Chapter 238: The End of Homelander
Frenchie pressed his hands to the ground, beads of sweat dripping onto the cement. The steel bars beneath the floor twisted, breaking through the concrete, wrapping around Homelander's legs like snakes.
Homelander looked down and pulled hard. A few steel bars snapped, but more emerged from the walls and ceiling, winding around his arms, waist, and neck.
"This scrap metal—"
Shui appeared behind him, a syringe plunging into his neck.
Homelander turned and unleashed a Heat Vision blast. Shui disappeared, reappearing in the corridor five meters away.
The anesthetic spread through his veins. Homelander felt his limbs go numb, his reaction time slowing by a fraction of a second.
Now was the time.
Butcher rushed out from the side, his fist slamming into Homelander's ribs. Golden energy gathered on his fist, landing with a solid thud.
Homelander staggered back two steps, his ribs cracking. He clutched his side.
"You broke my ribs?"
Butcher shook his fist: "This is just the beginning."
Mrs. M stood at the corner, eyes closed, sensing.
"He's going to use Heat Vision, targeting directly in front of Butcher."
Shui teleported over, grabbed Butcher's shoulder, and the two vanished.
A red beam blasted into the wall, blowing a large hole. Debris flew, and dust filled the air.
Butcher and Shui appeared on the left. Butcher charged up and delivered an uppercut to the chin.
Homelander's head snapped back, biting his tongue, the taste of blood filling his mouth.
He had never suffered such an injury. For thirty years, he had been invincible, a god.
Now, these bugs had bitten wounds into him, and they were biting deeper and deeper.
Benjamin climbed up from the ruins, his ribs already healed. He let out a low roar and slammed his right fist toward Homelander's face.
Fist met palm, and an Impact exploded. Homelanderretreated three steps, Benjamin only one.
The gap in strength was narrowing.
No, he was getting weaker.
Homelander looked at the golden runes on the ground. Those runes were wriggling on the floor, continuously absorbing his energy.
Damn trap.
Homelander shook his arms, snapping the steel bars. But Frenchie gritted his teeth, pulling more steel from the building's structure, which wrapped around him like chains.
"Mrs. M, where is his weakness?" Butcher gasped for air.
Mrs. M opened her eyes, veins bulging on her forehead.
"The right shoulder joint. The concentration of compound vis lowest there; it's where he was damaged by a syringe when he was a child."
Butcher's eyes lit up, and he signaled to Shui.
Shui teleported over and grabbed his shoulder. The next second, the two appeared on Homelander's right. Golden patterns erupted with light all over Butcher's body, concentrating all energy into his right fist.
This punch was thrown, compressing the air into a white ripple.
The fist smashed into Homelander's right shoulder, shattering the bone.
Homelander screamed, his right arm hanging limp. He tried to lift it to counterattack, but his nerves only transmitted intense pain.
"Impossible, impossible—"
Benjamin charged from the front, slamming a fist into his chest. Homelander tried to block with his left hand, but lacked the strength, and was knocked back five steps, his back hitting the wall.
The wall cracked, the fissures spreading.
Frenchie controlled the steel bars within the wall; they pierced through the concrete, passing on both sides of Homelander's body, pinning him to the wall. The steel didn't pierce his body but locked his range of movement.
Homelander struggled, and every time he exerted force, the steel bars tightened further.
The rooftop door opened.
Queen Maeve and Starlight walked in.
Queen Maeve looked at the trapped Homelander, complex emotions flashing in her eyes. Twelve years of being teammates, twelve years of oppression, twelve years of fear and anger, all surged up at this moment.
She stepped forward and punched Homelander in the face.
No superpowers, no energy, just pure physical strength. Homelander's nose bridge broke, and blood sprayed out.
"This punch is for the substitute you pushed off the building."
A second punch.
"This punch is for the innocent people you threatened."
A third punch.
"This punch is for myself."
Homelander's face was swollen like a pig's head, three teeth knocked out, his eye sockets bruised. His eyes turned red, wanting to use Heat Vision. Starlight's beam blasted over.
A golden beam hit his eyes. Homelander screamed and closed his eyes, the Heat Vision interrupted, the backlash energy exploding in his eye sockets. His retinas were damaged, and his vision blurred.
Starlight walked to Frenchie's side.
"Can you make a conductive net?"
Frenchie gritted his teeth and nodded, pressing his hands to the ground. Under his control, the steel bars rearranged, forming a dense grid that completely wrapped around Homelander.
Starlight took a deep breath and gathered energy in her hands. Golden electricity danced in her palms, growing stronger.
She pressed her hands onto the metal grid.
The current conducted along the metal, covering the entire network. Homelander's body twitched violently, his muscles spasming uncontrollably. He wanted to scream, but his vocal cords were paralyzed, and he could only emit a hoarse, low roar.
The current lasted for ten seconds.
When it stopped, Homelander hung limply on the steel bars, his body still twitching. His armor was scorched in many places, revealing burnt skin. His hair was singed, emitting a pungent odor.
Mrs. M opened her eyes, sensing the energy in his body.
"Less than thirty percent of his compound v energy remains. But he hasn't completely lost his combat capability; be careful of a cornered beast's struggle."
As soon as she finished speaking, Homelander lifted his head.
His eyes were bloodshot, his pupils shrunk to pinpoints. There was no longer anger on his face, but frantic fear.
"You bugs, you damn bugs—"
His voice was hoarse and broken, as if squeezed from the depths of his throat.
Homelander began to struggle desperately. The steel bars emitted a harsh sound of metal twisting, snapping one by one. Frenchie's face turned pale as he tried desperately to maintain it, but Homelander's strength, even at only thirty percent, remained terrifyingly strong.
"He's going to escape!" Butcher roared.
Homelander broke free from the restraints and stomped his feet. The cement floor shattered, and his entire body shot into the sky.
He flew less than five meters before his body sank, as if dragged by an invisible hand.
Golden runes flickered crazily throughout the building's structure. The Alchemy Law field was activated at full power, the space solidified, pressing down hard on him.
Homelander gritted his teeth, all remaining compound venergy in his body surging toward his legs. His calf muscles bulged, and veins popped under his skin.
He was resisting the weight of the entire building.
"Give me... open—"
Squeezing out the last sound from his throat, Homelanderrose another half a meter.
That was it.
Benjamin leaped from the ground, grabbed his ankles with both hands, and pulled down with his body weight. Butcher and Queen Maeve jumped up, grabbing the other leg.
With the weight of three people plus the suppression of the Alchemy Law field, Homelander could not rise. He was like an insect pinned in mid-air, flapping desperately, but unable to break free.
Shui teleported above, holding a reinforced syringe in his hand, containing an anesthetic enhanced by Frenchie using Alchemy Law. He aimed at the back of his neck, plunged the needle in, and pushed all the medicine in.
Homelander's body shuddered, and his flight ability failed.
Everyone fell.
Bang—
The five of them slammed into the ground, creating a large crater in the cement. Dust flew, and gravel splattered.
Homelander lay at the bottom of the pit, his limbs spread out limply. He tried to crawl up, but just as his arms propped his body up, Benjamin stepped on his back, stomping him back down.
"No, no, no, no—"
For the first time, a sobbing tone appeared in his voice.
He turned his head and looked at the people surrounding the pit. Butcher looked down at him from above, his eyes cold. Shui, Frenchie, Mrs. M, Queen Maeve, Starlight, everyone was watching him.
The people who once knelt at his feet were now standing above him.
Homelander breathed rapidly.
He tried to activate Heat Vision again, his eyes flickering with a faint red light, then extinguishing. The compound venergy was at the bottom, and his bodily functions were on the verge of collapse.
"Please, I can give you money, a lot of money—"
Butcher squatted down and looked into his eyes.
"Becca begged you like this before she died, didn't she?"
Homelander's pupils contracted violently.
Butcher stood up and turned to Benjamin: "Drag him up."
Benjamin grabbed his hair and dragged him out of the pit like a dead dog. Homelander wanted to struggle, but his broken right arm and the anesthetic left him without even the strength to lift his hand.
Benjamin threw him to the ground, facing Butcher.
Butcher flexed his fingers, golden patterns flowing under his skin. The Life energy in his body was almost exhausted, and he could support at most one final strike.
"Thirty years." Butcher's voice was very calm. "The first thing I do every day when I open my eyes is think about how to kill you."
"I've thought about using guns, knives, bombs, poison. I've thought of a thousand ways to make you die."
He clenched his fist, golden light condensing.
"But now I realize that the simplest way is enough."
Homelander wanted to say something, but his throat could only emit broken sobs. His face was swollen and deformed, blood and tears mixed together.
Butcher raised his fist.
The rooftop door opened again.
A figure in a black trench coat walked in, footsteps echoing in the empty corridor.
Chu Hangs Clone.
He walked to the crowd and looked down at Homelanderon the ground. A thirty-year myth, now lying on the ground, limbs twisted, face covered in blood.
Chu Hangs Clone reached out, and a golden light drifted from Homelander's forehead, merging into his palm. It was a faint fragment of a concept—pseudo-divinity.
Thirty years of brainwashing and packaging by Vought International had made Homelander truly believe he was a god. This twisted belief had condensed into a deformed concept within him, but at this moment, this concept was completely shattered.
Chu Hangs Clone put away the fragment and looked at Butcher.
"Continue."
Butcher took a deep breath, the golden light on his fist reaching its peak.
Homelander opened his mouth, wanting to shout, to beg for mercy, to say something that could keep him alive.
Butcher's fist fell.
No fancy techniques, no energy explosion, just pure strength and thirty years of hatred.
The fist punched through his chest.
Golden energy exploded inside his body, destroying his heart, shattering his spine, and tearing all his internal organs. Homelander's body twitched violently twice, and the light in his eyes extinguished.
Butcher pulled his fist back, blood dripping down his arm.
He looked at the corpse on the ground, without the satisfaction he had imagined, only an indescribable emptiness.
Becca wouldn't be coming back.
Chu Hangs Clone looked around at the crowd, finally looking at Queen Maeve and Starlight.
Chapter 239: Above the Ruins
The sky over New York hung with the smell of scorched air.
Drones were still circling, cameras aimed at the crater beneath the Vought International building. Homelander's corpse lay there, his chest pierced, blood flowing everywhere.
The live feed spread across the globe, with two billion people staring at their screens. That god, invincible for thirty years, was now a broken piece of flesh.
Butcher stood at the edge of the crater, his fists still dripping blood. He stared at the corpse for a long time, saying nothing. Shui, Frenchie, and Mrs. M stood behind him, equally silent.
Benjamin lifted his foot from the corpse and retreated to the side.
Maeve and Starlight stood on the ruins, watching the crowds surging from afar. Sirens wailed from all directions, and a National Guard convoy was approaching.
Butcher turned around and looked at Chu Hangs Clone.
"What now?"
His voice was calm, his eyes hollow. The revenge was complete, but Becca wouldn't come back.
He had waited thirty years for this day, and now that it had arrived, he didn't know what to do next.
Chu Hangs Clone didn't answer immediately. He looked up at the drones in the sky; those cameras were broadcasting this scene. The whole World was watching.
Vought International's stock price had hit Zero three minutes ago. The New York Stock Exchange had triggered a circuit breaker, but it was already too late.
Tens of billions of dollars had evaporated, investors were going crazy, politicians were making calls, and the media was in an uproar.
Homelander was dead, and the myth of Vought International had shattered. But the chaos had only just begun.
There were over 1,700 registered superhumans globally, with 300 within the United States.
In the past, Vought International had packaged these people as heroes, but now the whole World knew they were just the company's commodities.
Faith was collapsing, and order was collapsing with it. Some would run away in the chaos, some would seek revenge, and some would seize power.
Ordinary people would panic, riot, and demand answers from the government.
This was a power vacuum.
Chu Hangs Clone looked at Butcher:
"Homelander was just a symptom; Vought International is the root cause."
Butcher frowned.
"What are you trying to say?"
"You killed Homelander, but there are still hundreds of superhumans out there. Some are more dangerous than him, just not as famous. Vought International has fallen, but the formula for compound v is still out there, and it's already circulating on the black market."
Chu Hangs Clone paused:
"You can go home and spend the rest of your Life hugging Becca's photo. Or, you can continue this job."
Butcher was silent for a few seconds.
"What job?"
"Establish a new order. Register all superhumans, assess their danger levels, and assign their roles. Keep the obedient ones, and clear out the disobedient ones. You just proved one thing—superhumans are not gods; they can be killed."
Starlight walked over, blood still on her face.
"You want to turn them into tools?"
"They were already tools." Chu Hangs Clone looked at her. "The difference is, in the past, Vought International sold them as commodities; now, I will make them serve this World. The strong protect the weak, and those who break the rules are punished. A very simple rule."
Starlight bit her lip. She wanted to retort, but couldn't find the right words.
Maeve spoke up:
"What are you going to do?"
Chu Hangs Clone raised his hand, and a Spatial Riftappeared in his palm. The rift expanded, revealing the scene in the top-floor conference room of the Vought International building. Through the rift, one could see seven or eight people in suits sitting inside, arguing.
"Let's go, let's take over Vought International."
As soon as he finished speaking, Chu Hangs Clonestepped into the rift. Benjamin followed closely, and Butcher, after glancing at the corpse on the ground, followed as well. Shui, Frenchie, and Mrs. M looked at each other and followed.
Maeve and Starlight stood where they were, hesitating for two seconds. The sirens in the distance were getting closer, and the crowd had already broken through the cordon, surging toward them.
Starlight took a deep breath and grabbed Maeve's hand.
"Let's go, at least listen to what he plans to do first."
The two walked into the rift, a spatial ripple flashed, and the rift closed.
***
80th-floor conference room of the Vought Internationalbuilding.
Company executives sat on both sides of the long table, each with a grim expression.
The CFO smashed his teacup, the Vice President was on the phone, and the General Counsel stared at the stock price curve jumping on his laptop with a pale face.
"It's over, it's all over!" the CFO roared. "Thirty billion dollars in market value evaporated, banks are calling in debts, investors are pulling out, we're bankrupt!"
The Vice President hung up the phone, his face livid: "The White House wants an explanation from us. The Senate is holding an emergency hearing, demanding a thorough investigation into compound v. The Federal Bureau of Investigation has already obtained a search warrant and will come to seal the building in half an hour."
The General Counsel slumped in his chair: "Homelander is dead, The Seven are disbanded, we have no cards left to play."
The acting CEO sitting at the head of the table tapped the table. He was a bald man in his sixties with heavy eye bags, struggling to maintain composure at this moment.
"Calm down. We can blame Homelander's death on The Deep, claiming they are Terrorists. We can push the compound v issue onto the former CEO Stan Edgar; he's already stepped down anyway. As for the financial problems—"
Before he could finish, the air in the conference room twisted.
A golden Spatial Rift appeared out of thin air, and eight people stepped out of it.
Chu Hangs Clone stood at the front, Benjamin behind him, followed by Butcher, Shui, Frenchie, Mrs. M, Maeve, and Starlight.
The conference room went quiet.
The acting CEO widened his eyes, opened his mouth, but couldn't speak. Some of the other executives stood up, some retreated, and someone tried to press the alarm button under the table.
Chu Hangs Clone raised his hand, and the space solidified.
Everyone's movements froze, maintaining their previous posture. They were conscious and could move their eyes, but their bodies couldn't move at all.
Chu Hangs Clone walked to the long table, pulled out the chair at the head, and sat down.
"From now on, Vought International belongs to me."
The acting CEO made a garbled sound in his throat, as if wanting to retort. Chu Hangs Clone glanced at him, and the space thawed, but only for this person.
The acting CEO's body went limp, and he almost fell. He steadied himself on the table, panting heavily, cold sweat dripping down his forehead.
"You, you can't do this—" the voice squeezed out, trembling, "This is private property, this is an illegal invasion—"
Chu Hangs Clone ignored him and turned to look at Butcher.
"Go seal all entrances and exits of the building; no one is allowed in or out."
Butcher nodded and walked out of the conference room with Shui and Frenchie. Mrs. M remained, standing at the door, closing her eyes to sense the Life signals in the entire building.
Benjamin walked behind the acting CEO and placed a hand on his shoulder. The force wasn't great, but the acting CEO felt his scapula was about to be crushed, and cold sweat ran down his spine.
Chu Hangs Clone took a USB drive out of his pocket and placed it on the table.
"This contains all the confidential files of Vought International from the past thirty years. Human experiments with compound v, records of superhuman runaway incidents, lists of political bribes, and criminal evidence against each of you."
He tapped the tabletop.
"Now, I'll give you two choices. First, I release this information, and each of you will go to prison until you die. Second, cooperate with me, hand over all company authority, and then get out."
The CFO turned red in the face:
"You think we will—"
Before he could finish, Chu Hangs Clone glanced at him.
Space twisted, and a force squeezed in from all directions. The CFO felt something pressing on his chest, making it hard to breathe, and his face turned blue-purple. He opened his mouth wide to gasp for air, but couldn't inhale anything.
Five seconds later, the pressure disappeared. The CFO slumped on the table, coughing violently, snot and tears running down his face.
Chu Hangs Clone's voice remained calm:
"I don't like repeating myself."
The acting CEO swallowed and looked at the other executives. No one dared to speak; several people's eyes flickered, and two were already trembling.
"I... we need time to consider—"
"No need." Chu Hangs Clone interrupted him, "Make the decision now."
There was a ten-second silence.
The Vice President was the first to lower his head:
"I agree."
The General Counsel followed suit:
"Me too."
The others saw the trend and nodded one after another. The CFO still wanted to hold on, but seeing Benjamin's cold eyes, he finally collapsed too.
"Good, very good." The acting CEO squeezed out a smile, "We will cooperate, but the handover needs a process, it needs board approval, and a shareholders' meeting—"
Chu Hangs Clone raised his hand, and a translucent light screen appeared in his palm. The screen showed Vought International's equity structure chart, with dense lines connecting hundreds of shareholder names.
He swiped his finger across the light screen, and those names dimmed one after another.
"I've already held the shareholders' meeting; everyone agreed to transfer their equity to me. The board of Directors is no longer needed, because all board members just resigned."
The acting CEO widened his eyes, watching the last few names on the light screen dim. The entire equity structure chart was reorganized, eventually leaving only one name—Chu Hang.
"This is impossible, how could you—"
"I said, this is not a negotiation." Chu Hangs Clone stood up, "Now, hand over all authority to Maeve and Starlight. They will manage this company on my behalf."
Maeve was stunned, and Starlight also widened her eyes.
"You want us to manage Vought International?" Starlight said in disbelief, "We don't even understand company operations—"
"You don't need to understand." Chu Hangs Clone looked at her, "The era of Vought International as a commercial company is over. From today on, it will become the Superhuman Regulatory Bureau, responsible for registering, supervising, and deploying all superhumans."
He turned to Maeve.
"You spent twelve years in The Seven and know who can be saved and who is already rotten. You will be the Director, and Starlight will be your deputy, responsible for external communication and pacifying the public."
Maeve was silent for a few seconds, then nodded slowly:
"I can try."
Starlight still wanted to say something, but Maeve held her hand. The two looked at each other, Starlight saw the determination in the other's eyes, and finally gritted her teeth and agreed.
Chu Hangs Clone looked at the slumped executives: "You have twenty-four hours to pack your things and leave. I will give you a severance package, enough to live comfortably for the rest of your lives. But if anyone wants to play tricks, or leak today's events—"
He paused and looked out the window.
In the distant sky, a helicopter was approaching the building. Chu Hangs Clone raised his hand, and space twisted. The helicopter froze in mid-air, the propellers still spinning, but the fuselage didn't move at all. A few seconds later, the space recovered, and the helicopter was kicked, flying sideways for several hundred meters, barely stabilizing without crashing.
"That will be the outcome."
The acting CEO's face turned pale, and the other executives also lowered their heads, not daring to look at him again.
Butcher pushed the door open and entered:
"The building is sealed, there are reporters outside filming, should we clear them out?"
"No need." Chu Hangs Clone said, "Let them film. In half an hour, Maeve and Starlight will hold a press conference to announce Vought International's transformation to the whole World."
Chapter 240: New Order
The area in front of the Vought building was packed with people.
Over three hundred media outlets were present, with satellite trucks lining the street.
Reporters held up microphones, cameramen shouldered their equipment, and tens of thousands of people stood behind the police cordon holding signs.
Some were chanting slogans, while others were weeping.
A dozen drones hovered overhead, their lenses focused on the podium.
Four billion people around the World were watching the live broadcast.
Maeve stood on the left side of the podium in a dark blue uniform; the Vought logo on her chest had been replaced with a silver shield emblem.
Starlight stood beside her in the same uniform, the bruises from last night's battle still visible on her face.
Behind them stood Benjamin in a black tactical suit with his hands behind his back.
Butcher, Shui, Frenchie, and Mrs. M stood below the steps, also dressed in black, with weapons tucked into their waists.
Maeve walked up to the microphone, and the square fell silent.
"My name is Maeve, former Captain of The Seven," she said, looking into the camera.
"For the past twelve years, I have done many wrong things. I cooperated with Vought to lie, participated in their stunts, and packaged superpowered individuals as gods."
The crowd stirred, and reporters raised their microphones.
"Yesterday, Homelander died. He wasn't killed by aliens, nor by a supervillain," she paused.
"He was killed by ordinary people. This proves one thing—superpowered individuals are not gods, just people with special abilities. We can get hurt, we can bleed, and we can die."
Shouts erupted from the crowd; some cheered, while others cursed.
Starlight walked up to the microphone.
"Starting today, Vought International is reorganized into the Superhuman Affairs Bureau."
She pulled out a document and displayed it to the camera.
"These are the new management regulations. All superpowered individuals must register within twenty-four hours, wear energy suppression bracelets, and undergo capability assessments."
The square exploded.
Reporters waved their hands frantically, and the crowd's shouting drowned out the loudspeakers.
The police cordon was nearly breached.
Starlight raised her voice:
"Those who refuse to register will be treated as Terroristsand eliminated. This is an order, not a suggestion."
Washington, White House, Oval Office.
The President stared at the television, his face ashen.
The Chief of Staff stood nearby, cold sweat beading on his forehead.
"By what right does she issue orders?" the Presidentslammed the table.
"This is the United States!"
"Sir, the problem is..." the Chief of Staff swallowed hard.
"She has that person behind her."
"What person?"
"The one who killed Homelander."
The Chief of Staff pulled up the surveillance footage.
"Department of Defense satellites captured him appearing out of thin air on the top floor of the Vought building. Spatial teleportation. The technical department analyzed the energy fluctuations, and the conclusion is... he is over ten times stronger than Homelander."
The President remained silent.
"The Joint Chiefs of Staff suggest waiting and seeing for now," the Chief of Staff continued.
"If the new Bureau can control the superpowered individuals, it's to our advantage. If they can't, we will intervene then."
"Wait and see? You want me to admit that the federal government can't control its own citizens?"
"Sir, we truly cannot control them."
The Chief of Staff's voice was very low.
"For the past thirty years, superpowered individuals have been managed by Vought. Now that Vought has fallen, we don't have the corresponding departments, equipment, or personnel. And..."
He paused.
"The Department of Defense just called to say that thirty-seven special forces soldiers injected with compound vhave gone missing. They all fled the Base after learning that Homelander was dead."
The President's expression darkened further.
New York, an abandoned warehouse in the East District of Brooklyn.
Seven people sat around an iron table, with guns, ammunition, and whiskey laid out on it.
The leader was a burly man with a beard and military tattoos on his arms.
"Register? Register, my ass?"
The burly man smashed his bottle on the ground.
"I've been a special forces soldier for twelve years, and now I have to go register for two bitches?"
A thin, tall man nodded.
"It's a good thing Vought fell; we can do our own thing. With these abilities, robbing a bank is easy."
"Right, Homelander is dead, who can control us now? That so-called Bureau is just a front for those two women."
The burly man stood up and flexed his fingers.
His skin took on a metallic sheen—the steel body granted by compound v.
"Brothers, let's pull a job tonight. Manhattan Central Bank, three tons of gold in the vault. Once we get the goods, we leave the country—"
Before he could finish, the iron door was kicked open.
Butcher walked in, followed by Shui, Frenchie, and Mrs. M.
The four of them wore black tactical gear, with equipment reflecting cold light at their waists.
The burly man squinted.
"Who are you?"
"Special Execution Division."
Butcher pulled out a tablet showing photos and information of The Seven people.
"All seven of you are on the registration list. You have two choices now: come with us, or die here."
The tall, thin man laughed.
"Just the four of you?"
No sooner had he spoken than he vanished from where he stood.
It was the high-speed movement granted by compound v, too fast for the naked eye to see.
He appeared behind Butcher, a dagger aimed at his neck.
Shui also vanished.
The tall, thin man's dagger stopped in mid-air.
Shui grabbed his wrist, and both appeared three meters behind Butcher.
The tall, thin man's eyes widened—his speed had been matched.
Shui kneed him in the abdomen.
The tall, thin man spat out bile, his body curling into a shrimp.
Shui twisted his wrist, the dagger fell to the ground, and he kicked him in the lower back.
The tall, thin man flew out and slammed into the wall, sliding down motionless.
The burly man roared, his skin fully metallicized, and charged at Butcher.
He threw a punch, causing the air to explode.
Butcher blocked with his right arm.
Golden patterns lit up beneath his skin.
Fist and palm collided, and a shockwave blasted out.
The burly man took two steps back, while Butcher didn't budge.
"Is that it?" Butcher flexed his wrist.
"I just hammered Homelander to death yesterday; your skills aren't enough to look at."
The burly man's face flushed red, and he swung his fist again.
Butcher dodged to the side and slammed his right fist into the burly man's ribs.
Golden energy gathered on his fist and slammed into the metallic skin.
Crack—
Three ribs broke.
The burly man fell to his knees, screaming as cracks appeared on his metallic skin.
The other five realized what was happening and activated their abilities.
One shot fire from his hands, one expanded into a three-meter giant, and another shot lasers from his eyes.
Frenchie pressed his hands to the ground.
The concrete floor of the warehouse exploded, and rebar twisted and shot out, entangling the one who shot fire.
The man struggled, his flames burning through a few pieces of rebar, but more poured out from the walls and ceiling, wrapping him like a zongzi, leaving only his head exposed.
The giant charged toward Frenchie, shaking the ground with every step.
Mrs. M closed her eyes, veins bulging on her forehead.
"Right knee joint, old injury, load-bearing limit of four hundred kilograms."
Butcher dashed to the giant's right side and kicked his knee.
The giant screamed as he lost his balance, his three-meter-tall body crashing to the ground and creating a crater.
The laser man swept his red beam toward Shui.
Shui teleported to dodge, appearing behind him.
A hand chop to the back of the neck, and the laser man went black and collapsed.
The remaining two looked at their fallen comrades, their legs going soft.
One raised his hands: "I surrender, I'll go register—"
Butcher walked over and smashed his face with a fist.
His nose bridge broke, and he fell backward.
"Surrendering now? Too late." Butcher stared at him.
"You just said you wanted to rob a bank and kill everyone to silence them. Trash like you is a blight even if left alive."
The last one tried to run.
Frenchie controlled the rebar to pierce his thigh, and his screams echoed through the warehouse.
Butcher walked over and pulled out special handcuffs to lock his wrists.
The runes on the handcuffs lit up, and the man felt the compound v energy in his body being suppressed.
"Take him back and hand him over to the Bureau," Butchersaid to Shui.
"Deal with the other six directly."
Shui nodded and pulled out a special syringe.
Inside was a toxin Frenchie had concocted using the Alchemy Law, specifically targeting cells modified by compound v.
One injection later, the unconscious bodies twitched a few times and stopped breathing.
Mrs. M opened her eyes and confirmed with her perception: "Life signals have vanished."
Butcher looked at the corpses on the ground with no expression.
Thirty years ago, he would have hesitated and asked himself if he was right.
But not anymore.
Becca was dead, Homelander was dead, and only rules remained in the World.
He opened his communicator: "Targets cleared, preparing for the next one."
"Received. Deep's location locked, on the Miami coastline, attempting to flee to Cuba. Execution Division Team Two has departed." Maeve's voice came through.
"Understood." Butcher hung up and looked at his team.
"Let's go, there are thirteen more targets on the list. Clear them all before dawn."
The four of them walked out of the warehouse, leaving seven corpses and a floor covered in blood behind them.
Vought building top floor.
Chu Hangs Clone stood before the floor-to-ceiling window, overlooking New York.
The city extended beneath his feet, brightly lit.
In the distance, the giant screens in Times Square were broadcasting the recording of Maeve's press conference.
Crowds surged through the streets, and sirens wailed one after another.
He closed his eyes, his perception spreading out.
Across The Seven continents of the World, the locations of over seventeen hundred superpowered individuals appeared in his mind.
Some were on their way to registration points, some were trembling in their homes, and others were fleeing or preparing to resist.
But at the same time, he felt another kind of power gathering.
Faith.
Hundreds of millions of ordinary people were watching the live broadcast, discussing and evaluating it.
Some were fearful, some were angry, but more were looking forward to it.
They were looking forward to someone controlling the superpowered individuals, looking forward to order, and looking forward to safety.
These expectations transformed into invisible energy, crossing space to gather upon him.
It was very weak, but it was continuous.
Chu Hangs Clone opened his eyes and looked at his palm.
The golden patterns of the Alchemy Law flowed beneath his skin, brighter than yesterday.
He could feel the power of faith pushing him, moving from the early stage of the Skyfather level toward the intermediate stage.
But that was all.
This power had a limit, a restriction imposed by the Universe itself.
He was a dimensional clone, essentially just a projection of the main body.
Even if he absorbed more faith, it was impossible to break through to the Cosmic Overlord level.
The door opened.
Starlight walked in, having changed out of her uniform into simple casual clothes.
Seeing Chu Hangs Clone's back, she hesitated for a few seconds before walking over.
"Are you leaving?"
Chapter 241: The Final Gift
Three months later, in Manhattan's Upper East Side.
Starlight was cooking in the kitchen, while Chu Hang sat on the sofa looking at a tablet. The screen displayed the latest data from the Bureau of Superhuman Affairs—1,703 superpowered individuals globally, with a 97% registration rate; 37 had been eliminated while resisting, and 19 had fled to South America and Africa.
The new order was stable.
"Butcher is going to the Congo tomorrow to track down the guy who can turn invisible."
Starlight said, looking back.
"Mm."
"Maeve says someone is smuggling compound v in Europe."
"The second team of the Enforcement Division is handling it."
Starlight wiped her hands, walked over, and sat on the armrest of the sofa. She stared at Chu Hang for a few seconds.
"Are you leaving?"
Chu Hang looked up.
"The order is stable; Maeve and Butcher can handle it."
"I need you."
"You are much stronger than you were three months ago."
Chu Hang held her hand.
"Your Spirit is stable, the Enforcement Division follows your commands, and the public trusts you."
Starlight looked down at their joined hands.
"I'm not talking about work; I'm saying I need you."
Chu Hang was silent for a few seconds.
"Things in this Universe are finished. The Anti-Monitor is gathering strength in the Land of Nihility, and Kang the Conqueror is expanding across countless timelines. I must go to other Universes to lay out plans."
"Take me with you."
"No."
Chu Hang looked at her.
"Dimensional travel is a dead end for ordinary people; you wouldn't survive the turbulence of the Multiverse. Besides, I need you to stay here as an anchor—a coordinate connecting me to this Universe."
Starlight let go of his hand and walked to the window.
The city lights reflected on the Hudson River, and the silver shield logo on top of the Bureau building was glowing. Three months ago, it had still been the Vought logo.
"Will you come back?"
"I will, but it might be a long time."
"How long?"
"I don't know. Maybe a few years, maybe decades. Time flows at different rates in different Universes."
Starlight bit her lip and turned around.
"I won't wait for you."
She lifted her chin.
"If you go for decades and don't come back, I'll find someone else. I'm still young; I won't waste my life waiting for someone who doesn't know when they'll be back."
Chu Hang smiled.
"That's good."
Starlight was stunned.
"Can't you just pretend to care?"
Chu Hang reached out and cupped her face.
"I do care. But I won't let personal feelings delay important matters. If the Anti-Monitor breaks through the Land of Nihility, the Multiverse will collapse. When that happens, whether you're waiting for me or with someone else, we will all vanish together."
Starlight pushed his hand away.
"Fine, go then."
She turned and went into the bedroom.
"But you're sleeping on the sofa tonight."
Bang—the bedroom door closed.
Chu Hang stood where he was, closing his eyes to perceive. Behind the door, Starlight sat on the edge of the bed, her shoulders shaking, but she didn't cry out loud.
He sighed and returned to the sofa to sit down.
The data on the tablet was still refreshing. The global registration rate had risen another 0.3%, and two fugitives had been caught in Rwanda. The order would run along the track he had set; even if he left, it could maintain itself.
But Starlight was right.
He was indeed selfish.
Three days later, early in the morning, Starlight woke up and found Chu Hang wasn't there.
There was a note on the nightstand saying he would be back in the afternoon.
She rubbed her temples, walked into the bathroom, and turned on the faucet to wash her face. As soon as the cold water hit her face, a wave of nausea surged from her stomach.
Starlight rushed to the toilet and threw up.
There was nothing in her stomach; all she vomited was acidic water. She braced herself against the sink, panting, cold sweat breaking out on her forehead.
This was the third time this week.
The first two times, she thought she had eaten something bad or was just stressed. But now she realized it might be something else.
Starlight pulled out her phone and dialed Maeve's number.
"I need you to do me a favor."
An hour later, Maeve appeared at the apartment door carrying a bag containing pregnancy tests.
"Are you sure?"
"I'm not sure, which is why I need to test."
Starlight took the bag.
"Thanks for not asking more."
"Even if I asked, you wouldn't say."
Maeve sat down on the sofa.
"Go on."
Five minutes later, Starlight walked out holding the pregnancy test.
Her hands were shaking.
Maeve stood up and saw the two red lines.
"Fuck."
Starlight sat on the sofa, staring at the pregnancy test, her mind blank.
"Is it his?"
"No shit, who else could it be?"
Starlight's voice was very soft.
"Does he know?"
"No, I just found out too."
Starlight buried her head in her hands.
"Damn it, when did this happen..."
She recalled the past three months. They had indeed lived together and had a relationship. She thought that her body, modified by compound v, would not easily conceive—Vought files had recorded that the fertility of most female superpowered individuals would decline.
It seemed she was the exception.
"What are you planning to do?"
Maeve asked.
"Keep it, or..."
"I don't know."
Starlight raised her head.
"He's leaving, in a few days, to go to other Universes. He said it might take decades before he can come back."
Maeve was silent.
"Then you have to tell him even more."
"Tell him, and then what? Make him stay because of the child?"
Starlight stood up.
"He said that the matter of the Anti-Monitor is more important than any personal feelings. If I tell him, it will only make things difficult for him."
"But this is his child."
"I know!"
Starlight paced back and forth in the living room.
"I know it's his child, and I know I should tell him. But..."
She stopped and looked out the window.
"But if he gives up on those things because of the child, and the Multiverse really collapses, can the child survive? Can I survive?"
Maeve didn't speak.
Starlight wiped away her tears.
"I will tell him, but not now."
"When?"
"The day he's ready to leave."
Starlight took a deep breath.
"I don't want him to know in advance, and I don't want him to be conflicted these next few days. I'll tell him when he's about to leave; by then, he will have already made his decision and won't change his plans because of the child."
"Are you so sure he won't stay?"
"I'm sure."
Starlight looked at Maeve.
"Because I understand him. Every word he said is true; the threat of the Anti-Monitor is real, and the risk of the Multiverse collapsing is also real. I cannot tie him down because of a child."
Maeve nodded.
"What do you need me to do?"
"Help me keep it a secret; don't let anyone know before he leaves."
"Okay."
Maeve held Starlight's shoulders.
"You will be a good mother."
Starlight forced a smile.
Three days later, Chu Hang returned to the apartment.
Starlight was sitting on the sofa waiting for him, wearing a light blue dress, her hair tied up, and wearing light makeup.
"Where did you go?"
"Brooklyn."
Chu Hang took off his coat.
"I left something for Benjamin—some insights on the Alchemy Law. The structure of the compound v in his body is special; if he can understand the essence of the Alchemy Law, he has a chance to break through his current limits. That way, when I leave, the Bureau will have enough combat power to deal with the crisis."
Starlight looked at him.
"So you really are leaving."
"Tomorrow."
Chu Hang sat down beside her.
"I've already made arrangements. Maeve will be responsible for the Bureau's daily operations, Butcher will lead the Enforcement Division to handle violent incidents, and you will be responsible for external communication and stabilizing public sentiment. This system can operate on its own."
Starlight took a deep breath, her hand resting on her abdomen.
"Before you leave, I have something to tell you."
Chu Hang looked at her.
Starlight opened her mouth, but stopped when the words reached her lips. She looked into Chu Hang's eyes and suddenly realized that if she said it now, things would become very complicated. He would ask many questions, worry, and re-evaluate his plans.
She didn't want to see him in a difficult position.
"I wanted to say..."
Starlight took a deep breath.
"Thank you for taking care of me these past three months. Also, I'm sorry for losing my temper the other day. I know you have to leave, and I understand your reasons."
Chu Hang frowned slightly.
"Is that all?"
"That's all."
Starlight forced a smile, her fingers clenching into a fist on her lap.
"What did you think I was going to say? Ask you to stay? I'm not that stupid."
Chu Hang stared at her for a few seconds. Starlight maintained her smile, her fingers clenching into a fist on her lap.
"Good."
Chu Hang nodded.
"Then get some good rest tonight; I'll leave early tomorrow morning."
"So soon?"
"Dragging it out will only make it harder. Besides, the Time Variance Authority is urging me; Loki says a new Kang variant has appeared."
Chu Hang stood up and walked toward the bedroom.
Starlight watched his back, her hand pressing against her lower abdomen.
Chapter 242 Iron Lad
5:20 AM, Upper East Side, New York.
Chu Hang's clone stood before the floor-to-ceiling window, golden points of light coalescing at his fingertips.
The layout of The Black Robe Universe was complete; it was time to leave.
He closed his eyes, his perception expanding.
The Life signals of the entire New York City emerged in his mind.
Among them was a faint fluctuation, in the bedroom, within Starlight.
A new Life, very small, less than a week old. The X-Gene and his Law Power were intertwined within that embryo.
Starlight hadn't told him; she thought she had hidden it well.
He looked back at the bedroom door. Light seeped through the crack; Starlight was curled up in the quilt, her hand resting on her lower abdomen.
Chu Hang did not enter. He knew why she didn't say anything—she didn't want to use the child to tie him down, nor did she want personal feelings to interfere with the big picture.
But she was right. The war of the Multiverse was more important than any personal emotion.
Chu Hang raised his hand, leaving a rune in the air. The rune vanished into the void, automatically activating if Starlight or the child encountered a Life-threatening danger.
This was all he could do.
The clone stepped into the rift, golden light engulfing his figure.
The living room returned to silence. Three seconds later, the bedroom door opened.
Starlight walked barefoot to the window, where shallow indentations remained on the carpet.
Her hand rested on her lower abdomen. Fog drifted over the Hudson River, and the silver shield emblem atop the distant Time Variance Authority building was still glowing.
Her phone vibrated.
Maeve: "Are you awake? Do you need me to come over?"
Starlight: "No need, I'm fine."
She took a deep breath and turned to walk into the bathroom. The reflection in the mirror had red-rimmed eyes, but she didn't cry.
Crying was useless.
...
Meteorite Base, Meditation Room.
A Spatial Rift opened, and the clone stepped out from the golden light.
The meditation room was small, five meters square, with walls made of black energy-absorbing material.
In the center of the room sat the main body, eleven types of Law Power flowing across his skin.
The main body opened his eyes and reached out his right hand.
The clone turned into a stream of golden light and poured into his palm.
Memories flooded in like a torrent. Every detail of the three months in The Black Robe Universe was clear.
Homelander's madness, the corruption of Vought International, the essence of compound v, the process of forming the Alchemy Law, and the cruelty of equivalent exchange.
And Starlight, her figure by the window.
Chu Hang closed his eyes and sealed these memories away; now was not the time to deal with personal feelings.
The fusion continued. The Alchemy Law was stripped from the clone's memories and intertwined with the main body's ten Laws.
The golden river found its place in the network of Laws, between Reality Warping and matter manipulation.
This Law filled in the final shortcoming.
Previously, Chu Hang could destroy, could warp, and could reorganize, but he could not truly create.
He could turn stones into gold, but that was merely a rearrangement at the molecular level.
The Alchemy Law gave him a breakthrough—through sacrifice and exchange, he could create things that shouldn't exist.
For example, superpowers.
Chu Hang stood up. The golden patterns of the Alchemy Law flickered beneath his skin, interweaving with the silver-white of Space Law, the deep purple of Law of Strength, and the cyan-green of Law of Time.
He could feel the power flowing within his body, thirty percent smoother than before the fusion.
Cosmic Overlord level mid-stage, his foundation was completely solidified.
The clone also brought back a wisp of power of faith.
It was very faint, from the ordinary people in The Black Robe Universe who held expectations for the new order.
This faith crossed dimensions, condensing into a fist-sized golden orb of light within Chu Hang.
This thing had no combat power, but it could serve as a coordinate.
An anchor point was established.
Chu Hang pushed open the door to the meditation room; Wanda was standing in the corridor.
She had changed into a deep red dress, her hair let down, and the rune of Chaos Magic was faintly visible on her forehead.
Wanda stared at him for a few seconds.
"What did you leave behind in that Universe?"
"A new management system, a few executors capable of handling things on their own," Chu Hang said softly.
"And a promise. If that Universe encounters an irresistible crisis, I will return."
"That's it?"
"That's it."
Wanda didn't ask again.
She could feel that something deep in Chu Hang's memories had been deliberately suppressed, but she didn't intend to pursue it.
"Loki has been here three times," Wanda said, relaxing her hands.
"He said he had urgent business with you and told you to go to the Time Variance Authority immediately upon waking."
"Did he say what it was about?"
"No, but he looked terrible."
Chu Hang frowned.
Loki was now the God of Stories, in charge of the narrative direction of countless timelines.
There weren't many things that could make him wear that expression.
"I'm going now."
Chu Hang raised his hand and swiped, and a golden rift appeared. On the other side was the circular hall of the Time Variance Authority, where orange-yellow timelines were woven into a web in mid-air.
...
Time Variance Authority, Time Loom Observation Room.
Chu Hang stepped out of the rift; Loki was standing before the massive holographic projection, his back turned to him.
The projection displayed countless timelines, dense and packed.
But unlike before, large areas of these timelines appeared grayish-black, as if eroded by something.
"You're finally here." Loki didn't turn around, his voice heavy.
"Look at this."
Chu Hang walked to Loki's side.
It wasn't a simple fracture or disappearance, but a more fundamental erosion.
The fibers of the timelines were festering, as if corroding from within.
He activated his Law of Spirit to perceive it and immediately felt a familiar fluctuation.
Void Power.
"It's not just him." Loki waved his hand to enlarge the projection, and a symbol emerged in the center of the grayish-black area—a twisted clock with hands rotating in reverse.
"The Council of Kangs. They have found a way to utilize Void Power and are devouring timelines on a massive scale. Over the past 72 hours, 317 branch timelines have been erased, involving over 4,000 Universes."
Chu Hang narrowed his eyes.
He had long known about the Council of Kangs; it was an alliance composed of countless variants of Kang the Conqueror, with the goal of ruling the Multiverse.
But they had always been fighting each other and had never truly united.
Now it seemed someone had integrated them.
"Who is leading the Council?"
"Unclear." Loki shook his head.
"The Time Loom can only track one codename—Immortus Kang. His spacetime coordinates are shielded by some kind of power; I cannot see his true form, only perceive his influence."
"Then why call me here?"
Loki turned around.
"Because their next target is Earth-199999, your Main Universe."
Chu Hang's Law Domain expanded, twelve types of Law Power flowing across his skin.
The temperature in the entire observation room plummeted, and the Time Loom emitted a piercing alarm.
"Are you sure?"
"Certain." Loki pointed to a thick golden timeline on the projection.
"Three hours ago, the Avengers Base detected spacetime fluctuations. A spaceship from the future crashed on the lawn. There was a teenager on board who called himself Nathaniel Richards."
Chu Hang's pupils constricted.
He was all too familiar with that name. Nathaniel Richards, Kang's birth name.
"Iron Lad," Chu Hang slowly said the title.
"Kang in his youth. He is a hero, trying to stop his future from becoming the Conqueror. But that is only the story of one timeline; in other timelines, he might be completely different."
"Correct." Loki waved his hand, and the projection switched to surveillance footage.
In the footage, a sixteen or seventeen-year-old boy crawled out of the smoking wreckage of the spaceship.
He was wearing high-tech armor in shades of purple and blue, with a glowing energy core on his chest, and beneath his mask was a youthful but determined face.
War Machine, Falcon, and Wanda surrounded him, weapons aimed at him.
The teenager raised his hands and removed his helmet.
"My name is Nathaniel Richards." His voice was young, but carried a weariness beyond his years.
"I come from the 31st century; I traveled through time to prevent a catastrophe. In my timeline, someone destroyed the entire Multiverse and killed all the Kangs, including me."
Loki waved his hand to pause the image, freezing it on the teenager's face.
The face was delicate, but the eyes revealed despair.
"He is telling the truth." Loki turned to Chu Hang.
"I verified his origin using the Time Loom. Earth-6311, spacetime coordinate August 14, 3025. That timeline was completely erased seven days after he left, leaving not even a scrap behind."
Chu Hang stared at the teenager on the screen.
A Kang of this age shouldn't have become the Conqueror yet; theoretically, he was just a genius teenager who loved science and wanted to save the World using time travel.
But Chu Hang dared not gamble.
He had seen too many people twisted by fate.
"What does he want?"
"Help." Loki played the footage again; the teenager was speaking to War Machine.
"He claims the only way to prevent that catastrophe is to assemble all versions of himself from the Multiverse and establish an opposition to the Council of Kangs. He calls this plan—the Young Avengers."
Chu Hang's brow furrowed even tighter.
This sounded like a trap.
Variants of Kang never truly cooperate; their essence is the desire for conquest and control.
Letting countless Kangs unite would only create a greater catastrophe.
"What do you think?"
Loki was silent for a few seconds.
"I don't know. The Time Loom shows that if left alone, the Main Universe will suffer a direct invasion by the Council of Kangs within 72 hours.
But if we trust this teenager, the risk is equally huge.
He might really want to save the World, or it might just be another Kang's trick."
Chu Hang closed his eyes, activating the Law of Time.
Countless images flashed through his mind, all possible futures for the Main Universe.
In some futures, the Avengers Base was reduced to ruins; in others, Earth was engulfed by time storms; and in some, that teenager stood on the Throne of Time, overlooking all Worlds.
But all futures were blurry, as if obscured by something.
"Someone is interfering with the timelines." Chu Hangopened his eyes.
"Immortus Kang, or rather the entity leading the Council of Kangs, his power is stronger than I imagined. Even the Law of Time cannot see the complete future."
"Then what do we do?" Loki asked.
Chu Hang looked at the teenager on the projection.
Nathaniel Richards removed his glove, revealing a deep, bone-visible scar on his wrist, and was explaining something to the Avengers.
That scar was not an ordinary wound.
Chu Hang could tell it was a mark left after being eroded by Void Power.
"Don't alert the enemy yet," Chu Hang said.
"Let him stay at the Avengers Base, provide him with basic help, but do not trust him completely. I will go see him myself, but not now."
"Why not now?"
"Because I need to confirm one thing first." Chu Hangturned to face Loki.
"How many members does the Council of Kangs have?"
Chapter 243: Executioners
Avengers Base, main building meeting room.
War Machine, Sam, and Wanda stood in a semicircle around Nathaniel, weapons not yet lowered.
The boy sat in a chair, his purple-blue armor helmet on the table. He looked exhausted, with dark circles under his eyes and a deep, bone-visible scar on his wrist that glimmered with a dark purple hue under the lights.
Wanda stared at the scar.
Something was wrong.
There were extremely faint energy fluctuations around the wound; it wasn't an ordinary injury.
War Machine opened his faceplate:
"You say you come from the 31st century to stop a catastrophe. Then why come here? Why now?"
Nathaniel looked up:
"Because this is the final node. In my timeline, the Council of Kangs completed the first great purge of the Multiversein August 2025. Starting from this point in time, they erased every timeline that threatened them, one by one."
"Why not go find Tony Stark?" Sam asked.
"Mr. Stark is already deceased in my timeline." The boy lowered his head. "I detected that an incomparably powerful force emerged in this timeline, and I thought this force had the hope of defeating the Council of Kangs."
Wanda narrowed her eyes.
Every word the boy said sounded true, and his emotional fluctuations were also very real.
But she just felt something was off.
That scar.
She looked at the boy's wrist again; there were extremely tiny runes on the edge of the wound, almost invisible to the naked eye, but she could perceive them.
That wasn't a mark left by healing; it looked more like some kind of brand.
The air suddenly froze.
Everyone simultaneously felt a massive oppressive force descending from above. It wasn't killing intent, nor was it a threat; it was just pure presence.
Rhodey's armor system blared alarms wildly, Samsubconsciously raised his shield, and Wanda's Chaos Magic automatically deployed a shield.
Nathaniel's face turned deathly pale, and his body began to tremble.
The meeting room ceiling was undamaged; there was no sound, no light effects.
Chu Hang stood in the center of the room, as if he had been there from the beginning.
He wore a black robe, with twelve kinds of Law Powerfaintly flowing on his body surface. The aura of a Cosmic Overlord level filled the entire room.
Rhodey and Sam's weapons automatically lowered. It wasn't that they wanted to lower them; their bodies instinctively judged that attacking was meaningless.
Wanda breathed a sigh of relief, and the Chaos Magicshield dissipated:
"You're back."
Chu Hang nodded, but his gaze didn't look at her; instead, he stared straight at Nathaniel.
The boy wanted to stand up, but his legs were too weak to support him, and he fell back into the chair.
"You... you are..." Nathaniel's voice was trembling.
"Chu Hang."
Chu Hang said calmly, then walked toward the boy. Every step made the oppressive feeling in the room heavier.
Chu Hang stopped three steps away from Nathaniel. He didn't speak, just raised his right hand.
Golden and silver light intertwined in his palm; that was the sign of the Alchemy Law and Soul Law operating simultaneously.
Nathaniel wanted to move back, but the chair was against the wall, and there was nowhere to retreat.
"Wait, I can explain..." The boy's voice carried a crying tone.
Chu Hang still didn't speak.
Light drifted from his palm, turning into countless tiny threads that passed through the air and entered Nathaniel's body. It wasn't an attack; it was analysis.
The Alchemy Law peeled away the material structure of the boy's body surface, going deep into cells, genes, and the energy core. The Soul Law penetrated into the conscious level, reading memories, emotions, and thought patterns.
Nathaniel went rigid, his eyes wide. He could feel something flipping through everything about him, from birth to now; every thought, every memory was laid out for inspection.
Rhodey wanted to step forward to stop him, but Wandastopped him.
"Don't move." Wanda said in a low voice, "He is confirming whether the boy is a threat."
"Won't that hurt him?"
"No." Wanda stared at Chu Hang's back, "But if he finds a problem, that might not be the case."
Thirty seconds later, Chu Hang withdrew his hand. The golden threads all returned to his palm and dissipated.
He turned to look at Wanda:
"Seal the door; don't let anyone in."
Wanda didn't ask why; she raised her hand and waved, and the Chaos Magic sealed the meeting room's doors and windows. A red energy barrier covered every exit, and not even sound could get out.
Only then did Chu Hang speak, his voice very calm, but the content made everyone's hearts tighten.
"Most of what he said is true." Chu Hang pointed at Nathaniel, "This boy really comes from the 31st century and really wants to stop the Council of Kangs. His memories haven't been tampered with, and his emotions are real."
"Then why seal the room?" Rhodey asked.
"Because he is a trap." Chu Hang's tone had no fluctuations, "A trap that even he himself doesn't know about."
Nathaniel's face turned even whiter:
"What do you mean?"
Chu Hang walked to the table and pointed to the scar on the boy's wrist.
"This is not an ordinary injury. This is an anchor point for a Dimensional Beacon. The Council of Kangs implanted a spatial coordinate inside you, using Void Power as a disguise. You think this is a scar left by being hit by an enemy; in reality, it is a locator they nailed onto you."
Nathaniel looked down at his wrist; the scar was slightly heating up.
"Impossible... I checked; I used the most advanced medical scans of the 31st century, and I didn't find anything..."
"Because this beacon only activates when it comes into contact with a specific energy field." Chu Hang said, "Like my Law Domain."
As soon as he finished speaking, the scar on Nathaniel's wrist suddenly lit up.
Dark purple light surged from deep within the wound and quickly spread to his entire arm. The boy screamed and fell off the chair.
Wanda immediately stepped forward to help, but was blocked by Chu Hang with a Space Barrier.
"Don't touch him." Chu Hang said, "The beacon is activating. If you touch him now, you will be marked too."
The dark purple light spread from Nathaniel's wrist to his shoulder, and the boy curled up on the ground, twitching.
The air in the meeting room began to twist.
Rhodey's armor system emitted ear-piercing alarms, Samtook a few steps back and raised his shield, and Wanda's Chaos Magic shield automatically thickened by a layer.
Chu Hang stood in place without moving, just raising his right hand.
Twelve kinds of Law Power condensed into a fist-sized ball of light in his palm, with gold, silver, purple, cyan, red, black, white, green, orange, gray, brown, and blue colors intertwining and rotating.
Space began to shatter.
It wasn't an explosion, not a tearing, but a cracking from the inside.
A crack appeared three meters above Nathaniel, with unstable spacetime turbulence flickering at the edges.
A hand reached out from the crack.
That hand was covered in silver-white metal armor, with micro-energy emitters on the fingertips and complex spacetime stabilization devices operating at the wrist.
Immediately after, a second hand, a third hand.
Three figures stepped out of the crack and hovered in mid-air.
They wore uniform high-tech armor, with the Council of Kangs' emblem on their chests—a distorted clock with the hands rotating in reverse. The armor was entirely silver-white, with light blue energy patterns flowing on the surface. The helmets were fully enclosed, with only a glowing observation slit on the visor.
The three landed, and the temperature in the entire meeting room plummeted.
It wasn't cold in the physical sense, but a feeling of sluggishness brought by the forced slowing of time flow.
Rhodey wanted to raise his arm but found his movements were ten times slower. Sam's breathing became viscous, and Wanda's Chaos Magic solidified into translucent red crystals in the air.
Only Chu Hang remained unaffected.
The lead Executioner spoke, his voice processed, sounding cold and mechanical:
"Spacetime anomaly located. Target: Chu Hang, codename the greedy one. Threat level: Multiverse extinction level. Council directive: Erase immediately."
Chu Hang didn't speak, just glanced at Nathaniel, who was still twitching on the ground.
The dark purple light on the boy's wrist had already spread to his entire body; his eyes rolled back, and blood foam flowed from his mouth.
"Beacon mission complete." The second Executioner said, raising his hand toward Nathaniel, "Clear the carrier."
A silver beam of light shot from his palm.
Chu Hang waved his hand.
The Space Law deployed, and the beam was blocked by a Space Barrier ten centimeters from Nathaniel, refracting onto the ceiling. The ceiling was vaporized, revealing the reinforced concrete structure, with the edges still smoking.
"He is innocent." Chu Hang said calmly.
"Innocent?" The third Executioner made a sound similar to a sneer, "There are no innocents in the Multiverse. Every existence is a variable, and every variable may lead to the collapse of the timeline."
"Then what about you?" Chu Hang asked, "Cross-timelineCarnage, what are you?"
"We are the enforcers of order." The lead Executioner said, "The Council of Kangs has already seen the end of the Multiverse. Countless timelines conflict with each other, devour each other, and will eventually only lead to the void. The only solution is to unify all timelines and establish a unique order."
"So you want to kill everyone who doesn't obey." Chu Hang said.
"Not kill, but correct." The lead Executioner raised both hands, and the energy emitters in his palms began to charge, "And you, the greedy one, are the biggest error."
As soon as the words fell, the three Executioners attacked simultaneously.
Silver energy beams shot toward Chu Hang from six directions, each containing the power of the early Skyfather level. The beams intertwined into a net in the air, blocking all escape routes.
Rhodey and Sam wanted to help, but their bodies were still trapped by the time slowing, and they could only watch helplessly.
Wanda gritted her teeth and mobilized her Chaos Magic, trying to break through the time restraint.
Chu Hang still stood in place, not moving. He didn't even deploy his Law Domain.
As the six beams hit, Chu Hang gently clenched his right hand.
The Alchemy Law activated.
Golden runes erupted from his palm, drawing a complex array in the air. That was the core formula of equivalent exchange, the underlying logic of material reorganization.
The energy beams shot by the three Executionersstagnated upon touching the runes.
It wasn't blocked, not absorbed, but redefined.
The energy structure of the beams was forcibly dismantled, converted from aggressive particle streams into harmless photons. The six silver beams disintegrated within the runes, turning into stars across the sky, drifting away like fireflies.
The three Executioners stepped back half a step simultaneously.
"This is impossible..." The second Executioner's voice showed fluctuation for the first time, "Energy conservation has been broken..."
"Not broken." Chu Hang looked up, golden runes reflected in his eyes, "It has been redefined as the object of exchange."
He took a step forward.
The golden patterns of the Alchemy Law spread from under his feet, covering the entire floor of the meeting room.
The three Executioners wanted to retreat but found their armor began to make ear-piercing metal grinding sounds. Dense cracks appeared on the surface of the silver-white armor, and those cracks spread along the energy patterns.
"Your future technology that you are so proud of." Chu Hang took another step, his voice still calm, "In essence, it is just material reorganization. Since it is material, it can be exchanged."
He snapped his fingers.
The three Executioners' armor disintegrated simultaneously.
It wasn't an explosion, not melting, but orderly decomposition into the most basic elements. Metal turned into iron atoms, energy cores turned into free electrons, and spacetime stabilization devices turned into a pile of meaningless quantum entanglement states.
In just three seconds, three sets of Skyfather level high-tech armor turned into three piles of scrap iron, clattering onto the ground.
The three figures who lost the protection of their armorwere exposed to the air.
They wore gray tight combat suits, their faces young, looking no more than thirty years old. Each person had the brand of the Council of Kangs on their foreheads.
Chu Hang raised his right hand, and the Space Lawdeployed.
The bodies of the three Executioners were lifted by an invisible force, suspended in mid-air, unable to move.
"I will not kill you." Chu Hang said, "Because you are useful to me."
He mobilized the Soul Law, and golden threads drifted from his palm, sinking into the center of the three men's brows.
This time it wasn't analysis, but tracing.
Chu Hang traced back along the spacetime fluctuations left by the beacon, passing through countless layers of dimensional barriers, reaching the coordinates of an outpost of the Council of Kangs.