Lu Heng: You Two Go Take Out Farid

The Middle Eastern sun blazed fiercely.

At noon, the surface temperature could exceed fifty degrees Celsius.

For ordinary people, it was practically hell, but for superhumans, it only made them sweat a little.

Lu Heng scanned the desert ahead with his X-ray vision.

About one hundred and fifty meters below the surface lay a massive artificial structure.

Looking deeper, he saw tunnels, rooms, warehouses...

It was like a city buried beneath the sand.

At that depth, they would probably need a bunker-buster nuclear bomb to bring them peace.

But the price of one bunker-buster nuclear bomb was enough to hire Lu Heng ten times.

That was just how cost-effective he was.

Lu Heng folded his arms and spoke to his two little assistants.

"The target is one hundred and fifty meters underground. There are many armed personnel around him, along with at least three superhuman guards."

"Now, go take out the terrorist Farid."

"I'll wait outside for your signal."

It was just Farid. Let the people earning eight thousand a month handle him. Why did he need to get involved?

"Huh? U-Us?"

"Kill the terrorist Farid?"

Cate and Jordan looked utterly bewildered.

The difficulty was no less than asking them to take out Homelander.

"Yes."

"Will we die?"

"Trust in your Power! There won't be a problem!"

Lu Heng had absolute confidence in them.

Of course, it was not because he wanted to slack off.

Lu Heng lay down on a rock, ignored the scorching sun, and pulled his cape over his head.

Snore...

"H-He fell asleep..."

Jordan was beginning to regret taking this job.

This was definitely going to blow up in their faces!

Cate shrugged. It was not completely impossible. If she could control one of the enemy superhumans...

So, the two of them gritted their teeth and went in.

Before long, a helicopter flew over the sky.

A Vought reporter wore safety gear and a parachute, with half her body hanging outside the helicopter, held only by a tether.

The camerawoman wore the same equipment, held up her camera, and began reporting.

"...This is the desert near the Middle Eastern... Iraqi border. We are now bringing you a live report from the scene..."

"...As everyone can see, the surface here is nothing but desert, while the terrorist Farid, whom Guardian will be striking this time..."

"...Ahem, that concludes the brief introduction... Next, let's watch how Guardian faces off against Farid..."

The reporter signaled for the camerawoman to capture the scene.

Since the helicopter was close enough, the camerawoman easily obtained a stable shot.

On a slab of sandstone, Lu Heng wore Guardian's black battle suit, with a V-shaped emblem on his chest.

He was not striking a pose. His entire face was covered by his cape.

"He's here! Is this Guardian's secret ultimate move?"

"Could he be gathering immense power, preparing to deliver a devastating blow to Farid at the critical moment?"

"Let's wait and see..."

At the top floor of Vought Tower.

Edgar watched the live broadcast, and the corner of his mouth twitched.

Madelyn, Homelander, and Starlight stood beside him.

"Does Guardian have a move like this? Why does it look like he's sleeping?"

Homelander pinched his chin and carefully examined the details.

Lu Heng had always been mysterious. There had to be some hidden trick behind this.

Hearing Homelander's words, Starlight could not help covering her forehead.

Time passed second by second.

Guardian did not move.

Only his cape stirred in the desert wind.

Meanwhile.

On the first level of the underground shelter.

Jordan restrained the two Sentinels at the entrance, while Cate immediately used her mind-control ability to extract the layout of the shelter's first three levels from their minds.

Then she controlled them and sent them back to deal with their companions.

A few minutes later, six armed men lay on the ground.

Jordan did not know how to hold back. Anyone she hit was either seriously injured or dead.

Cate only needed to lightly touch them from behind, and those Sentinels would collapse on their own.

They would not wake up for at least an hour or two.

The two of them could not have had more different combat philosophies.

"Jordan, don't you think it's too quiet?" Cate suddenly lowered her voice.

"Yeah, it does seem a little strange."

Jordan switched to her female form and gathered glowing energy spheres in both hands.

They were now on the third level of the shelter, inside a narrow tunnel with rough rock walls on both sides.

Exposed cables and ventilation pipes ran overhead.

The corridor was dimly lit, with a weak yellow lamp only every ten meters.

"The intel said there were three more superhuman guards, but we haven't run into a single one," Cate said.

"They might be deeper inside," Jordan said.

"Or maybe..."

Cate did not finish her sentence.

Footsteps echoed from around the bend ahead.

Three figures emerged from the corner.

One was bald, over two meters tall, with bluish-gray skin and knotted muscles. He looked fiercer than someone pumped full of animal steroids.

The tall one wore a tattered military uniform. His ten fingers moved with astonishing dexterity, vibrating at an extremely high frequency—enough to make even a widow shed tears of happiness.

The last one's entire body trembled like a tiny electric motor.

They were all quite something!

The bald giant started speaking in Arabic, rattling off a long string of incomprehensible words.

Cate and Jordan stared blankly.

They had never taken Arabic.

The enemy did not care whether they understood him and attacked immediately.

The short one vanished in an instant.

Jordan immediately switched into her male form and crossed his arms to shield his head.

But he was still half a beat too slow and took a punch to the abdomen.

The speedster's fist carried tremendous kinetic force, blasting Jordan's male form straight into the tunnel wall and leaving a human-shaped crater.

"Jordan!"

Cate turned to look at him, but caught a flash of red in the corner of her eye.

Every finger of the tall man lit up as he fired a stream of flame at Cate.

Cate instinctively dove to the ground.

The flame stream swept over her head and turned the rock wall behind her into glowing red magma.

The temperature was fucking terrifying!

Cate lay on the ground, feeling the heat wave scorch the clothes on her back.

"Fuck!"

Jordan pulled himself free from the wall, a trace of blood seeping from the corner of his mouth.

Even with his superhuman body, he had nearly been unable to withstand that punch.

His organs churned inside him.

The speedster appeared again, and this time, his target was still Cate.

But Jordan had anticipated it. He grabbed Cate's arm and yanked her behind him while throwing a punch.

His fist hit nothing.

Ordinary ability users had a hard time competing with speedsters.

Except Barry Allen.

"I'll find a way to catch one of them. You use mind control, and then it'll be three against two."

Jordan spoke quietly enough that only the two of them could hear.

"Okay!" Cate nodded.

Her ability was very useful for infiltration, but it put her at a severe disadvantage in a direct fight.

Jordan switched into his male form and charged at the speedster. The enemy dodged left—straight toward Cate.

Cate reached out, trying to touch him, but the man reacted too quickly and flashed three meters away in an instant.

"He's too fast! I can't touch him!" Cate shouted.

"Again!"

Jordan charged once more, but a huge hand grabbed the back of his neck and lifted him like a kitten.

There was more than one superhuman here.

How could they possibly just stand by and watch the two of them show off?