Afternoon, Cedar Rapids.
At Redwood Lake Park, the crowds at the Believe Expo were sparse. Wade, who had rushed back, reverted to her appearance as an Asian girl and quietly stepped inside.
Looking at the dozen or so missed calls in red on her phone, she straightened her messy clothes as she ran: "Shit! How am I supposed to explain this?"
Wade ran to the tent area and heard a suppressed, intense argument. She discovered it was Annie and her mother, Donna, who hadn't left yet.
Donna stood before the vanity, nagging, "How many times have I told you? Image! Image! Image is the most important thing!"
"Did you see that priest's livestream? Right now, we are sitting on a powder keg involving the Church and Vought; we can't afford any risks!"
"And you're still hanging around with that wild girl of unknown origin at a time like this? What if you get photographed? Do you want your hero career to be buried along with her?"
Annie changed into casual clothes and pouted dissatisfiedly, "What does this have to do with Vivian? She's just my friend."
"Others won't think that way. You were almost labeled a lesbian today, do you know that?" Donna grabbed her arm and urged softly, "Listen to me, keep your distance from that Vivian. It's best if she leaves the Expo immediately! Once this storm passes..."
"She's with me, she's not going anywhere!" Annie shook off her arm, stood up, and walked out of the tent, seeing the at-a-loss girl outside.
She jogged over and grabbed her hand. "Where did you run off to? I've been looking for you for so long, and you didn't answer your phone!"
Wade lowered her head, swinging Annie's arm side to side, and said with an apologetic face, "Sorry, I... I was just watching a news livestream by the roadside... I didn't notice my phone."
Donna also walked over, looking her up and down, and said coldly, "Annie almost skipped work and got into a conflict with the organizing committee just to find you... Do you have any idea how much trouble you cause her by running around like this?"
"Mom!" Annie shielded Wade behind her. "I know what I should and shouldn't do!"
Wade squeezed her hand and looked at Donna, her tone flat. "Ma'am, as an independent adult, I have the right to go anywhere. As for trouble... I believe Annie needs freedom, not to satisfy your constantly acting-up vanity."
Donna's face looked a bit ugly as she retorted angrily, "What right do you have to say that? I'm her mother; this is all for her own good!"
"I only know that she's very unhappy." Wade didn't continue the argument, pulling Annie along as she walked away. "I'm starving, let's go get something to eat first."
Annie's steps became lighter as she blinked and smiled, "Okay, I'll take you for a big feast."
Not long after the two left, a large group of people passed in front of them; it was Holy Mary and Standard leaving with a large staff. Both of their expressions were quite sour.
Wade didn't take the two to heart. They were deeply involved with both the Church and Vought, which meant that once things came to light, they would either be sidelined or abandoned, becoming scapegoats pushed in front of the public.
He pointed at the crowd gloatingly and whispered to Annie, "That breaking news the priest leaked earlier—it seems to be one of the churches they endorse."
"Haha... serves them right." Annie only laughed for a moment before muttering worriedly, "Is what that Priest Lief said actually true? Aren't we born with superpowers? Is it really possible to create Supes with drugs?"
'Why won't she believe it? Is Vought's brainwashing that good, or is she trapped in an information cocoon, unable to distinguish truth from lies?' Wade was surprised. He had clearly leaked a ton of Vought's dirty laundry, and there was plenty of data regarding drug-created Supes.
She looked at the blonde girl beside her, who was constantly making excuses and deceiving herself, lost in thought.
Since childhood, Annie had been deceived by her mother's kidnapping-style 'maternal love' and possessed the pride and superiority unique to those 'chosen by God.' Naturally, she would subconsciously want to deny and escape the truth.
'A dream must wake up eventually. Instead of waiting for her to realize it herself, I'll do it.'
...Vought Tower, 77th Floor, Public Relations War Room.
The open-plan office was still busy, with the sounds of ringing phones, clacking keyboards, and anxious conversations intertwined.
On the massive electronic screen, countless streams of information flew by like locusts: "Vought Human Experiments"... "The Devil's Bargain between the Church and Vought"... "Supes are not Born"... "We Need the Truth!"
Madelyn walked quickly through the room with a group of people, holding a tablet and asking calmly, "Have we contacted the Archbishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church? How do they manage their subordinate churches?! They didn't even know they had a mole in their own house?"
"We're in contact, but they're still passing the buck!"
"Senior VP, CNN and BBC are requesting urgent exclusive interviews."
"Protest crowds have already appeared on the streets of New York!"
Bad news arrived one after another.
Madelyn entered the PR department office, sat in her leather chair, and pointed at the subordinates from various departments in front of her desk: "First, take people to destroy all public files within the company related to the Evangelical Lutheran Church, especially capital flows and project names. Perform both electronic and physical purging."
"Then contact our people in the Waverly City Police Department and the State Legislature. Find a way to delay the investigation team's progress. Buy us at least a 24-hour window."
"That's all. Out you go."
The group in business suits complied and left the office. Homelander charged in against the flow of people.
Madelyn looked at the dark-faced Homelander and said softly, "Go contact A-Train and have him make a trip to Waverly City. Some things cannot remain there, and they certainly cannot fall into the hands of the FBI."
Homelander stared straight at her chest and licked his lips. "Such a small matter, I'll go later... also, you're leaking."
"Go arrange things for A-Train first, I'll come find you later." Madelyn dismissed him with a smile, then picked up her tablet to place a video call.
Two seconds later, Ashley's large face appeared on the screen, mixed with background noise.
"Ashley," Madelyn said with a stern face, "the Expo over these two days must not stop! Increase the promotional efforts, make it grander and more joyful than ever before. Show the whole world Vought's innocence."
"Understood, ma'am!" Ashley wiped the grease from her mouth and nodded repeatedly. "I'll have it arranged for tomorrow. I'll have Starlight, Standard, Holy Mary... everyone on stage to build the company's positive image."
"Of course, it would be even better if you could have Homelander make another trip for a grand finale appearance."
"Fine, I'll discuss it with him again."
Ending the communication, Madelyn rubbed her forehead and shouted into the intercom on her desk, "Where's the statement draft? I want to see a statement that clears us completely within half an hour!"
Not long after, she saw a draft statement on her constantly refreshing computer:
[Vought International expresses high concern regarding the shocking events that occurred today at a certain church in Iowa.
We have always strictly complied with laws and regulations and are committed to maintaining the positive image and public interest of the Supe community.
According to preliminary understanding, this incident involves the illegal and improper behavior of individual church personnel. All allegations are unrelated to Vought International and are purely slanderous.
We firmly believe that relevant departments will conduct a fair investigation and restore the truth. Vought International reserves the right to pursue legal action against all defamatory acts...]
Below the statement was a poster of Homelander, Starlight, Queen Maeve, and others standing tall with righteous indignation.
"Not bad." After approving it, Madelyn massaged her somewhat tight chest and breathed a sigh of relief. "What a hassle. It seems we need to add a few more layers of insurance when cooperating with those churches."
She opened her portable tablet and clicked on an investigation report from the marketing department, her eyes narrowing slightly. "The Department of Defense actually unilaterally terminated the existing superhero leasing agreement? Has a competitor contacted the military? Why hasn't there been any word of this in the market?"
Madelyn crossed her legs and reviewed a report summary sent from the lab, her brow furrowed. "Sixty percent of the ingredients in those unknown temporary superpower serums are identical to compound v. The remaining forty percent simply cannot be analyzed."
"This indicates that someone utilized leaked compound v to plagiarize and develop a mature finished serum."
"The Formulation Production and Technology Department isn't under my jurisdiction. Let that old man Edgar deal with the mess Homelander made." She sneered, tossed the tablet aside, put on her coat, and walked out of the office.
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