The Plot Begins

And so, over the next few days, Li Wei busied himself with the occasional patrol tasks Vought assigned him, sometimes changing costumes to go beat up a few old blacks to pass the time, while actively training his newly acquired abilities.

The power gained through replication let him possess it instantly and wield it as if he truly mastered it, but he felt he still needed personal practice to ensure one hundred percent control.

This kind of ability was perfect for concealing his identity and doing other work on the side.

At the same time, he was experimenting with other applications of Holy Light, since it was far too monotonous right now.

In other works, angels always had flight and healing as standard!

If time weren't an issue, he'd even seek out someone to teach him combat techniques.

Since everyone who took the compound could get different superpowers, Godolkin University didn't teach this stuff—laser eyes, fire control, wind summoning, all looked way cooler than fists and had far greater power.

And against common thugs, superhumans' physical stats were an all-around crushing advantage, so techniques weren't even necessary.

As for fighting other superhumans, Vought had no such intention; it strictly forbade infighting among supers.

After all, in theory, every super was Vought property—whoever got damaged, Vought took the loss.

The only thing they allowed was competition, like A-Train racing Shockwave in a few days.

But Li Wei deeply knew that as his strength grew, his fame would inevitably rise, and sooner or later, he'd catch Homelander's eye.

Unless he kept licking boots and coddling that man-child Homelander, conflict was unavoidable, not to mention the meddling protagonist group from the TV series.

If he fought Old Black, he'd need strong defense and some combat skills.

But no need to rush, because Li Wei had a target: Queen Maeve, one of The Seven!

She was a knockoff Wonder Woman—no flight, but defense, attack power, and combat skills were all excellent, a tough woman who could smash through a bus with her body unscathed.

Plus, she was a universal plug, into both men and women, occasionally finding two muscular guys for a threesome.

Li Wei figured that with his current identity, if he played the admirer, he might get close to her, maybe even gain near-max combat skills!

Her looks just didn't match his taste—she had a flat face, and her figure had no highlights, at best a C-, totally not his standard.

But to get stronger, if the chance came, Li Wei decided to let his little brother take one for the team.

Meanwhile, Firecracker proactively invited Li Wei once. Even though she had nothing left to copy, Li Wei still went—why not have fun for free?

And this girl was willing to try any position; if Li Wei didn't have some mental hang-ups, they might have gone all three ways.

This time, he still chose the Zorro Mask, and Firecracker tacitly didn't try to lift it or ask his identity, making their exchange very pleasant.

No longer a rookie, Li Wei was completely unafraid of Firecracker, but their moves this time were a bit too intense. Afterwards, she'd probably have to spend tens of thousands to fix her new RV—no small change for her.

Li Wei thought he might find a chance to make it up to her, but directly giving money was insulting, and getting her endorsements or TV roles seemed beyond his pull.

Plus, it would ruin their current hazy relationship. Identity made things tricky, so he shelved it for now, planning to deal with it later. After all, the car wasn't just his fault—they both broke it together.

At the same time, Li Wei did one more thing: he found the male lead, Hughie.

This was very simple, not even requiring his super identity.

Because after Hughie's girlfriend Robin was splattered by A-Train, aside from A-Train's symbolic TV mourning at first, subsequent news online and on TV had Robin's friends, classmates, and coworkers stepping forward to badmouth and blame her.

Some even vividly described twelve injection holes on her arm, implying she was a drug addict.

Other witnesses claimed Robin was standing in the middle of the road, violating traffic rules, and she ran into A-Train, not the other way around.

And so on—Vought was using every method to smear Robin, trying to tell the world that A-Train killing her wasn't a mistake.

Li Wei fully understood why Vought did this.

On one hand, they were used to treating lives like dirt. In America, superheroes were like cops—immune during missions, even if they killed someone by accident, criminal charges were rare.

On the other hand, these supers had endorsements, movies, TV shows, theme parks, video games—a business worth hundreds or thousands of billions.

Not to mention Vought's and its subsidiaries' stock prices. Vought wouldn't let a little thing like this damage A-Train's value.

Ordinary lives meant nothing before money—that's free America for you.

Hmm, maybe it also had to do with Robin's race. If she were white, even if they paid compensation, it wouldn't have been so little.

But he didn't contact Hughie immediately.

First, the guy only got temporary teleportation after taking Temporary Compound V later, with the cost of having to go naked.

But Li Wei wasn't sure if that temporary ability could be copied or how long it would last.

Plus, Li Wei didn't have the stuff, and he couldn't force-inject the guy. Hughie right now was just a cowardly weakling, not worth much.

He just wanted to keep an eye on him to see how the plot was progressing.

Unless he had enough power to defend himself against Homelander, his biggest asset wasn't his cheat or abilities, but his memory of the original TV series!

When Vought officially announced that the blonde from Des Moines, Iowa—Starlight—would join The Seven to replace Lamp Lighter, Li Wei knew the time had come.

He immediately called Ashley.

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

Ashley's tone was full of surprise. She couldn't figure out why this goody-two-shoes Angel 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 hosting this time, and all the schedules are already set!"

"No, no, Ashley, I think you misunderstand. I'm not crazy enough to want to replace any member of The Seven and host such a major event. I just want to get a closer look at Starlight—that's a small favor, shouldn't be a problem for you, right?"

"If it's really that troublesome, I'll just skip the uniform and go as an ordinary person to join the fun."

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

If things followed the plot, Starlight would be bullied on her very first day joining the team by The Deep, another member of The Seven, who would demand oral service from her.

Granted, Starlight had badmouthed her competitor during the competition at age thirteen and only got in through the director's connections.

That competitor happened to be Firecracker, so there was probably plenty of drama still to come between them.

And despite being a Catholic, she'd already had a threesome with her boyfriend—she was hardly some pure, innocent girl.

But whatever she did in private was her own choice. Being forced to serve The Deep was an insult to her dignity.

Li Wei figured that if he could give her a heads-up, it might earn him some goodwill, setting him up for copying her abilities later.

Starlight's superpowers in the TV series were pretty underwhelming. She once absorbed the electricity from an entire building, only to blast Soldier Boy back without even scratching his skin.

But Li Wei was convinced that was just poor usage on her part. Alternatively, he could copy Starlight's defense—that girl could really take a hit.

Butcher once shot her point-blank with a custom large-caliber sniper rifle, and she only got knocked back by the impact, not a drop of blood spilled.

In later big fights, she came through almost entirely unscathed, not even a smudge of makeup—a total contrast to her offensive output.

At the same time, Li Wei wanted to see The Deep in person. Word was he liked screwing those little octopuses you could hold in one hand—just how tiny was his dick?

On the other end, Ashley breathed a sigh of relief. A new member joining The Seven with other heroes coming to congratulate them was perfectly normal.

Her boss—Vought Vice President Madelyn Stillwell—hadn't planned for it, but if Angel was requesting it on his own, adding it on short notice was no big deal.

"No problem. I'll arrange a front-row seat for you. You and Starlight both glow—you'll probably have some common ground."

"Also, congratulations, Angel. Your movie X-Men: World War has already grossed over 1.5 billion globally."

"Haha, that's hardly my credit. I'm just a fifth male lead."

Li Wei knew full well that his casting was purely for ethnic diversity and to help Vought rake in Asian box office revenue.

"But your performance really stood out. The company is planning a new solo movie and theme park for you. We're considering importing pandas from the East—there should be an official proposal next month."

"Thanks a lot. Tell Ms. Stillwell I'll definitely work hard."

After a few perfunctory pleasantries, Li Wei hung up. He didn't really care much about money.

His house and car were all provided by the company and the New Jersey state government. The brands he endorsed occasionally sent him freebies too. He had nowhere to spend it—earning three million or five million a year made no difference.

What thrilled him more was that this had gone smoothly. He could now get involved in the upcoming plot. To celebrate, he'd go beat up a few more Old Blacks tonight!