Chapter 79: Becca’s Coordinates
"Now, I’m giving you two options to choose from," Benjamin said, holding up two fingers. "First, join us and beco a superhero under Vought. I’ll give you the best treatnt and the best resources. Second, I can personally strip away the superpowers inside your body, turn you into an ordinary, powerless human, and then throw you right out onto the street. As for whether you want to go ho or do sothing else, that’s entirely up to you."
Kimiko froze. She stared fixedly at the monster before her who had just snapped her neck without a single mont’s hesitation. Stripping away superpowers and turning soone into an ordinary human? How was that even possible?
But looking at Benjamin’s earnest, freezing gaze, she got the sense that this man wasn’t lying. But as for the first option—asking her to act as an enforcer for Vought, the literal root of all evil? Kimiko gritted her teeth, a flash of absolute defiance flickering in her eyes. She would rather die than ever agree to that!
Witnessing the internal struggle and distrust in Kimiko’s eyes, Benjamin stood up. "Whatever. A life-altering choice like this isn’t sothing you have to rush. You can take your ti to think about it; you’ve got nothing but ti here."
As he reached the doorway, Benjamin paused, tilting his head slightly as he spoke. "By the way, as soone who’s been there, I highly recomnd you pick the first option. Beco a superhero who actually commands their own power. After all... in this fucked-up world, you and your brother aren’t the only kids who were brutalized and had your families torn apart by the Shining Light Liberation Army. Don’t you want to tear that organization out by its roots with your own hands? Or rather, don’t you want to save all those other kids currently being victimized? They might be tornted by various terrorist factions, or they might be abused by the old Vought that Edgar used to control. My objective is to put a stop to all of it."
Thud. With that, the door shut.
Inside the hollow, pure white cell, Kimiko was left sitting blankly in her chair all by herself. She stared at the tightly shut door, Benjamin’s final words echoing in her mind.
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After leaving Cell One, Benjamin made his way next door to Cell Two, where Kenji was being held. Unlike Kimiko’s internal struggle, Kenji’s interrogation was an absolute failure. The kid had been completely brainwashed by the Shining Light Liberation Army.
During his captivity under the terrorist cell, he had witnessed Arican forces and Vought’s superheroes launch joint airstrikes on his holand, slaughtering his village. His fellow clan mbers and friends had nearly all perished brutally. In his subconscious mind, the terrorist cell was his true family, while Arica and Vought were irreconcilable, mortal enemies.
Confronted with Benjamin’s threats and inducents, Kenji rely spat and cursed at him like a rabid dog, completely unable to process a single word. After mulling it over, Benjamin figured he would wait a while. If the kid genuinely proved uncontrollable down the line, he’d just put a chest blast through him and call it a day.
As for Kimiko, Benjamin already had a counter-strategy. He intended to put Starlight in charge of cracking her. Starlight’s naive, kind-hearted, and intensely empathetic nature was the perfect prescription for a girl like Kimiko, who wore a thorny exterior but was starved for affection inside. Besides, in the original tiline, they were comrades-in-arms who fought side-by-side anyway, so they should spark a fascinating chemical reaction.
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Late at night. Out in the New York suburbs, a continuous rain was falling. A black SUV sat parked along a largely deserted street. Wearing his iconic black trench coat, Butcher leaned against the car door, drawing heavily on a cigarette. Rainwater dripped down from his hair as his bloodshot eyes locked dead onto a black sedan cruising up ahead.
The car door swung open, and Mallory stepped out, leaning on her cane. Without delay, Mallory pulled a sealed manila envelope straight from her trench coat pocket, stepped forward, and presented it to Butcher.
Butcher paused, his fingers trembling slightly around his cigarette as he snatched the envelope and tore open the seal. Inside was nothing but a single slip of paper bearing a set of coordinates—the secret Vought community where Becca was being kept under lock and key.
"I can’t guarantee those coordinates are one hundred percent accurate; it is a top-tier Vought secret, after all," Mallory said, locking eyes with Butcher as she warned him in a low voice. "But even if it’s legitimate, Butcher, you need to understand that the place is a literal fortress with zero guarantees of a return trip. The security is exceptionally tight."
Butcher stared dead at the slip of paper. After a long silence, he lifted his head, his heavily bearded face entirely devoid of expression, his voice raspy. "Colonel Mallory... as I recall, I didn’t actually fulfill the task you handed ."
Faced with Butcher’s questioning, Mallory fell silent. The rain soaked the female operative’s shoulders. A rare flash of guilt and exhaustion flickered across her eyes.
"Butcher, I’m simply handing over information that should have belonged to you a long ti ago." Mallory let out a sigh, eting Butcher’s gaze straight on. "All these years, I was the one holding back the truth from you. Keeping you from looking for her was my fault. I systematically weaponized your hatred, intentionally conditioning you to hunt down Holander like a rabid dog. Consider these coordinates my way of settling the score."
Hearing this, Butcher carefully tucked the slip of paper securely into his inner pocket. "So what’s my next play?" Butcher asked, turning to pull open the SUV door.
"Track down another rogue Supe if possible," Mallory said, tightening her grip on her cane. "Worst-case scenario, I’ll reach out to that cultist holy roller Alastair. We’ll take the dark secrets those superheroes want buried, couple them with the smuggling intel provided by the Church of the Collective, and indict Vought directly at the congressional hearing!"
"Got it." Butcher climbed into the driver’s seat.
Settling behind the wheel, Butcher’s chest heaved violently. Becca... Butcher scread the na in his mind, his eyes burning with intense yearning. No matter how many heavily ard guards were stationed at that periter, no matter if he had to march straight through hellfire, this ti, he was absolutely bringing his wife ho!
As long as Becca was back, nothing else mattered. At the end of the day, everything Butcher did was driven by Becca; if Becca returned to him, he would have zero reason to keep picking fights with Holander, and zero reason to target Vought or that terrifying Soldier Boy. Once Becca was back, he’d imdiately flee the country, finding a place where Vought could never track them down.
Yet, what Butcher failed to realize was that Becca might no longer be willing to leave with him...
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A/N: Don’t forget to send Power Stones for more Chapters!!
Want to know what happens next? You can read up to 10 Chapters ahead on my p@tr~on:
/ForgottenDaoist (@ = a, link is in my profile).
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