Girls! You are the true heroes!!

Cate, standing within arm's reach, was trembling, and Jordan, standing beside her, felt his legs begin to give way.

"Jordan?"

Cate reached out to grab Jordan, and in his female form, tears couldn't help but stream from Jordan's eyes.

This... was magnificent!

"Cate, I want the Guardian!"

Cate: "???"

The beam lasted for several minutes before Lu Heng retracted his power, slowly hovering at the edge of the massive crater.

His cold, slender figure stood against the backdrop of the vast desert, his cape fluttering in the wind, the V-shaped rune glowing with brilliance.

The afterglow of the setting sun hit him, setting him off like a god.

Lu Heng slowly turned around, the red glow deep within his eyes gradually fading, and he spoke calmly to the camera.

"Mission accomplished. Farid has been eliminated, and all terrorist strongholds have been destroyed."

"I am the Guardian."

"I am not a partner of justice! I am justice itself!!"

Vought Tower.

Homelander's expression was no longer as calm as it had been at the start.

Lu Heng had stolen the spotlight too thoroughly this time; he could guess with his eyes closed what kind of reception the Guardian would receive upon returning to the homeland.

His public approval rating would be eclipsed in an instant, and the limelight of The Seven had been completely snatched away by one man.

And he wasn't even a member of The Seven!!

Starlight couldn't get through to Lu Heng's phone, and upon returning to her office, all she saw was Lu Heng's Omega Beams instantly obliterating the terrorist bunker.

"Fuck Jesus!"

Annie exclaimed instinctively.

Edgar turned around and silently adjusted the Guardian's internal threat rating from A to SSS.

One had to know that even Homelander was only rated A.

Edgar's female secretary wet herself again.

She was truly doomed!

How had she dared to boss the Guardian around?

Meanwhile.

The Pentagon.

A piece of satellite footage was urgently delivered to the National Security Advisor's desk.

The content of the recording was identical to Vought's live broadcast, but the satellite's perspective was even more shocking, as it had recorded the entire process in its entirety.

Lu Heng had shattered the surface with a single step, and the Omega Beams had melted the entire underground city.

The President, deep within the White House, also saw this footage.

"Where did the Middle East get nuclear weapons?"

"Could the Russians have illegally exported them?"

"Quick, call a press conference! We must strongly condemn this behavior!"

The Secretary of Defense's voice was dry, and he swallowed hard as he spoke, "Sir, that destruction wasn't caused by nuclear weapons, but by a superhuman."

The President: "???"

The expression on the President's face was entirely, "Are you fucking kidding me?"

"Could it be Homelander from Vought?"

"Get Edgar here for me. What exactly is he trying to do?"

"I told him to kill Farid, which meant making that man disappear quietly, not in such a high-profile way!!"

The President was furious.

What was Edgar trying to do? Flex his muscles for him to see?

Did he not want to survive in America anymore?

"Uh, Mr. President, you've misunderstood. It wasn't Homelander who caused this destruction." The Secretary of Defense wiped the sweat from his forehead.

"Not Homelander?" The President realized belatedly, "Did Vought release a third generation of superhumans?"

"I... I'm not sure, but the one who caused the destruction is a superhuman called the Guardian."

The Secretary of Defense played the latter half of the video. On the screen, a black figure hovered at the edge of the massive crater.

He turned slowly, the red glow in his eyes still burning intensely, like two stars with immense destructive power.

"His destructive power..."

"According to the preliminary assessment," the Secretary of Defense opened the report, "the energy output of this attack is equivalent to more than thirty times that of a GBU-57 bunker buster."

"The GBU-57 is our most powerful conventional bunker-busting weapon currently in service, capable of penetrating sixty meters of reinforced concrete."

"Yet this man used only his heat vision to penetrate two hundred meters of natural bedrock, melting the entire underground space within a one-kilometer radius."

"The output was sustained for several minutes; if such power were directed at a city—"

The Secretary of Defense did not finish his sentence, but everyone in the war room understood what he meant.

The President leaned back in his chair.

"Get Edgar on the line for me."

On Lu Heng's side.

A panel popped up with a notification.

[Side Quest Completed: Desert Storm]

[Target Eliminated: Sandstorm (S-Rank)]

[Subordinate Targets Eliminated: Superhuman Guards x3]

[Quest Reward: Ability Points x15,000]

[Bonus Objective Completed: Team members Cate and Jordan survived]

[Bonus Reward: Ability Points x3,000]

[Global Livestream Bonus: Audience emotional peak x2.4 multiplier]

[Additional Ability Points Gained: +8,600]

[Key Character: Cate — Emotional Shift: Faith]

[Ability Points Gained: +4,892]

[Key Character: Jordan Li — Emotional Shift: Absolute Submission]

[Ability Points Gained: +4,107]

Current Ability Points: 55,055 / 250,000

Lu Heng looked at the panel.

A single trip to the Middle East had earned him nearly fifty thousand ability points.

On the way back.

Cate clung to Lu Heng's arm, rubbing her soft frame against him.

Jordan did the same, having deliberately shifted into her female form.

But Lu Heng could not muster the slightest interest in her.

Viltrumites liked strong women, even in the Viltrumite Position, but it was impossible for them to fancy a hermaphrodite.

"Guardian," Jordan shouted over the wind.

"Hmm?"

"I want to stay at your place tonight, or with Starlight is fine too."

Lu Heng had a face full of black lines. "If you say one more word, I'll throw you off right here, and you can turn to ash on the spot!"

Jordan fell silent.

Cate didn't dare bring up the topic at all; she was a superhuman, sure, but her physical durability wasn't as exaggerated as Jordan's.

She would die!

She would absolutely die!

One minute later.

The helipad on the top floor of Vought Tower.

The three of them landed steadily. Homelander was already waiting on the roof. As soon as Lu Heng touched down, he enthusiastically grabbed Lu Heng by both shoulders.

"My good bro, you really stole the show today!"

Homelander's words were insincere.

But Lu Heng was clearly not someone he could manipulate, so he held a certain respect for him.

Jealousy, yet respect.

"Homelander!! Even Homelander is here to welcome us personally!!!"

Jordan and Cate were incredibly excited.

Their idols during their student days were The Seven.

Seeing Homelander in person now, they were beyond thrilled.

"Oh, the Guardian's subordinates are actually my fans?" Homelander's attention was drawn to the two of them again.

"That's right, we're your fans! Could we take a photo together? We haven't even taken a picture with the Guardian yet!!"

Haven't even taken a picture with the Guardian yet?

Hearing this, the sliver of jealousy in Homelander's heart faded significantly.

It seems that even the Guardian isn't liked by everyone!

"Although the Guardian is powerful, the two of you daring to face a superhuman stronger than yourselves is already amazing!"

"You are the true heroes!"

"Because true heroes dare to rise to the challenge!!"