Chapter Summaries

Lin Mo explained to Hughie that Compound V might give Robin superpowers but needed to be made safer before she could use it. While Hughie focused on Robin, Lin Mo considered recruiting him to Vought and decided words alone would not be enough to earn his trust.

• Lin Mo told Hughie that Compound V might give Robin superpowers, but it carried risks and needed improvement before use.
• Hughie set aside his questions about Vought and Compound V, deciding to focus on Robin and stay composed for her.
• Lin Mo thought about how Hughie might be better off working for him at Vought than risking his life with Butcher and The Boys.
• Lin Mo wondered where Butcher was and reasoned that, with Joanna as Homelander, Butcher might still be living with his wife.
• Lin Mo decided he needed to show Hughie something practical if he wanted to recruit him to Vought.

Lin Mo asked Hughie to test the improved Compound V, framing it as a way to help Robin while leaving Hughie to weigh the risks. Hughie had not yet answered as he stood outside the emergency treatment room, uncertain whether to agree.

• Lin Mo asked Hughie to help verify the effects of the improved Compound V by receiving an injection.
• Hughie realized Lin Mo wanted him to be the test subject and hesitated after recalling that Compound V could be unstable in adults.
• Hughie asked whether the test was for Robin, and Lin Mo agreed that it was.
• Hughie looked down at his hands and toward the emergency treatment room but gave no answer.

Lin Mo waited for Hughie to decide whether to take improved Compound V, while Joanna pressured him by suggesting Robin could try it instead. Hughie agreed to take the risk himself and asked Lin Mo to make sure Robin would be alright.

• Lin Mo considered how giving Hughie improved Compound V could keep him close to Vought and make it harder for Butcher to recruit him.
• Joanna grew impatient with Hughie's hesitation and wondered whether he cared enough about Robin to help.
• Joanna said Robin could try the untested Compound V if Hughie was unwilling.
• Hughie quickly agreed to try Compound V himself rather than let Robin bear the risk.
• Hughie asked Lin Mo to make sure Robin was alright.

Hughie agreed to let Lin Mo modify Compound V, and Maeve and Lin Mo turned their attention to holding A-Train accountable for hitting Robin. Elsewhere, Billy Butcher watched footage of the accident, noticed Hughie's grief, and began considering how to use him.

• Hughie agreed to receive Lin Mo's modified Compound V, while Maeve silently hoped the treatment would save Robin and keep Hughie safe.
• Maeve noticed A-Train still waiting in the hospital hallway and exchanged a look with Lin Mo about addressing the collision.
• Lin Mo called A-Train over and said it was time to talk about him.
• Billy Butcher watched online footage of A-Train hitting Robin and the Supes arriving at the scene.
• Butcher replayed the footage of Hughie and considered making use of him.

After Robin was rushed into surgery, Lin Mo confronted A-Train about secretly using Compound V. Lin Mo offered him two choices, leaving A-Train’s future in The Seven—and the consequences of a dangerous alternative—undecided.

• A-Train feared Lin Mo might have him removed from The Seven or fired while Robin was being resuscitated.
• Lin Mo asked A-Train whether he had injected Compound V, and A-Train admitted he had used it repeatedly to preserve his speed and record.
• Maeve was surprised to learn that A-Train had secretly relied on Compound V, while Lin Mo considered whether its side effects had caused the incident with Robin.
• Lin Mo remembered that he still had three vials of Original Compound V and decided A-Train’s need to keep his speed could give him a chance.
• Lin Mo told A-Train that he would give him two choices.

Lin Mo offered A-Train two choices after the incident with Robin: risk a potentially fatal injection of Original Compound V or face legal proceedings and likely lose his place in The Seven. A-Train weighed the risks against his debts and fading career, then chose the injection.

• Lin Mo warned A-Train that Original Compound V could kill him but might permanently improve his speed, repair his heart, and extend his lifespan.
• Lin Mo explained that refusing the injection meant facing the legal case and likely losing his place in The Seven once he stopped using ordinary Compound V.
• A-Train considered the danger of the injection alongside his debts, family responsibilities, and uncertain future without his status or speed.
• A-Train chose the first option and said he would take Original Compound V.

A-Train chose to take Original Compound V despite the risk that it could kill him, and Lin Mo asked Joanna and Hughie whether they accepted the arrangement. After they agreed, Lin Mo gave A-Train the injection, leaving its effects unknown.

• A-Train agreed to take Original Compound V after Lin Mo explained the risks, while Maeve stayed silent and Hughie wrestled with his feelings about Robin's injury.
• Lin Mo asked Joanna what she thought of the plan, and she agreed, saying they would see whether God would take A-Train.
• Lin Mo asked Hughie for his opinion, and Hughie accepted the arrangement, trusting Lin Mo to save Robin.
• Lin Mo produced a syringe of Original Compound V from his System Space and handed it to A-Train.
• A-Train injected the blue liquid into himself without hesitation.

A-Train endured the painful effects of Original Compound V and emerged with renewed strength and energy. Grateful to Lin Mo, he thanked him, and Maeve was relieved that A-Train had survived.

• A-Train began suffering intense, whole-body pain after injecting Original Compound V, while Maeve and Hughie watched with concern.
• Lin Mo moved himself and Joanna farther away in case A-Train lost control during the injection’s effects.
• A-Train endured waves of pain until they eased, then regained his composure and felt stronger and more energetic than before.
• A-Train thanked Lin Mo, who told him the outcome was his good fortune and that they could put the past behind them.
• Maeve felt relieved that A-Train had survived and would not need to be replaced.

After seeing A-Train recover from Original Compound V, Hughie began to feel both fear and anticipation about gaining powers himself. Lin Mo left Hughie to attend to Robin and his personal affairs, then led Maeve and A-Train to Vought’s hidden underground Compound V research facility to begin his work.

• Hughie watched A-Train recover and started imagining that he might gain superpowers after Lin Mo improved Compound V.
• Lin Mo told Hughie to go home, inform his father about Robin, and arrange time away from work, assuring him that Robin would receive the best care.
• Lin Mo led Maeve and A-Train through the hospital toward the hidden research facility beneath it.
• As they walked, Lin Mo considered how Compound V had emerged from a world whose technology seemed otherwise ordinary.

Lin Mo questioned A-Train about where he had gotten the Compound V he had been secretly using. A-Train said Madelyn had explained the drug and supplied it, leaving Lin Mo wondering whether A-Train had also delivered Compound V to the Middle East.

• Lin Mo considered how A-Train might have obtained Compound V and ruled out Homelander secretly arranging deliveries.
• Lin Mo asked A-Train who had introduced him to Compound V and supplied it.
• A-Train admitted that Madelyn had told him about the drug and given it to him.
• Lin Mo wondered whether A-Train had delivered Compound V to the Middle East.

A-Train revealed that he had delivered Compound V overseas for Madelyn, prompting Lin Mo and Maeve to realize Vought might be creating superpowered terrorists to advance its military ambitions. Lin Mo decided to focus on improving Compound V first and planned to confront Madelyn afterward, while Joanna learned what was behind the deliveries.

• Lin Mo asked A-Train whether he had delivered Compound V overseas for Madelyn, and A-Train confirmed that he had.
• Lin Mo realized Madelyn had taken over the plan to send Compound V abroad and silently resolved to confront her after improving the drug.
• Maeve understood that Vought could use the resulting threats to persuade the Military to accept its Supes, and she challenged A-Train about what he had delivered.
• A-Train recognized that his disclosure had caused concern and decided to keep quiet.
• Joanna asked Lin Mo what was wrong, and he explained that Madelyn intended to create trouble with superpowered terrorists so Vought could offer a solution.

Lin Mo visited Vought’s hidden research facility beneath a hospital and asked to inspect its Compound V lab and research. The research director agreed to provide the materials, and he led Lin Mo, Joanna, and Maeve farther inside.

• Joanna dismissed Madelyn’s plan to create superterrorists, trusting Lin Mo to handle it and deciding not to get involved herself.
• Lin Mo, Joanna, Maeve, and A-Train entered the research facility beneath the hospital and looked around.
• The research director recognized Lin Mo and treated the group respectfully, remembering Edgar’s instructions to cooperate with them.
• Lin Mo asked to see the Compound V lab and all related research findings and materials from the past few years.
• The research director set aside his hesitation, agreed to gather the materials, and led the group to the lab.

Lin Mo used his Super Brain to rapidly study medicine, genetics, and Vought’s Compound V research so he could identify its flaws and eventually modify it. After half a day, he had absorbed and organized the material, and declared that it should be enough.

• The research director brought Maeve, A-Train, and Lin Mo to the Compound V laboratory and provided access to equipment, files, and research databases.
• Lin Mo began with fundamental studies in medicine, genetics, cells, and biochemistry before examining Vought’s Compound V research.
• Maeve and A-Train watched Lin Mo read at extraordinary speed but could not understand what he was studying.
• Researchers delivered paper records, and Lin Mo compared them with related computer materials as he worked through the files.
• After half a day, Lin Mo finished learning the relevant fields and organizing Vought’s research, then said, “That should do it.”

Lin Mo finished reviewing Vought’s Compound V research and prepared to develop an improved version, while Hughie worried about Robin at work. Billy Butcher approached Hughie under a false FBI identity and began trying to turn him against The Seven.

• Lin Mo told Maeve and A-Train he had finished reading the research and was ready to begin making changes.
• Lin Mo assessed the existing Compound V research and planned a version with a guaranteed chance of granting powers and no side effects.
• Hughie returned to his shop after arranging time off and worried about Robin while waiting for news.
• Billy Butcher entered the shop, identified Hughie, and told him A-Train had badly injured Robin.
• Butcher showed Hughie a forged FBI badge and began arguing that The Seven only appeared upright on television.

Butcher persuaded Hughie that Vought covered up the Seven’s crimes and asked him to help find evidence, while Hughie agreed to hear him out but kept his knowledge of Compound V secret. Hughie left with Butcher for a bar as Lin Mo continued studying Compound V, unaware that Butcher had reached Hughie first.

• Butcher told Hughie that the Seven had committed crimes and Vought had concealed them with help from people in government.
• Hughie questioned Butcher’s lack of evidence and said Lin Mo and Maeve had helped him, so he could not condemn them based on Butcher’s claims alone.
• Butcher asked Hughie to help investigate because Hughie was in contact with the Seven after Robin’s accident.
• Hughie agreed to hear Butcher out, kept his knowledge of Compound V to himself, and went with him to a bar after closing the shop.
• Lin Mo remained focused on researching Compound V, while A-Train received another call from his agent and stayed beside Lin Mo.

Lin Mo finished improving Compound V and explained the two serum versions to Maeve and Joanna. The chapter ended with the new serums ready, one granting predictable physical enhancements and the other retaining varied superpowers without the original risks.

• A-Train received a call from his agent and left to respond to the public backlash over injuring Robin.
• Maeve and Joanna waited in the laboratory, where Maeve repeatedly lost to Joanna in games.
• Lin Mo worked through the following evening and completed two improved doses of Compound V.
• Joanna and Maeve came over to see Lin Mo's results, which Maeve called Perfect Compound V.
• Lin Mo explained that one serum provided predictable all-around physical enhancement, while the other allowed varied superpowers without the original fatality risk or side effects.

Lin Mo explained that a person's desires might shape the ability they gained from the improved Compound V, then confirmed that the drug could heal Robin. He summoned Hughie to the research institute, where he noticed Hughie's mental state had worsened.

• Lin Mo theorized that a person's deepest wishes could influence the abilities gained from Compound V, using Hughie's teleportation as a possible example.
• Maeve asked whether the drug could heal Robin, and Lin Mo said it should transform her body and repair her injuries.
• Lin Mo messaged A-Train to bring Hughie to the research institute, and A-Train delivered him almost immediately.
• A-Train explained that Hughie had been upstairs and said he had taken care with his speed.
• Lin Mo thanked A-Train, then noticed that Hughie's mental state was much worse than when they had last met.

Hughie waited at Vought’s underground research facility for Lin Mo to help his girlfriend, troubled by the disturbing footage Butcher had shown him and his decision to take Compound V. He admitted that someone had told him Vought and the Seven had committed hidden, possibly illegal acts, leaving Lin Mo to hear his doubts.

• Hughie recalled the footage Butcher showed him of the Deep, Translucent, and other heroes discussing abuse, spying, and misconduct.
• Lin Mo noticed Hughie was distracted and asked whether he was nervous about receiving Compound V.
• Hughie reflected that he had encountered people from both sides and felt caught between them.
• Hughie told Lin Mo that someone had warned him about bad and potentially illegal things Vought and the Seven had done.

Hughie asked Lin Mo whether he knew about the misconduct Hughie had heard about, and Lin Mo confirmed that some of it was real. Lin Mo promised to investigate the specific allegations while making clear that he would protect those around him but would not police every Supe.

• Hughie asked Lin Mo whether he knew about the things someone had shown him about The Seven and Vought.
• Lin Mo suspected that Butcher had approached Hughie, while wondering why Butcher still wanted to fight Vought after events had changed.
• Maeve and A-Train stayed silent because they knew of misconduct among Vought's heroes but did not want to make excuses for it.
• Lin Mo told Hughie that some of the situations he had heard about were real and promised to look into the specific incidents.
• Lin Mo told Hughie that joining The Seven or Vought did not make someone better, and that he could not keep everyone in line.
• Lin Mo reminded Hughie that he wanted to protect Robin.

Lin Mo gave Hughie an improved dose of Compound V after Hughie questioned whether gaining powers would be unfair to people who could not protect themselves. Hughie injected it and began experiencing the bodily changes, while Lin Mo said he would speak with Butcher.

• Lin Mo asked Hughie whether A-Train's speed could have saved Robin, and Hughie silently recognized that it could have.
• Lin Mo said he would find Butcher and hear his complaints about Vought, while Hughie weighed Butcher's claims against Lin Mo's efforts to help Robin.
• Hughie asked whether giving him powers would be unfair to people without them, and Lin Mo avoided debating the issue.
• Lin Mo handed Hughie the improved Compound V, and Joanna urged him to inject it rather than keep arguing.
• Hughie injected the dose, and Lin Mo helped him sit down as his body began to change.