The Seven Answer to Me

Inside a video store.

Hughie watched the live coverage of the Federal Reserve Bank robbery on TV. Onscreen, Homelander hurled the giant iron man into the sky.

The camera shifted, and in the sky, Homelander fired lasers from his eyes, taking out the robber in just a few moves.

"That was awesome!"

Hughie looked envious and imitated Homelander's glaring pose.

"What are you doing? Finished your work?" his boss Gary called from behind him.

"Have you prepared what Mr. Rob wanted?"

Honest-looking Hughie hurriedly said, "I'll get right on it, boss."

"Be smart about it."

Gary muttered, "If you weren't so good at fiddling with that stuff, I'd have fired you ages ago."

Hughie lowered his head. After his boss walked past, he looked like he wanted to say something but held it back.

"I'm heading out."

Gary left.

Hughie worked on the audio equipment. He was good at it and could always put together the best sound setup for customers.

Just then, another clerk whistled and patted him on the shoulder. "Robin's here to see you."

A moment later.

Hughie and his girlfriend Robin walked down the street.

"So? Did you ask Gary for a raise?"

Robin lightly hopped off the curb, then hopped back up.

Hughie hemmed and hawed for a long while before forcing out, "I didn't see him this morning."

"Tonight. I'll definitely ask him tonight."

Robin smiled. "Once you get that raise, you can move out. Then we can enjoy some time alone together."

Hughie held her hand and nodded.

Happiness filled his chest.

The next moment.

His vision blurred.

Robin suddenly vanished.

Then Hughie felt something wet and warm splash across his face.

A rushing sound followed.

For some reason, a pool of dark-red liquid had appeared on the street.

"Robin?"

Only then did Hughie come back to his senses.

He then realized.

He was still holding his girlfriend's hands.

But those hands only remained up to the forearms!

Super Speed: Proficiency 3/10
Steel Body: Proficiency 1/10
Super Strength: Proficiency 1/10

As two more messages flashed before him.

Azu did not open the shop immediately.

Instead, he opened his Status Bar.

Name: John (Homelander)

Life Level: Level 5 (Transcendent)

Status: Normal

Talent: Laser Eyes +1 (2/30), Flight (9/10), Super Speed (3/10), Steel Body (1/10), Super Strength (1/10)

Items: Dim Proficiency Essence ×10

Hmm, aside from Flight being close to leveling up.

The others were still far from their next level.

Especially Laser Eyes.

Using these abilities could increase proficiency.

Once proficiency was full, they could level up.

Besides.

Azu looked at the Dim Proficiency Essence.

After using it, it could increase any Talent's proficiency by 2.

Good stuff.

It could rapidly raise proficiency!

For the moment, he did not use the Proficiency Essence or open the shop.

Azu landed on the ground and walked toward Queen Maeve. "Need a lift?"

Maeve spread her hands. "I can't think of a reason to say no."

Azu reached out and wrapped an arm around Maeve's waist. It was not slender, but there was not an ounce of excess fat on it.

To accommodate the flight, Maeve pressed herself against him.

That gave Azu an unobstructed view, and keywords like so big and so white drifted through his mind.

Then, while waving to the pedestrians around them, Azu held Maeve and slowly rose into the air.

Once they reached an altitude of a hundred meters, they shot off into the distance with a whoosh.

Very soon.

They arrived at The Seven's headquarters.

Azu landed on the platform, released her, clasped his hands behind his back, and smiled. "Are you free tonight?"

"I have something I want to talk to you about."

Maeve adjusted her hair and casually replied, "Just talk?"

Azu smiled.

Of course, if something happened while they were talking, he would not mind in the slightest.

They were both adults.

Wasn't that perfectly normal?

But Maeve merely smiled and said, "Sorry, I'm busy tonight. I'm meeting a friend."

Azu nodded.

Then the two took the elevator down.

When they stepped out of the elevator, Ashley, the newly appointed handler, exclaimed excitedly, "That's great, Homelander."

"Your approval rating just rose by 0.3%!"

"Your remarks at the press conference, combined with what you did at the Federal Reserve Bank just now, actually raised your approval rating!"

Maeve asked curiously, "What did you say at the press conference?"

Azu smiled. "That's exactly why I wanted to talk to you tonight."

"So? Want to change your mind?"

Maeve chuckled, shook her head, and turned away.

Ashley nervously added, "I've already handled the cleanup, but Mr. Edgar is here. He's waiting for you in the hall."

The Seven's command hall.

When Azu walked in, he saw someone's back.

It was Edgar, the president of Vought.

Edgar turned around, looked at Azu, and spread his hands. "May I ask why you killed Madelyn?"

Azu smiled calmly. "She humiliated me."

Edgar raised both eyebrows.

He fell into thought.

Then he said, "You may not know this, but Madelyn has recently been dealing with members of Congress, preparing to get you—get Supers—into the defense system."

"That would help improve our group's performance."

"But you killed her at a time like this."

Azu put one hand behind his back and raised a finger with the other. "First, Congress will never allow Supers into the defense system. Even if we use a few little tricks and eventually succeed, we'll only become a thorn in everyone's side."

"Second, improving the group's performance isn't limited to joining the defense system."

"Finally, if Madelyn successfully got us into the defense system, do you think she would then have the Board of Directors replace you and make her president of the Vought Group?"

Edgar smiled. "So you were helping me?"

Azu did not answer.

Edgar shook his head. "But losing her at this time is still somewhat disadvantageous for us."

"I just received word that the Department of Defense intends to cooperate with another emerging Weapon Development Group."

"They're probably preparing to use them to keep us in check."

"I needed Madelyn to help relieve some of my pressure."

An emerging Weapon Development Group?

Why hadn't I heard of it?

Forget it, it wasn't important.

Azu glanced at the clock and smiled. "It's almost noon, Mr. Edgar. Would you like to have lunch together?"

Edgar looked up and smiled. "I still need to meet a client."

"Let's keep this brief, Homelander. I hope nothing like this happens again."

"Or rather, before you make a move, could you let me know first?"

Azu slightly lifted his chin. "I can agree to that."

"I can also let Vought continue to support The Seven, and even turn a blind eye to the little things you do right under my nose."

"But on one condition."

"From now on, I have the final say in The Seven."

With everyone's support, we've made it into the fourth round. Thank you all for your support.

What comes next is crucial. Whether we can keep moving forward depends on follow-up reading, especially Tuesday's data, which will determine whether we advance or are eliminated!

This pigeon humbly begs you all: if this book is still to your liking, then please stay for at least two minutes on Tuesday and finish the latest chapter to give me a valid follow-up read, okay? ~(^з^)-☆