Chapter 176: An Eye for an Eye

Jon had picked the Church of the Collectives for a specific reason—it was a sanctuary for numerous disgraced superheroes. The Church, as mentioned earlier, offered a refuge to these fallen heroes, helping them regain confidence and navigate through the challenges of life.

In truth, many of the superheroes taking shelter there had checkered pasts. They were infamous for their wrongdoings, which led to the Vought Corporation cutting ties with them. The Church then welcomed them back, assisting in revamping their public personas so they could make a comeback in the spotlight.

Jon was aware of at least one such disgraced superhero currently at the Church of the Collectives—A-Train, previously a member of The Seven. His superpower was super speed, somewhat derivative of the Flash. However, due to his addiction to Compound V, his heart could no longer sustain his super speed, and Homelander had expelled him from The Seven.

This time, Jon was also eager to test his own supernatural abilities, prepared to teleport away should anything not go according to plan.

As expected, shortly after Jon demolished the Church of the Collectives' building, a rapid dark blur charged towards him.

It was a black man wearing a blue tight suit adorned with an 'A' on his chest—undeniably A-Train.

"Who are you?! Have you lost your mind?" A-Train asked sternly.

Despite his outward composure, A-Train was visibly sweating heavily and occasionally gasping for breath. Jon, familiar with the original series, understood that this indicated A-Train had used drugs again.

Now, A-Train could only sustain his superpowers by continuously using Compound V, despite his brother and Vought strictly prohibiting it due to the life-threatening dangers involved. Nevertheless, he disregarded the warnings for the sake of maintaining his fame.

"Ah, the renowned A-Train!" Jon declared, recognizing him. "The pathetic one abandoned by Homelander. Can you believe you're still daring to use Compound V? Aren't you scared of dying?"

Jon was intrigued because he knew A-Train didn't blindly follow the Church's orders like The Deep, which meant he wasn't likely to fight recklessly for it.

"Who the hell are you?!" A-Train snapped again.

"Nobody?" Jon responded, a playful tone in his voice.

Right after Jon spoke, A-Train's figure flashed, vanishing from sight, only to suddenly charge at Jon, delivering a powerful punch to his face that ignited a fiery sting.

"How does that feel, asshole?" A-Train taunted as he disappeared again, this time delivering a super-speed punch to Jon's abdomen.

"Ouch~!" Jon grimaced, clutching his stomach, then raising his eyes to meet A-Train's gaze.

A-Train smirked provocatively at him before vanishing once more.

At that moment, Jon suddenly extended his arms, and a wave of gravity burst outward, unexpectedly sending the charging A-Train tumbling backward.

He clumsily got up from the ground, looking bewildered at Jon.

Jon smiled and then said, "Do you remember, a few months back, when you killed an innocent girl with your super speed?"

A-Train paused, the memory of the incident flashing in his mind.

"Her name was Robin, Hughie's girlfriend. Ah, you know Hughie, right?" Jon continued, his tone somewhat taunting.

Hughie, the protagonist of the original series, had been motivated to join the Boys precisely because A-Train had killed his girlfriend.

"Did they send you to kill me?" A-Train asked, frowning.

"No, I'm here to give you the justice you deserve," Jon declared firmly.

With those words, he unleashed another gravity wave. This time, the wave enveloped A-Train, instantly wrapping around his body.

As the gravity wave intensified, A-Train's muscles started to tear and twist. He screamed in agony, collapsing onto the ground, which cracked under the force of his body.

"Last time, you splattered that girl into pieces, right? Don't you think you deserve the same fate?" Jon asked coldly.

He spread his hands again, and under the ruthless force of his gravity power, A-Train's body gruesomely shattered into pieces, painting a horrifying, blood-stained spiderweb on the ground.

[Ding! Side quest updated: Judge at least 20 disgraced superheroes. Current progress: 2/20]

[Ding! Your legendary mission has been updated: Judge a thousand sinful souls across all worlds. Current progress: 82/1000.]

Hearing the system updates, Jon sighed, satisfied with the effectiveness of his gravity powers.

However, at that moment, he felt a slight tickle on his upper lip. Touching it, he discovered a trace of blood.

His nose was bleeding.

"The Church of the Collectives..." Jon murmured.

While deep in thought, Jon suddenly felt an excruciating headache, so intense it seemed his head might explode.

"Damn it, it's f***ing Neuman!"

Victoria Neuman, a clandestine operative of the Church of the Collectives, was actually the adopted daughter of Vought's boss, though she ostensibly still served the Church.

Given Neuman's powers, her attack should have been instantly fatal, suggesting that Jon's head should have exploded on the spot. If that had happened, only the Spirit of Vengeance might have saved him.

However, it seemed Neuman couldn't kill him, as he only suffered a severe headache, not the instantaneous detonation of his skull.

As the pain subsided, Jon immediately honed his senses on a presence he detected fleeing.

It was Victoria Neuman.

"I guessed right, Neuman can't kill me. Once she realized this, she turned to run because she knows she's no match for me," Jon concluded, then used his Apparition ability. With a mere flicker, he instantly appeared in front of Neuman.

"How could...?!"

Seeing Jon materialize suddenly before her, Neuman stopped dead, her expression one of utter disbelief.

Jon didn't bother with words but prepared to unleash his powers once more.

"You like blowing people's heads into pieces, right? Well, your own head should meet the same fate! An eye for an eye~!"

Pop!

With those final words, Jon released a focused gravity wave at her head. Victoria Neuman's head burst open instantly, ending the threat she posed.

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