Chapter 13: Butcher's Shock, A Mysterious Third-Party Powerhouse
The fluorescent light in the dilapidated hideout emitted a buzzing, arcing sound, flickering on and off.
The air was thick with the damp smell of mold, the scent of motor oil, and the stench of human blood seeping from that nylon bag.
Butcher stared intently at the corpse of Translucent lying on the floor, chewing on a splintered bamboo toothpick.
The flesh on his face twitched slightly from excessive shock, and the veins on his forehead throbbed rhythmically.
"Frenchie, did you find anything out, for fuck's sake?"
Butcher spat out the toothpick, followed by a glob of blood-tinged saliva.
Frenchie was currently squatting beside the corpse, his dirty undershirt stained with black grease.
He used his grime-caked fingernails to vigorously probe Translucent's shattered eye socket.
"Don't rush, Butcher. This cause of death is too interesting—it really is something."
Frenchie mumbled incoherently, holding a rusty flashlight in his mouth.
He held a pair of bloody needle-nose pliers in his hand, stirring them around inside Translucent's eye socket.
It made a squelching sound of flesh grinding against metal that was nauseating to hear.
Mothers Milk sat on a broken wooden chair missing a leg, scrubbing the sweat from his neck with a greasy rag.
"Frenchie, can you stop making that disgusting sound, for fuck's sake?"
"I'm about to throw up the hot dog I ate last night; this place smells like a slaughterhouse."
Mothers Milk frowned, pointing at the large, buzzing green-headed flies in the corner.
"Shut up, Mothers Milk, and listen to what Frenchie has to say."
Butcher stepped forward, his heavy leather boots making a dull thud on the stained floor.
He crouched down, grabbed Translucent's hair, and lifted the face, which was smashed into a pulp.
"The head is smashed in. Looks like it was done with a sledgehammer, doesn't it?"
Butcher reached out to touch the shards of bone.
"Indeed. On the surface, it really does look like a mortal's outburst of violence."
Frenchie removed the flashlight and shone it into Translucent's sunken eye socket.
"But look here, Butcher. Look closely."
"Beneath this layer of smashed bone, there is a very deep, perfectly straight hole."
"It's a precise, clean physical penetration."
Frenchie inserted the needle-nose pliers into the deep hole to measure its depth.
"It goes straight to the brainstem. It turned his brain to mush in one go."
Mothers Milk stopped wiping his sweat, his mouth agape.
"Are you saying someone used something like a nail and drove it in through his eye?"
"If it were a nail, the force would have to be absolutely immense."
Frenchie shook his head and scratched his dirty, dandruff-filled hair.
"In this building, who has that kind of strength? Who could subdue Translucent and then blind him so precisely?"
Translucent wasn't a fool; he could turn invisible, and his skin was as hard as titanium alloy.
Butcher stood up and paced back and forth in the room, restless.
The old wooden floorboards groaned with a "creak, creak" under his feet.
"I never imagined such a powerful figure was hiding in New York."
Butcher fished a crushed pack of cigarettes from his pocket and pulled out a bent one, sticking it in his mouth.
"He knows what we're doing and knows we're hiding in this dump of a shipyard in the East District."
"He dumped the corpse at our doorstep and even left a note, for fuck's sake."
Mothers Milk gripped the barrel of his gun, his palms slick with cold sweat.
"That means that guy has been watching us from the shadows, Butcher."
"Every move we make is no different than dancing naked in his eyes."
"Fuck, this feeling is so frustrating."
Mothers Milk spat a glob of bloody saliva at the corpse on the floor in frustration.
"Butcher, could this be a trap set by Vought? Like that lunatic Homelander?"
Frenchie chimed in from the side, still fiddling with the bloody needle-nose pliers.
"No. If John wanted to kill us, he'd just use his lasers to melt this warehouse and us along with it."
Butcher lit the cigarette and took a deep drag; the acrid smoke made him cough softly.
"He doesn't need to act like a thief and deliver a corpse to our door in the middle of the night."
"This is a third-party rogue, someone operating outside of Vought and us."
"A monster with terrifying strength and an exceptionally clear mind."
The air in the room felt heavy as lead, making it hard for the three of them to breathe.
Even the sound of the yellowed exhaust fan spinning on the ceiling seemed unusually heavy.
"So what exactly does he want? To use us as his pawns?"
Mothers Milk rubbed his aching wrists.
"He's making us take the fall for killing Translucent. Vought will track us down here sooner or later."
Butcher exhaled a thick cloud of blue smoke that swirled in the dim light.
"He's forcing us to make a choice, Mothers Milk."
"Either take this corpse and fight Vought to the death."
"Or, honestly follow his lead and become his puppets."
Frenchie shivered and rubbed his arms, which were covered in goosebumps.
"This is really something—we've become the bugs caught between two demons."
Just at that moment, when the tension was about to explode.
"Beep—beep—beep—"
A monotonous electronic sound suddenly rang out from inside the dirty black trench coat on Butcher's chest.
In the deathly silent warehouse, the sound was as jarring as a gunshot.
Mothers Milk racked the slide of his shotgun with a "clack," pointing it at Butcher's chest.
"Butcher, what is that sound coming from you?"
Frenchie also recoiled in fear, clutching the pliers tightly in his hand.
Butcher crushed the cigarette butt in his hand, his expression grim.
He reached into his inner pocket and fumbled around for a long time.
He pulled out a black metal communicator, the size of a fingernail, with a faint red light blinking on it.
It was the exact one that Lin Yuan had left at Hughie's house last night.
"This thing... when was it slipped into my pocket?"
Butcher stared at the communicator in his hand, cold sweat soaking his undershirt in an instant.
He had gone to Hughie's house yesterday, but he hadn't noticed anyone getting close to him at all.
This meant that if that mysterious person had wanted his life, he would have been a corpse yesterday.
"Butcher, are you going to answer it?" Mothers Milkswallowed, his voice cracking.
Butcher gritted his teeth so hard that the muscles in his jaw bulged.
He pressed his thumb hard against the red button on the communicator.
"Hello? Whoever you are, this spooky act of yours really pisses me off."
Butcher roared at the small metal piece in a gruff voice.
There was a half-second of silence from the communicator, followed by a burst of harsh static.
"Shhh... shhh..."
Then, a man's voice, heavily synthesized, slowly came through.
The voice sounded deep and raspy, like two pieces of sandpaper rubbing against each other.
"Mr. Butcher, don't be so angry early in the morning; it's bad for your liver."
The other person's attitude was surprisingly calm, even carrying a hint of elusive mockery.
Butcher let out a cold snort and ground the coffee stain on the floor into a mess with his rough boot sole.
"Cut the crap! Did you kill Translucent?"
On the other end of the line, Lin Yuan was sitting in a luxurious office in Vought Tower, leisurely peeling an orange.
The juice from the orange peel splattered into his fingernails, sticky and messy.
"Yes, I killed him. What, are you satisfied with the way he died?"
Lin Yuan's voice, filtered through the voice changer, became devoid of warmth, like a cold, emotionless machine.
"I'm satisfied with your mother's head!" Butcher cursed loudly.
"You piece of trash, you dumped the body at my doorstep and even alerted Vought's helicopters!"
"You want us all to be buried with that naked pervert, for fuck's sake!"
Butcher bellowed, the veins in his neck bulging as if they were about to burst.
"Don't be so hasty, Mr. Butcher. Haven't I already led the helicopters away?"
Lin Yuan popped a slice of orange into his mouth; the juice burst between his teeth, sweet and delicious.
"If I hadn't done a little something behind the scenes, do you think you'd be able to chat safely in that dump of a warehouse right now?"
Butcher paused.
He turned to look at Mothers Milk, who tilted his head to listen, then shook his head blankly.
"Butcher, the sound of the helicopters outside does seem to be gone."
Mothers Milk whispered.
Mothers Milk was gesturing wildly on the side, his lips moving as he signaled to Butcher in a very low voice.
"Ask him if he's a high-level executive inside Vought!"
Frenchie also leaned in, his eyes shining like two lightbulbs.
"Ask him if he has any more of those metal rods that killed Translucent; that thing is a work of art!"
Butcher glared at them, signaling the two idiots to shut up.
He let out a cold snort into the phone.
"My crew wants to know, you rat who can't see the light of day, are you a guard dog kept in Vought's inner sanctum?"
A dismissive scoff came from the other end of the line.
"Vought? That circus that only knows how to sell drugs and make movies? Do they deserve to keep me?"
"Don't compare me to that bunch of drug-addicted freaks."
Lin Yuan said indifferently, his voice sounding even weirder through the distortion of the voice changer.
Butcher took a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down.
He knew he was now talking to a terrifying monster capable of easily toying with Vought.
"What exactly do you want?" Butcher gritted his teeth.
"If you want to use this corpse to threaten us, you've got the wrong people."
"At worst, I'll just go surrender to Vought right now and implicate you, the rat behind all this, along with us!"
Hearing Butcher's bluff, Lin Yuan chuckled softly in front of the bar.
"Surrender? Mr. Butcher, do you think Vought would listen to the defense of a wanted criminal?"
"In John's eyes, mortals are just ants on the ground. Do you think he'd sit down and listen to your reasoning?"
"As long as I say you killed Translucent, your entire family will be reduced to ashes within five minutes."
Lin Yuan's voice was like a cold needle, piercing Butcher's heart once again.
The knuckles of the fingers holding the communicator turned white, even making a "crack" sound.
He knew the other party was telling the truth.
Vought never reasoned; they only believed in violence.
"If that's the case, then why did you call?"
Butcher spat a glob of bloody saliva on the floor, his tone softening.
"To watch us make fools of ourselves?"
"Of course not."
Lin Yuan shifted into a more comfortable position in the large leather chair.
"I said, I'm here to discuss a partnership."
"You hate Vought, you hate John, and you want to chop that flying giant baby into pieces."
"And I happen to have the same interest."
Butcher's pupils constricted.
"You want to kill Homelander too? You're not with Vought?"
"Who I am is not important."
Lin Yuan said indifferently on the other end of the phone.
"What matters is that only I can provide you with the inside scoop on compound v, and only I can help you evade Vought's pursuit."
"Even more, only I can let you truly see the day Homelander bleeds."
Butcher looked at Translucent's corpse on the floor.
A powerhouse who could easily take out Translucent and move freely within the building.
Indeed, he had the leverage to say such things.
"Then what do I need to pay? Mr. Butcher."
"There's no such thing as a free lunch in this world."
"Alright, Mr. Butcher, you're a smart man."
Lin Yuan stood up in front of the bar and tossed the remaining orange peels into the trash can.
"My request is very simple."
"From now on, The Boys must listen to me."
"I want you to be the dogs in the shadows and help me bite those disobedient superhumans of Vought to death, one by one."
"Listen to you? Wouldn't I just be escaping the wolf's den only to enter the tiger's mouth?"
A flash of defiance crossed Butcher's eyes; he didn't want to give up control so easily.
"Tigers have no interest in playing mind games with bugs, Mr. Butcher."
Lin Yuan replied from the other end of the phone.
"I only want results; I don't care about your lives at all."
"As long as that bunch of garbage in spandex is cleaned up, I don't care what means you use."
"You want revenge, and I want the rules in this city. We both get what we need, right?"
Lin Yuan's use of "right?" sounded particularly ironic in the silent, derelict warehouse.
Butcher gripped his fists so tightly that his nails dug into his flesh, drawing a few drops of blood.
He felt like he was standing on the edge of a cliff, with nowhere left to retreat.
"What if I refuse?"
Butcher made his final stand.
A low, cold laugh came from the other end of the line, followed by a harsh static sound.
"Refuse? You can try, Mr. Butcher."
"But I guess you wouldn't want to know the consequences of refusing me; that would be far more painful than dying at John's hands."
"Translucent was the welcome gift I gave you. Now, we can discuss our partnership, Mr. Butcher."
Chapter 14: Hughie's Choice, Becoming Lin Yuan's Pawn
Butcher gripped the black communicator tightly in the dark, abandoned warehouse, his knuckles turning white from the force.
Before he could ask another question, a "beep—beep—" busy signal came from the receiver.
The other party hung up decisively, without a shred of hesitation.
On the other side of New York.
In a dilapidated cafe by the Hudson River.
The wooden tables here were covered in a layer of sticky grease, giving off the charred smell of inferior coffee beans.
A green-bottle fly landed on the edge of a dusty sugar jar, making an irritating buzzing sound.
Hughie sat uneasily on a wobbly plastic chair.
His hands clutched a disposable paper cup tightly, his fingernails already having poked several small holes in the rim.
Warm water slowly seeped through his fingers, feeling sticky.
His forehead was covered in fine beads of sweat, and even his glasses were fogged up.
"Hughie, you're shaking like a dead pig fresh out of a freezer, seriously."
Lin Yuan sat elegantly opposite him, holding a small plastic spoon, stirring his black coffee leisurely.
He was wearing a plain casual suit today, his hair washed clean, devoid of the pungent smell of hair gel from last night.
Hughie swallowed hard, his Adam's apple bobbing violently beneath the skin of his thin neck.
"You... how did you know I was here? Did you put surveillance in my house last night?"
Hughie's voice was very small, carrying an unmistakable tremor.
He hadn't slept all night; every time he closed his eyes, he saw A-Train's legs snapped into a V-shape, and the sky full of blood mist.
"I don't have the spare time to monitor you."
Lin Yuan spat, casually tossing the spoon onto the table with a sharp "clack."
"The IP address of your crappy computer is as exposed as if it were naked in Vought's security backend."
"I just looked it up, and found you here."
Lin Yuan pulled a thick kraft paper file bag from his black leather bag.
The opening was tightly wrapped with cotton thread, and it was stained with a small, dried, blackened patch of dark red blood.
"Thud."
The file bag was thrown heavily onto the sticky table, making the sugar jar jump.
"What is this?"
Hughie shrank his shoulders back in fear, his eyes full of terror.
"Vought's confidential files, regarding the human experimentation records at the Sage Grove Center."
Lin Yuan gently scratched the seal of the file bag with his fingernail.
"And all the public relations documents covering up super-human crimes over the past decade."
Hughie stared at the file bag, his palms slick with sweat, losing the strength to even hold his cup.
"You... why are you showing me this? I'm just a clerk selling second-hand electronics!"
"I want a peaceful life, I don't want to participate in the war between you monsters!"
He lowered his voice, almost snarling through gritted teeth, his eyes bloodshot.
Lin Yuan sneered, looking at Hughie's cowardly appearance with a flash of mockery in his eyes.
"A peaceful life?"
"Hughie, do you think you still have a peaceful life now, seriously?"
"A-Train's leg was broken last night, and Vought's legal and Public Relations Department are scouring the streets like mad dogs looking for clues."
Lin Yuan leaned forward, a faint scent of tobacco blowing directly onto Hughie's face.
"Robin's name is already on their first screening list, because she is the only survivor."
Upon hearing the name "Robin," Hughie's body stiffened abruptly.
Images of Robin's soaked dress from last night flashed through his mind, along with her face, distorted by crying.
"They... will they kill Robin?"
Hughie's voice began to tremble, his teeth chattering.
"Kill her? No, no, no, Vought does things much more artistically than just killing."
Lin Yuan tapped the file bag on the table.
"They will first frame Robin with a charge of'schizophrenia' or 'drug overdose.'"
"Then they'll lock her in some shady mental asylum, feeding her compound v like it's her daily meal."
"Until she becomes a drooling lump of flesh, and eventually dies silently."
Every word from Lin Yuan was like a cold knife, carving deeply into Hughie's heart.
Hughie's eyes widened, the corners of his eyes red and terrifying from congestion.
"This... this is impossible... they are superheroes..."
"Superheroes?"
Lin Yuan acted as if he had heard the most ridiculous joke in the world.
"Superheroes take a dump on stage, and there are hundreds and thousands of people lining up to lick it clean; that is Vought."
"Do you really think that giant baby wrapped in the Stars and Stripes is a saint?"
Lin Yuan untied the string of the file bag, pulled out a bloody photo of a victim, and threw it in front of Hughie.
In the photo, the girl's thigh was twisted into a pretzel, her eyes had popped out, and her death was miserable.
"This is the girl who was killed by A-Train the year before last; Vought's Public Relations Department spent ten thousand dollars to shut her parents' mouths."
"Robin was able to survive entirely because I happened to be passing by last night and blocked it."
Lin Yuan pointed at his chest with his thumb.
"But good luck won't happen every day, Hughie."
Hughie looked at the gruesome corpse in the photo, and his stomach churned violently again.
He covered his mouth, nearly vomiting in the cafe.
"Then what can I do? What do I have to fight them with?"
Hughie completely broke down, tears and snot streaming out, smearing his mouth.
"I'm just an ordinary person, I can't even crush a soda can!"
Lin Yuan handed him a tissue, his tone finally softening a bit.
"So, I found a way for you to protect yourself."
He pulled out the pre-written recommendation letter for the Vought Public Relations Department from his pocket and slid it in front of Hughie.
The corner of the letterhead was printed with a gold-stamped Vought emblem, emitting a hypocritical glow in the dim cafe.
"Go to Vought, work as a clerical staff."
"Ashley is currently short of lackeys, and she will be very happy to accept you, this 'honest person.'"
Lin Yuan looked at Hughie, his eyes as deep as a stagnant pool.
"You need to be my eyes inside, help me keep an eye on the flow of those documents, and the movements of the upper management."
Hughie looked at the letter as if he were looking at an invitation to hell.
"I... I'll be your mole? If this is discovered, Homelander will tear me apart alive!"
Mothers Milk was gesturing wildly on the side, lips moving, whispering to Butcher in a very low voice.
"Ask him if he is actually a high-level executive inside Vought!"
Frenchie also leaned in, his eyes bright as two light bulbs.
"Ask him if he still has any of those metal rods that killed Translucent; that thing is simply a work of art!"
Butcher glared at them, signaling the two idiots to shut up.
He gave a cold snort over the phone.
"My team members want to know, are you, this shady rat, the electric fence Vought keeps in its inner courtyard?"
A sneer of disdain came from the other end of the phone.
"Vought? That circus that only knows how to sell drugs and make movies, are they worthy of keeping me?"
"Don't compare me to that bunch of drugged-up freaks."
Lin Yuan said indifferently, his voice sounding even weirder under the distortion of the voice changer.
"Listen to you? Wouldn't I just be jumping out of the wolf's den and into the tiger's mouth?"
A flash of spirit flickered in Butcher's eyes; he didn't want to hand over control so easily.
"Tigers have no interest in playing mind games with bugs, Mr. Butcher."
Lin Yuan replied from the other end of the phone.
"I only want results; I don't care about your lives at all."
"As long as I can clear out that bunch of spandex-wearing trash, I don't care what means I use."
"You want revenge, I want the rules in this city; we each get what we need, right?"
Lin Yuan's "right?" sounded particularly ironic in the silent abandoned warehouse.
"Do you think I'm a dead man, Hughie?"
Lin Yuan tapped the tabletop impatiently with his knuckles.
"A-Train crashed into me last night, and I didn't even lose a hair; do you think John can do anything to me?"
Hughie looked up abruptly, his eyes full of shock.
"Last night... was it really you? Are you really The Deep?"
"But in the videos online, you clearly couldn't even beat Queen Maeve..."
"The garbage online, watching too much will make you as brain-dead as A-Train."
Lin Yuan spat with some disgust.
"I'm just playing the clown they need, seriously."
"Now, the clown doesn't want to play anymore; I want to change the way of playing."
Lin Yuan braced his hands on the table, leaning slightly forward, his massive shadow instantly engulfing Hughie.
"Follow me, and Robin can live a stable life in the background, and you can also get a large hush money payment."
"If you don't listen to me, within three days, you and Robinwill be eaten to the bone by rats in the sewer, leaving no corpse."
This threat was as straightforward as a big rock, smashing directly onto Hughie's forehead.
Hughie gasped for air, his eyes fixed on that recommendation letter.
His hands were tightly twisted together under the table, his fingernails digging several white marks into the back of his hands.
He hated Vought, hated the beast that almost crushed Robin.
But he was more afraid of death.
But looking at Lin Yuan's eyes, as cold as ice shards, he understood that he had no right to say no.
"If... if I help you, can Robin really be safe?"
Hughie looked up, his voice hoarse as if sand were rubbing together.
"When I say something, it's set in stone, right?"
Lin Yuan sat back in his chair and took a sip of his coffee.
"As long as you are obedient, not a single hair on Robin's head will be harmed."
Hughie turned his head to look outside again; the sunlight shone on the street, but it couldn't shine into this dark cafe.
He thought of how miserable Robin looked when she woke up crying from a nightmare this morning.
He thought of his meager salary that couldn't even cover the rent every month.
In this man-eating New York, if mortals want to survive, they must attach themselves to a more powerful demon.
"Okay."
Hughie closed his eyes and took a deep breath of the air, which smelled of burnt coffee.
"I'll do it."
When he opened his eyes again, there was finally a hint of determination in those eyes that were usually timid.
He reached out with his trembling right hand and grabbed the heavy recommendation letter on the table.
"Seriously, this is the choice a smart person should make."
Lin Yuan grinned, revealing a row of stark white teeth.
"Alright, since you've taken the letter, wipe away your tears; don't act like a resentful woman."
Lin Yuan pulled a stack of green bills from his pocket and slapped them on the table, making a heavy thud.
"Take this money and buy your girlfriend some decent clothes, and by the way, move to a safer apartment."
"Don't live in that dump where the door lock doesn't even work anymore; it's really pathetic."
Hughie looked at the thick stack of bills, feeling a bit at a loss.
"This... this money..."
"It's your operational expenses; don't act like you've never seen money before."
Lin Yuan brushed the dust off his suit and stood up with a long stride.
His massive figure stood still in the small cafe, and the old men drinking coffee around him subconsciously lowered their heads.
In this world filled with capital and drugs, power is the coarsest yet most effective truth.
Lin Yuan patted Hughie's thin shoulder condescendingly.
The force was a bit too much, patting Hughie so hard his bones creaked.
"Tomorrow morning at nine, go to Vought Tower to report."
"Ashley will personally meet you downstairs; put away that pathetic look of someone about to wet their pants, understand?"
Hughie stuffed the letter and money into the inside pocket of his clothes and nodded, biting the bullet.
"I understand, I will cooperate."
Lin Yuan spat with satisfaction and buttoned his suit jacket.
He turned and walked toward the door, his leather boots making heavy echoes on the blackened wooden floor.
"Hughie, remember my words."
Lin Yuan pushed open the greasy glass door of the cafe and left a cold sentence behind.
"Listen more and watch more inside, and stop trying to be clever, otherwise your girlfriend will really end up as minced meat next time."
The glass door slammed shut behind Lin Yuan with a "clang," emitting a harsh, trembling sound.
Hughie sat alone on the plastic chair, the cup of warm water in his hand completely cold.
He touched the stiff recommendation letter inside his clothes; from start to finish, he felt his heart beating like a war drum in his chest.
"Robin... I will definitely protect you."
Hughie bit his lip and whispered.
He slowly stood up, pushed the door open, and stumbled into the somewhat blinding sunlight outside.
And the cold wind from across the ocean was already blowing in secret toward this land full of sin.
Lin Yuan stood at the street corner, watching Hughie's thin back gradually disappear into the crowd.
In his mind, the system's notification sound rang again at the right time.
"Ding."
[Successfully recruited key plot character: HughieCampbell.]
[Current faction deviation significantly increased.]
[Obtained evolution points: 8,000.]
Hearing this sound, the smile on the corners of Lin Yuan's mouth deepened.
"Seriously, the protagonist of the original work has become my pawn; this deal is really worthwhile."
Lin Yuan fished out a flattened cigarette from his pocket and lit it in his mouth.
Taking a deep drag, the acrid smoke swirled in his throat before slowly being exhaled from his nostrils.
Now, the eyes and ears inside Vought Tower have been planted.
Butcher and that bunch of mad dogs from The Boys have also started to scramble for their own survival.
The two most useful pawns have already obediently landed on the chessboard squares he designed.
Next, it's time to go see if that giant baby, known as the "Savior," has finished crying in his office.
Lin Yuan casually flicked the cigarette butt into the sewer next to him.
A faint "sizzle" came from the sewer, and the spark was extinguished in the dirty ditch.
He pulled up his collar and strode toward the golden building of Vought headquarters.
The Gravity Field around him fluctuated silently, making him feel that every step he took was incredibly easy.
He looked up at the skyscraper flashing with golden patina in the sunlight.
"Alright, the first act of the good show has begun; Assistant Hughie, see you tomorrow."
Chapter 15: The Deep's First Public Relations, A Massive Image Turnaround
The somewhat blinding sunlight outside the coffee shop spilled onto Lin Yuan's freshly pressed navy blue suit.
Hughie gripped that letter tightly, head bowed like a thief, and disappeared into the crowd with an unsteady gait.
Lin Yuan spat a mouthful of dirty water mixed with grit onto the ground, turned around, and strode into the underground garage.
The doors of the private elevator slid shut with a "whoosh," reflecting his face, which was slathered in a thick layer of foundation, on the metallic surface.
It was damn uncomfortable.
The foundation applied by the Vought Internationalmakeup artist was sticky, making the skin on his face itch incessantly.
The tag on the back collar of his suit hadn't been trimmed properly; it was stiff and kept scraping against the back of his neck.
He raised his hand and scratched the back of his neck hard, scraping off a few flakes of dead skin mixed with foundation.
The elevator ascended rapidly, and the faint sensation of weightlessness made his stomach feel slightly bloated.
"Ding."
The elevator doors opened backstage at the press conference hall.
As soon as he stepped out of the elevator, Lin Yuan heard a sharp, ear-piercing wail.
Ashley was standing in front of the vanity; she had chewed three of her fingernails down to the quick, and there was blood on her thumb.
"The Deep! Oh my god! You're finally back!"
She shrieked and lunged at him, her bloodshot eyes nearly popping out of their sockets.
"Translucent went missing last night, and even his GPS tracker was removed!"
"A-Train is still lying in the intensive care unit, his legs snapped like dry twigs!"
Ashley frantically tugged at her messy wig, a smell of overnight garlic wafting from her mouth.
"Madelyn has gone insane! Those old fogeys on the board are dumping stock like crazy!"
"Our stock price has fallen by a full four percent. If this continues, we'll all be fired and out on the streets!"
Lin Yuan tilted his head away in disgust, avoiding her foul-smelling breath.
"Ashley, stop yapping like some ignorant stray dog, seriously."
He brushed away Ashley's saliva-stained fingers and tugged at his tie.
"It's just one dead and one incapacitated, what's there to panic about?"
Ashley stamped her feet in anxiety, her high heels clicking loudly against the hard tiles.
"You don't know a damn thing! There are over a hundred media outlets out there; they're starving wolves who will eat you alive!"
"If you go up there and pull that same old crap about saving sea turtles, John will laser you in half on the spot!"
Lin Yuan sneered and walked over to the full-length mirror to check himself out.
"Alright then, let's try something fresh today."
He tightened the knot of his tie with his fingers, the pressure making his Adam's apple bob violently.
The alloy doors leading from backstage to the press conference stage slowly slid open.
The white light from the camera flashes outside surged in an instant like a tsunami, overwhelming everything.
The intense light shone onto the halogen lamps overhead, baking the accumulated dust on the stage and emitting a burnt rubber smell.
Lin Yuan smiled, strode out with his long legs, and walked onto the podium at a leisurely pace.
Hundreds of cameras below flashed frantically with a "click-clack" sound, the white light making one's eyelids twitch.
Countless dark microphones, like clusters of rusty iron spikes, pointed directly at his face.
"Mr. Deep! Is it true that Translucent was kidnapped by terrorists?"
"Mr. Deep! There are rumors that A-Train destroyed half a city block due to a drug overdose; is this true?"
"Have Vought International's superheroes lost their ability to protect the public?"
The reporters below, like a flock of vultures that had caught the scent of blood, roared loudly, spittle flying everywhere.
Lin Yuan rested his hands on the concrete edge of the podium.
The marble surface was a bit sticky, stained with half a cup of sweet cola residue left by someone.
He didn't grin like a fool as he used to; instead, he leaned forward slightly, his expression as steady and cold as raw iron.
"Quiet down, everyone."
Lin Yuan's voice, amplified through the microphone, resonated deep and powerful throughout the hall.
That powerful Viltrumite aura pressed down silently in the air.
The noise from the crowd inexplicably died down within seconds.
The reporters were stunned, looking at The Deep on stage—so cold and serious, devoid of his usual flippancy—and felt a bit confused.
"Regarding Translucent, he is currently executing a top-secret national security mission for Vought International."
Lin Yuan tugged at his collar, his voice steady and calm.
"So, put away your ridiculous speculations; Vought's heroes never back down, right?"
"What about A-Train? He shattered both his legs!"
A bald male reporter shouted at the top of his lungs.
"Yes, Reggie is injured, severely."
Lin Yuan's eyes dimmed just the right amount, revealing a hint of weary sadness.
"He was attempting to intercept an out-of-control super-criminal and unfortunately collided with an obstacle while moving at high speed."
"Superheroes are human too; we are flesh and blood, and we also bleed and fall on the path to saving lives."
He spoke these words with utmost sincerity, the colloquialisms making them sound unadorned and authentic.
The reporters below looked at each other, their prepared biting remarks suddenly stuck in their throats.
"But that accident caused massive property damage to the South District! Who will guarantee the safety of civilians?"
A bespectacled female reporter stood up and asked relentlessly, the tip of her pen scratching harshly against her paper.
An old, bearded reporter below interrupted her loudly, holding up a worn-out voice recorder.
"Mr. Deep! Is this foundation your own personal idea, or was it authorized by Vought's upper management?"
"As far as we know, Vought has never established this kind of unconditional direct compensation fund before!"
The old reporter's gaze was like a thorn, staring intently at Lin Yuan's flawless face.
Backstage.
Hearing this question, Ashley was so scared she ripped off her wig on the spot.
"Fuck! Why is that thorn in our side, old Merk, here! Cut the microphone immediately!"
Ashley shrieked at the sound engineer at the console, spittle splattering all over the mixing board.
The sound engineer hadn't even had a chance to press the red button.
Lin Yuan was already on stage, gently spreading his hands to the old reporter to signal everyone to calm down.
"I didn't expect everyone to be so interested in the origins of this foundation."
Lin Yuan's voice carried through the microphone across the venue, steady, even carrying a hint of self-deprecation.
"This is indeed my personal initiative; the Vought board hasn't had a chance to sign the documents yet, seriously."
"But I believe Ms. Madelyn and Stan Edgar will support me."
"Because the future of the Star Alliance Order is the shared safety of civilians and heroes, right?"
Lin Yuan's deft deflection.
Not only perfectly neutralized the difficult questions but also managed to place a lofty crown of justice on Vought in front of everyone.
The old reporter, Merk, opened his mouth, then finally sat back down sheepishly.
This was exactly the effect Lin Yuan was waiting for.
He curled his lips into a gentle yet firm smile and leaned forward slightly.
"The power and obligations of a superhero shouldn't just exist in front of the cameras; they should exist in the aftermath."
Lin Yuan pulled out a foundation agreement from his pocket that he had drafted overnight, stamped with his personal seal.
The agreement was in black and white, with a small red dot of ketchup from the sandwich he'd eaten in the garage earlier staining one corner.
"I, personally, Kevin Moskowitz, officially establish the'Star Alliance Order Civilian Safety Guarantee Foundation' today."
"I will contribute all the dividends from my church donations, with an initial injection of fifty million dollars."
"We will unconditionally fund and compensate all civilians affected by super-human accidents, including all victims of last night's South District incident."
Once these words were spoken.
The mouths of hundreds of reporters below opened wide in an instant, and a collective gasp echoed through the hall.
Fifty million?
The Deep, this guy, is actually paying out of his own pocket to compensate civilians?
This is the first compensation fund in the history of The Seven initiated and funded personally by a superhero!
"Mr. Deep! Are you representing Vought by bowing down to mortals?"
A snobbish male reporter asked loudly, his eyes filled with fanaticism.
"Bowing down? No, this isn't bowing down."
Lin Yuan met the male reporter's camera, his eyes clear and firm.
"This is responsibility; it is the weight we should bear when you call us gods, seriously."
"If we can't even see the suffering of mortals, then how are we any different from those statues up on high?"
"Clap, clap, clap."
In the back of the hall, someone started applauding first.
Immediately after, the applause was like a sudden storm, instantly sweeping through the entire press conference hall.
"Click, click, click!"
Countless flashbulbs went wild, erupting in blinding light on Lin Yuan's handsome, righteous face.
Those reporters who usually picked faults now looked at Lin Yuan with a hint of genuine admiration.
Lin Yuan smiled on stage and bowed slightly in acknowledgment.
His back was straight, but beneath that sharp suit, every inch of his muscle was as cold and hard as granite.
His super-hearing was monitoring the fluctuations of Vought stock in real-time.
"Beep, Vought International stock price decline narrowing."
"Beep, Vought International stock price starting a strong rebound, up by three percent."
Lin Yuan sneered inwardly.
These mortals are really easy to fool.
As long as you give them a little sweetness, make them think you're looking out for them.
They will worship you as their only true god.
Behind the curtain backstage.
Ashley held a tablet, her fingers swiping rapidly across the screen, drool almost dripping onto it.
"Oh my god! The stock is up! Public opinion has turned around!"
She shrieked in a frenzy, the bloodstain from her bitten thumb staining a small part of the screen red.
"The Deep has become 'The Seven's only conscience'! He's number one in web searches!"
She laughed so hard her jaw almost dislocated, her wig skewed to one side, looking ridiculous.
The press conference finally ended amidst the applause of the reporters.
Lin Yuan walked off the stage.
As soon as he pulled back the curtain, Ashley bumped into him, shoving the tablet directly into his arms.
"The Deep! You saved us all! You're truly famous now! Unbelievably famous!"
Her large mouth was stretched almost to her ears in a grin, her eyes shining like two lightbulbs.
Lin Yuan tossed the tablet onto the vanity, then grabbed a wet wipe to wipe off the thick layer of foundation on his face.
"Wipe it clean; it's damn sticky."
He casually flicked the dirty tissue onto Ashley's red-lipstick-smeared face, expressionless.
"Alright, Ashley, go ahead and merge A-Train's condolence payment bill in too."
Lin Yuan sneered, his eyes devoid of any warmth.
"Let Reggie sit in that wheelchair for a few more days, so he doesn't get confused and start running around the streets again."
Ashley, hit in the face by the tissue, didn't get angry; she quickly and obsequiously took the tissue and clutched it in her hand.
"I understand! I'll go do it right now! I'll make sure to keep the news of A-Train's recovery as low-key as possible!"
As she spoke, she used her fingertips to forcefully rip off the annoying tag on the back collar of Lin Yuan's suit.
"Rip."
The moment the tag was ripped off, Lin Yuan felt his neck finally relax quite a bit.
He looked up at the azure sky of New York outside the floor-to-ceiling windows.
"The first seed of the Star Alliance Order has been planted, hasn't it?"
Lin Yuan muttered to himself, his eyes as cold as a stagnant pool.
"Next, it's time to go buy off some more obedient allies, Ashley."
He strode away, leaving Ashley alone in the shadows of the hall, busy dealing with the upcoming media calls.
Chapter 16: Saving Timothy the Octopus, Recruiting a Marine Advisor
The blindingly bright magnesium flashes outside the press conference finally died out amidst a flurry of noise.
Lin Yuan, flanked by four burly, brutish-looking bodyguards in black, strode quickly through the red-carpeted corridor.
His leather boots made a dull "squelch" sound on the carpet, as if he were stepping on a patch of mud.
He raised a hand to tug at the warm tie that was choking him.
The inside of his collar was soaked in sweat, mixed with melted cheap foundation, sticking stickily to his neck.
A loose thread on the back collar of his suit was scratching him, making him shrink his neck.
It was so damn uncomfortable.
Lin Yuan pushed open the door to his luxurious office, which was carved from solid bronze.
"Bang."
The door closed silently behind him, shutting out the clamor of the reporters outside.
He tossed his suit jacket onto the leather sofa nearby.
Just as he walked to the wide desk carved from a single piece of mahogany, he smelled a fishy odor.
It was a salty, fishy stench mixed with crushed ice, light soy sauce, and wasabi, and it was extremely pungent.
In the very center of the desk sat a giant white porcelain seafood platter with a half-meter diameter.
A layer of crushed ice, nearly melted into water, was spread underneath, topped with several smelly oysters and thinly sliced sashimi.
And in the most conspicuous spot on the platter, a gray, palm-sized little octopus was huddled under half a lemon.
Its tentacles were wriggling desperately on the crushed ice, its suckers gripping the sour lemon peel tightly.
Timothy.
To think it was this little guy.
Looking at the shivering little octopus, the memories of the original work instantly surfaced in Lin Yuan's mind.
In the original work, this little guy was forced by Homelander to be swallowed alive by The Deep as fresh food.
The nauseating feeling of those slimy tentacles stuck in one's throat made one's stomach churn just thinking about it.
Lin Yuan walked over and sat down brazenly in the leather boss chair.
"Help... help... so cold... so sour..."
A very faint mental fluctuation suddenly rang out in his mind.
The voice was wet, carrying a trembling, fragmented static, vibrating directly in the depths of his mind.
Lin Yuan raised an eyebrow.
The Deep could originally communicate with marine life.
And now, he possessed the mental power of a Viltrumite, which was as strong as an iron wall.
This mental link became clear in an instant, and he could even feel the other party's subtle tactile sense of fear.
He reached out his large, slightly calloused hand and plunged it directly into the ice-water mixture.
"Don't... don't eat me... I have parasites on me... I don't taste good..."
The mental fluctuation instantly turned into a shrill scream, like a cat whose tail had been stepped on.
Timothy tried desperately to push Lin Yuan's fingers away with its tentacles, but couldn't budge them at all.
Using two fingers, Lin Yuan gently pinched Timothy and lifted it out of the sour ice water, like holding a rag.
The wet, slimy suckers instantly clamped tightly onto Lin Yuan's index finger, bone-chillingly cold.
"Shut up. If you keep yelling, I'll turn you into takoyaki right now, for real."
Lin Yuan snorted coldly in his mind, and his powerful mental pressure instantly pressed down like a mountain.
Timothy froze instantly, all its suckers retracting in a split second.
"You... you can hear me? Good person, deity, don't eat me!"
Its mental waves were filled with the ecstasy of surviving a disaster and disbelief.
Lin Yuan held it in the palm of his hand.
The layer of mucus on the little octopus covered his hand, making it slippery.
He strode over to the giant, high-tech saltwater aquarium embedded in the office wall.
This fish tank was over two meters high, circulating top-tier simulated ocean currents, and even had artificial coral reefs.
Lin Yuan reached out and gently placed Timothy into the warm, slightly salty seawater.
"Splash."
As soon as Timothy entered the water, its eight tentacles immediately spread out excitedly, spinning happily in the water.
It spat out a small puff of black ink, dyeing a small patch of the surrounding seawater black.
"Thank you! Thank you, kind person! I swear I will be your most loyal slave for the rest of my life!"
Timothy clung to the inside of the blast-proof glass, its two round compound eyes staring fixedly at Lin Yuan outside.
Lin Yuan pulled out a wet wipe and slowly wiped the mucus off his hand, taking the opportunity to pick out the ice fragments from under his fingernails.
"A slave? I don't need a slave with a few legs like you."
Lin Yuan walked to the fish tank and tapped his finger lightly on the blast-proof glass.
It made a muffled "thud-thud" sound.
"I want you to be my advisor, the Chief Advisor of the ocean."
Timothy tilted its head, its tentacles sucking back and forth on the glass, looking somewhat bewildered.
"An advisor? But I'm just an octopus. I only know how to catch crabs and hide from sharks."
"No, you're smart. Much smarter than those guys in tight suits outside."
Lin Yuan's voice came through the mental link, carrying an irresistible authority.
"Those old geezers at Vought have always thought 'The Deep' was just a piece of trash who only knows how to chat with seafood, right?"
"So today, let's prepare a nightmare for them that they'll never wake up from."
Timothy pressed half its body against the glass, its suckers deforming.
"Boss, what do you want me to do?"
"I want you to use your sonic communication ability to build an intelligence network."
Lin Yuan drew a long arc on the glass with his finger.
"Starting from New York Harbor, extending all the way to the entire American coastline."
"Every Seagull, every crab, every cod swimming in the dock must become my eyes."
"I want to know which smuggling ships are transporting things they shouldn't be every night."
"I want to know what shady, rotten things those people at Vought are doing in their coastal villas every day."
"But Seagulls are brainless, feathered beasts. They only recognize breadcrumbs, Boss."
Timothy scratched its head with two tentacles, looking troubled.
"If Seagulls are greedy, then feed them with rotten fish. Simple."
Lin Yuan sneered.
"My Star Alliance Foundation has plenty of money. Tomorrow, I'll have someone dump ten tons of rotten cod at the dock."
"I want to make every bird in New York Harbor my sentry on the rooftops."
"What about the crabs? They only know how to crawl sideways, and they're stupid as hell."
Timothy continued blowing bubbles in the water, its two eyes rolling non-stop.
"Crabs are on the seabed; their bodies are small and not easily discovered."
Lin Yuan tapped the glass lightly with his finger.
"I want them to crawl into the drainage pipes of Vought's underground laboratories."
"Use their claws to smell every drop of discharged wastewater to see if it smells like compound v."
"As soon as they smell that sweetness, they must report back to you immediately, understand?"
Hearing Lin Yuan's meticulous plan, Timothy was filled with admiration.
"Boss, you are even smarter than the most cunning orca, for real!"
"Once we cast this net, those people at Vought won't be any different from swimming naked in our eyes!"
It swayed its body frantically in the water, its tentacles sweeping a layer of sea sand off the rocks.
Lin Yuan withdrew his gravity.
The vortex subsided, and the water flow returned to calm.
Timothy swam to the very top of the fish tank.
Its head began to vibrate violently and rhythmically, releasing an extremely high-frequency bio-electromagnetic sound wave that mortals could not hear.
"Hum— hum— hum—"
This sound wave traveled along the tank's inlet and outlet pipes, at a speed several times faster than sound, instantly entering the underground drainage network of Vought headquarters.
Then it passed through the heavy blast-proof concrete sluice gates.
It plunged straight into the cold, dark deep-sea waters of New York Harbor.
Within just a few minutes.
Hundreds of stray Seagulls on the surface of New York Harbor suddenly stopped fighting over dead fish.
They circled in mid-air, flapping their wings, and looked in unison toward the Vought Golden Building.
Hundreds and thousands of rats in the sewers also stopped gnawing on rotten wood and poked out their wet noses one after another.
In the deep-sea waters.
Large schools of herring and several swimming great white sharks suddenly turned around and began to assemble toward the harbor.
This was the power of The Deep, and with the blessing of the New God's mental power, it reached everywhere.
Timothy was so excited in the fish tank that its color changed from gray to a faint red.
"Boss! The first batch of informants in New York Harborhas assembled, for real!"
It expressed its attitude somewhat proudly through mental waves.
"They are reporting to me that there is a container ship flying a foreign flag one kilometer away that seems a bit off."
Lin Yuan lit another cigarette.
The flame flickered in front of the floor-to-ceiling window, illuminating his face, which wore a hint of a playful smile.
Smoke puffed onto the blast-proof glass, blurring Timothy's eager compound eyes.
"Not right? What is on it, Timothy?"
Lin Yuan asked through the mental link.
"The seabirds say there is a sweet smell in the boxes, like some kind of blue potion."
"And the guards are holding guns and throwing human bones into the sea."
Lin Yuan exhaled a puff of blue smoke, a flash of bloodthirsty fanaticism in his eyes.
Blue potion.
compound v stock solution.
To think that this first cast of the net caught a big fish.
"Alright, Timothy."
Lin Yuan casually stubbed out his cigarette butt in a cactus pot nearby.
"Get all of our 'Deep Sea informants' moving and keep a close watch on that ship."
He lifted his foot and strode toward the door, his figure turning into a blur in an instant.
"For real, tonight, we're going to give this group of smugglers a gift they'll never forget for the rest of their lives."
Chapter 17: The Marine Intelligence Network, Ubiquitous Eyes and Ears
The ripples in the giant fish tank shimmered with a faint golden light under the dying rays of the sunset, and the slightly salty seawater gently lapped against the artificial coral reef.
Timothy's pair of round, compound eyes flickered with an unusual glimmer, and his head vibrated violently and at a high frequency within the water.
Silent bio-electromagnetic waves spread rapidly through the water, passing through the slick inner walls of the intake and drainage pipes, and surged into the deep underground drainage system of Vought Internationalheadquarters.
That vibration, bolstered by psychic power, surged like a tide, rushing into the deep and vast waters of New York Harbor within seconds.
Lin Yuan sat on the sofa nearby, eyes closed, clearly feeling a series of faint stinging sensations emanating from his cerebral cortex.
It was over ten thousand marine eyes and ears silently feeding him information, chaotic and noisy, like ten thousand repeaters broadcasting in his brain all at once.
He raised his hand to pick his nose, dug out a tiny speck of black gunk that smelled of hair gel, and casually wiped it under the coffee table.
"Fucking brain-stinging."
"Boss, Boss! The seabirds have sent word. A crate of slimy, rotten meat was delivered to Warehouse No. 4 this morning, for real."
Timothy's mental waves exploded in Lin Yuan's mind, the voice sounding wet, like two damp sponges rubbing frantically against each other.
"What rotten meat? Speak clearly, Timothy. I'm about to spit out the black coffee I just drank."
Lin Yuan snorted coldly in his mind and casually extinguished the cigarette butt in his hand.
"The Seagull says there's a Vought International Security Department logo on the crate, and it smells like a chimpanzee charred by lasers, for real."
Timothy swam back and forth in the tank, his eight tentacles making smacking sounds against the explosion-proof glass.
Lin Yuan frowned and used his fingernail to scratch a patch of scabbed dry skin on the back of his hand.
He used a bit too much force, and the dry skin was peeled right off, seeping a few bright red beads of blood.
"Charred chimpanzee?"
Unexpectedly, after that giant baby John finished venting in his office, he actually destroyed the evidence of the laboratory's test subjects.
This was just the beginning.
Only two days had passed.
Lin Yuan's invisible "Marine Intelligence Network" had already clamped tightly around the entire New York Harbor.
On Tuesday at 3:00 PM, Timothy reported: "There is a smuggling ship at Berth 6, with thirty sweaty mortals stuffed in the hold."
Lin Yuan couldn't be bothered and signaled for the sea snake to use seaweed to block the drainage valve at the bottom of the ship, just to keep them from running around.
On Wednesday at midnight, the dock Seagull reported: "On the roof of Warehouse No. 9, three guys in black suits are secretly moving explosion-proof iron crates onto a truck."
Lin Yuan directed hundreds of stray cats to turn the trash cans around the warehouse upside down, covering those bodyguards in rotten leftovers.
Also, the night before last, a luxury yacht was holding a party on the high seas, and the cod in the sea saw an acquaintance, for real.
Timothy waved two of his slimy tentacles, looking rather smug.
"Acquaintance? Who?"
Lin Yuan poured a glass of ice water, feeling a bit impatient.
"That senator who's always preaching religious doctrines on TV. He was barking like a dog on the deck with his bare ass exposed, for real."
"Did you get photos?"
Lin Yuan raised an eyebrow.
"A Seagull took advantage of them not paying attention and snatched one of their smartphones with its beak. It's buried in the sand right now."
"Alright, Timothy, have the sea crabs dig up the phone and let it dry. I'll be able to trade this thing for some pocket money sooner or later."
Lin Yuan curled his lips, feeling that this Marine Intelligence Network was indeed useful.
"Also, also! Yesterday at noon, a Vought Internationalsubmarine was conducting exercises at the bottom of the bay, for real."
"The submarine's propeller scratched a pregnant Great White Shark, and the Great White Shark was furious."
"That Great White Shark brought over a dozen companions and literally rammed the submarine's sonar probe crooked. It was so satisfying!"
Timothy swam rapidly in the tank, the seawater churning into rings of white foam.
"Tell the Great White Sharks to restrain themselves. Don't make too much noise; alerting the Pentagon wouldn't be fun."
Lin Yuan pointed at the fish tank, signaling it to be quiet.
"We need to focus on the smuggling ships, especially the cargo ships transporting compound v."
Now, thanks to Timothy's compilation and organization, every suspicious container ship could not escape Lin Yuan's control.
Every drop of blue wastewater discharged from beneath Vought Tower was sniffed out thoroughly by the crabs' claws.
Lin Yuan stretched in his leather chair, his joints making cracking sounds.
After this Viltrumite physical enhancement, not only was his strength boundless, but his energy was as vigorous as a bull in heat.
"Timothy, any fun news for tonight?"
He walked to the fish tank, looked at the little octopus playing with an empty soda can inside, and flicked the glass.
"Thump, thump."
Timothy was startled, quickly released his tentacles, and crawled out of the soda can.
"Boss! Big news! It's really a huge deal, for real!"
Its mental fluctuations became extremely intense in an instant, making Lin Yuan's temples throb.
"The crabs by Breakwater No. 12 sent word that a cargo ship flying the Panamanian flag is sneaking toward the harbor."
Timothy pressed against the glass, his two compound eyes bulging like two glass marbles.
Lin Yuan wiped the condensation off the glass with his sleeve, leaving a greasy smear.
"A cargo ship? There are hundreds of cargo ships at this dock every day. Why is this a big deal, for real?"
"No! That ship is different, Boss!"
Timothy was so anxious that he spat out a long string of white bubbles in the water.
"The cod in the sea say the water discharged from the bottom of that ship is sickeningly sweet!"
"That smell is exactly the same as those blue potions from the termite party last time. It's especially pungent!"
Lin Yuan's action of rubbing his fingernails stopped abruptly, and a red glint like a hunter eyeing prey flashed in his eyes.
Blue water.
The raw material for refining compound v.
Vought International had always claimed that compound vwas synthesized in top-secret laboratories within the country.
Unexpectedly, they were actually smuggling unrefined raw materials from overseas.
"What's the ship's name? What time does it dock?"
Lin Yuan's voice lowered in the mental link, carrying a cold chill.
"The Seagull says it's painted on the hull, called 'Nadezhda'. It's a Russian name."
"They are preparing to unload the cargo secretly at 2:00 AM, in the blind spot of Surveillance Camera No. 3, for real."
Timothy waved his tentacles, appearing exceptionally excited, his color turning an excited light pink.
"Also, two black vans with Vought International Security Department license plates have been waiting there for most of the day."
"The drivers are squatting by the side of the road eating rotten sandwiches, and they are spitting blood-stained toothpicks into the sea. The sea crabs saw it clearly."
"Boss, if we steal this raw liquid, will that old woman Madelyn be scared enough to wet her pants?"
Timothy blinked his compound eyes curiously in the water.
"I don't care if she wets her pants."
Lin Yuan walked back to the mahogany desk, opened the bottom drawer, and pulled out a pair of black half-finger tactical gloves.
The gloves had some oil stains and gave off a musty smell of machine oil.
"What I care about is that old guy Stan Edgar; his suspicion of me has been getting heavier lately."
"If we snatch this shipment tonight, not only can we cut off Vought International's lifeline, but we can also make them fight tooth and nail with Butcher and his pack of mad dogs."
"Let them fight each other; I'll just sit back and reap the rewards, for real."
Lin Yuan put on the gloves and clenched his fingers tightly, the leather gloves making a dry, rubbing sound.
Lin Yuan sneered and walked to the bar, pouring himself half a glass of whiskey.
The ice cubes clinked in the glass, as if tolling a bell for him.
"Two vans? Looks like this batch of raw material is quite substantial."
Lin Yuan downed the drink in one gulp, his throat feeling warm.
"To stabilize the stock price, Madelyn is planning to go all-in and secretly process new drugs."
He walked to the panoramic floor-to-ceiling window that was at least two meters wide.
The thick fog outside had already started to spread from the sea, shrouding the large cranes of New York Harbor in a gray mist.
The sound of a foghorn faintly drifted through the sea mist—low, slow, like a giant beast crawling in the darkness.
Lin Yuan placed the empty glass on the windowsill, the glass base scattering a small patch of accumulated dust on the sill.
He rubbed the window glass hard with his rough thumb.
The condensation on the glass was wiped away, revealing a small, clear view.
He looked down at the harbor berths hidden in the sea mist in the distance, his eyes as cold as ice shards.
"Boss, the sailors on that Russian ship are carrying heavy weapons. The Seagulls saw them unpacking the crates, for real."
"Heavy weapons? In the face of absolute power, that pile of scrap metal isn't even as good as a piece of tofu."
Lin Yuan tapped his own skull with his hand, producing a hard, metallic thud.
"My body, even cannons can't penetrate it now."
"If they dare to open fire tonight, I'll turn that ship, along with the people and cargo, into scrap metal, for real."
Lin Yuan straightened his clothes and brushed off the last of the tag fragments from his collar.
"Boss, will the harbor police be patrolling nearby tonight?"
Timothy clutched the coral stone tightly with two tentacles, looking a bit worried.
"Police? In the middle of the night, you can't even see a ghost at Berth 12, for real."
"Vought International stuffs them with so much dirty money every month just to make them close their eyes and sleep."
Lin Yuan sneered and stuffed the black mask into his pocket.
"Then... then what about that flying red-eyed giant baby? Will he fly over and cause trouble?"
Timothy shrank his head in the water, instinctively fearing Homelander's devastating heat vision.
"John? That idiot is probably curled up in his office questioning his life right now. Even if you gave him the guts, he wouldn't dare to go out tonight."
"Last time I crushed that brass handle with a single finger, now whenever he hears my footsteps, he has to clench his crotch, for real."
Lin Yuan spat disdainfully and threw the half-moldy orange from the desk into the trash can.
"Besides, even if something happens, isn't The Boys there to take the heat?"
"If anyone dies tonight, the only thing left at the scene will be the footprints of Butcher and his pack of mad dogs and a blood-stained warning letter."
"Alright, they're definitely taking the blame for this; no one can get out of it."
Lin Yuan pressed his wrists, his bones making a cracking sound that set one's teeth on edge.
"Boss, you really are the baddest and most powerful Deep Sea God I've ever seen, for real!"
Timothy frantically flapped his tentacles at the bottom of the tank, his eyes full of sycophancy.
"Stop sucking up to me. I'm just a concerned citizen seeking long-term stability."
Lin Yuan turned his head and looked at the thick sea fog that had started to spread over the dock outside the floor-to-ceiling window.
He pressed his sore wrists and grinned at Timothy in the fish tank.
"For real, the big fish is hooked. Timothy, have the crabs keep a close eye on that ship. I'm going to the dock to 'pick up the goods' myself tonight."
Chapter 18: Queen Maeve's Probing, Lin Yuan's Disguise
In the distance, at New York Harbor, a low whistle cut through the thick fog, drifting in just as expected.
Lin Yuan had just turned around, not yet having time to put away the half-bag of salted crackers on his desk.
"Bang!"
The heavy office door, carved from a single piece of mahogany, was suddenly and violently shoved open.
The hinges let out a teeth-gritting creak, and dust showered down from the doorframe.
Queen Maeve strode in, wearing a pair of red high heels splattered with mud.
Her face was full of indifference and exhaustion, dark circles hung faintly under her eyes, and her hair was a mess.
The air was instantly filled with the pungent, suffocating mixture of cheap gin and tar-heavy tobacco.
Timothy in the fish tank reacted instantly, darting into the depths of the artificial coral reef, revealing only a pair of wary little eyes.
"Impressive, Kevin. You're a huge celebrity across America now, aren't you?"
Maeve leaned against the desk, holding a chipped whiskey glass, and kicked the mahogany leg with the tip of her shoe.
The look she gave Lin Yuan was filled with undisguised mockery and scrutiny, as if she were looking at a monkey that had suddenly grown a brain.
In that instant, the expression on Lin Yuan's face changed abruptly, and his body hunched over slightly.
His eyes, originally cold, were instantly filled with panic and awkwardness, and he retreated half a step.
"Mae... Maeve? Why are you here? Do you need something from me?"
He stammered, rubbing his hands together nervously in front of him, perfectly portraying a cowardly little man who only wanted to protect himself.
"Can't I come see the 'only conscience' of The Seven just because I don't have anything to do?"
Maeve sneered, the ice in her glass clinking.
"Fifty million dollars, just like that. When did you save up so much private money? How come I didn't know about it?"
She took a step forward, forcing Lin Yuan to press his back firmly against the floor-to-ceiling window.
"I... I did that to protect myself, Maeve!"
Lin Yuan swallowed hard, waving his hands at her, his face full of panic.
"You don't know what John did to me in the office last night! He almost burned me to death on the desk!"
To sell the performance, Lin Yuan pointed to his wide-open collar.
Revealing the two swollen, red burn marks on his chest, which he had deliberately forced out using his Gravity Field.
Maeve looked at the two red marks, the corner of her eye twitching slightly.
Her hand tightened around the glass.
"John really laid a hand on you?"
"Of course he did! He's a lunatic! It's not like you just found that out today!"
Lin Yuan scratched his hair neurotically, shaking dandruff onto his shoulders.
"If I hadn't had a sudden inspiration this morning and started this damn foundation to stabilize the company's stock price..."
"Madelyn would have already sent me to feed the fish in the ocean by now!"
Lin Yuan covered his face with both hands, his body trembling like chaff, his voice filled with despair.
Maeve took a sip of her drink, the spicy liquid swirling in her throat.
The mockery on her face gradually faded, replaced by a deep exhaustion.
"Self-preservation? Then how come I heard that you crushed the solid copper handle of the company door into a pretzel last night?"
Maeve tapped her glass heavily against the desk, making a dull, hollow sound.
"And A-Train's broken leg. Reggie might be stubborn, but the look he gives you is no different than seeing a ghost."
"Kevin, tell your big sister the truth. Did you secretly inject yourself with second-generation compound v?"
Facing Maeve's renewed probing, Lin Yuan looked up, his face full of the bitterness of being wrongly accused.
"Crush the handle? That piece of junk handle was rusted to hell! You know what Vought's shoddy construction is like!"
Lin Yuan spat, his voice carrying a hint of hysterical dryness.
"As for Reggie! That's just a guilty conscience! He almost got caught smuggling compound v by me!"
"He thought I was going to snitch, so he panicked and hit a fire hydrant. What does that have to do with me?"
Lin Yuan slumped into his leather executive chair, shrinking into the backrest, looking somewhat frail.
"I'm just a loser who can talk to seafood. What do I have to fight them with, Maeve..."
Watching Lin Yuan's pathetic, good-for-nothing display, Maeve let out a deep sigh.
The vigilance in her eyes disintegrated in that instant, turning into the sorrow of shared misery.
In this building, who isn't just a toy in the hands of that flying giant baby?
In order to protect himself, The Deep had to empty his savings for PR, and was even burned to a crisp by John.
How is this experience any different from her girlfriend, who is lying in a hospital bed and could be silenced by John at any moment?
"Alright, stop playing the victim in front of me. It's annoying."
Maeve turned around and downed the remaining few drops of gin in her glass.
She walked over to Lin Yuan's side, reached out with a hand slightly calloused, and patted his solid shoulder heavily.
"In this dump, being obedient doesn't guarantee you'll live, but being disobedient guarantees you'll die."
Lin Yuan lowered his head, his body stiff, muttering an agreement.
"I know... I'll be obedient, Maeve."
"Take care of yourself, Kevin."
Queen Maeve left behind a cold sentence, stepping away with the harsh sound of her high heels, and pushed the door open to leave.
"Bang."
The mahogany door slammed shut again, and the cold air from the hallway was ruthlessly cut off by the door.
In the split second that the door closed and the lock clicked.
Lin Yuan's previously hunched back suddenly straightened, his bones popping.
He slowly raised his head, that face full of panic and cowardice.
In an instant, it became as cold and hard as eternal ice, his eyes devoid of any warmth.
"Splash."
Timothy crawled out from behind the small coral rock, his eight tentacles dancing wildly in the water.
"Boss! Your acting just now was so realistic! I almost thought you were going to wet your pants from that woman!"
Its mental waves were filled with fanatical worship.
Lin Yuan stood up from the executive chair, walked to the floor-to-ceiling window, and wiped away the lipstick mark Maeve had left behind with his coat sleeve.
"It's just acting. If I don't fool them, how am I supposed to close my net in the shadows?"
He sneered, looking at the fog-filled Breakwater No. 12 in the distance, where two faint searchlights were already glowing.
"Even Maeve couldn't sit still and came to probe me."
Lin Yuan slowly pulled the black mask onto his face, covering most of his cold, stern features.
"Timothy, we need to close this net cleanly tonight. Don't leave any traces."
He unlocked the floor-to-ceiling window, and the cold wind instantly whipped his black cloak, making it snap loudly.
"Notify the cod in the harbor, have them guide that Russian freighter to our favorite ambush spot."
Lin Yuan's feet left the ground, and his Gravity Fieldexpanded silently, enveloping his entire body.
"Boss, the Great White Shark says they're ready for a feast in the ocean!"
Timothy excitedly blew a large string of bubbles.
"A feast? Alright, everyone eats their fill tonight. Don't let a single one of them get back to shore alive."
Lin Yuan flickered, instantly transforming into a silent meteor, piercing into the thick white fog of the bay.
"Boss, are you going to throw those sailors into the sea yourself tonight?"
Timothy's mental wave whispered in the earpiece.
"Throwing them into the sea is too good for them, Timothy. What I want is the box in their hands."
Lin Yuan traveled through the wind, his voice as cold as ice shards.
"That is the nutrient for upgrading my body. Whoever dares to touch it will be sent to the sewers to feed the rats."
The sea fog grew thicker, obscuring the moonlight and the massive black silhouette of the ship slowly docking at Breakwater No. 12.
"Boss, those two trucks with Vought security plates have turned off their headlights."
Timothy's mental communication came through again.
"Lights off? I didn't expect them to be so professional, knowing to take precautions."
Lin Yuan stopped in mid-air, hiding in the shadow of a massive tower crane.
"What are the drivers of those two trucks doing now?"
"They're eating pickles, the seabirds say, and they also spat a few bloody cigarette butts on the ground."
"Alright, then tonight, I'll go give these pickle-eating idiots a midnight snack they'll never forget."
Lin Yuan pulled hard on the metal gloves in his pocket, his knuckles cracking loudly.
His gaze pierced through the thick white fog, locking onto the Russian freighter below that had already begun to anchor.
"Boss, Butcher and his crew are also heading this way. They brought heavy weapons, the Seagull saw it."
There was a hint of excitement in Timothy's voice.
"Butcher? That old bastard has a sharp nose."
Lin Yuan sneered, pulling the black mask up completely to cover the bridge of his nose.
"Butcher is cursing over there. He's complaining that the explosives Frenchie brought are too damp to ignite."
Timothy reported the profanities he had overheard in a low voice.
"That guy Frenchie, his head is full of hallucinogens all day. Bringing damp explosives fits his intelligence perfectly."
"What about Mothers Milk? Didn't he try to break up the fight?"
Lin Yuan asked casually to relieve the itchiness caused by a loose thread on his suit chest.
"Mothers Milk is busy stuffing his Bible into his boots. He says there's a god watching him from the sky tonight. It's hilarious."
"A god? I am their god tonight."
Lin Yuan sneered, tightening his black leather gloves again.
"Boss, that little guy named Hughie didn't come. He stayed home with his girlfriend. What a coward!"
Timothy said with some contempt.
"He's right not to go. If he came here, a stray bullet could turn him into mush. How pathetic."
"Him staying put and going to work at the company tomorrow is his greatest use."
Lin Yuan said indifferently, his gaze sweeping coldly over the black outlines on the beach.
He hid his body behind an iron beam.
"Tonight, this Breakwater No. 12 is destined to see the blood of quite a few mortals."
He muttered, his eyes as cold as a stagnant pool.
"Timothy, have the Great White Shark ready. As soon as you see anyone fall into the sea, tear them apart and drag them into the abyss immediately, understand?"
"Understood! Boss! Tonight's seawater is destined to be bright red!"
Timothy replied fanatically.
"Boss, the leader on that Russian ship is starting to urge them on. He's cursing the driver as a pig in Russian."
"Russian? That bird language sounds so jarring."
"The driver says if they don't hurry, Vought's police helicopters will be sounding alarms in the sky."
"Let them urge. The helicopters have already been diverted to another district by Ashley's people tonight."
"Boss, you've calculated everything perfectly. In this world, who else could be your opponent?"
Timothy hugged a rock in the water, prostrating himself in worship.
Lin Yuan pressed his wrists, his bones popping like beans in the cold wind.
He looked at the black-robed crowd below who had already disengaged their safety catches, a wild, boundless smile appearing on the corner of his mouth.
"Right then, who should fire the first shot?"