Chapter 285: Chapter 285 Core

John was known among the organization’s members for being amiable and approachable—a reputation that made many operatives desperate for a transfer to the Houston branch.

“Fine. Remember to add ice.”

John didn’t argue. He sat back down and fixed his gaze on Loki, using his seasoned, razor-sharp eyes to scan the man from head to toe.

Loki, fearing a slip-up, quickly rose. “I have admired the Joker organization for a long time. It would be an honor to work under you, Mr. Wick. Please, accept this small token of my appreciation.”

John had seen this routine a thousand times. He’d been gifted everything from Centurion Black Cards with unlimited credit to sprawling luxury villas and rising supermodels. But a spear? That was a first. The man was certainly interesting.

Loki, sensing his curiosity, stood up to display the item. “Sir, this is no mere spear. It is a scepter.” He gripped it with one hand and stroked it gently with his right. The blue gem suddenly flared to life, emitting an eerie, ethereal glow.

“Interesting. Does it do anything besides glow?” John’s interest was piqued. The scepter looked noble and extraordinary; it would actually suit Jason perfectly. He decided it would make a great gift for the Big Boss when they reunited.

As John leaned in for a closer look, a wicked, distorted smile crept onto Loki’s face.

“Sir, this scepter possesses transcendental power. Watch closely.”

He subtly moved the tip toward John’s heart. As the gem pulsed with blue light once more, the energy bled out from the tip and sank directly into John’s chest.

John felt a jolt of alarm, but before he could strike, his body froze. His pupils turned pitch black for a split second before returning to normal. Loki and the club owner stared at him warily.

Success? Or failure?

“Sir,” John said, standing straight and bowing respectfully.

Loki smiled and let out a long, heavy sigh of relief. Phase two of the plan was a success.

*

No secrets between partners now. Loki immediately laid out his plan to John. But as a core member, no one knew Jason better than John did.

“The probability of success… is extremely low,” John evaluated bluntly. “You still underestimate Jason. His power is a bottomless pit; not even we know his true trump cards.”

“Oh? Do tell.” Instead of being annoyed by the criticism, Loki found himself even more intrigued by the man called Jason.

“Setting aside his primary abilities—which you can find on YouTube to see just how invincible they are—nothing can kill him unless you dropped a nuke on his head without him noticing. Anything else just recharges him and makes him stronger. But more importantly: do you know why the Joker organization has so many super-humans? Before we met Jason, we were all ordinary people.”

“You mean—!” The owner gasped.

John nodded. “Jason… has the ability to bestow superpowers upon others.”

“What!” Loki’s face practically contorted. Not only is he a good combatant, but he can create an army of them? What kind of monster is this?

The revelation hit Loki like a physical blow. After several minutes of processing, his shock turned into a fanatical, feverish heat in his eyes. Incredible! If Jason can be made my puppet, I won’t need to take orders from the Chitauri. I won’t just rule Earth—I could conquer the cosmos.

“You said the success rate is low. What’s your suggestion?” Loki asked urgently.

John thought for a moment. “To control Jason, you must catch him completely off guard. Your plan involved me bringing you into the base, but as long as there’s an outsider present, he’ll never lower his guard. Once he deploys his energy barrier, it’s game over. The only way is for you to disguise yourself as a core member—preferably one of Jason’s women. Only then will he be truly vulnerable.”

Loki nodded slowly, acknowledging the logic. “And how do we get close to them?”

John: “Jason is obsessed with the Tesseract and the Scepter. He’s recalled every core member to New York specifically to plan the seizure of those artifacts. My plan is this…”

*

Half an hour later, the three emerged from the room. John had planned to rest and leave in the morning, but the schedule was moved up. After two quick phone calls, Loki and John headed for the airport, where a private jet was already idling on the runway.

Early the next morning, as the first grey light hit the sky, the two appeared in a VIP lounge at Newark Airport. After John waited alone for thirty minutes, the door swung open.

“Hey bro, what’s up!”

Franklin walked in, decked out in hip-hop streetwear and cornrows.

“Hey!” John smiled and stepped forward, greeting him with a cool, choreographed handshake. After the pleasantries, Franklin sat down lazily.

“Your suggestion last night was fire, man. I’ve been wanting to get everyone together for a drink, but it didn’t really seem like your style.”

John chuckled. “Nothing big. I just thought we should meet at the airport, have a little fun first, and then head to the base together.”

“Yeah, man. With the Boss around, we’re all a little stiff. Without him, we can actually go wild,” Franklin said excitedly. No matter how well Jason treated them, the hierarchy remained. It was only natural for the members to feel a bit restricted in his presence.

“By the way, did you get a gift for the Boss?” During the chatter, John picked up the scepter from the table.

“What? Do we need gifts?!” Franklin’s eyes went wide.

“We haven’t seen him in over a year. A homecoming gift is mandatory,” John replied as if it were common sense.

“Damn it, I have nothing!” Franklin groaned, clutching his head. “Traitor! Why didn’t you tell me sooner?”

“Don’t sweat it. The Boss won’t hold it against you. But check this out—I got him this scepter.”

John walked over, stroked the scepter with his right hand, and enslaved Franklin before the younger man even knew what was happening.

Loki, hiding in the side room, watched the whole scene, a devious grin spreading across his face. John’s plan was brilliant. Last night, John had checked the group chat to see when everyone was returning. Seeing that most were arriving today, he proposed the VIP lounge meet-up followed by a bar crawl. Everyone agreed; some even changed their flights to arrive earlier for the party.

The bait was set. John would use the time gap to pick them off one by one as they arrived. Besides the primary objective—enslaving Harley—this plan served a secondary purpose: if the sneak attack on Jason failed, having a unified front of enslaved core members would provide them with a fighting chance against Jason’s wrath.

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