The next morning, Ian stood at the dormitory entrance holding two large plastic bags.
The email had arrived at 8 a.m., sent from the Godolkin logistics department.
The message was brief: Building D, Room 317, double occupancy.
Please proceed to the logistics office as soon as possible to collect your key and complete check-in.
After picking up the key and finishing the check-in process, he first made a trip to Walmart to buy some new daily necessities.
On the third floor of Building D, Room 317 was located in the middle of the hallway, and some kind of noise was coming from inside.
Hearing the sounds, Ian pushed the door open in confusion.
“Has my roommate already arrived?
What’s that noise?”
He inserted the key and opened the door.
Inside, the curtains were tightly drawn, with only the blue glow from a laptop screen providing illumination.
Ian saw it—a pilot was taking off.
On the bed by the window, a white man lay on his back.
He appeared to be in his early twenties, with blond hair slicked back against his scalp.
The blanket was piled at the foot of the bed, and his pants were pulled down to his ankles.
Hearing the door open, Rufus looked up.
His face was flushed red, sweat beaded on his forehead, and a trace of clear fluid hung at the corner of his mouth.
Seeing Ian standing at the doorway with two Walmart bags in hand, Rufus’s hand stopped moving.
“Fuck,” Rufus cursed, his voice tinged with the annoyance of being interrupted.
“Don’t you know how to knock?”
Ian stood at the doorway, looking at Rufus’s still-busy hand, then at his flushed face.
“Don’t you lock the door when you’re taking off?” Ian said.
“Fuck!” Rufus wiped his hand on the bedsheet.
He sat up, grabbed the blanket to cover his lower half, and rushed into the bathroom.
“We’ll settle this after I come out!”
The bathroom door slammed shut, followed by the sound of the toilet seat being lifted, then more urgent, muffled noises.
Ian stood in the room, placing the plastic bags at his feet.
He recognized this person.
He pulled out his phone from his pocket and searched for Rufus.
On the Godolkin internal forum, several anonymous posts used vague but pointed language.
One reply from an ID called “Anonymous User 2077” said: Don’t be alone with him, don’t drink anything he hands you, don’t let him touch your forehead.
Ian turned off the screen and slipped the phone back into his pocket.
The noises from the bathroom grew louder, Rufus’s panting audible through the door.
But now he was thinking about another issue.
Rufus’s ability—Mind Control.
It could achieve Memory Erasure.
False Memory Implantation.
Close-range hypnosis.
This ability was useful to him.
Extremely useful.
In the future, he would need to interact with Vought’s upper management, get close to Homelander, and Duplicate abilities right under the noses of The Seven. Get faster updates on g.com.
If he could modify memories, implant false commands, and erase witnesses’ awareness, his plans would be ten times safer.
Rufus was a pervert.
But Rufus’s ability was a good ability.
In the storyline, he tried to use this ability on Marie but ended up having his “engine” blown up by her instead.
The noises in the bathroom reached a peak, followed by a long, deflated sigh, then the sound of flushing.
Ian straightened up and walked to the doorway.
He took a deep breath, bringing his hands together in front of his chest.
The Energy Blast from Jordan began to compress between his fingers as he stared at the bathroom door.
The doorknob turned.
Rufus pushed the door open while wiping his hands with a tissue.
His pants were already pulled up, but his belt wasn’t fastened yet, and the hem of his T-shirt was crumpled.
His face had switched to saint mode, eyes unfocused, a smile still hanging at the corner of his mouth.
He looked up and saw Ian standing at the door, momentarily stunned.
“What the hell are you doing stand—”
Ian pushed both palms forward.
A Shockwave shot out, striking Rufus squarely in the chest.
Thud.
Rufus’s back slammed hard against the bathroom doorframe, emitting a dull thump.
His eyes instantly widened, pupils rolling upward, the tissue in his hand fluttering to the floor.
His body slid down the doorframe, collapsing limply onto the bathroom floor tiles.
Ian walked over and crouched down.
Rufus’s chest was still rising and falling, but his breathing had become long and heavy, as if he had fallen into unconsciousness.
Ian reached out and pressed his palm against Rufus’s head.
Skin contact.
In his vision, a panel appeared:
[Detected Duplication target: Rufus Miller]
[Available abilities]
[Super Physique LV2]
[Mind Control LV3]
“Select Mind Control LV3.”
[Selected: Mind Control LV3]
Estimated completion time: 30 minutes
[Duplication progress: 0%]
Ian’s left hand moved away from Rufus’s face, hovering in mid-air, maintaining a charged state.
An Energy Blast swirled in his left hand, emitting a faint blue glow.
If Rufus so much as twitched or opened his eyes during these thirty minutes, this energy blast would send him back into a baby-like sleep.
His right hand remained firmly pressed against Rufus’s head.
The dorm was quiet.
Occasionally, footsteps passed in the hallway, growing closer before fading away again.
Someone in the next room was playing music, the bass vibrating through the walls.
Ian maintained his crouching position.
His eyes were fixed on Rufus’s eyes, even though they were tightly shut, the eyeballs beneath the eyelids occasionally twitching, as if dreaming.
A progress bar crawled slowly at the edge of his vision.
3%..
7%..
12%..
Rufus’s breathing suddenly became rapid.
His fingers twitched, as if trying to grab something.
Ian’s left hand tightened slightly, the Shockwave in his palm glowing brighter.
Rufus’s fingers drooped again, and his breathing steadied.
Ian continued staring at him, expressionless.
18%..
25%..
31%..
Sweat trickled from Ian’s temple, sliding down the bridge of his nose and dripping onto Rufus’s T-shirt.
Holding this position for half an hour was more exhausting than he had imagined.
Maintaining control of the energy in his left hand required constant focus.
But he didn’t move, nor did he relax.
Perhaps this ability wouldn’t work on powerful Supes, but for someone still in the developmental stage like himself, it was undoubtedly the best gift.
In the storyline, this guy not only targeted girls but, after the engine was destroyed, developed a liking for one-sided S&M with men, casually controlling a few guys to wander around campus like dogs on leashes.
Ian didn’t want to wake up one day forgetting why he came to Godolkin, so he had to obtain this key.
45%..
58%..
67%..
72%..
81%..
89%..
Ian’s left hand began to tremble slightly.
Using his ability continuously for nearly half an hour was also draining for his LV2 Shockwave control.
The blue glow in his palm flickered.
But he gritted his teeth and stabilized the energy again.
94%..
97%..
99%..
100%