Chapter 129: Operation Zero?

[Hero Association headquarters]

"Lucid," Cassius stated as he looked at the holographic file before him, "a member of the Villain group known as the Argent Ring, with a Factor that lets him manipulate dreams and the subconscious."

He scrolled through the information before him, his expression becoming increasingly serious. "We do not know what his intentions last night were, but given the words of the monsters, it seems that they were searching for Zero."

Cassius then clicked a button in his hand, and another holographic file popped up, displaying the white-haired hitman.

"Zero is a mercenary that operates within the grey market," he explained, "and although he is not an outright villain, his actions seemed to be putting everyone in danger, which makes him an inconvenience."

Cassius then turned to the other heroes who were looking at the screens with frowns on their faces.

He was currently in a large conference hall within the Hero Association headquarters, one that was filled with rows of heroes, ranging from Gamma-ranked heroes to several Betas and even a handful of Alpha-ranked heroes.

One of said heroes raised their hand and asked, "Why not just capture Zero and use him as bait for the Argent Ring?"

"Not a bad idea," Cassius said, "but catching Zero is quite impossible, unless..."

He placed a hand on his chin before a smile appeared on his face. The higher-ups had warned him not to investigate Zero, but they hadn't said anything about using him as bait.

Besides, since the cowards were also hesitant to make a move on the Ring, he'd just be killing two birds with one stone.

Cassius then turned towards the group and said, "Then we'll do just that; we'll use Zero as bait."

***

Yawn~

Volt let out a yawn as he walked out of the main HA building.

"You look exhausted," Emily, his agent, said as she passed him a can of energy drink, which he quickly accepted.

"Yeah," Volt answered, "considering I had to fight monsters even in my sleep."

"I see." Emily nodded in understanding.

"Speaking of which," Volt turned to her, "you seem suspiciously well rested."

"Well, all I had to do was let one of the monsters maul me; I figured that would wake me up," she explained, almost in a casual tone.

"THAT IS NOT SOMETHING YOU SHOULD BE CASUAL ABOUT!" Volt nearly crushed the can in his hand as he stared at Emily in disbelief.

Emily simply looked at him in confusion. "It worked, though."

The hero continued looking at his agent with disbelief for a while before letting out a sigh, and they continued walking forward.

"So," Emily spoke up after a while, "why didn't you volunteer for 'Operation Zero'?"

Operation Zero was the plan Cassius had come up with to trap the Argent Ring by catching Zero, and a few heroes had volunteered for it.

Mostly because some had heard of what Zero was capable of and were curious enough to see it for themselves.

Volt silently thought of it for a while, and Emily watched him clench his fist for a second before releasing it and smiling, "Didn't feel like it, after all. It's not like the media will know about the fact that we'll be using Zero as bait; there's no glory to be gained."

"Glory, huh?" Emily muttered before looking ahead. "I see."

She didn't say a word after that, as they continued ahead, when suddenly,

Beep. Beep. Beep.

"Speaking of which," Emily looked at her phone, "it seems there's an attack currently ongoing downtown."

"That's more like it," Volt grinned, tossing the can in the trash. "I'll solve it in a Volt."

"...."

"I really do need to come up with a better catchphrase," he said, noticing the blank expression on Emily's face.

Walking a distance away from his agent, he crouched down, with blue sparks appearing in his eyes and the next second,

BOOM!

A sonic boom was left in his wake as he disappeared, heading straight towards Sterling City's downtown.

Emily looked at the position he had previously been standing in for a while before she let out a sigh. "It seems he's still not over that just yet."

***

"Is this some sort of elaborate plan to tire out

heroes?" Volt asked as he came to a stop at the location of the attack. "Attack both in real life and our dreams."

He looked around, noticing people running, so he ran in that direction, and soon enough, he noticed the cause of panic.

A large truck had crashed through the front of a convenience store, sending glass and debris across the sidewalk.

It was leaking gas, and from the looks of it, the truck would soon blow, and most of these people would not make it out fast enough.

"Damn it," Volt muttered as he used up more of his Pragma and the next second, time seemed to slow to an almost standstill.

He placed a hand on his chin, thinking.

Volt had never tried saving people at this speed before, and as much as his Factor allowed his body to handle the burden of such speeds, he wasn't so sure that would be the case for others.

He couldn't ask Emily either, since time was basically slowed down right now... well, it was more accurate to say that his brain was processing everything a lot faster right now.

"Let's try this, shall we?" Volt muttered, time still slowed down in his perspective.

Walking to the closest civilian, he gently placed a hand on their shoulder and, with all the focus he could muster, he wrapped his Pragma around them.

The moment his Pragma enveloped the civilian, Volt could feel a faint connection between them.

"Seems like it works."

He didn't have time to celebrate, though, so he crouched slightly before disappearing.

To the civilian, everything around them suddenly became a blur.

But unlike what Volt had feared, they didn't explode into a cloud of blood.

After ensuring that the first civilian was safe, Volt moved in again, rescuing one after the other, until

BOOM!

The truck exploded, its shockwave sweeping through the entire block; fortunately, Volt had managed to move all the civilians a distance away from the explosion.

"That was close," Volt said, breathing heavily as he looked at the flames.

He had used quite a bit of Pragma, so he was feeling a bit lightheaded right now.

[Have you identified the attacker?] Emily's voice came through his earpiece.

"Not yet," Volt responded, "perhaps they le—"

His words were suddenly interrupted when he noticed a silhouette through the flames, and a voice was heard from the silhouette,

"Wow, you've gotten quite fast, " the person said as they continued walking forward until they were completely out of the flames.

Volt's eyes widened as he looked at the person's face,

The person smiled, looking at Volt's expression before he added, "Little brother."