Laser Eyes!

Whenever the baby opened his eyes, two blue laser beams shot out of them, striking the crib's specially made protective cover with a faint sizzling sound.

This was the Supe baby he was looking for, the one with laser eyes!

Solomon did not act immediately. Instead, he warily scanned the ward and was pleasantly surprised to find that no cameras had been installed here.

Rather than opening the crib's transparent cover directly, he crawled through a gap and made his way to the back of the baby's neck.

Solomon glanced at his fist, then at the baby hundreds of times larger than himself, momentarily unsure what to do.

He really was afraid that a slip, a failure to control his strength, would kill this helpless baby.

He only wanted to take the laser eyes ability, not kill an innocent baby for no reason.

Solomon walked around the crib, thinking it over repeatedly, and finally abandoned the idea of using force directly.

He was a Supe, far stronger than an ordinary person. Even a light punch could leave this fragile baby with lifelong injuries, or even take his life outright.

"I'd better find a sedative. Giving her a shot should count as defeating her, right?"

Muttering to himself, Solomon approached the nearby medicine cabinet, carefully opened it, found a sedative, and drew out a tiny dose.

He was afraid too large a dose would harm the baby.

He slowly injected the sedative into the Compound V IV bag, then stood to one side and waited quietly.

Watching the blue liquid slowly mix inside the IV bag, Solomon could not help wondering whether Compound V would be of any use to him.

Almost every Supe in this world had awakened their abilities after being injected with Compound V. If he injected himself with it too, could he further enhance his abilities or awaken new ones?

But the moment this thought surfaced, he forcibly suppressed it.

He clearly remembered that a virus targeting Compound V would appear later.

He had superpowers now, but there was no Compound V in his body. Neither Soldier Boy's chest blast nor the future Compound V virus could affect him.

But once he injected Compound V, those things would become fatal weaknesses. However he looked at it, it was not worth it.

Solomon shook his head, dismissing the idea completely.

Compound V had never been anything good.

After he waited quietly for a few minutes, a familiar notification suddenly sounded in Solomon's mind.

"Ding. Supe defeated. Ability acquired: laser eyes."

Name: Solomon

Strength: level 2.03

Energy: level 2.04

Mind: level 1

Defense: level 2.1

Healing: level 3.002

Hearing: level 2.51

Vision: level 1.2

Speed: level 3.005

Abilities: carbon-fiber super skin, super speed, bone spikes, self-duplication, spark, levitation, shapeshifting, Ant-Man transformation, super-speed healing, rainbow fart, hair growth, light eyes, echolocation, memory reading, rubberization, laser eyes

Rubberization: can turn various parts of the body into rubber, freely stretching and twisting them and resisting a certain amount of physical impact.

Laser eyes: can fire blue lasers from both eyes. Laser temperature is linked to the user's energy level: level 1 corresponds to 1,000 degrees Celsius, level 2 to 2,000 degrees Celsius, level 3 to 3,000 degrees Celsius, and so on. Power increases with level.

A brilliant smile spread uncontrollably across Solomon's face. He finally had laser eyes!

Finally!

Besides gaining the two new abilities, rubberization and laser eyes, all his physical attributes had improved as well.

Taking the baby's laser eyes had pushed his energy straight past level 2, while the small increases in his other attributes came from the gains from killing Ezekiel.

Now, all he lacked was flight.

As long as he could obtain flight, his superpowers would be much the same as the all-powerful Homelander's!

Solomon bent down to look at the little one in the crib. The baby's delicate little face was all scrunched up, and even with his eyes closed, his lashes were long and thick. The longer Solomon looked, the cuter he seemed.

He lightly touched the crib's protective cover with his fingertip, a rare trace of gentleness passing through his eyes. Then he composed himself, turned, and walked toward the other corners of the ward.

He wanted to see whether there were any other Supe babies who had been injected with Compound V.

But after looking around, his hopes gradually fell flat. There was actually only this one baby in the entire pediatric intensive care unit.

The other cribs were all empty, furnished with clean bedding but without a trace of life.

Where were the other babies?

Solomon's heart sank, and a terrible thought surfaced in his mind. Compound V's success rate certainly was not one hundred percent.

In other words, very few of the babies injected with Compound V actually survived and awakened superpowers.

Had these empty cribs once held one tiny, living child after another?

Only, because of Compound V's side effects or a failed awakening, they had already died young, leaving this world forever.

Solomon sighed softly and slowly shook his head. He was no longer a softhearted man, but faced with these innocent babies, he still could not help feeling a little sorrow.

Gaining something meant giving something up. In this world, superpowers had never come for free. Seeking great power came with death and risk.

He forced himself to pull his thoughts back, comforting himself. Forget it. Stop thinking so much.

Perhaps these babies only needed to receive Compound V here at this stage. Once their bodies stabilized and their superpowers began to awaken, they no longer needed to stay.

Those empty beds might also have belonged to babies who had successfully awakened superpowers and been taken home by their parents to begin new lives.

Since there were no other Supes here, there was no point in staying.

Without further delay, Solomon silently left Mercy Hospital and headed toward Vought Tower.

On the ninety-ninth floor of Vought Tower, Solomon pushed open his apartment door and stopped dead.

A figure was sitting casually on the sofa, the Stars and Stripes Cape draped over the armrest. It was Homelander.

Solomon inwardly rolled his eyes, silently grumbling. Is there something wrong with this bastard's head?

Hanging around someone else's apartment all day long-does he really think he owns the place?

He discreetly concealed the impatience in his eyes. As he slowly put on his clothes, he adopted a blank expression, his voice carrying just the right amount of confusion.

"Homelander? What are you doing at my place?"

The words had barely left his mouth when Homelander sprang to his feet, moving so fast he left only an afterimage, and appeared before Solomon in an instant.

Before Solomon could react, a large, iron-vise hand had clamped tightly around his neck and hauled him bodily into the air, lifting his toes completely off the floor.

Violence roiled in Homelander's eyes, his voice bone-chillingly cold.

"You actually dared to kill Ezekiel!"