“Yes, very good.” Homelander smiled and nodded, looking down at something. “Ashley, take off your boots.”

Ashley paused, then quickly bent down to unbuckle her high heels. Her slender feet touched the cold metal floor, and she instinctively curled her toes.

“Now…” Homelander stared at Knight of Pure Beauty, his voice chillingly light, “Kneel down and lick her feet.”

The smile on Knight of Pure Beauty’s face froze instantly, then faded. His lips trembled slightly, and a flicker of disbelief crossed his eyes: “This… Mr. Homelander…” He spoke with difficulty, “This doesn’t align with Knight of Pure Beauty’s code…”

Homelander suddenly burst into laughter, his laughter echoing through the training room, carrying a hint of mockery and derision. The other supers stopped their movements, and the air seemed to solidify.

The next second, a scarlet glow flashed in his eyes—

“Bang!”

Knight of Pure Beauty’s head exploded like an overripe watermelon. Blood splattered onto the surrounding floor and walls, a few warm drops even splashing onto Homelander’s pristine uniform. Ashley was instantly terrified; she was closest to Knight of Pure Beauty, her face covered in a thick layer of blood.

The headless corpse stiffened for a second, then crashed to the ground, its armor clanging heavily against the floor. Homelander looked down at the bloodstains on his uniform, frowned, then turned to look at the terrified Ashley.

“Remember.” His voice was terrifyingly calm, “I don’t give a damn if he’s Knight of Pure Beauty or what his identity is. But at Vought, the first thing about being a hero… is absolute loyalty to me.”

He paused, glancing at the headless corpse on the floor like trash: “No matter who, no matter what.”

Ashley swallowed hard and nodded: “…Understood.”

—

“As she was about to head to the Simulated Universe, Star noticed Herta, who had stormed out earlier, had returned.”

“You’re back?”

“Herta lifted her chin and snorted: ‘Whose name do you see on the office sign? Why can’t I come back? Hmph, if anyone’s leaving, it’s not me. I’m staying right here.’ ”

“What, you don’t want to see me back? Heh, I don’t care what you guys are doing, do whatever you want, just don’t bother me.”

“Alright…” Star didn’t press the issue, instead turning to have a brief discussion with Screwllum before entering the Simulated Universe.

“This time, the Simulated Universe was different. Star felt a ripple, a tremendous sense of weightlessness that made her lose control of her limbs. Amidst the swaying characters and code, she suddenly awoke—”

“Ms. Star, are you alright?” Screwllum’s voice sounded beside her ear.

“Star was now within the data chain where Aether Edit was located. She looked around and told Screwllum that there was a virtual Silver Wolf in front of her.”

“Oh…” Screwllum pondered for a moment, “Conclusion: That is a holographic record of the Simulated Universe. Here, every variable is preserved, in meticulous detail, including the footprints of outsiders.”

“No sooner had Screwllum finished speaking than Silver Wolf turned her head: ‘Hey, I’m talking to you, why are you staring at me?’ ”

“It spoke!?” Star was startled.

“I’ve advanced the Simulated Universe’s process. She is not speaking to you; this is merely a past recording. Please do not interrupt her for now; listen carefully, we might gain more.” Screwllum said.

“First, I wasn’t thinking about it day and night. The story of that Aether Edit is well-known to Punklorde, I’m not interested.”

“Secondly, that’s not some game disc, that’s Aether Edit—a hacker’s second pair of eyes, second brain, second heart. Do you understand? With this Aether Edit, you can even know what the fourth mixed popcorn he ate at the movie premiere tasted like, that’s how powerful it is.”

“Finally, I’ll emphasize again, I wasn’t thinking about it day and night. I said all that just to explain clearly how powerful it is, understood? Kafka?”

—

One-Punch Man.

Child Emperor gnawed on a lollipop, his fingers rapidly sliding across the holographic screen, quickly recording information about “Aether Edit.”

“This is incredible…” he murmured, his voice filled with a child’s characteristic excitement, “As long as you have this Aether Edit, you can fully read the owner’s life memories, knowledge, and even emotional experiences? Doesn’t that essentially mean acquiring another person’s entire existence?”

“If we can analyze this technology, we can preserve heroes’ combat experience, and even when they…” He suddenly stopped, his words appropriately catching before the word “sacrifice.”

“Child Emperor, do not excessively pursue that alien technology.”

A faint light flickered in Drive Knight’s single eye, and a low hum emanated from within his dark armor: “While you still don’t understand Ms. Silver Wolf from Punklorde, it’s best if you never entertain thoughts about the hacking technology displayed on Celestial Screen screen.”

“Eh? Why does Drive Knight say that?”

“Because…” Drive Knight was momentarily at a loss for words. He didn’t know how to persuade the genius boy in front of him. Child Emperor became the fifth S-class hero at only ten years old, and his future achievements were immeasurable. Perhaps in his eyes, there was no technology he couldn’t conquer?

But Drive Knight could tell at a glance that such reality-altering technology could no longer be called “technology.” Without a sample of Aether Edit, such a thing was utterly magic, even more unrealistic than attempting to analyze Tatsumaki’s psychic abilities.

“Instead of thinking about Aether Edit, Child Emperor, you should think about how to connect the Interastral Peace Corporation with Earth. If your goal is merely to eliminate monsters, whether it’s self-developing new weapons or contacting the corporation… wouldn’t that be more efficient than researching Punklorde’s technology?”

—

“It seems there are two people entering the Simulated Universe this time—she and Kafka.”

“Screwllum found it interesting and assigned Star to the perspective of a Travel companion (companion), so she would now react to Star’s actions.”

“Facing a fork in the road, Silver Wolf looked at Star with interest: ‘Want to pick one? Test your favorite… intuition.’ ”

“Is she making me choose?”

“Screwllum: ‘To be precise, she’s letting her companion choose. Even if you do nothing, this record will continue to advance.’ ”

“And indeed, even if Star made no choice, Silver Wolf would announce the correct answer was to the right the next moment.”

“However, Star’s main characteristic was rebellion; she insisted on going left. She wanted to see how Silver Wolf would react.”