Chapter 33: The First Flight
Lu Chen silently pushed open the transom window on the side of the gymnasium.
He vaulted out and slid down the pipe on the outer wall. In the alley behind the boys' dormitory, a few hoodies hung out to dry by someone swayed in the wind.
Lu Chen pulled down two of the largest hoodies and grabbed a pair of sweatpants on his way.
Returning to the stands, Golden Boy was still sprawled out in the same position. Lu Chen slipped the hoodie onto Golden Boy, pulling the zipper all the way up to cover most of his face.
He bent down, propped Golden Boy's stomach against his shoulder, and used his lower back to hoist the 190-pound hunk up. He avoided the two security cameras on the main road.
He bypassed the flashlight beams of the patrolling security guards.
Lu Chen threw Golden Boy into the corner of the No. 3 Multi-purpose Training Room.
This place was highly utilized during the day, so the first person to arrive for training tomorrow morning would naturally discover their sleeping "Golden Boy."
As for how Golden Boy would explain why he woke up naked here? That was his own problem.
After settling Golden Boy, Lu Chen scaled the school's back wall and entered a suspended construction site. It was surrounded by high corrugated iron fences, with several yellow tower cranes standing under the night sky. There was no surveillance, and there were no passersby.
Thermonuclear Flight. This term rolled through his mind.
Lu Chen closed his eyes and focused his attention on the center of his chest.
There was a continuously operating high-temperature core there.
His mind issued a command.
Energy was drawn from the core, rapidly surging down the grain of his thigh muscles toward his feet.
The rubber of his soles was the first to give way. A burnt smell filled the air.
Two bursts of orange-red flame erupted from the soles of his feet.
A powerful counterforce was instantly generated.
Lu Chen's body suddenly shot upward.
Half a meter.
One meter.
The moment gravity was lost, his balance was broken.
The output power of his left foot was slightly greater, and his body immediately tilted to the right.
Lu Chen quickly lowered the energy in his left foot, while instinctively pressing his hands downward, trying to find support.
Two pillars of fire shot uncontrollably from his palms.
The four thrusts collided. Lu Chen flipped twice in midair and crashed heavily onto a pile of gravel.
Dust billowed up.
Lu Chen got up, patted the dirt off his body, and stood firm once more.
This time, he distributed the energy more evenly.
His feet directed the lift, while his hands adjusted his posture and direction. The flames erupted once more. The ground was scorched black, and gravel splattered in all directions. Lu Chen hovered steadily three meters off the ground.
With his knees slightly bent and hands outstretched, the rolling heat waves made his trouser legs rustle loudly.
Increasing the output, the pillars of fire beneath his feet instantly grew thicker and brighter.
Boom.
Lu Chen turned into a human missile, soaring straight into the sky. The wind resistance tore wildly at his cheeks.
The air pressure dropped sharply. Ten meters. Fifty meters. Two hundred meters. He pierced through the low-hanging clouds.
Two kilometers away.
At the Highway 3 toll booth, the night-shift toll collector was dozing off in his chair.
A blinding flash of light suddenly exploded in the night sky.
He woke up with a start and pressed himself against the glass window to look outside.
A trail with an incandescent tail flame pierced straight through the clouds. "What is that? A missile?" The toll collector rubbed his eyes.
Lu Chen hovered at an altitude of five hundred meters. The soles of his feet maintained a constant, weak jet to counteract gravity.
His feet jetted stable pillars of fire, and his hands occasionally spat small bursts of flame to adjust his direction.
The night wind brushed against his cheeks.
Lu Chen looked down. The steel and concrete of the construction site had turned into a pile of building blocks. In the distance, the lights of the Godolkin University campus twinkled. Further away was the never-dying neon glow of New York City.
Unbound by gravity, looking down upon all things.
This illusion of complete control grew wildly in his mind. The Thermonuclear Engine inside him roared, constantly urging him to fly higher, fly faster, and burn down everything he disliked.
Lu Chen abruptly cut off the energy output.
The flames went out.
His body instantly lost its support, falling straight toward the ground.
The feeling of weightlessness rushed over him again, and the sound of the wind tore at his ears.
When he was still five meters from the ground, Lu Chenignited his power once more.
"Boom!"
The strong cushioning force shook his legs. He landed steadily on the concrete slab.
Lu Chen stood in place, calming his breathing.
He forcefully suppressed the feeling of superiority and inflated ego he had just felt.
This World was full of bizarre superpowers; even someone with Homelander's physical constitution could be knocked unconscious by a mouthful of toxic gas from some random Superhumans.
In this World without boundaries, he still had to keep working hard; the road ahead was long and difficult.
To acquire more and stronger high-level abilities, he had to get in touch with the people at the very top.
Joining The Seven was a shortcut, and also a good way to gain access to Vought's entire industry. After all, Vought's value had never been in the entertainment industry or Superhumans; they were a pharmaceutical company.
If he went to other Worlds in the future, this kind of potion that could grant superpowers could be used as a bargaining chip, not to mention V1, which could grant eternal youth.
Now Translucent was dead.
Madelyn Stillwell was currently keeping this news tightly under wraps, but a fire cannot be wrapped in paper.
Once the news was made public, a spot in The Sevenwould open up.
But Lu Chen knew that Vought would reserve this spot for Stormfront, and he still needed an admission ticket. Demonstrating his strength was the first step.
But strength alone was not enough. Vought did not lack thugs; what they lacked were stars who could generate commercial value, or blades that could help them solve trouble.
In The Seven, there were still a few people occupying spots who were completely useless.
For example, that idiot who spent all day mating with fish.
He had to find a way to get rid of one to free up more spots.
He could get Homie to help get rid of one of them.
As long as he played a little with his fragile self-esteem and paranoia about betrayal, he would probably be more than happy to clean house.
So, for the next step of the plan, he had to stake out the Shapeshifter.
Lu Chen climbed back into his dorm through the window, sat on the edge of the bed, and stared blankly at the ceiling.
The logic for finding the Shapeshifter was not complicated. The hard part was the timing.
Normally, Vought's upper management controlled this kind of "functional asset" extremely tightly.
The Shapeshifter was not a superhero; he didn't need to make public appearances or have fans. He was an exclusive tool dedicated to dirty work like identity disguise, PR stand-ins, and pillow control. Madelyn Stillwell would not easily show a card like this.
But now, the rules on the table had changed.
Translucent was dead.
Lu Chen's fingers unconsciously tapped the mattress. Vought was currently keeping this news tightly under wraps, hiding it for as long as they could. In the short term, they could still brush it off with rhetoric like "Translucent is on a secret mission." But what about the long term?
The sponsors were not fools.
Translucent had exclusive endorsement contracts signed with three brands, one of which was a super commercial for Budweiser—that was a deal worth over twenty million dollars.
If Translucent missed two or three commercial events in a row, the brand's legal team would show up even before the reporters.
Vought would not announce his death. At least not in the short term.
That would be too embarrassing.
A prestigious member of The Seven dying silently—this alone could cause Vought's stock price to drop by eight points.
So they would definitely use a double.
The Shapeshifter.
As long as he kept an eye on the upcoming public events Translucent was scheduled to attend, the person who stood in for him would be his prey.
The problem was, Lu Chen was not an insider at Vought. He couldn't see the business schedule of The Seven.
But there was one person who could.
Chapter 34: A Deal with Annie
Lu Chen fished his phone out from under his pillow.
The screen glowed faintly to life.
He scrolled to his contacts, his thumb hovering over the name "Iowa" for two seconds.
This line could not be cut just yet.
Lu Chen began to draft a text.
Asking directly "What is Translucent doing lately?" was too suspicious; it had to be packaged.
"Are you still awake? I need a favor regarding my roommate."
Send.
He placed the phone face down on the bed. He didn't expect an instant reply from Annie; after all, at this hour, normal people were fast asleep.
Buzz.
The phone vibrated.
Lu Chen flipped the phone over.
Annie: "What is it? Let's hear it."
She wasn't asleep at this hour.
A few thoughts flashed through Lu Chen's mind: insomnia, duty, or simply being too disgusted by those people at Vought to sleep.
Regardless of which one it was, it was good news for him.
"My roommate is a die-hard fan of Translucent. I shot my mouth off earlier and bragged that I knew Starlight, and now this guy is pestering me every day, demanding I ask you if Translucent has any public offline events recently. He wants to go get an autograph."
Lu Chen reviewed his wording.
"Knowing Starlight," rather than "having Starlight's contact information."
The scale of the word "knowing" was just right. It explained why he could contact Annie, without making her feel like she was being treated as some kind of tool to be used at will.
Send.
Thirty seconds later, Annie's reply popped up.
"Wait a second."
"You bragged to your roommate that you know me?"
Lu Chen looked at the message, his eyelid twitching.
This girl's focus was always so peculiar.
Annie's second message popped up immediately: "So you go around telling people at school that you know someone from The Seven?"
Third message: "... Hahahaha."
Fourth message: "So you're capable of doing things like that too."
"I don't go around telling everyone. I only mentioned it to one roommate," Lu Chen typed calmly. "He asked why I was smiling so happily when I took a call that day, and I just casually said I knew you. He ended up remembering it."
After sending it, Lu Chen stared at the screen.
Annie was quiet for nearly a minute on the other end.
Then, a message popped up.
"You were smiling when you took my call?"
Lu Chen didn't reply immediately. He deliberately waited forty seconds before slowly typing a line to steer the topic back on track.
"Let's talk business. Can you help me ask about Translucent's events?"
Annie: "Yes."
Annie: "I'll help you check his recent public schedule. But I can't see Vought's schedule at any time, so it might take a couple of days."
Lu Chen: "No rush. Thanks."
Annie: "Don't thank me just yet."
Annie: "I have a condition."
Lu Chen's thumb stopped.
Annie: "You have to come out and keep me company."
Annie: "Any day is fine. I'm about to be driven crazy being cooped up in this place, acting every single day, performing for everyone to see."
The cold light of the phone screen reflected on Lu Chen's face.
Keeping her company for a walk. The request itself wasn't excessive; it could even be considered an extra benefit—face-to-face contact meant more information exchange.
But the way Annie proposed this condition made Lu Chenthink a layer deeper.
She wasn't demanding; she was asking for help.
"About to be driven crazy being cooped up in this place"—Vought Tower, that glamorous superhero headquarters, was a cage to her.
Lu Chen typed: "Fine. You set the time."
Annie's reply was almost instantaneous.
"Really?"
"You won't stand me up, right?"
"I'm telling you, besides you, I can't find a single person I can talk to normally anymore."
Three messages came in like a barrage, with intervals of no more than two seconds. From those dense texts, Lu Chencould read a long-repressed desire to vent.
Annie: "You have no idea how disgusting Vought is."
Annie: "I told you before that they gave me a new costume. I didn't want to wear it, and they ended up changing it to one that was even more revealing."
Annie: "Then they told me it was 'brand upgrading'."
Annie: "I argued my case, saying I didn't want to wear it, and they just brought out the contract, saying I didn't have to, but the breach of contract penalty was 47 million."
Lu Chen watched the message bubbles constantly refreshing on the screen.
Annie was using him as an emotional trash can.
In interpersonal relationships, this was a very clear signal. She had categorized him into the "safe zone," an object with whom she could lower her guard and not have to maintain the "Starlight" persona.
This was exactly the position Lu Chen needed.
"47 million." Lu Chen replied, "They even calculated the fraction of the penalty; it seems this outfit wasn't a spur-of-the-moment decision."
Annie: "Of course not! Vought doesn't do anything on a whim. Every step is calculated. Before you even sign the contract, they've already planned how to squeeze you dry for the next ten years!"
Annie: "By the way."
Annie: "Never sign any documents for Vought in the future."
Annie: "Any."
Annie: "I'm serious."
Lu Chen stared at the last three messages, his fingertip tapping lightly on the screen.
"I'll remember that," Lu Chen replied. "You set a time, and I'll come out and walk with you. Consider it paying back this favor."
Annie: "It's not a favor!"
Annie: "It's just... I just want to find a normal person to chat with."
Annie: "How about this Saturday afternoon? Central Park. Don't dress too conspicuously. I'll wear a hat."
"Okay."
Annie: "It's a deal then. I'll go help you check Translucent's schedule."
Annie: "Good night."
Lu Chen locked the screen.
Saturday. Central Park.
Two days later.
If Annie could get Translucent's schedule before Saturday, he could precisely lock down the time and location of the Shapeshifter's appearance. By then, whether intercepting the person at the event or following them backstage to take action...
The Shapeshifter's ability would be his.
Changing appearance and body shape at will. The combat power of this ability itself might not be high, but its strategic value was immeasurable.
With it, he could disguise himself as anyone to infiltrate Vought Tower. He could replace a member of The Seven to access more core secrets.
He could even take on Homelander's face and, at the most opportune moment, turn everything upside down.
Lu Chen stuffed the phone back under the pillow.
He closed his eyes, the nuclear thermal engine in his chest running steadily, providing a constant stream of energy.
The system panel appeared on his retina.
[Current charging progress: 0.6%]
0.1% more than before.
At this rate, how long would it take to fully charge? Lu Chen did a quick mental calculation.
About 900,000 hours. 37,500 days.
One hundred years.
Truly a length of time so long it made one want to curse.
However, he quickly adjusted his mindset. Since the nuclear thermal engine could be charged, energy attacks like Stormfront's lightning or Homelander's Heat Visionshould also be able to serve as his "power bank." If all else failed, he could get his hands on V1 to live forever; he could afford to wait a hundred years.
As long as there was a path to take, it wasn't a dead end.
Buzz.
The phone vibrated again.
Lu Chen fished out the phone again, thinking it was Annie complaining about something else.
It wasn't.
It was a news push notification.
[Breaking: The Seven's Translucent suspected of missing "Freedom Foundation" charity gala; Vought International responds, claiming he is executing a "top-secret mission"—]
Lu Chen swiped away the notification.
It had begun.
Vought's cover-up operation had already started. Rhetoric like "top-secret mission" could only fool the media for a week or two at most. Once the sponsors' legal letters piled up on Madelyn Stillwell's desk, it would be time for the Shapeshifter to take the stage.
All he needed to do was wait.
Wait for that schedule from Annie.
Wait for the prey to walk into the spotlight on its own.
Daylight squeezed in through the gap in the curtains, drawing a thin white line on the floor. Lu Chen turned over, preparing to doze off for a while.
The phone vibrated a third time.
It was Annie.
Annie: "By the way, I forgot to ask."
Annie: "When you took my call, were you really smiling?"
Lu Chen stared at the small text on the screen. In the darkness, without him even realizing it, his constantly tense lips curled into a faint arc.
He locked the screen and didn't reply.
Let her guess.
Chapter 35: The Legend of the Fastest Rescue
The next day, the early class for the Crime Fighting department.
The lecture hall was sparsely populated, and the fluorescent lights illuminated the tired faces of everyone in clear detail.
On the podium, the invited professional Professor was spitting as he enthusiastically explained tracking and anti-tracking techniques.
"...Remember, the first thing an excellent tracker must learn is how to make themselves a part of the environment.
You are not tracking a person; you are tracking an area, a system.
Your target is merely a moving variable within this system..."
Lu Chen sat in the first row, his back straight, his hands typing rapidly on his laptop, recording key points.
In the curriculum of Godolkin University, this knowledge might just be to give future Superhumans more talking points when facing the media.
But for him, these were solid survival skills.
How to hide oneself, how to spot a stalker, how to use the urban environment to create blind spots.
Every single one could save his life at some point in the future.
He listened intently, while in the corner of the back row of the classroom, a gaze had hardly left his back.
Cate rested her chin on one hand, her fingertips unconsciously stroking the smooth surface of her glove.
She wasn't really listening to the lecture.
Her thoughts were still stuck on yesterday.
That sudden kiss, the oppressive air in the warehouse, Golden Boy's twisted face, and that aura on Lu Chen that made her heart race—a mix of destruction and tranquility.
They had become accomplices.
This realization, far from making her feel afraid, instead gave rise to a strange sense of comfort.
Someone who could share her darkest secrets.
She looked at Lu Chen's focused profile, watching his fingers, steady and strong.
He seemed different from everyone else.
Coming back to her senses, she looked at her reflection in the window and found herself unconsciously curling her lips into a smile.
She glanced at the empty seat.
Golden Boy didn't come today.
She could almost imagine the scene: Godolkin's "Golden Boy" waking up in some strange room, discovering he was completely naked—all because he couldn't control his own abilities—that expression of shock, shame, and rage must be spectacular.
Thinking of this, she couldn't help it and let out a low laugh.
The bell rang for the end of class.
Lu Chen packed his things unhurriedly.
A pair of feet in Doc Martens stopped beside his desk.
He looked up; it was Cate.
"It's noon." Lu Chen zipped up his backpack and stood up. "Want to grab some lunch?"
He didn't mention yesterday, nor did he mention Golden Boy.
It was as if none of that had ever happened.
Just an ordinary classmate, on an ordinary day, extending an ordinary lunch invitation.
Cate was stunned for a moment, then nodded.
"Okay."
She liked this feeling.
Relaxed, normal.
The two found a restaurant not far from the school.
It was noisy, filled with the aroma of food and the sound of voices.
This time, Lu Chen didn't lead into any heavy topics.
They chatted about school gossip, complained about the Professor's unchanging teaching style, and even speculated with great interest about what excuse Golden Boy would use to explain himself.
"I bet he'll say he went to destroy an underground criminal syndicate single-handedly last night, and because the battle was so intense, all his clothes were burned off." Cate cut into the steak on her plate, analyzing with mock seriousness.
Lu Chen took a sip of water.
"He will emphasize that it was a'secret mission,' so no video footage was left behind."
Cate was amused by his deadpan addition, her shoulders trembling slightly.
"Yes, yes! And then Andre will be the first to jump out and believe him, posting on the campus network to praise Golden Boy's bravery and fearlessness."
Lu Chen looked at the pure smile on her face; trust is often built from these trivial daily routines.
Halfway through the meal, the television hanging in the corner of the restaurant, which had been playing a noisy talk show, suddenly cut to black.
The glaring red words "BREAKING NEWS" occupied the entire screen.
A serious-looking female anchor appeared on the screen.
"We have just received urgent news: Transoceanic Flight 37, flying from Paris to Chicago, has lost contact over the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. According to unconfirmed sources, the flight may have been hijacked by Terrorists."
The noise in the restaurant instantly died down.
Everyone looked up at the screen.
"There are currently 123 passengers and 8 crew members on board. The Military has already dispatched F-16s to rescue them; let us keep a close watch."
Lu Chen put down his fork.
It was time.
His movement was subtle, but Cate, sitting opposite him, still noticed his instantaneous change.
It was the kind of reaction a Beast has when it smells blood—instantly tensing its muscles.
Flight 37.
Atlantic Ocean.
Hijacking.
These keywords instantly assembled into a complete puzzle in his mind.
This was the rescue operation that Homelander and Queen Maeve messed up.
For Lu Chen, this meant one thing: the opportunity he had been waiting for had arrived.
To deal with the hijacking over the Atlantic Ocean, Vought had dispatched Homelander and Maeve, their two top combatants.
Once they were gone, the remaining Superhumans—the ones who could fight couldn't fly, and the ones who could fly couldn't fight as well as him.
For the next few hours, the entire city would be in an unprecedented state of being "undefended" as far as he was concerned.
And he happened to know a place: Mercy Hospital.
Sponsored by the Samaritan's Embrace, it was the place where Compound V was secretly injected into infants, transported under the guise of polio vaccines.
"Lu Chen?" Cate's voice pulled him back from his thoughts. "What's wrong?"
Lu Chen looked up, his face already restored to calmness.
"Nothing, just feel a bit sorry for those passengers."
He pulled out a tissue to wipe his mouth, then stood up.
"I'm done eating. I have some things to do this afternoon, so I have to go."
Cate looked at him, opened her mouth to ask what he had to do, but swallowed the words before they could come out.
She felt a strong sense of detachment from him, as if the boy who had just been chatting and laughing with her was merely an illusion.
The person in front of her was already occupied by some larger, more urgent goal.
"...Okay." She finally spat out only one word.
Lu Chen nodded at her, as a farewell, then turned and walked quickly out of the restaurant.
The wind chime on the door jingled.
Cate sat alone in her seat, watching his back disappear into the crowd, feeling a strange sense of emptiness in her heart.
Lu Chen did not look back.
He crossed two streets and slipped into an empty back alley.
He leaned against the wall, confirming there were no surveillance cameras or prying eyes around.
Then, he took a dark gray hoodie out of his backpack to put on, and took out the most ordinary blue medical mask from his pocket and put it on.
He pulled his hood down and the mask covered the lower half of his face, revealing only his eyes.
The simplest disguise, yet also the most effective.
In today's city, where surveillance is everywhere, people dressed like this can be seen everywhere and won't attract any special attention.
Ready.
He took a few steps to build momentum, pushed off hard, and his body leaped up lightly.
At the peak of his ascent, the thermal nuclear engine inside him roared to life.
With a speed far beyond human imagination, he shot into the high sky.
He ascended to the highest point he could fly, like a ghost, skimming over the steel jungle of New York City.
Ten minutes later, the building of Mercy Hospital appeared below his field of vision.
The hospital parking lot was full of cars, people came and went at the main entrance, and everything looked no different from any ordinary city hospital.
He landed on the rooftop of an apartment building opposite the hospital, suppressed all energy fluctuations, and began to head toward the hospital.
Chapter 36: LV4 Heat Vision Acquired
Arriving at the hospital entrance, Lu Chen pulled down his hat and adjusted the blue surgical mask on his face. He followed the crowd through the side entrance into Mercy Hospital.
The disinfectant smell in the hall was pungent. A Nurse at the information desk was explaining something to a family member, and a large screen on the wall continuously played a promotional video for the Samaritan's Embrace Foundation. In the video, several Doctors in white coats held babies, smiling kindly. The caption read: Lighting up hope for every new life.
Lu Chen watched the screen and sneered inwardly.
Hope. Hope forcibly catalyzed by Compound V. These babies were merely to maintain a lie,'superpowers are gifts from God'.
He didn't linger, avoiding crowded areas and heading straight for the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit.
At the end of the corridor, a heavy electronic isolation door blocked his way. Lu Chen raised his right hand. His eyes lit up, and a faint glow flashed from his fingertips. Light Manipulation LV4 activated.
The ceiling lights in the corridor emitted an overwhelmed electrical whine, all power forcibly drawn away and gathered in Lu Chen's palm.
The electronic lock of the access control burst into a dazzling shower of sparks, and the alarm system failed.
Lu Chen walked forward and pulled open the isolation door.
Behind the door, rows of neat incubators could be seen, with cameras above each box pointed at the infants.
Lu Chen snapped his fingers.
The wires in the surrounding walls subtly vibrated, and miniature light energy pulses precisely flowed backward along the circuits.
"Bang! Bang! Bang!"
All the cameras in the ward exploded simultaneously, glass shards and plastic casings scattering across the floor.
Now, he had a few minutes of absolute safety.
Lu Chen walked to the first incubator. The baby inside was sound asleep. He opened the incubator, extended a finger, and placed it on the baby's warm forehead.
[Superpower detected: LV1. Localized Hair Hardening]
[Estimated Copy time: Half a minute]
Lu Chen's mouth twitched.
Grow stiff hair? What could this ability do if awakened? Go to the Mutant World next door and be a 'do you' hero?
He withdrew his hand without hesitation and moved to the next.
[Superpower detected: LV1. Vocal Cord Mutation (high-decibel crying)]
[Superpower detected: LV1. Skin Pigmentation Discoloration]
[Superpower detected: LV2. Body Enhancement]
[Superpower detected: LV1. Slightly Acidic Saliva]
He touched more than a dozen in a row, all of them worthless, low-grade abilities. Some even hadn't awakened any abilities, simply having their immune systems destroyed by Compound V, surviving on respirators.
This was the truth behind Vought's Chosen Son Project. Tens of thousands of tubes of Compound V were injected into these newborns every year, and it was lucky if even one valuable super was produced out of dozens of babies. No wonder so few superheroes had been able to replace members of The Seven over the years.
Mutation was entirely a gamble of probability.
When he touched the twenty-third incubator, the system prompt changed.
[Superpower detected: LV4 Heat Vision. Eyes can emit blue, high-intensity focused thermal rays, possessing extremely strong cutting and melting capabilities]
[Estimated Copy time: 6 hours]
Found it. "Only LV4? That makes sense, his Heat Vision can still be blocked by this special incubator, after all."
But it was enough. With this, he would also have a means of long-range attack.
He glanced at the nameplate on the incubator and remembered this baby.
He needed to take the person away.
To ensure no other superpowers were missed, he sped up and touched all the remaining dozen or so babies.
[Superpower detected: Super Speed LV3]
[Estimated Copy time: Half an hour]
Good luck, there was also a byproduct. A Speedster ability similar to A-Train.
The reconnaissance was complete.
Lu Chen turned and walked towards a medical cold storage cabinet, gripping the metal door handle with one hand and pulling hard.
"Creak—"
The steel lock was violently torn off. Cold air rushed out. Inside the cabinet were several bags of pure Compound Vliquid.
After taking them all, he casually picked two babies who had awakened useless abilities. Four in total, not too many, not too few, just enough to confuse the public.
He walked up to the babies, touched them with his hand, and a faint, eerie glow appeared in his eyes.
Mind Control LV3 activated.
Invisible mental fluctuations enveloped the four babies like a tide.
Basic Hypnosis.
A baby who had been restlessly squirming instantly quieted down, its tightly furrowed brows relaxed, and its breathing became steady and long, falling into a deep sleep along with the other three.
Lu Chen tore off two large medical sterile sheets, bundled the four babies together like a package, tied a knot, and carried them on his back.
Done.
Lu Chen walked to the door and glanced at the security personnel rushing towards him.
Their reaction speed was barely passable.
He returned inside, raised his hand, and aimed towards the hospital corridor.
Light Manipulation activated.
All power in the entire corridor was instantly drained. All electronic devices, monitoring hosts, and alarm systems in this corridor short-circuited and burned out at this moment.
Then he kicked and shattered the tempered glass window in the room.
He secured the package, leaped out the window, and his internal Thermonuclear Engine roared.
Two streams of high-temperature flames erupted. The powerful thrust made him cut a sharp arc in the air, soaring into the sky, and in the blink of an eye, he pierced through the clouds, disappearing into New York City's hazy skyline.
The wind howled in his ears.
He did not linger in the city but flew directly towards the forest area north of New York.
About ten minutes later, he landed in a dense redwood forest.
The surroundings were silent, towering trees blocked the sunlight, and only the rustling of wind through the leaves could be heard. The air was filled with the smell of earth and decaying leaves.
It was safe enough here.
Lu Chen placed the package on a flat bluestone and untied the knotted sheets.
The four babies were still sound asleep, breathing evenly.
He glanced at his phone. 1:45 PM.
News of the plane crash with no survivors would likely soon ignite global media, and Madelyn Stillwell was probably smashing cups in her office. They definitely wouldn't care about these lost test subjects.
This was a perfect window of opportunity.
Lu Chen sat cross-legged beside the baby with LV4 Heat Vision.
He extended his right hand and steadily placed it on the baby's warm forehead.
[Starting Copy]
[Superpower: LV4. Heat Vision]
[Copy progress: 0.01%...]
The system's Copy progress bar lit up on his retina.
6 hours.
Afterward, he would give a bag of Compound V to Hughieand the others. After all, with his head start, Butcher and his team probably wouldn't be able to get into that hospital. He would also take the opportunity to contact Kimiko. As for these children, Lu Chen felt a headache coming on.
"Forget it. I'll send you back after I get the Shapeshifterability. Until then, I'll be your nanny for a few days."
Chapter 37: Babysitter Lu Chen's Late-Night Business
Night shrouded the redwood forest. Lu Chen sat cross-legged on a bluestone, motionless, like a statue blending into the night.
The virtual progress bar before his eyes finally reached the last segment after six long hours.
[Copy complete]
[Obtained Superpower: LV4. Heat Vision]
Lu Chen slowly opened his eyes.
An unprecedented burning sensation gathered deep within his eyeballs, as if two miniature Suns were igniting inside his skull. He could clearly feel a massive amount of energy surging through the veins in his eyes, ready to erupt at any moment.
This was Heat Vision.
One of Homelander's signature abilities.
Although it was only LV4, and its power was far from the intensity with which Homelander easily melted through planes, for him, this was undoubtedly a huge boost to his combat strength. It completed his weakest means of long-range attack.
The four infants beside him were still sleeping deeply under hypnosis, breathing steadily, completely unaware of the changes in the outside World.
Without pausing, he immediately placed his palm against the forehead of another infant—the child who had awakened Super Speed.
[Start Copy, estimated time: half an hour]
[Superpower: LV3 Super Speed]
[Copy progress: 1%...]
Half an hour wasn't long.
During the wait, Lu Chen took out his phone.
The signal in the forest area was poor, but it could barely load some news notifications.
Sure enough, the headlines of all major media outlets had been completely exploded by the Flight 37 crash. In the video, Homelander stood in front of the wreckage of the plane, his face wearing an expression of sorrow and determination, delivering a passionate speech.
He did not follow Madelyn Stillwell's script to save the people on the plane, allowing Vought Company and the superheroes to gain massive prestige, thereby winning the votes of the congressmen, and combined with the high-level officials already infiltrated by Vought Company, steadily achieving the plan for Superhumans to enter the military.
On the contrary, he pointed the spearhead directly at the current system.
"I arrived too late... If we had received the news earlier, if superheroes were allowed to join the military and participate in counter-terrorism operations, today's tragedy could have been avoided."
"We have the ability to protect everyone, but they have tied our hands and feet with bureaucratic red tape."
The speech was extremely inflammatory.
The sadness and fear of the public were skillfully transformed by him into anger at the government's inaction.
Lu Chen watched the blonde, blue-eyed man in the video, who looked like a real hero.
For Vought Company, this was a failure, but for Homelander himself, this was a good move.
Homelander was no longer satisfied with being a superstar manipulated by Vought Company; he wanted greater power, real, unconstrained power.
This step completely disrupted Madelyn Stillwell's plan. Now, this Vought Company vice president was probably going crazy with anger in her office, with no time to care about the few test subjects and vials of Compound V lost in a hospital.
Chaos was the best protective color.
Thirty minutes passed quickly.
[Copy complete]
[Obtained Superpower: LV3. Super Speed]
Lu Chen didn't stop. He spent another five minutes, casually copying and fusing the LV2 physical enhancement ability as well. As for the last ability, skin pigment discoloration, he couldn't even be bothered to look at it again.
He put away his phone, stood up, and stretched his somewhat stiff body.
It was time to test the power of his new toys.
He walked to a boulder a few dozen meters away, looked up, and locked his gaze on the center of the boulder.
The next second, his eyes lit up with a dim blue light.
Two blue rays shot out from his eyes, landing precisely where he was looking.
Lu Chen controlled his gaze, moving it steadily as if painting with a brush. A few seconds later, he retracted the ability.
On the boulder, a circle with a diameter of one meter had been cut out, the edges still bearing black marks from high-temperature burning.
A night breeze blew by, and the cut-out stone slab crashed heavily onto the ground, making a dull thud.
Lu Chen nodded with satisfaction.
The LV4 Heat Vision was even more powerful than he had imagined. Moreover, this precise cutting ability was often more useful than simple explosive destruction.
Next was Super Speed.
He took a deep breath, focused his mind, and felt the new, eager energy within his body.
He slightly hunched down, then exerted force with his feet.
"Whoosh!"
The gale whipped across his cheeks like knives. He could even feel the screeching sound of the air being compressed and torn by his high-speed movement.
In just a few seconds, he had rushed nearly a kilometer and stopped in front of an unfamiliar wooded area. The strong inertia caused the decaying leaves and soil on the ground to kick up a wave behind him.
"Not bad." Lu Chen felt his heart beating slightly faster.
With the abilities in hand, it was time to deal with the current trouble.
Back at the original spot, he looked at the four infants still sleeping on the ground and felt a headache.
He couldn't just keep leaving them in the forest.
He stood up, the thermal engine in his body started, and he rose into the air. His gaze scanned the area for several kilometers, and soon, he discovered a solitary, abandoned wooden house on the shady side of a hill.
It looked like a ranger cabin from many years ago.
A dozen seconds later, he landed in front of the wooden house with his "bundle."
The room was covered in a thick layer of dust, but it was still intact. He found an old mattress, patted the dust off it, and then carefully placed the four infants side by side on it.
"I'll have to trouble you for a while." He looked at the few pink, tender little faces and muttered to himself.
After settling everything, he walked outside, found a spot with a slightly better signal, and dialed Hughie's number.
The phone rang a few times before being answered, and Hughie's voice, carrying a hint of anxiety and unease, came through.
"Lu Chen? Is that you? Are you okay? Where are you now?"
"Hey, bro." Lu Chen made his voice sound a little tired. "What are you doing?"
"I... I'm watching the Base." Hughie's voice was a bit low. "Butcher... they went out on a mission and haven't come back yet. How about you? Was your mission... smooth?"
Lu Chen understood.
It seemed Butcher and the others had already set off to capture Kimiko.
At this point in time, Hughie really didn't have much presence in the team; he couldn't help with important tasks, and he had no special abilities, so he could only stay behind.
"I'm fine." Lu Chen lowered his voice, creating a sense of exhaustion from surviving a disaster. "The plan was very risky, a narrow escape from death, but I succeeded. I got the Compound V."
"Compound V?" Hughie on the other end of the line was stunned for a moment, then immediately realized. "You mean... that 'power pill' A-Train uses? That stimulant for Superhumans?"
As expected.
Hughie hadn't had contact with Starlight, so naturally, he hadn't had the chance to Copy the data on her phone and investigate it further. The Boys' knowledge of Compound Vwas still at the most basic stage of it being a drug for Superhumans.
"No, Hughie, you're completely wrong." Lu Chen's tone became extremely serious. "It's not a stimulant, nor is it a drug. Its function is ten thousand times more terrifying than we imagined."
"What do you mean?" Hughie was made nervous by his grave tone.
Lu Chen was silent for a moment, then said word by word: "Its greatest function is that it can allow an ordinary person to possess superpowers. All of Vought Company's superheroes were created using it!"
The other end of the line fell into a deathly silence.
Lu Chen could imagine the shocked expression on Hughie's face right now. This discovery was enough to subvert his understanding of the entire World.
After a dozen seconds, Hughie's voice, carrying a tremor, sounded again: "You... are you telling the truth? Can ordinary people... also turn into Superhumans?"
"Absolutely true."
"My god..." Hughie muttered to himself, clearly still digesting this explosive information.
"Listen, Hughie." Lu Chen interrupted his shock. "When Butcher comes back, bring him to the address I sent you. Remember, only you two come. The situation is very complicated right now, and besides you two, I can't trust anyone else."
Hughie on the other end of the line was still a bit dazed from the massive information shock. But he heard Lu Chen's final instruction clearly.
Only you two.
I can't trust anyone else.
This sentence hit him like an electric current.
Hughie agreed without a moment's hesitation.
Without having connected with Starlight, he increasingly felt like a burden in the team; he couldn't fight, and he lagged behind in infiltration. Most of the time, he could only stay behind at the Base, unable to do anything. But now, Lu Chen had given him such an important task, a secret that could change everything.
This was a feeling of being needed, of being trusted.
This made him feel his own worth for the first time.
"I... I understand!" Hughie's breathing became rapid, but his voice was unusually firm. "I'll wait for Butcher to come back, and then... we'll come over immediately! Just the two of us!"
"By the way, tell me where you are hiding now; after all, calls are too easy to be monitored, and I will go directly to the Base to meet up with you when necessary."
"Okay, okay, we are currently at..." Hughie replied.
Hanging up the phone, Lu Chen looked at the coordinates sent on his phone screen, his eyes becoming deep.
Although I still need you guys to cause trouble outside to attract Vought Company's attention, you are all about to be fully exposed, so you are not worth me spending too much energy on for the time being. From now on, just maintaining one-way contact with Hughie will be enough.
Chapter 38: Cleaning Up Loose Ends
After hanging up the phone, Hughie clutched his phone tightly, his palms sweating.
Excitement, nervousness, and a thrill of being entrusted with an important task made his heart pound.
He paced back and forth, waiting anxiously, feeling as if every minute and second was as long as a century.
Dozens of minutes later, the iron door of the underground Base was roughly pulled open from the outside.
Butcher's figure walked in first, followed by a grim-faced Mothers Milk and an exhausted, worried Frenchie.
In Frenchie's arms, he was holding a fainted black-haired girl—it was Kimiko.
"Lock her in the cage, use the highest-strength alloy lock." Butcher's voice was cold, carrying a hint of exhaustion after completing the mission.
The group worked together to lock the still-sleeping Kimiko into a specially made metal cage; when Frenchielocked the final latch, his movements were somewhat hesitant and reluctant.
"Butcher, do we really have to..."
"Shut up, Frenchie." Butcher interrupted him. "You saw the fate of those gangsters; she is a killing weapon, not your pet."
Seeing that the two were about to argue again, Hughie, who had been unable to hold back, rushed forward and grabbed Butcher's arm, pulling him outside.
"Butcher! I have something important to tell you!" Hughielowered his voice, but the excitement in his tone could not be hidden.
Butcher impatiently shook off his hand. "What could be more important than a Superhuman who could wake up at any moment and tear us apart?"
"It's Compound V!" Hughie said urgently. "Lu Chen got his hands on it! And... and it's not just some stimulant!"
Butcher's brow furrowed, and he stared at Hughie with sharp eyes.
Hughie swallowed hard and repeated what Lu Chen had said on the phone word for word: "Lu Chen said the biggest function of that thing is that it can give an ordinary person superpowers! All of Vought's superheroes were created using it!"
"What?"
The impatience on Butcher's face vanished instantly, replaced by a shock mixed with fanaticism.
He grabbed Hughie by the collar and asked, almost yelling: "Are you sure? Is that really what he said?"
"Absolutely!"
Butcher let go, his eyes flickering violently.
He wasn't a fool; he understood instantly what this meant.
If this was true, it would be their most lethal weapon against Vought and against all those "superheroes"! Evidence! Evidence sufficient to drag Vought down from its pedestal and smash it to pieces!
"Damn it..." he cursed under his breath and turned to go back inside. "Frenchie! Mothers Milk! Come here!"
"Wait!" Hughie hurriedly stopped him.
"Wait for what?" Butcher glared at him.
"Lu Chen said..." Hughie was somewhat intimidated by Butcher's gaze but gathered his courage. "He said the situation is very complicated now and he doesn't trust anyone; he only wants the two of us to go. Just the two of us."
He narrowed his eyes, scrutinizing the young man in front of him who still seemed a bit green, seemingly judging the truth of this statement and the hidden meaning behind it.
Only trust the two of us?
A damn Superhuman saying he trusts me? Butchersneered inwardly. This sounded more like a trap.
But he couldn't refuse this temptation. The truth about Compound V, plus the sample—this bait was too big, so big that he was willing to take any risk for it.
He pondered for a few seconds, weighing the pros and cons, and finally, the desire for revenge drove him to make a decision.
"Fine, just the two of us."
He turned and, from his equipment bag, quietly took out a coin-sized GPS tracker and a voice recorder disguised as a pen, tucking them into his pocket.
No matter what tricks Lu Chen wanted to play, he had to have a backup plan.
"Let's go," Butcher said to Hughie, then shouted into the house, "Watch that girl, we're going out for a while!"
Hughie immediately followed, and after getting into the car, he sent a text message to Lu Chen: [We've set off, expected to arrive in 5 hours.]
The moment he received the message, Lu Chen in the cabin stood up and patted the dust off his body.
Five hours? That's enough.
The nuclear engine in his body started, and his whole body turned into a blurry shadow, soaring into the sky and flying rapidly toward the direction of Hughie and their Base.
More than ten minutes later, he was already hovering above the underground warehouse disguised as an abandoned factory.
Activating Super Senses, every sound inside the warehouse was clearly transmitted to his ears.
"...I said, she's just a victim! We can't treat her like a monster!" It was Frenchie's voice, filled with anger and pleading.
"She killed people, Frenchie! She almost killed you too!" Mothers Milk's voice was as steady as ever, but carried an undeniable firmness. "Before we figure out exactly what she is, she must stay in the cage."
The arguing continued.
Lu Chen had no interest in listening to their debate.
His figure disappeared into the air, and the next second, he appeared inside the warehouse like a ghost.
Activating Super Speed!
Mothers Milk and Frenchie, who were arguing, didn't even have time to see what was in front of them before they felt an irresistible force on their necks, and then everything went black as they both collapsed to the ground.
Lu Chen, one in each hand, gently placed them on the ground.
[Mind Control: LV3. Basic Hypnosis]
After doing all this, he walked toward the back room of the warehouse and saw the black-haired girl trapped in the metal cage by heavy chains.
Kimiko.
She was still unconscious, her brow furrowed, seemingly having a nightmare.
Lu Chen gently placed his palm on her forehead.
A cold sensation came through.
[Mind Control] activated.
He didn't pry into or delete her memories; that would be too easy to stimulate her current mental state. He simply, carefully, implanted a crystal-clear "revelation" deep in her subconscious.
"Queens, Locke Street, Motel 47-18... Go there, go alone... There is news about your brother Kenji..."
At the same time as the contact, the system prompt lit up on his retina.
[Superpower target detected...]
[Superpower: LV5. Super Self-Healing]
[Superpower: LV2. Super Physique]
[Do you want to Copy?]
Lu Chen glanced at the sleeping Frenchie and gave up the idea of copying now.
No need. Frenchie's concern for Kimiko is almost paranoid; he will soon find a way to let her out, and at that time, he will have plenty of opportunities. Doing it now, in case he leaves any traces, would be counterproductive.
His gaze turned to the fallen Mothers Milk and Frenchie.
Next, it was time to clean up loose ends.
He crouched down and pressed his hands on their heads respectively.
[Mind Control] activated again.
This time, it was memory deletion and implantation.
He precisely found the part of Frenchie's memory about himself and them dealing with Translucent, and wiped it out completely.
Then, he implanted a brand new, forged memory.
In the new memory, the ones dealing with Translucentfrom start to finish were only Butcher, Hughie, and him. And Mothers Milk only heard Butcher mention afterward that there was a mysterious helper, but Mothers Milk had never seen him.
After doing all this, he restored the scene to its original state, as if he had never appeared.
He glanced at Kimiko in the cage and turned to leave silently.
Next stop, Queens, Locke Street.
It was a dilapidated motel. Without needing any proof, he rented a monthly room and installed a camera in a hidden corner of the room.
The "stage" he prepared for Kimiko had already been set up.
After doing all this, he flew back unhurriedly to the forest he had agreed upon with Hughie and Butcher.
He returned to that wooden cabin and waited quietly for the car carrying suspicion and hope to drive into the trap he had set.
Chapter 39: Two-Step Plan, Step One
While waiting, Lu Chen looked down at his pant legs.
From the knees down, the edges of the denim were charred and curled, exposing a section of his calves. His shoes, meanwhile, had long since completely melted away.
He stood barefoot on the cold wooden floorboards.
This was the price of using Thermonuclear ManipulationLV4; although he was immune to fire damage himself, anything he wore was not. If he outputted at full power, it was no different from dousing himself in a bucket of gasoline and lighting a match.
No wonder Vought outfitted every superhero with a custom suit. It wasn't just for the look; it was genuinely high-tech, and wearing one meant you really didn't have to worry about an indecent exposure incident while fighting.
"It would be great if I could get my hands on a Kryptoniansuit like Superman's. But for now, I can only count on that old geezer, Professor Brink."
Two years later in the plot, this old man would develop a hafnium carbide alloy suit for the senior Golden Boy, costing tens of millions of dollars and capable of withstanding temperatures up to four thousand degrees.
Four thousand degrees. That was double his current maximum output of two thousand degrees. That was the effect after the later Golden Boy used his brother Sam's blood to enhance himself.
I have to find a way to get my hands on that suit; even if the final version hasn't been developed yet, there should be iterative versions available.
He pushed the thought aside for now. Lu Chen rummaged through the junk left behind by the previous occupant in the corner of the cabin, dug out a pair of mud-stained hiking boots, and put them on. They were two sizes too big, but they would have to do.
Then, he waited.
A few hours later, his phone screen lit up.
A message from Hughie: [We've reached the edge of the woods.]
Lu Chen stood up, stretched his neck, and pushed the door open to step out.
He activated his Super Senses. Three hundred meters away, an old Chevrolet with its engine off was parked at the end of a dirt road. Two figures had just gotten out of the car and were using their phones to get their bearings.
Lu Chen did not approach from the front.
He activated Super Speed.
His body vanished from the spot, and in a moment, he had circled around to the bushes behind them. Butcher and Hughie both collapsed almost simultaneously—the exact same treatment as Frenchie and Mothers Milk.
[Mind Control: LV3. Basic Hypnosis]
Hughie didn't even have time to grunt before he went limp. Butcher was a half-beat faster; his fingers had already touched the gun handle, but his consciousness was cut off, and he pitched forward.
Lu Chen caught him before his face could hit the gravel.
Handle Butcher first.
The two-hundred-pound man was hoisted up, and Lu Chen returned to the Chevrolet in a few strides. He opened the door, placed him inside, and adjusted his posture so it looked like he had fallen asleep leaning against the seat.
He rifled through Butcher's pockets.
In the left inner pocket, a "pen." A voice recorder.
In the right pants pocket, a coin-sized metal disc. A GPS tracker.
Lu Chen looked at them for a few seconds.
Then, he put them back exactly as they were.
These two little gadgets were proof that Butcher was, in fact, Butcher: suspicious, meticulous, and always keeping a backup plan for himself. If he took them away, Butcherwould only grow suspicious upon waking up.
After modifying his memories,
Lu Chen headed back. Hughie was still lying on the ground, already starting to drool.
Lu Chen picked him up, threw him over his shoulder, and walked briskly toward the cabin.
Hughie was placed on the rickety chair in the cabin, his head lolling to one side, his breathing even.
Lu Chen pressed his palm onto the top of his head.
[Mind Control: LV3. Memory Deletion and Implantation]
This Mind Control ability, obtained from Rufus, was very useful, but its weaknesses were also quite obvious.
The deleted memories didn't truly disappear. More accurately, a layer of new information was overlaid onto the original content. The memories were still there; they were just covered up.
Under normal circumstances, someone whose memories had been modified wouldn't notice anything unusual.
But if the new memories created a hard conflict with reality—for example, if you had no memory of ever meeting someone, but you saw a photo of yourself with them, or had a video of you fighting side-by-side—the cracks between the old and new memories would be exposed. If the logic didn't match up, the person involved would naturally become confused and alert.
Therefore, the balance had to be struck just right.
Lu Chen clarified the content he needed to implant.
He modified the original plot of The Boys and implanted it. In the original story, Starlight was the traitor within Vought, passing information to the team through Hughie.
But in this timeline, Starlight had not connected with Hughie.
So, he would fill that vacancy himself.
The new memory framework wasn't complicated: A Superhuman, whose family had been harmed by a Vought superhero, wanted to take down Vought. After a near-death experience, they had discovered the secret of Compound V within Vought. Having seen what happened to Hughie's girlfriend, they had taken the initiative to contact Hughie, becoming an inside informant for The Boysat Vought. A single-line contact, only to Hughie.
Only Hughie had seen his face.
This point was crucial; Lu Chen had wiped his own face clean from the minds of Frenchie and Butcher. If an image of "the rest of the team having seen Lu Chen" were to suddenly pop up in Hughie's memory, the logic would fall apart.
Implantation complete.
Lu Chen withdrew his hand, pulled the sealed bag containing the Compound V sample from his backpack, and shoved it into Hughie's hand.
Lu Chen left Hughie there, then stood up, took the four babies, and went outside. He activated Super Speed, and three seconds later, he was standing on a ridge one kilometer away.
Next, it was time to see the results.
Several dozen minutes later.
In the back seat of the Chevrolet, Butcher's fingers twitched.
He opened his eyes. It took two seconds for his vision to focus. Outside the windshield, it was pitch black, and the car was filled with the mixed scent of leather and tobacco.
He sat up straight, one hand instinctively patting his body—the gun was there, the voice recorder was there, the tracker was there. With his other hand, he pulled out his phone. On the screen, Hughie's GPS location, a green dot, was motionless deep in the woods two kilometers away.
He checked the phone again; he had actually been asleep for nearly forty minutes, and Hughie hadn't sent a single message.
"FUCK!"
He cursed, pushed the car door open, pulled a sawed-off shotgun from the trunk, chambered a round, and walked into the woods toward the green dot.
After walking for about ten minutes, there was a rustling sound from the bushes ahead.
Butcher raised his gun.
"Don't, don't shoot, it's me!"
Hughie emerged from behind the bushes, carefully clutching a sealed bag to his chest, his pant legs covered in mud.
"What the fuck are you doing? Not a single message? Didn't I tell you to notify me after you saw that guy?"
"Didn't I tell you to wait for me in the car?"
Hughie looked righteous.
"Butcher, we agreed that I would go on this mission alone, and you would stay in the car."
Butcher stared at him for five seconds. He moved the muzzle away and scoffed.
"Big boy. All Superhumans are shit. If I hadn't followed, you might already be a pile of shredded meat, feeding the bugs in this shitty forest."
His gaze fell on the bag in Hughie's arms.
"Is that the Compound V sample your Superhuman friend mentioned? Up until now, I've only heard of this person from you; I haven't even met him. Come on, take me to see him."
"No."
The usually obedient big boy didn't move this time.
Butcher's face darkened.
"Say that again?"
"I said no." Hughie took half a step back, but his back was straight.
"You don't know what he went through to get this. He went undercover at Vought alone and went through hell and back to get this stuff, Butcher. He doesn't trust you, the same way you don't trust him!"
He hugged the sealed bag tighter, his whole body trembling, but for once, he didn't lower his head.
"I promised him I would come alone. I can't go back on my word."
The woods were silent for a few seconds.
Butcher scrutinized the still-green face in front of him—the softie who was selling DVDs at an electronics store two months ago now dared to tell him "no."
Absurd.
But it wasn't all bad. At least it showed that the Superhuman's control was limited; if it were real brainwashing, Hughie wouldn't be trembling like this. The kid was just keeping a promise, in his own stupid, deadly way.
Butcher slung the shotgun over his shoulder.
"Then pray that this stuff is really what he said it was."
He stepped closer, lowering his voice to a whisper.
"Otherwise, I'll be sure to buy you a big bottle of top-shelf lubricant, and then I'll tickle your… until you beg me to stop. And even if you do beg, I won't stop."
Every word was enunciated.
"I will never stop."
Hughie swallowed hard.
Butcher had already turned and walked back, waving one hand.
"And one more thing, Hughie. You better remember this: all Superhumans are bitches!"
"There's only the difference between those who are already bitches, and those who are becoming bitches. No exceptions."
The roar of an engine starting up came from the distance, then gradually faded away.
On the ridge, Lu Chen withdrew his Super Senses. Everything was going according to his expectations. The two-pronged approach he had envisioned was working; The Boys were OK, and next up was the Vought side.
He didn't linger any longer. He streaked across the night sky, flying toward the nearest town.
Chapter 40: Last Train or Rebirth
Ten minutes later, Lu Chen landed in front of a 24-hour Walmart.
The supermarket in the early morning was empty, with only two dozing cashiers.
Lu Chen pushed a shopping cart and stopped in the baby supplies section.
He picked up a can of Similac Stage 1 formula, flipped it over to check the ingredients list, put it down, and swapped it for a can of Enfamil.
He picked up another can, compared them for a long time, and then tossed both cans into the cart.
"Since they are Superhumans infants anyway, they shouldn't have any issues eating this, right?"
The cart was already piled with three cans of formula from different brands, several packs of diapers, four baby bottles, a bag of baby wipes, and a set of clothes he had picked out for himself.
At the checkout counter, the cashier, who was so sleepy she could barely keep her eyes open, scanned the last item and yawned.
"That's $870.43 total. A new baby at home?"
Lu Chen took out his bank card and handed it over.
"More than one."
The cashier didn't pry further. After swiping the card, she yawned again and turned away.
Lu Chen walked out of Walmart carrying three large shopping bags. The hiking boots he had picked up from the cabin were two sizes too big, making a clomping sound with every step.
He hung all the shopping bags on his left arm, went back to retrieve the four swaddled infants, and flew off in the direction of Queens.
Locke Street.
At the dilapidated motel, Lu Chen entered the monthly rental room directly through the window.
The micro-cameras he had installed earlier were still in their corners. He took the four infants out of the backpack one by one and placed them on the bed.
He checked their body temperature and breathing; everything was normal.
The constitution of Superhumans infants was indeed much stronger than that of ordinary newborns; after being tossed about all night, the four little things were still sleeping soundly.
After mixing the formula and feeding them, with everything settled, Lu Chen lay on the bed and took out his phone to check the time.
3:42 AM. But before sleeping, there was one more thing to sort out.
The two-pronged plan: the line involving The Boys had temporarily settled.
The memory framework in Hughie's brain had been implanted, and the Compound V sample had been handed over. Although Butcher was still full of suspicion, as long as follow-up intel continued to be fed to him, this secret line could be stabilized.
The other line: infiltrating Vought and mastering the Compound V supply chain.
The first step was to replace Golden Boy's ranking. That wasn't hard; the hard part was which ability to use to take him down.
Apart from basic physical enhancement and Translucent's Carbon Skin, which he could use since his body hadn't changed, his other abilities were too conspicuous. He needed a signature ability other than physical enhancement.
Heat Vision? That wouldn't work. If you didn't flaunt it in front of Homelander, you might get away with using it, but Homelander's pettiness would absolutely never allow someone using the same superpower as him to join The Seven.
Moreover, Vought International wasn't a charity. Everyone who made it into "The Seven" was a carefully packaged commercial product.
Superpowers were just the entry ticket; what really allowed you to stand firm was market positioning, brand value, and the complex chain of interests behind it.
Lu Chen closed his eyes and ran through the list of The Seven in his mind.
Homelander. No need to think about it. The personification of the United States, a national symbol Vought had poured countless funds into creating.
The Deep. Representing the ocean and environmental protection, he was tied to an entire public welfare supply chain. Although this guy was infuriatingly stupid, he occupied a very specific ecological niche, and Vought needed him to cover the audience for environmental issues. He wasn't a good target for now.
Maeve. The spokesperson for female empowerment. The only female combatant in "The Seven," tied to countless feminist brand contracts. Replacing her would mean offending half of the female consumers in the United States.
Black Noir. Vought's blade. This guy's positioning was quite unique; silent and taciturn, with extremely strong execution, he handled the company's dirty work within The Seven.
As for the other two, Starlight—the classic American sweetheart image, and A-Train—the fastest speed plus a portion of the Black market?
Thinking of this, Lu Chen pulled out his phone and opened the official Vought International page. On A-Train's personal page, the latest post was still a running shoe endorsement ad from three days ago, and the comment section was filled with "The Fastest Man" and "God of Speed."
But this "Fastest Man's" heart was already starting to have issues, and he only won the race against Impact by using drugs.
Soon, he would also have his leg broken by The Boys, and Impact, who was prepared to replace him, was a white man, which meant Vought didn't really care about skin color.
So A-Train, it's decided that it's you.
Without the burden of being the "Fastest Man" weighing him down, and without all that fame and fortune, perhaps A-Train could turn over a new leaf sooner, and his brother might not have to spend his whole life in a wheelchair.
It could also be considered changing one person's fate.
Although it's hard to say right now whether it's for better or worse.
However, A-Train's position was indeed the easiest brick to pry loose in The Seven. His brand value was highly dependent on the single label of "speed"; once someone surpassed him in speed, Vought's marketing department would be more anxious than anyone to replace him.
When his leg was fractured and he copied his ability, it would be about time to squeeze Golden Boy out.
Besides—
Thinking of this, Lu Chen's brain was already starting to feel heavy, and sleepiness surged up.
After getting A-Train's speed, what code name would the marketing department come up with for him?
Yellow Flash? Asian Lightning? Orient Express?
"Fuck, the more I think about it, the more ridiculous it gets."
In the last second of fading consciousness, he reached out and set an alarm for noon on his phone.
Tomorrow, no, today was the day he had agreed to meet Annie.
Then he fell into a deep sleep.
The alarm didn't ring.
What woke him up was a phone ringtone.
The name on the screen was flashing; the call time was 10:03 AM. It was nearly four hours earlier than the agreed time.
Lu Chen rubbed his eyes and answered.
"Morning."
There was a second of silence on the other end of the line.
"You're still sleeping?" Annie's voice sounded steady, but the speaking pace was about twenty percent faster than usual.
"Yeah. What's up?"
"Nothing, just... confirming that the plans for this afternoon haven't changed."
"They haven't. Central Park, 2 o'clock."
"Can we do one o'clock?"
Lu Chen glanced at the four infants still sleeping on the bed, then looked down at his own clothes, which were stained with mud and scorch marks from yesterday.
"Sure."
"Okay, then one o'clock. Bye~"
The call hung up. Crisp and clean, without a single superfluous word.
But when she said "Bye," the inflection at the end went up.
Lu Chen stared at the darkened screen for two seconds, then got up.
First, deal with the infants. Two of the four little things were already awake, silently kicking their legs.
Lu Chen fed them, changed their diapers one by one, and then placed his palm over them.
[Mind Control: LV3. Basic Hypnosis]
The four infants fell back into a deep sleep. It would last for at least eight to ten hours.
He switched the phone to the monitoring app; the camera feeds were normal, and he could see the four little bundles wrapped in towels on the bed, not moving a muscle.
Time to go out.
The set of clothes he bought at Walmart finally came in handy.