Everybody Hurt
Let me explain the current situation.
John pointed to the 55th floor on the blueprint.
"Where is Starlight being held now? Also, what's the security situation inside the prison, and what recent deployments Edgar? We need to explain all of that clearly."
" Starlight is in solitary confinement in the special-grade cell in Zone B on the 55th floor."
The prison guards are divided into three layers: the outer layer consists of ordinary human security personnel, and the middle layer consists of Vought's secondary Superman squad.
The innermost layer, well... that's me. There used to be the Sister Sage, but she's currently researching Compound V1."
"As for Elena, you already know her address, but she lives on the twelfth floor. Edgar has spies on every floor, so you'll have to find a way to distract them."
"If Edgar finds out, I'll definitely be the first person he suspects."
"And what about Edgar himself?"
John asked.
"He's been keeping a low profile, but lately he's been spending most of his time working in his top-floor office and rarely comes out."
Maeve tapped the very top layer with her fingertip.
"Then, where is the monitoring center?"
At this point, Cate chimed in.
"The second basement level has its own power supply, so it can operate offline even if the external network is cut off."
Maeve pointed to the bottom of the drawing and continued.
"There are twelve security shifts inside, and some Superman are also on duty."
At that moment, Cate leaned closer, pointed to the 55th floor, and whispered:
"So, should we... rescue them directly from the 55th floor? Then go around to the 32nd floor to meet them, and then evacuate through the freight corridor? Wouldn't that be too direct?"
"No."
"The 55th and 32nd floors of Vought are both in the core area. As soon as the alarm sounds, security can surround the entire floor in five minutes."
Moreover, as soon as Starlight disappears, Edgar's first suspect will be me, who knows the inside story...
So now I'm also struggling with how to avoid Edgar's suspicion.
As soon as Maeve finished speaking, the room fell silent again.
Indeed, this is a difficult problem.
A cunning and shrewd businessman like Edgar is clearly not easy to fool.
We must find a way to satisfy both sides.
With that in mind, everyone's attention returned to John, the pillar of the group.
John was leaning back in his chair, his gaze lingering on the blueprints, his fingers tapping lightly on the edge of the table.
Once, twice.
After a dozen seconds, John suddenly stopped tapping, leaned forward slightly, and placed his fingertips on the A section of the 55th floor prison.
"There is indeed such a method; we can create chaos first."
"Confusion?"
"Yes, if we force our way in, they will definitely focus all their energy on us."
However, if other objectives are used as distractions, it is easy for us to escape.
" Maeve, as the innermost administrator, you certainly have the authority to manage the prison. Use the internal staff entrance to get to the 55th floor first."
Hearing this, Maeve frowned.
"No... I have no reason. Visiting someone in prison for no reason would be too conspicuous. I have no legitimate reason."
"You have."
John drew a circle in area A with his fingertip.
"Area A houses serious criminals, mostly out-of-control, intellectually challenged Superman are highly aggressive but not very bright."
Once you're inside, find a quiet spot and secretly unlock all the cell doors in Block A. Don't make it too obvious, just crack them open.
Upon hearing this, Cate also seemed somewhat puzzled.
"Open the cells? Let the prisoners escape? Wouldn't that throw the whole floor into chaos?"
"Our goal is to create chaos."
John looked up, a wicked glint in his eyes.
"The truth is, the more chaotic, the better."
If the prisoners in Area A have an opportunity to escape, then all the security forces on the entire 55th floor will be drawn to them.
At that time, Maeve, as a member of the Seven, will have a legitimate reason to suppress the rebellion, and Edgar will have no grounds for complaint.
Maeve reacted quickly and immediately followed the train of thought.
"You mean, after orchestrating the mass prison break, I was too busy suppressing the prisoners to handle everything else?"
Even if the Starlight disappears, Edgar won't immediately suspect me.
"Given his personality, he might have suspicions, but he has no evidence."
So I can't do anything to you.
John continued sliding his finger down, tapping the location of the monitoring room on the second basement level.
"When chaos breaks out in the prison, the monitoring room's attention will be entirely focused on the 55th floor, and the management will have to allocate at least half of their staff there to provide support."
When Cate takes action, distracting the rest, we only need to create ten minutes of screen lag and localized blind spots, and that will be enough.
Upon hearing this idea, Cate's eyes lit up:
"I can immediately induce cognitive impairment in them, making them obey my commands to modify monitoring information,"
Don't be arrogant.
John glanced at her.
"We don't know yet if there are other Mesmer guarding the interior of Vought. Perhaps we should just knock them out and let Frenchie carry it out."
"Good."
Cate stuck out her tongue and memorized the mission objectives one by one.
At this moment, John's fingertip moved back to the 55th floor and stopped outside Starlight's cell in Block B.
"Once the prison descends into chaos, Kimiko will be in charge of using the ventilation ducts to enter Block B and deal with the guards."
Then take the Starlight away... and your brother too.
Remember, finish the battle quickly; don't linger.
Kimiko nodded, her eyes already showing a hint of eagerness.
"Then what?"
Maeve pressed for an answer.
"After rescuing Starlight and the others, how can we leave safely? We can't just lead people across the office area, can we? We'll be spotted as soon as we show our faces."
"Need not."
John traced a thin dotted line on the drawing with his fingertip.
It was a staff-only access corridor leading directly to the first floor, usually used only by cleaning and maintenance personnel, and also connected to the storage rooms on each floor.
Most notably, it also features built-in blind spots in its surveillance system.
Don't ask John how he knew.
He has Super Hearing.
In my past life.
The strange sounds of employees cheating drifting from this logistics corridor have been heard more than once.
" Kimiko led them down this logistics corridor to the first floor. The access code for the corridor is 9527, so that Mother's Milk and Hughie could provide backup."
(A tribute to Stephen Chow)
He paused for a moment, then looked at Maeve.
"As for Elena, I've already sent someone to meet her in advance."
You should let her know in advance to avoid misunderstandings and wasting time.
Maeve nodded, somewhat bewildered.
no...
This logistics passage was extremely well-hidden; even she rarely noticed it. How could John know about it, and even the password?
When did Vought become a company that adulterates products?
Thinking of this, Maeve's wariness of John deepened even further.
Just then, Maeve suddenly thought of something and asked:
"By the way, who did you send to find Elena? Frenchie or Butcher?"
"It's the Deep."
"Fuck!"
Vought Headquarters, Experimental Department.
In the cool white light, a large group of people wearing long gowns were busy at work.
The Sage, dressed in a shit-green uniform, stood directly in front of the central control panel.
Her short, fine braids were gathered at the back of her head with a hairnet, revealing her large, reflective forehead.
Two toad-like eyes were fixed on the scrolling mass spectrum on the screen, their minds constantly working on a synthetic reconstruction.
Right in front of her.
The explosion-proof refrigerator is illuminated by a pale green constant temperature indicator light; the cabinet is made of thickened borosilicate explosion-proof glass.
Inside, wrapped in black cushioning cotton, a thumb-sized sealed test tube lay quietly in the groove.
The deep blue liquid shimmered with a fine, Stardust -like fluorescence under the dim light.
She could simply be described as a blue beauty.
" Sage Lady, the data from the third set of lysis experiments is in."
At that moment, the assistant researcher next to him handed him a tablet, sounding somewhat dejected.
"It still doesn't work. The nested structure of the core nucleus triggers a self-destruct sequence at the slightest touch, causing all seventeen enzymatic digestion pathways to fail."
The Sage took the tablet and swiped it twice with his fingertips.
She glanced at the data curve and memorized it. The next second, the results of the first sixteen groups quickly overlapped and compared in her mind.
Unfortunately, it all failed miserably.
"Understood. Archive the data. Group four doesn't need to be done."
Upon hearing this, the assistant was taken aback.
"But headquarters is pressing for the analysis progress... Mr. Edgar's secretary even sent an email this morning inquiring about it."
"Rubbing him won't help. Let him try it himself."
The Sage raised his eyes, his eyes wide open.
"Due to objective reasons, even if we dismantle it seventeen times, the result will be the same. Just relay those words to Edgar."
The assistant opened his mouth, but didn't dare to refute, and dejectedly retreated to the side with his head down.
Just then, the airtight door at the end of the laboratory made a soft sound.
The newcomer was dressed in a custom-made dark gray suit. His tall and slender figure stood out among the short experimental group, whose average height was less than 1.6 meters.
The visitor was none other than the Emissary, the vice-chancellor of Godolkin University.
The "technical" talent personally selected by the Sage leader is also one of the publicly acknowledged heads of this V1 reverse engineering project.
To be honest, when the research team heard the name of the Emissary, they were full of questions.
Where the hell did this thing come from?
How did you become the principal?
Yes, no one has seen his full resume, and nobody even knows what he did before.
He appeared out of nowhere, parachuting into Godolkin University and now taking over the entire V1 project.
There has been much speculation within Vought, with some saying he is the illegitimate son of the former principal, and others saying he is a close confidant of Godolkin.
But only the Sage know that it's all bullshit.
The one controlling this body is none other than Godolkin, whose spirit survived the great fire years ago...
This deity.
Of course, he was also her secret lover.
(To actually bite him, that's a real warrior!)
How is the project progressing?
The Emissary walked to the control panel, his gaze first falling on the raw liquid in the explosion-proof refrigerator, then shifting to the Sage.
The tone was standard and businesslike.
It sounds like someone's nitpicking.
The Sage rolled his eyes at him, tapped the screen lightly with his fingertip, and brought up the latest analysis report:
"72.4%, if we go any further, we'll need to touch the core mother core."
"Just as we predicted, it has a nested structure. Its destruction threshold is very tight. If it is forcibly disassembled, the original solution will be completely deactivated."
The Emissary nodded, then turned to face everyone in the laboratory.
"Ladies and gentlemen, let me reiterate the dosage of this concentrate."
His gaze swept over the researchers present.
This place has renowned senior chemists from Vought's headquarters, as well as a research team of former Supe Virus serum researchers from the university.
"See that? There's only one in the whole world, a unique piece."
If we take the route of complete reverse analysis, we can completely disassemble and sequence the molecular chain.
"The last bit of the original solution will be completely consumed, leaving not a trace."
Upon hearing the Emissary's words, a murmur of discussion immediately arose among the crowd.
Most of Vought's researchers frowned, looking disappointed.
They had originally hoped to obtain a patent and advance their careers through internal promotion by fully analyzing V1.
Some are even planning to use this as a springboard to enter the core management of Vought.
Only the Emissary's own team remained calm, their eyes unusually dull, and they said nothing.
"So my solution is... to abandon complete reverse engineering."
Godolkin walked to the whiteboard next to him and picked up a black marker.
With a flick of the wrist, a complex three-dimensional molecular structure gradually takes shape on the whiteboard.
He circled the core area of the molecular diagram with the tip of his pen.
"Based on the current 72% resolution, we will adapt it for mass production."
We don't need to perfectly replicate the original V1; we only need to retain the core sequence for ability activation.
Simply cut out the potential control elements on the periphery and create a stable, weakened version.
"A weaker version?"
One of Vought's senior scholars couldn't help but speak up, adjusting his glasses.
How effective will it be? How does it compare to Compound V?
"Basic effects account for 70%."
Godolkin's pen tip touched the core sequence, his tone steady.
"That's a fundamental increase in muscle density, self-healing speed, energy conversion rate, and even across all dimensions, already reaching 70% of the original V1."
This figure is more than three times that of the current Compound V.
For Vought, this was already a product that represented a generational leap.
Immediately afterwards, he swiftly and decisively crossed out the outer control segment, leaving a thick black mark:
"As for development potential... cutting off this sequence completely locks in the injector's ability ceiling."
They will be fully finalized within 72 hours, after which there will be no further improvements.
At this moment, the discussion suddenly grew louder.
Some shook their heads, some frowned, and some showed resentment in their eyes.
At this moment, a young researcher wearing glasses raised his hand:
"Mr. The Emissary, since the original version has such great potential, can we give it another try?"
Even if it takes a little more time, slowly but surely... what if we find a breakthrough?
"Oh, this genius, how long are you planning to drag this out?"
The Emissary interrupted him without hesitation.
"One year? Five years? Or ten years? Edgar wants products that can be implemented, mass-produced, and profitable, not just pie-in-the-sky data from experiments."
"Standardization, mass production capability, and controllable adverse reactions—that's what Vought needs."
The Emissary's words were very blunt and hit the nail on the head regarding Vought's business operations.
Once it's launched on the market, the profits will be astronomical.
As for potential?
Those injectors are just mass-produced consumables; do they have the potential to run a wholesale market?
" Sage lady, do you think this plan is feasible?"
The Emissary looked at her.
The Sage adjusted his goggles and analyzed:
"This is technically feasible; removing the potential regulatory fragment will increase molecular stability by 47%."
The adverse reaction rate can be reduced to below 3.8%, meeting Vought's mass production safety standards.
She paused, then added.
"However, some of the original control parameters are encrypted internal data from Godolkin University."
I need to check this with you privately; let's talk in your office.
"Good."
The Emissary put the marker back in its slot and turned to give instructions to the others.
"Proceed with the simplified version and complete the contingency plan as soon as possible."
After saying that, he turned and walked towards his office.
The Sage followed half a step behind him, and the two walked out of the laboratory one after the other.
Godolkin went in, closed the door behind him, then bent down and pressed something under the desk.
It was a portable signal jammer capable of blocking all of Vought's built-in listening and monitoring equipment; it was a backup plan he had planted beforehand.
The indicator light on the corner of the table flickered briefly, then lit up with a faint green light.
The environment is safe.