Superpower: Energy Injection

A few hours later, as the sun rose, Li Wei looked at the soundly sleeping Firecracker and had to admit once again that Lu Xun had been right: the two most important things in life were a day and three meals.

Beating up Old Black every day, having a little drink, then playing some poker with beautiful women—life was damned good.

He also had to admit that this kind of thing was not merely about physical strength; experience mattered greatly too.

Refusing to lose, he had ultimately been forced to go all out, and she had seen through his identity as a superhero.

Although Firecracker did not yet know that he was Angel, there were not many Asian superheroes under Vought International, and even fewer who were as young and handsome as him.

Even through simple elimination, it would not take Firecracker long to discover his true identity.

But Li Wei had no regrets. This concerned a man's dignity. How could a proud Chinese Man suffer the humiliation of being beneath a foreign woman?

At the same time, through firsthand experience, he truly understood why so many people who got involved with superheroes ended up seriously injured or disabled.

She was only a third-rate superhero, yet she was fiercer than a Pipe Wrench. What ordinary man could take that?

Of course, Li Wei had not forgotten his original purpose. After battling Firecracker in the RV, he successfully obtained her superpower while she was still dazed.

She had already called him Daddy at the time, so naturally she did not think about why Li Wei had asked whether she was his friend.

Since all her other attributes were inferior to Li Wei's, Firecracker had only one copyable option: her superpower.

Codename: Firecracker

Type: Energy Type

Special Ability 1: Energy Injection. Inject energy into an object and make it explode. The more energy invested, the sturdier the object carrying the energy, and the faster it flies, the greater its power.

Judging from the literal meaning of Firecracker's title, it seemed like she needed to light something and throw it before it could explode and hurt an enemy.

In reality, her ability was Energy Injection, which reminded Li Wei of Marvel's Gambit—though a bargain-bin version.

Marvel's Gambit was tremendously powerful. At his peak, he could compress Time and Space and travel freely through the past and future.

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

Even so, she had put considerable effort into it. Aside from snapping her fingers, she had also developed a few simple ways to use it.

The most obvious example was her usual weapon. Unlike most superheroes who fought with fists and feet, she used a customized handgun.

Combined with her superpower, she could raise the handgun's power to that of a sniper rifle and give it a certain explosive effect. It was ridiculously easy for her to deal with ordinary punks or gangsters.

But when competing against other superheroes, this thing's effectiveness dropped sharply.

For first-tier superheroes, tanking sniper rifle fire was basic training.

Homelander, Maeve, Translucent, Starlight, and Li Wei after activating his ability could all do it.

But that did not mean it was a useless skill. The key lay in how much energy one had.

Firecracker herself had little energy, making her superpower seem weak. But for Li Wei, who could control light, the power of this pirated ability would surely far surpass the original.

No, perhaps by then, he would be the original!

Still, exactly how it worked would require diligent practice.

He thought he might find time to get himself a Gambit outfit. After all, this world only had DC comics, not Marvel comics. No one would sue him for copyright infringement.

From the moment he began copying until he truly acquired Firecracker's superpower, the entire process had taken only a few minutes. Such astonishing efficiency even made Li Wei waver. Should he sell his looks and seduce that Nazi Bitch—Stormfront?

In The Boys' storyline, Soldier Boy, currently imprisoned in Bear Country, and Homelander, leader of The Seven, were essentially the two strongest contenders for the title of most powerful.

Close behind them were Maeve, also of The Seven, and the wife of Vought International's founder: Liberty Belle, the old witch who had survived from World War II and later changed her name to Stormfront.

Although Stormfront was nearly a hundred years old, she at least looked like a beautiful woman in her twenties or thirties. The protagonists in those Xianxia mythological worlds would even screw ancient fairies thousands or tens of thousands of years old. This was nothing.

Besides, intimate contact was not strictly necessary. His cheat made him stronger by making friends, not by offering up his body. Perhaps he could first find an opportunity to get close to her and see exactly how long it took to copy her ability.

However, after giving it serious thought, Li Wei temporarily put the idea aside.

Stormfront was the wife of Vought International's founder. Her status was extraordinary, and she was not someone he could easily meet.

Moreover, that woman had a secret dream: to give birth to an army of Supermen and conquer the entire world.

If she really took a liking to him, would she lock him up and milk him dry? Better grow stronger first.

Anyway, with his current identity and strength, as long as he did not provoke Homelander, there was basically no chance of any danger.

Ordinary people posed no threat to superheroes, while nearly all powerful superheroes, apart from the handful of experimental subjects Homelander had secretly created, were Vought International'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 were not a true threat to Vought.

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

Li Wei immediately began getting dressed to avoid an awkward situation later.

He had already gotten her superpower, and he no longer had any particular desires.

Unexpectedly, the moment he moved, Firecracker suddenly sat up. Without caring that she was completely exposed, she hugged Li Wei from behind.

"Are you leaving already?"

"What, do you want overtime?"

"Can I keep looking for you in the future?"

The moment he heard that, Li Wei understood. Firecracker had most likely confirmed his identity, which explained why she had never once considered taking off his mask again.

This woman was not some big-breasted idiot. Otherwise, she would not dare call herself a writer and political commentator.

After thinking about it, Li Wei casually left her his number. With this girl's figure and face, she would make a very good long-term hookup. Besides, given the nature of superheroes in this world, she probably would not cling to him.

Only then did Firecracker happily accept it. Without waiting for Li Wei to speak, she took the initiative. "Don't worry. I definitely won't disturb you normally."

She felt that she needed some time to investigate his true identity, while also acting a little reserved. If she immediately started asking him for this and that, how would she be any different from a street prostitute?

Li Wei nodded without saying anything, only feeling like a complete scumbag.

Seriously, casual hookups were extremely common in America. Why did this girl seem like she wanted something serious? Was his charm really that great?

After getting dressed, Li Wei thought for a moment. "You and The Deep—Prime..."

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

As she spoke, undisguised disgust showed on Firecracker's face. That bastard had masturbated to her photos before. Did he really think she did not know?

Unfortunately, they had originally been classmates and saw each other constantly. On top of that, he had indeed helped her several times before. She could not exactly repay kindness with ingratitude, so she could only hold her nose and let him hang around her.

But letting him get a taste of anything sweet was absolutely impossible!

At the same time, she felt a small surge of delight. She and The Deep were both insignificant nobodies on the fringes of Vought International. Yet he not only knew her, but also knew that she occasionally worked with The Deep. Did that not mean he had been paying attention to her before?

Li Wei nodded again. "Then I'll be going. Contact me if anything comes up."

At least he had just shown her some concern. That should mean he was not completely heartless after sex, right?

This time, Firecracker said nothing. In any case, she had already gotten what she wanted.

After spending a little time, Li Wei returned to New Jersey and followed Vought International's plans by showing his face at several conspicuous designated locations.

Then he happened to save several ordinary civilians threatened by punks, got "accidentally" filmed by passersby, and had the footage uploaded online. That completed today's objectives.

When dealing with these punks, he was far gentler than he had been with Old Black's men yesterday. They had all suffered only superficial injuries.

On one hand, there was video evidence, so he could not hit too hard and damage his image.

On the other hand, it was uncertain how many of these punks were real and how many were actors hired by Vought International.

Everyone was just trying to make a living. Why make it a fight to the death?

Even if he truly beat them to death, it would bring Li Wei no benefit. It would only make the public relations department sweat buckets.

Yes, this was the daily life of the guardian of New Jersey.

More than saving innocent civilians, Vought International cared about the fame and approval ratings superheroes gained from these rescue operations, the sales of products each superhero endorsed, and even Vought International's stock price.

Rather than superheroes, they were better described as actors playing superheroes. At Godolkin University, brand marketing and performing arts were mandatory courses for everyone.

Li Wei had no intention of changing anything either. As a Chinese American, how could he have so much time to save Americans? Even those purebred redneck superheroes had few who genuinely thought that way!