Chapter 87: She's Alive
The hustle and bustle of the convention center's backstage was completely cut off by the heavy soundproof door, and the World instantly fell silent.
He covered the lightweight, form-fitting black-and-gold suit with a casual jacket, the retracted cape forming a subtle, firm contour against his back.
Annie had changed into a denim jacket and a white T-shirt, her blonde hair casually tied back.
"Let's go grab a bite to eat," Lu Chen said, taking Annie's hand.
"I thought you'd want to go straight home," Annie winked. "You know, do some... celebrating."
"That Mexican restaurant you've been talking about for so long—after tonight, we might not get another chance to go there in peace," Lu Chen said, opening the car door with a hint of teasing in his voice.
Annie sat in the passenger seat, watching the neon signs flash past outside, all featuring massive, heavily airbrushed posters of Lu Chen.
"Tianshu," she softly uttered the name, then turned to look at Lu Chen. "How does it feel, big hero?"
"It's alright," Lu Chen replied, as always. "The lines are a bit dumb."
Annie let out a laugh. In a corner of the restaurant, the two sat opposite each other across a small square table. The dim, warm lighting blurred the outlines of the surrounding diners, creating a rare sense of intimacy.
Annie rolled up a small piece of tortilla with her fork and dipped it in sauce. "Seriously, when you were on stage just now, I almost believed you really were that lone hero born to save the World."
"That's a persona Ashley spent two weeks finalizing after killing over thirty drafts," Lu Chen said, cutting the steak on his plate. "Every pause, every word, was precisely calculated by the PR department."
"But what I saw wasn't calculation," Annie put down her fork, leaning forward slightly to gaze at him earnestly. "I saw you. In that moment, I believed it."
Lu Chen looked up, meeting her clear gaze.
He didn't say that amidst the thousands of flashing lights and the roaring cheers, the only things he could clearly capture were her soft footsteps as she walked onto the stage and the undisguised smile in her eyes. That was the only real thing on that entire fake stage.
Just then, a suppressed gasp came from a girl at the neighboring table.
"Oh my god, look! It's Tianshu and Starlight!"
In the next second, the sound of phone camera shutters clicked from all directions.
Almost instinctively, Lu Chen turned sideways, using his back to block most of the lenses while covering half of Annie's face with a napkin.
"Looks like our quiet time is over," he whispered to Annie, the muscles under his jacket already tensing slightly, ready to react to any sudden situation.
— Vought Tower, CEO's Office.
A woman in a dark trench coat stood by the window with her back to him. She was looking at the news push notifications on her phone with great interest, all of which were reports about Tianshu's fan meeting.
"A Chinese kid, how interesting, Stan," her voice had a peculiar magnetic quality. "Your company is getting more and more politically correct these days."
"The market needs new faces," Edgar's voice came from behind the desk, calm and flat. "And Homelander needs a collar."
The woman turned around, her silhouette illuminated by the lights. Stormfront.
"His emotions are spiraling out of control," Edgar said, interlacing his fingers on the desk. "Madelyn Stillwell's death has turned him into an unstable bomb. I need you to join The Seven."
Edgar's gaze fell on Stormfront's face. "You are the perfect tool. You are smarter than him, and more... pure."
Stormfront walked over to the desk, propping her hands on it as she leaned in close to Edgar. The distance between them was close enough to see each other's reflections in their pupils.
"Don't play games with me, Stan. You didn't bring me here just to clean up after your star player." Her fingernails made a soft scratching sound against the mahogany desk. "Speak, what are your terms?"
"Besides Homelander, there's also a newcomer, Tianshu." Edgar handed over a file, the very one he had been looking at earlier. "I need you to keep an eye on him. His background is too clean—so clean it looks like a lie."
"In exchange," Edgar leaned back in his chair, "Vought's platform and global media channels will be at your disposal. You may continue to spread your... ideals, within limits."
Stormfront straightened up, casually flipped through the file, and then contemptuously tossed it back onto the desk.
"Deal."
She turned and walked toward the door. A sinister smile appeared on her face, a mixture of excitement, cruelty, and a bottomless madness.
—
The air in the Underground Room froze.
Butcher's sudden return stirred up not ripples of joy, but an undercurrent of shock and anger.
Hughie stared intently at Butcher. Every wrinkle on that familiar face seemed to mock his naivety and stupidity.
"You're actually alive? Then why did you only come back now?"
Hughie's voice pierced the oppressive silence.
Butcher glanced at him, carelessly pulled out a chair to sit down, and even crossed his legs. "What, not welcome? I've missed you little bastards to death."
"Welcome?" Hughie let out a laugh. "Susan Raynor is dead! She died right in front of us! Her head popped like a watermelon! Where the fuck were you?"
His questioning grew louder with each word, finally turning into a near-shriek.
"You abandoned us, Butcher! For your own petty, bullshit personal grudge, you left all of us to die!"
Frenchie and Mothers Milk exchanged a complex look but didn't interject. Hughie had voiced the thorn in all of their hearts.
The smile on Butcher's face slowly faded. He lowered his leg, leaned forward, and rested his elbows on his knees. "I'm warning you, kid, don't you fucking talk to me in that tone."
"Or what?" Hughie met his gaze without backing down. "Are you going to pin me against the wall like last time, and then just dust off your hands and leave? You're a coward, a selfish bastard!"
"FUCK YOU!"
Butcher abruptly stood up and kicked over the chair in front of him. The wooden chair shattered into pieces with a loud crash.
Mothers Milk immediately stepped forward, blocking the space between them. "Enough! Calm the fuck down, all of you!"
"Calm down?" Hughie shoved Mothers Milk aside, his eyes bloodshot as he pointed at Butcher. "He's the one who killed Madelyn Stillwell! He's the one who drove Vought completely insane! Now everyone wants to kill us, and it's all because of him!"
At this highly tense moment, Butcher suddenly deflated.
His tense, aggressive posture collapsed. He took two steps back, slumped onto the sofa, and covered his face with his rough hands.
Everyone was stunned.
They had never seen Butcher like this. The man who was always tough, always sarcastic, and always played everyone like a fiddle, now collapsed silently like a mud wall soaked through with water.
After a long while, Butcher lowered his hands and looked up. His eyes were red and bloodshot.
"Becca..."
"She's alive."
With that single sentence, you could hear a pin drop in the entire Underground Room.
Hughie's anger froze on his face.
Butcher looked at them, and word by word, spoke the secret buried deep in his heart, the one that had almost crushed him.
"Homelander didn't kill her. He locked her away in a place, a place no one can find."
He paused.
"They... they have a son."
Boom.
Hughie's mind went completely blank, with only those words echoing repeatedly.
Becca is alive.
She had a son with Homelander.
Hughie opened his mouth but couldn't make a sound. He looked at Butcher, at this bastard who had always been indestructible, and suddenly felt like the man was a completely hollowed-out shell.
Chapter 88: One-Track Mind, Stuck in the Middle
Pop.
The crisp sound of a soda can tab being pulled sliced through the night.
Lu Chen handed a chilled beer to Annie January. They had just shaken off the pack of crazed paparazzi outside the restaurant. After Annie January bought a few cans of beer at a nearby convenience store, the two of them climbed over two rusty wire fences and hid in a dilapidated park on the edge of Queens where even half the streetlights were broken.
Annie January took the beer and tilted her head back to take a long swig. Her blonde hair was slightly disheveled by the night breeze.
The two walked slowly along the dim paths of the park, their shadows stretched long on the ground. The only sounds around were the chirping of insects and the faint, distant hum of traffic.
Lu Chen took a sip of his drink, the ice-cold liquid sliding down his throat.
He swept a glance at the girl beside him. Annie January was walking very slowly, and her usually straight back was slightly relaxed; the atmosphere felt a bit off.
Annie January stopped suddenly and kicked a pebble near her feet. It rolled a long way across the asphalt before disappearing into the bushes.
"Great hero of Tianshu," Annie January said, taking a big gulp of beer as if to bolster her courage with the alcohol, staring at Lu Chen's profile. "What exactly are we to each other now?"
Lu Chen stopped walking.
This was a dangerous question.
"Lovers?" He tossed the word out, shrugging at the same time, trying to diffuse the situation lightly.
"I heard," Annie January said, her voice extremely light, "that you have a… female friend at Godolkin University you're quite close with."
So that's what this was about.
This wasn't some tentative probe fueled by alcohol; it was a long-planned ambush.
He could deny it, could describe Cate Dunlap as just an ordinary classmate, a poor person in need of help. Annie January might believe him, at least for tonight.
But Lu Chen turned around, faced Annie January directly, stared into her eyes, and decided to tell part of the truth.
"That is true."
Annie January's breath hitched for a moment. She turned her head away, looking at the flickering lights in the distance, her shoulders trembling slightly.
"At first, I did approach her with a purpose," Lu Chen's words seemed very calm in the night breeze. "Her ability… is very important to me. I needed to gain her trust and make her useful to me. It was a plan, step by step, all within my calculations."
Annie January turned her head, staring at him intensely.
"And then?"
"Then things got out of control," Lu Chen kicked a dead branch at his feet, making a crisp sound. "That girl… she's a poor person whom everyone treats like a monster. Because she's afraid of losing control of her powers, she doesn't even have the courage to touch others, wearing those thick gloves every day, living in self-loathing."
He paused. The images of Cate Dunlap breaking down and her trembling fingers as she took off her gloves welled up in his memory.
"I thought I was just using her, but in the process of interacting with her, I walked into her completely closed-off World."
Lu Chen looked at Annie January. "She opened her heart to me. By the time I realized it and considered whether I should walk away, I couldn't leave easily anymore."
"She left a mark on my life. I can't treat her like a rag to be thrown away after use."
Annie January took a step back.
She lowered her head, her long eyelashes hiding all her emotions.
After a long while, she asked in a voice that was almost a whisper, "Then what about me?"
Her voice was laced with a hint of a sob.
"Did you approach me with a purpose, too?" Annie January suddenly looked up, her eyes red, tears welling up. "When we first met, in the alley, had you planned everything out? Treating me like a fool and playing me for a spin—did you feel proud of yourself?"
Lu Chen looked at her.
That figure, dressed in casual clothes, releasing her powers without hesitation in the alley to save someone, surfaced from the depths of his memory.
"That one, I really didn't," Lu Chen shook his head. "That day was purely seeing the news by chance. I just happened to pass by and thought I'd make a connection, calculating that it might come in handy later. After all, having one more friend in The Seven is better than having one more enemy."
Annie January was stunned.
"However," Lu Chen stroked his chin, thinking seriously, "later, when I asked you for tickets to the Translucent fan meet-and-greet, that might have actually counted as using you."
Annie January stared at him blankly, seemingly not expecting this answer.
At this moment, which should have been filled with tears or a huge argument, this bastard was actually seriously analyzing which part counted as using her.
She stepped forward and punched Lu Chen hard in the chest.
"You womanizer! You jerk!"
This punch wasn't light; Lu Chen groaned in cooperation and took half a step back.
The tense atmosphere dissolved. The two continued to walk along the path, their pace much slower than before.
At the same time, Vought Tower, Public Relations Department.
Ashley was clutching her hair tightly, feeling like she was about to rip her own scalp off.
On the dozen or so screens in front of her, there was nothing but a blurry photo—Tianshu and Starlight sitting opposite each other in a corner of the restaurant. The man's broad back blocked most of the camera's view, but the intimate atmosphere between them was almost piercing through the screen and hitting Ashley in the face.
"Suppress it! Take down all these tweets! Contact those gossip media outlets and tell them that whoever dares to post this photo, Vought's legal team will sue them into bankruptcy by tomorrow!"
Ashley roared madly into the communicator. Spit sprayed onto the screen.
She picked up her phone, her fingers trembling as she dialed Lu Chen and Annie January's numbers.
Without exception, they were all busy signals.
"Those two damn brats!" Ashley swept the files off the table. Papers scattered all over the floor.
"Check the location! Check Starlight's tracking chip immediately!"
Ten minutes later, a black van slammed on its brakes outside the park.
Ashley pushed the car door open, stepped out in her high heels, and stumbled into the park.
From a distance of several dozen meters, she peeked out from behind a thick oak tree.
By a bench in the distance, Annie January was snuggled in Lu Chen's arms.
But the atmosphere was wrong.
Neither of them was speaking, their body postures stiff.
Ashley let out a long sigh of relief.
They had argued.
It must have been an argument!
Thank heavens! These two idiots had finally come to their senses. Why couldn't they learn something else instead of office romances? Did they really think Vought was a playground built for them to date? As long as they broke up, the PR department could frame this scandal as just a dinner between colleagues.
Ashley smoothed out her hair, messed up by the wind, cleared her throat, and prepared to walk out and drag these two troublemakers back to the company.
Just as she took the first step.
Annie January suddenly straightened up, cupped Lu Chen's face with both hands, and kissed him heavily.
Ashley's high heel twisted, and she almost fell.
FUCK!
Didn't they argue? What the fuck are they doing?
By the bench.
Annie January released Lu Chen, her lips slightly red. She extended a finger and poked Lu Chen's pectoral muscle hard.
"You bastard," Annie January gritted her teeth, "why couldn't you learn something else instead of two-timing?"
Lu Chen didn't argue back, just watched her quietly.
"I need time to think," Annie January stepped back, increasing the distance between them. "During this time, you are not allowed to touch me. Not even once."
Lu Chen thought for two seconds.
This was reasonable. It gave the other person space to buffer and avoided further escalation of emotions.
He nodded very seriously.
Annie January looked at his obedient appearance, hummed with satisfaction, and turned to walk toward the park exit.
One step. Two steps. Three steps.
Annie January stopped suddenly.
Wait.
I forbade him from touching me. Wouldn't that mean this energetic bastard would just run to school every day to touch his little campus girlfriend?
FUCK!
Annie January turned around abruptly and strode back to Lu Chen.
"No!"
Lu Chen was stunned. To appease her, he had been almost entirely obedient.
"What's wrong?" He asked patiently.
Annie January looked up, staring at him aggressively.
"I allow you to touch me!" She announced loudly, as decisive as giving an order. "But, it must be initiated by me! If I don't say so, you are not allowed to touch me! If I say stop, you must stop!"
Lu Chen looked at her serious and annoyed expression, suppressed a smile, and nodded in cooperation again.
"Okay."
"You two—"
A sharp roar came from not far away, breaking this eerie harmony.
Ashley ran over in her high heels. Her hair was a mess, and the makeup on her face was slightly smudged from sweating.
"FUCK! What time do you think it is, still playing these innocent teenage romance games with me!"
Ashley grabbed Lu Chen's arm and pulled Annie January's sleeve, desperately dragging them outside.
"The PR department is blowing up! The trending topics on Twitter are about to become unsuppressible!"
"You are going to the scene right now, immediately!" She waved her arms frantically as she walked. "Review your lines! Memorize your crisis PR scripts! And then go give me an interview!"
Chapter 89: Sam's Blood
"Thank you, members of the media. That's all for tonight! Regarding the dinner between Tianshu and Starlight, Vought's PR department will issue an official statement later. Please keep an eye on our official Twitter!"
Ashley abruptly cut the power to the microphone.
She stomped onto the stage in her high heels, rushing over like a mother hen protecting her chicks, and wedged herself between Lu Chen and Annie January, forcibly separating the two with her slender frame.
This half-hour emergency interview had nearly been the death of her.
The reporters below were like sharks smelling blood, throwing out one tricky question after another. Things like "secret romance," "office misconduct," and "Are you using Starlight's popularity to climb the ladder?"
Ashley had been listening from the side, heart pounding, terrified that these two naive youngsters would say something uncontrollable on the spot.
Fortunately, Lu Chen maintained that flawless, official smile the entire time, answering questions like a seasoned veteran who had worked in PR for a decade.
"Go, go, go, let's go!" Ashley tugged at Annie January, dragging her toward the backstage area.
Her mind was filled with only one thought right now: I am amazing.
As long as this scandal was spun correctly, framing it as "the pure friendship of The Seven's reserves," she could take the soaring data to Edgar and claim credit.
If she let these two stay together any longer, and someone caught them actually hooking up, the story would turn into a disaster.
Annie January turned her head, looking at Lu Chen, who was still standing there.
She raised her hand, extended two fingers, pointed at her own eyes, and then pointed sharply at Lu Chen.
Watching her earnest expression, a smile curled at the corners of Lu Chen's mouth. He didn't avoid Annie January's gaze, simply nodding slightly before waving at her.
Watching Annie January get shoved into another van by Ashley, Lu Chen turned and got into a different car prepared by Vought.
Buzz.
The phone in his pocket vibrated.
"Speak," Lu Chen said, pressing the answer button.
"It's done," Professor Brink's voice came from the other end of the line. "Sam has been transferred from the Sage Grove Center to the underground containment room in The Woods."
"Well done, Professor." Lu Chen watched the New York nightscape flash by outside the window.
"The transfer went smoothly; I suppressed a few standard review procedures," Professor Brink continued his report. "When are you coming over?"
"Now."
Beneath Godolkin University, The Woods laboratory.
Having changed his face, Lu Chen used the top-level security pass Professor Brink had prepared in advance, passing through three heavy blast doors without obstruction.
"Professor Brink sent me." Lu Chen walked to the main control room and slapped the black magnetic card, printed with a special barcode, onto the supervisor's chest.
The supervisor was a slightly balding middle-aged man. He picked up the magnetic card and swiped it against the machine. Beep. A green light turned on.
The supervisor immediately put on a fawning smile. "Of course, of course. The Professor has already given the heads-up. The target is already in Containment Room 7. Would you like to go in and see?"
Lu Chen didn't waste words, heading straight for the containment area.
Standing before the one-way observation window, Lu Chen looked inside.
A curly-haired boy with messy hair sat on the floor in the corner. He kept his head down, nervously muttering something, his fingers scratching aimlessly at the air.
Sam.
"Pack him up. I'm taking him," Lu Chen tapped on the glass.
"No problem. I'll prepare it for you immediately." The supervisor turned toward the console and gave orders into the microphone: "Room 7, initiate forced containment procedures."
He pressed a red button.
Boom.
The four walls and the floor of the containment room instantly erupted with blinding blue electric arcs.
High-voltage electricity surged directly through Sam's body. The boy convulsed violently, let out a stifled scream, and slammed heavily onto the ground, continuing to spasm.
Immediately after, the vents on the ceiling opened, and a massive amount of white gas surged out, quickly filling the entire room.
"High-concentration halothane," the supervisor explained obsequiously from the side, like a dedicated salesman. "It can knock an adult elephant unconscious instantly and keep it asleep for three whole days. It's the most effective thing for handling these strength-type Superhumans."
In less than thirty seconds, Sam's convulsions stopped, and he fell completely unconscious.
The airlock opened.
Four guards wearing heavy riot armor rushed in. A potent sedative was injected into his veins, and titanium alloy restraints locked tightly around his wrists, ankles, and waist.
Finally, they tossed Sam onto a specialized heavy-duty cart, like they were packing up a large piece of cargo.
Lu Chen stood with his hands in his pockets, watching the scene.
What kind of hard life did I live before?
"Take him to Sublevel 3 Laboratory as the Professor instructed," Lu Chen ordered.
Half an hour later.
Sublevel 3 Laboratory.
This was an autopsy room, the surrounding walls lined with soundproofing material, and the heavy iron door was sufficient to withstand low-yield explosions.
"You can leave now." Lu Chen waved at the armored guards who had brought the cart in. "Without my permission, no one is allowed to come within half a step of this door."
The guards didn't ask any questions and quickly retreated.
The door lock clicked shut with a dull sound. The room was left with only Lu Chen and Sam, who was tightly secured to the metal operating table. Lu Chen walked to the operating table.
Sam was still in a deep coma. Lu Chen reached out and placed his hand against Sam's skin.
[Copyable target detected: Sam]
[LV4 Super Physique]
[LV4 Super Strength]
[LV4 Super Defense]
[LV3 Super Jump]
[LV4 Blood Enhancement (Special Ability)]
Lu Chen's gaze swept quickly across the panel.
The Physique, Strength, and Defense were all within his expectations.
But what was up with this LV3 Super Jump?
Lu Chen frowned, staring at that line for two seconds.
Could this thing even count as an independent superpower skill? Did it mean Soldier Boy ran slowly and couldn't jump high because he hadn't been allocated this skill point? Was it all added to his physical attributes? He shook his head, casting the thought from his mind.
His gaze shifted to the last line.
[LV4 Blood Enhancement (Special Ability)]
[The target's blood contains a highly concentrated variant of Compound V. Through blood transfusion, it can permanently increase the physical strength and ability limits of other Superhumans. The effect is optimal for those with matching bloodlines.]
[Side effects: Repeated transfusions will cause the target's mental state to continuously deteriorate. The recipient will also face an increased risk of mental mania. The degree of enhancement is inversely proportional to the concentration of Compound V already in the recipient's body. The higher the concentration, the smaller the improvement.]
Lu Chen stared at those lines, eyes narrowing slightly.
"System, select Copy LV4 Super Physique."
[Target ability selected: LV4 Super Physique]
[Estimated contact time required: 6 hours]
[Copy progress: 0.1%...]
The progress bar began to tick slowly.
He freed his other hand and took a set of blood-drawing equipment from the medical cabinet nearby.
He tore open the packaging and tied a tourniquet around Sam's thick arm. The specialized needle pierced the vein with precision. Dark red blood flowed quickly along the transparent tubing and into the blood bag.
He needed to find a few lab rats to test this variant blood; diluting it or trying small-dose injections.
One bag was full. Lu Chen withdrew the needle and swapped in a second empty blood bag.
Just as he was preparing to insert the needle again, Sam, who had been unconscious on the operating table, suddenly convulsed violently.
The metal restraints creaked under the tension.
Sam's tightly closed eyes snapped open, staring fixedly at Lu Chen's face.
"Puppet..." Sam's lips moved, carrying a manic quality, "You are... a bad puppet."
Chapter 90: Soldier Boy
"Puppet... you are... a bad puppet."
Lu Chen watched Sam, who was rambling on the operating table.
"What are you babbling about?"
Lu Chen stared at Sam's eyes, which were bloodshot from mania.
"Shut up. Quiet."
LV5 Mind Control, absolute behavioral compulsion.
As the words fell, Sam's violently struggling body instantly stiffened. The madness in his eyes rapidly faded, leaving behind only a void of absolute obedience.
He obediently closed his mouth, his breathing becoming calm. Like a real puppet on strings, he lay there motionless.
"That's better."
Lu Chen nodded with satisfaction.
He let go and glanced at the medical rack beside him.
Dark red blood was flowing steadily through the transparent tube into a blood bag.
He had already thought of someone who could help him with his research.
Time ticked by second by second.
Lu Chen monitored Sam's vital signs while feeling the progress bar slowly pulsing on his system panel.
[Copy Complete]
[Ability Fusion Upgrading...]
[Current Status: LV4 Super Physique (Fusion Enhanced)]
Lu Chen clenched his fist. He could feel his bone density increasing, muscle fibers twisting into tougher cables, and his internal organs' pressure resistance undergoing a qualitative change.
His original physical body seemed to have had its container forcibly widened, accommodating a more violent foundation.
His strength and defense had indeed increased, but he frowned as he looked at the "LV4" still displayed on the panel.
Even after fusing with Sam's LV4 Super Physique, it still hadn't managed to break through to LV5.
It seems the higher the level, the greater the gap. The barrier from LV4 to LV5 was much thicker than he had imagined.
"I need to find stronger medicine."
A rugged man wearing a tactical suit and holding a shield appeared in Lu Chen's mind.
Soldier Boy.
That old popsicle who had been locked in an Underground Room by the Russians and tortured for decades.
"Wait for me, Soldier Boy, I will save you soon."
Lu Chen withdrew his thoughts, his gaze falling back onto Sam on the operating table.
Three full bags of blood had already been drawn.
If he kept drawing, this kid would go into shock even with a Super Physique.
Lu Chen pulled out the needle and skillfully applied a hemostatic bandage to the wound.
Then, he placed his hands on both sides of Sam's temples again.
LV5 Mind Control, omni-dimensional memory manipulation.
Lu Chen closed his eyes, his consciousness forcibly invading Sam's chaotic brain.
Lu Chen rummaged inside, precisely crushing and deleting all memories of tonight regarding the blood draw and himself.
After finishing all this, he let go, took out his phone, and dialed Professor Brink's number.
"Professor Brink, I'm done on my end." Lu Chen looked at the unconscious Sam, his tone flat. "Send someone to take him back to The Woods and lock him in the lowest containment room."
"Not letting him out?" Professor Brink sounded somewhat surprised on the other end of the line. "I thought you were going to make use of him."
"Why let him out? His mental issues are still very serious. Sooner or later he'll lose control and kill again, and when that happens and causes trouble, he'll just get caught by Vought Company again."
Lu Chen carefully packed the three bags of dark red blood into the laboratory's cooler.
"It's better to let him stay in The Woods."
"Understood. I will send a team over immediately." Professor Brink didn't ask any more questions.
Hanging up the phone, Lu Chen picked up the cooler and turned to walk out of the laboratory.
Meanwhile.
Washington, D.C., an unregistered underground safe house.
Mallory stood before a long table piled with documents, her eyes fixed on the corkboard on the wall.
In the very center of the corkboard was pinned a high-definition photograph—the gruesome scene after the CIA Deputy Director, Susan Raynor, had been shot in the head.
Susan Raynor's death was a huge blow to the CIA.
But for some people, this was the east wind they had waited too long for.
Previously, Vought Company had just passed the Superhuman military bill and was in the limelight; no one dared to provoke them.
Even if the CIA held Vought Company's criminal files, it was hard to deliver a fatal blow.
But now it was different.
A CIA Deputy Director had died by Superhuman assassination.
Regardless of whether it was a so-called superhero or a supervillain, as long as it was a Superhuman, the politicians in Washington would definitely hold Vought Company accountable for this.
Those high-ranking officials who had originally opposed the entry of Superhumans into the military were now like sharks that had smelled blood.
Several powerful figures in the Department of Defense had secretly contacted Mallory.
They needed a blade.
A blade that could completely cut Vought Company out of the military.
Mallory was that blade.
Just as she had told Butcher, this was no longer just an event of revenge against a certain Superhuman; it was a security issue for the entire country—or more accurately, for certain figures in this country. If they dared to assassinate even a CIA Deputy Director, who dared to imagine who was next?
"Officer, all the materials have been packaged." An undercover Agent walked up to Mallory and handed over an encrypted black USB drive. "The compound sample analysis reports, surveillance footage, former employee testimonies, and the human experiment records of those missing persons. They are all here."
Mallory took the USB drive and weighed it in her hand.
Inside this small piece of metal was the explosive material enough to topple the Vought Company empire.
"Has the transmission channel been confirmed?"
"Confirmed. Through multiple proxies, anonymously delivered to five senior investigative reporters at the New York Times and the Washington Post. At the same time, several key senators on the Senate Judiciary Committee will also receive this big gift in their private emails."
"Very good."
Mallory plugged the USB drive into the military laptop on the table and entered a long string of commands.
A red send button popped up on the screen.
Mallory looked at that button, and before her eyes flashed the towering flames of Nicaragua, the brothers who were killed when Superhumans joined the military back then, and finally, it froze on the image of her grandson dying, engulfed in fire.
She pressed the Enter key heavily.
Sending successful.
"Go to sleep, boys. Tomorrow morning, watch how this rotten ship, Vought Company, sinks in the storm."
...
Seven in the morning.
The morning light of New York pierced through the thick clouds and spilled onto the campus of Godolkin University.
Lu Chen carried the cooler and unlocked the dormitory door with his key.
He shoved the cooler into the bottom hidden compartment of the wardrobe, entered the password to lock it, and then turned around.
On the bed, the quilt was raised in a curve.
Cate Dunlap was curled up on his bed, her long golden hair scattered on the pillow, half her face buried in the quilt, her fair shoulders exposed.
Lu Chen walked to the bedside, took off his jacket which smelled of the Underground Room's disinfectant, threw it on the chair, and prepared to take a shower.
Buzz, buzz.
The phone on the table suddenly started to vibrate.
The sound was exceptionally jarring in the quiet room.
Cate Dunlap on the bed frowned and turned over, seemingly about to wake up.
Lu Chen walked over quickly and grabbed the phone.
A name lit up on the screen.
Annie January.
Lu Chen pressed the answer button and held the phone to his ear.
"Holy shit! Lu Chen, have you seen the news?!"
Annie January's hurried voice exploded from the receiver like a machine gun, making Lu Chen's eardrums ache.
The sound was too loud.
The quilt on the bed stirred.
Cate Dunlap opened her eyes groggily, her golden hair sticking messily to her cheeks.
Seeing Lu Chen sitting by the bed, she skillfully leaned over and snuggled intimately into Lu Chen's arms.
"Hmm... why are you only back now?"
Cate Dunlap wrapped her arms around Lu Chen's waist.
"I waited for you until I fell asleep."
Chapter 91: The Two Finally "Meet"
Lu Chen calmly pressed the volume down button. Just as he was about to stand up and put some distance between them, he realized Cate had already lifted her head and leaned close to his face.
"How was yesterday?" Cate stared into his eyes, her tone carrying a hint of dangerous probing. "That old woman Starlight didn't do anything to you, did she? That woman looks like trouble."
Lu Chen glanced at the phone in his hand.
From the second he heard Cate speak, he had already pulled the phone away.
"Good thing I anticipated this."
But Lu Chen underestimated the intensity of Annie's emotions at this moment.
Even with the volume turned down, the phone's speaker still emitted the same high-pitched interrogation as before: "Lu Chen? Are you listening? Who is that speaking?"
Cate froze. She heard the voice too.
She followed the source of the sound, her gaze landing on the phone screen that Lu Chen had deliberately pulled away.
The screen was lit up, clearly displaying the caller's name: Annie.
Residual sleepiness still lingered in Cate's eyes.
Annie? Which Annie?
After two seconds, the sleepiness in Cate's eyes was instantly incinerated by rage.
"Fuck!"
Cate jerked upright, staring dead at the screen. "Isn't this that bitch who sleeps her way to the top!"
She was completely awake now.
Cate turned her head, looked at Lu Chen, and grabbed his wrist holding the phone.
Lu Chen frowned slightly, his arm muscles instinctively tensing.
With his current physique, unless he wanted to let go, Cate couldn't pry his fingers open even with hydraulic pliers.
Cate gritted her teeth, trying to pry Lu Chen's hand open one finger at a time.
She was using a lot of force. Lu Chen looked at Cate's vicious, murderous expression and sighed inwardly.
Forget it.
Lu Chen relaxed his grip, offered a symbolic resistance, and then let go.
Cate snatched the phone, immediately hit the speaker button, and roared into the microphone.
"You bitch! How dare you call here?!" Cate's voice was sharp and furious. "Do you think that just because of the disgusting power of The Seven, you can just sleep your way to the top with him? I'm warning you, stay away from him!"
Annie on the other end of the line was stunned by this sudden, foul-mouthed verbal assault.
The earpiece was silent for a full three seconds.
"What?" Annie's incredulous voice came through. "You... who are you?"
Immediately after, Annie realized.
"FUCK! I know who you are now." Annie's temper also flared up instantly. "You're that shameless little vixen from school! Why are you holding his phone? Give the phone back to him!"
"Why am I holding his phone?" Cate sneered, glancing at Lu Chen sitting beside her, deliberately raising her voice. "I'm sleeping in his bed! What do you think I'm doing? You desperate slut!"
"You're full of it! You're the one taking advantage of the situation! You perverted college student!"
"Taking advantage? He would give his life for me!" Cate screamed like a cat whose tail had been stepped on. "What do you think you are? A bitch who parades around in a revealing uniform in front of the cameras! Do you think you're actually worthy of him?"
"Listen here, you shameless crazy woman!" Annie retorted without backing down. "Lu Chen is my boyfriend now, we confirmed our relationship yesterday! You'd better get out of his room right now!"
"Boyfriend? Keep dreaming!"
Lu Chen sat in the chair, listening to these two women going crazy over the airwaves, and helplessly shook his head.
Women's fighting power is truly terrifying.
He turned away, ignoring Cate, who was about to crush the phone screen on the bed, and reached out to open the laptop on the table.
Lu Chen opened the browser. He didn't even need to search; the homepages of all the major news sites were already completely flooded with the same explosive headline.
New York Times headline: Vought Company's Bloody Secret: Human Experimentation and Compound V.
Washington Post headline: The Lies of Superheroes: Missing Persons Behind the Artificial Gods.
Lu Chen clicked on the news story with the highest click-through rate.
The page clearly displayed several high-definition photos.
There were deformed organs soaking in formalin in an underground laboratory, dense records of Compound V injections, and a photo of a corpse that was pixelated but whose tragic state was still visible.
It was the scene after CIA Deputy Director Susan Raynor was headshot.
Lu Chen quickly scrolled the mouse, browsing the body of the news.
The article detailed how Vought Company established secret laboratories in remote areas, made money deals with parents, conducted human experiments with Compound V on infants, and committed the crime of assassinating senior federal officials to cover up the truth.
"What do you think you are, some kind of saint? A slut like you who parades around on TV every day dares to touch Lu Chen?" Cate's roar echoed in the small dormitory.
"Shut up! That's not my fault at all! You conspiracy-theory-obsessed lunatic! If you've got the guts, tell me where you are, and I'll fly over there right now and tear your mouth apart!" Annie's voice had also completely cracked.
Lu Chen rubbed his temples.
What is all this.
He forced himself to bring his attention back to the computer screen.
The current situation was far more important than these two women fighting for jealousy.
These explosive revelations could indeed deal a heavy blow to Vought Company, and could even allow the Department of Defense to take the opportunity to overturn the Superhumans Military Act.
But it still wasn't enough.
Lu Chen stared at the photo of the Compound V formula on the screen, his brain racing.
Vought Company's PR department wasn't incompetent.
Edgar, that old fox, definitely had a backup plan for this kind of crisis.
He could completely push all the blame onto the late Madelyn Stillwell, or some scapegoat executive who had been fired, claiming that this was just the personal illegal conduct of some employees and that senior management was unaware.
A few photos and files alone were not enough to nail Vought to the pillar of shame completely.
They needed living, irrefutable evidence.
Living proof that Compound V was deliberately leaked by Vought Company itself to secretly create supervillains.
Lu Chen's eyes slowly narrowed.
It seems they have already set their sights on Kimiko's brother.
Only by catching Kenji, bringing him to Washington, and letting him testify in front of the World's media that it was Vought Company who gave those terrorist organizations Compound V, could the chain of evidence be completely closed.
However, what surprised Lu Chen a little was that for such a big operation, Hughie and the others actually didn't ask him for help.
Every time they encountered trouble they couldn't handle before, Hughie would call him at the first opportunity.
But this time, those guys had vanished into thin air.
Is it because Butcher is back?
Lu Chen leaned back in his chair, his fingers tapping lightly on the desk.
It must be Butcher pulling strings. After he came back, he would definitely cut off contact between Hughie and himself to prevent anyone from snooping on their plans.
Quite guarded.
Lu Chen wasn't angry; this was very much in line with Butcher's style of doing things.
The real question was, should he intervene in this Kenji matter?
Kenji is an uncontrollable bomb, his telekinesis is very powerful.
If it followed the original trajectory, The Boys would go to catch Kenji, which would inevitably trigger a huge disaster, and might even drag the entire The Seven into it.
More importantly, if Kenji falls into my hands, I will have grasped Vought Company's lifeline, and at the same time, I will be able to handle Butcher and Mallory.
This deal is not a loss no matter how you calculate it, but compared to Vought and CIA, it's not easy for me alone to find his location, and I have to rely on Annie as an inside agent to see if I can play a time difference.
"Listen, you bitch! You better wash your neck and wait for me! I swear I will find you and tear that hypocritical face of yours off!" Cate issued her final Death threat to the phone.
"Fine! I'm ready anytime! I can knock out ten of you with one punch!" Annie hung up the phone angrily.
The dial tone echoed in the room.
Cate's chest rose and fell violently, her face flushed red, and she slammed the phone onto the table.
She turned her head, a pair of blue eyes staring dead at Lu Chen, her eye sockets even brimming with aggrieved tears.
"Why didn't you help me speak!"
Chapter 92: Live Streaming in Your Face
Lu Chen did not speak.
Facing those blue eyes of Cate Dunlap that were burning with anger and grievance, he just stood up calmly and walked to the bedside step by step.
Cate Dunlap stared fixedly at the approaching Lu Chen, the accusation in her eyes almost turning into physical knives.
"Why didn't you help me?"
Lu Chen still did not explain.
He leaned down, placing one hand on the bed beside Cate Dunlap, while the other hand, with irresistible force, gripped her chin.
Cate Dunlap stubbornly tried to turn her head away.
The next second.
An extremely aggressive kiss slammed down!
"Mmph!"
Cate Dunlap's pupils contracted sharply, and her brain instantly shut down.
She instinctively raised her hands to press against Lu Chen's chest, desperately trying to push him away.
But the man before her was like a wall of sighs, unmoving.
Lu Chen's strength was overwhelming!
Anger.
Grievance.
Unwillingness.
All the surging emotions were crushed to pieces in this suffocating deep kiss!
In the end, only trembling and helplessness remained.
After a long while, Lu Chen straightened up slightly.
Their lips parted slightly, but his forehead was still pressed tightly against Cate Dunlap's forehead.
"Haa... haa..."
Cate Dunlap gasped for air, her cheeks so red they seemed ready to drip blood, and physiological tears were forced from the corners of her eyes.
Looking at the deep eyes so close to her, her lips trembling, she was still holding on: "Don't think... don't think that just like this I will..."
Before she could finish her sentence.
Lu Chen lowered his head again, sealing all her stubbornness.
This time, it was no longer a storm.
It was an undeniable declaration, gentle yet extremely lingering.
Cate Dunlap's hands against his chest lost their strength, turning instead to clutch tightly at Lu Chen's lapels, as if grasping the only piece of driftwood in a raging sea.
From passive endurance to enjoyment and response.
The air in the dormitory gradually heated up.
When Lu Chen "suppressed" her for the third and fourth time in this most direct and overbearing way, Cate Dunlap couldn't even lift a finger.
She lay limply in Lu Chen's arms.
"...This is the last time."
She buried her face tightly in Lu Chen's chest, her hands still clutching his lapels, her voice muffled and trembling slightly.
Lu Chen looked down at the girl who had completely quieted down in his arms.
Dealing with a woman who had just finished arguing and was in a heated state.
Reasoning with her is the stupidest thing in the World.
Vought Tower, backstage lounge.
Homelander sat upright in front of the makeup mirror.
The stylist was trembling as they held the spray, setting his iconic blonde hair.
In the mirror, that face, crazily worshipped by the U.S. public, had eyes filled with barely suppressed brutality!
This morning's news was simply a magnitude 8 earthquake!
Compound V leak!
Human experimentation exposed!
Assassination of the CIA deputy Director!
Each scandal was like a sharp knife stabbing at the heart of Vought!
He wanted to do something, but that old fox Stan Edgar only gave him one order: get ready for TV, use that damn, approachable smile to appease this group of stupid people!
Appease?
With what?!
"O-okay, Mr. Homelander..." The stylist carefully stepped back half a step, their voice trembling like a sieve.
"Get out."
Homelander didn't even lift his eyelids, coldly spitting out three words.
The stylist, as if granted amnesty, grabbed their toolbox and scrambled out.
Just at this moment.
"Bang!"
The lounge door was pushed open unceremoniously!
"Hey, guys! Guess who's here?"
Homelander turned his head sharply, frowning.
A woman in uniform with short, neat hair was walking in swaggeringly, holding a phone!
She was livestreaming, wearing that signature influencer smile.
"Wow! Look who I found? Homelander himself!"
The woman shoved the camera directly at Homelander, her tone familiar: "Hi! Say hi to everyone!"
Homelander's expression darkened completely, then switched to a forced smile when aimed at by the camera.
After the camera was no longer pointed at him, he stared fixedly at this reckless uninvited guest, red light flaring in his eyes, scrutiny and disgust undisguised.
"Who are you?"
"Who let you in?"
"My name is Stormfront."
The woman completely ignored the look that could kill, and continued to make faces at the selfie camera: "From today on, I'm the new member of The Seven! Taking Translucent's spot, isn't it super cool?"
"Did Stan Edgar send you?"
Homelander slowly stood up.
His tall, burly frame instantly released a suffocating sense of oppression!
Inserting people into The Seven without notifying him, the Captain?
This was a naked provocation!
"Bingo!"
Stormfront snapped her fingers and shrugged indifferently: "Mr. Edgar said the company is in a critical moment and needs fresh blood to boost morale. I think he's absolutely right!"
While chattering, she waved her phone around the room.
"Look, guys, this is Homelander's private lounge! A bit... hmm, shabbier than I imagined? I thought there would be a solid gold toilet or something."
Homelander's temples throbbed wildly!
This damn woman!
Not only treating his private territory as a showground, but also, like a clown, stealing his spotlight!
Before he could go on TV to turn the tide, she came to steal his thunder!
He instantly put Stormfront on his blacklist.
A damn competitor who came to steal fans and divide the public's worship!
"Alright, that's it for the livestream, babies!"
Stormfront blew a kiss at the camera: "I need to bond with my new Captain now, see you later!"
She cut the stream and tucked her phone into her belt.
She turned around.
Looking at Homelander with a beaming smile.
"Alright, no outsiders now. Seriously, you look even more handsome than on TV."
Her tone carried undisguised teasing, as if she couldn't feel the murderous intent around her at all.
Homelander said nothing.
Just staring at her with those eyes.
Stormfront tested the bottom line and shrugged indifferently.
"Alright, looks like you're on your period today. Then I'll go say hi to the others first, Captain."
She opened the door and strode out.
"Bang."
The moment the door closed.
The expression on Homelander's face completely shattered.
"Ashley!!!"
A low roar, shaking the glass until it hummed.
Less than five seconds later.
Ashley scrambled in.
"Mr... Mr. Homelander! What are your orders?!"
Ashley's voice was cracking.
"That woman just now."
Homelander turned around slowly: "Did you know about this?"
Ashley was terrified out of her wits, shaking her head like a rattle-drum: "No! I had no idea! I swear! Mr. Edgar absolutely did not notify me! I really..."
Homelander stared fixedly at her.
A full ten seconds of a Death stare.
Ashley felt like her heart was about to stop!
Finally.
The crimson in Homelander's eyes faded, and he nodded slowly.
"Very good."
He walked up to Ashley, slowly and methodically adjusting his cape.
"Get ready, Ashley."
"Soon, you will become the Senior Vice President of the Super Hero Management Department at Vought International."
Ashley's eyes widened sharply.
Her brain instantly crashed.
What?
A promotion?!
Senior Vice President?!
Huge ecstasy engulfed her like a tsunami, making her briefly forget the terror of the man in front of her.
"Re... really?! Oh my god! Thank you! Mr. Homelander! I will definitely..."
She was incoherent with excitement.
But the next second.
"I will personally push this through."
Homelander leaned down slightly, whispering into her ear: "But you must remember with your life—you are not Edgar's person; you are my person."
"From now on."
"Any movement among the company's upper management, any new candidates for The Seven, all promotional plans..."
"Must be reported to me, immediately."
"The final decision-making power rests with me. You have no power to make independent decisions. Do you understand?"
The ecstasy on Ashley's face froze instantly.
She subconsciously raised her hand, clutching a strand of her hair, cold sweat instantly soaking the back of her professional suit.
Looking at Homelander's emotionless eyes.
She finally understood.
This was not some damn promotion at all!
This was a collar tightly fastened around her neck!
She was just a puppet installed by this tyrant under Edgar's nose—
A marionette!
Chapter 93: The Sage
Stormfront opened the door and strode out.
The smile on her face did not fade in the slightest; she even raised her phone again to continue her live stream for the camera.
"Whoa, folks, did you see that? The famous Homelander, though it looks like our Captain isn't in a very good mood today."
She walked down the luxurious corridor of Vought Tower, speaking to her fans in a tone like she was sharing a secret.
"Unlike those 'heroes' who always wear perfect smiles and recite standard PR scripts, right? I told you, I'd show you something real."
The live stream chat exploded instantly.
[ 'Oh my god! She actually dared to say that!' ]
[ 'Love it, love it! This is the kind of hero we want to see!' ]
[ 'Homelander looks a bit angry, lol.' ]
[ 'Be careful, Stormfront!' ]
Stormfront watched the scrolling comments, the curve of her lips widening.
A bunch of stupid ants.
As long as you give them a little bit of what they think is "reality," they will wag their tails and pounce like dogs.
"Don't worry, babies."
She winked at the camera, her tone light, "I'm just saying hello to my new colleagues.
After all, it's about teamwork, right?
In a team, you need a few people who can actually do the work, not just a bunch of pretty vases who only know how to read from a script."
Her words were pointed, instantly sparking another wave of discussion.
As for Homelander...
Stormfront's mind flashed with his extremely gloomy face and those eyes that instantly lit up with red light.
A perfect Aryan Superman.
Powerful, pure, possessing god-like strength.
The only drawback is that he's been raised by those damn capitalists for too long, becoming somewhat weak and emotional.
But that's okay.
He is a perfect piece of unpolished jade; with just a little careful carving, he can become the new Führer to lead their race to greatness.
This probe had excellent results.
She had already figured out his bottom line and weaknesses—extreme arrogance, a craving for worship, and an inability to tolerate anyone sharing his spotlight.
Very easy to manipulate.
As for that Chinese kid named Lu Chen, whom the old fox Stan Edgar specifically warned about...
Stormfront curled her lip.
Just a yellow-skinned monkey, what kind of waves could he possibly make?
Perhaps he's hiding some secrets, but so what?
Once she completely wins over Homelander, she'll have plenty of time to drag that little mouse out of his hole and interrogate him slowly.
She believed that in the face of absolute power, no secret could be kept.
She had more important things to do now.
...
Meanwhile, on the computer screen in Lu Chen's dormitory, several news live streams were playing in split-screen.
On the left was the emergency press conference held by Vought International.
Under the flashbulbs, Homelander, Queen Maeve, and Starlight sat side by side.
Homelander was facing the camera, delivering a speech in a somber and sincere tone.
"...Yes, the news this morning is, for me personally, a devastating blow.
I always thought I was chosen by God, a natural Guardian.
But now, I am told that everything I am stems from a cold Compound V."
His performance was perfect—sad, confused, yet revealing an unyielding determination.
"I am also a victim.
When I was just an infant lying in a cradle, I was injected with Compound V.
I had no choice.
But," he shifted his tone, lifting his head, his eyes reigniting with the light of "hope," "I can choose what kind of person to become!"
"It was like that in the past, it is like that now, and in the future, it will never change!
My determination to protect you does not come from a Compound V, but from my heart!"
The speech was impassioned and stirring.
Queen Maeve remained expressionless throughout, like a beautiful sculpture.
Beside her, Starlight looked uneasy, but she still followed the PR script, stuttering as she expressed her position as a "victim" and promised to continue fighting for justice.
He switched to another live stream.
The CEO of Vought International, Stan Edgar, was calmly giving an exclusive interview to a mainstream media outlet.
"This is a tragedy."
Edgar's expression carried a hint of apology, "Vought International offers our deepest apologies to the public for the terrible crimes committed by former Vice President Madelyn Stillwell during her tenure."
"All the illegal experiments involving Compound V on infants were planned and secretly carried out by her alone.
The company's board of directors had no knowledge of this.
She used her position to bypass all regulatory procedures."
"Now, this sinner has died at the hands of the wanted Terrorists William Butcher, which is perhaps a form of karmic retribution in some sense.
But Vought Company will never shirk our responsibility for inadequate supervision."
What a clever escape, leaving no evidence behind.
Lu Chen's fingers tapped lightly on the keyboard.
That old fox Edgar had easily framed a scandal that could have toppled the entire company as merely the personal criminal acts of a former executive.
While Homelander was on stage reading the script that disparaged Madelyn Stillwell with great emotion, he was probably still missing the woman who once satisfied all his needs.
How ironic.
Public anger needs a vent, and a dead former executive is the perfect target.
Lu Chen closed all the news pages.
The public is forgetful and easily led.
As long as you give them a target to vent their anger on, combined with the emotional performance of The Seven, Vought Company's stock will stabilize again after at most half a month of volatility.
But these PR tricks can't fool those who are truly in the game.
Lu Chen moved his gaze away from Homelander's hypocritical face and turned to the main screen in the center.
He didn't care about Vought Company's stock price, nor did he care about Homelander's pathetic mental state.
He only had one goal now—to maximize his own interests.
Sam's blood samples had been extracted.
Inside them lay the "blood enhancement" ability capable of raising the limits of others.
He needed a brain.
A brain that could perfectly analyze Compound V, even research V1, convert these blood samples into usable agents—an absolutely brilliant brain.
[Sister Sage]
The Sage.
The Enter key was pressed.
With the permissions given by Professor Brink, a file marked as "marginalized" popped up.
In the photo was a Black woman with a World-weary face.
Superpower: Super-intelligent brain development.
No physical attack power.
But her brain's processing speed is comparable to a supercomputer cluster.
She could complete complex mathematical models in one second that would take ordinary people months to calculate, and she could piece together core business secrets from a pile of unrelated junk information.
Lu Chen quickly browsed through the file information.
She had once joined a teenage hero team.
Because she often pointed out the stupidity of Vought Company's high-level decisions, she was seen as a thorn in their side.
She even openly exposed the money-laundering nature of one of Vought Company's charity plans during a public event.
Her popularity was extremely low.
Fans simply didn't buy into a Black woman who only spoke in grand principles and complex logic.
The public wanted visual spectacles who could shoot lasers and fly, not an annoying person who mocked their intelligence every day.
She was eventually completely shelved by Vought Company.
She is currently living in seclusion in a dilapidated apartment in Detroit.
Receiving a pitiful amount of hush money every month, surviving on junk food.
A perfect "recruitment" target.
Although her performance in the show didn't live up to the title of the smartest person in the World, having her come to help with his research would be perfect.
Chapter 94: The "Recruitment" Plan Is Urgent
Close all interfaces.
Lu Chen turned off the computer screen and stood up immediately.
The recruitment plan was urgent.
He casually grabbed the black jacket from the hanger.
Cate Dunlap lay on the bed, watching his movements.
"Where are you going?"
"To do some bad things." Lu Chen put on the jacket and zipped it up.
Cate Dunlap pursed her lips.
"Are you sure it's not to find that little bitch Starlight?"
"Of course not." Lu Chen walked up to her and looked straight at her.
Cate Dunlap stared at Lu Chen for a few seconds.
Open and honest.
No evasiveness of guilt.
"Fine. If you need my help, just tell me. You know, I don't care about those things."
Lu Chen reached out and cupped her cheeks.
"If I need anything, I will ask you for help."
Lu Chen turned around and pushed open the door.
Detroit.
The city of abandoned cars.
Following the address he had found, Lu Chen activated Super Speed to head there.
About an hour later, he stopped in a dilapidated neighborhood.
Lu Chen stood in a dark hallway.
He activated the shapeshifting ability within him.
In just a few seconds.
A face belonging to a white homeless man perfectly covered his original features.
Sensing only one steady breath rising and falling inside the door.
Lu Chen raised his right hand and gripped the rusted copper core of the door lock.
He twisted with force.
The crisp sound of metal snapping was particularly harsh in the silent hallway.
After opening the door.
The room was littered with leftover pizza boxes and piles of books.
Sister Sage was sitting in a chair reading.
Hearing the movement, she turned her head abruptly.
Lu Chen's figure vanished from where he stood.
The air was violently torn apart.
A hand tightly gripped her throat.
Lu Chen lifted her entirely off the ground.
Wall plaster fell off, hitting the pizza boxes.
Sister Sage's brain began calculating frantically in that instant.
Speed: Exceeding the speed of sound.
Strength: At least five tons of grip strength.
Facial feature matching: No records.
Motive analysis: Vought purge? Competitor kidnapping?
In less than 0.1 seconds, her brain reached a conclusion: Cannot resist, survival probability is zero.
Her IQ, which she prided herself on, was worth less than a scrap of paper in the face of absolute violence.
Oxygen deprivation caused her eyeballs to become bloodshot and bulge.
Sister Sage grabbed Lu Chen's arm with both hands, her legs kicking wildly in mid-air.
Lu Chen didn't waste any words.
Level 5 Mind Control, activated.
A massive amount of mental energy violently crashed through Sister Sage's psychological defenses.
That brain, claimed to be the smartest in the World, instantly saw all its logical firewalls collapse under absolute mental suppression.
Lu Chen's mental energy transformed into a sharp blade, precisely severing her control over her free will and carving the command of absolute obedience into the deepest part of her subconscious.
The intensity of her struggling rapidly diminished.
Sister Sage's hands dropped down.
[Detected copyable target: Sister Sage]
[Super Physique LV1]
[Intracranial Self-Healing LV2 (Brain-specific self-healing and regeneration; even if brain tissue inside the skull is punctured by nails or damaged by gunfire, it can slowly grow back)]
[Super Brain Development LV4 (Side effect: Unlimited proliferation of brain tissue, causing intracranial pressure to continuously skyrocket)]
Lu Chen looked at the last line of text.
Unlimited proliferation of brain tissue?
No wonder this brain, claimed to be the smartest in the World, often required steel needles to be inserted through the eye sockets to perform lobotomies on herself.
After the surgery, her mentality would temporarily regress to that of an average person or even a child, becoming dull, emotional, and sentimental.
This side effect, which came with a ticking time bomb, was better avoided for now.
He let go.
Sister Sage slid down the wall, falling into the pile of pizza boxes, gasping for air.
She looked up.
The absolute rational calculation that was originally there had vanished.
The World-weariness born from seeing through people's hearts, and the hatred accumulated from her grandmother's tragic death, were all replaced by a purer emotion.
What now occupied her face was extreme fanaticism and submission.
"Master."
Her words no longer carried even a trace of arrogance.
Lu Chen pulled over a chair that was relatively clean and sat down.
This brain now completely belonged to him.
But he was not at ease with taking her back to Godolkin University.
He wasn't sure when she had gotten involved with Godolkin, and Godolkin's emissaries might trace the clues back.
He needed to establish a secret research institute outside the school that belonged entirely to him and was free from Vought's surveillance.
Lu Chen took out his phone and dialed Professor Brink's number.
After two beeps, the call connected.
"It's me, Lu Chen, send money." Lu Chen got straight to the point. "I also need a batch of top-tier biological experimental equipment. The sooner, the better."
There was silence on the other end for two seconds.
"How much?"
"Start with 50 million U.S. dollars. You know the equipment list better than I do. Use shell companies to move the money, preferably cash. Don't leave any tails."
Lu Chen hung up the phone directly.
Lu Chen turned his head to look at Sister Sage on the ground. As for the location of a hidden laboratory, with a supercomputer brain, it would be a waste not to use it.
"I need a laboratory." Lu Chen threw out his request. "Absolutely safe, far from Vought's sight, and capable of meeting the highest level of biological genetic analysis. Near Detroit, where is most suitable?"
Sister Sage's brain instantly entered an overclocked state.
"Exclude downtown Detroit; Vought's surveillance network has a coverage rate of 90% when fully operational."
"Exclude abandoned car factories; the underground piping is old and cannot support the power requirements of large-scale experimental equipment."
"Exclude private farms; infrared scanning from artificial satellites can easily expose heat sources."
Countless data, maps, and information on abandoned industrial zones collided and were filtered in her mind frantically.
A few seconds later.
"The shores of Lake Huron, 120 miles north of Detroit." Sister Sage articulated clearly. "There is an abandoned Cold War-era underground air defense facility there. The property belongs to a bankrupt agricultural company. No internet access, no surveillance cameras, and the underground structure is sufficient to withstand bunker-buster missiles."
"It is 20 miles from the nearest human settlement. A perfect blind spot."
Lu Chen stood up.
"Bring whatever you need."
Ten minutes later.
A Ford pickup truck, swiped from the roadside, sped through the night.
Lu Chen held the steering wheel with one hand.
Outside the car window, the cold wind of Lake Huron whistled by.
"Your first task." Lu Chen looked straight ahead. "I have three bags of special blood samples containing strengthening factors that raise the upper limit of Superhumans. I want you to extract them and make them into a stable, controllable serum."
"Understood." Sister Sage closed her laptop. "Property transfer complete. I have severed all digital tracking trails."
The pickup stopped in front of the abandoned air defense shelter on the shores of Lake Huron.
He looked up at the steel behemoth before him that had been sleeping for half a century.
Sister Sage followed behind, holding her laptop.
"The main control system has been offline for 50 years." Sister Sage tapped the keyboard rapidly. "But I just accessed the internal mechanical locking device through a backup line."
The heavy blast doors slowly slid open to both sides.
Lu Chen strode inside.
The interior space was astonishingly large.
Huge load-bearing pillars supported the dome, and rusted ventilation ducts were coiled on the walls.
"This was originally built to withstand nuclear strikes." Sister Sage's words echoed in the empty underground hall. "It is divided into three levels. The bottom level has an independent groundwater filtration system and geothermal power generator units. As long as the equipment is in place, this place can become an impregnable fortress."
Lu Chen nodded with satisfaction.
This would become his private laboratory.
Sam's blood was just the first step.
"Start by restoring the power system." Lu Chen gave the order. "The equipment will arrive tomorrow at noon. You can use the funds as you please; before then, clear out an area for a sterile laboratory. You can scout for some helpers, preferably ordinary people. Once you've finished scouting, notify me to inspect them."
Sister Sage immediately opened her laptop, the fluorescent light of the screen illuminating her face.
"As you command."