At that moment, Homelander was facing the camera. Turning his head, he rested his right hand on Qi Li's shoulder and gave earnest instructions:
"Bronze, if you ever run into any problems in your work or personal life, you can always come to me—so long as I'm not in the middle of saving lives. Don't worry about being a bother or wasting my time."
"I'm your captain! Caring for every single member of this team is my duty and responsibility!"
Qi Li looked at his captain, his voice brimming with "deep emotion."
"It's an honor to join such a glorious, professional, and warm family like the Super Seven! Homelander, you're the most qualified captain I've ever seen!"
Meanwhile...
Queen Maeve couldn't bear to watch any longer and turned back around, speechless.
Starlight watched the two men beside her with a strange expression.
Black Noir... his face was hidden, but his hands came together in a gentle, understated clap.
The motion looked, well, almost childishly playful.
A-Train glanced between Homelander and Bronze, looked at the softly clapping Black Noir, and finally stole a glance at an indifferent Queen Maeve and an inscrutable Starlight.
After a brief hesitation, he slowly raised his hands and joined in with a few claps.
Then the camera crew began applauding too.
The director gave another thumbs-up. "Terrific."
"GOOD!"
Homelander slapped Qi Li's shoulder hard a few times, and his smile vanished instantly.
He strode back to his seat, neatly swept his cape aside, and finally sat down.
Having had his eyes opened, Qi Li walked over to his own seat—the middle chair on the left side.
Translucent was absent, leaving only Black Noir beside him.
As he sat down, he nodded. "Hey, Black Noir."
Black Noir slowly turned his head, looked at him, and just as slowly turned back.
"Okay."
Qi Li gave a small shrug.
Naturally, the guy was the most normal one here.
"Everyone, it's the start of another brand-new day."
The smile returned to Homelander's face as he sat at the head of the table. He looked around at everyone present, pausing briefly when his gaze landed on Translucent's empty chair, before swiftly recovering.
"As you know, Translucent is currently on a very grueling classified mission, fighting to save the world. Furthermore..."
Homelander pointed at Qi Li.
"...our newest member, Bronze, has saved plenty of lives as well. I watched the welcome ceremony last night."
Homelander shook his head in "admiration," then turned his gaze directly toward Starlight.
"I have to say, Starlight, you prepared exceptionally well. Bronze's heroic deeds are so extensive, yet you recited every single one in a single breath without missing a word. Truly impressive!"
Clap, clap, clap...
Homelander began to applaud.
Starlight sensed something was off.
Still, under Homelander's applause, she answered earnestly, "It's my duty, Homelander."
Homelander's clapping stopped instantly. "Your duty... That's right. We have to do what we're supposed to do."
He blinked rapidly a few times, pulled his gaze away from Starlight, and looked around at the room with a brilliant smile.
"So then, my fellow superheroes, let's hear what lives you've saved over this past week."
"Maeve, you go first."
Queen Maeve shrugged and began recounting offhandedly.
Across from her, Qi Li listened as she described beating up a few domestic abusers and going undercover at an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting for several days to bust an illicit counterfeit liquor ring with a massive, secretive clientele.
At the same time, he covertly shifted his gaze between Homelander and Starlight.
The tension between the two felt distinctly off.
Had something happened?
As Qi Li looked around, his eyes happened to meet A-Train's across the table.
A-Train greeted him with a glance: *Hey, bro!*
Qi Li: *Bro, you're up.*
A-Train: *What??*
"A-Train? A-Train?"
Homelander called out, sounding puzzled.
"Oh, uh!"
Snapping out of it as if waking from a dream, A-Train scrambled to look at Homelander.
Homelander spread his hands. "You're up."
A-Train glanced at Queen Maeve, who had just finished, and scrambled to string his thoughts together, stammering his way through an explanation.
He was already swamped with his own troubles; where would he find the time to go around saving people?
Even when he did, it was all scripted by Vought anyway.
And so, after stumbling through a few moments of talking, his habit took over and he veered right into business matters, his voice suddenly full of cadence and indignation:
"Nike breached our contract! After the Race of the Century, the custom 'World's Fastest' running shoes under my name were supposed to be a fifty-thousand-pair run, but they only produced ten thousand! They even reached out to that loser Shockwave, whom I beat! It's practically..."
"Hey! Hey! Hey!"
Homelander frowned, cutting A-Train off sharply with clear irritation.
"A-Train! Over some petty financial squabble, you think this sacred place is where you should air your grievances? Where do you think we are? The Super Seven conference room!"
"Every single move made in this room concerns global security! This is not the place to talk about contracts, decimal points, or selling shoes! What will Bronze think of us, sitting in on his very first meeting? There are cameras rolling right over there! Do you want fans all over the world thinking the Super Seven cares about nothing but money?"
At that, Homelander glared fiercely at A-Train.
"And another thing! I recall stating at the very beginning that we're only discussing saving lives! A-Train, did my words go in one ear and out the other?"
A-Train shuddered slightly and hurriedly ducked his head in apology.
"I'm sorry! I really... I'm so sorry!"
Homelander shook his head in exasperated disappointment.
"You damn well should apologize. Do you have any idea how hard Black Noir's been running around helping you investigate the truth behind Popclaw? Digging into that guy named Leo, Louis, Fren-whatever? Who knows what his real name is. He's got more than twenty known aliases alone."
"Black Noir."
Homelander turned to the teammate he trusted most and asked, "Any new leads on that guy?"
Black Noir gave a silent shake of his head.
Homelander turned back to A-Train.
A-Train said immediately, "As soon as the meeting's over, I'll scour every inch of New York. I won't stop looking."
Homelander cast a glance at A-Train's increasingly enlarged heart, curling his lip slightly. "I hope you can manage that."
Then he turned to Starlight and offered a faint smile. "No need to say much about Starlight. She's been doing far too many 'big things' lately."
Starlight pressed her lips together.
At that point, as if just recalling something, Qi Li asked with curiosity, "Popclaw? Wasn't her cause of death a drug overdose? How did that get tied up with A-Train and some unknown guy?"
A-Train kept his head bowed slightly and said nothing.
Upon hearing the question, Homelander pointed a finger at Qi Li with a smile. "Good question. Because Popclaw was A-Train's secret girlfriend all along. And she really did die of an overdose."
As he said this, he cast an amused glance at A-Train.
"Only, before that happened, someone broke into her place and threatened her. Our dear A-Train thinks that person is extremely suspicious."
Homelander took out a remote control and clicked a few buttons toward the bank of monitors on the left that were broadcasting global hot topics in real time.
Instantly...
Photos flashed across every screen—different disguises, different hairstyles, clothing, beards, and names, but all clearly depicting the same man.
Qi Li narrowed his eyes.
He recognized that guy.
Chapter 85