Godolkin University, second floor of the cafeteria.
Wade sat alone by the window, a pile of trays in front of him, gnawing on soft, glutinous pieces of meat delivered to his mouth.
'The efficiency of photoelectric conversion is still too low. It might be fine for maintaining daily activities, but for rapid physical recovery, I still have to rely on eating.'
He played with his phone while eating, browsing the mission briefing Hughie sent to his anonymous email: [...Rubber Man handled, currently verifying hospital clues further.]
Wade wasn't worried at all about the trio staying in Iowa to investigate: 'I'll find a chance to meet up with them at the safe house later.'
The wave of discussions in the cafeteria mostly revolved around the Believe Expo scandal that had swept the country over the past two days.
"Where's Vought's PR?" an emotional girl wearing glasses asked, slamming the table. "'Seed of Holiness'? Using women as breeding machines and children as experimental subjects? This is freaking anti-human!"
"Calm down, Alice." A stylish girl beside her ate elegantly, completely unbothered. "You believe everything the news says? Who knows if some forces are trying to smear them? We're going to join Vought after graduation, so don't paint everyone with the same brush."
More people were in an excited state of gossip: "Hey, did you see that 'Homelander Massacre' live recording? Even though it was played in cosplay, it looked so realistic!"
"The part where Starlight walks out holding that girl was truly shocking. That look in her eyes... it was incredible."
"Exactly! I heard they were good friends. It's such a shame."
Just then, two familiar figures sat down at Wade's table.
"Wade!" Jill put down her tray, pouting angrily. "Did you sneak out to play by yourself yesterday? You didn't even bring me!"
Cate sat quietly on Jill's other side, picking up her knife and fork to cut her food. "Don't look at me, I told her, but she didn't believe me..."
Wade swallowed his food and said with a weary expression, "I went to a funeral."
"A funeral?" Jill froze, eating her steaming Malatang skewers.
"Yeah, a... relative I just met recently." Wade lowered his gaze, his voice deepening. "I only rushed back this morning."
He was telling the truth; he was busy organizing Vivian's funeral, so it wasn't exactly a lie.
Jill didn't know how to respond for a moment, tugging at Cate's sleeve and looking at her pitifully.
Cate's gaze swept over the surrounding discussions that were still heated. "What do you think about the Expo incident?"
"I think someone is maliciously smearing them and causing trouble on purpose." Jill immediately regained her energy, staring longingly at the meat on his tray. "Ah—the usual!"
Wade manipulated the air to lift a rib and send it into her mouth. "I'm from Red River, and I was injected with compound v when I was little... I think it's probably true."
"Mmm-hmm!" Jill chewed contentedly and said indistinctly, "Not necessarily, right? I stayed in my mom's belly for two extra years before coming out. I'm natural-born."
Wade's eyebrows twitched slightly. Thinking of the special constitution of the Damon Family, he quickly accepted it: 'Her whole body is made of ice; it's a miracle she was even born.'
Cate put down her utensils and said flatly, "I knew it since I was a kid. What greedy parent wouldn't want a Supe child? It's nothing strange."
Wade looked at the bloodshot whites of her eyes, nudged her leg with his knee, and sent a telepathic message: 'Don't think too much. I'll help you at noon.'
Cate smoothed her hair and blinked: 'We've almost finished investigating those three interview candidates. Later...'
"I almost forgot to tell you!" Jill suddenly grabbed Wade's hand as if remembering something. "Yesterday when you were away, the school issued an announcement. We're going to cooperate with the FBI."
Wade was startled and looked confused. "The FBI? For what?"
Cate wiped her mouth. "Specifically, it's a special department under the FBI called the 'X-Files' department. Starting next week, our Paradox Group, and possibly other elite student groups, will need to pick up, investigate, and solve a distributed case."
Wade immediately took out his phone to check and found that such a department indeed existed in the official FBI structure.
It was mainly responsible for investigating various supernatural events within the federal borders that couldn't be explained by conventional science, such as alien abductions, UFO sightings, paranormal phenomena, mysterious creatures, and so on.
The more he read, the more speechless he became. He couldn't help but complain, "Isn't this just the stuff from TV shows and documentaries?"
"We're not going to have to carry cameras and record the whole thing, then come back and write a mission report of thousands of words, are we? Where are all these ghosts and gods coming from? It's pure nonsense."
Jill picked up her lemon tea cup, which had frozen into ice, and retorted, "Doesn't the fact that we have superpowers seem even more nonsense? If you ask me, those gods from the past might have just been ancient Supes!"
Wade opened his mouth but was momentarily speechless.
He recalled the analysis results of compound v: it was made from an unknown stardust protein complex that could stimulate the potential of human genes and grant all sorts of strange abilities.
Since mysterious extraterrestrial substances existed, then some phenomena on Earth that science couldn't temporarily explain... didn't seem entirely impossible.
Wade sipped some soup floating in the air and asked casually, "Are the cases local or out of town? They can't expect us to skip class to go far away and investigate some mysterious case, right?"
Jill slumped back in her seat, patting her little belly. "They're all local. We're supposed to find time outside of class to complete them. It counts as a daily ability practice check-in."
Cate handed over a tissue and added with a smile, "The school requires us to record as much as possible. The more detailed the investigation and the more cases we complete, the more GPA points we get. It can also improve our ranking on the Campus Leaderboard!"
"Fine." Wade understood; it was likely just another one of Vought's gimmicks, and he didn't take it to heart... Afternoon, dormitory building.
In Cate's dorm, Wade sat at the computer, reviewing the detailed information gathered recently about the candidates for Black Noir.
Cate brought over a cup of hot tea and placed it on the table. "During the day or so you were gone, we split up to collect information on the family backgrounds, interpersonal relationships, and recent whereabouts of these three: Nathan, Musk, and Sean."
"Musk and Sean returned to their respective internship performance units. Nathan Mitchell has disappeared; he's neither back at the Vought Circus nor at school."
Hearing this, Wade moved the mouse and clicked on the file for "Sleepyhead" Nathan, his eyes narrowing. "Looking at it this way, he must have been chosen by Vought. He's probably gone to the company for training."
Cate untied her ponytail and leaned down to look at the screen. "Oh? So we'll just focus on digging up dirt on him then?"
"Let's do that." Wade moved aside and pushed her into the gaming chair, looking at those red eyes and blue pupils. 'What's going on with you? Has the mental exhaustion been too much lately?'
He had suspected that Cate might have modified Jill's memory, but after contacting and probing Jill's brain several times at noon, he hadn't found anything unusual—so the problem must lie with Cate.
Cate grabbed his arm and said hesitantly, 'He-help me with the treatment... just reinforce that part of the memory seal.'
'Since there's a problem, let me help. My lips are sealed, don't worry!'
'I... I was just thinking about it... Please don't be angry.'
'Of course not, thinking isn't a crime.' Wade nodded in agreement, placed his hands on both sides of Cate's head, and poured his spiritual power into it.
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