Tomorrow's Stars Pioneer Camp

A gaudily dressed woman with a shrewd face was pounding the table, shouting furiously at two Legal Department employees.

This was Annie's mother, Donna January.

In the corner behind Donna, four-year-old Annie sat on a broad metal chair, clutching a stuffed toy.

Overwhelmed by nerves and frightened by her mother's shouting, she was uncontrollably emitting faint, flickering golden light from her soft, pale palms.

"Ms. Donna, correct?"

Ignoring the woman's anger, Lynn walked straight to the table, pulled out a chair, sat down, and crossed his legs.

"And who are you?"

Donna warily eyed this Asian man with his fine clothes and composed bearing.

"I'm the director here. I hear you want to take your daughter away?"

Lynn leaned back in his chair, his voice utterly even.

"That's right! Unless you show us some real sincerity! My Annie is destined to stand in the spotlight..."

"Suit yourself."

Lynn cut her off without ceremony and pointed at the lounge door. "The door's over there. You can take her away right now. Before that, though, let's have Legal work out the bill. The cost of the Compound V Vought International has injected into Annie over the years, plus the subsequent intervention expenses, comes to roughly four million seven hundred thousand dollars. I'll round it off for you-call it five million. Remember to stop by Finance and write the check before you leave."

Donna froze, her finely made-up face suddenly stiffening. "You... what nonsense are you talking about! What five million! You were the ones who came to us saying you'd provide special medical subsidies!"

"We have the waiver and debt conversion agreement you signed back then. If you refuse to honor the subsequent training contract, all preliminary investments will automatically become your personal debt."

Lynn's gaze gradually turned cold, and he unleashed the full pressure of his authority without mercy. "If you can't repay that five million, the Legal Department's team of lawyers will make sure you spend the rest of your life in federal prison. As for Annie, she'll be sent to an orphanage and can forget about ever entering a beauty pageant. Now take your daughter and get out."

Donna's arrogance was instantly extinguished, as though a bucket of ice water had been poured over her.

She opened her mouth, but could not squeeze out a single word for a long while. Even her legs in their high heels began to tremble slightly.

Before a behemoth like Vought, her petty, greedy vanity could not withstand a single blow.

"I'll sign... I'll sign the original contract."

Donna wiped the cold sweat from her forehead and slumped into her chair like a deflated ball.

Lynn had no interest in giving her another glance. He merely waved a hand, signaling for the Legal Department staff to pass her the contract.

Having dealt with this troublesome mother, Lynn stood up and turned his gaze toward little Annie in the corner, who had kept her head lowered, her palms still glowing.

Hearing footsteps, Annie instinctively shrank back.

As she understood it, the adult world was filled with arguments, coercion, and all sorts of demands.

Yet the person who stopped before her was a handsome older boy in clean casual clothes.

John stood beside Lynn, his azure eyes studying the glowing girl curiously.

With his super senses, he could clearly hear her heart pounding wildly, a sound of deep fear and unease.

"Don't be afraid. That's just a fat woman throwing a tantrum."

John suddenly spoke, his voice clear and even carrying a hint of deliberately softened gentleness.

Little Annie cautiously raised her head. When she saw the boy's exquisite face, as though kissed by an angel, and his signature blond hair, her large, watery eyes went wide.

"You... you're Homelander?"

The girl's voice was very young, trembling with disbelief.

Her mother had forced her to sit in front of the television and watch last night's nationally broadcast talk show twice in its entirety, telling her that he was her future role model.

John remembered the look in the eyes of the boy with leukemia when he had seen him at the hospital last night, along with the theory about "hope" Lynn had explained to him.

The corners of his mouth rose naturally into a perfect, sunny smile without a trace of aggression.

"I'm John."

He extended his right hand, palm up. "Your name's Annie, right? Your light is beautiful. This is Vought International. As long as you're good enough, no one can shout at you anymore. I'll protect everyone."

Annie looked at the pale hand before her, then at her own still-glowing palm. After a moment's hesitation, she finally reached out slowly and gently rested her hand on his.

Miraculously, her racing heart settled at that moment, and the erratic light in her palm became soft and steady.

Watching from the side, Lynn nodded inwardly in satisfaction.

Inside the private elevator returning to the top-floor office.

John leaned against the elevator's metal wall, watching the changing floor numbers.

"She was too weak."

John suddenly spoke, his tone returning to its usual calm arrogance. "All she could do was give off a little light like a light bulb. I could feel it. If I used just a little force, I could still crush her wrist easily. Lynn, why does the company spend money keeping weaklings who aren't even as useful as streetlights?"

Lynn looked at the reflection in the elevator doors and chuckled.

"Because this world doesn't just need heavy hammers that can smash city walls. It also needs stars to adorn the night sky, John."

Lynn turned to look into the boy's eyes and instructed him earnestly. "A true king can't have strength alone. Annie may be weak right now, but that harmless, hopeful light of hers is precisely what ordinary people find easiest to like and trust."

Lynn reached out and patted John's shoulder. "Don't always think about crushing people. Learn to make people with pure faith like her willingly follow you, worship you, and regard you as the totem of their lives. When the day comes that all those shining stars willingly gather around you, only then will you be truly unassailable."

John blinked, only half understanding. Once again, he recalled the look little Annie had given him, so full of dependence and as brilliant as starlight.

He felt that Lynn made a great deal of sense.

Compared with making the weak afraid through sheer violence, taming them with these things called "faith" and "hope" seemed a more sophisticated, and more interesting, game.

After settling the dispute with Annie January's mother that day, Lynn began deliberately laying the groundwork for a new initiative during his routine work at the Superheroes Management Department.

As a transmigrator familiar with how the plot would unfold, Lynn knew very well that Vought International would eventually create that world-famous superhero team that also harbored all manner of filth-The Seven.

But he had no intention of letting John take over a rotten mess full of corrupt old hands already brainwashed by Vought International's senior management.

Since he now occupied the position of senior director in the management department, he could use his authority to select and cultivate a batch of true "die-hard fans" for John ahead of time.

The eighty-eighth-floor office in Vought Tower.

Lynn hit Enter one last time and printed out a proposal titled "Tomorrow's Stars Pioneer Camp."

Knock, knock.

The glass door swung open, and Madelyn walked in on high heels.

Today, she wore a sharp dark gray business suit and carried a steaming cup of black tea.

"Director Lynn, I hear you've not only brought those troublemaking adult heroes firmly into line lately, but you've also extended your reach into the children's testing grounds in Area C?"

Madelyn approached the desk, her gaze landing on the freshly printed proposal. "Tomorrow's Stars Pioneer Camp? What new trick is this?"

Lynn pushed the proposal toward Madelyn, leaned back in his chair, and clasped his hands. "A long-term investment plan that can keep Vought International's financial reports showing double-digit growth for the next ten years."