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The two old foxes, one large and one small, looked at each other, neither speaking.
Edgar suddenly laughed, putting down the documents in his hand, and said,
"Alright, I will consider the funding."
"Then I thank Mr. Edgar in advance."
Kevin said with a smile.
Edgar shook his head:
"You're welcome. Your performance recently has been good. Additional funding for The Woods is a 'reward' you deserve. In fact, it's not impossible for you to get more."
More?
Kevin's eyebrows twitched slightly:
"Sir, do you mean…?"
"Do you want to work on the 82nd floor?"
Edgar asked with a smile.
This question made Kevin pause slightly, looking at Edgar with surprise.
Working on the 82nd floor meant Kevin's office would also move to the 82nd floor, which signified Kevin's complete entry into the upper echelons of Vought, accepted by all its top executives.
Originally, Madelyn Stillwell's ultimate goal was this; it was the direction she had been striving for.
However, before she could achieve her goal, she died at Butcher's hands.
A dream Madelyn couldn't achieve even in death.
Kevin now obtained it with ease.
Thinking of this, Kevin felt like laughing. He wasn't laughing at Madelyn, but at Edgar.
Kevin knew perfectly well why Edgar would propose such a suggestion to him.
It was nothing more than because the recent events made Edgar feel that Kevin was a difficult opponent, and continuing to entangle with such an opponent would instead tie up Edgar's energy, which went against his original purpose of promoting Kevin.
Moreover, if things continued like this, it was very likely to push Kevin to his opposite side, making him stand with The Seven.
Rather than pushing him to The Seven, it would be better to continue winning him over and have Kevin stand on his side.
If Kevin could still continue to abide by the rules of the game everyone set, then Edgar's proposal was undoubtedly a win-win suggestion.
Kevin had the opportunity to continue moving upwards, and Edgar could also let Kevin continue to suppress The Seven.
But unfortunately, Kevin currently had no intention of continuing to abide by the rules of the game.
"To have the opportunity to work on the 82nd floor, I would naturally be thrilled."
After a long silence, Kevin slowly said.
Hearing Kevin's words, Edgar's smile slowly disappeared, because he knew that after Kevin's sentence, there would definitely be a 'but'.
So he didn't speak, quietly waiting for the other party to continue.
Sure enough, not long after, Kevin said:
"But, my current goal is no longer this."
"Oh? Then I'm a bit curious, what is your current goal? Are you no longer thinking about making money?"
"Money, of course, still needs to be made, but I don't want to make it this way anymore, Mr. Edgar. I suddenly feel that Vought's strategy is a bit too narrow, don't you think?"
"…"
Setting aside other things, in Kevin's view, Vought was currently resting on its laurels.
Although Edgar claimed to focus on the pharmaceutical industry, for so many years, Vought had produced no decent medicine other than Compound V.
And Compound V was something Vought had possessed since its very inception.
Stormfront was the first successful subject of Compound V.
If Stormfront had been injected with Compound V since birth, then for a hundred years, Vought had seen no change.
Even if Stormfront wasn't injected with Compound V since birth, Vought had remained largely stagnant in the pharmaceutical field for at least eighty years.
In fact, if Compound V hadn't been revealed, Vought in everyone's minds would now be a large entertainment company.
They were resting on their laurels, the laurels of Compound V, and the laurels of Superheroes.
No matter how Edgar argued, this was a fact.
Kevin knew that Edgar had thoughts of making changes.
Sage Grove, Red River Orphanage, and even The Woods, he was drastically changing personnel configurations, trying to revive Vought.
Madelyn, originally the director of Red River Orphanage, was promoted by him to Vice President of the group, and Kevin was placed in the original The Woods.
Regardless of Edgar's motives, he was indeed trying to change Vought's current situation.
But unfortunately, no matter how he changed, Vought was unable to produce more well-known pharmaceuticals.
Productivity and creativity were stagnant; they had lost their vitality.
Even the Temporary Compound V that would appear later was nothing more than a defective product derived from Compound V.
Kevin pointed out Vought's current predicament incisively.
With Compound V now public, Vought was transitioning towards becoming a Super Entertainment company, a fact Edgar needed to confront.
"This is not something you should worry about."
Having the truth pointed out, Edgar's expression remained unchanged; he stared indifferently at Kevin, seemingly intending to end the topic.
But how could Kevin so easily let Edgar end the conversation?
"I have a way to change Vought's current predicament."
Before Edgar intended to end the conversation, Kevin spoke up.
The current CEO of Vought stopped his actions and met Kevin's gaze.
He didn't ask immediately; instead, he scrutinized Kevin for a long time before slowly asking:
"What is your method? Tell me."
"Transformation."
"Haha, transforming into a Super Entertainment company?"
"No, transforming into a technology company, producing more high-tech products. I know Vought has this technology."
Vought's technology wasn't bad; some black technologies aimed at Supes were developed by Vought.
Their scientific research technology was good, and their biotechnology was world-class.
If they seriously researched new biological agents or technologies, producing new products would not be a difficult task.
But Edgar laughed as he listened to these words.
Not knowing what Kevin held in his hands, he only felt that the other party was dreaming:
"Kevin, do you know how much time and resources we need to invest to research a new pharmaceutical or technology?"
"I know, I know it's a bottomless pit for money, but what if I have a finished product? You'd only be responsible for reverse engineering, which I imagine would greatly reduce the resources needed for research and development."
"Finished product?" Edgar was stunned: "You have a finished product?"
"Of course, and this is the other thing I wanted to talk about, Mr. Edgar, I hope you can let me become… your proxy."
Kevin revealed his true purpose for coming to Edgar today, showing his hand.
The sound instantly vanished, and the air seemed to solidify.
Kevin finally saw a look of shock and disbelief on Edgar's face, and even a hint of absurdity within it.
It was indeed quite absurd.
Because from an outsider's perspective, Kevin was coming to the CEO of Vought with a set of claims whose veracity was unknown, trying to gain full management control of Vought empty-handed.
This was even more absurd than trying to get hundreds of millions in investment with just a third-rate PowerPoint presentation.
Edgar used to think Kevin was a very smart person, but now he felt that the other party didn't seem as smart as he had imagined.
"Hahahaha, Kevin, I must say, your joke is very funny, but I'm not in the mood for jokes today. You should leave. I will consider the funding for The Woods."
Edgar laughed aloud, seemingly genuinely believing Kevin had told a very funny joke.
He brought the conversation back to the beginning and issued a dismissal, completely ending the discussion.
But Kevin didn't leave; he quietly looked at Edgar, this elderly man, and softly said:
"Mr. Edgar, I'm afraid this is not a joke, and today you have no other choice."
"I understand. You want to… stage a coup? Are you finally unable to resist using your Supe abilities to gain benefits for yourself? Or do you think you can obtain what you want through such an unconventional method?"
Seeing Kevin's expressionless face, Edgar finally confirmed the purpose of his visit today.
Asking for funding, planning for Vought's future—all were utter nonsense, lies.
The other party's true goal was to use force to coerce him into relinquishing control of Vought.
But even knowing this, Edgar remained calm.
He leaned back in his chair, took out something similar to a car key from his pocket and toyed with it, then seriously told Kevin:
"You have no idea how many ways Vought has to deal with you. So now, this is my final warning: before I change my mind, go back. I can pretend today never happened."
Facing Kevin, a Supe whose strength rivaled Homelander, and perhaps even surpassed him, Edgar still showed no fear.
He seemed utterly convinced that Kevin could not harm him, perhaps even believing this when Homelander was in front of him.
And the source of Edgar's confidence was perhaps that mysterious device in his hand.
That device not recorded by The Woods.
Looking at the small object in Edgar's hand, Kevin's expression didn't change. Not only did he not leave as Edgar said, but he also took two steps forward, slowly approaching Edgar.
"…What a pity."
Seeing Kevin's movement, Edgar sighed.
He shook his head helplessly, pressed a button on the device in his hand with force, and quietly waited for something.
One second, two seconds…
After a full dozen seconds passed, Edgar's expression gradually changed.
Because Kevin was still standing in front of him, showing no reaction at all.
This elegant old man, who had always appeared extremely calm, as if nothing could surprise him, finally showed extreme shock in front of Kevin.
He lowered his head, checked the device in his hand, and turned a knob on it to the maximum.
But Kevin remained perfectly fine.
Not only that, he walked towards Edgar and took the device from his hand.
"This… What did you do?!"
"I didn't do anything."
Kevin gently took the device from Edgar's hand, examined it thoroughly, and after confirming there were no issues, turned it off and put it in his pocket.
Then he said to Edgar:
"The reason this device has no effect on me is simple, Mr. Edgar: I am no longer a Supe."
In The Woods, Kevin had spent an entire day testing himself with various methods effective against Supes.
The final result was that, apart from a small number of devices that caused harm by exploiting Supes' overly acute hearing and vision, the methods targeting Compound V within Supes had no effect on Kevin whatsoever.
The job change had completely transformed Kevin's body, shifting it from a Supe to a more mysterious level of life.
There was likely no Compound V left in his body, and thus, any method targeting Compound V had no effect on Kevin.
As for methods targeting Supes' acute hearing and vision…
Before coming here, Kevin had already inserted concentrated Water Balls into his ears and condensed a thin layer of water film over his eyes.
Physically cutting off anything that could pose a threat to him.
Therefore, no matter what methods Edgar had prepared, they would not affect Kevin or cause him harm.
He was no longer a Supe.
At least not the Supe defined by this world.
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