The next afternoon, in Jordan Li's dorm, the five gathered again.
Wade casually erected a soundproof barrier and clapped his hands: "Let's continue."
Cate paced back and forth in the center of the room, saying: "I overheard something from Shetty, related to Vought."
"Tomorrow and the day after, the Vought HR department is holding a secret recruitment fair in the student center auditorium. It's only for senior male theater majors, over 1.8 meters tall. 120 people are participating. The specific assessment criteria are unknown."
Luke frowned, looking disdainful: "That sounds more like selecting models or typecast actors. What does that have to do with us?"
"No, this is strange." Jordan Li sat in his gaming chair, shaking his leg, "Vought has never held such a secretive and strictly conditioned recruitment. There must be a special purpose."
Wade crossed his arms and probed: "The Seven have vacancies. They might need to add new members, so they're conducting this pre-selection?"
"Impossible." Luke shook his head repeatedly, interrupting, "Members of The Seven have always been selected from the top graduates of our Crime Fighting School. That's tradition."
Andre nodded in agreement: "Picking people from the theater department for The Seven? That's unheard of. If they pick some unknown vase of a man, the fans won't buy it, and those agents and investors aren't blind."
Wade didn't refute, guessing that Vought wanted to find a new suit actor for the fallen Black Noir to continue milking his value.
He couldn't reveal the fact that he had already killed Black Noir, so he sighed helplessly: "What Vought is trying to do, we won't know just by racking our brains here. How about I go to the auditorium and plant some eyes to see what exactly they are selecting?"
"You mean... go and install bugs and cameras?" Cate played with her hair, "This, wouldn't that be too risky?"
"Installing that kind of thing is simple." Wade used an airflow to lift his phone and said with a smile, "We need to know what Vought is actually doing and who gets selected to formulate a countermeasure."
"If they really are selecting a new member for The Seven, as soon as we know who this person is, we start our move."
Jordan Li slapped his thigh and raised his phone: "Everyone has dirt on them. Once Vought pushes the candidate to the front stage, we'll hold the initiative and can take the opportunity to blackmail him."
"I agree." Andre raised his hand upon hearing this.
Luke raised his hand unimpressed: "Haha... making it sound so real. It would be funny if Vought was just auditioning the male lead for a superhero movie."
Seeing everyone agree, Cate and Jordan Li also raised their hands.
The group reached a consensus and began to discuss the infiltration plan, device placement locations, and who would take turns observing the recordings.
Wade listened from the side, doubts swirling in his heart: 'Nathan Mitchell, that chatterbox Sleepyhead, fits the criteria perfectly.'
He clearly remembered that it was Nathan who became the actor for Black Noir.
Now, because of his intervention, Black Noir died early, and the selection time was greatly advanced. Nathan hadn't officially graduated or started working yet. Under the butterfly effect, would Vought still select the same person?
'No matter who is selected, I must figure out his background before that person becomes Vought's puppet.'
After two rounds of discussion, Jordan Li, who had no class in the afternoon, volunteered to take on the job of debugging the monitoring devices; Wade, who also had no class, was responsible for going off-campus to purchase pinhole monitoring devices.
Two hours later, Student Activity Center, second floor.
In the men's restroom, Wade walked out with his phone, checking the text message sent by Jordan Li: [The placement is good. Want to come back and watch together?]
He quickly tapped the screen and replied: [Don't rush, the recruitment fair doesn't start until tomorrow afternoon. I have something else to do, so I won't go back.]
Wade put away his phone and immediately flew into the high sky, heading off-campus.
Just now, through the restroom ventilation duct, he had used airflow to transport the pinhole camera device to the pipe opening in the front row of the auditorium, facing the stage.
Wade looked at the birds borrowing the wind beside him and mused: "Not only can I see who is participating, but I can also see the judges' scoring. Perfect."
As long as Jordan Li and the others store and analyze the footage, everything will be clear once it's over, and he doesn't need to worry.
Amidst the clouds, Wade changed into new clothes, his face constantly squirming, turning into an incredibly ugly, deformed face.
The silhouette rushed out of the clouds, creating sonic booms. The outlines of surface buildings drifted away, and greenery came into view.
...
Ranger station safe house. The weeds outside had been cleared, the fence was in good order, exuding a bit of life.
A pair of Black mother and daughter were hanging up washed clothes in the backyard.
The woman looked full of worry and complained in a low voice: "Your father has been corrupted by that piece of trash called Butcher. Not living a good life..."
The little girl didn't respond, just twisted the clothes in her hands hard.
"That must be MM's wife and child, right?" Wade landed silently in the front yard without alarming them.
He snuck into the house through a window and found that the interior had also been renovated; clutter had been tidied up, and there were some simple decorations.
Hughie's father was curled up on the sofa, staring intently at the news on TV, completely unaware of the intruder.
Wade ignored him and floated directly toward the basement entrance. As soon as he opened it, he heard intense arguing coming from below.
Inside the basement, the atmosphere was tense.
MM's face was livid, pointing at Butcher and scolding: "Look at the good work you've done. Now we're all fucking fugitives who can't see the light of day!"
Hughie was sandwiched between them, full of anxiety: "Calm down, let's talk this through..."
MM pounded the table angrily: "Those bastards even found their way to my house. My daughter's education, her life, it's all ruined."
Butcher slammed the paper draft in his hand onto the table: "What's the big deal? I leaked samples of compound v and all the things Vought has done to the CIA, and I even got their operational authorization."
"Those people yesterday were Vought's private armed forces. We aren't on any wanted lists, we are legal citizens. What's there to be afraid of?"
MM squinted at the file and sneered: "Do those lunatics and Supes who broke into our house with weapons care about any bullshit authorization? They just want to capture us alive and use our families to force us to show ourselves!"
Hughie examined the authorization letter and said: "It says here, just let us continue to investigate and find ironclad evidence that Vought threatens national security... Once we submit it, everything can end."
"End?" MM closed his eyes and sighed, "Easier said than done..."
Wade broke into their midst at high speed, grabbed the file, and glanced at it, finding that the signatory was CIA Deputy Director Susan Raynor, who was Butcher's old flame.
He stopped, his tone flat: "What's the use of this private authorization? It's something that changes day by day."
The surrounding scene accelerated instantly, and the three of them were startled, turning to look at him.
"Chameleon!" "You're here!"
"What are you arguing about?" Wade pulled MM's arm, picked up a pen, and casually wrote down an address, "I bought a doomsday bunker in the suburbs of New York. You can take your families to live there."
MM looked at the address on his arm, silent for several seconds, staring blankly at the ink handwriting: "Saranac Lake, Adirondack Mountains... Is it... safe there? I mean, can we really hide from those omnipresent bastards at Vought?"
Wade slowly raised a finger and explained: "Twelve stories underground, with independent power, network, and water sources, and plenty of supplies. As long as your families don't run out themselves, Vought won't be able to find you even if they turn New York upside down."
MM's brow relaxed, and he said excitedly: "This... thank you, really."
"Great! I was worrying about how to settle my otaku dad." Hughie leaned over to look, "I've heard of this Sloan Fortress. It seems to be converted from a missile silo. It cost over three million. You're really rich."
Wade didn't continue to explain. This was originally a new settlement he had prepared for Shetty's husband and daughter. It happened to be a good place to settle their families and relieve their worries.
He threw down the pen and asked casually: "So, what happened with the attack?"
MM sat back on the stool and explained: "After we parted that day, we prepared to pick up our families separately."
"Not long after leaving, I received a warning from a neighbor saying that unidentified people had broken into our houses and were asking about our whereabouts everywhere... That's when we knew Vought was coming for us."
Butcher picked up the wine and took a big gulp: "It's not like we're brainless. We took your 'Galaxy' serum, played a diversion tactic... and led that bunch of Vought's lackeys on a wild goose chase outside the city, and that's how we successfully brought everyone back."
Wade didn't ask further, took four boxes out of his bag, and slapped them on the table.
"The new version 3.0. All of them have increased abilities for accelerated healing and limb regeneration. Of course, there are two more side effects."
"Note, these are all Tier 1 abilities. Don't expect to grow back an arm as quickly as Kimiko. It's enough to save your life, so use it sparingly."
He pointed to the other two boxes flashing with purple light and said sternly: "This thing is called 'Desperate' gene enhancement fluid. It can significantly increase the intensity and effect of your existing abilities for a short time. It's estimated it can touch the threshold of Tier 2."
"Don't use it unless it's a life-or-death situation. The side effects are huge. After the drug wears off, you will be extremely hungry and it will amplify your inner desires."
Frenchie walked out of the kitchen smelling of oil, pulled up his pants, and said with a smile: "Will it amplify sexual desire too?"
Wade looked at him maliciously: "I suggest you fill your stomach after using it, otherwise don't blame me if you are left with psychological trauma."
Hughie picked up the box and swallowed: "You mean I'll be so hungry I won't be able to control myself and want to eat people? That's too terrifying!"
Wade glanced at him, "Everyone's interests are different. You might uncontrollably indulge in strange things; or develop intense desires for weird stuff..."
MM stared at the box of purple light medicine, dumbfounded, and shuddered: "It seems hiding in a place is the safest. I don't want to embarrass myself on TV and the internet."
Butcher didn't care about this warning, took out the medicine bottle, and drew a small tube with a syringe: "Listen clearly! From now on, you are not allowed to carry all the medicine out at once. You can only take these prepared injections."
Frenchie dismantled the syringe packaging and muttered: "Sigh... millions of dollars worth of medicine just given to Vought like that, it hurts my heart!"
Everyone was busy, extracting the medicine bottles in batches.
Butcher put down the syringe and showed his phone screen: "We have been targeting a target recently, 'Rubber Man' Ezekiel."
"He's that hypocritical pastor who appears at the Believe Expo every year. We found out that he has an intersection with A-Train's route for transporting compound v, and we plan to pry some of Vought's dirty business out of his mouth."
Wade looked at the person in the picture and reminded: "Believe Expo? Homelander appears every year. If you get caught, I can't save you."
"Don't worry, we won't make a move until Homelander leaves." Butcher pointed to the bag of wigs and beards in the corner and raised an eyebrow, "We will dress up and sneak into the venue, stake out that gay pastor who pretends to be straight, and then find an opportunity to tie him up and ask him slowly."
"As long as you know what you're doing." Wade pushed Hughie, "Don't send out those pictures of Black Noir yet."
Several people looked at him with confusion.
Hughie asked curiously: "Why? Wouldn't sending them out strike and intimidate Vought even more?"
"Now is not the time." Wade rested his head on his hands, looking at the ceiling, "I heard that Vought is looking for a replacement for Black Noir... Wait until I get the dirt on that lucky guy, and I'll send it to you all together. At that time, there will be plenty of room for maneuver."
Butcher, MM, and Hughie looked at each other and instantly understood Wade's intention.
It was nothing more than controlling or threatening that new "Black Noir" and planting an undercover agent and a remote-controlled bomb inside Vought.
A flash of ruthlessness crossed Butcher's eyes: "Your information is quite well-informed. Just leave it to us."
Having arranged everything, Wade said no more and left the safe house directly.
He would leave the planning and actions against Vought to the ruthless The Boys; the members of the G-Men hadn't fully grown up yet, so lurking on campus to handle small matters was just right.
Three days later was the day of the Believe Expo. It was time for him to prepare the closing ceremony for the identity of Vivian.
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