"Huh? You guys are having hotpot—and you didn't even invite me?"
Just as Quicksilver was questioning his very existence, another figure burst in from outside, moving so fast that her entry left a faint afterimage. It was Kara, the Supergirl who spent half her days basking in the sun on the rooftop.
You really couldn't expect less from a Kryptonian.
All she'd done was lounge upstairs for a few days, flipping through magazines while soaking up sunlight—and somehow, her strength had skyrocketed.
Forget taking on the Hulk.
At the very least, Kara could now go toe-to-toe with someone like Doctor Lizard or even Spider-Man without breaking a sweat.
"This girl's off too! No—she's the most off of them all!" Quicksilver's eyelids twitched uncontrollably as he watched Kara join the hotpot feast.
He still remembered the first few days after Kara joined the company. Back then, even if he snatched snacks right out of her hands, she wouldn't have had a clue what happened.
But now...
Not only could Kara react instantly, she could even counterattack with a punch that packed a serious wallop. Every day, Quicksilver could feel her growing stronger.
And it wasn't just him.
Herman also sensed Kara's abnormal growth. His perception was sharper—he could practically feel her power doubling day by day.
"Is this the normal growth rate for a Kryptonian?" Herman thought back to the Superman series he'd watched before crossing into this world. In those shows, Superman didn't even learn to fly until adulthood. Yet just yesterday, Kara had already mastered flight—and was performing acrobatic spins midair like it was nothing.
Even counting generously, Kara hadn't been on Earth for a full month yet, right? Herman had asked her directly what was going on.
But Kara only looked confused.
"The yellow sun makes us Kryptonians stronger... didn't you already know that?"
Well, apparently Kara thought this kind of rapid growth was completely normal.
What could Herman even say to that? He could only stay silent and convince himself that maybe this was just how "adult Kryptonians" powered up—an utterly unreasonable but convenient explanation.
And honestly, it did make sense.
In the DC universe, when General Zod arrived on Earth, he'd only spent a few days under the yellow sun before he could fight Superman on equal footing. Maybe Kryptonians only truly unlocked their solar absorption potential once they reached adulthood.
If you thought of Kryptonian sun exposure as a cheat ability that only activates after a certain age, it wasn't too hard to accept.
A sort of built-in "anti-addiction system," perhaps.
Herman was mostly just amazed by Kara's growing strength.
But Quicksilver?
He was flat-out losing his mind.
"Just sitting on a rooftop reading magazines can make you stronger?" He clearly didn't understand Kryptonian biology. All he knew was that Kara's improvement rate was absurdly fast—so fast it made him suspect she'd been faking weakness all along, playing dumb just to catch everyone off guard.
If Kara kept this up, Quicksilver couldn't help but feel uneasy. One day, his title as the fastest man in the company might be gone for good!
The thought alone made him tense up, and he silently swore to himself.
He'd have to step up his training—push himself harder than ever. He'd train in secret, shock everyone, and make sure no one ever took his position as Procurement Manager.
"Delicious!"
Kara, of course, loved meat.
After joining the hotpot feast, she immediately became another fierce contender in the invisible speed competition happening around the table.
To ordinary folks like Aunt May, it looked almost magical—Kara would take a few bites, look up, and suddenly half the ingredients in the pot would be gone, as if they'd evaporated.
Aunt May herself wasn't much of a meat lover. Being a mature woman with a slower metabolism, she preferred to stick to vegetables to maintain her figure.
"This is truly... an intense battle."
Cross and Fox exchanged a glance before quietly reaching for the pickled mustard greens on the table. Activating Bullet Time, they could barely follow the scene before them. To think top-tier assassin instincts were being used for something like this—it was almost absurd.
"I love vegetarian food."
Cross silently picked up a strip of kelp.
"I think vegetarian dishes are pretty great too."
Fox poked at the potato slices in her bowl. She had actually grabbed a piece of meat earlier, but for some "unknown" reason, it had suddenly vanished.
"Crunch, crunch~"
Fox glanced at the teary-eyed Carrie sitting beside her. She couldn't help suspecting that the meat Carrie was chewing looked suspiciously like the one she'd picked up just moments ago.
Meals at Herman's company always carried a unique kind of chaos.
Running out of ingredients was never a problem. Quicksilver wasn't just fast at delivering takeout—he was lightning-fast at chopping vegetables too.
All it took was a word.
In the next second, freshly prepared ingredients would be on the table. And if anyone craved something the company didn't have, as long as it was within the U.S., Quicksilver could dash off and be back before anyone noticed.
In the old days, warriors would warm their wine before charging into battle.
Now we've got Quicksilver—warming soup while restocking the fridge.
He could toss a potato into the pot, dash to Mexico for groceries, and be back before it even started to boil.
...
After everyone had eaten their fill, the cleanup was naturally left to others.
Since Skye's powers tended to be destructive, Herman decided not to risk damaging more of the company's furniture. Instead, he teleported her to the outskirts of New York.
"You can tell me about your situation," Herman said, standing on a wide green lawn, facing Skye. "Show me this 'out-of-control' ability you mentioned."
"My power is pretty destructive. Shouldn't we find a place where no one lives?"
Skye looked around at the lush greenery and shady trees, clearly reluctant to damage the peaceful scenery. She also noticed a large villa not far away.
"No need to worry. This property is under my name—no one else lives here. Go ahead, aim your power at that house."
Herman's words made Skye once again realize what it truly meant to be absurdly rich.
"You've got to be kidding me!?"
Her eyes widened in disbelief. Clearly, she had underestimated the imagination required to understand a rich man's lifestyle.
Not only did he own a massive suburban estate, but he was also telling her to use a mansion worth tens of millions of dollars as a live target?
"Everyone's promoting nature conservation these days. Or would you rather destroy mountains and rivers instead?" Herman said it so casually, as if it were the most reasonable thing in the world.
That reasoning left Skye completely speechless.
"Nature conservation, huh? That's... a good one," she said, staring at the mansion in the distance—a house whose down payment she probably couldn't afford even in a lifetime.
Still, she hesitated.
"This feels way too extravagant."
She raised her hand, then lowered it again, unable to bring herself to attack. Her indecision made Herman both amused and exasperated.
"Rumble—!"
With a wave of his telekinesis, the luxurious villa collapsed in an instant. The thunderous sound echoed across the lawn, but Herman didn't show a trace of regret.
Even without considering the countless properties granted to him by the All-Seeing Eye—more than he could ever occupy—money and material possessions no longer held any meaning for him.
Of course, there was another reason.
He had long planned to convert this suburban estate and its sprawling lawn into a pig farm—specifically for raising grain-fed livestock.
Now that he was tearing it down himself, it technically saved him the demolition cost, didn't it?
Besides, there was always Tony Stark, the walking money printer.
Stark Industries had just announced a new technology, and its stock had once again hit an all-time high. Unfortunately for major investors, there weren't many shares left to buy.
Herman had effectively become the largest shareholder of the Stark Group, with the descendants of the Stark family now working—quite literally—to make him money.
"Jeez, you really don't feel even a little bad about that, do you!"
Skye jumped at the sound of the collapse, instinctively shielding her face, though not a single fragment came flying her way.
"Go ahead."
Herman motioned to her from behind.
This time, with the once-priceless villa reduced to rubble, Skye hesitated no longer. She raised her hand and released a shockwave toward the ruins.
A pale-blue ripple shot forward at incredible speed. In the next instant, the debris erupted again, solid concrete pulverized into dust.
That was Skye's power—Shockwave.
The ability to generate powerful vibrations—waves like the pulse of an earthquake.
She could precisely target with seismic waves, causing her chosen point to vibrate violently and explode from the inside out, making it look as though it had been hit by a bomb.
And it wasn't limited to buildings.
Even human organs could detonate under the influence of Skye's shockwaves. That was why, in the normal timeline, she had become a Level 10 agent on par with Black Widow and Fury—her combat power was astonishing, enough for her to found her own secret organization.
Shockwave was an ability that left no room for defense.
"Impressive power," Herman said calmly, evaluating her display.
He looked at Skye with mild puzzlement. "I don't sense any problem with your ability. It seems to be perfectly under your control." As a Sky Father–level being, Herman could easily perceive Skye's energy flow and the structure of her power as she used it.
"Yeah, I thought I was controlling it fine too, but lately... I don't know how to explain it. It's like it's stopped listening to me."
"I have to use a lot of focus just to hold it back," Skye said, frustration clouding her face as she looked pitifully at Herman.
"Maybe you should try letting it act on its own," Herman suggested after a moment of thought.
"Let my power run free?" Skye's brows furrowed in concern. She bit her lip and looked at him. "I don't know what might happen. What if something bad comes of it?"
She wasn't wrong to worry.
Shockwave was a highly destructive power, and her hesitation was reasonable. But Herman just gave a faint, confident smile.
"I'm here. Nothing dangerous will happen," he assured her, his tone steady and certain.
No matter how strong Skye's power was, it was still around Spider-Man's level—not even close to someone like the Hulk, whose strength bordered on planetary scale.
Even if things went completely out of control, Herman could suppress it effortlessly. And as for Skye accidentally dying? That was practically impossible.
In front of the Lord of the Dead, the concept of death itself lost all meaning. Herman wouldn't let it happen—but even if it did, he could simply bring her back.
"Alright then."
Skye was the kind of girl who trusted Herman completely.
Hearing his assurance, she pushed her doubts aside, took a deep breath, and closed her eyes. The power within her began to flow freely.
Rustling waves of energy stirred around her hands. The ripples were invisible to normal eyes, but to Herman, they were perfectly clear.
"They're... moving on their own!?" Skye exclaimed in disbelief.
As the seismic energy gathered by itself, it didn't explode outward as usual. Instead, it formed a glowing circle in front of her.
The energy spread along the rim of the circle, while inside it, the image that appeared wasn't their current surroundings.
It was a place cluttered with pots, pans, and kitchenware.
That… was unmistakably the company kitchen inside the Stellar Tower!
...
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