9:20 AM, the suburban highway was bustling with traffic.
High in the sky, Wade held a signal tracker, his eyes scanning the vehicles speeding below.
"The cluster of red dots is still moving, but the position isn't precise enough. Where exactly are they? A vehicle transporting four or more prisoners definitely won't be small."
He ignored the sedans, locking his target onto the medium and large trucks passing by, checking the airflow drifting out of their cargo holds one by one.
A few minutes later, a silver semi-truck with a long, narrow trailer came into view.
From the trailer came the scent unique to the four men—Butcher and his team—along with the volatile smell of chemicals and the strong, masculine scent of four other individuals.
He had marked the scent of everyone he had come into close contact with; he remembered the scents of Starlight, Maeve, Homelander, A-Train, Black Noir, and others from The Seven with perfect clarity.
"None of The Seven are here. Good chance!"
Wade immediately flew parallel above the silver semi-truck, pulled out his phone, and checked the latest news related to Vought Corporation.
"I wonder if Hughie has made his move yet?"
If he made a move here and Homelander received the message and suddenly flew over, he would be in trouble.
Wade's current maximum flight speed was only Mach 3, and Homelander was definitely faster than him. It would probably take only a few seconds for him to get from Vought Tower to the suburbs, and by then, there would be no escaping.
He kept scrolling through his phone screen, seeing that the Vought official website and a series of related sites were plastered with various animated and static photoshopped images of Homelander sucking on Madelyn's breast while she fed him maternally.
Those images constantly moved around every part of the web pages, fading and disappearing one moment, then reappearing as solid objects the next, making them impossible to guard against.
In the middle, there was a long string of white text: "You Oedipal freak who loves breast milk, if you've got the guts, come find me at 50th Street in the Bruce District!"
Wade felt smug: 'Hahaha... I don't believe Homelander won't take the bait! I hope Hughie can hold out a bit longer and lead him around to a few more places.'
Thinking of this, he immediately landed on the trailer, pressed his palm lightly against the roof, and sent an invisible current of air through the gaps to seep into the trailer, feeding back the situation inside:
In the area blocked off by the partition, the four of them—Butcher, MM, Frenchie, and Kimiko—had weak vital signs; their breathing was short and difficult.
At the back of the trailer, four heavy scents, reeking of cigarettes, alcohol, and sweat, were gathered together, separated from the prisoner area by some distance.
'Are those guys really not treating Butcher and the others? They don't actually think they're Supes, do they?' Wade looked at the time on his watch, 'The drug's effect will last for another 6 minutes. There's still time.'
He immediately pulled the blue Defender serum and four syringes from his pocket and began preparing: "First, I need to use the serum with regenerative healing capabilities to save their lives."
...
The light inside the trailer was murky, with a few incandescent bulbs swaying gently.
The four of them—Butcher, MM, Frenchie, and Kimiko—were locked to the metal bulkhead with heavy, specialized shackles, like tattered puppets hung up.
Cold sweat beaded on MM's forehead as he said weakly: "What do we do? We're really screwed this time!"
Kimiko gritted her teeth and struggled frantically, staring intensely at the guards outside the transparent cage, letting out low growls.
Frenchie had become extremely emaciated, spitting out blood and foam from time to time: "Cough, cough, I don't think I can hold on much longer. If I had known, I would have made sure to get my fill of fighting last night."
Butcher let his head hang, his lips moving slightly: "They want to pry our mouths open; they won't let us die easily. Besides, we still have a glimmer of hope."
MM and Frenchie looked at him upon hearing this, knowing what he meant, and didn't say anything more.
At the back of the trailer, it was a different scene.
A small folding table was set up there, with scattered playing cards, crates of empty beer cans, and a few open bags of cheap potato chips.
A burly man with arms disproportionately thicker than a normal person's was clumsily trying to pry open a new beer with his arms, which were comparable to concrete drills.
"Hammer, you idiot, stop spilling beer everywhere!" The man wearing rubber gloves cursed and snatched the beer, popping the cap off with the edge of the table. "I'll open this one for you. Go get a crate, and I'll let you have more."
"Damn it, Glue, when is this shitty job going to end? My ass is numb from sitting!" The sharp-featured man slumped on a stool and complained loudly, "Driving this damn long haul, and the pay is fucking low. My ex-wives called again last night demanding alimony."
"Think about your mortgage, Whistle Rat. For bottom-tier trash like us, being able to pick up extra work is lucky enough." The man with iron sand appearing on his hands leaned against the trailer with a gloomy expression and sighed, "It's much better than staying at the 'Elmira Rehabilitation Center'."
Hammer walked over clumsily, carrying a crate of beer, and set it down on the ground: "Iron Filings, stop talking about those annoying things... When this job pays out, I'll treat you guys to 'Blues Bar'. I heard a lot of new girls from Eastern Europe arrived there."
Crack... Hiss...
On the roof of the trailer, a layer of frost covered a circular area at a speed visible to the naked eye, and a bone-chilling cold current spread.
"What the hell?!"
"Enemy attack! Prepare to fight!"
The four guards woke from their slack state, scrambling to grab their weapons or assume fighting stances.
But their movements suddenly slowed down, as if they had fallen into a quagmire.
Bang!
A massive force blew a hole in the roof of the trailer. Amidst the splashing ice chips, a figure enveloped in sunlight and cold wind landed in the center of the trailer like a god.
Wade raised his hand, and a thick ice wall rose from the ground in the middle of the trailer, blocking the four men who were slowly charging forward.
He turned around, firing two ice-blue beams from his eyes. The door of the metal cage was instantly frozen, and he followed up with a punch.
Boom!
The metal cage turned into a pile of ice crystal debris.
He waved his hands, and under the precise control of his airflow, the four blue serums transformed into four blue streaks of light, accurately piercing the sides of Butcher and his team's necks, and the serum was injected in an instant.
A powerful life force was injected into their nearly broken bodies, temporarily suppressing the severe pain and feeling of impending death, though their injuries remained the same.
"Do these locks have the effect of suppressing abilities?"
Wade repeated the process, firing consecutive freezing rays from his eyes, then proceeded to smash the specialized shackles.
Bang, bang, bang, bang—
The battered Butcher, MM, and Frenchie fell to the ground one after another, their injuries beginning to recover rapidly: "Ugh—that hurts like hell!"
"You're here! I knew that kid could do it!"
Wade looked at the five of them helping each other up, pointed to the opening above, and urged: "No time for small talk, get out of here. I'll settle the score with you guys later."
At this moment, a hole had already been smashed through the ice wall in the middle of the trailer.
"Take him out!" Hammer roared, his steel-like arms protecting his chest, and charged forward with his head down, making the trailer floor vibrate with a hum.
Wade clenched his fist and took a step, the speed of the surrounding space dropping sharply.
"Ugh!" Hammer's forward momentum came to an abrupt halt, his face slamming heavily onto the floor, his nasal bridge emitting a sound of unbearable stress as blood flowed directly.
Glue splashed out like jelly, trying to pounce from the side, moving as slowly as a movie in slow motion.
Wade didn't even look at him properly; he just casually sidestepped and delivered a hand chop to the side of his neck. Glue didn't even grunt before collapsing to the ground.
Just as Butcher and his group were about to escape the trailer, Whistle Rat at the back opened his mouth and emitted a piercing sonic wave: "Aya—!!"
Wade raised his hand to erect an invisible barrier, completely blocking the increasingly loud sonic wave, the ripples echoing back.
He looked at Butcher and the others covering their ears, signaling with his eyes: "Now's your chance, go!"
Butcher and the others jumped out of the opening in the trailer roof one after another.
Wade felt relieved, pointed his finger in the air, and pressed down hard: "Like to scream, huh?"
Whistle Rat felt his head sink, clutched his neck, and began to cough violently, his voice stopping abruptly as he curled up on the ground in pain.
Iron Filings gritted his teeth, barely managing to raise his hand under the gravity suppression, the iron sand in his palm just about to condense into a sharp spike.
Wade's figure flashed in front of him, and his hand chop fell without stopping. Iron Filings closed his eyes and collapsed to the ground.
He looked at them, then lowered his hand: 'These people are just bottom-tier thugs under Vought Corporation, working the dirtiest jobs for meager pay... Killing them is meaningless and would only waste time.'
'They work for Vought at the Elmira Rehabilitation Center; I wonder what they do? Maybe I can use them if there's a chance.'
A roar and the sound of fighting came from above, and Wade quickly flew out of the hole.
He saw Kimiko flying backward with her arms and legs broken. He was quick-witted and reached out to catch her, turning his head to take a closer look.
Black Noir stood with his arms crossed, casually stepping on Butcher's hand, while MM and Frenchie lay next to him with their limbs twisted backward.
Wade beckoned to him, raised an eyebrow, and smiled: "You disfigured Black guy, it must be painful to have half your brain missing, right? Come here, I'll help you smash the other side too!"
Black Noir immediately stepped forward and charged, but Wade pulled Kimiko and rushed forward, his speed several times faster.
Two dark shadows crossed and flashed by. Black Noir fell from mid-air into the traffic.
Wade seized the opportunity to take Butcher and the others, flying to the grass on the other side, preparing to leave with them.
Boom!!!
A pitch-black figure, like a shadow tearing through the sunlight, smashed down, blocking Wade's path.
Under the powerful impact, the road cracked inch by inch, and smoke and dust filled the air.
Black Noir slowly straightened up, quickly drew his twin blades, and locked onto his opponent through the smoke and dust.
He didn't look at the battered truck that was gradually driving away, nor did he pay attention to the trash inside.
From the moment the person opposite him said those words, only this damn spoiler remained in his eyes.
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