"An explanation?", Alex chuckled softly, "I don't need to explain myself to anyone."
"Besides, do you really think you're qualified to demand an explanation from me?"
Edgar walked over and stopped beside Alex, looking out through the floor to ceiling window at the city below, like a king surveying his own domain.
He said calmly, "Perhaps you've forgotten that the company pays your salary. So I think, at the very least, I have the right to ask you to explain what exactly happened."
Alex stood up, hands clasped behind his back. Deep within his pupils, a point of golden light flickered.
He said nothing, yet an overwhelming pressure radiated from him.
The atmosphere in the command hall instantly grew heavy, filled with the feeling of an impending storm.
Although Edgar was looking out the window, his eyes kept flicking toward the reflection on the glass.
That reflected figure was slightly blurred. The expression could not be seen clearly, but on that sharp, cold face, two points of gold were growing brighter and brighter.
As if two miniature suns were rising.
In the blink of an eye, Edgar's back was already soaked with sweat.
Under the invisible pressure emanating from Alex, even Edgar, the long seated president of Vought, felt his fingers trembling slightly.
After thinking it over again and again, he clenched his fist and coughed lightly, then turned around, lowered his gaze, and looked at the floor at a forty five degree angle before walking to Alex's back, not daring to remain standing in front of him.
Now, he was facing Alex's back.
Only then did the golden light in Alex's eyes slowly fade, and he said, "I think you've got it wrong, Edgar."
"It's not the company paying me."
"It's because of me that the company makes money."
"Don't you think so?"
Edgar subconsciously tugged at his tie, suddenly feeling that it was tied too tight today, giving him a suffocating sensation.
The CEO paused before saying, "Homelander, the reason the company has been able to exist until now, the reason the federal government allows superhumans to operate, is because we have bottom lines."
"Those bottom lines are the foundation of our existence."
"Making a senator disappear, even a 'former' senator, has already crossed that bottom line."
"If that happens, we'll be seen as a threat."
"And once people feel threatened by us, it may become very difficult for us to continue existing. Don't you think?"
Alex chuckled and shook his head, "I don't like threatening people either."
"As long as they don't block my path."
"Otherwise…"
Bang!
He raised his hand and made an 'explosion' gesture.
Edgar's face darkened. He suddenly yanked his tie completely loose, then smiled faintly and took two steps back, "Talking with you is always a pleasure."
"I wish you a good mood, Homelander."
Alex did not even turn his head. He waved a hand casually, "You too, buddy."
Edgar smiled and walked out of the command hall. Seeing Ashley waiting outside the door, the CEO smiled warmly and patted her on the shoulder, "Assist Homelander properly."
He glanced back into the hall one last time before heading for the elevator.
Only after entering the elevator and the doors closing did the smile disappear from Edgar's face.
What replaced it was a deep, heavy gloom.
———
Ashley quickly walked into the hall. Being patted on the shoulder by Edgar just now had left her feeling both flattered and startled.
She glanced at Homelander standing by the floor to ceiling window and hurriedly straightened her posture.
She knew that the reason she could even cross paths with the company president was because of the man standing in front of her.
So Ashley spoke in a brisk tone, "Homelander, Black Noir is back."
Alex nodded and made a gesture, "Let him in."
Ashley made a phone call, then added, "Also, the PR department is asking when we'll resume hero activities."
"The media and the authorities are both paying close attention to this."
Alex smiled slightly and gave an official response, "Talk about it later. Let certain people cool their heads for a while first. Only then will they clearly see how incompetent they really are."
Ashley automatically filtered out the latter half of that sentence and had already come up with a much more tactful wording.
At that moment, footsteps sounded as someone walked in.
Black Noir. The man dressed entirely in black was carrying a suitcase. He set it down on the floor. From the heavy thud it made, it was clear the case had some weight to it.
Alex more or less guessed what was inside, but still looked at Black Noir.
Ashley quickly stepped forward and explained, "This was found by Black Noir in the sea. Since we've lost 'The Deep', we could only use deep diving equipment to recover it, so it took some time."
Alex made a gesture, "Open it."
Black Noir stepped forward and opened the suitcase.
Immediately, a rancid, bloody stench poured out.
Looking inside, there were pieces of a human body, even a finger.
"Oh my God!"
Ashley instantly covered her mouth and fled toward the restroom as if running for her life.
Alex, however, showed no expression. He looked at a line of words written on the inside of the suitcase lid: [For you, love.]
Ashley soon adjusted herself and returned to the hall, but she still did not dare look at the suitcase. She turned her gaze away and shook her head, "Oh my God. Is this Blue Hawk?"
Alex glanced at a hood inside the suitcase, stained red with blood, snorted softly, and made another gesture.
Black Noir closed the suitcase.
Ashley frowned, "Why didn't they dispose of the body properly?"
"If they had, we wouldn't have been able to find it."
Alex smiled, "They wanted us to find it. This is a declaration of war, my dear."
"Someone is declaring war on us."
In Alex's mind, the face of a bearded man flashed past.
Then he said, "Black Noir, you and 'Element Woman' go check where Blue Hawk went and what he did before he disappeared."
"They want to play a game, then we'll play with them. We're quite free for the next while anyway."
Black Noir nodded and turned to leave.
Alex then looked at Ashley, "What are you still standing there for? Planning to leave this pile of rotten meat here?"
Ashley hurriedly made a phone call and summoned security to remove the suitcase.
"Clean this place up."
After saying that, Alex walked out of the command hall.
———
A moment later, his phone rang. He glanced at it. Angelina had sent him a message.
[Master, Mr. Edgar convened a board meeting, but he didn't allow me to participate.]
Seeing the message, Alex smiled and strode into the elevator.
Inside, he pressed the button for the eighty eighth floor.
———
At the same time—
In the conference room on the eighty eighth floor of the Seven Tower, Edgar scanned the room, his gaze passing over the faces of the directors one by one.
"Gentlemen, just yesterday, our stock price experienced a cliff like drop, falling a full seven percentage points."
"Since the founding of Vought, this is an unprecedented disaster."
"Although the stock rebounded afterward, it scared my heart condition right out of me."
An elderly man with graying hair looked at Edgar, "Regarding this, Edgar, do you have anything you'd like to say?"
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