Laurie only felt that the guest bed at Godolkin University was quite soft. After all the upheaval of making her way to New York, she hadn't really had a good night's sleep.
Over the past two days she had been muddle-headedly introduced to become some kind of superhero, and even now her head was still foggy—but that didn't stop her from falling asleep the instant her head touched the pillow.
In her dream, she toyed with Joey, who had no superpowers, countless times. That small-town boy who always sat quietly lost in thought was completely at her mercy, kneaded and shaped however she pleased, utterly defenseless in the face of her affection.
This unrealistic sweet dream didn't last long before she was jolted awake by crying and shouting from the next room.
As mentioned earlier, today the G-Men manor was hosting a memorial service. The vast majority of G-Men members had left their own posts and gathered at the manor, including the G-Men as well as several sub-teams such as the G-Force, G-Style, G-Wiz, G-Brits, G-Coast, and G-Nomads.
They had come only to mourn two members lost some time ago.
This was what the G-Men's so-called big family meant.
"If you ask me, that bitch's death was incredibly satisfying."
The speaker was the backbone of the G-Men, Five-Oh. He was still wearing his signature goggle-helmet, said to help regulate the power of his laser eyes, and at this moment he was drunk out of his mind.
Beside him stood Stacker, a member of the G-Force—a two-meter-tall metal giant. Alcohol clearly had little effect on him. "Which bitch are you talking about?"
"Who else? Silver Kincaid. That suicidal bitch!"
Five-Oh ground his teeth at the mention of his former teammate, Silver Kincaid. That telekinetic bitch had always looked down on everyone, relying on the Professor G's favoritism and never taking him, the captain, or anyone else seriously.
Now that she was dead, it was a cause for celebration for everyone.
"We even put up a three-meter-tall bronze statue for that slut. What a fucking waste of money!"
Talking about Silver Kincaid, Five-Oh suddenly remembered hearing from Critter earlier that her successor had already arrived at the manor and was staying in the guest rooms on the other side.
Fueled by alcohol, a surge of lust rose within him. He decided to drag Stacker along to find some fun.
"Come with me. We can arrange her welcome ceremony in advance, right?"
Stacker clearly knew what this so-called "welcome ceremony" meant, but he had no desire to go along with the drunken Five-Oh's nonsense. He lightly grabbed the back collar of the latter's leather jacket.
"Didn't you hear what the Professor said earlier?"
Five-Oh didn't care and kept stumbling forward. "Which part? 'Silver Kincaid will live forever in our hearts'?"
"No." Stacker didn't let go of his collar. Like most G-Men aside from Five-Oh, he respected the Professor and supported all of his decisions. "I mean what he said after the banquet—'These are troubled times. Don't cause trouble, or Vought will seize on it again.'"
"Get your fucking hands off me!"
Five-Oh spun around and flung his arm, forcing Stacker to release him. He wasn't drunk—he just wanted something to vent his anger on.
"I'm not going to mess with that girl. Supes aren't easy to deal with. Didn't a normal person come along with her?"
Hearing this, Stacker didn't object again. In their eyes, aside from the Professor, ordinary people were indeed insignificant.
So Five-Oh made his way to the room next to Laurie's. He effortlessly melted the lock, slipped inside, and crept into the bedroom.
He yanked the blanket off the bed, revealing the nearly naked body underneath.
Like grabbing a chick, Five-Oh clamped down on her wrists. With superhuman strength, he lifted Ashley up and slammed her against the wall, while his other hand stripped away what little clothing she had left.
"What are you doing?! I'm from Vought's HR—"
Five-Oh backhanded her across the face. "You don't think I know, you Vought bitch!"
These Vought lapdogs were used to boss around the supes under the company's umbrella, often forgetting an obvious fact.
That fact was that supes like Five-Oh were, by nature, a higher species than these ordinary people—capable of deciding their life or death at will.
Right now, Five-Oh intended to make this Vought agent named Ashley relearn that lesson.
He didn't even bother to cover her mouth. This was G-Men territory. As one of their leaders, he could do whatever he wanted.
"Get your filthy hands off her!"
Laurie had heard Ashley's begging and screams from next door and remembered the warnings Ashley had given her earlier.
To hell with those warnings—without even a second's hesitation, Laurie tossed them aside. She quickly dressed and rushed into the next room, where she saw a helmeted monster committing a vile act against Ashley.
Without any delay, Laurie activated her power. With a single thought, she lifted the bedside table and smashed it into the beast's head.
Thud! The solid wooden furniture, combined with the sudden acceleration, was more than heavy enough to knock Five-Oh to the ground. With another thought, the bed Ashley had been on flew towards Laurie. The sheets wrapped around her, covering her exposed body.
"Are you okay?"
"You shouldn't have come!!"
Ashley, helped up by Laurie, didn't even have time to wipe away the tears brought on by pain. She knew that Laurie's appearance would only push things further out of control.
In her career, she had cleaned up plenty of messes caused by supes—but she never imagined one would happen to her. And from experience, she knew Vought would never stand up for her.
"Where do you think you're going?!"
Five-Oh had regained consciousness. Before he even got up, he spotted the two trying to flee.
Without the slightest hesitation, he activated his helmet and unleashed his laser eyes at full power.
Laurie hadn't anticipated this at all. Before she could react, the laser beams swept across her back. The immense energy instantly burned through her golden hair, scorched her clothes, and carved a bloody wound into her left shoulder.
She cried out in pain, but before she could even check her injury, she felt her left hand—supporting Ashley—suddenly grow light. When she turned her head, the sight was something she would never forget.
The laser hadn't just hit her—it had also swept across Ashley.
The blast ignited the bedsheets covering Ashley and ignited Ashley herself. The sheer power cut her diagonally in half from her lower abdomen up to her lungs.
"No, no!!!"
This was far beyond what a small-town girl like Laurie could bear. Holding Ashley, she screamed in terror as a massive shockwave flattened the surrounding area.
"Laurie… run…"
In Laurie's arms, Ashley still retained a trace of consciousness, but life was rapidly draining from her eyes. The fact that she could still speak at all was a miracle, and she only wanted to find a way for this brave girl to escape such danger.
"You can… lift… things. Lift… yourself…"
Looking at the lifeless Ashley in her arms, Laurie, for the first time in her life, tried to properly control her powers—to lift both herself and Ashley.
She succeeded.