Late Night...

"How is it going?"

It was night time when Hughie saw Billy again. Billy was waiting for him in a car!

"It should be going well. I put the thing you gave me under their conference room desk!" Hughie replied after taking a few deep breaths and entering the car. He was still nervous.

"Well done, Hughie!"

Billy praised Hughie. This was the first time he recognized Hughie!

"I don't have to do anything else, right? Your FBI guys can just get the evidence of their crimes and bring them to justice? My girlfriend would turn out as innocent, right?"

Hughie had calmed down. All the things he did was for his girlfriend. And he still thought that Billy was working for the FBI!

"Yeah, you don't have to do anything else. Don't worry about it and leave it to me!"

Billy would do anything to achieve his goal. Deceiving a random civilian was nothing new to him. Justice for Hughie's girlfriend? That's just an excuse he used to fool Hughie. He just needed Hughie to plant the wiretap in The Seven's office!

Billy's ultimate goal was to uncover evidence of the Seven's crime and bring it to the public. He wanted to bring down the Seven and Vought International that he hated so much.

Of course, Billy had his own reason to resent the Seven and Vought International. His wife had disappeared a few years ago, and he had no idea whether she was even still alive. The only thing he knew was that her disappearance was related to the leader of the Seven, Homelander.

Everything Billy did was to find out the truth about his wife's disappearance!

Billy dropped Hughie at Hughie's workplace before driving away. They both thought that this would be the last time they met each other.

However...

...

Madelyn had thought and considered for a whole day in her office, before finally reaching a decision. She picked up the phone and dialed a number!

"Hello, Ms. Madelyn. Do you have good news for me?"

A voice leisurely greeted through the phone. It was the politician who negotiated with Madelyn last night.

"Sir, through the discussion of our higher-ups, we have concluded that your city has an urgent need for a superhero. Thus, citing humanitarian concerns, we have agreed to lower the price up to two hundred and thirty million! Would you consider this acceptable?" Madelyn said calmly after taking a deep breath.

It was clearly a compromise from Madelyn. There was no other way. If the existence of Compound V was exposed to the public, it would cause an immeasurable blow to Vought International!

"Two hundred and thirty million? Glad to hear you finally speaking reason! I hope that we would continue our cooperation!"

The politician readily agreed to this price. It was already unthinkable that Vought International would agree to such a massive concession. He didn't want to push his luck too much!

"Alright, then we have reached an agreement. I wish you a smooth flight tonight!"

Madelyn's voice was thick with sarcasm, but the politician on the phone clearly didn't care. He probably thought that Madelyn was actually wishing him good luck. There was no way his private plane flight would have any turbulence! He hung up after saying goodbye!

A figure outside the office looked at a portrait on the wall with a thoughtful expression.

...

Today was indescribable for Li Yue. He finally experienced the life of those internet celebrities he saw in his previous life: a full day spent in front of the camera, filming promotional videos.

Unfortunately, Li Yue didn't have any experience in front of the camera. He was able to act natural when the camera was off, but as soon as the camera turned on, his thick skin disappeared.

But Li Yue finally finished the day-long torment! Li Yue felt that this kind of thing was more tiring than being an actual superhero! He was just exchanging physical fatigue for a mental one! This was the first time Li Yue had to face so many cameras!

Li Yue returned to his home, exhausted, but then he recalled that he would begin to be dispatched with Homelander tomorrow. His motivation instantly returned when he thought about the possible growth in his strength.

He had secretly checked his current power level in a secluded corner. Despite being only one-tenth of Homelander's strength, Li Yue was already shocked beyond belief.

He had attained immeasurable physical strength. He could lift any object that he encountered! Even an Adamantium knife formed from his right hand can't pierce his regular skin!

He also tested his X-ray vision. Just like the setting in the show, Li Yue could see through any and all objects, including heavy metals and even lead! He hadn't found any zinc, so he could verify if his X-ray vision shared the same weakness against zinc as Homelander's!

The heat vision was where Li Yue felt the greatest gap between him and Homelander. Even with full strength, Li Yue's version was very narrow, although it still reached a high temperature.

Moreover, he needed to focus his power for a few seconds before he could fire the thermal ray, unlike Homelander that could kill anyone with a glare!

Li Yue also finally obtained the iconic flight ability. He had no idea what principle worked to allow for his flight, but he was able to rise and float a few meters in the air! He felt that he had enough strength to easily break the sound barrier and reach several times the speed of sound.

Unfortunately, he didn't have the chance to experiment because he had a positioning chip specially made by Vought International. This was the precaution to protect and monitor superheroes under Vought!

Li Yue couldn't remove the chip while he wanted to stay within Vought, so his dream of a free flight would have to wait for some time!

But just waiting for a bit is trivial compared to the power he could obtain by being near Homelander!

...

A private plane was flying quickly but steadily through the night sky, carrying the politician who had negotiated the superhero assignment with Madelyn. Along with him was a child, a little boy only a few years old.

The little boy's biggest hobby was to geek out about the superheroes under Vought International, and among them, his favorite was the Seven's captain, Homelander!

Bored, the little boy looked around the plane and outside the window. He then noticed a vague figure outside the window, and he immediately cried out!

"Dad, look! What is that outside?"

"Honey, what's wrong?"

The politician asked with concern to his spoiled son!

"Dad, that looks like Homelander! Is he here to see us off?"

The little boy asked innocently. His father once said that he was very close to the superheroes, and even brought signed photographs for him!

"What is he doing here?"

The politician hurried to the window in shock.

He saw a figure flying at the same speed as the plane. The figure noticed his gaze and turned their head: it really was Homelander.

The politician immediately felt a bad omen, but it was too late. Homelander's eyes shone with red light and shot two beams of searing heat right at him!

Boom!!!

The plane exploded out of the sky, leaving only a dark figure with glowing scarlet eyes in the sky. The figure smiled!