[At the home of Congresswoman Victoria Neuman]
The bedroom was a little messy after the intense activity that had just ended. Victoria sat on the edge of the bed, smoking a cigarette.
Alex admired her back. For a mother, Victoria had kept herself in excellent shape.
Blowing out a puff of smoke, Victoria turned around with a smile, "Were you satisfied with my service just now, sir?"
Alex smiled, "It was alright. But I'm curious. You don't seem to resist it anymore."
"Why would I?", Victoria leaned against him, "No one else can give you that kind of pleasure. I'd bet that once a woman knows how good you are, no woman in this world could refuse you."
Alex nodded, "I like the sound of that."
"Let's talk business."
"Have you seen Wilson recently?"
Victoria raised an eyebrow, "The former Secretary?"
"No. He's already been dismissed."
"It seems the Federation wants him to disappear from the public eye."
Alex chuckled, "That old fox isn't the type to retire so easily. The lower his profile, the more suspicious it is."
"I don't want to waste any more time on him."
"Victoria, could you do me a favor?"
He whispered something into her ear.
Victoria's eyes widened. She was about to say something, but Alex didn't give her the chance.
———
[In the Living Room]
The tall woman, Cindy, shook her head. The woman's cries from upstairs hadn't stopped for a moment.
Just then, the door opened, and a nanny came in with a little girl.
Victoria's daughter, Zoe, walked inside.
When she saw Cindy, she nervously hid behind the nanny.
Cindy smiled at her, "I'm not a bad person."
Naturally, Zoe didn't believe her so easily. Hearing her mother's voice, the girl asked anxiously, "What's wrong with Mom?"
She started running toward the bedroom.
Cindy quickly picked her up and comforted her, "Don't worry. Your mom is fine."
Zoe didn't believe her. Left with no choice, Cindy carried her into the garden.
More than an hour later, Cindy finally saw Alex come out, "Let's go, Cindy."
"We'll play again next time," Cindy said to the little girl.
———
Alex took Cindy with him, hailed a taxi, and returned to Chinatown.
After settling Cindy into the apartment building, he returned to Seven Tower alone.
As soon as he entered the command center, he heard Ashley on the phone.
"No. We're out."
"We've already deployed everyone we can."
"Other than Homelander, do you want to use one of his deployment slots?"
"Alright then."
"Goodbye."
After hanging up, Ashley finally noticed Alex and jumped.
"Sir, when did you get back?"
"Just now."
Alex pulled over a chair and sat down, looking around, "They've all been deployed?"
Ashley nodded, "Yes, sir."
"Do you remember the residents who were quarantined after Boiling Midnight?"
"Over the past few days, they've been mutating one after another, turning back into the same monsters from that night and causing destruction everywhere."
"Fortunately, there aren't many this time. Only one isolated case appears every few days."
"But even so, there are just too many people in the quarantine zone. As soon as one is dealt with, another appears. Queen Maeve and the others have no choice but to stay there."
Alex nodded, "If I remember correctly, our services are billed by the deployment. Make sure the Federation pays."
Ashley nodded repeatedly, "I know."
"It's a shame Starlight can't be deployed. Otherwise things would probably be a little easier."
Alex looked surprised, "Starlight can't go?"
"Is she injured?"
Ashley shook her head, "No. It's more like her confidence has taken a hit. She took a long leave and went back home."
Alex raised an eyebrow, "Really?"
"Looks like the Boiling Midnight incident hit her pretty hard."
Ashley gave a bitter smile, "Besides her, everyone on the reserve team died, and they died right in front of her. I don't think she's taking it well."
"If you could comfort her, I think she'd recover pretty quickly."
"Comfort her..."
Alex said without hesitation, "I'm not good at that. I only know one way to comfort people."
"I just finished comforting someone, so I'll leave Starlight alone for now."
Ashley shrugged.
Just then her phone rang again, and the busy assistant hurried outside the command center to answer it.
———
Several days passed.
Alex waited both for his meeting with the leader of the Flash Army and for Victoria's matter to produce results.
Unfortunately, neither had made any progress.
Alex decided to stop waiting.
He went to Chinatown, found Kenji, and had "Rat" take him to Corwin.
This time, Corwin had changed locations.
Alex found him inside a warehouse at the docks.
Seeing Cindy and Levin standing on either side of Alex, Corwin greeted him with some fear.
"Good morning, Mr. John."
Alex couldn't be bothered with small talk, "Where's your leader?"
"My patience is limited."
Corwin hurriedly replied, "I've already spoken with the leader. He said he'll arrive in New York within the next few days."
"What day exactly?"
Corwin hesitated.
Alex smiled and glanced at Cindy.
Without expression, she swept her gaze across the warehouse, then raised a hand and made a grasping motion toward one of Corwin's men.
The man's head exploded instantly, his brains splattering everywhere.
"No! No!"
Corwin hurriedly shouted, "Noon three days from now!"
"He'll be here three days from now at noon!"
Alex nodded, "Good. I'll come here to meet him then."
"If he doesn't show up... Mr. Corwin, you'd better hide in hell. That's probably the only place I can't reach."
With that, Alex left with Cindy and Levin.
———
Back at Seven Tower, Alex had barely stepped into the command center when he nearly collided with Ashley.
"Sir, you're finally back."
She looked flustered, "The quarantine zone just sent over a video. I think you need to see it."
Alex was curious, "What video?"
Ashley handed him a tablet and pressed play.
On the screen, several chimeras were attacking Maeve.
One of them slammed into Maeve, sending her crashing into a temporary shelter.
The people inside ran out in terror, but one boy, about eight or nine years old, remained curled up in a corner.
The chimeras charged inside, and Maeve fought them to protect the boy.
But the chimeras were difficult opponents. Maeve was knocked away.
At that moment, the boy stood up. His eyes turned red and began to glow.
A red beam shot from his eyes, instantly killing all of the chimeras.
The video ended there.
Alex narrowed his eyes slightly.
He already knew who the boy in the video was.
Ryan, Homelander's son.