Free Web NovelChapter 29: 29: Let’s recruit from Godolkin University
Words are, in my not-so-humble opinion, our most inexhaustible source of magic.
~ Albus Dumbledore
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The conference room.
Ashley slapped a thick stack of documents onto the table.
"The Seven only has four members left. A-Train, The Deep, and Translucent are all gone. We need to fill at least three spots ASAP."
"Vought’s board has emailed three times pushing for progress, and the advertisers are breathing down our necks."
"We need to pick new people and rebuild the team fast."
Homelander sat at the head of the table, legs crossed, flipping through the files with zero interest.
They were all trash, not even as good as A-Train and the rest.
Just looking at them was exhausting.
The quality of supes really kept dropping with every new generation.
Starlight and Hillel sat together. The vibe between them was surprisingly relaxed.
They’d already fucked, so there was no point acting shy.
Annie figured they could sort out the relationship stuff later. No need to rush into labels.
It wasn’t like they were getting married.
Ashley only needed one glance to know something had definitely gone down between them.
"There are seventeen supes who submitted applications, but only two are actually worth considering."
Ashley turned on the projector.
Two photos appeared on the screen.
On the left was Marathon.
A B-tier hero under Vought. Super speed, but his top speed was only Mach 1.5. Washed-up star with commercial value in the low hundreds of thousands.
Hillel knew this guy.
Marathon — the speedster Homelander had personally booted from The Seven for being too slow.
He really was slow.
Homelander’s normal cruising speed was Mach 1.8. He could burst up to Mach 5, and at full power he could hit hypersonic.
The system only showed base stats.
But every supe had their own burst limit.
Mr. Marathon’s was locked in place.
No growth potential.
"Who’s the other one?" Homelander asked, holding back his irritation.
"Supersonic."
Ashley brought up the photo.
Supersonic, an A-tier hero under Vought. Handsome, 23 million social media followers, extremely high commercial value.
When Supersonic’s picture appeared, Annie’s heartbeat spiked.
She wanted to kill someone.
Homelander flipped through the file. "I think Supersonic is solid. Good looks, strong fanbase, he’ll bring plenty of buzz to The Seven."
"As for that trash Marathon... he doesn’t even run faster than I walk. What the hell do we need him for?"
Ashley nodded and noted it down on her tablet.
"The Guardian, what’s your take?" Homelander instinctively asked for Hillel’s opinion.
He didn’t even know why anymore.
It had just become a habit.
Starlight wanted to speak up but didn’t dare go against Homelander.
Hillel tapped his fingers on the table. "Ashley, pull up Supersonic’s full internal file."
"Full internal file? Isn’t the one on the projector enough?"
"I want the real security department version. Vought definitely has a different one."
Ashley paused, then started searching right away.
Homelander waved his hand like he didn’t care.
Ashley tapped around on her tablet and found Supersonic’s internal records.
She now had access to most supe files.
Hillel took the tablet and glanced through it. Sure enough...
"Supersonic, real name Alex."
"In March 2012, Vought security received a report that Supersonic was using illegal drugs at a private party. PR department buried it." ƒгeewebnovёl.com
"In July 2013, another report — illegal drugs at a party, plus involvement in..."
Hillel paused, reading the exact wording.
"...inappropriate behavior of a group-party nature."
Everyone froze for a second.
Group-party nature... wasn’t that just an orgy?
Hillel set the tablet down.
"Doing drugs, throwing orgies — sound familiar?"
"We just kicked A-Train out for that shit, and now we’re bringing in someone just as rotten? If another scandal blows up, tsk tsk!"
Homelander got it immediately.
"Right, that makes sense."
Hillel said, "No matter how good Ashley’s PR skills are, she can’t keep cleaning up messes forever, right?"
"Then what about Marathon?" Homelander frowned.
"His speed is just too slow. By the time he starts running, I’d have already flown a lap around Manhattan and gone home for a nap."
Homelander’s words were a bit exaggerated, but the point stood.
Hillel had a different take. "Marathon is just a display piece. The Seven needs a speedster. Whether he’s one Mach faster or slower doesn’t really matter."
"His real advantage is a clean record. He just likes filming little movies on the side and doesn’t cause major trouble. Recruiting a tool like that who won’t blow up in our faces is the best way to get shit done."
Homelander thought it over and agreed it made sense.
"Fine, let’s go with Marathon."
He was trusting Hillel’s judgment more and more.
"What about the second spot?"
"Any decent ones among the remaining fifteen?"
Ashley shook her head.
"If we’re only looking for supes with clean records, there are a few, but their powers aren’t impressive."
"Then let’s recruit from Godolkin University. The kids there should have cleaner backgrounds than people already in the industry, right?"
Hillel’s logic was always simple and brutal.
Besides, Godolkin had produced Seven members before.
Their personalities just sucked.
"That works. How about you make another trip, Guardian?" Homelander said.
Hillel nodded.
He was actually looking for an excuse to go back to Godolkin and farm more points anyway.
Cate and Jordan had already called him a few times.
The meeting wrapped up.
Everyone else left one by one.
Homelander stood up and gave Hillel a few friendly slaps on the back.
"Not bad, not bad at all. The Guardian, you’re getting more and more suited for this job!"
He even punched Hillel’s shoulder in fake camaraderie.
"I’m just doing my part for justice."
Homelander spread his arms.
"We all are. Justice needs everyone to protect it together. That’s why you’re called The Guardian! It’s just that I’m called Homelander... you know, guarding the people of an entire nation... the name carries more weight..."
"Of course, I’m not saying yours is bad... it’s just..."
Hillel waved his hand to cut him off.
"You’re the symbol of America. Your name has real historical meaning. I still have a long way to go."
One sentence killed Homelander’s competitiveness dead.
Homelander’s personality was immature, like a kid.
A few words of flattery and he was handing over the gold.
"Did you reject Supersonic because of me?" Starlight asked quietly once the room cleared out.
"Of course. This is just the start. I have a hundred ways to fuck with him. I’ll make sure his orgy news blows up so everyone knows what a scumbag he is," Hillel said.
Starlight looked embarrassed. "Don’t... don’t you think that’s going a bit far?"
"Not far at all."
He hadn’t even used a Viltrumite hand-blade on the guy yet. He was already being merciful.
"So... now it’s time for real business."
Hillel leaned in. A look of panic flashed across Starlight’s face.
"You’re crazy! This is Vought’s conference room. There’s surveillance..."
"After The Deep’s video leaked, I removed the cameras in here..."
"That still doesn’t..."
Annie couldn’t even finish her sentence.
"Mmm.."
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