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"If I tell you I want to leave Vought International, you'd probably jump out of your chair in surprise."
Kevin muttered to himself.
Last night, before testing his abilities, Kevin also took a look at his current reserves.
Kevin had originally thought that The Deep, as a member of The Seven, a superstar, an actor in films and TV shows, an endorser for advertisements, and the spokesperson for New York's largest aquarium, would have a fortune.
He might not have hundreds of millions, but at least tens of millions, right?
But when Kevin checked his card, he found that his total savings were only a few million US dollars.
It wasn't that the money wasn't a lot, but compared to The Deep's status, wasn't this a bit too little?
Putting everything else aside, just consider the entertainment industry in China: those slightly famous celebrities charge hundreds of thousands or even millions for appearances.
As for the top-tier stars, they wouldn't dare to speak up if they didn't have a few small fortunes in their hands.
Who are you, The Deep?
Isn't your status and position much stronger than those who are just ordinary celebrities?
Yet, you only have such a paltry sum on your card!?
Does this live up to your status as a superhero? Does this live up to your status as a member of The Seven?
Kevin really wanted to condemn the previous The Deep, but then he thought, a few million dollars isn't nothing, and if he were to leave The Seven now, it would be enough for him to live comfortably for the rest of his life.
However, The Seven isn't a place where you can just leave whenever you want.
Both leaving and joining The Seven require collective discussion among Vought International's senior management. As of now, Vought International isn't prepared to retire The Deep; his contract still has over a year left.
And judging by the current situation, as long as The Deep maintains his status, the company will likely renew his contract when it expires.
If he were to leave now, The Deep would have to pay a hefty breach of contract fee.
This was also why The Deep lived so miserably in the original storyline when he was forced out of The Seven.
All his money was used to pay the liquidated damages; if he were to truly breach the contract, these few million on his card probably wouldn't even cover a fraction of it.
So, after careful consideration, Kevin temporarily didn't reveal his thoughts to Madelyn. He hesitated before replying, "Yes… I have some thoughts."
Hearing Kevin admit it, Madelyn took a deep breath but didn't get angry.
If it were before, Madelyn would definitely have reprimanded The Deep for such immature thoughts, but after last night's events, Madelyn suddenly realized that The Deep seemed to have hidden potential worth exploring.
So what Madelyn needed to do now was not to immediately dismiss The Deep's ideas, but to figure out how to gain more benefits for the corporation from these new discoveries.
She thought for a moment, then turned the computer screen back to herself and pulled up a surveillance video:
"Since that's the case, let's first talk about your new abilities, shall we?"
Kevin looked closely. It was the surveillance footage from that fishing boat last night. The video only had one perspective, showing some gang members and transparent water arrows suspended behind their heads.
"Wait, why does a dilapidated fishing boat like yours even have surveillance cameras?!"
Kevin's mouth twitched slightly.
Who would have thought that a seemingly dilapidated smuggling boat would actually have surveillance, and that it would clearly capture the means by which Kevin killed the gang members?
Well, although it was a bit blurry, everything that could generally be seen was seen, so saying "clearly" is not an issue.
Regarding his new abilities, Kevin hadn't thought about hiding them, otherwise he wouldn't have used water arrows to kill people last night.
So when Madelyn asked, Kevin naturally replied, "It's a new ability I've only recently awakened. No, it's not really a new ability. I used to be able to control water a little, but the force wasn't strong enough; it only allowed me to move faster in water. Now… I feel like it has evolved…"
This wasn't exactly a lie.
The Deep did indeed have a tiny, insignificant ability to control water, which allowed him to move quickly underwater. However, this ability, let alone condensing water arrows, probably wasn't even enough to condense water droplets.
The previous The Deep had simply not discovered or paid attention to it.
Madelyn was slightly surprised.
Vought International had been researching supes for decades. While ability evolution was rare, a few cases did occur occasionally.
She wondered what kind of luck The Deep had stumbled upon to discover a new ability.
Madelyn's first thought was that The Deep had injected Compound V.
This special compound, which could turn humans into supes, could also enhance the abilities of supes.
But the problem was, The Deep didn't know about Compound V, and looking at his mental state, he didn't seem like he had injected Compound V.
So, it could only be said that The Deep had stumbled upon good luck, and his ability had evolved.
One matter finished, another arose. Before Madelyn could react, Kevin pointed to his chest and abdomen and said, "Besides my water control ability being greatly enhanced, my body has also undergone some changes… Uh, can I take off my shirt?"
"…You may."
Madelyn nodded slightly.
Kevin didn't actually take off his clothes; he just unzipped his shirt, allowing Madelyn to see his torso beneath his clothing.
And sure enough, Madelyn showed a slightly surprised and astonished look.
The gills on The Deep's body were no secret to Madelyn and other high-ranking officials responsible for The Seven's assessment.
Madelyn was also well aware that The Deep had somewhat uncomfortable-looking gills on both sides of his chest and abdomen.
However, at this moment, The Deep's chest and abdomen only displayed perfect abs, with no trace of gills whatsoever.
Twirling the pen in her hand, Madelyn gazed deeply at Kevin's body.
At this moment, she had already cast aside what Kevin had done last night.
Madelyn looked at Kevin's handsome face, now clean-shaven, then observed his perfect physique. After much thought, she pointed her pen at Kevin and said, "Regarding your new image, I will seriously consider it. Before that, please try to maintain your current appearance."
It seemed she had a new idea.
…
As Kevin left Madelyn's office, he knew that the changes in his body should be explainable.
If Kevin were a school student and such significant changes appeared on his body, the company's first consideration would be whether these changes could be replicated, and they might even capture Kevin for in-depth research or something similar.
But Kevin was a member of The Seven, one of the company's cash cows.
Different statuses led to different treatments.
Madelyn wasn't the head of a research department; she was the Vice President of Vought International, primarily managing the superheroes.
Therefore, when she saw the changes in Kevin's body, she wasn't thinking about how Kevin achieved these changes, but rather how Kevin's new image could bring more profit to the company.
And as long as Kevin's future image was set, with Madelyn's endorsement, even if Kevin was no longer part of The Seven, Vought International wouldn't focus too much attention on him.
Even if Vought International genuinely wanted to do something to Kevin at that time, Kevin's strength would certainly be vastly different from what it was today.
In other words, Kevin would have a very safe period of development.
So now, the most important question resurfaced before Kevin.
Skill points…
How was he going to get them?
Considering traditional gaming, it would either be through leveling up or acquiring skill books.
But Kevin's golden finger didn't even come with an instruction manual; he had no idea how to "level up" or acquire "skill books."
Scratching his hair in frustration, Kevin casually opened the skill tree and glanced at it.
Just as he was about to close the skill tree, he suddenly paused, his gaze fixed on the root of the skill tree.
There was a line of small text and an Arabic numeral.
It read:
Skill Points: 2
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