…
“Hey, Dan (Mindstorm’s real name), I’ve thought highly of you since I was a kid!”
Leon, while suppressing Mindstorm with his back to him, couldn't hide his excitement as he praised him with a smile.
“No, no, no!”
“Leon, listen to me, that wasn’t my idea!”
Mindstorm, dazed by the punch Leon deliberately used to capture him alive, didn't hear what Leon was saying at all, only trying to shirk responsibility.
To survive,
His speaking speed was astonishingly fast.
“Calm down, take a deep breath, Dan, I know you want to say it was all Black Noir’s idea.”
“Huh?”
Mindstorm was a bit stunned, as Leon had just said the lines he had prepared.
To the side.
Butcher and Hughie, judging by the sound, realized Leon had Mindstorm under control, and cautiously opened their eyes.
Seeing Mindstorm’s head completely covered by Leon, they finally relaxed, exhaling two heavy breaths.
“Hey, Dan, listen to me.”
Leon slightly loosened his suppression on Mindstorm, allowing him to catch his breath, then continued, “I’m in a good mood right now, so letting you go isn’t out of the question.”
“How about this? I’ll give you a chance to escape later. I’ll only attack you after I count to ten. Whether you can seize this opportunity to survive depends entirely on your own ability.”
“You know, I’m a man of my word.”
As he spoke,
Leon wore that infectious smile on his face.
Butcher and Hughie, seeing this, felt a prickling sensation on their scalps. Based on their understanding of Leon, the agreement was, of course, real.
But…
“Really?!”
A glimmer of hope for survival ignited in Mindstorm’s heart.
He clearly acknowledged Soldier Boy’s spirit of contract.
“Of course, it’s real.”
Leon affirmed, then directly released his suppression on Mindstorm, letting him get up and run into the complex, deep mountains and old forests.
Faster!
Even faster!
If only he could…
If only he could reach that place…
Running at full speed,
Mindstorm continuously gave himself psychological hints in his mind.
At this moment,
The adrenaline in his body was surging like a volcanic eruption.
However,
As the call of God of Death echoed, all of Mindstorm's thoughts came to an abrupt halt.
“Ten.”
As the first sound of the ten-second countdown fell, Leon kept his word, swinging his left arm and throwing a shield.
Rip!
Mindstorm, who had only fled a dozen meters, was immediately and precisely split vertically in half at his upper body by the tungsten steel-Vibranium shield thrown by Leon.
He was thoroughly dead.
“I knew it…”
Hughie turned around, took just one look, and then covered his eyes with his hands, unable to bear looking at Mindstorm’s gruesome state.
“What a pity, Dan, I already gave you a chance.”
“Hughie, go pick up the shield for me.”
Leon tutted twice, too lazy to pick up the shield that was outside the system’s recovery range, so he instructed the “Green Flash” beside him.
“OK.”
“Leave it to me.”
Finally having a chance to show off, Hughie readily agreed, then teleported away, disappearing from beside Butcher and Leon, leaving only a set of empty clothes behind.
2.5 seconds later,
Hughie, like a small horse pulling a large cart, stumbled back to Leon’s side, carrying the shield with both hands.
Thud!
A dull bell-like sound echoed as the shield hit the ground.
“Oh my God!”
“Why is your shield so heavy?”
Even Hughie, who had taken Temporary Compound V, found it difficult to lift, like an adult lifting two buckets of bottled Water with one hand.
Teleporting it along with himself using his superpower was even more strenuous.
“It seems your teleportation superpower’s limit is lower than I imagined.”
“If you have time, practice more, I have high hopes for you, Hughie.”
Leon patted the naked Hughie’s shoulder, suggesting, then heavily stepped on the slightly upturned side of the shield.
The shield immediately bounced back into Leon’s left hand, re-equipping itself, the entire process swift and decisive.
“Now, the only remaining member of Payback is Black Noir, one of the current The Seven.”
Butcher looked at Leon.
“Since that’s the case, let’s just deal with both of them together.”
With that,
Leon turned and left.
Hearing this,
Butcher and Hughie couldn't hide their excitement and quickly followed.
…
By the time the trio returned to the hotel, it was already late at night.
Everyone else was asleep.
Leon closed his door and stayed in his room after entering, while Butcher and Hughie felt a bit unwell and also returned to their respective rooms immediately.
Since they were temporarily using this hotel as a base, Butcher had simply rented out the entire floor, and everyone in The Boys had their own room.
Starlight also had a separate room.
“Ugh!!!!!”
Butcher and Hughie’s rooms.
Different locations, but the same event.
After vomiting unidentified solid-liquid mixture the color of feces into their respective sinks, they looked at themselves in the mirror, with sunken eyes as if they were terminally ill and didn’t have long to live.
They couldn't help but ask the same question: “What in the world is going on?!”
On the other side,
Leon’s room.
He was calling his nominal, cheap son through Arcee.
Beep beep beep—connected!
“Who are You?”
Zubao’s confused voice came from the other end of the line.
“Cough, cough, cough!”
After clearing his throat twice, Leon said in a strange tone, “Son~ Son~ I’m your father.”