Inside a private room in Vought's underground club, the lighting was soft, and the rich aroma of liquor mingled with a faint fruity scent in the air, shut away from the noise and restlessness outside.
Gecko slowly opened his eyes, his head still a little foggy. He braced himself against the floor and slowly got up, his eyes filled with confusion.
Normally, the Supes knocked out by Translucent would have long since been taken back to the downstairs hall by the staff. Why was he still in the private room?
"Come sit down. Have a drink with me."
Solomon's voice suddenly rang out, his tone casual.
Gecko stiffened and turned his head in confusion. Once he made out the figure sitting on the sofa, he hastily staggered to his feet, his voice full of respect and panic.
"Mr. Translucent!"
Solomon raised a hand and pointed to the sofa beside him, a faint smile playing on his lips.
"Don't be nervous. Relax."
The fear in Gecko's heart did not lessen at all. He shuffled over on trembling legs and only dared to sit on the edge of the sofa.
Half his backside hung off the seat, his back ramrod straight. Like a student called on by his teacher, he clutched the hem of his clothes with both hands and barely even breathed, terrified that one wrong word or movement would displease Solomon.
Solomon picked up the bottle of whiskey bearing Translucent's endorsement portrait from the table, unscrewed the cap, and slowly poured it into the glass in front of Gecko. The amber liquor slid down the inside of the glass, raising tiny bubbles.
He picked up the glass and held it out, speaking in an even tone:
"You said you worked in the Research Department, right?"
Gecko hastily accepted the glass with both hands, his fingertips trembling slightly as he nodded repeatedly.
"Yes, Mr. Translucent. I work as a research assistant in the Research Department."
Solomon poured himself a glass as well and tipped his head back to take a sip. As the liquor burned its way down his throat, he looked thoughtfully at Gecko and asked a pointed question:
"Are there many Supes in the Research Department? I mean Supes like you, with special abilities worth researching."
At those words, Gecko shuddered violently. The glass nearly slipped from his hand, and a few drops of liquor splashed onto his hand, but he did not even notice.
He looked up at Solomon in shock, his eyes filled with astonishment.
This was an internal secret of the Research Department. How did Translucent know?
But on second thought, Solomon was a core member of the Seven and Vought's biggest star. It was only natural for him to know the company's internal secrets.
He steadied himself and answered quietly:
"Yes, a few, but not many."
An almost imperceptible gleam flashed through Solomon's eyes. There really were!
The Supes the Research Department focused on studying had to have something special about their abilities. Perhaps they could help him grow even stronger. It looked like he could start with Gecko and find a way to obtain those people's abilities.
He changed the subject, his tone carrying a hint of approval.
"Your ability is self-healing, right? I have to say, you recover faster than any Supe I've ever seen."
Gecko nodded bitterly. His healing ability had never been a secret. After all, he had spent years being used as experimental material, and the people at Vought were already well acquainted with it.
"It is self-healing. Unfortunately, aside from recovering quickly and having some research value, I have no combat ability at all."
His physique was exactly the same as an ordinary person's. Whether it was strength, defense, or anything else, he had no special abilities apart from self-healing.
He was grateful that his ability could also block pain. Otherwise, he could not even imagine how tragic his life would be.
Even so, he still had to watch himself being dismembered dozens of times every day.
"Apart from your self-healing, what abilities do those other Supes have?"
Gecko shot Solomon a quick glance, then immediately lowered his head again. His fingers rubbed nervously against the glass, and only after a long hesitation did he speak quietly:
"I... I signed a nondisclosure agreement. I can't say..."
Solomon reached out and gently patted Gecko's shoulder.
The seemingly gentle gesture made Gecko jolt all over, nearly sliding off the sofa.
"Relax. It's just the two of us chatting. I'm not interested in the Research Department's projects. I'm just curious about your abilities. It's a great topic over drinks, isn't it?"
Gecko fell silent for a moment, wrestling with himself.
Translucent was with Vought too, and he was a high-ranking member of the Seven. Telling him a little shouldn't count as violating the nondisclosure agreement, right?
He gritted his teeth and finally relented.
"Every project in the Research Department is independent. I don't know many Supes either, just three. The first one has an ability related to poison. No matter what kind of virus or toxin it is, he can quickly break it down and absorb it without suffering the slightest harm."
Solomon nodded slightly, thinking to himself, Breaking down and absorbing poison. That ability really does have research value.
However, since the ability had been granted by Compound V, it would probably struggle to deal with the virus that would appear later, specifically targeting Compound V.
Gecko drained his glass, wiped the corner of his mouth, and continued:
"The second one has a constant-temperature physique. Whatever environment he's in, his body surface temperature stays fixed. Even if he's burned by raging flames or frozen in ice, his body surface temperature won't change in the slightest."
Solomon's eyes instantly lit up. That's a good ability!
Wouldn't a fixed body surface temperature basically amount to immunity to ice and fire?
Neither burning nor freezing could hurt him. I have to get that ability!
The thought of immunity suddenly reminded him of his own Rubberization ability.
Rubber was an insulator to begin with, so logically, he should be immune to electric shocks.
But he also had Carbon-Fiber Super Skin, which was an excellent conductor of electricity. If he came into contact with electricity, would it conduct through him, or would he be immune?
He would have to find a chance to test that later.
Gecko did not notice what was on Solomon's mind and continued:
"The third one has storage spaces inside his mouth where he can keep things. As for exactly how big those spaces are, I don't know."
Spatial storage?!
Solomon instantly grew excited and sat up a little straighter.
This was one of the abilities he had always dreamed of having!
With spatial storage, he could keep things like clothes and his phone with him at all times. In the future, whether he was running around naked while invisible or suddenly revealing himself, there would no longer be any awkward scenes of him standing there naked.
He just did not know how this storage method worked. Was it the kind where things shrank when he sucked them into his mouth?
"When he stores things, how does he get them into the spaces?"
Gecko glanced at Solomon and pressed his dry, cracked lips together, his tone a little odd.
"No, he just stuffs things straight into his mouth. He has a space in each cheek. It's a bit like a hamster storing food. Once he stuffs something into his cheek, it automatically goes into the space."
Solomon instantly fell silent. Stuff things into his mouth?
That method was a little too plain and simple.
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