Homelander is in Big Trouble

The evening breeze gently brushed by.

Azu flew slowly over the city, the dazzling lights of the metropolis below and the starry night sky above.

He looked down at the bustling city and the masses of people.

A line he vaguely remembered from some book flashed through his mind: Power only belongs to the strong.

He smiled and added, "And the strong need strength as their fulcrum."

"Absolute strength!"

Then he opened his inventory to check the rewards from the event.

Proficiency Essence: Upon use, increases any Talent's proficiency by 20. This item can be decomposed into equivalent 'Dim Essence'.

Black Bat Circus Gold Coin: Each use randomly summons two to three members from the Clown Leader, Big Eater, Stone Golem, Beast Tamer, Replicant, or Rubber Man to serve you. Cooldown varies based on usage, but the minimum cooldown is 24 hours.

Multiverse Treasure Chest (Random): The multiverse contains all things. Upon opening, you will randomly receive one item, including but not limited to objects, treasures, Talents, runestones, materials, etc.

As expected from a major event reward.

Way more generous than ordinary events.

An essence without the 'Dim' prefix could boost proficiency by 20 at once.

The coin could summon projections of two to three circus members. Most of them were pretty useless, but the Clown Leader and Big Eater had some use—though the randomness made the coin a bit of a letdown.

As for the 'Multiverse Treasure Chest'...

That thing was pure luck. Based on Azu's years of experience as a non-European gacha player, it was best not to expect anything good from it.

Thinking this, Azu took out a 'Multiverse Treasure Chest'.

It looked like a lottery box. Azu reached his hand inside, unable to feel any limit to the space within.

He groped around for a moment, then seemed to grab something and pulled it up.

A soft glow was lifted out, and the lottery box faded away. As the light dissipated, Azu found a mask in his hand.

It was a red mask, with openings for the eyes, and nothing else special about it.

Spider-Man Mask: An item from the Spider-Man Universe. The original Spider-Man's first homemade suit component. Wearing it enhances a sense of responsibility and justice.

Unexpected!

Completely unexpected!

The 'Multiverse Treasure Chest' actually dropped an item from the Spider-Man Universe!

In other words, this chest could also yield things from other universes—like the Marvel Universe? The DC Universe?

Now that was interesting.

Azu looked at the mask in his hand and tried putting it on.

Suddenly, he stopped and said with righteous conviction, "With great power comes great responsibility!"

He quickly took the mask off. "Way too intoxicating. Whoever wears this is a total sucker."

He didn't rush to open the remaining chest, instead accelerating toward Annika's place.

On the top floor of an apartment building.

In Annika's room at the Criminal Analysis Department, loud music was blasting.

"Here it comes again!"

"No!"

"Impossible."

"No one."

Fresh out of the shower, wrapped in a towel, Annika walked out of the bathroom.

She closed her eyes, moving her body to the beat of the music.

She grabbed a can of beer from the fridge, kicked the door shut.

Spun around.

Took a sip of beer.

Facing the window, she suddenly flung the towel open.

Right then.

She heard someone clear their throat.

Annika snapped her eyes open and saw Homelander sitting on the windowsill, fist to his lips, smiling.

"Nice figure."

Annika looked down sharply, then screamed and dashed into the bedroom.

A moment later, dressed in casual clothes, she cautiously poked half her head out of the room, eyeing Azu on the windowsill.

Azu jumped down and spread his hands. "You don't need to hide."

"You've got a great body. Really."

He gave Annika a thumbs-up.

Annika threw on another jacket before heading to the living room: "What brings you here, boss?"

"Boss?" Azu found the title interesting.

Annika opened the fridge and pulled out a bottle of beer: "You want one?"

Azu was in a good mood today. He nodded, caught the beer Annika tossed his way, popped the tab, and took a sip.

Then Annika spoke.

"Aren't I your personal investigator?"

"So that makes you my boss."

Azu gave a slight nod: "Fair enough."

Then he cut to the chase: "You've got news already, right?"

"I mean about the two things I asked you to look into."

Annika jumped in: "Yeah, yeah."

"Let's start with those two convicts."

"I checked—they're from the same place."

"A pretty old town in the Balka Highlands, west-central Jordan. Oster."

Azu set down his beer: "You have the exact coordinates?"

Annika winked: "Of course."

"Good. Send them to me."

Azu took another sip of beer: "And the other thing?"

"A-Train's older brother, Nathan. After A-Train died, he's been meeting up frequently with a White Male named 'Jeff.'"

"I looked into this guy—he's from some mysterious weapons R&D outfit."

"The Olga Weapon Research Company."

Annika pulled out her phone, brought up a photo, and handed it to Azu.

Azu took it and glanced at it. The phone showed a White Male with glasses, looking like an engineer.

An earring on his left ear—easy to spot.

"Good work, Annika."

Azu set the phone down and pointed at the girl: "I'm already thinking of a reward for you."

"Look into one more person for me."

"Butcher."

"He goes by the nickname 'The Butcher.'"

Azu described the Bearded Man's appearance: "I want to know what he's been up to lately."

Then he added.

"Also, keep following up on the Olga Weapon Research Company and that guy named Jeff."

"Best if you can track down his address."

"No problem, boss." Annika patted her chest. "Leave it to me."

Azu left.

Only then did Annika let out a sigh of relief.

She picked up her phone and posted on her social feed.

'Scared me to death—boss showed up out of nowhere, but luckily he was happy with my work. Hey, why don't you guys guess who my boss is!'

She attached a selfie, along with the beer can Azu had drunk from.

Putting down her phone, Annika planned to do some yoga, when a talk show host on TV said.

"Hey, guess what news I just got."

"It's about Homelander."

"He's in big trouble this time!"

You have used the 'Designated Talent Capsule: Self-Replication.' You have acquired a new talent.

Note: This talent cannot utilize the proficiency system.

Looking at the information floating before him, Azu felt a bit regretful.

It seemed that aside from his own Talent, any Talents gained through other means couldn't be upgraded.

He shrugged his shoulders, then poured Proficiency Essence after Proficiency Essence into the Steel Body Talent.

Steel Body Proficiency +20

Steel Body Proficiency +2

Steel Body Proficiency +2

Your 'Steel Body+2' Proficiency is full.

It has now upgraded to 'Bio-Field'.