Insecure, cowardly, spineless, and instinctively fawning toward the powerful.
Those were the traits Qi Li had quickly gathered from Deep Sea after their brief encounter.
It was hard to imagine that underneath his glamorous veneer, a member of the world’s most popular superhero team—the standard-bearer for marine animal welfare, the spokesperson for environmentalism, and the man hailed by countless people as the Lord of the Seven Seas—was actually such a pathetic excuse for a hero.
Then again, look at Translucent, who loved peeping on women wherever he went.
Or Mister Marathon, the former member of the Super Seven who enjoyed slathering himself in baby oil.
Qi Li suddenly realized that among the members of the Super Seven—and even supes in general—the constantly controversial Starlight could practically be classified as "remarkably normal."
This world truly was insane.
Fortunately, the people closest to him were relatively grounded.
Take Kate, whose idea of punishing people with her superpowers went no further than aiming for the groin.
Then there was his senior, Sigrid. Aside from her habit of stripping down whenever she used her powers, she was hopelessly obsessed with the movie *Blood Diamond*, having watched it no fewer than a hundred times.
Qi Li had even sat through it with her on multiple occasions.
At the moment, *Blood Diamond* wasn't playing on the screen in Sigrid's dorm room.
Qi Li held a pencil with focused intensity. Every now and then, he glanced up to observe Sigrid, who was posing nude as his model, before returning his attention to the sketch pad, pencil scratching diligently across the paper.
Minutes ticked by. Sigrid showed not the slightest hint of impatience. Instead, her face was flushed with keen anticipation. Every so often, a crisp chiming sound like cracking crystal rang out from her body, and snapping out of her daze, she would draw the magnificent layer of diamond that had suddenly surfaced back beneath her skin.
Don't misunderstand—the two of them were engaged in proper business.
Qi Li was personally designing a professional superhero battle suit for her.
The idea had been mentioned before, but only now had it been formally put on the agenda.
A quarter of an hour later.
"Done."
Qi Li set down his pencil with a satisfied nod.
In no rush to put on clothes, Sigrid sauntered over with complete confidence, pressing her tall, lush figure right beside Qi Li. Leaning over the sketch pad, her eyes instantly lit up.
On the page was a skin-tight battle suit modeled after her figure. Pure white served as the base, cut through by clean, dynamic sky-blue lines along the waist, shoulders, elbows, and thighs, which converged over the chest into a bold, striking "V."
Unlike modern superheroines who seemed desperate for their suits to use as little fabric as possible—showing skin up top whenever they could, baring long legs if that wasn't an option, and flashing a midriff if all else failed—Qi Li's design covered her completely from neck to ankle. Not a single inch of skin was exposed.
Yet on a woman with Sigrid's stacked, statuesque frame, the design traced every fatal curve to perfection, emphasizing her breathtaking allure all the more.
"I did some market research earlier," Qi Li explained, gesturing to the sketch. "Among your fan base, the color overwhelmingly agreed upon to represent you is white, followed by blue. A battle suit's design should never clash with the wishes of your supporters. Conveniently, the two colors complement each other beautifully. As a result, ninety percent of the final suit is white, accented with ten percent sky blue—enough to stand out without stealing the spotlight, perfectly complementing the pure white. Pretty, isn't it?"
Sigrid couldn't tear her eyes from the design. "It's gorgeous!" she praised without hesitation.
Qi Li smiled with quiet confidence. "A superhero battle suit serves two primary purposes: protection and aesthetics. On the aesthetic side, beyond the suit's own flair, the most crucial thing is showcasing the hero's physique."
Glancing at the generous, pale curves beside him, he went on, "Sigrid, your figure is lethal. Showing skin wouldn't actually play to your greatest advantage. It's far better to do the opposite and cover up entirely. Under an ultra-elastic battle suit, your silhouette will stand out even more. Not only will the fans love it, but you'll also draw support from the closeted conservatives. Two birds with one stone."
Sigrid nodded again, her eyes brimming with the joy, excitement, and satisfaction of receiving the perfect gift.
"It's practically the suit of my dreams. Qi Li, you understand me so well!"
She was too thrilled to contain herself.
Straddling his lap, she transformed in an instant into a dazzling, breathtaking diamond figure. Her usually cool eyes burned with heat. "Sweetheart, how do you want me to repay you?"
Holding the diamond woman on his lap and marveling at the unnatural texture beneath his hands, Qi Li asked out of curiosity, "By the way, can any of the diamonds on you be chipped off and sold?"
"They can't be cut off. Besides, I looked into it once. They'd be appraised as lab-grown diamonds, and the wholesale price is one-sixtieth of natural ones."
"Forget it, then. I'd better be the one to support you. Is a hundred million enough?"
"Nowhere near enough."
"Not even that? I waived my design fee, you know... Fine, fine. Looks like I'll have to sacrifice my life to satisfy a woman..."
As it turned out, Sigrid was the one who ended up making the sacrifice.
Under the relentless assault of the upgraded Li Clan Overlord Spear, even the world's hardest diamond saw its durability plummet.
Over the next few days, Qi Li lived in a state of bittersweet exhaustion.
Kate somehow caught wind of the fact that he had designed a battle suit for Sigrid.
She didn't throw a fit, but she insisted that Qi Li design one for her as well.
Since things had come to this, and Qi Li already had an idea in mind, he went ahead with it.
Before long, he produced a custom design for Kate: thigh-high black boots paired with a gothic witch-style black battle suit.
Kate was thrilled.
That should have been the end of it, given that Kate was still a long way from putting on a suit and becoming a city protector.
Yet one day, Kate showed up right in front of him wearing the superhero suit.
Naturally, it was made of ordinary fabric—the kind that tore easily.
What could Qi Li do? He had to tear it.
As it turned out, Kate had prepared more than one.
To make matters worse, as a token of gratitude, Sigrid frequently showed up in an ordinary-fabric version of her own battle suit, asking him to inspect it thoroughly for any flaws that needed refining.
Qi Li was suffering.
He felt like he was neglecting his training.
Just as he was sorely tempted to follow a certain famous diarist and write entries like *"Nothing today, played cards... Swore off cards today... Tomorrow, played cards,"* duty called.
Godkin University, the president's office.
Sitting behind her desk, Indira Shetty handed a folder to the arriving Qi Li, her tone grave. "An incident has occurred. Qi Li, I need you to make a trip off campus."
Qi Li nodded, took the folder, and casually flipped through a few pages.
When his gaze settled on one of them, surprise flickered in his eyes.
Chapter 65