Alien invasion? Luckily, I'm Superman.

A slightly dilapidated apartment building on the outskirts of the city. Butcher's weathered car sat silently in the shadows.

"Claw Woman"

Butcher's voice sounded particularly deep in the cramped carriage. "A washed-up superhuman who's only acted in a few bad movies, and now, he's the locomotive's lover."

Su Mo peered through the car window at the lit-up window. "So how are we supposed to get the information? Just barge in?"

He paused, a hint of caution in his voice, "Her hands shouldn't be stained with the blood of innocent people, right?"

He needed to confirm this, as it would determine whether he should be distracted to prevent Butcher from taking any drastic action.

"No need for that," Hughie said hastily before Butcher could speak. "As long as we sneak in and get her router address, we can hack into her network and see what her phone and computer webcams are capturing."

Butcher finally nodded, then waved his hand impatiently. "Fine. Be quick. Don't dawdle."

A few minutes later, Hughie and Su Mo stood at the entrance of the Monster Girls' apartment.

Hughie took a deep breath and rang the doorbell. The door opened, and a woman in loungewear, her face showing signs of fatigue and wariness, appeared in the doorway. It was the actress who played the role of the "Claw Woman," her former on-screen brilliance seemingly worn away by life.

"Hello." Hughie tried to make his voice sound professional and harmless. "We're from the city's network maintenance team. We're here to upgrade your broadband for free."

The woman with the claws didn't suspect anything and stepped aside to let them in.

The apartment was filled with the faint scent of perfume and the smell of old furniture, and a few of her slightly tacky movie posters from her early years hung on the wall.

Hughie headed straight for the router in the corner of the living room, pretending to check the wiring. Su Mo stood calmly to the side, his eyes quickly scanning the room's layout, while his super hearing acted like an invisible radar, picking up any unusual sounds in the hallway.

With his back to the woman, Hughie deftly explored behind the router, quickly inserting a tiny device into an inconspicuous port—his movements were so fast they were almost invisible.

After some time.

"Alright, ma'am, upgrade complete. The internet speed should be much more stable now." Hughie stood up, a professional smile on his face.

Just then, Su Mo's super vision caught sight of a figure in the distance—a locomotive. It was hurrying towards them.

"Come on, Hughie," Su Mo said in a low voice, giving Hughie a push.

The two immediately moved towards the door. The woman, bewildered by their sudden rush, wondered if they were about to leave work. "Huh? They're done already?"

"Yes, ma'am, sorry to bother you!" Hughie said as he opened the door and left with Su Mo one after the other, gently closing the door behind them.

Back in the car, Hughie asked nervously, "Good heavens! What just happened? Why the rush?"

Su Mo fastened her seatbelt and explained simply, "The locomotive, I just saw him coming back."

He glanced at Hughie in the rearview mirror. "Are you sure you can control yourself and not fight him? We need a living engine in the witness stand, not a mute corpse. How can a dead man identify Walter? How can he produce a complete chain of evidence?"

Hughie was somewhat agitated, but quickly calmed down, his emotions turning into bitter helplessness.

He clenched his fists, his knuckles turning white: "You're right, Su Mo. I really want to rush back now, grab him by the collar, and get all the details about Luo Bin." (In the original story, Hughie saw the train engine and rushed towards it, though he wasn't exposed.)

He slumped back into his seat, dejected.

In the driver's seat, Butcher listened silently without offering any opinion, but simply stepped on the gas, and the car sped away.

Butcher's secret hideout reeked of a unique mixture of old engine oil, sweat, and ready-to-eat food. Hughie typed rapidly on his laptop keyboard, and the live webcam footage from the Monster Girls' apartment quickly appeared on the screen.

They fast-forwarded through the video. The locomotive's figure appeared and disappeared repeatedly in the footage. Finally, the crucial scene unfolded: the locomotive and the woman with the claws seemed to be arguing.

Finally, the woman with the claws softened, and the locomotive opened the refrigerator door and pulled out an injectable that was flashing an eerie blue fluorescent light—Compound No. 5.

"What is this?"

Su Mo stared at the blue syringe image, his brows furrowed. The unnatural sheen emanating from the liquid instinctively made him feel repulsed and wary.

"I don't know." Butcher's voice held a suppressed excitement, like a hunter spotting his prey. He pointed at the screen. "But what if the public knew that their idol, the 'fastest man,' was just a cheat who rigged the game with blue performance-enhancing drugs? The idol Walter painstakingly crafted would crack open!"

His eyes gleamed with the light of hatred that had been building up for years and finally found an outlet. Butcher had waited eight years for a breakthrough in order to kill Homelander and bring down Walter, and now it had finally come.

Hughie leaned back in his chair and rubbed his temples. "Looks like the next stop is the site of that epic showdown between Locomotive and Shockwave. Maybe we can find more clues there, or record evidence of Locomotive using performance-enhancing drugs."

……

New York City, Mets Football Stadium.

The place was bustling with noise and colorful flags were flying everywhere. A huge electronic screen was playing cool promotional videos of the two speed-type superheroes, A-Train and Shockwave, while enthusiastic fans waved their support items, creating an atmosphere as explosive as a powder keg about to explode.

Butcher, wearing sunglasses that covered half his face, sat like an ordinary spectator in the noisy stands, but his tightly pursed lips and sharp gaze behind the sunglasses were fixed on the locomotive in the center of the arena, receiving exaggerated praise from the host. On stage, the locomotive was all smiles, enjoying the thunderous adoration.

At the same time, Su Mo sneaked into the backstage area of ​​the rest area like a ghost.

He avoided the staff and moved quickly through the corridors. His super hearing, like a sophisticated sonar, captured the voices, footsteps, and announcements from all directions, filtering out useless noise and alerting to any signs that the locomotive was returning.

A barely perceptible glint appeared in his eyes as his gaze pierced through lockers and backpacks. Finally, in a satchel bearing the name of a locomotive, he spotted his target—several used syringes, with a few drops of glaring blue liquid still clinging to the bottom of the needles.

"Butcher, found him." Su Mo whispered into the miniature walkie-talkie hidden under his collar, "But all we have are empty syringes, with a little blue residue left inside. Hopefully, that'll be enough."

"Received, withdraw." Butcher's voice came briefly.

Su Mo quickly and carefully removed the syringe, placed it into a specially made shielded bag, and disappeared at the end of the passage in a flash.

In the stands, Butcher's gaze swept over Locomotive, who was holding the trophy high and beaming on the podium, and a chilling smile curled at the corner of his lips. That smile held no warmth, only the cruel satisfaction of awaiting judgment.

Late at night, the lights in the outpost were dim. Su Mo placed the bag containing empty syringes on the grease-stained workbench. Butcher stared at that dark blue hue as if it were the forked tongue of a venomous snake.

"We need to find out more about this damn thing."

Butcher's voice was resolute.