The Plot Begins

Over the next few days, Li Wei busied himself with the occasional routine patrol assignments Vought International gave him. Sometimes, after changing into a disguise, he would go beat up a few Old Blacks to pass the time, while actively training his newly acquired abilities.

The power he had gained through copying could be obtained instantly and used as if he had truly mastered it, but he still felt he needed to train personally to ensure complete control.

This ability was simply too suitable for concealing his identity and doing some other kind of work.

At the same time, he was trying to improve his other applications of Holy Light. Right now, they were far too monotonous.

In other works, flight and healing were standard abilities for Angels!

If time had allowed, he would even have wanted to find someone to teach him some fighting techniques.

Since the superpowers people could gain after taking the drug varied from person to person, Godolkin University did not teach such things. Laser eyes, fire control, and wind manipulation looked far cooler than fists and kicks, and were undoubtedly more powerful as well.

Besides, when dealing with ordinary thugs and hooligans, Superheroes completely outclassed them physically in every respect, so they had no need for techniques at all.

As for fighting other Superheroes, Vought International had no intention of allowing that in the first place. It explicitly prohibited infighting between Superheroes.

After all, in theory, every Superhero was Vought International's property. No matter who got damaged, Vought was the one that suffered the loss.

The only thing they permitted was competition. For example, A-Train would be racing Shockwave in a speed contest a few days from now.

But Li Wei knew perfectly well that as his strength continued to grow, his fame would inevitably rise with it, and sooner or later, he would truly enter Homelander's field of vision.

Unless he kept acting like a bootlicker and coddling Homelander, that overgrown baby, conflict would be unavoidable. Not to mention the troublemaking main cast from the television series.

If he ever fought Homelander, not only would his defense need to be strong enough, but he would also need some combat skills.

Still, there was no need to rush. Li Wei had a target: Queen Maeve, one of The Seven!

She was basically a bargain-bin Wonder Woman. Other than being unable to fly, she was outstanding in defense, attack power, and fighting skills. She was a fierce woman who could smash through a bus without a scratch.

She was also bisexual, able to sleep with either men or women, and occasionally brought a couple of muscular hunks home for threesomes.

Li Wei felt that, with his current identity, if he acted like an admirer, he should have a chance to get fairly intimate with her. He might even directly obtain nearly max-level fighting skills!

The only issue was that her looks did not quite match Li Wei's tastes. Her face was somewhat flat and round, and her figure had no real highlights either. At best, she was a C-, completely failing to meet his standards for a partner.

But for the sake of becoming stronger, Li Wei decided he would let his little brother suffer a little if the opportunity arose.

During that time, Firecracker took the initiative to ask Li Wei out once. Although she no longer had any abilities worth copying, Li Wei still accepted. No reason to turn down free fun.

Besides, that girl was willing to try any position. If Li Wei had not had some psychological hangups, they probably could have managed a threesome without any trouble.

This time, he still chose the Zorro Mask. Firecracker also tacitly refrained from trying to remove it or asking about his identity, making their interaction very enjoyable.

No longer a virgin, Li Wei had no fear of Firecracker anymore. Their movements this time had just been a little too intense. Afterward, Firecracker would probably have to spend tens of thousands repairing her new RV, which was no small sum for her.

Li Wei felt that perhaps he should find an opportunity to compensate her a little. But giving her money directly would be insulting, while getting her endorsement deals or television roles was beyond his influence.

It would also directly ruin the vague relationship they had now. Identity made everything troublesome, so he decided to put it aside for the time being and discuss it later if the chance arose. Besides, he had not wrecked that vehicle alone. They were both responsible.

Li Wei also did one other thing: he found the male lead, Hughie.

This was extremely easy and did not even require his Superhero identity.

After Hughie's girlfriend was smashed apart by A-Train, aside from A-Train's symbolic public mourning on television at the beginning, subsequent news reports on television and online mostly featured Robin's former friends, classmates, and coworkers stepping forward to disparage and accuse her in every way possible.

Some even vividly described the twelve injection marks on her arm, implying that she had been addicted to drugs before her death.

Other witnesses claimed that Robin had been standing in the middle of the street, violating traffic laws. They said she had run into A-Train, not the other way around.

There was no end to such claims. In short, Vought International was using every possible method to smear Robin, trying to tell the public that A-Train killing her was not really his fault.

Li Wei could completely understand why Vought International was doing this.

On one hand, they had always treated human lives as worthless. In America, Superheroes were like the police. They could avoid responsibility while carrying out missions, and even if they accidentally killed someone, criminal charges were rarely brought against them.

On the other hand, these Superheroes had all kinds of endorsements, movies, television series, theme parks, video games, and more tied to them. This was business worth tens or even hundreds of billions.

Not to mention the stock prices of Vought and its subsidiaries. Naturally, Vought International would not let A-Train's value suffer over such a trivial matter.

Ordinary lives were worthless before money. That was free America.

Well, it might also have had something to do with Robin's race. If she had been white, then even if they paid compensation, it definitely would not have been so little.

However, he did not immediately approach Hughie.

First, Hughie only gained the temporary ability of Teleportation after taking Temporary Compound V later on, and the price was that he had to run around naked.

But Li Wei was not sure whether such a temporary ability could be copied, or how long it would last.

Besides, Li Wei did not have that stuff on hand, much less could he forcibly inject Hughie with it. The current Hughie was merely a cowardly, useless wimp with little value to exploit.

He only wanted to keep an eye on Hughie and see how far the plot had progressed.

Unless he had enough power to protect himself before Homelander, his greatest advantage was not his cheat ability or his powers, but his memories of the original television series!

When Vought International officially announced that the blonde girl from Des Moines, Iowa—Starlight—would join The Seven and replace A-Train, Li Wei knew his chance had come.

He immediately called Ashley.

"What? Angel, you want to attend the annual shareholders' meeting?"

Ashley sounded extremely surprised on the other end. She could not understand why Angel, such a well-behaved little darling, would suddenly make such a request.

"That's right. To celebrate The Seven gaining a new member," Li Wei casually made up an excuse.

"But The Deep is handling the event this time, and the entire schedule has already been arranged!"

"No, no, Ashley, I think you misunderstood. I'm not crazy enough to want to replace one of The Seven and host such a major event. I only want to get a close look at Starlight. That little request shouldn't be a problem for you, right?"

"If you really think it's troublesome, then I can just attend without my uniform and join the fun as an ordinary person."

Of course, both of them knew that was a lie. Otherwise, why would Li Wei have specifically called Ashley?

According to the plot, on Starlight's first day joining the team, The Deep, another member of The Seven, would bully her and demand oral sex.

Although Starlight had known since she was thirteen how to smear the competitor participating in the same contest as her, claiming that competitor had only qualified through connections with the director.

Well, that competitor happened to be Firecracker. Those two would probably have plenty of drama between them in the future.

And although Starlight was clearly Catholic, she had already had a threesome with her boyfriend. She was not exactly some pure and innocent girl herself.

But whatever she did in private was voluntary. Being forced to service The Deep was an insult to her dignity.

Li Wei felt that if he could give her a warning, he might be able to raise her favorability considerably and prepare for copying her abilities later.

Starlight's superpower performed terribly in the television series. She once absorbed the electricity from an entire building, only to send Soldier Boy flying. He was not even scratched.

But Li Wei firmly believed Starlight was simply using her ability incorrectly. Or perhaps he could copy Starlight's durability instead. That girl could really take a beating.

Butcher had once fired a specially made large-caliber sniper rifle at her from close range. She was only knocked back by the impact and did not bleed at all.

Later, when she fought others, she was basically uninjured throughout, without even smudging her makeup. Her defense was the complete opposite of the attack power she displayed.

Li Wei also wanted to see The Deep with his own eyes. Apparently, he liked to fuck Little Octopuses small enough to hold in one hand. Just how tiny did that make his dick?

Ashley immediately relaxed on the other end. A new member was joining The Seven, so it was perfectly normal for other heroes to come offer congratulations.

Her superior—Vought Vice President Madelyn Stillwell—had not planned on it before, but since Angel was voluntarily requesting it, adding him in at the last minute would not be a problem.

"No problem. I'll arrange a seat for you in the front row. You and Starlight can both glow, so you'll probably have something in common."

"Also, congratulations, Angel. X-Men: World War, which you appeared in, has now grossed more than 1.5 billion worldwide."

"Haha, that really isn't my achievement. I was only the fifth male supporting character."

Li Wei knew exactly why he had been cast. It was purely for racial diversity and to make it easier for Vought International to harvest the Asian box office.

"But your performance really was exceptional. The company is preparing new solo films and theme parks for you. We're considering importing pandas from East Asia. There should be an official plan next month."

"Thanks. Please tell Ms. Stillwell that I'll definitely work hard."

After casually exchanging a few more words, Li Wei hung up. In truth, he did not particularly care about money.

His house and cars had been provided by the company and the New Jersey state government. The brands he endorsed also occasionally gave him things for free. He genuinely had nowhere to spend money, so earning three million a year or five million made no difference.

What pleased him more was that this matter had been successfully arranged. He could now take part in the upcoming plot. To celebrate, he would go beat up a few more Old Blacks tonight!