American comics: From the black robes to becoming the ultimate Doomsday

French still wore a cheerful smile. "Since you've really given me some surprises, what is it?"

Butcher pulled a photograph from his pocket and handed it to French; the picture showed a burned-down building that resembled a hospital.

Could you please check the personnel composition of this mental hospital for me?

French scratched his head, took a drag of his cigarette, glanced at the photo, and said, "Checking for mental illness?"

Butcher stroked his chin. "Yes, I need to know what happened here. Walter has been secretly funding this place, and I think the explosion here was strange!"

"Where is this?" French asked.

“You didn’t know about this? Oh, then I think you’re missing out on a real surprise?” Butcher sneered.

"What surprise? I haven't been following Walter for a while." French wasn't interested.

Butcher chuckled, "The lamplighter died there!"

French's eyes lit up; he had long wanted to kill that damned guy, and he became excited upon hearing the news of his death.

"Oh shit, tell me where this is, I want to go and see it!"

Butcher smiled and said, "The heart of the Sage's Forest."

……

Chapter 21 [Vice President Walter's Recruitment Ideas]

The Vice President's Office, Waterhouse Building.

Homelander, standing in front of Madeline, felt extremely displeased.

Because she overheard Madeline's conversation with the mayor of Baltimore, she learned that the damned guy was using information about Compound V to blackmail his special nanny.

So last night, he took to the skies and caused a minor incident for the mayor of Baltimore on his return flight route.

He thought he had done a good job, but then that damned deep sea found laser traces on the plane's engine on the seabed and then tattled on it to Madeline.

He had thought that even if Madeline found out, he would receive her praise, but unexpectedly, he received her criticism instead.

“I want to help you, Madeline.”

"I understand, I understand. You want to help me protect me, but perhaps you should be more mindful of the timing in the future."

Noticing that Homelander was in a bad mood, Madeleine quickly spoke up to comfort him.

This powerful man, who possesses the strongest superpowers on Earth, is treated like a spoiled child in front of her.

Yes, despite the strength of the Homelanders, they have benefited from the targeted indoor education they received from a young age in laboratories.

Due to an extreme lack of affection, he gradually developed into a bizarre individual with Oedipus complex, extremism, a tendency towards violence, and a distorted personality.

Understanding this, Madeleine constantly had to coax Homelander as if he were a big child, simply because of her advanced maternal age.

Madeline also gradually felt her energy waning, because comforting Homelander made her feel like she was constantly walking a tightrope, always on edge.

Seeing that Homelander had calmed down in her arms, Madeline gradually felt relieved.

Homelander asked, "Have you found the Invisible Man and that bastard who's causing trouble in the heart of the Sage's Grove?"

Madeline gently stroked Homelander's head and pressed her chest close to his.

“I’ll have someone else do these things. I have a party tonight, and I’m hosting half of the Senate Appropriations Committee members. You just need to stand in front of those senators and show them your baseball American sunshine hope and love, okay?”

Madeline has always wanted to get involved with the Department of Defense, bring superheroes into the military system, and take Vought to a higher level.

Homelander nodded, enjoying Madeline's caresses.

A dozen minutes later, Homelander walked out of the vice president's office looking refreshed and satisfied, while Madeline also met with Rodney, the head of the security operations team.

"Any news about Subject 58 who escaped from the center of the Sage's Forest?"

"Ms. Madeline is still missing. Since Wilson's operation, number 58 seems to have vanished into thin air. I even investigated his residence before he entered the mental hospital, but there were absolutely no clues."

"Was there any damage?"

Madeline shrugged and asked, finding it hard to believe that a mentally ill person could quietly hide away.

“Ms. Madeline, I understand what you mean, but unfortunately, no,”

Rodney replied that he had previously reviewed the details of Target 58, which showed that the Asian youth had severe bipolar disorder and was extremely emotionally sensitive.

In other words, in an unfamiliar environment, number 58 might cause unexpected destruction, making him an unstable individual.

The destructive power of a superhuman with a mental illness is unimaginable.

In this way, the security department of the Water Group will always be able to discover this person's movements.

Hearing the security minister's reply, Madeline rubbed her forehead, looking a bit annoyed. "Keep following up. If you get any news about this '58,' let me know immediately! Don't let it cause such a big commotion like Pennsylvania did!"

As for not letting the Homelanders take action.

Firstly, it's felt that even a general area isn't identified, and searching would be too time-consuming for people from the motherland, with no guarantee of finding it.

Secondly, I feel that the people of our motherland should not be used to fight criminals, which is not very profitable. There are more important things to do right now.

She needed her homelander to make a big splash in front of those senators and make them fall for her sunny, boyish charm.

This way, her plan to bring superheroes into the Department of Defense can be implemented more smoothly.

In her eyes, Homelander was just an immature big kid. If she let him do things on his own, who knew what kind of troublesome unexpected things might happen?

Looking at the documents on the table, and glancing at the face on the first page that conformed to Eastern aesthetics, Madeline suddenly had a flash of inspiration.

Like a bolt of lightning striking her mind, she looked at the minister and asked, "Rodney, do you think it's possible to communicate with this number 58?"

“Ms. Madeline, I didn’t understand.”

Madeline, however, kept thinking about the possibility in her mind, and the more she thought about it, the brighter her smile became.

Although the Water Group is now well-known around the world, it has never been able to open up the vast market in Asia.

You see, that place has been rich in money since ancient times. One of the most important reasons she couldn't open up the market there was that she hadn't found a suitable superhuman.

In the past, there weren't many Asians chosen to create superheroes, and the only Asian with some ability was blind.

To be honest, this option isn't perfect.

“The Water Group has never been able to open up the market in the East. This No. 58 is an Asian, which aligns with Asian preferences. I think this is a good opportunity.”

Upon hearing this, Rodney stared in disbelief at Vice President Walter. "He's a mentally ill woman named Madeline. He's uncontrollable and unstable, and he destroyed the Sage's Forest Center..."

Madeline interrupted him directly, "Based on your security department's interactions these past few times, I actually don't think this guy is mentally ill. Perhaps Compound V gave him superpowers and cured his mental symptoms?"

Seeing that Madeline truly intended to recruit that test subject as a Vought superhero, Rodney's expression darkened, and he couldn't help but say, "Many of us died at his hands during the Security Department's manhunt for this man. He couldn't possibly..."

Rodney found it hard to accept the idea of ​​a guy who had killed countless of his men becoming a superhero for Vought International, imagining that arrogant and domineering scene.

Madeline interrupted him, "That's your incompetence! If you can find it, first test whether you can communicate with it. As for your people, give them a bonus if you succeed, and double the compensation for the deceased!"

“Ms. Madeline…” Rodney tried to stop him.

"Rodney! If you don't want to do it, there are plenty of people who can take your place." Madeline glared at him, no longer wanting to discuss the matter with him.

Seeing Madeline's attitude, Rodney immediately realized he couldn't change her decision. His face flushed red and then turned pale as he walked out of the vice president's office.

As Rodney walked down the corridor and entered the elevator, the dazed look on his face vanished abruptly, replaced by a smile. He didn't care about life or death; he only wanted to gain more profit.

Chapter 22 [The Blue Eagle's Hunting Moment!]

While the vice president of the Wot Corporation was thinking about how to bring the escaped test subject No. 58 into the Wot Corporation's large team.

At this moment, Pei Yuan was also thinking about the road ahead.

What he wants is naturally to gain more role-playing points, but at present, it is clear that dealing with those superhumans will yield greater value.

However, doing too many of these things would inevitably attract Walter's attention.

"This is Iron Egg Man. He used to be a second-tier patrol hero for the Vought Group. Now that his popularity has declined, the Vought Group has abandoned his identity and terminated his contract."

I've gathered some information about this guy; he often handles things for the local Grizzly gang at the docks.

Inside the room, Harris, who had retrieved the folder from outside, pulled out a stack of documents and handed them to Pei Yuan.

Prior to this, Harris had no intention of investigating information about those superhumans.

However, after Pei Yuan handed him a stack of US dollars, Harris readily gave up his insistence because he had conveniently lost that memory.

Although this guy's black market connections aren't as good as French's, they're still somewhat useful.

"Are these superhumans still connected to Vought?" Pei Yuan asked, flipping through the files.

"However, that won't happen. Water has always prioritized profit. Once this guy was no longer of any use, the Water Group cut off all ties with him long ago!"

Pei Yuan nodded. The message he had given Harris earlier stipulated that he did not need any superhumans with a certain reputation.

Because only these relatively unknown individuals can disappear without a trace and escape the attention of the Vought Group.

Pei Yuan was eager to unlock his abilities to a certain level so that he would have the power to directly challenge Walter.

After handing over the documents, Harris took out a cell phone from the file bag and handed it to Pei Yuan, asking with some confusion.

"I bought a live streaming account with a lot of followers through the channels you requested, but I don't understand why you're doing this? And why do you need a certain number of followers?"

"It's better to be safe than sorry," Pei Yuan said with a smile, without offering any further explanation.