Jordan couldn't help but sigh. He hadn't been with the Boys for very long, but it felt like he hadn't seen such a pleasing sight in ages.
Sure enough, girls from the world of anime and manga are the most attractive.
After appreciating the tea for a moment, Jordan picked up his teacup and took a sip.
The red, translucent tea had a jewel-like brilliance and clarity, a rich aroma, and a very pleasant taste.
Ten minutes later.
Footsteps echoed down the corridor as a blonde office lady, also dressed in a Hero Association suit, hurried into the meeting room.
"Good morning, Lord Jordan!"
The familiar blonde waves came into view. Jordan stood up and shook hands with Lanny, who'd rushed over. "Good morning, Miss Lanny."
"I'm so sorry to have kept you waiting," Lanny said apologetically with a smile. Her hands lightly clasped before separating. "I'm so sorry I'm late!"
"Not at all. It's me who has taken the liberty of coming here, and I'm the one who should be thanking you for your trouble."
"You're too kind. As Lord Jordan's personal contact person, serving you is just my job!"
After exchanging a few pleasantries, the two took their seats on the sofa.
Jordan cut to the chase and got straight to the point. "Miss Lanny, have you ever heard of an organization called 'House of Evolution'?"
His purpose in coming here was to obtain information about the House of Evolution from the Hero Association's channels.
As the genius evil scientist who created the Dragon-level monster Asura Rhinoceros Beetle and the S-class hero Zombieman, Dr. Genus, who specialized in the field of genetics, was undoubtedly the best candidate to study Compound V.
"The House of Evolution?"
Lanny's mind raced through a series of association documents she'd handled, and she nodded slightly. "I have access to information about this organization. It is a private research organization that has existed for over 50 years and mainly engages in research in biotechnology."
"According to internal documents, headquarters had exchanges with this organization, and also..."
At this point, Lanny looked somewhat troubled.
"They also sold some of the monster cell tissue, right?"
Jordan took over the conversation.
He'd once hacked into the association's headquarters database and inadvertently learned some confidential documents that were unknown to others, including project plans and implementation records related to the trade with the monsters.
"Eh, does Lord Jordan already know?"
Lanny looked somewhat embarrassed.
The Hero Association was positioned as a non-profit organization, with the vast majority of its funding coming from shareholder contributions and fan donations. It was used for infrastructure construction, disaster relief, daily expenses, and the distribution of hero stipends.
While the association's founders had good intentions, the process of managing it inevitably involved various exchanges of interests.
Uncontrolled violations continued to proliferate in the shadows, and a considerable number of interest groups would come out to support them.
For example, selling the recovered corpses of monsters for profit—something that should never have happened.
Like most upright officials, Lanny did not approve of the practice of selling monster cell tissue as a commodity.
The monsters that the heroes fought desperately to eliminate turned into commodities for profit, completely distorting their original righteous actions of protecting the people and maintaining peace.
If this got out, it would definitely not be a small problem. It would be a huge scandal that could cause the Hero Association's reputation to collapse and its foundation to be shaken.
Moreover, as a major factor causing instability in the world, the disasters caused by these strange beings were the root of countless tragedies. Such terrifying beings should not be circulated as commodities to forces outside the association.
Those who bought monster cells did so simply for research purposes, hoping to gain the power of monsters or even become monsters themselves.
Very few people genuinely wanted to study monsters for the benefit of humanity.
Even knowing the truth, most of the executives were powerless to change it, because it was a decision made by the higher-ups at the Hero Association headquarters.
"Lord Jordan..."
"Alright, I didn't come here today to discuss this with you."
Jordan knew perfectly well why Lanny, a usually capable key member of the association, seemed so reluctant to speak.
He waved his hand reassuringly. "I have some things to discuss with the leader of the House of Evolution. Could you please find the address of this organization and send it to my communicator later?"
"Okay, I'll take care of it in a bit."
Upon hearing this, Jordan stood up and said, "Then I'll have to trouble you."
Seeing him about to leave, Lanny subconsciously stood up as well, a hint of anxiety in her eyes. "Also, Lord Jordan, regarding what you mentioned, only a portion of the association was involved..."
"Don't worry. I know most people are still doing the right thing."
As he passed Lanny, Jordan casually patted her on the shoulder.
"As for the rest, please keep an eye on them for me. If they go too far, feel free to contact me anytime."
Hearing Jordan's words, Lanny felt relieved and nodded heavily.
House of Evolution.
Inside a modern biological laboratory, a tall, slender figure was busy among bottles and jars containing various solutions.
On the laboratory wall, an emergency pop-up window with the word "WARNING" appeared on a green holographic screen.
Dr. Genus, who was preparing the culture medium, put down the test tube in his hand. His glasses reflected a cold green light.
"Number 28, what's up?"
A pop-up window appeared showing a young man who looked exactly like Dr. Genus. Not only were his glasses, height, and build identical, but even the side-swept bangs that covered half of his face were almost exactly the same.
The difference between the two was that Dr. Genus himself was wearing a proper black shirt, a tie, and a white lab coat, which was standard for scientists.
The "Genus" that appeared on the screen was wearing a simple long-sleeved shirt and trousers that looked like a hospital gown, with the number "28" marked on the left chest.
This indicated that he was Dr. Genus's 28th clone, but it was unknown which batch of the 28th clone he was.
Number 28 on the screen quickly reported. "A flying unit has appeared in the airspace above the detection radar monitoring base. We have confirmed through monitoring that it is a human."
"Humans that can fly?"
Dr. Genus frowned. Although he'd been engrossed in his research all these years, he'd still kept abreast of the outside world.
In the past year, the Hero Association had risen to prominence and made achievements in various fields.
The rise of professional heroes had brought previously unknown strong individuals or people with superpowers into the public eye on a large scale.
Nowadays, the appearance of one or two flying humans was no longer a big deal. It was a normal phenomenon.
However, it was rather unusual for this flying man to suddenly appear above the base.
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