The atmosphere in the conference room was awkward.
No one expected Homelander to just walk in directly.
And at the exact moment when everyone was discussing how to deal with him.
Among everyone present, the most frightened was undoubtedly Dr. Vogelbaum, who had come to the Department of Defense after Edgar's death.
Now that Alex had questioned him, sweat was already forming on Dr. Vogelbaum's forehead.
Seeing this, the general in the room quickly stood up, "Dr. Vogelbaum is—"
Before he could finish, Alex, with his hands behind his back, raised one arm and pointed at him.
Then Alex turned around, his smile gentle.
"Sit down, General."
"I wasn't asking you."
"Please don't interrupt me catching up with Dr. Vogelbaum."
Although Alex wore a smile, the more he did, the more the general felt an invisible pressure.
He glanced at Wilson, who gave a slight nod. Only then did the general sit back down.
Then Alex walked around the long conference table, passing by Dr. Kyle, who had a cybernetic eye.
He went all the way to behind Dr. Vogelbaum, placed both hands on the doctor's shoulders, and pressed lightly.
"Doctor, you're not young anymore."
"A rapid heartbeat isn't good for you."
"Calm down. I'm not going to eat you."
"What are you afraid of?"
"Also, you haven't answered my question."
Dr. Vogelbaum swallowed before saying, "Minister Wilson invited me to the Department of Defense as a consultant."
"Consultant?"
Alex's gaze fell onto the box in front of Dr. Vogelbaum on the table.
Wilson and the others' expressions shifted slightly, but they remained composed.
Alex smiled faintly and patted the doctor's shoulder, "So, the Department of Defense is also researching superhumans now?"
"I don't know," Dr. Vogelbaum replied.
"I do."
Alex looked at Wilson, "So this question can be answered by the minister. I'll allow you to speak."
Wilson coughed lightly, "Homelander, you're quite humorous."
"Yes, we invited Dr. Vogelbaum to lead a project."
"Enhanced soldiers."
"We want to make the military stronger, more competitive."
"Just imagine, if our army, our soldiers all possessed extraordinary abilities."
"They would be invincible on the battlefield. We would no longer have to fear any threats."
"Our citizens, our children and parents, could live in peace and prosperity."
"We would build a better nation."
Alex burst out laughing, "That sounds great, Minister."
"But frankly speaking, we don't really have to worry about threats, do we?"
"After all, we are the greatest threat."
"But don't worry, I won't interfere."
"Enhanced soldiers or super generals, whatever. Do as you like."
Alex reached out and picked up the syringe on the table, "What's this?"
"Dr. Vogelbaum, your latest creation?"
Dr. Vogelbaum's hands on his knees trembled slightly, "Yes, the latest result of the enhanced soldier project."
"But it's still unstable. It can't be used in actual combat yet. It still needs a lot of clinical testing."
"Is that so?"
Alex suddenly placed the syringe against Dr. Vogelbaum's neck.
At once, everyone in the conference room except the Defense Minister stood up.
The general pointed at Alex and shouted, "What are you doing? Let go of Dr. Vogelbaum immediately!"
"Homelander, don't go too far. This is the Department of Defense!"
"Let go now, or I'll call for backup!"
Alex glanced around, making no move to remove the syringe.
He lowered his body and said with a smile by Dr. Vogelbaum's ear, "This isn't really a finished product of the enhanced soldier project, is it?"
"Let me guess. This was developed to deal with someone?"
"If you don't tell the truth, I'll inject you right now."
Dr. Vogelbaum's breathing grew heavy, his chest rising and falling.
He gritted his teeth. And said in a low voice, "I'm not lying to you."
"This is the latest product of the enhanced soldier project."
"Oh?", Alex looked around, his gaze finally landing on Wilson.
Then he laughed, removed the syringe, and patted the doctor's shoulder.
"Sorry, Dr. Vogelbaum, just a little joke."
"You don't mind, do you?"
Dr. Vogelbaum shook his head, "No, I don't mind."
"That's good."
Alex placed the syringe back into the box, closed it, and slipped it into Dr. Vogelbaum's pocket.
"Since it's something so important, you'd better keep it safe."
"If you lose it, that'd be troublesome."
Then he walked over to Wilson again, his smile charming, "Minister, back to our earlier topic."
"I want command of Delta Force."
"When will you give it to me?"
Wilson smiled, "Homelander, your request for Delta Force command is not a problem."
"After all, you're working for the country, and your missions are dangerous. Naturally, you need elite soldiers."
"But I can't give you the entire Delta Force. They have various assignments."
"I can only give you one hundred men."
Alex laughed, "Delta Force has 2,500 people, and you're giving me only 100."
"Minister, that's not very appropriate, is it?"
Wilson's smile didn't change, "Homelander, I absolutely trust you."
"But others may not think the same. If people knew Delta Force was entirely under your control, it would cause panic."
"And in domestic operations, even against terrorism, 2,500 people would be excessive."
"What do you think?"
Alex walked behind Wilson and picked up the American flag placed nearby.
He smiled slightly, "That does make some sense."
"But 100 is still too few. At least 500."
"And I want them fully equipped. Whatever equipment they're using now, they'll continue to use."
This time, Wilson didn't bargain, "No problem. In one week, they will report to you."
Only then did Alex nod and walk out the door.
He turned back and smiled at the people inside, "Gentlemen, have a pleasant day."
Then he closed the door and left.
After he was gone, the general immediately opened the door to look outside, then called in a security team.
Only then did he return to the conference room.
Wilson remained silent.
The general glanced at him and said in a deep voice, "Homelander has gone too far!"
"He doesn't take us seriously at all!"
Dr. Vogelbaum wiped his sweat with a handkerchief, "Fortunately, he's still as arrogant as ever. Otherwise, I might not have been able to fool him."
"Minister, are we really going to give him a 500-man Delta Force?", a colonel asked.
Another officer said gravely, "If he controls 500 fully equipped Delta Force soldiers, he could do a lot."
Only then did Wilson speak, "Of course I know this isn't ideal."
"But we don't have a better option."
"Homelander cannot be judged by normal logic or thinking."
"If I had refused just now, we might all be meeting God already."
"I don't think he would hesitate just because this is the Department of Defense."
"In short, until the research results from Dr. Vogelbaum and Dr. Kyle are ready,"
"there's only one thing we can do."
"That is to satisfy Homelander as much as possible. Appease him. Stabilize him."
"Until then, avoid provoking him."
The officers in the room knew this was the reality. They could only nod in agreement.
———
In a dim basement, Levin watched as Frenchie handed out homemade bombs to members of several gangs, and saw Mother's Milk stitching up a wounded man.
He frowned.
That night, after he helped a young mother out of trouble with a few thugs, Homelander found him.
He told him to rescue these two men and infiltrate them, to find out the whereabouts of their friend, a bearded man named Butcher.
But after rescuing them, instead of looking for Butcher, they holed up in this basement, making explosives for gangs and acting as medics.
This wasn't what he wanted.
"Alright, that's it."
"Remember not to let the wound touch water for now, or it'll get infected."
Mother's Milk put away his tools and organized his first aid kit.
"Thanks," The injured man was led away by his companion.
Frenchie walked over and whistled, "Didn't expect you to be pretty good at that."
Then he saw Levin putting on his coat and heading for the door.
Frenchie quickly called out, "Hey, brother, where are you going?"
Levin turned and said, "Of course I'm leaving."
"I came with you to take down the Seven."
"Not to live like this in a basement."
"If you don't want to go out, I'll figure things out myself."
"No! No! No!"
Frenchie hurriedly grabbed him, "Listen, we don't want this either."
"But we're wanted criminals."
"Trust me, we will go after the Seven, but we need to raise some funds first."
"We—"
Mother's Milk interrupted him.
"Enough. Stop lying to him."
"We never planned to take down the Seven."
"What can we even do?"
"All we can do is hide like rats, make some money, and leave this damn place."
Frenchie walked over and whispered, "Listen, Levin is our shield, okay?"
"He's a superhuman. If we don't keep him around, once the Seven find us, we're done for."
Mother's Milk pushed him away, "So what? We're supposed to drag him into this?"
"Enough, Frenchie."
"Levin has already done enough for us. We can't keep using him."
Levin turned around, "What are you talking about?"
Frenchie quickly said, "Nothing, Levin."
"Mother's Milk just misses his daughter. Yeah, that's it."
Frenchie pointed at him, "Don't you want a normal life?"
"Of course I do, but look at our situation. We're probably done with normal life."
"Yeah, but don't forget, that bearded bastard is living just fine."
Frenchie said angrily, "Why should we suffer because of him and not live normal lives?"
"While he gets to walk around freely. Right, Mother's Milk?"
The man frowned, "What are you planning?"
Frenchie said, "We find Butcher. He has to figure out a way to clear us."
"He has connections, you know that."
"In any case, he owes us."
"If he refuses, we hand him over to the Seven."
"And if he helps, we can even find Levin a partner."
"Butcher definitely still wants to go against Homelander."
"That way…"
Frenchie snapped his fingers, "We get normal lives, Levin gets to do what he wants, and before that, he can keep protecting us."
"Perfect!"
Mother's Milk nodded, "Then what are we waiting for?"
"Call him!"
Though they lowered their voices, Levin was a superhuman.
His hearing was sharper than normal people's, so he heard everything.
With his back to them, he took out his phone and sent a message.
———
"Here you go, your ice cream."
"Enjoy."
Inside an ice cream truck, Butcher, dressed as a vendor, took off his hat and tossed it aside.
"I'm sick of this."
"I don't want to sell ice cream anymore."
Stormfront chewed gum, her legs propped on the table, "Why? Isn't it perfect for you?"
"Is it?"
"Because it feels like selling ice cream won't bring down Homelander."
The bearded man walked over, knocked her feet off the table, and sat down.
Stormfront shrugged, "It won't, but it keeps us under the radar."
"And we have to wait right now, don't we?"
"Don't forget, the CIA doesn't back you anymore."
"Poor Butcher is just a stray dog now."
"So I guess until that little Starlight gets us some Compound V, yeah, you'll have to keep selling ice cream."
Just as she finished speaking, Butcher's phone rang.
He checked it, "I'll take this."
He stepped out of the truck and, after making sure Stormfront couldn't hear, answered.
["Butcher, miss us yet?"]
Frenchie's voice came through.
Butcher smirked, "What, Frenchie? Finally remembered your old man?"
["Go screw yourself, Butcher."]
["Don't pretend you didn't know we got out."]
["You didn't even come find us. That's something."]
["Did you forget who got caught for you?"]
Butcher lit a cigarette and took a drag, "Easy, kid."
"Your old man wanted to find you, but I was worried the Seven were watching you."
"Understand?"
The phone was snatched away, and Mother's Milk spoke.
["Damn it, Butcher."]
["I don't care how you do it, you need to help us get back to normal lives!"]
["You owe us that!"]
Butcher fell silent for a moment, then said, "I'll see what I can do."
"I'll let you know when I have news."
"Is this your new number?"
"Can it be traced?"
Frenchie grabbed the phone back, ["Relax, I installed anti-tracking software. We're safe."]
"Then wait for your old man's good news," Butcher hung up.
He returned to the truck.
"I need to go out."
"Don't ask where. I won't tell you."
After saying that, he took off his uniform and left.
———
Congresswoman Victoria Neuman got out of her car, her body weary, and walked toward the door.
Recently, she had been involved in an election campaign, which meant working late almost every day.
And by the time she got home, her daughter was always already asleep.
Victoria had forgotten how long it had been since she last spoke with her daughter.
But that was life. When you chose your career, you inevitably neglected your family.
Victoria opened the door and stepped into the living room, when suddenly she heard someone speak.
"You look busy."
Victoria jumped. The lights came on, and she saw a man sitting in the living room. Alex.
Even without his suit, she recognized Homelander instantly.
Alex raised a finger to his lips, making a "shh" gesture, then pointed upward.
"Your daughter is already asleep. She's very beautiful. She inherited that from you."
Victoria immediately said nervously, "What did you do to her?"
Alex shrugged, "What did I do?"
"I just glanced at her through the ceiling."
"Don't worry, your daughter is healthy."
"She's sleeping soundly. As long as you don't wake her."
Only then did Victoria relax slightly. She looked at Alex, "Homelander, what do you want?"
Alex smiled and pointed at her.
"That sounded a bit misleading."
"Don't worry. I won't hurt you or your child."
"I consider myself a reasonable person."
"So how's the progress on the matter I asked you to investigate about Stormfront?"
Victoria showed an apologetic expression, "I've done my best."
"But I can't find her."
"Your best?", Alex smiled faintly.
Victoria nodded, "Yes. I've used every method I know."
"Please believe me, Homelander."
"I've done everything I can."
Alex stood up and walked toward her, smiling, "Then it seems you haven't done enough, dear Victoria."
Victoria instinctively stepped back, her expression conflicted, hesitating whether to use her ability.
At that moment, she heard a voice, "Mom, you're back?"
'No!'
Victoria turned in horror and saw her daughter walking out.
"Do you have a guest?"
"That's right. I'm your mother's friend."
Alex had already walked past Victoria and came to her daughter.
"Hello, Zoe. I'm your Uncle John."
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