...
"Satellite maps show that Mindstorm's current location is approximately 2.5 kilometers from us, directly to the west."
"2.5 kilometers? Fuck! I should have 'borrowed' two motorcycles."
Leon, in a soldier boy suit, rode his exclusive vehicle, Arcee in motorcycle mode, while Butcher and Hughie were in a Humvee they 'acquired' for free on the side of the road.
When they reached the end of a road deep in a certain jungle, Butcher and Hughie's Humvee was too big to drive further, so the three had to stop by the roadside.
As soon as they got out of the car,
Hughie eagerly pulled out his tablet to check their position relative to Mindstorm. The day of eliminating Homelander was getting closer, and he was incredibly excited.
Upon hearing the distance, Butcher cursed under his breath. 2.5 kilometers, and in a mountainous area with complex terrain, meant at least an hour's walk on foot.
Thinking of this,
Having enjoyed the convenience of superhuman physique before, he immediately pulled out the remaining dozen tubes of Temporary Compound V from his single-shoulder backpack in the Humvee's trunk.
"Oi, Hughie."
Butcher tossed a tube of Temporary Compound V to Hughie, who caught it, somewhat puzzled: "Is it necessary to inject it so early?"
"Of course not," Butcher said with a wicked smile, "if you want to walk these 2.5 kilometers of rugged mountain road with your ordinary human physique."
Upon hearing this,
Hughie's scalp tingled just thinking about it. He was quite confident in his own physical condition, so he reluctantly said, "Then I'll inject it."
Seeing this,
Leon curved his lips, walked over to Butcher, and took out two more tubes of Temporary Compound V from his single-shoulder backpack, tossing one to each of them.
"How is one tube enough? Take two."
"Mindstorm is not an easy guy to deal with."
Butcher and Hughie took them, exchanged glances, and then said, "Makes sense."
"We haven't tried what it feels like to inject two tubes at once," Hughie chuckled, like an innocent child.
Butcher was a man of action, immediately injecting the tube Leon had thrown to him.
Seeing this, Hughie followed suit and injected the second tube as well.
Whether it was a psychological effect or an actual one, Butcher and Hughie felt that they were indeed stronger than when they had only injected one tube.
At this point, they only knew that Temporary Compound V could give them superhuman strength, but they were unaware of its side effects.
Maeve and Starlight, who were privy to the inside information about Temporary Compound V, had both knelt before Leon; they simply had no source of information.
They had already shown signs of dependency and addiction to Temporary Compound V.
After all,
As the old saying goes—
I could have endured the darkness, if I had not seen the light.
Smiling as he watched Butcher and Hughie inject the second tube of Temporary Compound V, Leon suddenly realized that he seemed to be increasingly leaning towards Aha's path of joy.
'Who cares~'
'Who doesn't like having fun?'
Leon shook his head and chuckled softly, then turned around and took out a pair of X-Men Cyclops-style tactical goggles from Arcee's cockpit in motorcycle mode and put them on.
"Arcee, I'll leave the upcoming view to you."
"Leave it to me."
As the mature female voice in Leon's Bluetooth earpiece faded, Arcee in motorcycle mode immediately ascended, providing Leon with a bird's-eye view, much like a video game.
In a way,
Mindstorm posed a greater threat to Leon than Homelander.
Because he was quite similar to Superman.
Although Leon's physical resistance was already quite good, his magic resistance, while not non-existent, was almost zero, probably not much stronger than an ordinary person's.
But there was no need to worry too much. Given Soldier Boy's confident demeanor when he actively sought revenge against Mindstorm in the original work, even if Leon were to be controlled, he probably wouldn't be controlled to death, but then again, not being controlled to death seemed unlikely.
Anyway, Leon was now much stronger than Soldier Boy himself and had taken targeted precautions.
With Mindstorm's small physique, trying to control him off guard was still twenty thousand years too early.
This highlighted the importance of intelligence.
On this point, Bruce, Batman, had the most say.
"I've found him."
Arcee suddenly said, then followed with deep confusion: "Why is this so troublesome? You could just order me to capture him."
"Hey, Arcee, I don't like the word 'order'," Leon corrected with a genuinely serious expression, "You are not my servant, but my partner, family, lover..."
"Alright, alright~"
"I get it~"
Arcee, unable to bear the direct and overly affectionate words coming from Leon's mouth, quickly stopped him with a few shy 'ying-ying-yings'.
"Besides bipolar disorder, Mindstorm also suffers from a significant degree of paranoia. The small cabin he is currently in and its surroundings are filled with high-energy bombs."
"If anything unexpected happens, you will get hurt."
"And if you get hurt, I'll be heartbroken."
"Leon~"
Arcee softly purred.
Drip!
A drop of pale yellow, translucent oil dripped from above onto Leon's lips. He licked it away, looked up, and only saw the rear of Arcee in motorcycle mode, fleeing.
At this moment,
Butcher, fully prepared, walked over and asked Leon: "OK, can you tell us what to expect now?"
Leon turned back and extended a finger to Butcher and Hughie: "You only need to pay attention to one thing: do not make eye contact with him. Close your eyes."
"What if?"
Hughie asked, his throat bobbing nervously.
"There is no 'what if'."
Leon said confidently: "As long as you keep your eyes closed and don't make eye contact with him, there's nothing to worry about."
"I'll handle everything; you just need to lead the way."
Just be the bait.
Leon did not speak that last thought aloud.
Upon hearing this,
Butcher and Hughie exchanged glances, and with perfect tacit agreement and out of caution, immediately started blinking their eyes continuously.
The mental control that even Soldier Boy, the pinnacle of superhumans, feared, was even less likely to be exempted by them, who were only temporary superhumans.
In short, it's better to be safe than sorry.
Just like that,
The trio stepped into the mountain forest that Mindstorm was temporarily using as his base.
After walking only a few hundred meters,
Leon raised his hand, signaling Butcher and Hughie behind him to stop. Then he pointed to the fuse he had touched but not activated under his foot.
The three exchanged glances.
Without saying much, they silently chose to take a slightly longer detour to avoid this densely mined area, so as not to alert Mindstorm and allow him to prepare in advance.
Before long,
The three approached the wooden cabin without incident.
Outside the cabin, an orange-red lawnmower was parked, its engine still vibrating from being recently turned off.
Bang!!!!!!
Leon, who had deliberately walked ahead to lead, laughed,
"Fuck," and was suddenly blown away by a high-energy bomb triggered under his feet.
Butcher and Hughie behind him were also not spared.
"He's running towards Butcher amidst the chaos," Arcee reminded Leon through his Bluetooth earpiece. "Do you need me to intercept him with 'Ex-Wife' or a beam cannon?"
"There's no need for that."
Leon quickly stopped her: "Do you think he's as durable as us? What if we blast him into bits and can't 'ship' him? There are still quite a few high-energy bombs pre-buried in the surrounding soil."
Leon, who had been incredibly unlucky lately, could only rely on metaphysics now.
Good luck, return!
Having said that in his mind,
Leon immediately pulled out the long-unused Desert Eagle with infinite bullets from his right thigh holster, and with his eyes shut, he blindly fired a barrage of 'fate-guided' shots in the direction Arcee had indicated Butcher was.
Bang bang bang bang bang bang bang!
Pfft—
Since Butcher, who had taken Temporary Compound V, was not afraid of bullets, when an unusual sound of being hit by a bullet came out, Leon knew that Mindstorm must have been hit.
His physical qualities, being a mentally enhanced type, were not much higher than an ordinary person's.
Next,
Leon made a huge flying leap and landed directly beside Mindstorm, who had been shot in the leg.
After punching him down, Leon quickly emptied Butcher's single-shoulder backpack, who had still not dared to open his eyes, and used it to cover Mindstorm's head.
'Quick, quick, system!'
'Sign in while he's hot!'
"Query: Do you wish to perform today's sign-in?"
'Don't ask, just sign in quickly!'
"Ding! Today's sign-in is complete. Congratulations to the host for obtaining 'Mental Control Immunity'."
"Mental Control Immunity: You will be immune to any mental control."
"Description: Stand up, you who refuse to be a puppet!"
"Nice!!!!!!!"
Finally, a golden reward!!!!!