Chapter 124: Killing The Deep
"Deep. We've spotted a group of criminals on the Los Angeles coastline. I want you to go take care of it."
Homelander looked at The Deep as if he were already a corpse.
With the current state of The Seven—A-Train seriously injured, Translucent dead, and Black Noir on his side—Homelander's options weren't very broad. He looked down on both Starlight and The Deep, and he had chosen to sacrifice them both to cement his own authority over the team. The Deep was a veteran member of The Seven; killing a character like him would stir up the public's emotions. He was the perfect first target.
The Deep didn't dare to object. While most of his "missions" were just carefully prepared scripts from Vought, with him playing the starring role, he was confident he could handle a few ordinary criminals.
He left the office. But when he got to the Operations Department, he found Ashley standing uncomfortably next to an Asian man.
"Hey, Ashley! Homelander wants me to handle an incident on the coast. Can you arrange a car and the target's location for me?"
Ashley was still wavering. She knew Homelander was spinning out of control, and the man beside her was clearly the cause. Black Noir had also sided with him. But she didn't dare say a word. Homelander's hearing could cover the entire tower, and his heat-vision could easily melt her through the concrete.
She could only say, diplomatically, "The company has no such intel. And the L.A. coastline has a heavy police presence, so…"
"Hey, Miss Ashley," Kaito interrupted with a smile. "Homelander has already made the arrangements. You just need to get us a car and drive us to the coast. The superhero [The Deep] and I will handle it from there. Okay?"
He was still smiling, but it made the hairs on the back of Ashley's neck stand up. She didn't dare argue. She hurried away to arrange the transport, gave The Deep one last, pitying look, and then made herself scarce.
The Deep, however, was still completely oblivious to the dramatic changes happening within the company. He just looked at Kaito with curiosity. He was even a little flattered to be called a "superhero," and his impression of Kaito was quite good. "And you are… a new company employee, sir?"
Kaito shrugged, his eyes like a wolf looking at a lamb. "Something like that. I work for Homelander."
The two of them sat in a black SUV. The Deep chattered on and on, recounting his fake heroic exploits. In reality, most of The Seven, including Homelander, only ever handled a few, genuinely urgent hero missions. Most of their celebrated "accomplishments" were just fabrications from Vought's marketing department.
It took them about two hours to reach the coast. This wasn't Los Angeles. The Deep had suggested they go to a more remote area so he could call a whale for Kaito, to let him "experience the feeling of patrolling the coastline on the back of a whale." Kaito had not objected. He simply texted the new coordinates to George and told him to get the media ready.
The Deep put his hands in the water, and soon, a number of sea creatures appeared. He frowned as he began to "speak" with them—one of his special abilities. "That's strange. The fish say they haven't seen any unusual boats…" He still didn't suspect a thing, still trying to find the nonexistent criminals.
This sight finally made Kaito laugh out loud. "Ha. Deep, you're so stupid I almost feel bad about doing this."
The Deep stood up straight, turning to look at the man on the beach, confused. Golden light, like ripples, was flowing from the man's hands, extending out for several meters like two glowing ribbons. He had never seen this kind of ability before, but he immediately went on alert, taking two steps back into the surf.
"What do you mean? Are you betraying Homelander?"
Kaito had lost all interest in talking to this fool. A member of The Seven who would later be so thoroughly brainwashed by a cult… you couldn't expect much from him.
BOOM!
The iconic stomp of the [Raging Fire] technique. The sand exploded as Kaito instantly closed the distance. The beach terrain slowed him down, and The Deep was able to see the attack coming. He ducked, and a hand-blade sliced through the air over his head with a low whistle.
Before he could feel relieved, his opponent's knee shot up. He crossed his arms to block, but a terrifying force exploded on impact.
BAM!
The Deep's balance was shattered, and he was sent flying. He landed in the water but was completely unaffected by the waves. In the water, his movements were fluid. He looked at Kaito, his expression grim. His opponent's strength and speed were no less than his own, and his movements were viciously efficient, even faster than Black Noir's.
"Do you have any idea what the consequences are for attacking me?!" The Deep shouted, backing further into the sea.
Kaito shook out his arms, his muscles relaxing. He had to admit, the Supes in this world had excellent physiques. Even The Deep, who was at the bottom of The Seven's rankings, was no weaker than him in terms of raw strength and constitution. And Kaito's own base stats were already three times that of a normal person.
Kaito walked step by step into the ocean. The water came up past his calves, further restricting his movement, but he was still smiling.
"You still don't get it, do you, Deep? This is Homelander's will. He's decided to purge weaklings like you from the team."
Seeing Kaito enter the water, The Deep suddenly crouched. With a powerful sweep of his hands, he created a small wave that crashed toward Kaito. He followed right behind it. At the same time, several poisonous jellyfish materialized at Kaito's feet.
Kaito lifted his foot. A golden ripple of Hamon appeared on its sole. He stepped onto the surface of the wave, which held him high, and he leaped. Both the wave and The Deep passed harmlessly underneath him.
He looked down from above as he flew over his opponent.
In mid-air, Kaito's body was graceful. His right hand twisted and coiled. As he landed, he stomped his foot again. The surface of the water depressed as if it were gelatin. The golden ripple of Hamon supported his weight like a giant webbed foot, keeping him from sinking. Hamon had many wonderful uses, and water-walking was one of them. Unlike in the world of Naruto, which used chakra, the Ripple worked by expanding his body's surface area, dispersing his weight.
He stomped down, and his body shot backward, appearing behind The Deep with a speed that was impossible in the water.
[Sage Art - Rakshasa's Palm]!
BAM!
The Deep screamed as the palm strike slammed into his back. His tough muscles were instantly twisted and ripped from his spine. He pitched forward, face-planting on the beach.
SPLASH!
At that moment, the water was torn apart. A giant dorsal fin sliced through the surface, approaching from the distance at high speed.
"No, no, stop, Justin!" The Deep, bleeding from his mouth and nose, saw his friend and screamed. He knew Kaito was powerful; there was no way a single orca could deal with him on land.
But the massive killer whale didn't stop. It shot through the waves and beached itself, charging Kaito like a freight train.
Kaito, seeing this, just smiled cruelly. He held his hands in front of him as if holding a large ball. The cruel, violent will within him stirred the special power in his body. A dark, spiritual power, like a black wave, began to spin and compress between his palms. It felt as if he were holding a bomb that could detonate at any moment, a terrifying power struggling to break free.
He watched the orca charge, and then he spread his hands and thrust them forward. The black Hadoken shot out, picking up a vortex of sand and seawater, and screamed through the air.
The orca, dozens of meters long, had just slammed onto the beach.
BOOM!
After the massive impact, The Deep struggled to his feet. The muscles in his back were completely shredded, and he couldn't move his arms. It was only thanks to his powerful physique that his internal organs hadn't ruptured. He looked for his friend.
"Justin? Are you okay? Justin…?"
The next moment, he stopped. When he got to the front of the whale, he saw a massive, gaping hole that had been punched straight through its head. He could see the ocean on the other side. The orca, Justin, had been completely cored out. Its internal organs and tail were gone.
A man, drenched in blood, was standing behind the whale, having apparently just leaped through the hole he'd made. The sun was at his back, and the glare was so blinding that The Deep, before he could even grieve for his friend, was filled with an intense, primal fear.
Kaito spread his arms, feeling that unprecedented sense of exhilaration again. Step by step, he was breaking the cage that had bound him. Bit by bit, he was unleashing his true power, his true nature.
"Ha… haha…"
Kaito turned, and looked at the terrified Deep. He pointed his index finger.
Hiss~
An intense ki gathered, letting out a sharp whistle as it cut through the air. A brilliant, condensed golden light appeared. In that moment, Kaito felt his control over his energy had reached a new level. He could now draw out even more power from his [Body of Ten Thousand Spirits].
[Your mastery of the ability Divine Finger Technique has progressed. Current: Lv3.]
[Divine Finger Technique (A+) Lv3: Gather an extremely strong ki at the fingertip with complete control, allowing for an explosive, piercing attack with devastating damage and penetration at any time.]
[Energy +1. Current: ?]
Fzzt!
The golden beam of ki instantly crossed the dozen meters between them and pierced The Deep's chest, destroying the gills that allowed him to breathe underwater, along with his heart and lungs.
As Kaito watched him fall, he thought, My Energy attribute is high, but my output is low. It doesn't let me fire off a massive blast, but it does give me incredible stamina. He had realized that he could use high-level abilities like the Dodon Ray and the Spirit Gun with no feeling of depletion at all.
[You have killed the member of The Seven, The Deep. You have gained 2500 Dimensional Points.]
[You have obtained 1 E-rank Singularity.]
[Milestone progress updated. You have completed the Milestone: Anti-Hero.]
[Anti-Hero: When equipped, you will deal additional damage to all characters with the "Hero" title or who belong to a Lawful or Just faction.]
[Karma Reincarnator Ex051 detected to possess similar Milestones: Genocider, Villain. You may inquire at the Rank Management Office about Title Synthesis.]
A wisp of blue light slowly materialized in front of Kaito, coalescing into a blue card. He "tsked" and took it.
[You have obtained a Drop Card (Blue).]
[Drop Card - The Deep]
[Quality: Rare (Blue)]
[Description: A card containing the lineage, skills, abilities, and items of the ocean hero, The Deep.]
[Effect: Crush to open.]
Kaito was now looking down on The Deep even more. He had only produced a blue-quality drop card, and his death had barely affected the world's timeline, only granting a single E-rank Singularity.
He looked at the corpse, took out his phone, and called George to arrange for the media to arrive. He then began to walk away, stepping on the surface of the ocean.
[You have opened the Drop Card - The Deep.]
[You have obtained 1500 Dimensional Points.]
[You have obtained Special Material: Gills of The Deep.]
[You have obtained Special Proficiency Scroll: Underwater Combat.]
The blue light faded. Kaito hadn't even gotten a lineage item, or anything even remotely useful. He was even more disappointed. I'll have to go after someone on Starlight's or A-Train's level. The Deep was just too weak.
He wasn't surprised that Homelander had thrown him away first. This was just the beginning. Homelander would become the one and only Supe tyrant. And he, in turn, would become the legal, state-sanctioned superhero-killer.
And on the other side, he thought, it's about time for [Heartless] to become a proper bait. Once he got the [Card], he would leak his coordinates and draw out the attention of [Bad Kid] and [Kalpa]. Though, after his last encounter, [Kalpa] was likely to be more cautious.
An hour later, the news broke across America.
THE DEEP, MEMBER OF THE SEVEN, KILLED IN BATTLE WITH UNKNOWN ASSAILANTS!
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Guys We cross the 1400 power stone goal and as promise here the bonus chapter
Next goal 1500 power stone,come on guys you'll can do it, good luck.
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