Lucian was holding a paper cup and leaning on the high stool by the window. The eyes behind the black-rimmed glasses were half-closed, looking bored.
Super Senses has all been opened.
Seven minutes later, a figure appeared on the street corner.
Hughie. He walked very fast, almost trotting across the road. There was a bulging bottle of blue Compound V in his coat pocket. His steps were a little stiff, but he didn't look like he was panicking and losing control.
Not bad. At least he's not completely dominated by fear.
Hughie pushed open the glass door of the apartment building and disappeared into the stairwell.
Behind him, a petite figure was moving against the outer wall of the apartment building. Kimiko. She found the entrance to a ventilation duct on the second floor, opened the iron fence with her bare hands, and got in.
Lucian put down the coffee cup and began to listen carefully.
Hughie entered the door, and A-Train was saying something to the effect of asking him to put the compound on the table and get out. Hughie did not do so.
"Let my dad go first."
Lucian raised his eyebrows. This boy learned quickly from Butcher. After understanding the opponent's psychology, he handed over the person first and then delivered the goods.
A-Train started to curse, mixed with threats, but he did not take action.
Because Compound V was right in front of him, he didn't want to take any risk of letting the bottle shatter on the ground. Having lost his job of delivering goods to the noodle shop, he had no way to deduct Compound V, and his inventory had bottomed out.
Time passed minute by minute.
At the fourth minute, Hughie's father was pushed out of the room. The old man staggered and hit the wall of the corridor. Footsteps moved down the stairs.
At the sixth minute, a faint sound of metal bending came from the ventilation duct.
A-Train didn't notice. All his attention was on the bottle of blue liquid.
Seventh minute.
There was a muffled "bang" sound, followed by the scream of A-Train.
It was crisp and clean. Kimiko hit the leg.
Lucian picked up the paper cup and drank the last sip of coffee.
The screams continued, mixed with desperate curses from A-Train.
About two minutes later, the door of the apartment building was knocked open.
Hughie's father came out first. A middle-aged man with half-white hair, wearing a plaid shirt, with a pale face and sloppy steps. He held on to the door frame and panted for several seconds before he stood still.
Hughie followed closely behind, holding his father's arm with one hand, while the other hand was still shaking.
The last one to come out was Kimiko. She was holding a blood-stained metal stick in her hand. The front end of the stick had been smashed and deformed, stained with dark red blood and bone fragments.
The three people walked quickly to the end of the street. Hughie's father kept looking back, and Hughie was whispering to comfort him. Kimiko walked at the back and threw the stick into the trash can on the roadside.
Lucian watched them turn the corner and disappear from sight.
Then he stood up, threw the paper cup into the recycling bin, and walked out of the coffee shop slowly.
Open the door of the apartment building and go upstairs.
A-Train's wailing sound came from upstairs, intermittently,
Lucian walked to the second floor. The corridor was empty. The door of the third room on the right was open, and the door lock had been broken from the inside.
Inside the door, A-Train was curled up on the floor.
His right leg showed an unnatural angle from the knee down. White bone stubble protruded from the uniform. He held the leg with both hands and curled up into a ball, shaking uncontrollably.
Lucian walked behind him silently.
A-Train had no reaction. A person swallowed by severe pain and fear, his world has shrunk to the broken leg.
The five fingers of the right hand were brought together, and the metallization was completed instantly. The skin from the fingertips to the forearm glowed with a cold gray sheen, and the texture changed from muscle to dense alloy.
A hand knife struck A-Train precisely on the back of the neck.
A-Train's screams stopped abruptly, and he fell forward, face down on the floor.
Completely dizzy.
Lucian squatted down and opened A-Train's eyelids to check. His pupils were dilated and he had completely lost consciousness.
He put his palms against A-Train's temples.
Mind Control started again. A two-pronged approach, physical stun and mental suppression.
Lucian stood up and walked around Hughie's house. The living room was small and the decoration was simple. There were several old photos hanging on the wall, including a photo of Hughie and his father. The background was an amusement park.
Next to the wardrobe is a suitcase. It's not too big or too small, just the right size.
He dragged the suitcase over and opened it, then found a towel and a few rolls of bandages from the bathroom. A-Train's broken leg needed simple treatment, as he was afraid he would bleed to death in the suitcase.
Simple fixation, tight bandage, and hemostasis. The whole process takes no more than three minutes.
Two minutes later, an ordinary man wearing a baseball cap and dragging a suitcase walked out of the apartment building and merged into the crowd.
CIA headquarters.
Susan Put the briefcase containing the criminal evidence on the desk and unzip it.
Madelyn glanced at the documents inside but did not reach out to take them.
"Deputy Director, I wonder why you invited me here?"
Susan pulled out the documents and spread them out, "Disguise Compound V as children's vaccines, smuggle Compound V, create Supe terrorists overseas, and falsify anti-terrorism records. Each of these is enough to put a noose around your neck, Madelyn."
Madelyn looked down at the file for a few seconds, and when he raised his head, he still had that calm smile on his face.
"So? What do you want?"
"Withdraw Superman Militarization Act." Susan raised a finger, "Register the true information and capabilities of all Supe. Allow federal agencies to exercise jurisdiction over Supe."
second finger.
"Finally, bring all development and production of Compound V under federal supervision."
Madelyn did not answer immediately. She picked up the document and seemed to be reading it carefully, but Susan saw that she was not reading the content at all, she was trying to buy time to think.
"Deputy Director, have you ever thought about it," Madelyn put down the documents and crossed his hands on the table, "What will happen once these 'evidences' are made public?"
"Don't talk to me about this." Susan sat down opposite her, "If you don't do it, I guarantee that everyone around the world will see this tomorrow, and Vought's stock price will fall to 0."
Madelyn's smile finally had a crack.
Just as she was about to speak, there was a knock on the office door. A CIA agent opened the door and came in, walked quickly to Susan, leaned over and whispered a few words in her ear.
Susan's expression changed.
"Put it out."
The agent took out his tablet and clicked on a video.
The picture was somewhere in Syria. On the ground lay scattered American soldiers in camouflage uniforms, some of whom were no longer moving. The energy waves shot by a man in ragged clothes were tearing the armored vehicle into pieces with his hands.
Supe terrorist attack.
In the next shot, Homelander fell from the sky. Homelander. He landed in the middle of the ruins, and Heat Vision shot out from his eyes, accurately penetrating the terrorist's chest.
The Supe terrorist died on the spot.
Homelander walked to the body and took out a tube of blue liquid from the inside of his clothes.
He raised the tube of liquid and faced the reporters who had gathered around him with a sad look on his face.
"Terrorists stole Compound V and are now able to imitate Compound V."
"Facing such Supe terrorists, only superheroes, only us, can protect you."
Susan stared at the screen without saying a word.
Madelyn stood up from his seat, walked around to Susan, and looked down at the screen on the tablet.
Then she raised her head, looked at Susan, and smiled again.
"It seems that the situation has changed, Deputy Director. Do you want to sit down and let's talk again?"
Susan didn't answer. She turned around and walked out.
In the corridor, her pace became faster and faster. A series of message reminders popped up on the screen of her mobile phone, Congress Emergency vote, the superhero militarization bill was passed overwhelmingly. Compound V was classified as "national defense secret".
The agent handed over another document. Susan took it and saw the name on it.
Butcher. Hughie. Mother's Milk. Frenchie. Kimiko.
Nationwide wanted order. Treason.
Susan stood at the end of the corridor. Outside the window, New York night was falling. The lights at the top of the Vought Tower building turned on, illuminating most of the sky.
She dialed Butcher.
"Butcher, we lost."
"... what do you mean?"
"Superman Militarization Act has just passed. Compound V is classified as a national defense secret. All of you, including all Safe House, new identities, and protection plans I arranged for you are all invalid."
"Are you fucking kidding me!"
"You and your people are now traitors. Federal Bureau of Investigation, Department of Homeland Security, CIA, everyone will come to arrest you."
Susan closed his eyes.
"Run quickly."