Edgar was silent for a moment, then said quietly, "Homelander, you can't just plant a nail next to me like this."
Alex smiled and tilted his chin toward "Starlight" not far away. The young girl was curiously looking around.
Edgar shook his head, "She's not a nail."
Alex shrugged, then leaned forward slightly so he could speak near Edgar's ear, "I guess you know it was me who kicked this young lady out."
"But you brought her back."
"So let's not play games like 'I'm innocent,' alright?"
Edgar's eyes flickered. After a moment, he raised his head and smiled, "You win."
"Fine."
"A deal."
"We're very good at that, aren't we?"
"No problem. What's your friend's name? I'll arrange for her to stay by my side and learn. I'll teach her everything I know."
"Although I don't know what you're planning, I trust you, Homelander."
Alex lightly pressed a hand on Edgar's shoulder, "Pleasure working together."
Then he clapped his hands and laughed loudly, "Welcome, Miss Annie."
"No, I should call you 'Starlight,' right?"
Starlight looked nervous and showed a sweet smile, "Thank you, Homelander."
"Oh, could you sign an autograph for me?"
Alex looked her up and down, "Where are you planning to have it signed?"
Starlight quickly took out a notebook, flipped to a page, and handed it to Alex.
Alex smiled, signed his name on the blank page, then called Ashley over and had the assistant take "Starlight" to get familiar with the place.
"Well then, I'll be leaving."
"You can have your friend come find me on the 88th floor anytime," Edgar waved his hand.
The Deep hurried forward a couple of steps, "Mr. Edgar, then I—"
Edgar glanced at him and smiled, "I heard Homelander has an assessment for you. Do a good job, Deep."
"No, I—"
Without giving The Deep a chance to speak, Edgar walked out of the command hall.
The Deep looked awkwardly at Homelander, clearly at a loss.
Looking at this two-faced guy, the corner of Alex's mouth curved into a smile. He walked over and gently patted The Deep on the shoulder, "You and Mr. Edgar seem to get along pretty well."
The Deep shuddered and hurriedly said, "Boss, let me explain."
"Actually, Mr. Edgar came to talk to me. You know I have to listen to him, so—"
"It's fine," Alex hooked an arm around his shoulder, "Really, it's fine, Deep. I didn't take it to heart."
"Oh right, Mr. Edgar also mentioned the assessment just now."
"How about we get it done today?"
The Deep forced a smile, "Your call, boss."
"But should we call the others too?"
"Or we could do a livestream. The ratings would definitely be good."
Alex smiled warmly, "No! No! No! Just like I said before, we're not doing reality shows anymore. So livestreams and all that are a thing of the past."
"Got it?"
Only then did The Deep manage a stiff smile, "Got it."
"Then let's go," Alex clapped his hands and walked toward the hall, "I'll wait for you at the docks."
He turned his head back, his smile brilliant, "Deep, you're not going to run away, are you?"
Without waiting for an answer, Alex walked out of the hall.
———
The wind at the docks was strong.
Alex arrived early. After waiting twenty-five minutes, The Deep finally showed up.
"So, buddy, are you ready?", Alex spread his hands and asked loudly.
The Deep said with a bitter face, "Boss, I'm not feeling very well today. Can we do it another day?"
Alex put one hand on his hip and waved the other at The Deep.
When The Deep walked over, Alex leaned close to his ear and said, "Run."
The Deep froze and looked at Alex.
The smile on the blond white man's face was brilliant, but there was no warmth at all in his eyes.
Suddenly understanding something, The Deep rushed toward the dock and dove headfirst into the water.
The moment he entered the water, The Deep immediately dove like a submarine, then shot forward like a torpedo.
His swimming speed in the water was actually quite fast.
In the blink of an eye, Alex could no longer see him.
Alex smiled, blasted upward with a boom, hovered briefly, then flew toward the sea like a jet.
He scanned the surface, and almost instantly found the target hidden in the water. The Deep!
Alex skimmed low over the sea. The next second, he plunged into the water.
He smashed through the seawater and flew underwater, shooting at full speed toward The Deep.
When he caught sight of The Deep's back, Alex's eyes lit up. Two deep red beams blasted out, slicing through the water toward the target.
The Deep was extremely alert in the water, veering off his path so the two red beams brushed past him. He then made all kinds of agile movements, dodging the sweeping laser light.
After a moment, Alex stopped firing the lasers. His smile remained. Seeing that The Deep was still lively and kicking, he wasn't in a hurry to kill him.
But at that moment, information appeared on his retina.
[Your 'Laser Eyes +1' proficiency has reached its limit.]
[Now upgrading to 'Laser Eyes +2'.]
[Laser Eyes +2: Cutting power +110%, penetration +50%, overall power +85%. Attacks gain an 'Explosion' effect. The 'Explosion' effect can be manually toggled on or off.]
[You have obtained a derived talent 'Insight' while upgrading 'Laser Eyes'.]
[Insight: Allows you to obtain basic information about a target.]
'Laser Eyes upgraded and I even got a derived talent, good.'
Alex felt great and used 'Insight' on The Deep.
Information immediately appeared before his eyes.
▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬
— Name: The Deep
— Life Level: Level 4 (Superhuman)
— Status: Panicked
▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬
'That's it?'
Alex examined the information that looked like his own status panel.
It was really sparse.
It didn't even show what talents The Deep had.
'Looks like only after 'Insight' is upgraded will it show more.'
At that moment, Alex suddenly noticed schools of fish swimming toward him.
He saw The Deep point at him, and numerous sea creatures went crazy and charged straight at him.
'Seriously? Does he think these sea creatures can stop me?'
Alex couldn't help but laugh and shake his head. He suddenly accelerated, smashing through the water and leaving a trail of bubbles as he slammed straight into the school of fish.
In an instant, countless sea creatures were smashed to pieces.
The Deep could understand the voices of sea creatures, and so his ears were filled with the screams and wails of dying creatures.
He couldn't help covering his ears. Then, looking at the approaching Homelander, The Deep clenched his teeth, raised both hands, and shoved hard toward Alex.
The seawater roared, forming a powerful underwater current that blasted toward Alex like a cannon.
Alex slammed straight through it without a care, shattering the current completely. Then his eyes lit up, and two red laser beams roared out.
The Deep hurriedly shot upward, letting the two deep red beams pass beneath his feet.
But this time, although the lasers missed, they suddenly expanded.
The light rapidly swelled. The next second, the lasers exploded violently, forming a red fireball in the sea.
The shockwave from the explosion generated a violent upward surge of water, slamming into The Deep and blasting him straight out of the ocean, throwing him into the air.
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