◇ I'll be dropping one bonus chapters for every 10 reviews.
◇ One bonus chapter will be released for every 100 Power Stones. or 500 Collections
◇ You can read 90 chapter ahead on P@treon of which 10 are free Chapters. if you're interested: patreon.com/Heroicverse
------------------------------------------------
"Yes, Mr. President."
General Ross nodded slightly to his deputy, who immediately understood and dispatched two heavily armed soldiers to escort the Vice President, who was already pale and slumped on the ground in fear.
The rest of the high-ranking officials in the office, seeing this scene, felt a sudden chill.
The President's recent words clearly conveyed two useful pieces of information to them.
Firstly, the interest group led by Vice President Rodriguez would likely face inescapable doom this time.
Undoubtedly, a widespread and bloody purge was about to unfold.
Heaven knows how many politicians and capitalists who had picked the wrong side would be directly kicked out in this round of reshuffling.
Secondly, General Ross, who previously had little presence in the Department of Defense, would officially step onto a higher stage starting today, becoming an ally of President Matthew Ellis.
Many people had even begun to secretly calculate how to befriend and invest in General Ross next.
...
Sokovia.
Hyperspace Group.
Maya Hansen, led by Selena, took the elevator down, watching the numbers constantly changing above the elevator door, her eyes filled with confusion.
She didn't know if what awaited her was a genuine academic exchange or a cruel and merciless interrogation room.
However, she had already prepared herself mentally for the possible situation ahead while on her way.
If the Hyperspace Group wanted the Extremis formula, she would simply give it to them.
After all, she wasn't the only one who knew the formula, and her abilities had already reached a bottleneck, making it impossible for her to independently perfect the fatal flaw of Extremis, which was prone to losing control and self-destructing.
If the Hyperspace Group was willing to continue developing a new type of Extremis, she could even provide the necessary preliminary technical support for free... no, for half salary.
There was no other way; she had nowhere to go and no retreat.
After making up her mind, Maya Hansen's panicked emotions quickly calmed down.
Ding—
The elevator door opened, and Selena walked out first. Maya Hansen looked up at the number on the display—B18?!
But then her gaze was drawn to the huge laboratory across from her, separated by a transparent glass wall.
"Dr. Stern, this is Dr. Maya Hansen, who developed Extremis."
Selena walked into the laboratory and said to Samuel Sterns, who was wearing a white coat, standing in front of an experimental bench, staring at a microscope, and continuously recording data in a notebook: "Boss said you can handle her."
With that, the proud Vampire Queen directly left Maya Hansen alone on the spot, then swayed her charming figure and impatiently left the laboratory to return to her room at the headquarters to bathe and change.
Her personally escorting Maya Hansen back this time was merely an excuse she had made for herself.
Her true purpose was, of course...
She hadn't seen her Master for almost a month, and both her body and mind had suffered greatly, so she urgently needed Karl to fill those empty places with his divine power.
To put it simply: Selena was hungry and wanted to eat meat!!
As Selena left, Samuel Sterns, who had been completely engrossed in his experiment, suddenly stopped his work upon hearing the word "Boss" and turned around, tilting his large green head to look at Maya Hansen.
"You... hello."
Maya Hansen was immediately startled by the "monster" in front of her, whose head was about three times the size of a normal person's. Especially when she accidentally met his gaze, she felt a shiver down her spine.
Because she felt no human aura in his eyes at all, but rather a sense of a superior being looking down on an inferior one.
It was as if the one standing before her was not a mere human, but a creature of a higher order than humans.
If she had to describe that feeling, it was like an adult watching ants on the ground; no matter what the little ants wanted to do, the adult would see it clearly.
And she, of course, was that little ant, at the mercy of others, and even liable to be crushed underfoot at any moment!
"Maya Hansen, I know you."
Samuel Sterns said expressionlessly: "The Extremis you developed has always been on my collection list... Now I can give you two choices."
"The first choice is to voluntarily hand over the Extremis formula. In return, I can spare your life. If you are willing to join my research team, I can even assign personnel to specially form a research team for you, allowing you to continue leading the development of Extremis... However, the direction of subsequent research must be decided by me."
"Of course, if you choose to refuse, that's perfectly fine, because as long as I extract your brain intact, I can still obtain the information about Extremis recorded within it through certain means, it just takes a bit more effort."
After speaking, he remained silent, quietly awaiting Maya Hansen's answer.
At this moment, Maya Hansen was almost scared senseless.
No, were these the two choices you just mentioned?
But how did it seem to me that no matter how I looked at it, I had no choice at all?
"Um... Dr. Stern, I'm willing to join your research team."
Maya Hansen gave her answer without hesitation; joining the Hyperspace Group was arguably her best option at the moment.
This would allow her to continue researching Extremis with the Hyperspace Group's strong financial backing, while also avoiding Aldrich Killian's subsequent pursuit.
It was a win-win situation.
At this time, Maya Hansen was unaware that Aldrich Killian had actually been eliminated by Karl's people.
However, even if she knew, she would absolutely not change her current decision.
Because the people who eliminated the other party came precisely from the Hyperspace Group!
"A very wise choice."
Samuel Sterns nodded in satisfaction, then raised his hand and pointed to a corner in the open-plan office area inside.
"Starting today, that will be your workspace... Go tidy up; you can officially start work today."
"Huh?"
Maya Hansen didn't react for a moment, asking blankly: "Do I... have to start working on the first day?"
"What did you think?"
Samuel Sterns frowned, looking somewhat displeased at the new employee, whose work attitude was not very enthusiastic, and said sternly: "Remember, the only reason you can stay on this floor is to continuously create value for Boss."
"Dr. Stern is right, after all, our Hyperspace Group never keeps idlers!!"
At this moment, a playful Rebecca Chambers came up from behind. Samuel Sterns, seeing this, said nothing more and immediately turned back to his experimental bench to continue the experiment that had been unexpectedly interrupted.
"Dr. Hansen, don't be afraid."
Rebecca Chambers smiled and said to the stunned Maya Hansen: "Mr. Stern is a notorious workaholic, but as long as you complete the work he assigns on time, he will definitely not bother you proactively..."
"Also, the Group's benefits are quite generous, so you don't have to worry about food, clothing, housing, or daily necessities at all."
"Oh, by the way, my name is Rebecca Chambers, and I am currently the chief person in charge of the Bio-Virus Immune Serum Project!!"
...
At the same time.
In the Hyperspace Group's sanatorium.
In Professor X's luxurious hospital room, Logan, Little Wolf Girl, and Lorna Dane sat together, recounting to the old man on the bed the various situations they had encountered in the previous battle.
"Charles, you didn't see it, that big bad guy was super fierce after turning into a Lizard Man, and his body also emitted high temperatures, even steel would melt... But in the end, my dad easily defeated him."
Little Wolf Girl's tender face was filled with pride.
Professor X, seeing this, dotingly ruffled her small head, then turned to look at Logan, whose mouth couldn't help but curve upwards, and said with emotion: "Logan, even without activating my Mind Power, I can still clearly feel that some change has occurred in you... You've become even stronger than before!"
"That's right." Logan grinned, nodding noncommittally: "But Frank said this power comes from Boss's blessing."
Then he "snicked" out three sharp wolf claws from his right fist and continued, somewhat intoxicated: "Charles, I don't know if it's an illusion, but I feel like my body has now returned to its peak condition... Ah no, it should be said that it has surpassed its state when I was young!!"
"Congratulations, Logan."
Professor X was genuinely happy for his "friend," because he could see that this irritable old man truly enjoyed his current life and battles.
And this was precisely what he most wanted to see!
However, just as he was about to say something, he noticed the worried expression on Lorna Dane's face, who was sitting on the other side, and couldn't help but ask: "Child, what's wrong, is something troubling your thoughts?"
"Ah, no... nothing."
Lorna Dane originally wanted to make an excuse, but after meeting Professor X's caring gaze, which was like a spring breeze, she still told the truth: "I was just wondering if I could pass this assessment smoothly."
Lorna Dane had such concerns because in the previous operation, apart from her initial surprising rescue of President Matthew Ellis from the enemy, she had not performed particularly outstandingly in the subsequent battles.
So she was not sure what the final outcome would be, and she naturally felt a bit uneasy.
"Don't worry, child, I believe Mr. Karl Merks will not overlook your special talent."
Looking at the Mutant girl in front of him, Professor X suddenly recalled his mortal enemy and old friend, Magneto, and murmured with a face full of reminiscence: "After all... this ability of yours comes from that great man!"
Just then.
Logan's phone suddenly rang. He pulled it out and saw that the number displayed was Frank's, presumably to inform them of the final result of Lorna Dane's assessment.
So he decisively answered the call and put it on speaker.
Sure enough, Frank conveyed Karl's final decision to Lorna Dane over the phone and congratulated her on successfully passing the assessment, officially being exceptionally recruited as an employee of the Hyperspace Group.
From then on, she would not only enjoy the same benefits as other official employees but also receive comprehensive protection from the Group.
In other words, the past experiences of being forced to flee and even being subjected to experiments would never happen again.
However, Frank also pointed out that Lorna Dane's Mutant abilities were still immature and required further training and development.
Therefore, in the coming days, some targeted superpower training would be specially arranged for her.
By the end of the call, Lorna Dane was already in tears, sobbing uncontrollably.
Only this time, the tears she shed were all tears of happiness.
From today onwards, she finally no longer had to live a life of hiding and fleeing day and night.
"Oh, by the way, you'd better turn on the TV immediately and watch the news being broadcast by The Daily Bugle. Boss has specially prepared a gift for you all."
Frank said meaningfully, then hung up the phone.
A bewildered Logan quickly grabbed the remote control and switched the TV channel to The Daily Bugle's special column, only to find that it was broadcasting the President's speech regarding the kidnapping incident.
President Matthew Ellis strongly condemned the evil deeds committed by former Vice President Rodriguez over the years and publicly announced that with the help of the Department of Defense, the Ten Rings Gang, a major hidden danger, had been successfully eradicated, and the people of America would no longer have to worry about the terrifying Mandarin.
The reason President Matthew Ellis did not mention the Hyperspace Group at the press conference was not because he didn't want to, but because he deliberately wanted to preserve the last shred of dignity for major agencies like the USSS and S.H.I.E.L.D..
Otherwise, it would make these agencies and organizations seem useless, and after all, they were official agencies. If they were criticized by the public, the White House would also lose face, wouldn't it?
Before officially holding this press conference, President Matthew Ellis had also specifically informed Karl through General Ross in advance.
Karl, of course, didn't care about this; as long as the money was in place, he couldn't be bothered with such trivial matters.
Moreover, through the previous live broadcast by The Daily Bugle, the public already knew the truth of what had happened.
Karl also made a fortune from this operation.
However, in the end, he still made a small request to President Matthew Ellis...
Soon, President Matthew Ellis's impassioned speech on TV finally came to an end. Just as a bewildered Logan was about to ask Professor X if he had heard anything from the news, a sentence from the TV suddenly brought tears to his eyes.