Free Web NovelChapter 111: 111: A Private Meeting with Mr Edgar
A few days later, Vought CEO Stan Edgar called Ivan in for a private meeting.
"Have a seat."
Edgar kept his head down, sorting through some papers. He wore a perfectly tailored black suit and his usual stone-cold expression.
"You handled The Deep and Translucent situation very well," Edgar said, finally looking up at Ivan.
"You haven’t been with Vought very long. Normally, you wouldn’t be qualified for your current position."
Ivan stayed completely calm. Edgar gave a small nod of approval and continued. "But you’ve proven your worth. You deserve a better contract." ƒгeewebnovёl.com
"Oh, Mr. Edgar, I don’t know what to say." Ivan took the new contract with an excited look on his face.
He flipped through it. The new terms offered a much higher salary and performance bonuses. The catch was a mountain of stricter confidentiality clauses. Break them and the penalty would be brutal.
"Just say thank you," Edgar said with a rare dry joke. "But don’t get too excited yet. There’s a price."
"The price is that you’re about to become real Vought executive material."
"It’s an honor, sir," Ivan replied with a smile.
Edgar reached into his drawer and pulled out a sealed classified folder.
He tore the strip open and slid the documents across the desk. "These are Vought’s confidential files. Only a handful of top executives get to see them. You’re one of them now."
"Take a look."
The files laid out Vought’s long-term goals and detailed everything about Compound V. Even though Ivan already knew most of it, he put on a convincing shocked face.
"These supes were actually created by Vought? My God, that’s unbelievable," Ivan said.
Edgar didn’t seem surprised by his reaction. He went on to explain Vought’s fifty-year strategy with Compound V, then placed a vial of blue liquid on the desk in front of Ivan.
"These little beauties are what built Vought. By the way, Madeline’s military bill passed. I never fully supported her approach, but I have to admit I didn’t expect her to pull it off."
Since Madeline was still the vice president, Ivan wisely kept his mouth shut on that topic.
Seeing Ivan stay silent, Edgar continued. "Still, she succeeded. The Pentagon is going to pay Vought over forty billion dollars in orders every year."
"..."
"But in my view, Vought has always been a pharmaceutical company first. The superhero business is just a side hustle. You know, near the end of World War II, we used the first generation of Compound V to create thousands of super-soldiers. Once we put them on the battlefield, they delivered incredible results. They helped America wipe out hundreds of thousands of enemies."
"That’s an impressive record. Vought must have been even more powerful back then," Ivan replied.
He knew Edgar wasn’t revealing anything truly secret yet. The real point was still coming.
Sure enough, Edgar shifted tone. "Unfortunately, one sudden incident caused the U.S. military to tear up the contract with us."
If Ivan had to guess, that "incident" was the old Mallory massacre.
Payback had gone on a rampage and slaughtered Mallory’s men. That bloodbath was exactly why Mallory hated supes so much and put together Butcher’s crew to fight them.
It all ended in tragedy when her grandson got burned alive by Lamplighter.
Of course, Payback’s attack wasn’t random. The team had been a mess of backstabbing. Crimson Countess and the others hated Soldier Boy. They deliberately caused chaos to let the Russians take him.
Edgar tapped his knuckles on the desk.
Ivan snapped back to attention and gave an apologetic smile.
"Today, Compound V has been refined all the way to the fifth generation. Side effects are lower and success rates are much higher. That’s why we’re seeing an explosion in the number of supes. So understand this clearly: no superhero is irreplaceable. They’re all just marketing products for Vought."
Truth was, Edgar was a pure businessman. Everything he did came down to selling Compound V again one day.
To him, every supe was a product — even Homelander.
Products could be replaced. The only thing that truly mattered was the Compound V formula. That was Vought’s real foundation.
"You’re planning to put Compound V on the open market?" Ivan asked, sounding slightly confused.
Edgar shook his head. "Not yet. It still needs more improvement."
"I thought you wanted me to start promoting it."
"The timing isn’t right. It’s not stable enough." Edgar leaned forward. "I’m telling you this so you understand what Vought’s real core is. As long as we control Compound V, we will always be the winners."
His voice carried absolute confidence.
"Your job right now is the same as Madeline’s — promote our products and squeeze out every last dollar of profit you can."
...
After leaving Stan Edgar’s office, Ivan ran into Homelander in the hallway. Homelander completely ignored him and pushed straight into Edgar’s office without knocking.
Back in his own office, Ivan poured himself a cup of coffee.
Edgar’s thinking was similar to his own — everything revolved around pushing Compound V. But the old man was too cautious. He didn’t want to expand into riskier territory.
In Ivan’s opinion, Vought had massive untapped potential. They could dominate movies, games, books, politics, the military, social media, news, environmental causes, finance — you name it. Only then would Vought become a true monopoly.
Right now, the foundation was still too weak.
Why would he think so?
Because one bad news story about Compound V could sink the whole company.
...
Ever since the Navy SEAL massacre, the big shots in Washington finally realized they had a serious problem. Their current military forces were useless against super-terrorists overseas.
Unless they started dropping patriot missiles or other weapons of mass destruction, they had no real way to control them.
They could still bullshit their way into interfering with other countries’ wars. But they had to at least pretend to care about international opinion.
More importantly, they were terrified those super-terrorists would sneak into America and cause a nightmare on home soil.
So, in a full Senate vote, Madeline’s military bill passed without a hitch.
From then on, Homelander had free rein to fly anywhere and join any operation he wanted. He became America’s flag-wrapped butcher.
Strangely, the soldiers on the ground feared his bright, sunny smile far more than the terrorists bleeding out in the dirt.
After wiping out a terrorist group in Syria, Homelander claimed he found Compound V inside their base.
...
Back at Vought Tower, in Madeline’s office.
Albert Williamson, Secretary of Defense, examined the vial of Compound V in his hand and sneered at Madeline. "So you’re telling me these terrorists stole Vought’s Compound V and somehow recreated it on their own? I guess they must’ve gotten help from aliens. That’s the only way their tech could advance this fast."
"Maybe so," Madeline replied with a polite smile.
"Madeline, I’m not here to play games. We need to know how the fuck the formula got leaked. Did some tourist just walk into your lab and grab it? Or do you have a rat inside..."
Madeline cut him off before he could finish.
"Secretary Williamson, we feel exactly the same way. We’re desperate to figure out what happened."
Williamson clearly wasn’t buying her bullshit. "Honestly, I’d love to slap you with corporate fraud charges and throw your arrogant ass in prison. Maybe then you’d get honest."
"What is Lockheed Martin’s flagship product these days?" Madeline asked suddenly.
She continued without waiting.
The world had changed.
All those old weapons were worthless scrap now — rusty pieces of junk that couldn’t do shit against super-terrorists.
"So where the supes came from doesn’t matter. Hell, we don’t even need to dig too deep into how the enemy got their hands on Compound V. The point is they have it. We’re in a new era now..."
Madeline stared straight at Williamson. "Right now, only one company has the product that can fight back. My company. My product." freeweɓnøvel.com
Williamson stayed silent. He knew she was right. Until they cracked Compound V themselves, they had no choice but to play along for now.
The U.S. government had officially become Vought’s personal shield.
"By the way, we need the Justice Department to issue nationwide warrants for several individuals. They’re the ones behind Translucent’s murder. Both Vought and Translucent’s fans want them caught quickly." Madeline handed him a stack of photos.
As Williamson turned to leave, Madeline stopped him.
"To celebrate the new partnership between Vought and the Department of Defense, we’re throwing a gala tomorrow night. I hope you’ll join us."
"I might be busy," Williamson muttered, face dark. He walked out fast.
Watching his retreating back, Madeline’s lips curved into a satisfied smile. She crossed her arms over her chest, looking calm and victorious.
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