The snow in Manhattan was not as heavy as in Long Island, but it also gave the steel forest a gray and cold tone.
Vought Tower Forty floors underground.
Behind the thick explosion-proof glass is a fully enclosed Gravity Training Room with an area comparable to a football field.
At this moment, the gravity in the training room was adjusted to three times that of the normal environment.
For adults, this kind of gravity will make people feel chest tight, short of breath, and difficult to walk, not to mention the two dozen mutant children inside who have just been screened out and the oldest is only a teenager.
Wearing uniform gray uniforms, they were lying on the cold cement floor one by one, breathing heavily.
Sweat mixed with tears, leaving dark water stains on the ground.
"Stand up, who allowed you to lie on the ground like dogs."
Stormfront stood in the center of the crowd wearing that dark purple battle suit.
Triple gravity has no effect on Supe, a veteran like her who has lived for almost a hundred years, just like the breeze blowing on her face.
She was holding a cup of freshly squeezed blueberry smoothie in her hand, biting the straw and taking a big sip, then slowly and leisurely walked to a blond boy who was slumped on the ground.
The boy's name is Colin, he is twelve years old. Superpower controls local air compression.
But under triple gravity, he didn't even have the strength to lift his fingers, let alone concentrate on using Superpower.
"Instructor... I really... can't stand up..."
Colin's face turned red from holding back his tears, and his nose was smeared with tears. He looked at Stormfront with a pleading look.
Stormfront looked at him condescendingly, with a mocking sneer at the corner of his mouth.
"Your hair is pure blond, your eyes are beautiful blue, and you have the most perfect bloodline in the world, but the way you look now is simply weaker than those homeless people out there who dig through trash cans to eat."
Stormfront threw aside the plastic cup in his hand, and a dazzling Purple Plasma Lightning burst out from his palm.
Along with a scalp-numbing crackling sound, a weak current accurately hit Colin's back.
"Ah!"
Colin let out a shrill scream, and his whole body was bounced like a fish out of water due to the high-voltage electric shock.
Severe pain instantly penetrated his nerves, and he even smelled his own skin being burned.
"Stand up! Are your bones made of cotton?"
Stormfront's voice echoed in the empty training room, with cruelty, "Give you three more seconds, if your knees dare to touch the ground, the next lightning will directly roast your internal organs."
Stimulated by the absolute fear of death and unbearable pain, Colin miraculously burst out with power.
He held up his arms unsteadily and stood up straight under triple gravity.
Although his legs were still shaking crazily, he finally did not lie down again.
When the other children around saw this scene, they were all trembling with fear.
Without Stormfront speaking any more, they bit their lips one after another, climbed up from the ground with all their strength, and stood upright like a row of crumbling wooden piles.
They didn't dare to look at the long-dried and blackened blood stains on the ground.
That was left by a few children who really couldn't hold it in yesterday.
Stormfront looked at these fearful "soldiers" with satisfaction, and the purple electric light slowly extinguished at the fingertips.
"Very good. Remember this feeling. Only pain and fear can wash away the weakness in your bones. From today on, you are no longer children who will not grow up. You are the knife in my hand."
In the monitoring room, Stan Edgar watched all this quietly through the one-way glass.
He was wearing a well-tailored suit and holding a glass of Black Tea in his hand.
Looking at the mutants shivering under the dual torture of gravity and electric shock, there was no unnecessary expression on his face.
As long as he can produce obedient weapons in batches, the death of a few defective products is not within his scope of consideration.
The automatic door of the monitoring room slid open to both sides silently.
The assistant who had just been scared away by John from Long Island Estate not long ago walked in with a chill that had not completely dissipated.
His face was still a little pale, and there was even a little melted snow on his hair.
"President."
The assistant walked up behind Edgar, lowering his head slightly, with unconcealable frustration in his voice.
Edgar didn't look back, his eyes still fell on the training room under the glass.
"From the look of you, those toys aren't working."
Edgar took a sip of Black Tea and spoke calmly.
The assistant swallowed a dry mouthful of saliva.
"Yes, President. They refused. Reggie would not want the Ferrari even if it meant washing the muddy car for a month. Tommy also refused the customized Arcade Machine, and..."
The assistant's mind once again pictured John standing in the snow, staring at him with a dead look in his eyes, and his body shivered involuntarily.
"Furthermore, Homelander told us to get out immediately. If I had said one more word at that time, I have no doubt that he would burn us, including people and cars, to ashes."
Edgar The hand holding the teacup paused slightly.
He turned around and looked deeply at his assistant, who always acted steadily, through gold-rimmed glasses.
"Pocket money from car washes."
Edgar murmured to himself, and then let out a low sneer.
He walked to the monitoring station and called up the images captured by several secret surveillance cameras around Long Island Estate.
Although the picture is very blurry, you can still see the scene of several children throwing snowballs at each other in the snow, and Lynn standing leisurely in the corridor drinking coffee.
"Lynn is such a formidable opponent."
Edgar put down the tea cup and put his hands on the console, "I was right, but I was also wrong."
The assistant looked at Edgar with some confusion.
"He gave them a family, a sense of dignity and participation as ordinary people."
Edgar's eyes reveal reason,
"For those children who grew up in the laboratory, this is a poison more deadly than a thousand Ferraris. Lynns turned them into a family, and destroying the bonds of a family is far more difficult than destroying a prison."
At this moment, the door of the monitoring room was pushed open again.
Stormfront walked in with long strides, her body still smelling of burnt ionized air.
She glanced at the embarrassed assistant and let out an undisguised sneer.
"Why, you went to give gifts to those domesticated pets, only to be driven back with their tails bitten?"
Stormfront walked to the water dispenser, got himself a glass of cold water and drank it in one gulp, "Edgar, your lukewarm tests have no meaning at all. The most effective way to deal with disobedient bastards is to break their bones directly."
Stormfront crumpled the paper cup into a ball and threw it into the trash can, his purple eyes flashing dangerously.
"In the past half month, I have almost trained these losers below. As long as you say a word, I can take them to Long Island tomorrow, twist off the head of the guy named Lynn, and let the little monster with golden hair know who is the real owner of Vought International."
Hearing this arrogant speech, Edgar didn't even frown.
"Stormfront, your arrogance will destroy you sooner or later."
Edgar turned his head and looked coldly at this woman who had lived for almost a century.
"Who do you think you are facing? Those twenty half-finished products below who will only cry in front of you are worse than a group of ants in John's eyes. If we start a war now, John only needs one Heat Vision Cleansweep, and all your hard work in the past half month will turn into ashes."
"You think I can't beat that little brat who doesn't have all his hair?"
The smile on Stormfront's face disappeared, and the surrounding air began to make a slight electric sound uneasily.
"That's death."
Edgar's voice was still steady, but it carried the absolute pressure of a superior person.
"Until our Mass Production Plan is fully matured and until we find the weakness that can perfectly restrain John, Long Island Estate is still a restricted area for Vought International. Your task now is to continue to sharpen your knife in Basement, rather than holding a dull knife to kill people."
Stormfront stared at Edgar, his chest heaving violently several times.
But in the end, she put away the static electricity in her hand and snorted coldly.
She turned her head to look at the surveillance screen, and the picture was fixed on the face of John laughing in the snow.
Stormfront's eyes were full of disgust and undisguised malice, and she licked the corners of her mouth.