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Neuman sat blankly on the sofa.
Her gaze was still fixed on 'Edgar' who had turned into a Fat Man, or rather, on the doppelganger who had reverted to his original form.
Her ears buzzed, and the ringing caused by her extreme shock left Neuman dazed for a long time, unable to hear Kevin's words.
It wasn't until Kevin roused her:
"Ms. Neuman? Ms. Neuman!"
"Ah? Uh… I… I'm listening, Mr. Moskowitz."
Neuman immediately snapped back to reality, turning her head to meet Kevin's gaze.
Kevin shook his head slightly:
"I know our meeting today wasn't pleasant, but please, Ms. Neuman, accept this fact: I am now the CEO of Vought, and from now on, you will report to me, not Edgar. Do you understand?"
"I… I understand, Mr. Moskowitz, but… I still want to ask, Edgar, he…"
"I thought you wouldn't care about this."
Hearing Neuman inquire about Edgar, Kevin chuckled.
Edgar's motive for adopting Neuman was not simple; he put Neuman under his name under the guise of protection, but in reality, he had always been using Neuman.
Given Neuman's intelligence, she surely should have seen through this.
Kevin had thought Neuman wouldn't care about Edgar, but now it seemed he had guessed wrong.
That's right, Edgar was Neuman's adoptive father after all, and he had raised Neuman for so many years.
Even raising a pet for so many years would develop feelings, let alone a human.
To reassure Neuman, Kevin replied:
"Don't worry about him; he's doing very well in the hospital right now, though… he won't be able to wake up."
"You… did something to him?"
"Strange, are you really that concerned about him? You should know he's always been using you, using your abilities, to achieve his own goals."
Kevin could tell that Neuman seemed genuinely concerned about Edgar's safety, which made Kevin somewhat curious.
One should know that in the plot of the third season, Neuman was persuaded by Homelander to cooperate with him, leading Edgar to face various accusations and forcing him to step down from the CEO position.
It could be said that Neuman betrayed Edgar.
Since she would betray him in the future, it proved that her feelings for Edgar were only so-so, and she shouldn't be so concerned about him now.
Kevin was very curious about this.
Neuman met his gaze for a long time before explaining:
"…He would protect me and my daughter. If he's gone…"
"What he would do, I will do. What he wouldn't do, I will also do. So you don't need to worry about him anymore. I will be responsible for protecting you and your daughter's safety, and even promise you more.
"In return, starting today, you need to work for me."
Kevin directly stated his intention.
Currently, The Boys are working for Kevin, serving as Kevin's hidden white gloves.
And if he could secure Neuman, who works in the government, and help her advance in politics, then Kevin would face no more obstacles in this world.
The business world, the political world, and the gray areas would all be controlled by Kevin. What would Homelander and Stormfront use to fight him?
Kevin and Neuman looked at each other. Neuman's gaze moved back and forth between the doppelganger and Kevin, finally settling back on Kevin.
"…I… I understand. So, from now on, no matter what, I have to report to you, right?"
"That's right."
"So what do I do now?"
"Just maintain the status quo. Whatever Edgar had you do, continue doing it."
Edgar's strategy in politics was sound, and Neuman's approval rating within Congress was steadily rising. It was believed that in not too long, at most one or two years, she would successfully be elected Vice President.
And in the future, she would strive for the position of President.
This was also what Kevin hoped to see, so he did not intend for Neuman to withdraw from Congress.
Just maintaining the status quo would suffice.
The difference was that Neuman's superior changed from Edgar to himself.
Neuman raised no objections to this. She accepted the facts very easily, and in their subsequent conversation, she never mentioned Edgar again.
After chatting with Neuman for a while and confirming that she was now loyal to him, Kevin finally showed a satisfied smile and prepared to leave.
Before leaving, Kevin remembered The Boys and casually mentioned to Neuman:
"Oh, by the way, that team that met with the Deputy Director of the CIA earlier is my people. They are also working for me, but they just aren't aware of your existence. So if you encounter them in the future, spare their lives."
"…Okay."
Neuman looked deeply at Kevin and agreed.
Neuman knew about The Boys' contact with Susan of the CIA, as she had been tracking Susan at the time.
But Neuman hadn't expected that the unknown team trying to uncover Vought's dirt and wanting to use the CIA to bring down Vought was actually this person's subordinate.
It seemed that this person had probably wanted to deal with Edgar a long time ago…
Neuman thought to herself, acting even more respectfully in front of Kevin.
Leaving Neuman's home with the doppelganger, Kevin sat in the car and let out a long sigh.
From crossing into the The Boys world until now, Kevin had finally achieved his initial goal.
Controlling Vought, no longer bound by anyone, and living freely in the The Boys world.
For Kevin, achieving this was not easy, because he had to force himself to do things he disliked.
Such as vying for power and profit, and doing those complex, tedious, and brain-draining tasks.
But no matter what, these matters were now over.
Vought would become Kevin's personal domain from now on, and the only people left to deal with were Homelander and Stormfront.
As long as these two guys didn't cause trouble, Kevin generally wouldn't bother with them.
But if they crossed the line, Kevin wouldn't mind dealing with them the same way he dealt with Edgar.
"…But it seems unlikely to keep them from crossing the line… Hmm, never mind, we'll talk about it later."
Anyway, if they caused trouble, they could still provide Kevin with skill points, so Kevin decided to deal with their matters later.
What was more urgent now was to return to the Marvel World and begin the second profession transfer.
Kevin was already impatient about this.
…
Inside the CIA office.
Mallory walked in from outside and handed a document to Butcher, who was waiting there.
"We gambled correctly; that guy has already taken control of Vought."
"Deep?"
Butcher looked at the document thrown on his desk, not touching it, but instead looked up at Mallory.
Mallory nodded: "Yes, according to the news this afternoon, he has successfully become Vought's interim CEO."
"That's impossible; Edgar wouldn't agree."
"But the fact is, this was Edgar's proposal."
"…?"
Butcher suddenly looked at Mallory. Mallory didn't explain further but pointed to the document on the table and asked:
"Aren't you going to open it and see what's inside?"
"…Is it related to me?"
"Rebecca Butcher."
Mallory succinctly uttered a name.
Then Butcher quickly picked up the document, tore open the seal, and took out the papers inside to read.
While Butcher was reading the document, Mallory did not disturb him.
She sat quietly in her seat, watching Butcher silently.
At first, Butcher's expression was calm, but after he had completely read through the document, he could no longer suppress his emotions, holding the document with both hands, his expression looking like he was crying and laughing at the same time.
"I knew it… I knew it! She's fine… She's really fine…!"
"We are very lucky; Deep is a man of his word. He promised that once he controlled Vought, he would let you meet Rebecca, which is why you are seeing this document here."
Mallory leaned back in her chair, legs crossed, and said to Butcher.
Having dealt with Vought for so many years, Mallory was quite experienced, having seen many Supes and even cooperated with some Supes who didn't seem so dangerous.
But a Supe who could reach this point, completely control Vought, and also keep his promise, Mallory had truly never seen before.
In fact, before this, she had already prepared for Deep to break his promise, after all, Deep was a Supe, no longer the same race as current humans. How could he help humans deal with his own kind?
But facts proved that Mallory had guessed wrong this time.
No matter what Deep's plans were, at least in Mallory's eyes now, he could be considered a good person, someone worth continuing to cooperate with deeply.
Butcher's excited emotions took a long time to subside.
He threw the document onto the table and remained silent for a long time.
Just before Mallory was about to ask him, he spoke up with a counter-question:
"What does Deep want us to do?"
"You seem certain he'll want you to do something."
"Of course." Butcher took a deep breath, "These guys are all about profit. I'm not talking about Supes; I'm talking about those businessmen.
"Deep is a qualified businessman now. Since he's letting me see Rebecca, it means he'll still need me in the future, so he definitely wants me to do something."
"I have to say, you guessed very well."
Butcher's words sounded a bit like nonsense, but Mallory knew that Butcher had guessed correctly this time.
Deep indeed wanted them to do something.
"Tell me, what conditions did he propose?"
Butcher asked.
He had already prepared for Deep to propose excessive conditions. As long as it didn't cross Butcher's bottom line, no matter what conditions Deep proposed, Butcher would agree.
Even if it meant going to Deep's bed tonight.
Though that was impossible.
"Deep's conditions are very simple for both you and me; in fact, they can hardly be called conditions at all."
"What do you mean?"
"He wants us to keep an eye on Homelander and Stormfront, especially Stormfront. Once they show any signs of breaking free from Vought's control, we are to… destroy them at all costs."
"?"
Destroy them?
Butcher found it hard to believe this was an order from the current CEO of Vought.
Homelander and Stormfront were undoubtedly the two cash cows of Vought. As long as they continued to bring in revenue for Vought, Vought would find a way to protect them, no matter how outrageous their actions were.
But Deep had issued such an order…
Mallory seemed to sense Butcher's confusion.
She sat up straight and said seriously to Butcher:
"Do you remember Deep saying he wanted to reduce the number of Superheroes and transform Vought? I'm telling you now, he's serious, because just this evening, he gave us evidence and dirt on over a dozen Superheroes.
"So be prepared, Butcher, Vought… no, all of America, is truly about to change."
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