Lu Wen shook the red and white matter off his hand, wiped it on the headless corpse, and continued on his way.
The nights in the world of The Boys were livelier than he had expected.
Sirens and scattered shouts rang out from the streets and alleys from time to time, and an occasional flash of unnatural light flickered in the distance.
Before leaving, he had dragged the corpse behind a dumpster deep in the alley, not because he feared discovery, but mainly because he couldn't be bothered with the trouble.
According to the address Hughie had given him, Starlight's apartment was in a six-story brick building in Brooklyn. Lu Wen didn't take a cab; he headed toward Brooklyn on foot.
The layout of New York in the world of The Boys was much like its Marvel counterpart, but it lacked those few iconic landmarks. There was no Hell's Kitchen, nor any Avengers Tower...
After walking for about forty minutes, he found the building.
Its exterior walls were dingy gray, with a few loose bricks near their base. The access panel downstairs glowed red.
Lu Wen went around behind the building opposite it, confirmed no one was around, and jumped onto the roof, where he had a clear view toward Starlight's home.
Starlight wasn't home yet. He sat sideways against the wall, drew his legs in, and adjusted his position so he could watch the street below without being spotted by passersby, then waited quietly.
He sat on the rooftop for nearly an hour. Pedestrians gradually thinned out on the street. The convenience store's lights remained on, but no one was coming or going anymore.
At 10:23, a dark sedan stopped downstairs. Its door opened, and a blonde woman in a gray coat stepped out.
She was tall, and her stride was steady. After shutting the car door, she took two steps toward the entrance, then paused and looked around. Without lingering, she hurried to the door, took out her access card, and swiped herself inside.
Lu Wen didn't move. Only when his enhanced hearing picked up the sound of a key turning in a lock did he withdraw his gaze.
Starlight entered her apartment, and the lights came on.
Lu Wen didn't look any farther inside and leaned back against the wall.
He took out his phone and sent Hughie a message: "She's home. Safe."
About two minutes later, Hughie replied: "Thanks. Are you still nearby?"
"Camped out on the rooftop opposite her place."
"The rooftop..."
"Relax. She doesn't know."
"Okay. Contact me if anything happens."
Lu Wen put his phone away, rolled his shoulders, which had stiffened a little from sitting so long, then returned his gaze to the empty street below.
The lights in Starlight's apartment went out around eleven thirty. In the entire building, only the sound-activated light by the ground-floor entrance remained on.
Lu Wen just felt like some kind of voyeuristic creep right now...
He took a tent, sleeping bag, and other supplies out of his system storage. He had prepared all of them beforehand for precisely this kind of situation.
With preparations made in advance, he didn't have to spend the whole night in the cold wind like certain idiots, then insist he was strong enough to handle it.
What a joke. Being able to handle it was one thing; being uncomfortable was another. Just because you could endure it didn't mean it wouldn't feel lousy~
(*￣▽￣*)ブ
Lu Wen pitched the tent in a corner of the rooftop, crawled into his sleeping bag, and lay there for a while, gazing up at the murky gray night sky overhead.
City lights and pollution obscured almost all the stars in the world of The Boys. Only the "7" logo on the distant Vought building still shone with glaring light.
He rolled over and adjusted his position. Though there was enough room to sleep, the rooftop's concrete surface was still a little too hard, and a layer of sleeping mat didn't help much.
"If Tony found out he was eating Michelin-starred food in his Malibu mansion while I was sleeping on a rooftop floor, he'd probably laugh himself breathless."
He muttered that, lay there a while longer, then tossed and turned, unable to sleep.
Starlight had already turned out her lights, and there were no unusual sounds nearby. With nothing to do, he decided he might as well open the system panel and check the trait shop to see how much Homelander cost.
At a thought, the system panel appeared, black text on a white background. Switching to the trait shop section, he noticed an extra list of categories along the side.
There were only two options in the list: the Marvel Universe and The Boys Universe! He immediately selected The Boys Universe.
"Wow~"
The densely packed character portraits made his eyes swim.
Of course, right at the top was our man-child Homelander, followed by the original V1 five, whom he'd only seen in trailers and who hadn't officially appeared yet, and then... uh... countless small fry!
He even spotted the guy with the extra-long love sausage, and the old man with the testicle meteor hammer (the one who used his balls as a meteor hammer in season five).
Those two weren't expensive either. Converting their abilities into traits and buying them permanently cost only ten thousand points, putting them in the lowest tier.
Most supes were likewise stuck in the gray tier. Those who reached white could practically be counted on his fingers. Green and blue were even rarer, and purple was exceedingly scarce.
Homelander and the original five were in that tier!
Yes, the power displayed in the TV universe of The Boys wasn't particularly high. Even the highest traits it could produce were only purple.
All small fry~
"Holy Chovy~ But even these are beyond my budget! I can't even fucking afford a testicle meteor hammer right now! Fuck!"
Gritting his teeth, Lu Wen closed the panel. His nine thousand-odd points couldn't buy a damn thing!
Fucking system, evil capitalist! What absolute fucking moron had designed these prices out of his asshole?!
(System: ...)
Cursing inwardly, Lu Wen rolled over and tried to settle down for his first sleep since arriving in the world of The Boys.
There was no need to get too tense over Starlight. Her current situation looked a little dangerous, and in reality it wasn't safe at all; it simply wasn't going to swallow her up in danger right this moment.
Besides, if not for the subsystem, Hughie wouldn't have hired someone to protect Starlight in secret, so he might as well let things take their course.
The next morning, Lu Wen was awakened by the noisy traffic. A few hours of rest had been more than enough to restore his energy completely.
After packing up his things, Lu Wen continued watching Starlight's front door. Once she left, he followed her all the way to Vought headquarters.
That wasn't somewhere he could enter. He would have to find a way to get an identity that gave him a legitimate reason to go inside.
His goal was simple: find out where Compound V was, grab a bunch, and leave.
Even if he couldn't use it himself, he could sell it at the Ruins Market later for points.
As he was thinking, the phone in his pocket vibrated. Lu Wen took it out and checked it. Hughie had sent a message: they were back from Russia.
In other words, that old popsicle had woken up.
Hughie: "I'm done with my business. Everything okay on your end?"
Lu Wen: "Nothing major so far, but she seems to need some comforting from you. Want me to keep watching?"
Hughie: "What happened to Annie? Okay, no need. Come over first. I'll send you an address. Come hang out at my place for a bit."
Lu Wen put his phone away, stopped his surveillance, and quickly followed the address to the house where Hughie was currently staying.
"So you spent six thousand points just to have me watch your little girlfriend for a day like some perverted voyeur? Are you okay?"
The first thing Lu Wen did after entering was complain, leaving Hughie at a loss. Was that really the point?
"Uh, let's talk about that later. First, tell me what happened to her. What do you mean, she needs comforting?" Hughie's voice was full of worry.
"You've contacted Starlight already, right?"
"Yes."
"Then you'll find out in a bit. It's better if you two talk about this yourselves! Also, what do you want me to do next? Settle up, or keep protecting Starlight in secret?"
Lu Wen kept him in suspense and changed the subject.
"I... I haven't decided. I don't know what to do anymore... you know!"
Hughie told Lu Wen everything that had happened this time, including his anguish, his helplessness, and how it had felt to protect his friends after gaining superpowers...
"By the way, we've only met once. Is it really okay to tell me so many of your secrets?" Lu Wen wore a polite smile.
Hughie kept his head lowered as he said:
"I don't know, but you're the helper that system found for me. I feel like I can trust you! I just... wanted someone to talk to..."
Lu Wen took a deep breath, set aside his playful attitude, stood up, went over to Hughie, and patted him on the shoulder.
"I'm not very good at comforting people, but I can offer you one piece of advice. Don't run away. Face what's truly in your heart, and do it! Give it your all. Do what you think is right! And don't let hesitation leave you with regrets."
Hughie raised his head and met Lu Wen's encouraging gaze, turning over every word Lu Wen had said in his mind.
After a long while~ Hughie's eyelashes trembled, and he nodded slightly.
"I understand. Thank you."
Lu Wen still wore a perfectly measured smile, one he had long since perfected at work!
He didn't know whether Hughie had truly grasped anything, but he felt certain that whatever Hughie had grasped wasn't what he'd meant!
All he'd meant by that speech was "Stop being so dramatic! Get on with the damn job!" dressed up with some artful wording to make it sound a little nobler.
Before you continue