DC hero at Marvel

"Damn it!"

Anton couldn't hold back his frustration, though he kept his tone steady. "You have to find a way to confirm Eddie's condition. If possible, get him out of there, understood?"

"Understood. We'll do our best," Phil replied, his voice trembling slightly.

The urgency of this investigation dawned on Phil anew, and he realized the sacrifice Eddie had made by going undercover himself rather than sending Phil into Homeless Haven.

Over the days that Eddie had been out of contact, Phil had been wracked with guilt.

He believed that if he hadn't suggested infiltrating Homeless Haven to Eddie, Eddie wouldn't have taken such a risky step.

"Mr. Anton, rest assured, I'll do everything in my power to rescue Chief Eddie."

Hearing Phil's determination, Anton offered a few encouraging words before hanging up.

Feeling uneasy, Anton decided to check on how Batman's novel serialization was going, so he called Betty.

She picked up immediately.

"Anton, I'm already off the clock!" she complained, exasperated.

"Hey, that's the life of a working person—gotta get used to overtime."

Anton gave her some boss-like advice, then asked, "So, how's the novel doing?"

"We've serialized about a third of it in the paper, and the response has been positive. We're even getting letters from readers asking us to increase the daily word count," Betty reported. "The novel has also boosted our daily circulation."

She paused, then added, "By the way, there's already a pirated version of the novel circulating online. Should we issue a warning?"

"The more pirated copies, the better. It's a good thing," Anton laughed. "But we could add a new section on the Daily Bugle website to serialize the novel. Get the tech team on it. It's simple enough."

"Got it."

Betty agreed, then asked, "Anything else?"

"Arrange for some publicity. I want this novel to gain popularity quickly," Anton added. "Try connecting Batman, Bruce Wayne, with Tony Stark. Stir up the conversation."

"What?!" Betty sounded shocked. "You're sure you won't piss off that playboy?"

"Don't worry; I'll take responsibility."

Anton was unbothered. "The Batman film has Tony Stark's investment, so he won't care about these details. We're making him money!"

"Alright, I'll get on it."

Betty got to work promptly.

After hanging up, Anton checked Batman's fan points, getting a clear number:

[32,145]

It wasn't nearly enough.

Luckily, the system's beginner's discount had drastically lowered the main hero's template requirement. Otherwise, the full 50 million fan points would have taken ages to accumulate.

Now, with only 9.94 million points to go, he was confident that the film's release would bring in the remaining fans quickly.

If he could unlock the Batman armor template, he wouldn't feel so helpless against the Life Foundation.

At that moment, he empathized with Eddie's frustration before he'd left for San Francisco.

This feeling of waiting passively, unable to act, was pure torment.

San Francisco.

Homeless Haven.

Eddie's face was smeared with grime, his body reeking as he huddled in a corner, nervously observing his surroundings.

The place was filled with people who looked lifeless, as if hope had been drained from them.

Inside Homeless Haven, Eddie had gained firsthand knowledge of the conditions.

It was nothing like the Life Foundation's press releases or news stories had depicted.

In reality, the homeless had no dignity here.

The city treated the place as a dumping ground for society's "trash," never checking up on it once it was built.

The Life Foundation used it as a holding pen, occasionally sending trucks to deceive the homeless into signing "volunteer" agreements before taking them away. No one ever returned.

The staff claimed that these people had "returned to normal life."

Eddie scoffed at the lie.

He knew these people had likely become subjects for the Life Foundation's human experiments, their freedom stripped away.

They were kept in glass cages, like rare animals on display for research.

"Carlton Drake…"

Having seen the truth, Eddie's opinion of Drake couldn't get any lower.

He wanted nothing more than to expose all of Drake's crimes immediately.

He had managed to record footage inside Homeless Haven with his hidden camera.

But Carlton Drake had anticipated such actions.

The area was covered by signal blockers, cutting Eddie off from the outside world, and making it impossible to send out his footage.

"If I could just get the footage out, it would be a severe blow to the Life Foundation!"

Eddie thought, "From there, we could trace their activities and find evidence of their illegal human experimentation."

He wracked his brain, trying to figure out how to get the footage out.

Suddenly, the sound of an engine roared.

A truck, manned by armed guards, appeared on the street. Unlike the security guards at the Homeless Association, these men wore a different uniform.

Eddie's eyes narrowed.

He knew this was a Life Foundation truck.

Undoubtedly, the guards were also from the Life Foundation.

"They're here to gather more test subjects."

Eddie's heart raced.

An idea popped into his mind.

Why not go all-in and infiltrate the Life Foundation directly?

After a moment's thought, sweat beaded on his forehead. Swallowing nervously, he gathered his courage and approached the truck.

Soon, once they had gathered enough "volunteers," the truck left Homeless Haven.

Beep! Beep! Beep!

Outside the perimeter of Homeless Haven, Phil's alert sounded.

Ecstatic, he quickly pulled out his phone and saw the moving red GPS dot on the screen.

It was Eddie's signal!

Phil hurried into his car, flooring the gas pedal to follow the signal.

Before long, after speeding along the road, Phil spotted the Life Foundation truck in the distance and felt a surge of anxiety.

He guessed that Eddie was in that truck, and he knew the guards wouldn't give him a chance to get Eddie out.

Thinking quickly, he stepped on the gas again.

Crash!

Phil's car rear-ended the truck.

"Damn it!"

The burly truck driver stepped out, grabbing Phil by the collar, furious. "Kid, do you even know how to drive?"

"I-I… I'm sorry. I didn't mean to."

Phil, small in comparison, stammered, "I can pay for the damage. Take everything I have, just don't be rough."

Slowly, he edged toward the back of the truck.

There was a small ventilation window.

Inside, Eddie spotted Phil, relief flashing across his face, and discreetly tossed the hidden camera through the window.

"Hey!"

One of the other guards came forward to check out the commotion.

"Focus on the job. Let's go," he said, giving the driver a pat on the shoulder.

"Lucky for you!"

The driver grumbled, releasing Phil's collar with an annoyed huff before getting back into the truck.

The truck belched exhaust in Phil's face as it drove off.

Phil stood there, stunned.

He hadn't seized the chance; Eddie was gone.

Bang, bang!

"Damn it!"

Phil slammed his fists on the steering wheel in frustration.

Suddenly, something caught his eye.

He froze.

The signal wasn't moving.

Impossible!

The truck had driven off, so why was the signal still here?

Realizing what had happened, he jumped out of the car, found Eddie's hidden camera, and took out the memory card, his excitement growing.

"There's hope!"

"Eddie's got a chance!"

Overwhelmed with admiration for Eddie's cleverness, Phil hurriedly called Anton.