"AHHHH!"
The Deep let out a long, piercing scream.
Having been thrown high into the air, he was now starting to fall again.
He looked toward the sea surface and saw bubbles constantly rising. Suddenly, the seawater exploded, and Homelander flew out of the ocean.
"Wait!"
"Boss! Listen to my explanation!"
The Deep shouted at the top of his lungs, but Alex didn't pay him any attention. He accelerated upward and slammed straight into the Deep.
The Deep's face instantly turned red. The collision made his stomach churn violently. Less than a second later, another tremendous force struck his abdomen, blasting out a ripple in the air.
Second impact!
The Deep cried out "wah!" as he was sent flying upward. Alex shot forward, flashed to the Deep's side, and smashed a fist straight into his face.
First, a tooth flew out of the Deep's mouth. Immediately after, the "second impact" hit again, making his head whip violently as his whole body was flung sideways.
Alex chased after him and unleashed a flurry of punches and kicks. Every single attack was accompanied by a "second impact" effect.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
On the empty sea surface, muffled thunder-like explosions rang out nonstop.
Moments later, the Deep was held in Alex's hand by the neck. Barely clinging to life, he struggled to lift his head.
Under the blazing sun, all the Deep could see was a backlit silhouette.
The next second, on that silhouette's face, two points of red light slowly lit up.
———
At the dock—
An old man was fishing.
Suddenly, he heard a faint rumble coming from the sea, and something in the distance seemed to flash.
"Thunder?"
The old man felt a little puzzled. Just then, a strong gust of wind blew over, sending the duckbill cap on his head flying up into the air.
A hand caught the cap. Then, a figure slowly descended onto the dock.
The old man rubbed his eyes, thinking he was seeing things. Then he said in disbelief, "Homelander?"
Alex smiled faintly, handed the cap back to him, then glanced at the sea, "Any luck?"
The old man chuckled, "Not bad."
"Nice," Alex pressed a hand to his chest and gave a small bow, "Wishing you a pleasant day, sir."
The old man hurriedly adjusted his cap, "You too."
Alex smiled, rose into the air, turned around, and flew toward the Seven Tower.
———
A short while later—
He walked into the command hall.
Inside, Maeve and Starlight were talking about something. Translucent and Black Noir were sitting in their chairs, completely silent.
Hearing the footsteps, everyone turned their heads.
Alex smiled slightly, taking it as a greeting to everyone.
Maeve glanced behind him, "Where's the Deep?"
Alex walked to his spot, clasped his hands behind his back, and looked out at the city beyond the floor-to-ceiling windows. He let out a soft sigh.
"There was a bit of an accident."
"We've lost the Deep forever."
"What a pity."
"I suggest we observe three minutes of silence for him."
The command hall suddenly went quiet, as if even breathing had stopped.
Maeve and the others exchanged looks. Especially Starlight. She had seen the Deep not long ago. She never imagined that before noon had even passed, he would already be dead.
After three seconds, Alex turned around with a smile, "Alright, everyone. No need to be too sad."
"As long as you remember the Deep, he hasn't really left."
Alex looked at Starlight, "Could you please go call Ashley over?"
Starlight nodded. As she was about to leave, she turned back again, "Mr. Homelander, may I ask you a question?"
"Just call me Homelander."
Alex smiled, "What do you want to ask?"
Starlight glanced up at the ceiling of the hall, "I heard Mr. Edgar say that you were the one who eliminated me. Can I know why?"
Alex nodded slightly, "If it were the old Seven, I would absolutely welcome a lively and cute girl like you to join. But you probably heard what I told the reporters."
"The future Seven will shoulder the responsibility of heroes. That means we'll face many challenges."
"Some of them may very well cost us our lives."
Alex looked Starlight up and down, "So when I see a cute girl like you wanting to join, I just can't bear it."
"Is that a reason you can accept?"
Starlight gently bit her lower lip, "Actually, I'm not afraid of sacrifice."
Then she walked out of the hall.
Maeve shrugged, "She may be young, but she's not stupid."
"If she's smart enough, she should quit now instead of playing some so-called hero game with Edgar," Alex replied with a smile.
Then he looked at Translucent, "Do me a favor. Keep an eye on Edgar and see what he's doing behind the scenes."
"I believe he's probably having the lab work on a plan to deal with me right now."
"If you discover anything, can you tell me?"
The command hall fell silent once more. The atmosphere was heavy, like it had been filled with concrete.
No one expected Homelander to say his intention to go after Edgar, to go after the company's CEO, so bluntly.
'Isn't he afraid someone will snitch?'
Maeve suddenly thought of something.
'The Deep's accident.'
The Queen instantly understood Homelander's meaning.
I'm not afraid to tell you my plan. But if anyone wants to snitch, just look at the Deep.
Translucent hurriedly said, "I'll go right away."
Alex waved his hand, letting him leave.
At that moment, a line of information appeared on his retina.
[Warning: 1 hour and 11 minutes until the disaster event occurs.]
As the line of text disappeared, Ashley walked in.
"You were looking for me, Homelander?"
Alex nodded, "Send out an obituary. The Deep died in an accident during the assessment."
Ashley's smile froze on her face.
She fought down the urge to grab her hair and forced herself to keep smiling, "Alright. Is there anything else?"
"Bring me the candidate list again," Alex looked around the room, "Looks like we'll have new members joining very soon. I'm really looking forward to it. How about you?"
———
[Walmart Department Store]
Today was no different from usual. The mall was bustling with people coming and going.
On the first floor, a gift company was holding a lottery event, drawing a large crowd of customers who stopped to watch.
The mall's security supervisor, Rick, walked through the crowd, scanning every person who passed by him.
Rick had been in this line of work for over ten years. A former special forces soldier, he was meticulous in how he did things. Since taking over as the mall's security supervisor, there had never been any public safety incidents.
This was what he was most proud of.
As he walked, his walkie-talkie crackled to life.
["Mr. Rick, you'd better come over. Something's wrong."]
"Coming."
.
.
.
A short while later, Rick entered the mall's management office, where several security guards were staring at a large screen ahead of them as if facing a deadly threat.
The screen was filled with a face, but the face was wearing a rabbit mask. Only a pair of emerald-green eyes could be seen.
["Listen carefully. There is a bomb inside the department store right now. Once it's detonated, it will release deadly gas that can kill everyone in the mall within five minutes."]
["If you don't want anyone to get hurt, you'd better do exactly as I say!"]
═❀═❀═❀═❀═❀═❀═
[email protected]/AmbitiousTranslator
🥳Joining P@treon keeps me motivated and eager to work diligently, so please consider joining.🥰 You can access upto 20 advance chapter through P@treon.