Chapter 33.
Frenchie pulled out her phone and called her girlfriend.
"Set up the bomb at the base. Be ready to blow it up!" she ordered.
"Are you serious?"
"Absolutely. We're out of time—move fast!"
"Okay, give me three minutes to prepare. Detonate exactly after that."
Although Frenchie's girlfriend was shocked, she could hear the urgency in Frenchie's voice. She understood that something serious was going on, so she didn't ask further. Her reply was short and clear. She hung up and immediately began preparing to destroy the base.
Meanwhile, Billy and Frank stepped out of the car. Billy carried a laptop, planning to connect to the base's system to control the explosion remotely.
Woo...
Within a minute, Homelander spotted Frenchie sitting in the car and landed beside it with Li Yue. Their sudden arrival sent a strong gust of wind sweeping across the area.
"Hello, please open the window," Homelander said, tapping the glass.
"Haha! I must be really lucky! I'm a huge fan!" Frenchie exclaimed excitedly as she rolled the window down, eyes sparkling like a fan meeting their idol.
"Don't get too excited," Homelander replied with a gentle smile. "I'm on official duty. Could you show me your identification?"
Frenchie hesitated. "Well… could I see your search warrant first? Don't get me wrong—I'm just not sure if you have the authority."
Frenchie was startled to notice Homelander wasn't alone. A younger man stood behind him in a superhero uniform. His face looked unfamiliar, but Frenchie remembered hearing about a new member recruited into the Seven. Could this be him?
Now Frenchie grew even more anxious. Even if she detonated the bomb, it might not be enough to deal with both Homelander and this new hero. If only Homelander left –to investigate the blast, leaving the new guy behind, they might still get caught.
'What do I do? What do I do?!' Frenchie's mind raced, trying to buy time with conversation.
"I'm a superhero who protects the nation and its people. Of course I have the right to check your ID. Please cooperate," Homelander said, his smile vanishing in an instant like a mask falling off.
"Alright, alright, I've got it here…" Frenchie mumbled, clearly flustered. He pretended to look for his ID for several seconds before finally handing it over when Homelander's expression grew impatient.
Li Yue remained silent, simply watching them coldly.
Homelander glanced at the ID and handed it back. "What's in your car? Mind opening it up?"
"There's really nothing inside, so it's not necessary," Frenchie replied nervously. Billy had already left the car to hide nearby.
"If there's nothing, why are you so nervous?" Homelander asked and then immediately used his x-ray vision to scan the vehicle.
Three minutes had passed. In the distance, Billy activated the bomb through his laptop.
BOOM!!
With his super hearing, Li Yue immediately caught the sound. Homelander heard it even more clearly.
"Thunder, stay here. I'll go check it out!"
WHOOSH!
Without hesitation, Homelander blasted off at supersonic speed toward the explosion site, leaving only Li Yue behind.
"Alright, Billy. No need to hide anymore. Come on out," Li Yue called calmly.
"What are you talking about? Who's hiding?" Frenchie responded with a fake smile, trying to cover up the truth.
"Don't bother pretending. I know everything—Hughie and Billy catching the invisible guy, and you two hiding him. If I meant harm, I would've told Homelander already. Billy, come out. I just want to talk."
Li Yue cut straight to the point.
A voice came from behind the car. "Alright, friend. I'm here. But how do you know all this?"
Billy stepped out, wearing a black robe and holding his laptop. His face bore a curious expression beneath his beard.
"You don't need to know how I know. Just take me to Translucent. Maybe I can help you solve your problem," Li Yue said.
"Alright, Mr. Thunder, come with me."
"Billy, are you sure about this?" Frenchie asked cautiously.
"It's fine. If he wanted to hurt us, we'd already be dead," Billy replied confidently, cutting off Frenchie's warning and leading Li Yue to the holding room.
He was right—if Li Yue meant harm, they wouldn't last three seconds.
Soon, they arrived at a locked room. What they saw surprised both Billy and Frenchie—Translucent had somehow escaped the cage and was now arguing with Hughie. Luckily, Hughie still had the remote detonator.
"Thunder? You're here to rescue me? Awesome! Get rid of these guys!" Translucent shouted with joy when he saw Li Yue, thinking a fellow Seven member had come to save him.
But –Li Yue didn't say a word. He raised his hand and launched a glowing blue energy sphere. It moved too fast to dodge.
"I told you not to ignore me. Serves you right," Li Yue muttered.
The blue sphere, crackling with arcs of electricity, hit the invisible man squarely. At the same moment, startled by the invisible man's scream, Hughie instinctively pressed the detonator.
BOOM!!
The bomb inside the invisible man detonated just as the blue sphere struck him.
POOF!!
It sounded like something tearing. If time had slowed, you'd see his skin cracking like dried earth as the internal explosion ripped through him.
At the same time, the blue sphere exploded into countless arcs of energy, enveloping his shredded body. The blue lightning danced over his flesh like devouring insects, stripping away skin and bone until nothing was left.
The arcs condensed into a tiny ball of light, which shrank until it vanished completely.
Though it seemed long, the entire process was over in just a few seconds.
At that moment, everyone except Li Yue was utterly stunned by the scene before them. A living person had been swallowed whole by a blue sphere of light, no larger than a ping-pong ball, released by Li Yue—without leaving behind a single trace.
"What if that blue light ball had been aimed at me…?" The horrifying thought crossed all their minds, but none of them dared to pursue it further. The answer was clear: not a single one of them could have resisted it.
"Th-this… what just happened?!" Hughie stammered, visibly shaken and terrified.
Billy and Frenchie managed to keep their composure a little better, but even they couldn't stop themselves from looking at Li Yue, silently demanding an explanation for what had just occurred.
Li Yue, however, remained calm and composed.
"Nothing much. Just a little trick," he said with a soft smile, as though the terrifying event hadn't come from his own hands.
In truth, the small sphere was composed of lightning—similar to the one Li Yue had used with Thor in Odin's treasure chamber. This time, however, he had infused it with a bit of blue energy he imagined in his mind. The result was different. Instead of an explosion like pure lightning, it quietly consumed its target entirely—no mess, no remains. A practical technique, indeed.
"Alright, I've dealt with your problem. No one will ever find the invisible man's body. And no one will trace his disappearance back to you," Li Yue continued, his voice still calm. "However, I want you to promise me one thing."
He spoke as if he hadn't just erased someone from existence—as if it had been nothing at all. Technically, he hadn't killed Translucent; Hughie had. Li Yue had merely helped dispose of the body.
"Say it. If it's within our power, we won't refuse," Billy responded promptly.
"It's nothing major. I know you hold a grudge against The Seven, and I won't stop you from getting revenge. But I have one condition: for the next month and a half, you are not to disturb the superheroes in any way.
"You can spend that time collecting evidence of their crimes, but you must remain undetected. Do you agree?"
Li Yue directed his words to Billy, understanding he was the group's leader. If Billy agreed, the others would follow.
Billy, however, didn't answer right away.
"I'm curious. Why are you helping us? And why a month and a half specifically? Why not a month or two? What's the significance?"
Li Yue's smile faded slightly, and his tone turned cold.
"You don't need to know that. Just answer me—do you agree to the terms or not?"
In truth, Li Yue didn't want to explain that he needed time to quietly evolve his powers near Homelander without any distractions. He simply couldn't afford interference from them right now.
He also didn't particularly like Billy. In the original show, Billy was someone who would do anything to achieve his goals—even betray his own people. He had screwed over Hughie more times than he could count. Even when his friend was captured, Billy's only concern was avenging his wife, not caring if his comrade lived or died. A person like that was not someone worth trusting.
Still, Li Yue didn't want unnecessary conflict. As long as they followed his conditions, they could stay out of each other's way.
"Alright. We agree to your terms," Billy finally said.
Did he have another choice? Of course not. He knew very well that if he refused, he wouldn't leave this room alive. So he gave in.
"I hope you keep your word. Otherwise…"
Li Yue's voice turned threatening, his right hand now casually tossing another blue sphere. No one had seen when he summoned it.
Billy and the others recoiled slightly, their necks shrinking instinctively. None of them dared look directly at that ball. The fear from witnessing Translucent's vanishing act still haunted them.
"Goodbye, everyone." With those parting words, Li Yue walked toward the exit, tossing the blue sphere in the air and catching it as he went. He still needed to wait outside—for Homelander's return.
"W-who the hell is he? Why did you bring someone that terrifying here?!"
Hughie finally let out a long breath once Li Yue disappeared from sight. The pressure that Li Yue had exuded was overwhelming. Hughie hadn't even dared to breathe too hard, afraid of provoking Li Yue and getting a blue sphere thrown at him.
"He's the newest member of The Seven—Thunder, replacing the Lamplighter. I don't know how he knows so much about us. Not just our names, but even the fact that we were keeping Translucent captive here!" Billy was still shaken but held himself better than Hughie.
"But from what I can tell, he doesn't seem to have any real hostility toward us. If he did, we wouldn't have survived this encounter."
Even Billy couldn't keep calm when he saw that small, glowing sphere form behind Li Yue. It wasn't about being brave or cowardly—no one could remain calm in the face of certain death. Not Hughie, not Billy, and maybe not even Li Yue himself.
"So, we have to follow his condition, right?" Frenchie chimed in.
"Of course. He could be a valuable ally—not an enemy. And besides, it's only a month and a half. We can wait.
"In fact, we can use this time to dig up real evidence against The Seven. Let's start with that Claw Girl." Billy's voice grew firmer with purpose.
"…Can I quit?" Hughie's voice came out in a whisper. He was truly terrified. He had a father at home. If anything happened to him, Hughie might never forgive himself.
...…
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