After leaving Vought Tower, Lu Heng didn't hurry back to his apartment.
He flew over Brooklyn and hovered there, taking in the view.
A news notification popped up on his phone.
[Vought International Official Statement: Guardian has officially joined the Vought system as a special advisor on superhuman threats. He will operate independently of The Seven to carry out high-level crime enforcement.]
Below it was a polished photo—the one of him rescuing a mother and child at the fire.
Who knew whether that reporter had a shot at winning a Pulitzer, but Vought's PR department had already bought the photo and put it to use.
Talk about fucking fast!
The comments were split into two camps.
One side thought Guardian had been bought off by Vought and had become a lapdog of capital.
The other believed joining Vought International would give Guardian room to spread his wings. After all, going off the books wasn't as legitimate as working through official channels.
The two sides argued fiercely. Whether or not they reached a conclusion, they certainly kept the topic trending.
Current Ability Points: 34,287 / 100,000
He was still more than sixty thousand points away from Lv. 3.
Lu Heng opened the panel and checked the list of key characters.
The key characters he'd already met were marked with check marks: Hughie, Homelander, Maeve, A-Train, and Madelyn.
Among the names he hadn't met yet, one was highlighted by the system.
[Annie January (Starlight)—expected to join The Seven within three days]
[Key Event Warning: On the night she joins, The Deep will sexually assault her]
Lu Heng recalled the plot.
On the night Starlight joined, The Deep threatened her and forced her to kneel in the changing room.
The little fangirl's rose-colored glasses had shattered that very night.
Thinking about it now, maybe the scene in The Boys had been hinting at something deeper?
Three days was an easy wait.
After that, Lu Heng got to work on the assignments Vought had arranged for him.
As a special advisor, he handled two cases of superhuman crime. Vought's intelligence department had been pulling the strings behind both.
Madelyn had originally asked Ashley to set up scripted scenarios, but Lu Heng insisted on dealing with real cases.
In the end, they had no choice but to make a special exception for him.
There was one upside, though: they didn't have to prepare scripts or film staged scenes.
The resulting publicity campaign turned out unexpectedly well!
Unlike other supes, Guardian had fine control over his strength. He didn't go overboard at the drop of a hat like the other members of The Seven.
The actors were supposed to be playing their parts, but the scenes kept ending with real property damage.
Now Vought had to find its villains among death-row inmates in prison.
Lu Heng fought crime day and night and didn't need any rest.
Brooklyn and Queens were especially bad at night. Crime seemed to crop up everywhere.
Lately, though, there had been far fewer superhuman crimes.
The scattered incidents weren't very serious, usually just petty thefts and the like, so they didn't earn him many Ability Points.
During that time, he went to Hughie's electronics store again.
"Hey!" Hughie greeted him, clearly much friendlier than last time. "You really joined Vought? That's what all the news is saying... We need heroes like you!"
"Oh, I'm just an advisor."
"So... do you have to go to The Seven's meetings and stuff?"
"Sometimes."
Hughie hesitated, then lowered his voice. "That day, with A-Train... Was he really being mind-controlled?"
Lu Heng looked at him.
The kid wasn't stupid, huh!
He'd seen the way A-Train had fought Guardian. The man hadn't looked mind-controlled at all. He'd looked like a junkie high out of his mind.
"What do you think?" Lu Heng asked in return.
Hughie's lips moved, but he said nothing.
A-Train was his idol. Deep down, he couldn't bring himself to believe that A-Train could be that kind of person behind the scenes.
[Key Character: Hughie Campbell]
[Emotional Change: Trust deepened / Beginning to question Vought's grand narrative]
[Ability Points gained: +1,344]
The third night.
Vought Tower was ablaze with light.
Tonight was the induction ceremony for The Seven's newest member.
Annie January, code name Starlight, was officially joining The Seven.
It was a high-profile private event, with no public livestream for the time being, but Vought had sent a film crew to record the whole thing.
The footage would be edited into a promotional video later to build up Starlight's public image.
Lu Heng attended the welcome ceremony as a special advisor.
He stood in a corner of the hall with a bottle of champagne in his hand, taking a sip every so often. His style was rather... unrestrained.
He was sure no one there was happy to see him.
Except the newcomer, Starlight.
Onstage, Annie wore a white-and-gold suit.
Young, blonde, and bright-smiled.
Aside from looking a little nervous, she was the perfect blonde sweetheart by American standards.
She was exactly the kind of girl the American people loved.
Lu Heng gazed at her face, feeling a pang of nostalgia.
By the time he'd gotten to the later seasons of the show, Starlight's face no longer looked like this.
Fortunately, this Starlight didn't have any appearance-related anxiety. She would stay beautiful just the way she was.
While Lu Heng was looking at Starlight, she was scanning the faces in the audience, as if she were a little girl in a new place, taking in her new workplace.
Then she spotted Lu Heng, and her gaze paused.
How could someone be so relaxed at such an upscale welcome party?
But she didn't have long to stare.
Homelander went onstage to welcome the new member.
An enraged Homelander and a camera-ready Homelander were two entirely different people. Now he wore a perfect smile and spoke with polished ease, even cracking a joke or two and drawing thunderous applause.
The Deep was onstage too, his eyes lingering on Annie.
We've added a bookshelf grouping feature, so you can add multiple books to a group (category). If you have any suggestions after trying it, please let us know, and we'll make improvements.
A notification appeared on the panel.
[Key Event Countdown: The Deep assaults Starlight]
[Estimated Time: Tonight, 23:00–00:00]
[Location: The Seven's private floor · changing-room area]
Two hours later, the guests began to leave.
Lu Heng stayed behind.
He still had some "work" to take care of.
The minutes ticked by.
Lu Heng's super-hearing picked up two people moving in the same direction.
The Seven's meeting hall.
Lu Heng stood up.
He flew straight out the window, rose vertically along the outside of the building for two floors, then slipped in through the window next to the meeting room.
"Do you know what it takes to survive in The Seven? It's not your superpowers. It's not your pretty face."
"It's connections."
"And I... can help you build those connections."
It was unmistakably The Deep's voice.
"But I... I don't need..."
"You don't need them?" The Deep's tone changed, turning cold and hard. "Who do you think you are? You're a new girl who just got here. What makes you think you can say you don't need them?"
"Kneel."
Lu Heng nodded. It was time.
He walked to the meeting-room door and kicked it.
He barely held back, and the doorframe tore straight out of the wall. The whole door flew across the room and slammed into the conference table with a deafening crash.
"Who's there?"
The Deep had only just gotten halfway out of his pants when the flying door startled him.
The scene in the room froze.
The Deep stood in the middle of the meeting room, one hand on Annie's shoulder, trying to force her down.
Annie's knees were slightly bent, her face caught between humiliation and fear.
They both turned toward the doorway.
Lu Heng drifted in, the sleek surface of his suit gleaming with a cold light. The Viltrumite runes shimmered faintly.
He gave The Deep a cold look.
As if he were staring at a disgusting bug.
The Deep pulled his hand off Annie's shoulder.
"Let me explain. This, this isn't what you think—"
Lu Heng landed, and the floor beneath his feet cracked.
"Shut up!"
He cut off The Deep's excuses and turned to look at Starlight.
Annie's eyes were already red, tears running down her cheeks.
"Are you okay?"
Annie opened her mouth, but no words came out. In the end, she just shook her head.
Lu Heng turned back to The Deep.
"Get lost!"
The Deep's legs were trembling, but he still tried to put up a front. "You have no right to order me around. I'm one of The Seven. I've been here longer than you!"
Lu Heng raised a hand.
It was only a slight movement, but The Deep reacted as if he'd seen something terrifying and turned to run.
He had no doubt Lu Heng would attack him.
A-Train was a warning enough.
This guy had no limits. He'd even dared to provoke Homelander, and Homelander still couldn't do anything about him.
Soon, only Lu Heng and Annie remained in the meeting room.
Starlight stood in place, clutching the hem of her suit so tightly her knuckles had gone white.
"He's just a pathetic piece of trash. He means nothing in The Seven. Don't let him fool you."
Annie wiped away her tears and nodded firmly.
She'd liked The Deep well enough before. She never expected his behavior to shatter a little girl's heart.
People are most often hurt by those they like best.
The panel began flashing wildly.
[Major Change to Key Character's Fate!]
[Annie January (Starlight): Original event—sexual assault → Event prevented]
[Key Character's Emotions in Turmoil: Fear → Grievance → Gratitude → Trust established]
+3,847
+2,156
+1,934
[Milestone Achieved: Prevented a Key Atrocity (First Time)]
[Milestone Reward: +5,000]
Total gained this time: +12,937
Current Ability Points: 54,676 / 100,000
Oh, yeah! Oh, yeah!
Lu Heng held back his excitement. Starlight really was something else.
He pulled a dry towel from a storage cabinet in the meeting room and handed it to Annie.
"Wipe your face, then go get some rest."
"If anything comes up, come find me."
Annie took the towel, wiped her face, then sniffed hard.
"You're... Guardian?"
"Yeah."
"Thank you."
"No need to thank me."
Lu Heng turned and left.
Starlight watched him fly away and stood there, frozen, for a long time.
Before you continue