Evening, upstream on the Hudson River in New York.
Above the woods, Wade sped along with a signal receiver in hand, searching for the new hideout of Butcher and the others.
"Why did they choose such a remote place?"
Abandoned buildings of the same style were scattered around, filled with a sense of decay.
Wade landed in front of a forest ranger station, the signal receiver in his hand beeping: "This is it."
He turned off and stowed the receiver, pushing open the rickety, worm-eaten wooden door: "Oi, where are you guys? Stop hiding!"
The smell of mold and dust hit him. No one answered inside. Dilapidated furniture and clutter were strewn about, looking completely abandoned.
Wade felt the airflow and walked straight toward the basement entrance, just as he pulled the door handle.
He saw an Asian girl with a dirty face looking back from the bottom of the stairs.
On all fours, she let out a low growl and lunged forward like a cheetah.
"Oh, you're keeping a prickly little kitten." Wade casually raised a hand, and the Asian girl flew backward even faster, as if she had hit an invisible wall.
Bang—
The Asian girl was wedged into a pile of junk, with only her legs left struggling outside.
Frenchie, wearing an apron, rushed out at the sound and stood between the two: "Chameleon, stop fighting! Kimiko is one of us!"
Wade floated down the stairs, observing his surroundings.
In stark contrast to the decay on the surface, the basement was brightly lit, with various devices arranged in an orderly fashion, and the aroma of coffee and food wafting through the air.
He sat at the computer desk, looking at the surveillance footage: "Why are only the two of you here?"
Frenchie spread his arms, shielding Kimiko like a mother hen protecting her chick: "They're investigating the routes and locations provided by A-Train. This girl is the one we rescued from Old Uncle's Restaurant."
Kimiko leaped up from where she stood, clearing Frenchie.
"So fierce!" Wade pointed a finger at her.
Kimiko was immediately pinned to the ground by an invisible force. Her neck stiffened as she let out a reluctant whimper, unable to lift even a single finger.
Frenchie breathed a sigh of relief and wiped the sweat from his face: "She's a bit shy around strangers. She's like this with anyone new; she'll be fine after a few more meetings."
Wade leaned back in the chair and asked casually, "So, how did you handle A-Train? Tell me about it."
Frenchie walked over excitedly, gesturing: "Ho ho ho... Butcher broke both of his legs alive that day."
"Haha, a broken-legged A-Train won't be running fast ever again." Wade spun his chair and laughed heartily. "And then? You just let the two of them go?"
Frenchie helped the exhausted Kimiko up and was about to speak.
Just then, Butcher walked quickly down the stairs and shouted, "A-Train said if we went to investigate, he'd be the first target of Homelander's retribution... so Hughie just gave him a quick end."
"What about Popclaw?"
"Someone has to accompany him to hell, don't they?"
"Fine, fine, dying for love is true love." Wade clapped his hands. He didn't know if Butcher was telling the truth and didn't care to pry; they would have to bear the consequences themselves anyway.
He took two boxes of serums from his backpack and placed them on the table: "These are the new serums, enhanced versions."
Butcher immediately came over, opened the lid, and scrutinized the instructions: "Phantom Dash, Guardian, Fury... quite an improvement this time! Hey, why are there more side effects too?"
MM also gathered around, complaining repeatedly: "Finally, no more turning into animals! It ruins my clothes every time, so inconvenient... What the hell is 'Icing Sweat'? Does it mean I'll turn into a donut that drops powder as I walk after taking it?"
"Nose Hair Manipulation is just useless! Is it for picking boogers?" Hughie squeezed between them, pointing at the instructions. "Hey, why is there no flight ability? And this 'Phantom Dash' looks a lot like a fusion of A-Train and Translucent."
At those words, everyone immediately looked at Wade, expecting an explanation.
"Wait, let me say it." Frenchie ran out of the room, raising his hand and shouting, "Last time Chameleon took a vial of A-Train's blood, he must have used it for research and improvement. Translucent was probably sampled by him too!"
Wade gave a thumbs up and nodded: "Correct. But my boss developed these... this new batch has three vials per box, and the market price is six million in total."
MM looked left and right, his hand holding the metal box trembling slightly: "This... these two boxes are twelve million?!"
Butcher picked up the bottle of red 'Fury' serum and examined it closely against the light. The crimson liquid inside flowed slowly as if it were alive. "So little, yet so expensive? You're not making this up, are you?"
Wade chuckled and tapped the metal box with his fingertip: "Expensive? Any one of these can save your life at a critical moment. How much do you think a life is worth?"
He crossed his legs and held out his hand: "I mentioned you guys to my boss, and I've brought in some investment... shouldn't you thank me?"
Frenchie tactfully took a chilled beer from the refrigerator and bowed with a smile: "Please enjoy, sir."
Wade tasted the fruit wine and asked casually, "How far has your investigation gone? Any leads?"
Butcher put down the instructions, opened his phone's photo album, and said while scrolling, "We've only scouted a few gang hideouts where illegal immigrants are held. All of them show signs of holding Supes... We suspect Vought is trafficking people to inject them with compound v, with the goal of creating terrorists and causing panic."
"Next, we plan to continue scouting other customs and border stations near New York, focusing on monitoring Vought's human trafficking channels to catch them red-handed."
Wade thought for a moment and said, "I recently found out that Vought is using illegal immigrants for human experimentation and to manufacture blue crystals. It's not convenient for me to handle it myself, so I'll hand it over to you once the investigation is done. How about that?"
Hughie handed over a slip of paper and readily agreed: "I'm good at spreading dirt. Here, this is my anonymous email address."
Wade smiled as he took it and stuffed it into his pocket: "Not bad, I didn't take you for a hacker."
Butcher placed photos of an underground facility littered with corpses on the table and mused, "If there's no demand, create it. Combined with what you've said... I suspect Vought wants to stir up public controversy to highlight the necessity of Supes as a defense force!"
Hughie tapped on the keyboard, pulling up Vought's annual business report, and added, "More than that, they're already flourishing in entertainment, business, and politics. Now they want to force Congress to formally pass the proposal for Supes to enter national defense and open up the military market."
Butcher unfolded a piece of paper: "I got a statistical file from an old friend at the FBI. There are 300,000 recorded Supes nationwide. Yet, there are only 500 registered superheroes under Vought, and 3,000 at their affiliated Godolkin University."
Wade twitched his wrinkled nose and downed his beer: "There's no such thing as being born superior or a gift from God. All those Supes were created by Vought. They promote the useful ones and discard the useless... My current appearance is because Vought injected me with compound v when I was a child."
Butcher patted his shoulder and continued, "Most misfits like you are controlled in Vought's private prisons... while the government has no control measures for those high-and-mighty, hypocritical Supe criminals. Even if they do, they're just for show."
MM shook his head: "Good deeds go unrewarded while the wicked are adored. This world is truly beyond saving."
"Someone has to punish the criminals and remind them they can't act lawlessly. I think you guys are perfect for the job!" Wade crushed the can with one hand, stood up, and waved to everyone. "I should go. See you next time."
Frenchie brought a tray out of the kitchen: "Are you that busy? Stay for dinner."
"You don't think I'm an idle person like you guys, do you?" Wade waved his hand without looking back, his figure speeding away up the stairs, leaving behind only the words, "I have to work too!"
MM straightened his back at the dining table and coughed twice: "Ahem... I'm not unemployed; I'm just on leave."
He was met only with curses and middle fingers from Butcher and Frenchie:
"Look at you! You're just a guard at a juvenile detention center!"
"Dealing with those impulsive juvenile delinquents every day, you must take a lot of crap, right? You'd be better off as a security guard!"
Hughie muttered while eating his pasta, "Don't say that. At least it's better than me being a sales clerk."
"Shut up." Butcher picked up the metal box of serums and looked it over. "Since Chameleon is investigating the harbor, we won't go there... tomorrow we'll continue investigating the hideout routes A-Train provided and meet the rest of those Supe-guarded warehouses."
"We're going to turn things upside down!"
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