The 99th floor of Vought Tower, the Super Seven conference room.
When Qi Li arrived, everyone was already present and seated in their respective spots.
Homelander was the sole exception.
He stood right behind the door. The moment he saw Qi Li, he stepped forward, clapped him warmly on the shoulder, and smiled in greeting.
"Just waiting on you, Bronze."
*Waiting on me?*
Qi Li blinked.
Something felt off about this setup.
Could it be that his secret deeds had come to light, and they were preparing a tribunal to interrogate him?
Which incident was it?
Or was it a whole list of them?
Thoughts raced through Qi Li's mind as his gaze covertly swept left and right out of reflex, formulating several strategic retreat routes in the span of a breath.
Not forgetting to reply, he asked, "Homelander, did something major happen today? This meeting wasn't on the original schedule."
"Of course. Something very important—to both you and me. Besides, I've really missed you all and wanted to see you. We're a family, aren't we?"
With that, Homelander closed the conference room doors. His hand slid down Qi Li's shoulder to give him a gentle nudge on the back, gesturing for him to take his seat.
Seeing this, Qi Li could only head toward his chair.
Thinking it over again, he figured that since he had just done some private dirty work for Stan Edgar, Edgar wouldn't turn around and discard him this quickly.
In that case, there shouldn't be anything to worry about... right?
Under Black Noir's silent gaze, Qi Li pulled out his chair and sat down.
He shot a questioning look across the table at Starlight, who had arrived earlier, asking what was going on.
Starlight gave a slight shake of her head, indicating that she didn't know either.
After that, Homelander did not return to his usual seat at the head of the table.
He remained standing, looking around at everyone in the room. The corners of his mouth twitched into a faint smile. "To be honest, I feel like it's been a long time since we had a heart-to-heart. As the team leader, it's time for a bit of criticism—or perhaps, some tough love."
Maeve, who had been spinning her chair out of boredom, held out her right hand in confusion. "What is that supposed to mean?"
"It means that some of you..."
Homelander paced behind them as he spoke.
"Are unstable!"
He glanced at Starlight.
"Untrustworthy!"
He walked straight past A-Train.
"Extremely lazy!"
Homelander and Maeve's eyes met, then parted.
"Indulging in pleasure!"
Finally, he stopped behind Qi Li, looking at his back, and spoke in an even voice.
Qi Li thought to himself, *Surely he's not talking about me, right?*
Then he saw Starlight looking at him, her eyes filled with deep concern.
Homelander paused, resting one hand on the back of Qi Li's chair while pointing with the other toward Black Noir.
"Not you, Black Noir. You've always been great. But the rest of you—frankly, I'm disappointed."
Qi Li caught the worried look from Starlight and felt Homelander lingering right behind him. His heart skipped a beat.
Was the rookie hazing finally here?
Soon, Homelander shook his head, his tone laced with disappointment and sternness. "Everyone, you have to look at the big picture. The enemy is invading in force. And the Super Seven is no longer what it once was. Counting our newest member, Bronze, there are only six of us."
"Yes. Translucent is dead." He laid out the truth just like that.
Starlight shuddered, her face blank with disbelief.
"Fuck!" A-Train blurted out, instantly venting his shock.
Maeve's previously slouched posture snapped upright.
Qi Li sighed inwardly with an 'as expected' reaction: *Poor Maverick.*
As for Black Noir, he remained entirely devoid of expression.
Homelander continued, "Before, I didn't know why. But now, I know why!"
He lifted his hand from Qi Li's chair, picked up a remote, and clicked it at the bank of screens along the wall.
Instantly, a person's photo appeared on the display.
Qi Li swiveled his chair around to look, momentarily stunned.
He recognized this guy too.
Qi Li couldn't help but glance back at Starlight.
He already had a bad feeling.
The "evil" Starlight was going to take the blame for everything again.
Sure enough.
Starlight had been worrying about Bronze, thinking Homelander was displeased with him.
She never imagined that the real target was her!
The second Hughie's photo appeared on the screen, Starlight leaned forward, staring at it in utter disbelief.
"Why... Is this a joke? Why is Hughie's picture up there?"
Qi Li found it unbelievable too.
It wasn't as if he hadn't met Hughie before.
A frail-looking ordinary guy who washed his hair with kids' shampoo—why was Homelander putting him on blast?
Could it be... he was the killer who murdered Translucent?
Him?
This world was truly unhinged.
Maeve looked baffled as well. "I don't get it. Who is this guy?"
Homelander pointed to the screen and explained, "His name is Hughie Campbell. He and Starlight have a steadily developing relationship."
As the words fell, Maeve, A-Train, Black Noir, and Qi Li all turned their eyes to Starlight.
Suddenly thrust into the center of attention, Starlight scrambled to explain. "Hughie and I haven't reached that point yet!"
Lately, she had been attending events with Bronze and dealing with the headache of being sued. She had been swamped, with no free time to pursue anything else.
Hearing that, Homelander chuckled. "It seems Hughie's charms aren't quite as remarkable as I thought. Thank you, Starlight, for clearing that up. But you can't deny that you're close to him, can you?"
Starlight stammered, "I..."
Homelander held up a finger, cutting her off.
He clicked the remote again, and four more photos appeared on the screens one after another.
"Hughie, along with these four—including that nameless fellow from before—are the killers who murdered Translucent. They also coerced Mesmer, Ezekiel, Popclaw... God knows who else."
"What?" Starlight gasped in disbelief.
"What?" A-Train echoed out loud the moment he heard Popclaw's name.
Qi Li silently screamed the same word in his mind.
He recognized quite a few familiar faces up there.
Frenchie, whose real name he still didn't know; Kimiko, whose head he had blown off multiple times; Hughie, whom he had met once; and Butcher, who spoke with a weird accent and whom he had assumed was Hughie's lover.
Not counting the Black man who completed the group, he recognized four out of the five killers!
If someone didn't know better, they'd think he was the prime suspect.
Even Starlight only knew two of them.
Fortunately, it was still the "evil" Starlight who bore the brunt of it all.
She couldn't help but ask, "Hughie isn't that kind of person. There's no way he could be a terrorist or anything like that. Besides, why would he do something like this?"
"Good question." Homelander pointed at A-Train. "A-Train, why don't you answer that?"
"Me?" A-Train looked completely lost.
Homelander gave him an exasperated look, his mouth curling into a scoff. "Seems your head still isn't clear."
He tapped the screen.
A photo of A-Train shaking hands with Hughie appeared before everyone's eyes.
A-Train finally had a moment of realization. "Shit! I know this guy!"
With a look that said 'about time you remembered,' Homelander remarked, "You ran straight through his girlfriend, so of course you know him. What was her name again..."
"Robin!" Qi Li chimed in from the side.
He remembered now as well.
Back when the semester had just begun, he had seen news on his phone about A-Train crashing through a pedestrian.
At the time, he had even felt a bit of sympathy for Robin's boyfriend.
Who would have guessed the world was so small, and it turned out to be someone he knew?
"That's right, her!" Homelander gave Qi Li a look of deep appreciation.
He couldn't help thinking back to when they first met. Without needing any prompting, the kid had seamlessly played off his words. Later, that video blew up online, with everyone praising what a wonderful leader he was.
Then he thought of A-Train, who could never catch his drift, Deep Sea, who had always chimed in at the worst moments, the mute Black Noir, and the uncooperative Maeve.
God only knew what he had endured over the years.
Homelander suddenly wondered if he had been a little too harsh on Bronze just now.
Right then, A-Train couldn't help exclaiming, "Yes, Robin! I remember everything now—he showed up right outside Popclaw's apartment back then!"
Realizing that Popclaw's downfall was inextricably linked to Hughie, A-Train glared furiously at Starlight. "You actually hooked up with this guy?"
Starlight didn't look at A-Train.
Her mind was in complete turmoil. After racking her brain, she turned to Homelander. "I don't know what's going on, but Hughie definitely doesn't have the ability to pull off something on this scale."
"True. That guy doesn't look like someone who could do something major. He looks more like a kindergarten teacher. Or maybe a male nurse in a hospital?"
Qi Li picked up the thread, glancing at the people in the photos.
"Among them, only that Japanese woman is a superhuman. I know her strength, and she can't pierce Translucent's defense. As for the rest, they're just ordinary people. I'm really curious—how did they manage to kill Translucent?"
Qi Li truly was curious.
This was the first time he had seen ordinary humans involved in killing a superhuman, and he even knew several of them.
Looks really were deceiving.
Besides, what were these guys after?
"You fought the woman in that photo?" Maeve asked suddenly.
Qi Li looked at Maeve, then at A-Train, and answered truthfully, "I had already captured her, but I handed her over to A-Train."
Except for Starlight, Maeve, Black Noir, and Homelander immediately turned their eyes toward A-Train.
A-Train's bluster vanished in an instant, and he muttered in a low voice, "I got ambushed on the way, and she got away. It must have been the people in this picture!"
Homelander took a deep breath and shook his head.
These were the people working for him.
How could he not lose his temper at times?
Fortunately... although Stan had gone behind his back to recruit a newcomer this time, he had to admit that after interacting with him, he was quite pleased.
Homelander turned back to give Bronze an approving nod and a smile, then addressed the room:
"Bronze's analysis is spot-on. Hughie is just an ordinary man, an unremarkable one at that. Even combined, the rest of them shouldn't have been able to kill Translucent."
"However... what if Hughie and his crew have a new accomplice?"
Chapter 96