Ten minutes later, Lucian landed outside a twenty-four-hour Walmart.
The supermarket was deserted in the small hours, with only two cashiers nodding off.
Lucian pushed a shopping cart over to the baby supplies section and stopped. He picked up a tin of Abbott stage-one formula, turned it around to check the ingredients, then put it down and switched to a tin of Mead Johnson. He picked up another tin, compared them for a long while, then tossed both into the cart.
"They're Supe babies anyway. They should be fine eating this, right?"
The cart already held three tins of formula from different brands, several packs of diapers, four baby bottles, a bag of baby wipes, and a fresh outfit he had picked out.
At the checkout, the female cashier, who could barely keep her eyes open, scanned the last item and yawned.
"That's eight hundred seventy dollars and forty-three cents. New baby in the family?"
Lucian took out his bank card and handed it over.
"More than one."
The cashier said nothing more. After swiping the card, she yawned and turned away.
Lucian walked out of Walmart carrying three large shopping bags. The hiking boots he had picked up at the cabin were two sizes too big, clunking with every step.
He hung all the shopping bags on his left arm, went back for the four tightly wrapped babies, and flew toward Queens.
Locke Street.
At the shabby motel, Lucian went straight through the window into his monthly rental.
The miniature cameras he had installed earlier remained in their corners. He took the four babies out of the backpack one by one and laid them on the bed. He checked their temperatures and breathing. Everything was normal. Supe babies really were much hardier than ordinary newborns. After an entire night of being hauled around, all four little things were still sleeping peacefully.
Once he had mixed the formula, fed them, and taken care of everything, Lucian lay down on the bed and took out his phone to check the time.
Three forty-two in the morning. But before sleeping, he still had something to sort out.
His two-pronged plan had gained a temporary foothold on The Boys Team's side. The memory framework had been implanted in Hughie's mind, and the Compound V samples had been handed over. Butcher was still full of doubts, but as long as Lu Chen kept feeding him intelligence, that covert connection would hold.
The other prong was to infiltrate Vought and gain control of Compound V's supply chain.
The first step was to take Golden Boy's place in the rankings. That would not be difficult. The difficult part was deciding which ability to beat him with. Of his current abilities, apart from basic body enhancement and Translucent's carbon skin, which he could use because they caused no physical changes, everything else was too conspicuous. He needed a signature ability besides body enhancement.
Heat Vision? That would not work. Using it was one thing if he stayed out of Homelander's sight, but Homelander was far too petty to allow someone with the same superpower as him to join The Seven.
Besides, Vought International was no charity. Everyone who made it into The Seven was a carefully packaged commercial product. Superpowers were merely the admission ticket. What really secured a place was market positioning, brand value, and the complex web of interests behind it all.
With his eyes closed, Lucian ran through The Seven's roster in his head.
Homelander.
Out of the question. The embodiment of the United States, a national symbol Vought had poured untold sums into creating.
The Deep.
He represented the oceans and environmental protection, tied to an entire charitable industry. Although the man was outrageously stupid, he occupied a very particular niche. Vought needed him to reach audiences concerned with environmental issues. He was not a good target for now, either.
Maeve.
The face of female empowerment. The only female powerhouse in The Seven, with countless feminist brand contracts tied to her. Replacing her would mean offending half of the United States' female consumers.
Black Noir.
Vought's blade. This guy occupied a rather special position: quiet, highly effective, and responsible for the company's dirty work within The Seven.
As for the other two, Starlight—the classic America's Sweetheart. A-Train—the fastest speed, plus a share of the Black market?
At that thought, Lucian pulled out his phone and opened Vought International's official website. The latest post on A-Train's personal page was still a running shoe endorsement from three days ago. The comments were nothing but "the fastest man" and "the god of speed."
But this "fastest man" had already begun developing heart problems. He had only won his race against Shockwave by taking drugs, too.
Before long, The Boys Team would break his leg. And Shockwave, who was being lined up to replace him, was white, which meant Vought did not care all that much about skin color.
Then A-Train, I choose you.
Without the burden of being "the fastest man," without all that fame and fortune, perhaps A-Train could find his way back sooner. Perhaps his brother would not have to spend the rest of his life in a wheelchair, either.
That would count as changing someone's fate.
Though it was hard to say right now whether that change would be for better or worse.
Still, A-Train's position really was the easiest brick to pry loose in The Seven. His brand value depended heavily on the single label of "speed." Once someone surpassed him in speed, Vought's marketing department would be more eager than anyone to replace him.
Once his leg was broken, Lu Chen could copy his ability, and that should be enough to knock Golden Boy out of his spot.
Also-
By this point, Lucian's head was already growing heavy, sleepiness washing over him.
After I get A-Train's speed, what codename will marketing give me?
Yellow Flash?
Asian Lightning?
Orient Express?
"Fuck, these just keep getting more ridiculous."
In the final second before his consciousness blurred, he reached over and set an alarm for noon on his phone.
Tomorrow-no, today was the day he had agreed to meet Annie.
Then he sank into a deep sleep.
The alarm did not ring.
His ringtone woke him instead.
The name on the screen flashed. The incoming call was at 10:03 a.m., nearly four hours before their agreed time.
Lucian rubbed his eyes and answered.
"Morning."
There was a second of silence on the other end.
"You're still sleeping?" Annie sounded composed, but she was speaking about twenty percent faster than usual.
"Yeah. What's up?"
"Nothing, just... checking that we're still on for this afternoon."
"We are. Central Park, two o'clock."
"Would one work?"
Lucian glanced at the four babies still sleeping on the bed, then looked down at his clothes, stained with mud and scorch marks from yesterday.
"Sure."
"Okay, one it is. Bye~"
She hung up. Quick and clean, without a single unnecessary word.
But her voice had lilted upward at the end of "bye."
Lucian stared at the darkened screen for two seconds, then got up.
First, he took care of the babies. Two of the four little things were already awake, silently kicking their legs. Lucian fed them and changed their diapers one by one, then laid his palm over them.
[Mind control: LV3. Basic hypnosis]
The four babies fell back into a deep sleep. It would last at least eight to ten hours.
He switched his phone to the surveillance app. All the camera feeds were normal, showing four little bundles wrapped in towel blankets lying motionless on the bed.
Time to head out.
The outfit he had bought at Walmart had come in handy.
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