Unlock notifications lit up on the cells farther down, one after another.
Not every door opened.
Chen Mo chose very carefully.
He checked their files.
Their debts.
Their families.
Their medical bills.
The tags in the system notes: "extreme financial pressure," "susceptible to monetary inducement," "turned to the black market after research funding was cut off," and "repeated attempts to redeem equipment."
He picked out the ones poverty had driven mad.
He left the utterly insane ones inside.
As for those who were ready to attack the moment their doors opened, he hit them a couple more times and locked them back up.
A burly man covered in tattoos had just charged to the doorway when, before Chen Mo could even kick, Venom sprang up from the floor and slapped him back into his cell.
There was a bang.
The man hit the wall and slid down.
Chen Mo crouched in the doorway and looked at him.
"Your attitude in this interview leaves a lot to be desired."
The surrounding area suddenly fell silent for two seconds.
Then someone started laughing.
When the Tinkerer's cell door opened, his first reaction was to look at the surveillance camera.
His second was to look at Chen Mo.
"If this is a prank, I'm going to be very disappointed."
Chen Mo said, "Oh, I hate pranks. Stick your neck out."
"Ow! Can't you improve this implantation interface? Stark Industries stuff is still as crude as ever."
Even though he had braced himself and cooperated willingly, the Tinkerer still howled in pain, finding something familiar in that pain.
"I'm not giving you the right to modify this chip implanter. Forget it."
The Vulture, who had also chosen a chip implant in exchange for freedom, emerged from a cell on the other side and rolled