Hope You Know What's Good For You

A meaningful gleam flashed in Lin Mo's eyes.

After the system went online last night, his mindset toward Vought had already changed. If he didn't mind, he could still let Vought's upper management shuffle their positions.

Only Vought didn't know this; they probably still assumed Lin Mo was just an experimental subject trapped in the bunker, still cooperative for the time being.

Since Edgar took the initiative to seek him out, Lin Mo naturally didn't mind listening to his conditions.

Perhaps he could even casually alter the destinies of a few important figures, adding a bit of energy income for himself.

After all, he was still two hundred points away from designating a low-energy world to cross over to, and right now, he was flat broke.

Plot characters who delivered themselves to his doorstep at a time like this looked like walking energy gift packages no matter how he viewed them.

Not unwrapping one would show a certain disrespect to the system.

"Wait for me here."

Lin Mo reached out to stroke her small head, attempting to persuade her.

Joanna immediately shook her head, jostling Lin Mo's hand on her head and making her already messy blonde hair even more tangled.

"No."

"Be a good girl."

"No." Joanna shook her head firmly.

"I'll be right back."

"Every time they take you away, they always say it'll be quick."

Joanna stared at him, her voice suppressing a clear trace of anger.

"Sometimes an hour, sometimes half a day."

She remembered every single separation and even clearly remembered how long Lin Mo had been gone.

Those trivial matters that seemed completely insignificant to others had never truly passed for her.

"This time is different."

Lin Mo didn't find it strange that Joanna had such thoughts. Placed in this Vought environment, her mindset would definitely differ from ordinary people, but he couldn't just indulge her indefinitely either.

"How is it different?"

"Before, they decided when I would come back."

"This time, I decide it myself." Lin Mo solemnly promised her.

Joanna looked at him.

A brief silence fell over the room.

She could sense that Lin Mo had indeed undergone some changes.

Starting from this morning, he no longer seemed like he used to, always maintaining a cold and restrained forbearance toward Vought.

His tone remained calm, but beneath that calm, there was an indescribable stifled frustration.

It was just like something that had bound him for a very long time had suddenly vanished.

"Then how long?"

Joanna finally relented.

"At most an hour."

"Thirty minutes."

"You're even starting to bargain?" Lin Mo was rather surprised. It seemed he had a young daughter growing up before his eyes.

"Twenty minutes."

"Why is the time getting shorter as you speak?"

Joanna didn't answer, merely gazing at him steadily.

It strongly implied that if Lin Mo wasted another word, she would directly cut the time down to five minutes.

"Fine, thirty minutes."

Lin Mo said helplessly, "If it exceeds thirty minutes, you can come find me."

He reckoned that if Joanna had been raised by the elders from his previous hometown, she would definitely be an expert at grocery shopping, the kind who bargained so fiercely the vendors wouldn't dare squeak a word back.

Joanna's eyes lit up slightly, filled with a bit of anticipation.

"By any means?"

Lin Mo's movement of getting up paused, as if he had thought of something, and he immediately cautioned her.

"No smashing doors."

"Then I'll go in through the walls."

"No tearing down walls."

"Through the ceiling."

"No destroying the bunker."

Joanna frowned.

"Then how am I supposed to get in?"

"Just open the door normally." Lin Mo replied as he got out of bed.

"Too slow."

"It takes just one second."

"Smashing my way in is faster."

*...*

Lin Mo suddenly felt that letting her move around freely might be a mistake.

Yet seeing how reluctant Joanna's eyes looked, he still reached out and gently hugged her.

"Wait for me to come back."

Joanna's body stiffened slightly.

Then, she raised both hands and tightly embraced Lin Mo.

Softly, as if holding a fragile treasure.

"You promised, come back early. I miss you."

"I promised."

"Stay with me after you get back."

"Alright."

"No more running other experiments today."

"Alright."

"And no talking too much with other women."

Lin Mo raised an eyebrow. What kind of situation was this?

"What does that have to do with experiments?"

"Nothing."

Joanna said with absolute confidence:

"But I don't like it."

"Edgar is a man, though."

"Still not allowed to talk for too long."

"...?"

Well, it seemed that the concept of possessiveness clearly didn't distinguish between genders for Joanna anymore.

Lin Mo let go of her and turned to walk toward the bedroom door.

Halfway there, Joanna suddenly grabbed the hem of his clothes from behind.

Lin Mo looked back.

She stood in place, her head lowered, but her fingers gripped his clothes tightly with no intention of letting go.

The strength and danger she had displayed toward the researchers earlier seemed to vanish completely at this moment.

"Lin Mo."

"Hm?"

"You won't lie to me along with them, right?"

Lin Mo looked at her.

A moment later, he raised his hand and gently placed it on top of Joanna's head.

"I won't."

"Never?"

"Never."

Joanna finally released her grip.

Lin Mo opened the bedroom door.

The researcher outside was pale-faced with cold sweat covering his forehead. Seeing the door open, he even subconsciously took half a step back.

Joanna stood behind Lin Mo, glaring coldly at him.

"Start the timer."

The researcher was stunned, not yet figuring out the situation.

"Thirty minutes."

Joanna held up one finger, a faint red glow emerging within her eye sockets.

"Exceed it by a single second, and I'll go find him myself."

"I will get Mr. Lin Mo there at top speed!"

The researcher didn't hesitate in the slightest.

He had never spoken this fluently in his entire life.

Watching the other man's terrified expression, Lin Mo couldn't help shaking his head.

"You don't need to be this nervous."

The researcher squeezed out a forced smile.

You certainly aren't nervous; you aren't the one about to have your skull split open by a Laser Beam.

Lin Mo walked out of the room.

The metal door slowly closed behind him.

Right before the gap vanished entirely, he felt that Joanna was still standing in the exact same spot, her light-colored eyes staring at him without blinking.

The smile on Lin Mo's face gradually faded.

It seemed this meeting truly couldn't be dragged out for too long.

Otherwise, what Edgar would have to face today wouldn't just be an experimental subject locked up by Vought for eighteen years, but also an impatient Homelander.

Fried Chicken Uncle, I hope you know what's good for you.

Lin Mo followed the researcher at a fast pace, and along the way, quite a few people stopped what they were doing the moment they caught sight of him.

Some showed curiosity and wariness, while more wore a scrutinizing gaze that had persisted for over a decade.

Most of the personnel held a condescending attitude toward him and Joanna as a whole. Perhaps deep down in their bones, they had never regarded these so-called research results of theirs as human beings.

Anyway, he was already used to it.

It had been eighteen years.

Ever since he was an infant, these people had looked at him with such gazes. In Vought's eyes, both he and Joanna were merely special corporate assets.

The only difference was that one had a higher value while the other was easier to control.

In the past, Lin Mo couldn't be bothered to care, or rather, the time to care hadn't arrived yet.

But now...

"Mr. Lin Mo."

The researcher's voice pulled his thoughts back.

"We're here."

Ahead lay an independent meeting room. Through Lin Mo's X-ray vision, the material appeared to be some kind of special metal, and the heavy alloy door at the entrance was already open.

Lin Mo stepped inside, and only a single person sat within.

Stan Edgar.