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"Very well, you may leave."
After taking the injection gun, Stan Edgar assumed a domineering CEO posture and waved his hand at the burly man, who respectfully exited the ward.
"This is... Compound V?"
Victoria Neuman's face immediately showed a look of shock after clearly seeing the dark blue liquid loaded in the injection gun.
"Don't be so surprised."
While injecting Compound V into Starlight, Stan Edgar explained, "As the former CEO of Vought Corporation, isn't it normal for me to have Compound V in my hands?"
"However, even if I have Compound V, I would never agree to you injecting it into Zoe."
When mentioning his granddaughter, Stan Edgar's face rarely showed a look of doting affection.
"But..."
Before Victoria Neuman could ask, Stan Edgar already preempted her, saying, "I know, you want to ask why I am so clear about the situation outside while I'm in prison, right?"
"Just like I said before, as the former CEO of Vought Corporation, even Homelander won't find it easy to completely bring me down!"
Undoubtedly, Stan Edgar used practical actions to teach his adopted daughter another valuable lesson.
Just then, a rapid breathing sound, like that of someone drowning, suddenly came from the hospital bed. Immediately after, Starlight, who had been in a coma for a long time due to soul damage, miraculously woke up.
It seemed that Compound V had successfully strengthened the remaining undamaged part of her soul,'saving' her from the endless coma?
"Welcome back to life, Starlight."
Stan Edgar said to Starlight, who was looking bewildered on the hospital bed, "I've always felt that I got along well with You."
"Mr. Edgar? Where am I..."
Starlight, who had regained a little consciousness, her memory still lingered at the moment she was injured. However, when she saw Victoria Neuman, her pupils suddenly contracted, and she instinctively raised her hand, wanting to be on guard.
There was no other way. Before she fell into a coma, she had just learned the truth from her boyfriend Hughie Campbell that the other party was 'Head Popper'.
So Starlight was afraid that she might be preempted by the other party if she wasn't careful, and end up being head-popped on the spot.
"Don't be nervous, she's with me."
Stan Edgar said with a smile, "Starlight, a lot has happened while you were in a coma. I think it's most appropriate for Neuman to explain it to You personally."
Seeing her adoptive father and Starlight on the hospital bed look at her at the same time, Victoria Neuman, although somewhat unwilling, truthfully recounted the series of actions and final outcomes of Billy Butcher and Hughie Campbell, among others.
"What did You say, Hughie... He's dead?" Starlight's eyes widened suddenly, and she shook her head desperately with disbelief:
"No... Impossible, didn't You say he gained the ability of teleportation by injecting Temporary Compound V? Then as long as he wanted to escape, even Homelander wouldn't be able to do anything to him!!"
"That's right, under normal circumstances, that's how it is."
Victoria Neuman nodded with a complex expression, "But Homelander found a very capable helper - Spider-Woman!"
"The other party's ability seems to just counter Hughie's ability..."
Then, she sincerely invited, "Listen, Starlight, I know Hughie's death will surely make You very sad, but now is not the time to be sad."
"If You want to avenge Hughie, then cooperate with me!!"
Starlight stood rooted to the spot, not knowing if she heard Victoria Neuman's words, just repeating, "Impossible, Hughie won't die, we haven't gotten married yet."
"Alright, ladies, we are pressed for time now." Stan Edgar checked the time on his watch, then said to the distraught Starlight:
"There are only two paths before You now. One is to cooperate with us to take down Homelander and avenge your boyfriend. The other is for You to leave New York, flee to a place where Homelander can never find You, and spend the rest of your life there listlessly..."
"No, I want to avenge Hughie!" Starlight's eyes gradually became focused again, and she said with an extremely firm expression.
"Very good, You made the right choice."
Stan Edgar seemed to have long expected this outcome, then said to Victoria Neuman, "Let's go, we'll go to the west now, there's something we need there."
Immediately after Starlight changed her clothes, the three of them left the hospital by car.
However, what they didn't know was that their every move in the ward just now was under the close surveillance of the Wizard Society.
...
"My Lord, after those three people left the hospital, they have been heading towards the western suburbs. Should our people continue to track them?"
After Stan Edgar and the other two left the hospital, a Death Walker immediately reported the relevant news to Selena.
After all, this hospital was actually an industry of the Wizard Society ruled by Selena.
"It's alright, let them go."
Selena waved her hand dismissively, as if she didn't care about the three leaving at all. However, her heart was far from as calm as it appeared on the surface.
"Boss is indeed far-sighted and foresees everything like a god!!"
Selena had previously been puzzled as to why Karl still allowed the hospital to maintain Starlight's vital signs after S.H.I.E.L.D. refused to pay for her treatment.
That's right, after Billy Butcher and Hughie Campbell's assassination attempt on Homelander ultimately failed, S.H.I.E.L.D. directly and ruthlessly stopped paying for Starlight's subsequent treatment.
For Nick Fury, credibility and such things were simply not important, and even less valuable!
Especially for a few dead people, wasn't it a very foolish act to talk about credibility?
After all, all the money saved could go into his own little treasury...
However, even though Selena had some doubts, she still executed the command issued by her Boss without hesitation.
But looking at it today, it seemed that all of this had a deep meaning from the beginning.
This couldn't help but make Selena develop a nearly pathological worship... or perhaps it should be called an obsessive feeling... towards Karl again.
Missing Boss, day 6~~
...
Under Stan Edgar's guidance, the group of three traveled west by car, and after a few hours, they arrived at a farm in the suburbs.
Stan Edgar pushed open the car door and was the first to step out, looking at the three-story building in front of him and saying:
"Actually, I rarely come here these years, because the smell here is very unpleasant."
"But if You want to conduct a secret research project without being noticed, this is undoubtedly the best place."
Victoria Neuman walked forward and glanced at the slightly ajar door, her brows furrowing. Clearly, something had happened here.
Starlight also noticed the abnormality, so she followed behind Victoria Neuman, and with a wary expression, pushed the door open and entered. Soon, the two found a series of bloody handprints in front of the Underground Room corridor. They followed the bloodstains down and soon discovered a secret laboratory filled with experimental equipment in the Underground Room.
However, the laboratory was a mess at the moment, and no one was found. It looked like it had encountered some sudden incident.
"Something seems a bit off here..."
Starlight pointed to a metal cage in the corner that contained some kind of small animal. It was stained with a lot of blood. She looked at Stan Edgar, who was walking at the back, with a puzzled expression and asked:
"What's going on? Are You conducting some secret experiments here?"
"Don't look at me like that." Stan Edgar was also completely bewildered at the moment. "I'm just as surprised as You are about what happened here."
Victoria Neuman bent down slightly in front of a floor drain, then picked up a piece of broken glass container from the ground. It was not difficult to discern from the remaining dark blue reagent inside that it should have contained Compound V. From the dryness of the solution, it could also be judged that the accident had just happened not long ago, otherwise the solution inside would have already dried up.
"Your people are doing animal experiments with Compound V?"
Before Stan Edgar could answer, Starlight found some blank test tubes with labels in a refrigerator on the other side.
"Look at this... It's clear from the labels that someone here is doing iteration experiments on some kind of virus, but those reagents seem to be all gone."
Then the two looked at Stan Edgar in unison. The latter still had that look of not being involved, and explained indifferently:
"This used to be my private entertainment room, but after I was driven out by Homelander, I sent people to convert it into a virology laboratory."
"Virus?"
Victoria Neuman seemed to have guessed something, and a look of eagerness suddenly appeared in her eyes. Stan Edgar saw this and said with approval:
"That's right, it's just as You guessed, a special virus that can neutralize Homelander's superpowers is being developed here."
Then Stan Edgar scanned the surroundings and shrugged helplessly, "But no matter what accident happened here, it has absolutely nothing to do with me."
"A virus that can neutralize Homelander's superpowers?" Starlight snorted dismissively, "It's probably a virus that makes all superhumans lose their superpowers..."
"But it doesn't matter, as long as I can avenge Hughie, I don't care even if I lose my superpowers!"
Stan Edgar smiled slightly and praised in a tone that would infuriate people without paying for it, "This is probably why I have a good impression of You. Compared to those arrogant wastes in The Seven, at least You are a qualified cannon fodder!"
Next, in order to find out what happened in this laboratory, the three continued to walk deeper into the farm.
Pia~~
Stan Edgar accidentally stepped into a small puddle of water. The sewage splashed on his exquisite leather shoes, but it did not stain them.
Victoria Neuman, who was walking beside him, said with a touch of disdain, "You have over 60 pairs of expensive leather shoes, why do You always like to wear this pair?"
"Because these shoes were given to me by Prince Andrew." Stan Edgar said indifferently, "I suddenly remembered how much I used to hate this place."
"Is that so?"
Victoria Neuman rarely showed a smile on her face, "I used to really like it here... because it made me feel what true freedom was!"
"However, this beautiful memory was once again shattered by You. You secretly converted this place into a virus laboratory."
"There was nothing I could do."
Stan Edgar said lightly as he walked forward, "I could only assume at the time that one day You would turn against Homelander, and then You would look for a way to balance... or even defeat him."
"After all, that guy is the terrible combination of severe insecurity and random impulse that Freud described!"
"Including me, no one can control that kind of guy for a long time, so..."
Stan Edgar slowly stopped, looked directly at Victoria Neuman beside him, and said with a serious expression:
"Your previous actions have put Zoe and Yourself in a precarious and dangerous situation."
"No."
Unexpectedly, Victoria Neuman did not agree with her adoptive father's statement and immediately retorted indignantly, "Not me, it's You, You put me and Zoe in a terrible dangerous situation."
"All this time, You have been using me just like You use other insignificant people, which is why I made that decision at that time... Because someone had to protect Zoe's safety!"
"Is that so?" Stan Edgar's face slightly darkened, seeming a bit angry, "The safety You are talking about means injecting her with Compound V and turning Zoe into a superhuman?"
"Don't You know that your foolish actions have turned an enthusiastic girl who should have had a bright future into a..."
Before he could finish speaking, Victoria Neuman interrupted angrily, "Hurry up and say it, what did I turn her into? Are You trying to say a monster?"
"Presumably that's why You always made me hide my true identity back then?"
"I still remember the things You said... like never climb too high, should always live in the Shadow of others, so that it is safe, and so on..."
"That's right." Stan Edgar's face showed clear anger for the first time, "But I did that to protect You."
"No."
Victoria Neuman did not back down at all, and retorted with red eyes, "Stop saying those high-sounding lies, You just thought that I, being a superhuman, would bring You shame!"
"So, I once swore that I would never let my daughter go through the same life I did in my childhood..."