Chapter 59: There's No Possibility of Failure in This, OK?
"When you leave, remember to open this iron cage," Xia Shang said. A transparent tentacle extended from his palm, instantly piercing Kimiko's right shoulder and sucking her blood. One hundred milliliters, which was a quarter of a normal human's blood donation, was enough. After several breaths, Xia Shang met the conditions for fusion.
"Hiss!" Kimiko, sensing the pain, crouched on the ground on all fours, hissing at Xia Shang like a wounded wild cat.
Having obtained what he wanted, Xia Shang didn't waste any more words and turned to leave under the gaze of Hughie and the other two.
The silent atmosphere in the Dungeon only broke when Hughie spoke, after his figure had completely disappeared from their line of sight.
"I say we should hurry and find the compound V, and then open this iron cage when we leave."
However, as he spoke, Frenchie had already opened the iron cage.
The moment the iron cage was opened, Kimiko pounced on Mother's Milk like a wild beast. Mother's Milk instinctively raised his arm to block in front of him. With a tearing sound, flesh and blood splattered, and three blood marks were scratched onto Mother's Milk's arm.
However, Kimiko then abandoned Mother's Milk before her and ran towards the mangled flesh not far away.
Watching Kimiko frantically tear at the mangled flesh on the ground, Frenchie finally realized he had released a monster.
Soon, Hughie noticed Kimiko's attention had shifted back to them. The three quickly hid inside the iron cage, and Mother's Milk pressed firmly against the doorframe. After multiple failed attacks, Kimiko gave up on the three and ran towards the exit.
Seeing Kimiko leave, they finally breathed a sigh of relief.
"We didn't find the compound V, but we let an unknown Supe escape. Damn it, that girl's fingers are really sharp." Mother's Milk gritted his teeth, peeled off the torn cloth stuck to the flesh and blood, then tore off clean clothes from his other arm and bandaged the wound.
"Fortunately, the wound isn't deep. It should heal after some rest."
After Mother's Milk finished treating his wound, he and Frenchie and Hughie searched the girl's room together. Soon, Frenchie found a train ticket from Florida to New York under the girl's pillow. The ticket belonged to someone named Melitz.
Meanwhile, Mother's Milk on the other side also found something. He found a syringe in an express package with blue residue inside. He guessed it was most likely compound V.
"I want to ask, was this place attacked by terrorists?" Billy arrived at the Dungeon just then, complaining as he looked at the mangled flesh on the ground.
"All this was done by that girl?"
Hughie, who was guarding the room door, shook his head. "It was the guy who killed Translucent."
"How did he know about our actions?" The more Billy interacted with Xia Shang, the more he felt this person was shrouded in mystery, completely unfathomable. "Forget it, thinking about this now is pointless."
Billy then walked into the room, and Mother's Milk handed him the compound V he found.
Billy took the syringe, looked at the remaining blue liquid inside, and said, "Compound V? So A-Train delivered it here, and these guys were responsible for injecting the girl with this stuff."
Mother's Milk sat on a chair, checking his wound as he said, "That's right, before they became mangled flesh."
"But why? Were they working for Vought or just doing a side job?" Hughie asked, confused.
"There's nothing of value about Vought International here, so we currently can't accuse Vought of conducting this human experiment," Frenchie said from the side.
"Let's go. This place could be dangerous at any moment. If the police arrive, we won't be able to explain ourselves even with eight mouths."
Billy and the others left the Dungeon, taking the shipping label from the express package containing the compound V.
After they left, Mother's Milk quickly found out through a friend that the express package came from "Samaritan's Embrace," which is a Supe charity event organized by Vought International in various places every year. Inside the room, Billy frowned and said, "The guy in charge of the charity is named Ezekiel. He's a rubber bastard who preaches belief in God. This must be related to him. But to figure out the situation, we have to find the girl before Vought International and Homelander do."
...
"Hi, Mr. Jervis, good afternoon."
As Xia Shang arrived at the door of his office, he saw the Doppelganger walking towards him from the end of the corridor.
"Good afternoon."
Xia Shang smiled and shook hands with the Doppelganger.
"I've been under a lot of pressure lately, and my heart always feels uncomfortable. The doctor said it's just temporary from not resting well."
"Then you really should take care of your body. However, I believe, just as the doctor said, it's only temporary and you'll recover soon," Xia Shang said with a smile, withdrawing his hand.
"Thank you." Hearing Xia Shang's reply, the Doppelganger breathed a sigh of relief, then turned and left.
Back in his office, Xia Shang sat on his chair and placed the newly acquired USB drive on the table.
After checking it and confirming it was fine, Xia Shang put the USB drive back into his pocket.
Meanwhile, Madelyn Stillwell had just received a phone call. The call was about an airplane being hijacked mid-air, and NORAD wanted to commission Vought to send Superhero to resolve the matter.
Therefore, Madelyn Stillwell found Queen Maeve and Homelander.
"A transatlantic flight from Paris to Chicago has been hijacked mid-air. NORAD has requested our support."
Madelyn Stillwell led the two into The Seven's Meeting Room. The large screen in the meeting room was currently showing real-time monitoring of the flight route.
Madelyn Stillwell understood this was an excellent opportunity, so she spoke to Homelander with a slightly excited tone: "You can't perform a mission on foreign territory, but this is a plane hijacked over International Waters. If you intercept it, no one will protest."
"If you can bring those passengers back safely, not a single member of Congress will dare to vote against our military bill."
As long as this incident could be completed successfully, Madelyn Stillwell was confident that Congress would pass the military bill she had drafted.
Furthermore, after Homelander left, she met with Xia Shang and Ashley Barrett and had them prepare for the public relations beforehand. They had to ensure that the moment the incident was successfully completed, it would spread across the entire Internet.
"Remember, from now on, put all your focus on this matter. I will not allow any mistakes."
"Okay, I'll get right on it." Ashley Barrett left in a hurry after receiving the mission.
"Is something wrong?"
Madelyn Stillwell frowned and asked, seeing Xia Shang standing still.
"I was thinking if we should consider a backup plan. What if it fails? We..."
"He's Homelander. There's no possibility of failure in this, OK?" Madelyn Stillwell immediately interrupted Xia Shang. She seemed a bit displeased. "Forget it, I'll leave this matter to Ashley Barrett. You can rest for now. I'll notify you if there's a mission."
(End of Chapter)