As soon as Herman returned to his office, he was met with a scene that left him utterly speechless.
A crowd of employees had gathered inside, engaged in an activity that would make most people blush.
"Damn it! Is there no sense of privacy left? Can't you eat your hotpot somewhere else? Since when did my office become your cafeteria?"
His sudden appearance no longer startled anyone. As the "Homelander," his abilities were already common knowledge—even among three-year-olds.
"This afternoon, Skye broke the dining table, and none of the others could fit all of us," Carrie said with righteous confidence. Without caring how hot it was, she shoved a steaming beef ball straight into her mouth.
The crunching sound made Herman's mouth water. The hotpot base they were using was the premium batch he had prepared earlier and stored in the fridge. Just the aroma was enough to make anyone drool. After that intense battle, he figured he deserved some nourishment anyway.
"You people are practically rebelling!" he scolded loudly, though his expression was more exasperated than angry. At the same time, he pulled out a large bowl and a pair of carved chopsticks from his dimensional space.
Everyone instinctively shifted their chairs to make room for him. His desk had been moved to the center of the room, now serving as a stand for a stove topped with a large iron pot. Everyone sat around it, faces flushed from the heat as they ate.
Herman's hotpot base was spiced to match a Chinese palate—fiery and bold. For Americans unused to such heat, it was a sensory overload.
"Putting a stove on a wooden table—aren't you worried about starting a fire?" Herman muttered, touching the hot tabletop and raising an eyebrow. He suddenly realized he'd never brought in firefighters to give his Company staff any safety training.
"Fire?"
In the blink of an eye, Quicksilver vanished from his seat and returned moments later with an armful of fire extinguishers and fire blankets from some unknown supplier.
"No need to worry about fires. Even if the extinguishers fail, I can turn my hands into electric fans."
After setting everything down, Quicksilver demonstrated by waving his arms wildly, creating powerful gusts of wind.
"Wow! That's awesome!" Carrie clapped her hands excitedly.
"Even now, it's hard to believe that besides Matt and me, everyone else in this company is a superhero," Aunt May said with a sigh, sipping her red wine. She already knew that Quicksilver, the security guard, had super speed.
Quicksilver had never been good at hiding his powers.
Once, he went to China to buy takeout and forgot to remove the label. No matter how he tried to explain, there was no way to justify how Chinese food could show up in the U.S. within an hour—not even the fastest fighter jets could manage that.
There was simply no covering it up. Naturally, his secret was exposed in front of the sharp-witted Aunt May.
"Matt, don't tell me you're some kind of superhero too?" Aunt May asked uncertainly, glass in hand, looking across the table at Attorney Matt.
"I'm just an ordinary blind lawyer, a plain old disabled guy. Don't overthink it. It's really just the two of us who are normal here."
As soon as he finished speaking, Matt picked up his chopsticks and precisely grabbed a piece of cooked beef from the hotpot, despite the distance.
Sitting beside him, Cross looked like he wanted to say something but held it in. In the end, the assassin king just sighed silently.
"Aunt May, I don't have any superpowers... I'm just a regular person," said Fox, more bluntly. She felt Aunt May should sympathize with her. In her eyes, people like Matt and Cross were monsters—she was merely a normal elite assassin.
"I saw you catch that falling cup the other day. Don't try to fool me," Aunt May countered, convinced Fox was just like Skye and Carrie.
"That was just..."
Fox didn't know how to explain. Did bullet time even count as a superpower? Whatever others thought, she certainly didn't think so.
"Did I just see sparks on you?" Herman suddenly spoke up, his attention fixed on Quicksilver.
This time, he was sure he hadn't imagined it—when Quicksilver ran, silver-white arcs of electricity crackled around his body.
"Yeah, yeah, ever since my speed increased lately, it's like I've got special effects when I run," Quicksilver said, assuming it was just a byproduct of his improved speed.
"Have you tried throwing lightning?"
Herman could sense something strange. He wasn't sure if Quicksilver's lightning effect was natural or something more.
Watching him move, one thought immediately flashed through Herman's mind—The Flash.
"Shouldn't... be possible, right?"
Quicksilver hesitated slightly.
"You can try it sometime."
Herman didn't elaborate. He wasn't entirely sure whether Quicksilver could actually wield offensive power like the Flash.
"Alright!"
Quicksilver flashed Herman an OK sign before rejoining the hotpot feast. He'd assumed no one could match his speed when it came to grabbing ingredients, yet in practice, Herman and Carrie always managed to snatch the tastiest morsels first.
"What the hell..."
Arcs of electricity began crackling around Quicksilver, yet he still couldn't outpace the two of them. The fastest man alive was starting to question his very existence.
Herman was one thing—he was the invincible boss.
But Carrie? This girl didn't even look that fast. So how did she always manage to beat him to the best bites every single time?
"How did you break the dining table outside? Were you dancing on it?" Herman ignored Quicksilver's frustrated expression and turned his attention to the culprit behind this office hotpot chaos—Skye. After all, that dining table outside was made of solid rosewood. It should have been incredibly sturdy and durable.
"Don't blame me! I'll buy a new one. It's all my damn superpower's fault. I've been losing control again lately."
Skye's face was full of frustration.
"Weren't you handling it fine before?" Herman raised an eyebrow.
"She's just like me—going through some changes. Big Sis Carrie even said Skye's new ability is more powerful than my new special effects."
Quicksilver spoke up before Skye could answer.
"Why are you calling me Big Sis?! I'm still a little girl! Do you even realize I might not be older than you?"
Carrie's eyes widened as she scolded Quicksilver angrily.
"You know how to analyze superpowers?" Herman looked at Carrie in surprise. Truth be told, among all his employees, the only one he couldn't quite figure out was this finance girl.
"Uh... I just picked it up from my dad, really. He's lived a long time, so he knows a lot," Carrie said with a guilty look, as if she were trying to hide something. "He always liked telling me stories, so most of my analysis comes from those."
No one else found her words surprising.
The longer one lives, the more one learns—that's a common saying everywhere. Everyone simply assumed Carrie's father was that type of person.
Only Herman gave Carrie a long, thoughtful look. The girl immediately ducked her head, guilt written all over her face, and started frantically stuffing food into her mouth.
"Is your father an expert on psychic abilities?"
Quicksilver still couldn't let go of Carrie's earlier remark about Skye's powers being stronger than his. Suspicion filled his voice as he pressed her for an answer.
"I suppose you could say that?" Carrie's tone carried a hint of uncertainty. "He just called and said he'll be coming to... New York soon to check things out. Apparently, someone he knows arrived here recently, so maybe you can ask him yourself when he gets here?"
Carrie's father was coming to New York.
The news caught Herman by surprise. It was perfect timing—he'd been curious about Carrie's situation for a while now. Maybe meeting her father would finally shed some light on it.
With her wide range of abilities and impressive combat prowess, Herman was convinced Carrie's family wasn't simple.
Maybe her father was someone from the Marvel universe he already knew.
"Then you'll have to give him a proper tour—New York has so many places worth..."
Aunt May didn't think much of it and immediately launched into a long, enthusiastic introduction of New York's attractions for Carrie.
As a true New Yorker, she could list every scenic spot and architectural landmark like they were family heirlooms.
"I think he'll only care about whether he can eat... what kind of delicious food he can find."
Carrie kept pausing mid-sentence today, quickly correcting herself each time. Maybe it was the red wine—though that shouldn't have been the cause. She'd had plenty of red wine before. Normally, Carrie was the type who could drink it like water.
"Maybe it's because her dad's coming to New York, and she's feeling a little nervous."
Herman thought to himself, glancing at Carrie from time to time. Feeling his gaze, her expression became slightly awkward again.
"By the way, should we go pick him up?"
Aunt May looked at Carrie with warm enthusiasm.
"No need. He's been here before, so there's no way he'll get lost."
Apparently not wanting to linger on the subject, Carrie hurriedly changed the topic. "Let's talk about Skye's superpower instead. I really think her ability is amazing."
Her words instantly shifted everyone's attention toward Skye.
"Uh... I think it's just so-so. It keeps making me lose control," Skye said, looking troubled, clearly distressed about her powers being unpredictable.
"After dinner, I'll take a look." Herman was curious to see what kind of changes had occurred. From what he remembered, Quake should've had excellent control over her abilities.
"Mm-hmm!"
The moment Herman offered to help, Skye lit up with excitement. Eager to please, she picked up a piece of tender, juicy lamb and placed it into his bowl.
"So tender... it's still got blood on it..."
For a moment, Herman didn't know how to respond to her gesture. Was she trying to give him food poisoning?
Maybe Skye's flattery still needed work. Either way, Herman quietly flicked the lamb out of his bowl.
"If you won't eat it, I will!"
Good grief.
Typical Carrie—never one to waste a good piece of meat.
The moment Herman tossed the lamb, before it even touched the table, Carrie's chopsticks were already there, snatching the still-bloody slice midair.
"Crunch crunch~"
Without hesitation, she popped it straight into her mouth.
Her movement was so fast that most of the employees hadn't even realized what happened.
"...."
Quicksilver was probably the only one besides Herman who actually saw it clearly. He cursed inwardly, Damn it!
Wasn't he supposed to be the only speedster in the company?
Something wasn't right!
The boss's new accountant was way too suspicious! Wasn't her superpower supposed to be eating nonstop without gaining weight?!