The mansion's main hall was spacious. The evening wind blew in through the windows, passed through the hall, and brushed by Arnold as he stood among the corpses on the floor, leaving the president of Olga Company cold all over.
He had originally hoped that the people around him would make Homelander wary enough not to act recklessly.
But he never expected the man across from him to not care about any of it.
To him, human lives were like ants.
If he wanted to kill them, all it took was a casual squeeze.
Of course, Arnold could never understand.
To Alex, people he didn't care about really were no different from bugs.
Ordinary humans were only level 2 lifeforms. Superhumans were merely level 4.
Alex himself had already been a level 5 lifeform before. Now he was level 6.
There was a gap of four entire levels between him and ordinary people.
In Alex's eyes, whether it was the president of Olga Company or the Federation's defense forces, they were no different from beggars on the street.
To higher lifeforms, all living things were equal.
All were beings that could be killed or spared at any time.
There was no difference between high and low status.
Just like humans looking at an ant colony.
If you were going to burn down an anthill, would you care which ant inside was the queen and which was a worker?
Of course not.
Unless Alex had marked them in his mind as people he cared about.
Only then might he pay a little more attention.
As for the bodyguards and models around Arnold, Alex didn't know a single one of them, nor did he care about any of them.
How could Arnold possibly use those people to threaten him?
At this point, Arnold also understood his situation. His legs shook as he barely managed to sit down beside the sofa.
He said dejectedly, "I'm very sorry, sir."
"I shouldn't have lied to you."
"Yes, I know about Zero."
"It's an alien lifeform."
Seeing Arnold choose to cooperate, Alex finally nodded, "Where did you find that thing?"
"At the polar region, sir."
Arnold no longer dared to hide anything, "I previously funded a team to do some research there."
"They accidentally discovered a spaceship."
"Zero was found inside that ship."
Alex gave an "oh," "What about the ship?"
"It sank."
Arnold placed his hands on his knees, clenched tight from nervousness.
"After the Manhattan incident, I wanted to rise again."
"I planned to gain more knowledge from Zero."
"Yes, the armor technology came from Zero."
"But this time, Zero woke up."
"Then it parasitized my body, killed everyone, sank the ship, and followed me back to New York."
Alex chuckled, "You got parasitized and still didn't die. Looks like it thinks highly of you."
Arnold quickly said, "That's because I'm still useful to it."
"It still isn't used to modern human society."
"It needs a guide."
"That's why it spared my life."
"You taught it how to join Seven Tower?", Alex narrowed his eyes slightly.
Arnold shivered, "Yes, sir."
"At the time, it parasitized my bodyguard. That was my strongest bodyguard, but it still wasn't satisfied."
"It wanted a stronger body. It... it wanted you, sir."
The corner of Alex's mouth lifted slightly, "You're pretty honest. Much more honest than Wrath."
"Wrath is Zero. That's its real name."
"And supposedly, it has many others of its kind."
"Also, it already sent a signal to its own species. Before long, a large number of lifeforms like Wrath will appear."
Arnold nodded lightly.
Alex said, "You don't seem surprised. So you already knew?"
"Zero—no, Wrath. It showed me some things."
Alex let out a short laugh.
"Looks like you two already reached some kind of agreement."
"What, you help it invade Earth, and it promises to spare your life or something?"
Then, without waiting for Arnold to answer, Alex skipped past the question.
"Even if Wrath parasitized Supersonic, with Supersonic's abilities, it wouldn't have been easy to enter Seven Tower."
"You used your connections to help Supersonic join the Seven as a reserve member?", Arnold swallowed.
"Yes, sir."
"I contacted Miss Ashley."
"Ashley," Alex nodded, "That explains it."
"Alright, let's talk business."
"Because of you, Wrath caused me some trouble."
"Even though I already dealt with it, don't you think you should do something about it?"
"For example, call a board meeting and announce that from today onward, Olga Company will become a subsidiary of Vought and be directly controlled by me?"
Arnold trembled and suddenly raised his head.
Looking at the man with the faint smile, Arnold finally understood why he was still alive instead of being one of the corpses on the floor.
———
[Two Days Later]
New York was bright and sunny today.
Ashley was in a good mood. She kicked away the boyfriend clinging to her.
After taking a shower and changing clothes, she tossed some money onto the bed for the boyfriend who had given her a pretty good experience last night, then left the house.
As usual, she bought a cappuccino from the coffee shop she often visited, then headed to Seven Tower.
Right now, although Vought president Edgar had disappeared without reason, Vought's business was thriving more than ever.
Especially after Homelander became an official in the Department of Defense and received the rank of "Colonel."
The Federation had started giving Vought the green light on many business matters, and the company had fewer and fewer competitors.
After the Manhattan incident, Vought's stock price had remained high the entire time.
The money in every shareholder's hands had nearly doubled.
Even employees like Ashley received seasonal bonuses that were twice what they got last year.
And as Homelander's assistant, directly connected to "The Seven," Ashley's status had risen along with everything else.
That brought her many invisible benefits.
Every time Ashley came to Seven Tower, she felt how wonderful it was to work here.
And she had Homelander to thank for all of it.
As soon as she entered the Seven Tower lobby, the receptionist quickly told her, "Miss Ashley, Homelander instructed that once you arrived, you should go see him in the command hall immediately."
"Okay," Ashley nodded in agreement, while also wondering why Homelander wanted to see her at this time.
As she entered the elevator, her phone rang.
She received a news notification.
After taking one look, Ashley nearly dropped the coffee in her hand.
The headline read: ["Massive Change at Olga! President Arnold Announces Olga Will Merge Into Vought and Be Controlled by Homelander."]