Black Robe: All-powerful Man VS. Homelander VS. Superman
Chapter 28: Homelander's Milk Supply is Cut Off
Beep, beep, beep, beep!
Right at that moment, the phone in Locke Grayson's pants pocket rang.
This was a satellite phone provided to him free of charge by Vought Company so that he could be reached.
Seeing Locke Grayson take out his phone, Maeve's words stopped halfway, unable to continue.
"Hello, Starlight, is there something wrong?"
"Locke, you're not at the company? Did you go out?"
"Maeve and I came out to execute a mission, and it's already been resolved."
At Vought Tower, Starlight stood inside her exclusive room, looking at a skimpy uniform on the bed, and complained,
"I saved a girl on the street last night who was almost assaulted by two men. This matter was exposed online, and then the company asked me to change into a very revealing new uniform, talking about something like displaying female empowerment?"
Starlight shook her head, pursed her lips, and cursed, "Screw female empowerment; does female empowerment mean exposing one's own body?"
"What's even more infuriating is that when I was unwilling to wear it, Madelyn even threatened me, saying that if I didn't wear it, I would have to quit The Seven."
"Locke, what do you think I should do?"
Not long after Starlight joined The Seven, she was almost violated by The Deep, and was also asked to go against her will and dress like a KTV hostess.
She now felt that Vought Company was getting more and more disgusting. Could these really be superheroes?
Were so-called superheroes all perverts packaged up by PR?
On the other hand, Locke Grayson had saved her on the first day, preventing her from being subjected to unwritten rules by The Deep, and had also carefully taught her how to better develop her superpowers.
Within Vought Company, Starlight only had a favorable impression of Locke Grayson, which was why she called him to ask for his opinion.
"Starlight, follow your own heart. To wear it or not depends on you."
Locke Grayson's tone was very calm, yet it gave people a strong sense of security.
"With me here, no one can threaten you."
Inside the room, Starlight bit her lip, a sweet smile appearing on her face,
"Locke, thank you. You are the only one who lets me maintain my original intention; even my mother told me to endure it."
Starlight discovered that the person who cared about her the most turned out not to be her family member, but Locke Grayson, whom she had only known for two days!
Her adoration and affection for Locke Grayson had now reached their peak.
"I still like my original uniform, but this outfit... I can wear it for you alone tonight. Do you have time?"
Locke Grayson heard the subtext in Starlight's words. He didn't need to pretend to be a saintly gentleman; after all, he quite liked Starlight as well.
"No problem, see you tonight."
Hanging up the phone, Locke Grayson looked at Maeve.
"What were you going to ask me just now?"
"It's nothing... Cheers."
Maeve forced a smile, clinked her glass against Locke Grayson's, and drank it all in one gulp.
She had heard the contents of the phone call and also knew that Starlight liked Locke Grayson.
Starlight was only twenty-three years old, a standard blonde sweet girl, and hadn't been tainted by Vought yet.
Comparing herself to Starlight, Maeve found that Starlight seemed like her when she was young,
Pure, yearning to be a female superhero who helped the weak.
Therefore,
Maeve thought that Starlight and Locke Grayson were a great match, while she was no longer pure.
...
After lunch, Locke Grayson sent Maeve back to Vought Tower.
Maeve said she wanted to go back to her room to rest, waved her hand, and left.
Locke Grayson sensed that Maeve's emotions were a bit dejected, but he didn't ask.
He wasn't here to be a considerate sweetheart; if the other party wanted to talk, she would say it herself.
"Mr. Grayson!"
Right at that moment, Ashley found Locke Grayson in the corridor and said with some trepidation,
"Ms. Madelyn would like to invite you to her office regarding this afternoon's racing competition between A-Train and Supersonic."
Without waiting for Locke Grayson to speak, she quickly added, "Of course, if you're not interested, I'll go back right now to give my reply and won't disturb you."
Locke Grayson thought about it; that matter could begin now.
"I'm a bit interested, let's go."
Ashley didn't expect that Locke Grayson would actually be interested in such a trivial matter.
However, since Locke Grayson was willing to go see Madelyn, she breathed a sigh of relief—she wouldn't get chewed out.
"Oh, Mr. Grayson, you're finally willing to grace us with your presence."
In the vice president's office, Madelyn was sitting there expressing breast milk.
Seeing Locke Grayson walk in, she wasn't flustered at all, and even purposely pulled her white shirt open a bit on both sides.
Only in front of Homelander and Locke Grayson would Madelyn openly express milk without covering up,
because they were powerful enough, and Madelyn wanted to control them.
However, what troubled Madelyn was that Locke Grayson didn't seem to buy into this routine,
even Homelander seemed to have changed, staying in the training ground and refusing to come out,
and not even sneaking drinks of the milk in the drawer anymore.
"Are you speaking in sarcastic innuendos?" Locke Grayson sat on the sofa and raised an eyebrow.
"How could that be?"
Madelyn buttoned up her shirt, placed the baby bottle on the coffee table, and then sat across from Locke Grayson.
"You're so young and powerful, even stronger than Homelander. How would I dare to mock you?"
Finding that Locke Grayson kept staring at the baby bottle, the corners of her mouth curled into a smile,
"Ashley told you, right? I thought you wouldn't come over."
"It's good to clear my head." Locke Grayson perfunctorily replied.
"A-Train and Supersonic are going to hold a race. The scene will be huge with a massive viewership, and I need high-profile superheroes to go to the scene and hold down the fort."
Madelyn said with narrowed eyes,
"But Homelander is in the training ground and won't come out. Do you know why?"
Homelander had never been so obsessed with training before, unwilling to even go to such face-showing, fame-boosting events.
Madelyn suspected that Locke Grayson had said something to Homelander that severely stimulated him.
"John is too weak and can't beat me right now, so he probably wants to surpass me through training."
Locke Grayson said casually.
Madelyn looked at Locke Grayson. She felt it wasn't such a simple reason, but since Locke Grayson was unwilling to say, there was nothing she could do.
"Go together with Maeve or Starlight. Pick one."
Thinking of how Maeve's mood wasn't very good, Locke Grayson said, "Then let's go with Starlight."
Madelyn smiled, thinking to herself that as expected.
She had asked Starlight to change into the new uniform,
but just now Starlight had suddenly gained backbone, directly refusing and saying she'd quit The Seven at worst.
Madelyn had guessed that Starlight's source of confidence was Locke Grayson, and now it seemed indeed to be the case.
Starlight liked Locke Grayson, and it looked like Locke Grayson liked Starlight too.
Then if she could control Starlight, would she indirectly control Locke Grayson?
Locke Grayson didn't know Madelyn's thoughts at this moment, otherwise he would have told Madelyn:
You're overthinking it.
No one can threaten Locke Grayson!
If someone Locke cared about died, he would only retaliate fiercely!
Instead of letting that person become his weakness.
Before leaving, Madelyn picked up the baby bottle and said to Locke Grayson:
"I have several bottles left here. If you like them, take them with you."
Without turning his head, Locke Grayson said, "I just wanted to remind you, Homelander is about to be cut off from milk; you should keep those for yourself to drink."
Inside the office, hearing Locke Grayson's words, Madelyn's expression grew uglier and uglier.
Chapter 29 Rising Star
"A-Train! A-Train!"
Inside the largest stadium in downtown, it was packed with people, and the cheers were deafening.
The upcoming event was a race between A-Train and Supersonic.
If A-Train won, he would be able to stay in The Seven,
and if A-Train lost, his position would be replaced.
After all, The Seven only wanted the fastest Superhumanin the world.
The four members of The Boys had also arrived at the scene.
By monitoring Popclaw, they discovered that A-Train had been secretly injecting compound v.
This drug was like steroids for a Superhuman, or perhaps a stimulant, but it would make people excited to the point of losing their minds.
On the day A-Train smashed Hughie's girlfriend to pieces, he had injected compound v in Popclaw's apartment.
"I can't stop! I can't stop!"
To be honest, given A-Train's condition at that time, only killing one person on the road could already be considered lucky.
The Boys wanted to steal some compound v for testing and get funding from CIA Deputy Director Susan.
Butcher, Hughie, and Marvin stood in the stands, responsible for observation and command,
while Frenchie crawled into the ventilation duct, climbing all the way to the top of the athletes' locker room.
After A-Train left, Frenchie jumped down and searched through A-Train's backpack, but couldn't find the compound v.
"Fuck!"
When Butcher saw A-Train come to the field to warm up in a highly excited state,
he knew that the other party had already injected compound v in a place unknown to everyone and run back to the field at an extremely fast speed.
The whole process took less than 3 seconds.
They were afraid they would return empty-handed this time.
Just as Butcher was about to order a retreat, he suddenly looked up at the high sky!
Two figures were seen slowly descending in the air right above the center of the stadium.
One of them was a young male wearing casual white clothes, with his arms crossed and a calm expression, hovering mid-air,
while the other blonde female was wearing a suit, with her arms open downwards and her legs slightly bent.
What was surprising was that her hands and feet were glowing with golden light!
Like the exhaust flame of a rocket thruster, it supported her body to maintain Flight and floating!
The people at the scene raised their heads one after another, excitedly looking at this beautiful pair of god-like men and women,
and tens of millions of global viewers in the live streaming room were also watching the descent of gods on their screens respectively!
"Starlight! Starlight! Starlight!"
...
"Locke! Locke! Locke!"
...
The cheers soared into the sky, completely overshadowing the halo of the two protagonists on the field!
A-Train felt a bit aggrieved, feeling his heartbeat start to quicken.
Clearly he was the protagonist today, but he was upstaged by Locke and Starlight.
However, A-Train could only swallow it down, daring to be angry but not daring to speak out,
because he knew that Locke's speed was even faster than his own!
Even Homelander didn't mess with Locke now!
That guy The Deep was still lying in the hospital!
Frenchie had already arrived at the stands and reunited with the other three.
The Boys looked at the two Superhumans hovering in the air with very solemn expressions.
Were they going to oppose such an existence in the future? Wasn't that pure suicide?
Hughie kept staring at Starlight.
Such a beautiful girl; she didn't look like a bad person at all.
Of course, Locke didn't give Hughie the feeling of a bad person either.
After all, Locke helped him teach A-Train a lesson, and sanctioned Translucent in front of the live broadcast, which could be considered saving both him and Butcher.
A pair of handsome men and beautiful women, they matched so well!
Hughie couldn't help but sigh in his heart.
But for some reason, he always felt that the picture was a bit discordant, and felt a strange greenish tint on his head.
He didn't know why he had this feeling, and he didn't even know Starlight.
...
"How do you feel?" Locke looked at Starlight beside him with a smile.
"This feeling... although it's not real Flight, it's wonderful!"
Starlight looked down below, unable to believe that she was actually hovering dozens of meters above the ground!
Through Locke's guidance and Starlight's training, she couldn't fly freely yet,
but high-altitude hovering and high-altitude movement, she had already learned.
Name: Annie January
Title: Starlight
Level: City-level
Strength: 130 tons
Speed: 0.8 Mach
Physique: 19t / cm²
Abilities: Physical enhancement, absorption of electrical energy, intense light shock, high-altitude floating
Weaknesses: Dependence on electricity, long charging time
[To be updated]
After training, Starlight's three basic stats had all improved.
The low-altitude short-distance floating in her superpowers had also turned into high-altitude floating.
The weakness of relying on electricity had still not been eliminated; Starlight could only absorb a small amount of sunlight now and could not yet abandon electricity.
"Are we just going to stay in the air like this? Won't it be too conspicuous?"
Starlight looked at the dense crowd below and said somewhat nervously.
"What we want is to be conspicuous." Locke smiled slightly.
His behavior of showing off was precisely to attract more attention.
Preferably all humans globally.
Bang!
As the starting gun sounded, the race of the century officially began.
In less than a second, A-Train circled the track and crossed the finish line at a speed invisible to the naked eye!
The slow motion on the camera captured A-Train's figure.
Supersonic fell behind.
Starlight gave Locke a look of surprise and suspicion; she felt as if Locke had left for a split second just now?
"A-Train won the race! Let's congratulate A-Train!"
"Whoo—!"
Hearing the host's words, the audience let out huge cheers.
"Wait!" The host suddenly widened his eyes, looked closely at the slow-motion footage again, and said with a shocked face,
"It's Locke! Oh god! Locke is right above A-Train!"
In the slow-motion playback, Locke circled the track at a height of three meters above the ground as well, yet he reached the finish line faster than A-Train!
Although Locke wasn't running but flying, this showed that Locke's speed far exceeded A-Train's!
A-Train's normal speed was 2.5 Mach, and after injecting compound v, he barely reached over 3 Mach,
but Locke's current normal speed was already 5.1 Mach!
"Locke! Locke! Locke!"
Seeing that Locke was the fastest Superhuman in the world, the audience burst into even more intense cheers.
It could be said that Locke's popularity at this moment had surpassed Homelander!
The popularity on the internet was just that fast; Locke was a rising star,
while Homelander hadn't appeared in the public eye for two days.
...
Starlight looked at the handsome and powerful Locke beside her, licked her lips,
and unconsciously moved closer. Locke also naturally put his arm around Starlight's waist.
Maeve leaned on the bed in her room, seeing this scene on TV, and felt very depressed. She picked up the vodka on the bedside table and gulped down a few more mouthfuls into her mouth.
In the vice president's office, Madelyn and Ashley watched Locke's performance in surprise.
"Ms. Madelyn, the company's stock price has risen again!"
Ashley had some doubts in her heart: didn't Locke refuse any activities?
Why would he show himself off in public in such a high-profile manner?
Madelyn showed a smile. She saw more money and value in Locke;
Locke was simply too suitable for star-making!
If carefully crafted, he would make even more money than Homelander in the future!
"Holy shit!"
Marvin looked at Butcher and said with an incredible look,
"We're going to be enemies with such an existence? I'm afraid he's even more powerful than Homelander!"
Frenchie shook his head, "I certainly don't want to die in his hands."
Hughie also wanted to back out. Locke and Starlight in front of them were simply not people that the few of them could afford to mess with.
Seeing that the team members had all lost their spirit, Butcher cursed helplessly:
"Fine, fine, fine. We fucking don't have to fight him, after all, I haven't found out what bad things he has done so far.
Our main targets are A-Train and Homelander and them.
Hughie, don't you want to avenge your girlfriend Robin?
Marvin, don't you want to avenge your grandfather and father?
And Frenchie, we are a team. As long as we work together with one heart, we will definitely succeed in exposing Vought's crimes to the public."
Under Butcher's tongue-lashing, the three of them looked much better and finally regained their confidence to fight against Vought.
Locke had long discovered The Boys in the air, but he ignored them,
instead flying down to take a wireless microphone from the host's hand, and then re-hovering right in the center of the stadium.
Chapter 30: Forming the Guardians of the Globe of the Boys world?
At this moment, the number of people watching the live broadcast globally had already reached over one billion!
Nearly half of them were Chinese!
Because the newly emerged star Locke was of mixed Asian descent,
many Chinese people were guessing which of Locke's parents was Chinese, and who on earth could give birth to such an outstanding Superhuman!
"All humans across the world, including those with superpowers."
Locke floated high in the air, with one arm around Starlight's waist and a microphone in the other hand, his gaze falling on the broadcasting equipment on the podium,
"I am Locke of The Seven."
"On behalf of everyone in The Seven, including Homelander, I am announcing something."
The sound across the venue abruptly stopped, and everyone's eyes were focused on Locke,
waiting to see what major event this unfamiliar Superhuman rising star was going to announce.
Maeve stopped pouring alcohol down her throat, straightened her flushed body, and tried hard to sober up, wanting to hear what Locke was about to say.
Could he be announcing his relationship with Starlight?
Maeve thought sadly.
Madelyn, Stan Edgar... all the upper management of Vought Company were paying attention to the live broadcast.
"Who gave him the authority to make announcements on behalf of The Seven?"
Edgar muttered to himself while sitting in the CEO's office.
He had just flown back from abroad today and hadn't met with Locke yet,
but he had people investigate all of Locke's background, yet couldn't find a single piece of information.
Locke, this powerful Superhuman, seemed to have appeared out of thin air in this world!
Edgar suspected whether China had hidden it from the whole world and secretly created a Superhuman even more powerful than Homelander.
After all, conspicuous Asian males like Locke were extremely rare globally.
He narrowed his eyes, wanting to see what Locke was about to say on behalf of The Seven.
"I think there is something some people know, but most people do not—which is that almost all well-known superheroes nowadays are packaged stars!"
Locke's words caused an uproar in the venue; could it be that Vought Company's heroes were all fakes?
"Among them, perhaps some Superhumans have not been alienated and still hold onto their original dreams of helping the weak, fighting evil, or even saving the world.
However, under the coercion of huge traffic and a monetary society, such legitimate dreams will slowly fade away over time."
Both Starlight and Maeve couldn't help nodding; being right in the middle of it, they knew very well that what Locke said was true.
A-Train, who was resting by the track, showed a complicated expression on his face upon hearing Locke's words.
As a black man, he knew the discrimination this group suffered, and his childhood dream was to one day change the poor living environment of people in his community.
But after joining Vought Company, he also lost his original intention, turning into someone who only wanted to pursue status and traffic,
and even accidentally killed an innocent girl out of control in order to inject compound v and keep himself from being replaced.
Locke's words resonated with many Superhumans,
but with the entire capitalist world being this way, what could they change if they didn't indulge and play wantonly?
As long as they weren't favored by Vought Company, they would become completely devoid of fame, living obscurely at the bottom,
only slightly better than ordinary homeless people.
Locke said with a calm expression, continuing,
"Superhumans possess all kinds of miraculous abilities, whether innate or artificially created. They should not waste their abilities on indulgence, depravity, and doing foolish things that waste time."
Edgar clenched his fists, rested his chin on them, and frowned deeply.
Locke knew Vought Company's secrets?
"Therefore, I will establish an organization on behalf of The Seven, named the Guardians of the Globe!"
"We will invite and select Superhumans worldwide to join!"
"The strength of superpowers is secondary; what we need are Superhumans who genuinely want to help others and do righteous deeds!
Not those who only think about fame and making money!
Ordinary people can also join and apply for administrative positions."
"To emphasize once more, what we need are real superheroes, not traffic stars!"
"I believe such people exist in this world. Although rare, it is precisely because of them that this world won't rot away completely!"
"On behalf of The Seven, I look forward to your joining!"
Bang—!
After finishing, Locke casually tossed the microphone aside, wrapped his arm around Starlight's waist, shot straight up into the sky, and disappeared into the clouds!
People stared at the sky in astonishment, not yet recovered from Locke's words,
but the internet was already going crazy!
Locke was actually going to establish a new organization!
Did that mean unfamous or washed-up Superhumans who had already been abandoned by Vought Company would also have a chance to join?
Although it wasn't The Seven, sounding like a subordinate organization,
it was managed by The Seven after all!
Many Superhumans, seeing the live broadcast and related news, became eager to make a move.
...
"What the fuck? What on earth does he want to do?"
Butcher frowned tightly, finding that he couldn't see through Locke at all.
How dare Locke publicly announce the establishment of a new organization? Would Vought Company just let it be?
And were Locke's words true or not?
Did he really want to establish a righteous superhero organization, or was there some other conspiracy?
Marvin and Frenchie couldn't figure it out either,
but Hughie said: "I believe him. He saved me, and I believe he isn't a bad person."
"Boy, you just listen to what Superhumans say and leave it at that."
Butcher said coldly, "I don't deny that there are Superhumans who haven't committed crimes, but Vought Company doesn't care at all about those few."
"No matter what purpose Locke has, we will continue doing what we're supposed to do."
His target was Homelander; to avenge his wife Becca, he couldn't let Locke disrupt their morale.
...
"Mr. Locke, you're finally back. CEO Edgar is waiting for you on the 82nd floor."
As soon as Locke and Starlight returned to Vought Tower, Ashley came looking for them.
"Let's go." Locke raised an eyebrow,
knowing full well that after his high-profile announcement of that matter, the upper management of Vought Companywouldn't be able to sit still.
He also happened to need a chat with that old fox, Stan Edgar.
"I'll head out first. I'll come find you tonight."
Starlight gave Locke an affectionate look, then left with brisk steps.
Ashley swallowed gently, suddenly feeling a bit envious of Starlight.
Walking into the CEO's office for the first time,
Edgar was wearing glasses, signing some documents. Locke casually sat down on the black leather sofa opposite the desk.
After two minutes, Edgar closed the document, took off his glasses, and looked at Locke.
"Mr. Locke, this is our first meeting. It's an honor."
Seeing Edgar nod gentlemanly, Locke chuckled and said: "If you have anything to say, just say it directly. I still have to go watch A-Zu train later."
A-Zu?
Noticing Locke's affectionate nickname for Homelander, Edgar thought to himself, they had only known each other for a short time; was their relationship really this good?
He slightly curved the corners of his mouth into a standard fake smile,
"Mr. Locke, may I know where you come from?"
Locke had anticipated that Edgar would inquire about his origins.
"As you can see, I am of Asian descent. What I can tell you is that I am a natural-born Superhuman, not artificially manufactured through drug injections."
Hearing this, Edgar looked deeply at Locke,
"Is there a difference? All Superhumans in our Vought Company are natural-born."
What an old fox, still probing now and unwilling to admit it.
But Locke couldn't be bothered to argue with him and said directly:
"I know far more than you can imagine: compound v, temporary V, the original compound v-1, the Odessa Project..."
"Enough." Edgar twitched the corner of his mouth, stopping Locke from continuing.
He was incomparably shocked at this moment; Locke was practically omniscient!
Even his most secretive plan to cultivate the strongest Superhuman was known to him!
Edgar felt that it was very hard to manipulate this young man, so he said:
"What do you want to achieve by joining The Seven? And what do you want to achieve by privately announcing the establishment of the Guardians of the Globe?"
Locke shrugged and said matter-of-factly,
"I've made myself very clear: it's to invite people who genuinely want to be superheroes to join, rather than the fake heroes packaged by you guys."
He smiled, "I want to talk to you about a collaboration."
"What kind of collaboration?" Edgar narrowed his eyes.
"You want money, and I need resources to establish the Guardians of the Globe.
I allow you to package me to gain profits, but Vought Company must provide technology and initial financial support."
Locke clenched his fists,
"I am very strong, even stronger than Homelander. Collaborating with me, you won't lose out."
Edgar considered it for a moment. No matter what purpose Locke had in forming the Guardians of the Globe, it would be under his surveillance anyway,
and he would be able to know about personnel transfers and fund allocations, making it convenient to grasp Locke's movements.
And by packaging Locke, the youngest and most powerful Asian male Superhuman in history, the company could gain massive profits!
"I agree." Edgar extended his hand toward Locke.
Chapter 31: Omni-Man Is About to Make a Move!
Locke walked out of the CEO's office with a smile on the corner of his mouth.
Having bluffed Vought Company's CEO, Stan Edgar, his endeavor to form the Guardians of the Globe would go much more smoothly.
Apart from wanting to remodel The Boys world into the shape he desired,
his purpose in doing this was also to conveniently gather the world's Superhumans and use their various superpowers to put Locke through special training.
Imagine if Locke grew accustomed to invisibility, mind-reading, hypnosis, possession... and all sorts of bizarre superpowers,
then his weaknesses would become fewer and fewer, allowing him to handle any kind of schemers he might encounter in other worlds in the future.
Locke could completely treat the beginner-village-level The Boys world as his own training ground.
"Mr. Locke seems to be in a good mood; presumably, the talk with the CEO went very well."
Ashley said, walking by Locke's side.
Locke looked at Ashley, the stress-resistance queen, and said with a smile: "Ashley, I really admire your working ability and stress tolerance. Are you interested in working for me?"
"Huh?" Ashley was stunned; she hadn't expected Locke to extend an invitation to her,
"However, I am currently the vice president's assistant..."
"It's all working inside Vought Company anyway, it's the same thing," Locke said with a smile,
"You can be Madelyn's assistant and also serve as my secretary. I'll give you double the salary."
"Your job is very simple: help assemble the Guardians of the Globe, and whenever anything happens with the Guardians of the Globe, you can report it to me."
Ashley thought about it: becoming Locke's secretary would not only earn her more money,
but she would also receive Locke's protection and wouldn't have to worry about mortal danger all day long. What a great job this was.
"Mr. Locke, I'rather willing, but as for Ms. Madelyn..."
Locke waved his hand. "Just notify her and say this is a decision made by Edgar and me."
"Alright!"
Ashley nodded, feeling boundless admiration for Locke in her heart for being able to sit on equal footing with CEO Edgar.
...
In the training ground on the top floor of Vought Tower,
Homelander had been working out for two hours and was just getting ready to rest for a bit,
while Starlight was guiding little Ryan in his training on the side—this was something Locke had asked Starlight to help with.
Seeing Locke walk in, Starlight flashed a brilliant smile. Just as she was about to speak, she noticed Homelander's dark expression, curled her lips, and swallowed her words back down.
"Locke, who gave you permission to form some Guardians of the Globe in the name of The Seven and myself?!"
Although Homelander had spent the entire day in the training ground, he wasn't completely oblivious to the outside world.
He felt that Locke was going too far; he was practically riding right over his head!
The leader of The Seven could only be him, Homelander!
"John, you know that in no matter which world, strength is king. If you're angry, all you can do is surpass me as soon as possible."
Locke smiled casually,
"Besides, I'm forming the Guardians of the Globe to do some righteous things and save some real people, rather than the scripted performances you guys put on. Isn't that good?"
In front of Locke, Homelander no longer wanted to disguise himself. He said with disdain,
"Those people are all mere mortals; they aren't even the same species as us Superhumans. Who gives a damn if they live or die!"
"No, no, no, you were originally a so-called mere mortal too," Locke said, shaking his index finger,
"None of you are born Superhumans, and you know it."
Hearing this, Starlight covered her mouth in shock.
What kind of important secret had she just heard?!
"Right now in this world, only Ryan and I are born Superhumans."
Locke said indifferently.
Homelander looked toward his son. He knew about compound v and knew that what Locke said was true,
and suddenly he felt a bit envious of his own biological son.
Name: John
Title: Homelander
Level: National
Strength: 520 tons
Speed: Mach 3.5
Physique: 28t/cm²
Abilities: Super Strength, Super Speed, Super Physique, Super Hearing, X-Ray Vision, Heat Vision, Flight
Weaknesses: Lack of love, extreme mental instability, zinc metal, high-intensity radiation
[Pending Update]
Locke looked at Homelander's stats and discovered that his strength had genuinely increased!
It seemed training was useful; Homelander's upper limit of strength wasn't just 500 tons.
"John, did your strength increase?"
Hearing Locke's words, Homelander clenched his fist clad in a red glove.
Although he hadn't learned to control his strength yet, his power was indeed stronger than before.
This brought some comfort to Homelander's heart. He believed that as long as he kept training endlessly, he would definitely surpass Locke!
And once again become the most powerful Superhuman in this world!
"Good boy, well done. Keep up the hard work, I have high hopes for you."
Locke patted Homelander's shoulder with a gratified expression.
Homelander froze slightly. He could sense that Locke was genuinely happy about his increase in strength.
It wasn't fake or hypocritical!
Why?
Wasn't he afraid that after my strength surpassed his, I would kill him?
An unusual feeling arose in Homelander's heart.
If Locke hadn't been so young, Homelander would have thought Locke was his elder.
Seeing Locke prepare to leave the training ground, Starlight hurriedly chased after him and asked in a low voice: "What is compound v? Aren't I a born Superhuman?"
"Come to my room tonight, and I'll tell you then."
Locke looked at the innocent Starlight and said with a smile.
...
At 11:50 PM, Starlight quietly arrived at Locke's luxury suite,
wearing the revealing battle suit designed by Vought Company.
It looked like a white and gold bikini.
Both the upper and lower halves featured a V-shaped design.
It was very convenient; with just a gentle pull open, one could enter without hindrance.
Although Vought Company allowed Superhumans to engage in intimate relationships, Starlight was a bit shy and didn't want others to see.
"Locke, does this battle uniform look good?"
A small desk lamp was turned on by the bedside. Under the dim, warm light, Starlight's curvaceous figure appeared all the more alluring.
"You look good in anything," Locke smiled and said.
"Then should I take it off later?"
"No need, the battle suit is precisely what's needed."
Hearing this, Starlight slowly approached Locke, sat on his lap, wrapped her arms around his neck, and asked with a dazed gaze: "Then do you like me, Locke?"
"Of course I do," Locke answered bluntly.
Hearing the definitive answer, Starlight couldn't hold back anymore. With a push of her hands, she knocked Locke down onto the bed.
Leaning over him, she kissed Locke a few times and whispered softly in his ear: "You have to tell me about compound v first."
Clang——!
Right at that moment, the midnight chimes rang out, and everything inside the room paused.
When Locke opened his eyes again, he had already returned to Mark's home.
Locke gently let out a breath. In The Boys world, he was the strongest Superhuman,
but in the Invincible world, there were many existences stronger than him, making it impossible for Locke to completely relax.
That was fine too; after Locke cautiously spent a day in the Invincible world, he could just head over to The Boys world to enjoy a night with Starlight and relax his body and mind.
...
After dawn,
Debbie went to work, Mark went to school as usual, but Locke lingered in bed and refused to get up.
Nolan cracked the door open and saw Locke sleeping in bed,
thinking that Locke had been training too intensely these past two days and his body was overly exhausted.
With a solemn expression, he didn't disturb him, changed into his battle suit, and flew straight away.
Locke opened his eyes. He hadn't been sleeping at all, but had instead been constantly sensing Omni-Man's aura.
Perceiving that Omni-Man had already left Illinois, he should be heading toward the Guardians of the Globebase in Utah.
In just a few seconds, Locke quickly got dressed, opened his bedroom window, and shot straight into the sky!
Omni-Man was about to make a move against the Guardians of the Globe!
And Locke was now racing against time with his father!
Chapter 32: Change the Plot, Save the Guardians of the Globe!
Deep in the wilderness far from the suburbs, trees grew densely.
This dense forest almost completely obscured the sky and also blocked satellite signals.
However, inside the Global Defense Agency base, a screen in the command hall was tracking and monitoring Locke's movements at all times.
Relying on the United States's most advanced technology, satellite monitoring could penetrate shallow cover like leaves, but it could not penetrate things like mountains.
"Is there anything unusual about Omni-Man's family today?"
Cecil, the director of the GDA, stood in the command hall, browsing the surveillance footage from around the world as he asked.
Donald, the assistant, pushed up his glasses and reported,
"Mark is sitting in the classroom having class, Omni-Manhas left Illinois, and judging by his Flight route, he is heading to Utah,
Locke flew to a place in the wilderness, probably to train by himself."
Cecil nodded; right now, the family he worried about the most was Omni-Man's.
One Viltrumite, and two Viltrumite-Earth half-bloods—the strength of all three could not be underestimated.
If any problems arose, the Earth would suffer a huge crisis!
"The base in Utah was established by War Woman and Darkwing. The monitoring system and security system are both in their hands and have not been opened to the Global Defense Agency. This has always been a hidden danger..."
Cecil felt very insecure. He hated the feeling of some powerful force on Earth not being within his monitoring range.
Although the Guardians of the Globe were subordinate to the Global Defense Agency, the two were more like a cooperative relationship.
If a major crisis was encountered, Cecil would request the Guardians to dispatch, or the Guardians would discover a crisis and dispatch on their own.
Just at this moment, Donald noticed a strange phenomenon.
"Director, Locke seems to be flipping the middle finger at the air."
Hearing this, Cecil looked at one of the screens.
He saw Locke in the footage standing under a tree, his right hand raised, flipping the middle finger toward the sky, and then he even crooked his middle finger.
Cecil acutely noticed that Locke's mouth was moving, and the pronunciation sounded very much like his own name,
"Cecil."
He frowned, and without hesitation, directly pressed his high-tech bracelet to activate the teleportation device!
Donald was stunned. The director was still as overbearing and extravagant as ever, deducting another 5 million dollars just like that.
Every time a teleportation occurred, it was "-5M".
...
"You're here, Cecil."
Locke looked at Cecil, who had instantly appeared five meters in front of him, feeling somewhat envious of his teleportation,
but it was too expensive, and it was only limited to within Earth.
Only Cecil didn't care about the cost at all in order to save time, using a teleportation every time he went to Mark's house.
"Locke Grayson, this is our first time meeting. I've wanted to chat with you for a long time."
Seeing that Locke did not express any surprise at his appearance, Cecil
immediately understood that he had guessed right; Locke really was "summoning" him.
"Other things we want to chat about can wait until later. Right now, there is a very urgent matter."
Locke's expression turned serious. He needed to gain Cecil's trust.
"What matter? Let's hear it." Cecil crossed his arms.
But in his heart, he didn't think Locke would have any urgent matters,
because although Locke possessed the Viltrumite Bloodline, he was after all an 18-year-old child.
"You need to immediately notify several superheroes of the Guardians of the Globe right now. If the bracelets on their hands send out an emergency notification, tell them to ignore it!"
Before Cecil could ask, Locke continued: "Don't ask why for now; just do this first!"
"In addition, do not notify Omni-Man."
Hearing Locke's words, Cecil furrowed his brow tightly, but he was very decisive and chose to trust Locke this once.
"Donald, immediately connect to the communication devices of the seven people in the Guardians of the Globe. Be careful not to notify Omni-Man!"
Donald inside the command hall quickly executed the order.
A few seconds later, the communications of the seven people were all connected.
"Cecil, is there something wrong? You know, my wife hates being disturbed during dates."
Red Rush's voice came from the communicator, sounding very light.
"Cecil! Is there a mission! I can finally leave this damn seabed!"
"Aquarus, keep your voice down. My eardrums are about to be shattered by you."
The Immortal was patrolling in the air, and hearing the shouting in the communicator, he couldn't help but complain.
"I said I don't care about the company's performance, handle it yourselves!"
War Woman's high-heel sounds rang out in the communicator.
"Sorry, I was in the meeting room just now. Cecil, why did you notify us?"
"Cecil, speak quickly if you have something. I am shooting for an important client." Green Ghost's voice was also very small.
"Martian Man, can you take me with you on this mission?"
A little girl's voice came from Martian Man's communicator, followed immediately by Martian Man's voice:
"No, Nikki, you know the Guardians' missions are too dangerous for human children."
Darkwing was standing on the roof of a factory, preparing to interrogate last night's two criminals.
Listening to his teammates' voices in the communicator, he acutely noticed a problem:
"Cecil, you didn't notify Omni-Man?"
Reminded by Darkwing, everyone discovered this problem.
The Immortal said: "Although Omni-Man does not belong to the Guardians of the Globe, he has fought side by side with us for so long. We should inform him when encountering a crisis."
All seven trusted Omni-Man deeply and would never have thought that Omni-Man would do something to harm the Guardians of the Globe.
Cecil looked at Locke and spoke into the communicator in a serious tone:
"This mission is: if the bracelets on your hands send out an emergency notification, ignore it!"
"What?!"
Just as several of them wanted to ask for the reason,
Beep, beep, beep, beep!
the bracelets on their hands simultaneously issued an alarm sound!
This was the sound of the Guardians' emergency call. Only the seven people, plus Omni-Man, had the authority to notify a gathering.
At this moment, the seven people located all over the world were all looking at the bracelets in their hands with shock and suspicion, hesitating whether to listen to Cecil's command.
They nominally belonged to the Global Defense Agency, but they had the authority to act independently!
"Cecil, we need an explanation." War Woman said coldly.
She was the woman who cared the most about Earth's safety.
If a major crisis was triggered on Earth because of Cecil's inexplicable reasons, she would not forgive Cecil.
Cecil gently let out a breath and temporarily made up a reason:
"The Defense Agency just intercepted an alien interference signal. It can control almost all communication devices on Earth.
The emergency call notification was sent out by alien enemies, and I'm worried they deliberately lured you to the base to wipe you all out in one fell swoop."
"What about Omni-Man?" Darkwing felt there were loopholes in Cecil's words, but he was not in a hurry to refute.
As expected of Darkwing, who was best at stealth, reconnaissance, and assassination—the reason he temporarily made up was first noticed by him.
Cecil steadied his mindset and said in a calm tone:
"Omni-Man's communication device has been controlled, and we can't contact him. Perhaps the alien enemies also know that Omni-Man has the strongest strength, so they didn't let him prepare in advance."
Although Darkwing didn't quite believe Cecil's words, out of past cooperation and trust, he didn't expose him.
After all, Cecil's purpose was to protect them.
If they were deceived and Earth really suffered a major crisis, the result would soon come out.
The other few also temporarily believed Cecil. Red Rushsaid:
"Omni-Man should have already been tricked by the alien signal to the base in Utah. My speed is the fastest, I'll go notify him."
Seeing Locke opposite him nod, Cecil said: "Okay."
"Recently, your emergency call system might be controlled from time to time. Before the Defense Agency finds a solution, stop trusting your wrist devices; uniformly gather at the Defense Agency to take action first!"
After hanging up the communication of the Guardians of the Globe, Cecil breathed a sigh of relief and looked at Locke,
"This should be fine now, right? You should give me a reason."
Omni-Man's purpose was to gather the seven people of the Guardians of the Globe together and wipe them out in one fell swoop.
Now only Red Rush was going to notify him; he wouldn't risk killing Red Rush first, as that would alert the enemy.
That was why Locke agreed to let Red Rush go find Omni-Man alone.
With Red Rush's speed, as long as he wanted to run, it would be very difficult for Omni-Man to catch him.
Locke also let out a long sigh of relief. Wanting to save the Guardians of the Globe from Omni-Man's hands was wishful thinking!
Even if Locke went to the scene, he was afraid Omni-Manwould go crazy with killing
and kill him, his own son, as well!
Therefore, Locke could only take action and notify Cecil in advance,
preventing the seven members of the Guardians of the Globe from gathering together before Omni-Man could lure them together!
He had finally temporarily saved the Guardians of the Globe!
Locke looked at Cecil in front of him, preparing to tell him the reason for doing this.
Chapter 33: Locke's Purpose, Cecil's Trust and Gratitude
"My father, Nolan Grayson, also known as Omni-Man, has been acting a bit strange the past couple of days."
Locke said with a solemn expression, acting as though all of this were merely his own guess.
"He often sits seriously alone on the couch, not saying a word. Even when Aunt Debbie talks to him, he is sometimes absent-minded.
Furthermore, his mood is becoming increasingly irritable, he's getting harsher towards Mark, and he has even argued with Aunt Debbie a few times—things that never used to happen before.
The turning point of this change was the very night Mark awakened his superpowers, which also happened to be the night I came to the United States to acknowledge my family."
Cecil hadn't noticed anything unusual about Omni-Man,
because Omni-Man always maintained a serious expression when he was out.
Only his family, like Locke, could observe him so carefully.
"There's no alien interference signal; you mean to say—"
Cecil frowned, somewhat incredulous,
"The emergency call notification for the Guardians of the Globe was sent out by Omni-Man?"
Locke was noncommittal. "Excluding the seven members of the Guardians of the Globe, only Omni-Man is left."
"Earth hasn't suffered any invasion; why would he call for an emergency assembly of the Guardians?"
Locke didn't give the answer directly, instead guiding him:
"Your satellite surveillance shouldn't be able to penetrate the mountain to see inside the base, nor do you have permission to control the base's security cameras, right?
If someone were to cut off all monitoring and security systems inside the base beforehand, wouldn't any events happening inside leave no trace at all?"
Hearing this, Cecil's brows furrowed even deeper. He didn't want to speculate in that direction, but if Locke was also trying to imply that…
"Omni-Man arrived at the Guardians of the Globe base ahead of time, cut off all signals, and then issued an emergency call to gather all seven members of the Guardians together."
Cecil spoke out his own guess as if talking to himself, and looked at Locke,
"What if Omni-Man fails to wipe out the Guardians of the Globe entirely? Or, if he ends up surviving alone, wouldn't he be afraid of others suspecting him?"
Locke scoffed,
"Cecil, stop joking. Don't you know how powerful Omni-Man is by now?
Although those few members of the Guardians of the Globe are not weak either, it depends on who they are facing.
After Omni-Man wipes them out, he can pretend that he was also heavily injured.
To take a step back, even if Omni-Man turns hostile right now, is there anyone on Earth who can stop him?"
Cecil lowered his head with a solemn look.
It wasn't that he didn't understand Omni-Man's power; he was constantly researching things capable of keeping Omni-Man in check, but it was hard—very hard.
What Locke said was the truth; if Omni-Man turned hostile now, he wouldn't know what to do.
However,
Cecil still had some doubts. He looked deeply at Locke and asked:
"Omni-Man is your father. Why are you telling me this, and why do you want to save the Guardians of the Globe?
Besides, how can you be certain that Omni-Man will make a move against the Guardians of the Globe? Perhaps that's just your and my speculation."
The time to test Locke's acting skills had arrived.
He raised his head, gazed melancholically at the blue sky, and slowly said,
"Although I haven't had a father since childhood, I grew up surrounded by maternal love. The Xia Country has my family and my friends,
My sense of belonging to the Xia Country and to Earth is very strong; Earth is my home.
My uncle Qin Long is the director of the Super Administration Bureau of the Xia Country, and our relationship is very good. When I was young, I went to the confidential archives room of the Super Administration Bureau building and saw many sealed files related to aliens there.
When I was little, I just thought of them as stories, but the story that left the deepest impression on me was the personal account of an alien survivor,
His planet was in the Virgo Supercluster. Because it resisted the conquest of the Viltrum Empire, it was destroyed by the Viltrumites.
Only he himself escaped in an interstellar spaceship to Earth in the Milky Way, 60 million light-years away.
This was the first time I learned about the Viltrumites."
Cecil quickly digested what Locke had said,
not knowing whether Locke had truly read the files of the Super Administration Bureau.
But since Locke was the biological nephew of Qin Long, the director of the Super Administration Bureau, it was normal for him to have seen them.
Alien events encountered by Earth were extremely frequent, and not all of them were in the database of the United States.
According to the strict blockade standards of the Xia Country, it was completely normal for intelligence unknown to Cecil to exist in the archives.
As for why the Xia Country sealed away the information about the Viltrumites, Cecil could roughly guess the reason,
If it were fake, it would disrupt the friendly cooperative relationship with Omni-Man; if it were true, they would be even more afraid of provoking an attack from Omni-Man,
The current cooperation was quite good, and Omni-Manhad also integrated into Earth, getting married and having children,
Perhaps he was different from the Viltrumites who conquered other planets?
Locke looked at Cecil and continued:
"As for why I want to save the Guardians of the Globe, it's very simple.
Because I love Earth, and I want to protect Earth,
The members of the Guardians of the Globe not only possess formidable combat power, but most importantly, our ideals are the same,
They also put fighting evil and protecting Earth first, wanting to make the world a better place,
And you, Cecil, aren't you the same?"
Cecil looked at Locke in surprise; he hadn't expected that Locke, who had just come of age, would possess such a strong sense of justice!
For the sake of Earth, this teenager was actually willing to go against his father, Omni-Man, just to save the Guardians of the Globe!
Was the compulsory education of the Xia Country really that good?
Cultivating young people who loved their country and loved Earth one after another!
"Although Omni-Man is my father, violently conquering other people's planets is wrong,
My younger brother Mark and I will definitely do our utmost to correct our father; Mark is also a very kind-hearted child."
Speaking up to this point, Locke's superficial explanation was already complete.
As for Locke's true purpose, it didn't need to be explained so clearly to Cecil.
He took the initiative to show goodwill to Cecil and saved the Guardians of the Globe, making them all owe him a favor,
making the entire Earth owe him a favor!
In the future, Locke would inevitably go to war with Regent Thragg,
By then, Cecil, the Guardians of the Globe, and the entire Earth would all be his sources of assistance.
Of course, what Locke said wasn't entirely false,
Earth was his hometown after all; he couldn't possibly watch Earth be ravaged and conquered by the Viltrumites.
Earth could only be the private back garden belonging to Locke alone!
As for keeping the members of the original Guardians of the Globe, when Earth suffered crises that the Teen Teamcouldn't resolve and Locke had no time to deal with them, they would come in handy.
People like The Immortal might not be matches for Omni-Man, but they were sufficient for dealing with other ordinary aliens.
The later second-generation Guardians of the Globe—Rex, Dupli-Kate, Shrinking Ray…
Compared to the original Guardians, they were too trashy.
Robot and Monster Girl Amanda were even more of a bizarre pair.
If not for Atom Eve and Invincible Mark, Earth would have been fucking done for long ago!
Therefore, keeping the original Guardians of the Globe had only benefits and no drawbacks for Locke.
In the original work, being brutally wiped out by Omni-Man and dying like that was too depressing and lacked any value.
Look at how many beatings my good brother Mark had to endure afterwards because of it.
"We still can't alert the enemy just yet; I'll thank you on behalf of the Guardians of the Globe first."
Cecil looked at Locke with gratification, a trace of a smile appearing on his stiff face,
"When the appropriate timing arrives, I will tell them about what you have done."
"My thoughts exactly." Locke nodded and instructed,
"Right now, we can't let the Guardians of the Globe know the truth and develop hostility towards Omni-Man, as that would force Omni-Man to make a move immediately.
Let's drag it out for now, do our best to stabilize Omni-Man's emotions, and stall for as long as possible."
Cecil agreed with Locke's words. Before leaving, he gave Locke a deep look,
"Locke, you and Mark are truly Earth's hope."
"If there's anything in the future, notify me at any time."