Using some not-so-legal methods, Ivan had gathered another batch of Compound V from various hospitals. Under threat of death, his suppliers had gone from Ezekiel to the directors of several children's hospitals.
"Pleasure doing business." Ivan, still wearing Yuuji's face, shook hands with the fat director in front of him.
The director stared at the man in pure terror.
Finally, he watched the man walk out of the hospital carrying a briefcase full of Compound V.
Getting Compound V wasn't hard for Ivan. As long as it was circulating out of Vought, even Butcher and his crew could get their hands on it with some effort.
[Telekinetic Pull fusion in progress. Current progress: 72…74...81%…]
In the end, the fusion progress stopped at 82%.
...
Two days later, under Ivan' arrangement, Vought announced that The Seven would be holding a nationwide fan meet-and-greet tour with twelve events total.
The locations would be randomly selected, covering all fifty states and the District of Columbia.
That meant the meet-and-greets could pop up anywhere on the map.
The news spread like wildfire across the internet. Superhero fans went absolutely nuts.
Sales of merch like headbands, clothes, and banners exploded. Orders poured in like snowflakes, flying off to the child labor factories of China.
"Our first stop is Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. According to online data, Homelander has the most fans there, followed by Stormfront. This is the first event of the Vought fan tour. I hope you all don't fuck it up. It's important for your popularity push." Ivan stood in front of the conference table, facing all seven members.
"I have a question." Stormfront lazily raised her right hand. She leaned back in her chair, clearly not taking Ivan seriously.
"Go ahead."
"Why are we doing twelve in-person fan events? Do you know how much of a waste of time this is? Haven't you heard the saying? Saving time by not doing this shit means more time for gooning. In my opinion, we should just do online live streams. Bigger audience and it saves everyone's time."
To Stormfront, in-person fan meet-and-greets were outdated as fuck. Last-century promo tactics still being used today.
Ivan gave her a calm look.
"First, you don't get to oppose Vought's event decisions. Second, they're called fan meet-and-greets because the point is meeting. Only through close, in-person contact can the public get to know you better. Your commercial value is decided by your support rate. The higher it is, the bigger your year-end bonuses.
Some of you might not care about that, but let me tell you, the less value you create, the less Vought will promote you and the more money will go to the others. It's cruel, but it's the truth. The Seven needs competition. No one is exempt."
Ivan turned to Ashley. "You handle their schedules and scripts. Don't screw this up."
"Yes, Mr. Greevs." Ashley nodded like a woodpecker.
In Vought, the person she feared most was Edgar, then Ivan, and only third was Homelander.
...
Back with Butcher.
Inside the candy house, Frenchie wore a mask as he mixed TNT, white phosphorus, and other high-powered explosives.
The main ingredient was polyisobutylene. C4 was hands down one of the most stable explosives out there.
Usually it needed a detonator to go off. Because of its stability and portability, it was terrorists' favorite toy.
"You've got some serious equipment here." Frenchie looked at the impressive array of chemical gear and couldn't help but sigh. He had never worked with this much resources in his life.
"Take a break, kid. Have some cookies." Judy walked in with a plate of cookies. Honestly, she looked like a sweet, harmless old lady. Completely ordinary.
Who would ever guess this normal-looking grandma was a major drug lord who had been operating underground for decades.
You really couldn't judge a book by its cover.
"Thank you, you're too kind." In front of Judy, Frenchie couldn't help lowering himself a bit.
"Hurry up. Finish this batch, there's another one after," Butcher said, packing the C4 nearby. He poured the white powdery explosive into square plastic molds, then inserted a short detonator and blasting cap.
Once that was done, he wrapped the whole thing tightly with tape.
Finally he stacked the finished bombs in the corner.
Looking at the pile, Hughie's eyelid twitched hard. If that shit went off, his skull would probably fly a few miles. Hell, surviving with even one intact bone would be a miracle. Heeh!
Suddenly the phone on the table lit up.
Butcher glanced at it. It was a text from Greevs.
"Let's go pick up some people."
Butcher took off his gas mask, grabbed the phone, and headed outside.
Hughie and the others quickly followed.
Soon Butcher's crew met the two helpers Homelander had sent at a private dock. Both men were tall and built, their exposed skin covered in tattoos, eyes full of menace. They didn't look like good guys at all.
"You guys snuck in?" Butcher narrowed his eyes, waiting for an answer.
"You don't need to worry about that."
The leader was a big guy who spoke English with a heavy accent.
"Homelander already told you the mission details, right? For the plan to go smoothly, I need to know what your powers are." While speaking, Butcher gave Kimiko an almost invisible shake of his head.
Looking at these guys, he finally understood who was really behind the super terrorist attacks abroad.
Butcher wasn't surprised though. To him, the culprit had to be Vought. Whether it was Homelander or CEO Edgar didn't really matter.
The big guy repeated Butcher's words to his partner in a language only certain minorities would understand.
"He can. His name is Ivar Savant. His power is acidic skin. Ivar, show them."
At the command, Ivar stretched out his right hand toward the group. A pale yellow liquid started secreting from his palm.
Seconds later, it dripped onto the ground. The moment it touched the sand and stones, white smoke rose immediately.
Once the liquid was gone, a small pit had formed in the ground.
That pale yellow liquid was clearly extremely corrosive.
"Anyone Ivar hugs won't last a minute before turning into a pile of bones." The big guy had seen Ivar completely melt a person with his own eyes.
"What about you?" Butcher looked at the guy.
The big man grinned, showing two rows of neat white teeth. Suddenly a pile of sand and stones gathered at his feet.
The stones moved like they were alive, crawling up his legs. In just a few breaths they covered his entire body. The big guy now looked like a statue carved from rock.
"Holy… shit…" Hughie, still in shock, muttered without thinking.
___
[]~(￣▽￣)~*
Read 12 Advance Chapters—P@t- Captain69