I'm Not Afraid to Tell You

"Ah!"

The Deep let out a long scream.

Thrown high into the air, he was now falling again.

He looked toward the sea and saw bubbles constantly rising from the surface. Then the seawater suddenly exploded, and Homelander flew out of the ocean.

"Wait!"

"Boss, let me explain!"

The Deep shouted desperately, but Azu ignored him completely. He accelerated upward and slammed into The Deep head-on.

The Deep's face immediately turned red. Azu's impact churned his stomach, and less than a second later, another tremendous force struck his abdomen, blasting out a ripple.

Secondary Impact!

The Deep flew into the air with a "Waah!" Azu shot after him, flashed to his side, and drove another punch into his face.

A tooth flew from The Deep's mouth first, followed by the Secondary Impact, which snapped his head violently aside and sent him flying sideways.

Azu chased after him with a barrage of punches and kicks, every attack accompanied by the effect of Secondary Impact.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

Thunderous explosions rang continuously across the empty sea.

A short while later, Azu held The Deep in one hand. Barely alive, he struggled to raise his head.

Beneath the blazing sun, The Deep could see only a backlit silhouette.

The next second, two points of red light slowly lit up on that figure's face.

At the docks.

An old man was fishing.

Suddenly, he heard a faint roar coming from the sea, and something flashed in the distance.

"Thunder?"

The old man looked puzzled. Then a powerful gust of wind blew in, sending the baseball cap on his head flying into the air.

A hand caught the cap.

Then a figure slowly descended onto the dock.

The old man rubbed his eyes, thinking he had seen wrong. Then he said in disbelief, "Homelander?"

Azu smiled faintly, returned the cap to him, and glanced at the sea. "Caught anything?"

The old man chuckled. "Not bad."

"Nice."

Azu placed a hand over his chest and gave a small bow. "Have a pleasant day, sir."

The old man hurriedly pressed down his cap. "You too."

Azu smiled, rose into the air, and turned toward Seven Tower.

A short while later.

He walked into the command hall.

Maeve and Starlight were talking in the hall, while Translucent and Black Noir sat silently in their own chairs.

Hearing the footsteps, everyone turned around.

Azu smiled, which counted as a greeting.

Maeve glanced behind him. "Where's The Deep?"

Azu walked to his place, clasped his hands behind his back, and looked out at the city through the floor-to-ceiling windows.

He sighed softly.

"An accident happened."

"We have lost The Deep forever."

"What a shame."

"I suggest we observe three minutes of silence for him."

The command hall suddenly fell silent. Even the sound of breathing seemed to vanish.

Maeve and the others looked at one another, especially Starlight. She had seen The Deep not long ago, yet before noon was even over, he was dead!

After three seconds passed, Azu turned around and smiled. "All right, everyone, don't be too sad."

"As long as you remember The Deep, he hasn't truly left us."

Azu looked at Starlight. "Could you ask Ashley to come here?"

Starlight nodded. As she was about to leave, she turned back around. "Mr. Homelander, may I ask you a question?"

"Just call me Homelander."

Azu smiled. "What do you want to ask?"

Starlight glanced up at the ceiling of the hall. "I heard from Mr. Edgar that you were the one who eliminated me. Can I know why?"

Azu nodded lightly. "If this were the old Seven, I would absolutely welcome an energetic and cute girl like you."

"However, you probably heard what I told the reporters."

"The future Seven will take on the responsibilities of heroes, which means we will face many challenges."

"Some of them may very well cost us our lives."

Azu looked Starlight up and down. "So when I saw such a cute girl like you wanting to join, I couldn't bear it."

"Are you willing to accept that reason?"

Starlight gently bit her lip. "Actually, I'm not afraid of sacrifice."

Then she walked out of the hall.

Maeve shrugged. "She may be young, but she isn't stupid."

"If she's smart enough, she should quit now instead of playing this so-called hero game with Edgar," Azu replied with a smile.

Then he looked at Translucent.

"Do me a favor."

"Keep an eye on Edgar and see what he's doing in private."

"I believe he has probably already ordered the lab to develop something to deal with me."

"If you find anything, can you tell me?"

The command hall fell silent again, its atmosphere as heavy as if it had been filled with concrete.

No one had expected Homelander to target Edgar, or to state his intention to go after the company's president so directly.

Wasn't he afraid someone would report him?

Maeve suddenly realized something.

The Deep had suffered an accident.

Queen immediately understood Homelander's meaning.

I'm not afraid to tell you my plan.

But if anyone wants to report me, just look at The Deep!

Translucent hurriedly said, "I'll go right away."

Azu waved his hand, dismissing him.

At that moment, a line of information appeared on his retina.

Warning: 1 hour and 11 minutes remain until the Disaster Event occurs.

As the message disappeared, Ashley walked in.

"You were looking for me, Homelander?"

Azu nodded. "Issue an obituary. The Deep died in an accident during the evaluation."

Ashley's smile immediately froze on her face.

She restrained the urge to pull at her hair and tried her best to keep smiling. "All right. Is there anything else?"

"Bring me the contestant list again."

Azu looked around the room. "It seems we'll soon have new members joining us. I'm looking forward to it. What about you?"

*

*

*

Vought International Department Store.

This day was no different from usual. The mall was packed with people coming and going.

A gift company on the first floor was holding a prize draw, attracting a large crowd of customers.

Rick, the mall's head of security, walked through the crowd, scanning every person who passed by him.

Rick had worked in security for more than ten years. A retired special forces soldier, he was meticulous in everything he did. Ever since becoming the mall's head of security, there had never been any trouble with public safety in the mall.

This was what he was proudest of.

As he walked, his radio crackled.

"Mr. Rick, you'd better come here. Something's happening."

"Okay."

A moment later, Rick entered the mall's management office. Several security guards stood as if facing a major enemy, staring at the large screen ahead.

The screen was filled by a face wearing a rabbit mask, revealing only a pair of emerald-green eyes.

"Listen carefully. There's a bomb in the department store right now. Once it detonates, it will release lethal gas that can kill everyone in the mall within five minutes."

"If you don't want anyone getting hurt, you'd better do exactly as I say!"

Newbie author begging for support and continued reading. If nobody keeps reading, I'll die, sob sob.