113. Chapter 113: The Era Belonging to Vought Begins!
"Mr. Jervis, the President wants to see you." At this moment, a staff member in a suit knocked on Xia Shang's office door.
"Okay, I'll be right there."
Xia Shang stood up and smoothed out the wrinkles on his clothes, saying to Baruch, "Sorry, please wait a moment. I'll treat you to coffee later."
"No problem, I'll be waiting for your coffee."
Just as Xia Shang was about to leave, the staff member handed the document in his hand to Xia Shang: "Mr. Jervis, these are the meeting documents. You can take a quick look."
"Thanks." Xia Shang took the meeting documents and quickly scanned them. To summarize in one sentence, Vought President Stan Edgar was preparing to personally negotiate the details of the military bill with the US Department of Defense, and he was just there to observe.
Afterward, Xia Shang followed the staff member to the meeting room.
The meeting had not yet begun. Xia Shang sat in his designated seat according to the nameplate on the table.
"Jervis, I have some very unfortunate news for you. Just last night, Madelyn Stillwell suffered a terrorist attack. After investigation, it can be basically confirmed that she is dead," Stan Edgar said in a deep voice.
Stan Edgar's position was at the head of the meeting table, while Xia Shang sat to his right. In the past, the only person qualified to sit in this position was Madelyn Stillwell. Now that Madelyn Stillwell was dead, the person who replaced her was Xia Shang.
"Mr. Edgar, please accept my condolences. May God bless the deceased," Xia Shang's tone was equally heavy. He said with a solemn expression, "I didn't expect those terrorists to be so deranged. They must pay the price for Madelyn Stillwell's life. I propose that Vought thoroughly investigate this matter."
"What if this matter is related to Homelander?" Stan Edgar didn't continue speaking, because the meeting had begun.
As senior officials from the Ministry of Defense arrived one after another, the meeting kicked off with Stan Edgar's speech.
As everyone knows, once a meeting starts, it lasts at least two hours. Midway through, Stan Edgar thoughtfully ordered delivery for everyone.
"Whose secret recipe double beef roll is this?"
Xia Shang raised his right hand and took the delivery handed to him by the staff member.
This meeting had nothing to do with him at all; it was mainly a power struggle between Stan Edgar and the Minister of Defense, Stan Leonard.
"When your superheroes actually go into combat, who do they report to?" Minister of Defense Stan Leonard asked.
"Vought and the Ministry of Defense. After all, they are important assets of Vought International. We need to know their movements and ensure their safety," Stan Edgar said calmly, putting on his rimless glasses.
Xia Shang, on the side, was looking down at the meeting minutes while eating his secret recipe double beef roll.
Two hours later, the meeting ended with a handshake between the two. The final negotiation result was that the US Department of Defense promised to pay Vought tens of billions of US Dollars annually, and Vought would need to dispatch superheroes to help the U.S. Military clear out super terrorists scattered around the world.
In addition, to maintain local public order, mayors in U.S. states would also need to pay a high fee to hire Vought's superheroes.
Clearly, this negotiation ended with Vought achieving a complete victory.
Although Minister of Defense Stan Leonard felt extremely humiliated, there was nothing he could do but suppress his anger and sign the contract with Vought.
When the last letter of his name was signed, it marked the official beginning of the era belonging to Vought!
After the meeting ended.
Xia Shang was kept behind by Stan Edgar. Stan Edgar took out his mobile phone, opened a video, and pushed it in front of Xia Shang.
The video was from the surveillance at Madelyn Stillwell's home.
It recorded the entire process of the incident, including, but not limited to, the footage of Homelander shooting and killing Madelyn Stillwell.
"Homelander is an important asset of our Vought, and the most perfect product to date. I think you know what to do?" Stan Edgar looked at Xia Shang with sharp eyes. He took off his glasses with a blank expression, waiting for Xia Shang's answer.
After watching the entire video, Xia Shang smiled and said, "With Vought's technology, we can completely delete Homelander's footage and create a new video through video synthesis technology."
"Excellent. This matter will be your responsibility. The U.S. Government will cooperate with us to conduct a nationwide manhunt for the terrorists and their accomplices in the video."
...
After the contract was signed, Vought International immediately dispatched Black Noir to Xuliya. Black Noir did not disappoint Stan Edgar. Facing the attack from Terrorist Nayou Bo and the booming explosion of "Burning in the Truth!", he was only slightly charred on the lower half of his chest.
Then, he walked out of the sea of fire with Nayou Bo's head.
The astonishing performance of the superhero not only failed to make Minister of Defense Stan Leonard happy but instead made his face look increasingly grim.
A few days later, a video of Billy kidnapping Madelyn Stillwell and pressing the detonator instantly spread across the entire internet. Xia Shang extremely successfully directed everyone's anger onto Billy and his fellow terrorists.
And naturally, it caused panic among the public.
For a time, the slogan "Superheroes protect America" dominated the headlines of major news media.
Immediately after, Xia Shang struck while the iron was hot and announced that funerals would be held for Madelyn Stillwell and Translucent.
The superheroes attending the funeral included Homelander, Starlight, The Deep, and Queen Maeve. At the funeral, Homelander gave a moving speech. "First of all, please allow me to observe ten seconds of silence for the passing of my two colleagues..."
"They both died due to terrorist attacks, but their sacrifice was of value. It is because of their sacrifice that the military plan was passed. But this doesn't mean there won't be any more sacrifices... Perhaps the next one could be any one of us in The Seven.
So, please tell my son, Mawēilìkè, that I love him."
Below the stage, Xia Shang sat in the first row, watching this scene with a smile.
Homelander continued, "Oh, right, my son once told me, 'Father, you must find those super terrorists'... Actually, supervillains is a better way to describe them. He told me, 'You must search them out, Homelander, you must stop them from continuing to do evil, you are a great hero.'"
"Here, I want to promise Mawēilìkè, I will work hard for you, for America... for my two deceased friends..." Homelander pressed his heart, then placed his hand on the golden coffin in the center of the stage, saying with a choked voice.
He slightly raised his head, as if not wanting himself to shed tears. He seemed to be suppressing immense grief. "Finally, I want to make the slogan 'Superheroes protect America' a reality."
This acting skill was impeccable. Xia Shang couldn't help but applaud for Homelander's performance. When his applause sounded, it was immediately followed by thunderous, lasting applause. Everyone showed excited and emotional expressions; they were deeply moved by Homelander's speech.
"Your speech was great. Everyone's applause is for you," Xia Shang said with a sideways smile as Homelander sat down next to him.
"Thanks." Homelander was enjoying everything. A radiant smile like sunlight appeared on his face.
Next to take the stage was Starlight. At this time, Starlight had already gone the sexy route. The moment she appeared wearing her new suit, she immediately ignited the enthusiasm of the audience below the stage.
Starlight picked up the microphone and began singing passionately, a song specially created for The Seven.
"Jervis, do you still remember Ashley Barrett?" Homelander said, looking at Starlight on the stage.
Xia Shang smiled, "My former superior, how could I forget?"
"I heard you were promoted to Vought acting vice president. You must have a lot of work on your hands."
How could Xia Shang not understand the hidden meaning in Homelander's words? It seemed he also realized that Stan Edgar's influence within the company was too large now, and he also wanted to cultivate his own subordinates.
"I plan to propose to Mr. Edgar to let Ashley Barrett return to Vought International," Homelander said with a smile, applauding for Starlight.
"I have no objection. I can let her serve as my vice president assistant. Just now, Translucent died in the line of duty and A-Train is unconscious, so I can let her preside over the selection work. She should be very experienced in this regard."
How could Xia Shang hand over his position as head of public relations just because of a few words from Homelander?
"It seems her fate can only let her be a vice president assistant. That was the case before, and it is now," Homelander didn't force it. He wasn't very concerned about this kind of thing, as long as someone could be at his beck and call.
After Starlight's performance ended, the applause she received was no less than Homelander's. Just as she looked in surprise at the audience screaming for her below the stage, little did she know, Queen Maeve, inside the locker room, was silently shaking her head while looking at Starlight on the TV screen. She looked at Starlight as if seeing her past self.
"Starlight, The Deep! Starlight, The Deep!"
The Deep's appearance immediately caused some CP fans to scream.
The Deep held the microphone, a little awkward and uneasy. Fortunately, Xia Shang below the stage nodded towards him, which allowed him to gradually regain his composure. "Everyone, although I really don't want to admit it, this beautiful lady truly doesn't belong to me. Of course, I won't feel sad because of this, because I am prepared to dedicate everything I have to the environmental cause."
His remarks were also excellent, receiving a round of enthusiastic applause.
But the subsequent appearance of Queen Maeve saw her popularity clearly decrease significantly. Although she also chose to sing, the effect was clearly not as good as Starlight's.
Meanwhile.
Hughie was huddled in a small, dilapidated room. Noisy sounds were still coming from overhead. Now the sexy Starlight can be said to be extremely popular, while he could only curl up in a dirty basement, looking at the less than twelve-inch TV screen in front of him.
This thing is practically a product from the last century. Starlight's figure inside was blurry, and sometimes there was no signal.
"Sigh..." Hughie sighed deeply. There was nothing he could do; he couldn't find a better place to stay. Vought and CIA personnel were searching for him everywhere like mad dogs.
(End of Chapter)