"Although Vought turned from the Nazi side to America last century, creating superheroes for this country to send to the battlefield and help win the war, once the war ended, the government ultimately did not like Vought, which had served the Nazis."
Homelander revealed the secret internal power change of Vought that he learned from Stormfront.
"At the same time, the country coveted the existence of Compound V. With the government's tacit approval, they helped shift Vought's power to Dr. Reed, who had higher prestige within the company and had single-handedly created Compound V."
America thought Reed was just a scientist who only knew how to stay in the lab, and was easier to control than Vought.
"Burning the bridges after crossing them."
There was no surprise in Ronn's eyes.
For those in power, if someone was an eyesore, and with something as powerful as Compound V, how could America not be interested?
"The true controller of Vought is indeed related to Reed."
Reed, who created Compound V, had died long ago, but Ronn reviewed Vought's early personnel changes and found that scientists and high-level executives who had good relationships with Reed were all given important positions, allowing him to infer this point.
"Later…"
Homelander continued his narration.
Although Dr. Reed was intelligent, he was not good at scheming and had no interest in money or business. However, in his early years, he wanted to challenge himself and meticulously created a test-tube baby using his own genes combined with Compound V, attempting to create the most powerful superhuman.
After succeeding, he regarded that baby as his greatest work, named him Arthur, and carefully raised him.
Arthur was different from Dr. Reed. He took over power from Reed, cut off the country's attempts to reach into Vought, and firmly controlled Vought International.
"Stormfront said that Adam possesses psychic abilities, capable of freely entering others' brains, with powers like mind-reading and more.
He is the most powerful psychic superhuman in the World.
Moreover, he also possesses a powerful physique unmatched by other superhumans, perhaps not weaker than me, or even stronger."
As he narrated this, Homelander's expression was extremely complex, filled with anger, resentment, and other emotions.
"The most powerful psychic superhuman?
And a powerful physique not weaker than Homelander's?"
Ronn's expression was slightly odd after hearing this.
If Homelander corresponds to Superman, then this ability seems to correspond to another founding giant of the Justice League.
"I wonder if he is afraid of Fire?"
Upon learning that the power behind Vought was a superhuman stronger than Homelander, Ronn felt no worry or fear.
Instead, he felt more relaxed; the unknown is the most terrifying, and now he no longer needed to overthink.
And if it were other abilities, fine, but psychic abilities…
"I took Black King's helmet as a trophy because I wanted to guard against Charles."
"But now it can be put to use again in this World."
That helmet can block all psychic abilities. Although nothing is absolute, at least even the elderly Professor, who amplified his abilities with a cerebro-wave enhancer, couldn't break through it.
With a formidable body not weaker than Homelander, or even stronger, and having Homelander's physique plus Black King's abilities, he was confident he could easily defeat Homelander.
Moreover, he still had other abilities.
"Next, I should figure out how to deal with this Arthur."
Only by dealing with Arthur could he control Vought.
After a moment of thought, a plan quickly formed in Ronn's mind. He looked up at Homelander, ready to give instructions.
But he saw Homelander sunken into a resentful recollection of his tragic childhood.
Compared to Adam, John's original experience was very similar: one was created by Reed, who created Compound V, and the other was created by Vought's chief scientist after Reed, Vogelbaum. Both were regarded by their creators as their greatest works.
However, one grew up under Reed's careful care, while the other was imprisoned in a cold laboratory from a young age.
One took over Vought when he grew up, while the other became a superhero controlled by Vought.
In terms of ability, Arthur was more powerful and perfect than Homelander.
"Why? Why can he have a family?"
He muttered resentfully.
However, what Homelander resented most was that Arthur, who was so similar to him, could be raised like a biological son by his creator, while he had no family, no love, and was treated as an experiment and Vought's property from a young age.
"Enough, stop your useless resentment."
Ronn, without a hint of sympathy, spoke slowly.
Complaining was useless; no matter what, it couldn't change past facts.
"Do something as I tell you."
His eyes were deep. He tapped the table and commanded coldly, a chilling aura emanating from him, like a ruthless chess player preparing to end the game before him.
"After tomorrow, I want this Arthur to become history, and for Vought to fall under my control."
"You want to control Vought?"
Although Homelander had somewhat guessed it before, hearing Ronn say it explicitly still startled him.
"What's wrong with that?"
"But…"
Homelander was a little worried.
Did Ronn not hear what was just said?
Ronn might not be immune to anti-Compound V, and there was also Arthur, who possessed powerful psychic abilities.
"Then you don't need to worry about it."
Knowing what he was worried about, he waved his hand and sneered.
"Haven't you always disliked Edgar? You have god-like power, yet he manipulates you like a puppet?"
"I'll give you a chance. Go kill him tonight!"
He wanted to use Edgar's death to lure out that Arthur.
"Kill Edgar… Don't you want to control Vought?"
Homelander hesitated even more.
Although he had always resented being controlled by Edgar despite his power, he also knew Edgar's capabilities.
Vought was managed meticulously, and it couldn't be done without Edgar.
"This World keeps turning no matter who leaves. A President of a country can be replaced at will, let alone an Edgar."
Ronn scoffed, stood up, and walked to the floor-to-ceiling window, looking down.
Edgar thought too highly of himself. In his eyes, Homelander was merely company property.
But in Ronn's view, Homelander was more valuable than Edgar. There were at least eight hundred, if not a thousand, managers in the World capable of running a business empire, but there weren't that many Homelander-level individuals.
…
The next day, Vought suddenly discovered that President Edgar, who usually handled company matters at the headquarters, had not appeared.
With no one to consult or approve major decisions, the company immediately ran into some problems.
After searching everywhere for President Edgar and failing to find him, company personnel went to President Edgar's residence and found him murdered inside his home.
This major incident was immediately reported to the Board of Directors, and someone on the Board promptly informed Arthur, Vought's true controller.
"Mr. Arthur, Edgar is dead."
In a luxurious hotel, Arthur moved a beautiful model's leg off him, got out of bed, looked at the sea view outside, and had a couple of sips of wine, only to receive bad news.
"Dead? How did he die?"
His expression froze for a moment, then returned to calm as he looked at the tidal waves outside, asking with an unruffled voice.
Edgar had always controlled Vought for him, allowing him to avoid being bothered by mundane financial matters, but he was not irreplaceable.
"Killed by a laser eye, his head was cut off and placed on a scenic postcard. The wound looks like… like a laser eye."
"I don't know if it's Homelander or Ronn… But Ronn is still at the company, Homelander is gone, uncharacteristically abandoning his company locator, and his whereabouts are unknown."
"Homelander? What are you trying to do?"
Arthur's lips curved into an amused, cold smile.
"Although life has been pleasant and peaceful for a long time, an occasional small surprise is interesting.
However, anyone who dares to disturb my life must pay the price for it."
He asked indifferently.
"Where is the postcard located?"
Upon hearing "scenic postcard," he knew it was a declaration of war—a declaration of war specifying the location.
"Antarctica."