New York suburbs, Donut Motel.
On the second floor, Shetty, wearing sunglasses and a long-sleeved outfit with trousers, leaned against the railing and smoked, with five or six cigarette butts scattered on the ground.
A handsome young white man walked out of a room, stretching as he struck up a conversation: "Hey gorgeous, waiting for someone? Looking for some fun?"
Shetty glanced at him, said nothing, and continued to blow out clouds of smoke.
The young man put his hands in his pockets and gave a couple of awkward laughs: "I'm alone too..."
An ugly man wearing colorful baggy shorts and a short-sleeved shirt walked up the stairs, raised a fist the size of a sandbag, and cursed: "You brat, how dare you harass Anand's woman! Get lost!"
Shetty pulled down her sunglasses, looked over, and immediately flicked away her cigarette butt: "You're here, honey."
The ugly man reached out and put his arm around her waist, slowly walking into the room while shouting: "Little brat, no sense of observation. Go listen through the wall next door if you want; there'll be plenty to hear."
The young man apologized awkwardly and muttered under his breath: "No justice in the world. Even a guy like that gets some."
Closing the door, Wade grabbed Shetty's handbag and started rummaging through it, saying coldly: "Old rules. Change your clothes."
Shetty skillfully took off her clothes by the bed: "The Vought hack, you did that, didn't you? You killed that senator too."
"Yes, I was hiding in the security team at the time, watching you all perform." Wade poured out all the items from the bag, checking them while laughing, "It was a lot of fun!"
Shetty unbuttoned her clothes and raised an eyebrow, asking: "Can you tell me how you did it? We're on the same side, after all."
Wade stared intently at the white lace outfit and brown panel on her: "You're wearing some nice things, ma'am."
Shetty picked up the loose clothing from last time and chuckled behind her hand: "You've never been married, so of course you don't understand the appeal."
'Playing this game with me again?' Wade's consciousness, like an invisible probe, slid over every inch of fiber and every fold of Shetty's clothing and panel.
Suddenly, inside the lining, the blood flow showed significant stagnation—a sensation of blockage caused by some object pressing against the panel.
"Ho ho... some little toys too!" His fingertips flicked rapidly as he pulled out two long, thin devices. "Putting trackers here must be quite uncomfortable, right?"
"You..." Shetty looked at him with a stern face, furious but not daring to speak out.
Wade pinched her face and said fiercely: "I don't like wasting time. Hand over everything on you. Otherwise, there won't be a 'family reunion' for you and them."
Shetty sat on the bed and threw out five or six hidden small devices, her face gloomy: "You terrorist, you don't give me a date or any guarantees... how do I know if you'll let them go?"
"I'm kind enough to let you meet periodically..." Wade crushed the devices into fragments one by one and whispered, "Since you're being dishonest, I think meeting once every six months will do for next time."
Shetty stripped completely naked and obediently changed into the loose clothes, saying sullenly: "Don't be so quick to judge. It's not like I've done nothing at the school.
First, under the guise of 'academic inquiry,' I've opened elective courses like 'Supe Ethics' and 'Hero Industry Research' to dissolve the students' blind worship of Vought and encourage them to remain skeptical.
Second, I've also allocated special funds for the approval of community service practice projects, supporting students in independently carrying out superpower charity activities. Under the names of 'quality education' and 'diversified development,' I'm cultivating their self-organizing abilities and collective consciousness.
Third, research on targeted weapons against Supes is also progressing simultaneously. We now have mobile anesthetic aerosols and sonic interference devices.
How much more do you want me to do? I can't exactly come out and publicly oppose Vought!"
Wade scanned her body continuously. He knew that these things needed time to ferment and wouldn't show immediate results; he would be the first to notice any progress at the school.
He was silent for a moment before speaking: "I'll think about it."
Shetty slowly pulled up her trousers and suddenly spoke: "Someone like you—meticulous in planning and strong in execution—usually has a strong desire for control and some... core motivation. Revenge? Power? Or some twisted sense of justice?"
She paused, carefully observing Wade's micro-expressions: "What exactly did Vought do to you to make you go to such lengths to recruit me just to bring them down? Are you a victim of compound v? Or... are you yourself a failed experiment, and this face is the result?"
Wade didn't respond, continuing to check the clothes she had taken off.
Shetty stood on the bed, arms crossed, looking down at him: "It's fine if you don't say anything. Your ability... it should lean towards stealthy contact or remote control, right? Or maybe blood-related!"
"Tell me, how did you bypass Tek Knight's almost pathological microscopic perception? Unless... you have more than one ability and possess ways to deceive the senses? For example, group psychological suggestion? Or something higher-level... reality warping?"
Wade just glanced at her, unhurriedly crushing the tracking devices into fragments one by one: "Heh, quite the deductionist. Do you really think I'd tell you any of this?"
Shetty stepped on his leg, trying to read something from his face: "You shouldn't be alone, right? Is there a larger organization behind you?"
Wade's eyes turned completely cold. This wasn't just probing; Shetty was systematically "profiling" him, trying to construct a map of his abilities, a model of his motivations, and a potential network of social relations.
Once this information—true or false—was leaked by her, even just a few words, it would be unacceptable to him.
"You talk too much."
Before he finished speaking, Shetty suddenly lost her balance and fell onto the bed.
"What, did I hit the mark?" She laughed as she climbed back up, her finger tapping repeatedly on Wade's shoulder. "An avenger of unknown origin, mysterious abilities, and strong motivation. Do you know how high the danger assessment for your type is in the FBI and Vought databases?"
Wade tilted his head and looked her over: "Oh? What do you want?"
"If you release Anand and Nisha, I might consider not submitting this intel." Shetty put on her slippers and walked leisurely toward the door. "Let's go. I have plenty of time today. To the supermarket first; I want to buy them something."
Wade sensed the blood flow throughout her body and suddenly spoke: "Stop!"
Shetty slowly turned around, her face full of confusion: "What's wrong? Is there anything else to check?"
"I gave you a chance." Wade pulled her back, made a grabbing motion in the air toward her lower abdomen, and slowly pulled downward.
"Agh!" Shetty doubled over in pain, cold sweat dripping down as the object hidden inside was rapidly stripped away.
A wet, finger-sized device dropped from her trouser leg.
Wade looked at the flashing device, raised his foot, and stomped hard, grinding it repeatedly. "An internal implant. You really went to a lot of trouble... trying to smuggle this thing through?"
Shetty curled up on the floor, her face contorted, but she said stubbornly: "I... I just wanted to find their location and ensure their safety. Is that wrong?"
Wade took out his phone and sneered: "Tell me, if I handed this recording over to Vought, what would they think of their own academy's dean? An accomplice who meets privately with a terrorist and knows his identity and abilities inside out?"
He played the audio he had just recorded, clearly broadcasting the conversation between the two.
Shetty's expression changed, and she shook her head firmly: "No, you wouldn't dare. You still need me!"
"That's not necessarily true. If you're useless, those two on the mountain... how do you think I'll deal with them?"
"Don't,You can't...You can't do that!"
Wade ignored her, focusing on his phone which had been vibrating frequently. He frowned: 'That guy Hughie... sent an address and a bunch of exclamation marks without saying anything. Is he crazy?'
Wade pulled back his thoughts, walked over to Shetty, and looked down at her: "Now, I'm setting a new rule. Do your job at the school, and you'll get to see Anand and Nisha once a month. If you dare to play tricks again..."
"I... I understand..." Tears mixed with cold sweat ran down Shetty's face as she sobbed, "I won't... never again... as long as you promise to let them go afterward."
Wade reached out and helped her up: "It's a deal."
A few minutes later, the two of them, having changed their clothes, walked out of the room leaning against each other like a couple.
"Honey, can I... can I go to the supermarket? I want to..."
"Of course. I'll drive. Let's make it quick."
The two walked down the stairs and got into the black sedan parked at the entrance one after another.
Wade sat in the driver's seat, glanced at Shetty who was touching up her makeup, and jerked the steering wheel: 'Once I drop her off, it'll be time to handle serious business... I hate riddlers!'
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