"Shit!"
Anton couldn't help but curse, suppressing his anger, and patiently instructed, "You have to find a way to figure out Eddie's situation. It's best to find a chance to bring him out, understand?"
"Understood, we'll do as you say."
Phil quickly agreed, his voice trembling slightly.
He once again felt the importance of this investigation and realized how much Eddie had sacrificed by not letting him infiltrate the Homeless Shelter and instead choosing to go himself.
Phil had been feeling guilty these past few days that Eddie had been out of contact.
He believed that if he hadn't suggested that Eddie infiltrate the Homeless Shelter, Eddie wouldn't have risked returning to San Francisco.
"Mr. Anton, please rest assured, I will do my utmost to rescue Editor-in-Chief Eddie."
Phil assured him again.
Hearing the determination in the young man's voice, Anton encouraged him with a few words and hung up the phone.
After learning about the situation, a lingering sense of unease filled him. Thinking that the Batman novel had already been published, he decided to call Betty.
Betty answered immediately.
"Anton, I'm already off work!"
She complained helplessly.
"Workers have to learn to accept the reality of overtime."
Anton comforted Betty, showing the awareness of a good boss, and then asked, "How's the novel doing?"
"About a third of the story has already been serialized in the newspaper, and things are looking good so far. We've already received letters from readers asking for more content each day."
Betty, now in work mode, reported, "The newspaper's daily sales have increased due to the novel."
She paused, then added, "Also, as far as I know, there are pirated versions of the novel online. Should we issue a warning?"
"The more piracy, the better, it's a good thing."
Anton chuckled. "However, we can create a new section on the Daily Bugle's official website to serialize the novel. Have the tech department get on that right away; it shouldn't be difficult."
"Understood."
Betty nodded and then asked, "Anything else?"
"Arrange for some online marketing. I need this novel to gain popularity quickly."
Anton, with a sudden flash of inspiration, said, "Let's connect Batman's lead, Bruce Wayne, with Tony Stark. Capitalize on this hot topic and generate some buzz."
"What?!"
Betty was taken aback, "Are you sure that won't anger the playboy?"
"Don't worry, I'll handle it."
Anton didn't hesitate, shamelessly using a powerful figure to his advantage: "Tony Stark invested in the Batman movie. He won't care about such a small detail. We're making him money!"
"Alright, I'll arrange it right away."
Betty felt relieved. She was efficient.
After hanging up, Anton checked Batman's fan value, receiving a very direct number.
[32145]
A bit of a headache, the popularity gap is too big!
Fortunately, the system cut me some slack, giving a huge discount on the main hero template with the newbie gift pack. Otherwise, a full 50 million fan points would really take a huge amount of time and energy to achieve.
9.98 million!
Looking at it now, there's only a little over 9.94 million left to go!
Since the first step has been taken, the remaining ninety-nine steps can be quickly completed after the movie is released and creates a buzz, which will certainly allow me to quickly complete the target mission.
Anton's eyes burned with anticipation.
If he could exchange for the Batman armor template, he wouldn't be so passive facing the Life Foundation.
At this moment, he felt a great deal of empathy for Eddie before he went to San Francisco.
This feeling of sitting in a safe zone waiting for news and doing nothing was an unparalleled torment.
...
San Francisco.
Homeless Shelter.
Eddie's face was covered in grime, and he reeked. He was huddled in a corner, nervously eyeing his surroundings.
This was a group of people who looked like the living dead, devoid of vitality and hope.
Rage surged within him, threatening to burst from his chest.
Since entering the Homeless Shelter, he had gained a most direct understanding of its internal situation.
It was nothing like the perfect picture painted by the Life Foundation in their press conferences and news reports.
Quite the opposite, the homeless here had no dignity whatsoever.
The San Francisco city government treated this place like a social dumping ground, neglecting it since its construction.
The Life Foundation used it as a pigsty, occasionally sending a truck to coax the homeless into signing volunteer agreements. They'd be taken away, never to be seen again.
The staff claimed these people had returned to normal lives.
Eddie scoffed.
He knew the fate of these people all too well.
They'd become the Life Foundation's human guinea pigs, deprived of even the most basic freedoms.
Every day, they were locked in transparent glass cages, like rare animals, to be studied.
"Carlton Drake!"
After witnessing all of this, Eddie's opinion of Drake had plummeted to its lowest.
He wanted nothing more than to expose all of Drake's crimes immediately.
The video footage about the Homeless Shelter had been recorded by the miniature camera he carried. However, the clever Carlton Drake had foresight.
This area was covered by a dense network of wireless signal jammers. Without a wired connection, Eddie couldn't contact the outside world, and the video footage couldn't be transmitted.
If the information about the Homeless Shelter could be sent out, it would definitely deal a heavy blow to the Life Foundation!
Eddie thought to himself, Then, following the clues, it wouldn't be impossible to uncover evidence of the Life Foundation's illegal human experiments.
He racked his brains, thinking about how to transmit the information.
Boom!
Suddenly, a truck roared down the street.
It was filled with security personnel armed with weapons, their uniforms vastly different from the Homeless Shelter's guards.
Eddie's pupils constricted.
He knew this truck belonged to the Life Foundation.
Without a doubt, the security personnel on board were also from the Life Foundation.
"They need to replenish their human experiment subjects again!"
Eddie's heart raced.
A thrilling thought popped into his head.
Why not go all out and infiltrate the Life Foundation directly?
After a moment's thought, beads of cold sweat appeared on Eddie's forehead. He swallowed hard, mustered his courage, and walked towards the large truck.
Soon.
After finding enough volunteers, the truck carrying the homeless people left the Homeless Shelter.
Beep beep beep!
Outside the Homeless Shelter.
The alarm on Phil's body went off.
He was ecstatic. He quickly took out his phone. On the screen, a red dot belonging to a GPS locator appeared and was constantly moving.
This was the signal source from Eddie!
He quickly got in his car, slammed on the accelerator, and chased after the signal source, speeding away.
A moment later, Phil, who had been speeding all the way, caught sight of the Life Foundation's truck in the distance and became nervous again.
He guessed that Eddie was in that truck, and he also knew that the Life Foundation's security personnel wouldn't give him any chance to take Eddie away.
Thinking quickly, he simply floored the accelerator again.
Bang!!
The small car rear-ended the truck.
"Shit!"
The burly driver stopped the car and came in front of Phil, grabbing his collar in a rage. "Kid, how are you driving?"
"I-I-I-I... I'm sorry, I didn't mean to."
Phil looked like a chick compared to the driver.
He trembled, "I can pay you. I'll give you all the money I have. Please, don't be so rough."
Then, he prepared to slowly approach the back of the truck.
There was an open window for ventilation here.
Eddie saw Phil and was relieved, subtly tossing the hidden camera out the window.
"Hey!"
Suddenly, another security guard came forward to check the situation.
"The important thing is to get going. Let's go."
The man glanced at Phil, didn't pay him any mind, and patted the driver on the shoulder.
"You got lucky!"
The driver nodded, loosened his collar, and tossed out a word impatiently before turning to leave, not giving Phil any chance to do anything.
Vroom!
The truck released a foul exhaust, spraying Phil in the face.
Phil's expression was blank.
He missed his chance; Eddie was taken away.
Bang bang!!
"Damn it!"
Back in the car, he slammed his fist on the steering wheel.
Phil hated his own cowardice.
Suddenly, a glance.
He froze.
He found that the signal source hadn't moved.
Impossible! The truck had clearly gone far away; how could the signal source still be coinciding with him?
A thought popped into his head.
He quickly got out of the car, found the invisible camera Eddie had thrown out, and took out the memory card, extremely excited.
"I'm saved!!"
"Eddie is saved!!"
Phil couldn't help but admire Eddie's cleverness and fumbled for his phone to call Anton.