Vought International, on the 82nd floor of the high-rise.
Stan Edgar sat in his executive chair, puffing on a cigar amidst swirling smoke.
As an ordinary man without any Superpower, he chose to remain behind the scenes, managing Superhumans by promoting puppets to maximize corporate profits.
The recent flurry of activity at Vought International was the result of his discussions with Madelyn.
If not for the appearance of the uncontrollable factor that is Superman, they might have taken things slower, eventually infiltrating the upper echelons of America.
But that was no longer possible. They didn't even know Superman's true identity, and now there was another one: his wife, Supergirl.
Would there be a little Superman or a little Supergirl in the future?
No one knew.
As it turned out, their decision to ramp up efforts for their superheroes to 'maintain world peace' had been quite prescient.
Their tireless efforts had paid off with a six-point increase in public approval. Even those organizations and individuals who had previously been critical of superheroes were much quieter now.
However, Edgar knew the threat remained.
At this moment, he was staring at the large screen on the wall, which was playing a piece of secret footage that had not been released to the public.
It was the scene where Supergirl had gained the upper hand in a chaotic battle against Queen Maeve and Stormfront, just as Superman and Homelander arrived almost simultaneously.
The image was extremely blurry, but it was clear enough for him, an ordinary man, to see that even with a surprise attack, Homelander could not defeat the newly appeared Supergirl in a one-on-one fight.
And Superman, facing the siege of several members of 'The Seven'—including Queen Maeve, Translucent, and A-Train—along with over twenty second and third-tier superheroes, had handled them as if it were child's play, taking them all down with a single punch each!
One had to remember that Edgar himself had signed the orders for these superheroes to be deployed.
He had been waiting for such an opportunity for a long time.
Edgar had assumed that under Homelander's leadership, and with the concern over Supergirl, they wouldn't seek a quick victory, but at least they could make Superman lose face, or at the very least, see where his limits were.
Who knew reality would be even more brutal than expected.
Superman and Supergirl were as powerful as extraterrestrial beings!!
The team led by Homelander was utterly defeated, a result Edgar had not anticipated.
"The abilities of Superman and Supergirl are as perfect as if they were innate. Compared to them, Homelander looks more like a failed experiment."
As the CEO of Vought International, who knew everything there was to know about compound v, he did not believe such abilities could be easily replicated.
Cigar smoke filled the office as Edgar whispered to himself, "The human experiments at Sage Grove Center and the research at Godolkin University need to be accelerated. Otherwise, we might very well become the side that falls behind..."
The board of directors was already pressuring him; they naturally assumed that Superman and Supergirl were also products of chemical catalysis.
Since such perfect life forms as Superman and Supergirl had appeared, it meant that there was still plenty of room for improvement in compound v, so naturally, research efforts had to be increased.
"Superman, Supergirl."
In fact, Edgar thought the same, "Pressure is never the problem. If there were a way to obtain some of their blood, hair, or skin fragments, it might save us a lot of work..."
It was just that such an idea was extremely difficult to realize; Vought still had no idea where these two people had popped out from.
The nickname 'TexasSuperman' was widely circulated among netizens, and not without reason.
Aside from the occasional appearance in other states of America, Superman spent most of his time active in Texas. Those damn rednecks had publicized this extensively, claiming their home was the birthplace of Superman and viewing it as the pride of the Lone Star Republic.
'Perhaps Texas really is where Superman settled down?'
Edgar finally focused his attention on the 'House of Superman', a gleam of thought flickering in his eyes.
This might be the best breakthrough, but they would have to be more patient.
In any case, the most important thing right now was to maintain confidentiality; the footage they had in their hands must not be leaked under any circumstances.
Otherwise, it would deal a major blow to the prestige of Vought International.
Thinking of this, Edgar sent a message to Madelyn: "Mark this clip as top secret. No internal personnel are allowed to leak it. Also, handle the FBI to ensure they stay quiet. I do not want any details after Superman's arrival to become a topic of discussion among netizens."
After a while, Madelyn replied.
"Rest assured, Mr. CEO. Not just our internal staff, we have already appeased every single agent who participated in the anti-terrorism operation that day. I can guarantee they won't say a word, unless someone can read their thoughts without using language."
"Very good."
Seeing this, Edgar smiled.
Let the general public's impression of Superman and Supergirl remain at the level of being able to go toe-to-toe with Vought International.
After all, Homelander, in fact, has not yet been defeated by Superman, has he?
...
"Haha, look, this is our homegrown superhero from Texas!"
"Superman and Supergirl—their strength is actually this formidable! Even more commendable is their character. Helping those in need when they see injustice—they are simply the epitome of our Texas morality!!"
"Promote it for me, promote it hard!!"
Governor Rick of Texas, looking at the top-secret video in his hand, could not help but feel stirred, despite his usual composure.
The Texas region paid Vought International up to 600 million US dollars annually for superhero cooperation fees.
In exchange, they only got over twenty second and third-tier heroes.
Before Superman appeared, the public security problems caused by Superhumans in Texas were increasing sharply every year and becoming more and more serious. Facing such high security maintenance costs, the Texas government had no choice but to bite the bullet and accept it.
The public was willing to pay for the superheroes, which was fine.
But as governor, Rick could easily realize how much fluff was behind this cooperation.
"These guys are just actors. Do they think we, the state government, are idiots?"
Some interests could be exchanged, but the Lone Star Republic always had its own pride.
Rick, looking at the clip on the screen, now had the opportunity to let Texas break free from Vought International completely!
Superman and Supergirl.
These two model couples of Texas never asked for anything in return for their righteous deeds.
Although their methods were occasionally extreme, they were in the middle of life-and-death battles with enemies; as long as the direction was correct, no one could blame them.
Only such white superheroes were the salvation of Texas, the true soul of the Lone Star Republic!
"I want everyone to know about the heroic deeds of Superman and Supergirl!"
Thinking of this, Governor Rick slapped the table hard, his mood stirring.
Remembering the recent news, he pondered for a moment, then called his assistant and instructed:
"I am very dissatisfied with that bullshit wanted list from the FBI. There are several people on it who are clearly informants sent out by our TexasSuperman. Superman already reported this beforehand. You go and handle the liaison; tell them to change that damn list. Leaving the leader's name is enough."
The assistant agreed deeply and nodded heavily: "Understood, sir. Task will be completed."
Half a day later, the carefully encrypted secret footage of Edgar was rampant on the internet, as if someone had specifically paid extra to have it spread.
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