126. Chapter 126: Superspeed! Fusion 100!
Seeing Billy write more and more outrageously, Hughie quickly stopped him, saying, "Forget the stuff before, but are you sure World War II breaking out has something to do with Homelander? He wasn't even born yet, was he?"
"Why wouldn't it?" Billy put down his pen, a satisfied expression on his face. As he checked each line for errors, he explained to Hughie, "It's precisely because the performance of Supes during World War II was so astonishing that Vought went all out to create Superheroes. Do you know what Vought's goal was back then?"
Hughie shook his head.
"To cultivate the most perfect Supe, a Superhero belonging solely to Vought. That's the reason for Homelander's birth. He is the original sin, a product that shouldn't have appeared."
Billy turned and slapped the paper onto Hughie's chest. "Remember to revise it before giving it to Starlight. Have Starlight hand the evidence over to Ryan."
"How much do I have to revise..." Hughie said helplessly.
"You can take a page from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' remarks. They're professionals. You just need to copy them."
Hughie ignored Billy's teasing. He folded the paper and stuffed it into his pocket. "What's the second piece of good news? You said you brought two, but you've only mentioned one."
"The second piece of good news is that I've contacted that Mr. Mystery, and he's willing to help solve the first matter." Billy walked to the water dispenser and poured himself a cup of water.
Although he had obtained the smuggler's address from Mallory, he couldn't guarantee that the other party didn't have super terrorists under them. Relying solely on Kimiko was still a bit unreliable. To increase the success rate, Billy had to utilize every resource he could.
"What if he leaks information? We'll be wiped out in one fell swoop," Frenchie said with some concern.
"He won't. I've already promised the other party that Hughie will be his lab mouse, and he will provide more Compound Six to Hughie in the future."
In Billy's view, the possibility of Xia Shang leaking information was very small, almost infinitely close to zero. Billy wasn't stupid; on the contrary, he was quite shrewd. He knew very well that his relationship with Xia Shang was one of mutual use value. Only when they lost their use value to that Mr. Mystery would they potentially be kicked aside.
In the world of adults, only self-interest is the most reliable.
"What the fuck?" Hughie looked bewildered. Billy sold him without his consent? And it seemed he got a good price.
"Prepare for the operation tonight."
Billy patted Hughie's shoulder, then returned to his Room to rest.
...
At the same time.
In a Villa in the New York Suburbs.
Xia Shang was leaning on the sofa, absorbing the Compound V from the tubes using the fine tentacles he had extended. On the coffee table in Xia Shang's Living Room, several rows of Compound V were laid out. As the last tube of blue liquid was emptied, the fusion progress on the panel finally stopped at 100%.
After nearly two months, A-Train's superpower had finally fused with him.
The next second, his figure vanished from the sofa.
It was as if everything around him seemed particularly slow to Xia Shang. This feeling was very strange, like sitting on a high-speed train, with the scenery outside the window receding at an astonishing speed. He picked up the apple on the table and threw it outside. While the apple was still in flight, he leisurely walked to the refrigerator, opened it, and took out a bottle of yogurt. Before he could open it, his figure disappeared again. When Xia Shang reappeared, he had already caught the apple he had thrown earlier.
"Too bad, it's still not fast enough."
A cold glint flashed, and the apple in Xia Shang's hand was instantly cut into countless pieces, then flowed out from between the fingers like a liquid.
"Sixteen hundred kilometers per hour, equivalent to 1.3 times the speed of sound. However, this is not my limit state." Xia Shang appeared like a ghost, suddenly standing before the high-speed testing equipment in the Basement, having already completed one test. Only through constant slow-motion playback from the high-speed camera could his afterimage be clearly seen.
Just as Xia Shang said, this was not his limit state. In an instant, a sound similar to an engine starting gradually echoed in his chest. Bang bang bang!!! Because the sound came from within Xia Shang's chest cavity, it was particularly muffled. Furthermore, as red light seeped out from his body surface, Xia Shang's legs also began to change.
Boom! After leaving two marks on the hard ground, Xia Shang's figure vanished instantly. When he reappeared, he had already crashed through the Basement wall.
However, he didn't stop there but went outside. His speed was far faster than before and harder to control.
On the road, a driver smoking a cigarette was holding the cigarette out the window, preparing to tap off the ash. Unexpectedly, a gust of wind swept by, and the cigarette in his hand was broken. "Shit, what the hell was that?"
Startled, the driver quickly pulled his hand back. He glanced at the dashboard, 70 kilometers per hour. Are you kidding me? He was already speeding, and someone was driving even faster than him. What's the rush? Going to meet Jesus? The driver didn't see what passed by just now, but he was certain something had gone past his hand.
"This is unbelievable." The driver threw the cigarette butt out the window and skillfully lit another cigarette to calm his nerves. After taking a deep drag, he subconsciously reached his hand out the window again.
"The wind's a bit strong today," the driver seemed to feel another gust of wind brush past his hand. He squinted, raised his hand, and brought the cigarette butt to his mouth. But when he inhaled, nothing came out.
He looked down, holy crap! Wasn't this the cigarette butt he had just thrown out?
After experiencing two bizarre incidents, the white driver was badly frightened. The object clamped between his fingers now felt not like a cigarette butt, but a piece of burning charcoal.
"Church, Church, that's right, the Church. I need to go pray," the driver's hand trembled, dropping the cigarette butt between his legs, but he didn't notice, just kept muttering.
On the other side, Xia Shang felt his heart reaching its limit state.
If one could see through his skin, they would find Xia Shang's heart resembled a pulsating piece of magma. The magma even spread to the surrounding blood vessels. If Xia Shang's skin wasn't strong enough, it would probably have cracked like tree bark by now.
He returned to the Basement, enduring the limit state speed.
Captured by the high-speed camera, his speed was actually 1.5 times the speed of sound. This was an extremely exaggerated speed.
For example, even if someone shot a gun at Xia Shang, Xia Shang could clearly see the bullet's trajectory and even intercept it while it was in flight. It was hard to imagine how terrifying Xia Shang's current speed was.
Unfortunately, his heart's endurance was limited. This kind of limit state could only be maintained for a maximum of three minutes.
"Hoo..." Xia Shang exhaled a breath of hot air. An afterimage flashed, and a bottle of ice water appeared in his hand.
(End of Chapter)