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Edgar had not yet recovered from the shock of his methods failing.
He stared blankly as Kevin took the 'insurance' from his hand, and after a while, he said,
"...What did you find in The Woods?"
He refused to believe the fact that Kevin was no longer a Supe; it was too inconceivable for the people of The Boys world.
Instead, it was more reasonable and believable that Kevin had found a way to deal with these 'insurance' methods in The Woods.
Perhaps it was some hidden data, or perhaps it was a new method developed by Cardosa.
Or perhaps it was something else.
Because compared to the explanation of 'not being a Supe,' Edgar's guess was more in line with common sense.
Otherwise, what could the answer be?
Are there really Supes in this world who can be born without Compound V?
Or is Kevin really some kind of Sea God?
How could such an absurd thing exist in this world!
"If that's what you think, then so be it."
Kevin had no intention of convincing Edgar that he wasn't a Supe; after all, he had already decided to make Edgar exit, so what the other party thought was his own business.
Hearing Kevin 'admit' it, Edgar's emotions returned to calm.
Even in this situation, he could maintain his composure and continue to negotiate with Kevin:
"So what you want is control of Vought? But with this method, the other executives of the group won't recognize you, and... without me, you won't be able to control Vought for long, believe me, this is the truth."
"I certainly believe you, sir, for Vought, you are indeed an indispensable presence."
"In that case, we still have something to discuss, Deep."
"No, I think quite the opposite, our conversation is over."
Kevin said to Edgar with regret, then clapped his hands softly.
As Kevin clapped his hands, the door was pushed open, and a person who had been waiting outside for a long time pushed the door and entered.
When he saw the appearance of the newcomer, Edgar's eyes suddenly widened, his calm demeanor vanished, and Kevin finally felt the emotion of fear from him.
Because the person who walked in from outside at this moment was Edgar.
Yes, it was another... him, identical to Edgar.
"This—!?"
"Sir, your attention to The Seven is too low, and your attention to Madelyn is too low. You don't even know that Madelyn still has such a hero in her hands, do you?"
Looking at the other 'Edgar' standing beside him, Kevin then spoke softly to the Edgar opposite him.
Doppelganger, or rather, a shapeshifter, was a trump card under Madelyn's command.
His true form was a big fat man weighing nearly three hundred pounds, possessing the Supe ability to transform into anyone.
Just like Mystique.
In the original plot, Madelyn used him to act out a pornographic scene with a congressman and used it to threaten that congressman to vote for her.
After Madelyn's death in the second season, Homelander also used him as a substitute for Madelyn, and later he was killed by Homelander.
How could Kevin let go of such a useful fellow?
So, after taking over everything of Madelyn's, Kevin made this doppelganger disappear, completely eliminating his existence within the company, and taking good care of him, all for this moment today.
At the critical moment, he would exist as someone's substitute.
"You already...? !"
When this Supe appeared before him, Edgar instantly understood everything.
Perhaps as early as when Kevin met Edgar, he had already planned to do this, but Edgar overlooked this point.
As Kevin said, he wasn't actually very concerned about Superheroes.
If it weren't for Kevin, if it weren't for Homelander wanting to break free from Vought's control, he wouldn't even bother to create a Supervillain Alliance.
But precisely because of this, he overlooked Madelyn's doppelganger.
Edgar certainly knew of the doppelganger's existence, but he had never thought of doing anything with this Supe.
He never even imagined that one day, this Supe who could transform into anyone would take his place.
Thoughts surged in his mind, and Edgar quickly swallowed back everything he wanted to say, swiftly changing it into other words:
"Kevin, we can actually talk again..."
"No need, goodbye, Mr. Edgar."
Kevin said to Edgar with regret.
Edgar still wanted to say something, but a sudden dizziness made him, who had just stood up, suddenly sit back down in the chair, also blocking his subsequent words.
His breathing became rapid, and there seemed to be some liquid under his nose. Edgar reached out and touched it—it was blood.
Blood?
Edgar suddenly thought of something and looked up at Kevin again.
Kevin smiled at him:
"Don't worry, I won't let your head explode, and I won't let you die now, after all, I still need your head."
Edgar heard Kevin's words, but the dizziness had already made him unable to understand the meaning of Kevin's words.
His consciousness became increasingly blurry, and his thoughts fell into chaos.
In just two seconds, Edgar could no longer maintain consciousness, his head tilted, and he completely lost consciousness and fell into a deep sleep.
"...Sir?"
When Edgar fainted, the doppelganger, identical to Edgar, came to Kevin's side and asked nervously.
He seemed to be asking if Edgar was alright.
Kevin didn't look at him, just let out a long breath and looked at the unconscious Edgar, saying:
"Sudden cerebral hemorrhage, if treated in time, he won't die."
"Why not... kill him?"
Hearing the doppelganger's question, Kevin suddenly asked in return:
"Do you know Vought's current strategy?"
The doppelganger shook his head:
"I don't know."
"Then how is Edgar's relationship with other executives, which executives he has a good relationship with, which ones he doesn't, and what strategy Edgar will implement later, you probably don't know these questions either, do you?"
"Mm."
"Coincidentally, I don't know either, so I need him alive, at least until I've emptied out everything in his head, he needs to be alive."
Edgar was right, the current Vought still needed him, he couldn't die.
That's why Kevin temporarily spared his life; only after he was sure he could extract all the information from Edgar's mind would Kevin choose to eliminate him.
For now, he could only be inconvenienced by staying in the hospital for a period of time.
"Then... should we send him to the hospital?"
The doppelganger asked again, and somewhat worriedly asked:
"...If we send him to the hospital, Vought's people will find out, right?"
"What nonsense are you talking about?"
Kevin looked at him suspiciously, then suddenly took out a transparent object from his pocket and placed it on Edgar's face.
As something like a mask was applied to Edgar's face, Edgar's facial features suddenly changed.
In an instant, he transformed from his original appearance into an unfamiliar black man.
A shapeshifting mask from Marvel World, a divine artifact that can change one's appearance, even Black Widow said it was good.
The doppelganger Edgar saw this scene, his mouth remaining agape for a long time.
He had no idea that the technology in this world had developed so quickly, even having something that could change a person's appearance.
Kevin ignored what he was thinking, used Water Manipulation to make the mask completely become Edgar's face, then removed the items that represented his identity.
Finally, he picked up the phone on the table and called Vought's security team to come and send this 'unidentified person' to the hospital.
Thus, without anyone knowing, Vought completed a transfer of power.
Kevin, unknowingly, became the true helmsman of Vought.
And besides him, the only one who knew about this was the doppelganger disguised as Edgar.
In the future, perhaps one more person will know, it might be Cate, or it might be the telepath Mezmer, but in any case, besides them, no one else will ever know what happened today.
"...Gave ten skill points? Why so generous this time?"
When everything settled, Kevin checked his skill points again.
He found that the original fifteen skill points had become twenty-six.
Besides the one gained today due to the popularity of Compound V and the Supervillain Alliance, merely usurping power and acquiring Vought alone gave Kevin ten.
Perhaps there were also skill points for Edgar's exit included.
This was without even killing Edgar, just usurping his position and stripping his identity, and he gained so much.
It could be foreseen that when Edgar was no longer useful, Kevin would kill him, and perhaps gain another large sum of skill points.
Leaving the doppelganger in the office to finish things up as Edgar, Kevin returned to his own office and began to allocate his existing skill points.
First, he allocated sixteen points, raising the level of Water Manipulation from Level 4 to Level 5.
After allocating the skill points, Kevin lay back in his office chair and clicked confirm, waiting for the possible pain to come.
Raising his physique from Level 4 to Level 5 would cause Kevin's body to feel pain as if it were being crushed.
By the same logic, raising Water Manipulation from Level 4 to Level 5 should also result in some abnormality.
This was also why Kevin chose to allocate skill points in the office rather than at home.
He was worried about disturbing Annie and others who were already resting at home.
The skill points for Water Manipulation were allocated, the skill upgraded, and Kevin closed his eyes, waiting patiently.
But to Kevin's surprise, the expected pain did not appear; instead, waves of coolness emanated from Kevin's mind.
This coolness was incredibly comfortable, making Kevin feel as if he was soaking in warm spring water, making him drowsy.
Beautiful blue colors began to appear before his eyes, and within this blue, special symbols flashed before him and merged into his mind.
The merging of each character intensified Kevin's drowsiness a few points.
When all the characters had merged into Kevin's mind, Kevin finally couldn't help but fall asleep, unconscious.
After an unknown period of sleep, Kevin was finally awakened by someone's call:
"...Sir? Mr. Kevin?"
"Ugh... Hmm?!"
The call startled Kevin awake. He instantly opened his eyes and looked to the side.
Ashley, holding a blue folder, cautiously reminded him:
"Sir, Mr. Edgar wants you to go to the 82nd floor..."
"Edgar? He's not... Oh, I know, I'll be right there."
Kevin's mind was still a bit hazy from just waking up, and he almost blurted out Edgar's situation.
Only after speaking did he remember that Edgar had already been replaced by him, and it was the doppelganger who was calling him over now.
He casually dismissed Ashley, telling her to leave, and then Kevin looked at his skill tree.
Water Manipulation had indeed reached LV5. Not only that, but the improvement in Water Manipulation also cleared Kevin's mind considerably.
It was as if the fog covering his mind had dispersed, and he felt as if he had become ten years younger.
"...Is the difference between the magic system and the warrior system that great? Raising my physique to Level 5 hurt me to death, but raising a Supe ability to Level 5 felt like having a hydro-spa... Hmm..."
After thinking about it, Kevin felt that this analogy seemed a bit inappropriate.
But that wasn't important; what was most important now was to see the effect of the skill upgrade.
If Kevin guessed correctly, Water Manipulation from Level 4 to Level 5 should, like physique, undergo a qualitative change.
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