The Fate of Wage Slaves

"Shit!"

Anton could not help cursing. Suppressing his anger, he patiently instructed, "You have to find a way to figure out Eddie's situation. It would be best if you can find an opportunity to get him out. Understand?"

"Understood. We'll do it."

Phil hurriedly agreed, his voice trembling slightly.

He once again felt the importance of this investigation and realized just how great a sacrifice Eddie had made by choosing to go in himself rather than letting Phil infiltrate Homeless Home.

During the days Eddie had been out of contact, Phil had felt deeply guilty.

He believed that if he had not suggested that Eddie infiltrate Homeless Home, Eddie would not have risked returning to San Francisco.

"Mr. Anton, please rest assured. I'll do everything I can to rescue Editor-in-Chief Eddie."

Phil promised again.

Hearing the kid's resolve, Anton offered a few words of encouragement and ended the call.

After learning the situation, he was filled with an inescapable frustration. Remembering that the Batman novel had already been released, he simply called Betty.

Betty answered instantly.

"Anton, I'm already off work!"

She complained helplessly.

"Wage slaves need to learn to accept the reality of overtime."

Anton consoled Betty, displaying the self-awareness of a boss as he immediately asked, "How's the novel doing?"

"About a third of it has already been serialized in the paper. So far, the response looks good. Readers have already started sending letters to the newspaper, hoping we can publish more each day."

Betty slipped into work mode and reported, "The novel has also boosted the newspaper's daily sales."

After a pause, she added, "Oh, right. From what I understand, pirated copies of the novel have appeared online. Should we issue a warning?"

"The more piracy there is, the better. It's a good thing."

Anton smiled. "However, we can open a new section on the Daily Bugle's official website to serialize the novel. Have the tech department develop it as soon as possible. It won't be difficult."

"Understood."

Betty nodded, then asked, "Is there anything else?"

"Arrange some paid commenters. I need this novel to become popular as soon as possible."

An idea struck Anton. "Tie Bruce Wayne, the protagonist of Batman, to Tony Stark. Use that hot topic to hype it up."

"What?!"

Betty was startled. "Are you sure that won't anger that playboy?"

"Don't worry. If anything happens, I'll handle it."

Anton had no reservations about shamelessly borrowing someone else's prestige. "Tony Stark invested in the Batman movie. He won't care about such a minor detail. We're making money for him!"

"All right, I'll arrange it right away."

Betty was reassured and acted decisively.

After ending the call, Anton checked Batman's fan points and got a very straightforward number.

[32145]

His head hurt a little. The gap in popularity was far too great!

Fortunately, the system had gone easy on him. The beginner gift pack had given the main template hero an enormous discount. Otherwise, fifty million fan points would truly have taken an incredible amount of time and effort to earn.

9.98 million!

Looking at it now, he was only short by a little over 9.94 million!

Since the first step had already been taken, the remaining ninety-nine steps could surely be completed quickly once the movie premiered and created a major sensation.

Anton's eyes burned with anticipation.

If he could exchange for Batman's armored suit template, he would not be so passive when facing the Life Foundation.

At that moment, he could deeply relate to how Eddie had felt before going to San Francisco.

Sitting in a safe zone, waiting for news, unable to do anything—there was no torture more unbearable.

San Francisco.

Homeless Home.

Eddie's face was covered in grime, and his body reeked. Curled up in a corner, he looked timidly around him.

The crowd was like walking corpses, devoid of life and utterly without hope.

Rage churned within him, as though it were about to burst from his chest.

After spending so long inside Homeless Home, he had gained the most direct understanding of what went on there.

It was nothing like the perfection the Life Foundation had described at its press conferences and in news reports.

On the contrary, the homeless people here had no dignity at all.

The San Francisco city government treated this place like a social dump, neglecting it ever since it was built.

The Life Foundation treated it like a pig farm. Every so often, a truck would come by and coax homeless people into signing volunteer agreements. They would be loaded onto the truck and taken away, never to be seen again.

The staff said these people had all returned to normal lives.

Eddie scoffed at that.

He knew very well what happened to them.

They had simply become human test subjects for the Life Foundation, unable to guarantee even their most basic freedom.

They were locked every day in cages separated by transparent glass, studied like rare animals.

"Carlton Drake!"

After witnessing all this, Eddie's opinion of Drake had fallen to rock bottom.

He wished he could immediately expose every one of Drake's crimes.

Footage from inside Homeless Home had already been recorded by the miniature camera he carried with him.

But the clever Carlton Drake had planned ahead.

This area was blanketed by densely packed wireless signal jammers. Without a wired connection, Eddie could not contact the outside world, and naturally, the footage could not be sent out.

If the materials from Homeless Home can be sent out, they'll definitely deal the Life Foundation a devastating blow!

Eddie thought, Then, by following the trail, it may not be impossible to uncover evidence of the Life Foundation's illegal human experiments.

He racked his brains, trying to figure out how to transmit the information.

Rumble!

Suddenly, a truck drove down the street.

Armed security personnel stood on it, their uniforms entirely different from those of the Homeless Association's guards.

Eddie's pupils contracted.

He knew that truck belonged to the Life Foundation.

Without a doubt, the security personnel on it also came from the Life Foundation.

They need more human test subjects again!

Eddie's heartbeat quickened.

A thrilling thought emerged in his mind.

Why not go all the way and infiltrate the Life Foundation directly?

After thinking for a moment, cold sweat beaded on his forehead. Eddie swallowed, gathered his courage, and walked toward the large truck.

Very soon.

After finding enough volunteers, the truck carried the homeless people away from Homeless Home.

Beep! Beep! Beep!

Outside Homeless Home.

The alarm on Phil's body went off.

Overjoyed, he quickly pulled out his phone. On the screen, a red GPS dot appeared and continued moving.

It was the signal source on Eddie!

He hurried into his car, slammed down on the accelerator, and sped after the signal.

A moment later, Phil, who had been speeding all the way, spotted the Life Foundation truck in the distance and grew nervous again.

He guessed that Eddie was in that truck, and he also knew that the Life Foundation's security personnel would never give him a chance to take Eddie away.

An idea struck him, and he simply floored the accelerator again.

Bang!!

The car rear-ended the truck.

"Shit!"

The burly driver stopped the vehicle, came over to Phil, grabbed him by the collar, and snarled, "Kid, how the hell do you drive?"

"I-I-I-I... I'm sorry. I didn't do it on purpose."

Compared to the driver, Phil looked like a scrawny chick.

Trembling, he said, "I can pay you. I'll give you all the money I have. Please don't be so rough."

Then, he prepared to slowly move closer to the back of the truck.

There was an open ventilation window there.

Eddie spotted Phil and felt relieved. Without drawing attention, he tossed the hidden camera out through the window.

"Hey!"

Suddenly, another security guard came forward to check the situation.

"The job comes first. Let's go."

The man glanced at Phil without taking him seriously, then patted the driver on the shoulder.

"Consider yourself lucky!"

The driver nodded, released Phil's collar, and impatiently tossed out those words before turning away, giving Phil no chance to do anything.

Vroom!

The truck released foul exhaust straight into Phil's face.

Phil stood there blankly.

He had missed his chance. Eddie had been taken away.

Bang! Bang!!

"Damn it!"

After getting back into the car, he viciously pounded the steering wheel.

Phil hated his own cowardice.

Then, something caught the corner of his eye.

He froze.

He discovered that the signal source had not moved.

That was impossible!

The truck had clearly already gone far away. Why was the signal source still overlapping with his own location?

A thought occurred to him.

He hurriedly got out of the car, found the hidden camera Eddie had thrown out, and removed the memory card, overwhelmed with excitement.

"There's hope!!"

"Eddie can be saved!!"

Phil could not help admiring Eddie's quick thinking as he clumsily dialed Anton's number.

Please bookmark! Please vote!—There haven't been any recent comments. Is anyone really reading this? Once I'm done being busy tomorrow, I can update twice a day! This newbie begs for support! Ahhh!!