't expected him to not only know her but also be aware that she occasionally worked with The Deep—didn't that mean he'd been paying attention to her before?

Li Wei nodded again. "I'll head out then. Get in touch if anything comes up."

At least he'd shown a bit of concern just now—that should count as not being a total heartless bastard, right?

This time, Firecracker said nothing. She'd already gotten what she wanted.

After wasting a bit of time, Li Wei returned to New Jersey and, following Vought's plan, made appearances at a few conspicuous spots.

Then he "accidentally" saved a few ordinary citizens being threatened by small-time thugs, got "caught" on camera by passersby, and had the footage uploaded online—that wrapped up his mission for the day.

When dealing with these thugs, he was much gentler than Old Black had been with his guys yesterday. They all came away with nothing but superficial injuries.

On one hand, with video evidence, he couldn't go too hard and risk damaging his image.

On the other hand, who knew how many of these thugs were real and how many were actors hired by Vought?

Everyone was just trying to make a living—why go for the kill?

Even if he did kill them all, it wouldn't do Li Wei any good. It would only give the PR department a headache.

Yes, this was the daily grind of being New Jersey's guardian.

Compared to saving innocent people, Vought cared far more about the fame and approval ratings these rescue operations brought to the supers, the sales of the products they endorsed, and ultimately Vought's stock price.

They weren't so much superheroes as actors playing superheroes. At Godolkin University, brand marketing and performance art were mandatory courses for everyone.

Li Wei had no intention of changing that. He was just a Chinese-American—when did he have time to save Americans? Even the purebred Redneck supers rarely gave it a real thought!