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Neuman's 'relentless pursuit' in this matter caused Kevin's brows to furrow deeply.
Noticing this, reporters swarmed him, snapping photos frantically.
Flashbulbs constantly illuminated Kevin, capturing every expression on his face at that moment.
Kevin took a deep breath, composed himself, and then smiled again:
"Vought is not entirely unprepared for this; I believe you are all well aware of The Seven's recent actions in combating Super Villains."
"If you are referring to Homelander accidentally killing a civilian during his efforts to combat Super Villains, then yes, we are indeed aware of that matter."
Neuman continued, showing no mercy.
At the same time, she brought up what Homelander had done a while ago.
As soon as this topic came up, the air around them seemed to quiet down, Kevin's smile instantly vanished, and even Homelander, watching on TV, nearly crushed the remote control in his hand.
"Regarding this matter, the conclusion has not yet been finalized, and we will not discuss it here. Moreover, speaking of which, Ms. Neuman."
Kevin looked at Neuman, turning the spearhead towards her:
"If I'm not mistaken, this is Vought's press conference. In what capacity are you questioning me? A Congresswoman? Or a reporter?
If it's the former, please make an appointment before speaking with me. If it's the latter, please abide by the rules of the venue and do not ask questions casually, alright?"
"..."
At Kevin's words, Neuman closed her mouth.
As merely a representative of this protest march, Neuman actually did not have the right to question Kevin at the press conference.
Their conversation should have taken place in a more private setting.
Neuman's actions were already somewhat overstepping for Vought.
So Neuman smiled at Kevin and then, abiding by the rules, stopped asking questions.
But now, Neuman's silence was useless; the topic she had raised inspired the surrounding reporters.
After Neuman, more reporters began to ask the questions she had just brought up.
"The Deep! Can you explain Homelander's accidental killing of an ordinary person?"
"Please answer Congresswoman Neuman's question directly: How exactly will your group handle the Super Villains?"
"Has Compound V really been recalled? Or are you doing something even more outrageous with Compound V?"
The questions became sharper and sharper. Any wrong answer here, even a slight misstep, could plunge Vought into a complete public relations crisis.
But facing the reporters' questions, Kevin was well prepared.
He slowly took off his gold-rimmed glasses and sincerely said to everyone:
"Everyone, please be quiet, listen to me, please be quiet."
Fortunately, the reporters present were quite respectful of Kevin. After Kevin spoke, they all quieted down, waiting for him to speak.
Kevin's gaze swept over the reporters, and after a moment, he slowly said:
"I know that everyone distrusts Vought because Vought has done many things that have harmed you. Superheroes accidentally injure ordinary people during enforcement, or they do some excessive things. All of these have led to your disgust towards Superheroes, and I am aware of all this.
"But if you don't trust those Superheroes, at least you should trust me. Not me as the CEO of Vought, but me as 'The Deep'.
"Who saved an entire cruise ship at sea? Who saved the people on Flight 37? Yesterday at the amusement park, who stopped the runaway roller coaster and saved all 24 lives on board?
"Although I don't want to take credit, and I don't want everyone to think I'm a glory-seeking person, I have to say here that it was me. It was me who saved them, it was me who saved countless families, allowing them to laugh and be with their families at home.
"In your eyes, I should be considered a hero, right?"
Kevin paused here, giving everyone time to think and react.
A reporter was silent for a long time, then suddenly asked:
"What do you want to say?"
Kevin looked at that reporter, facing the camera:
"What I want to say is that you can distrust Vought, and you can distrust what their senior executives have done, but I hope everyone can trust me.
"Trust that I can lead Vought to give an explanation to all those who have been harmed by Compound V, and trust that I can handle the Super Villains.
"Yes, Vought has done many wrong things under the leadership of Edgar and the previous CEOs, but now the person in charge of Vought is me, not Kevin, but The Deep.
"Therefore, as The Deep, I promise that we will definitely eliminate the Super Villains and not let any Super Villain threaten your safety.
"This may be difficult, and it's not something that can be solved in a short time, but I will lead Vought and the new hero team to continue to work hard until the Super Villains completely disappear from the world!"
Kevin spoke passionately.
The sharp questions from the reporters also disappeared.
Because they believed that Kevin was right. No matter what Vought was like before, the person now in charge of Vought is The Deep, a Superhero who has saved countless people.
Many people present were fans of The Deep, and they also believed that The Deep would fulfill his promise and lead Vought to eliminate the Super Villains who threatened everyone's safety.
After Kevin finished speaking, the scene fell into a long silence.
And when everyone realized what Kevin had said, a reporter finally asked:
"Wait a minute, Mr. Deep, you just said... a new hero team? What does that mean? Why not The Seven?"
"This is a plan I've been working on recently, because I know that the events that have happened recently have made everyone distrust many Superheroes, and many people even feel that some Superheroes are incompetent.
So Vought is preparing to discuss with the government the creation of a 'Super Hero Association' that can manage all Superheroes. Here, the heroes' actions will be supervised, and... all dissatisfaction and complaints about Superheroes can be sent here.
The 'Super-Hero Association' plan is currently just a Prototype, but I believe that when the 'Super-Hero Association' is established, there will be fewer and fewer Super Villains in this world until it becomes as I said, no Super Villains will threaten you anymore."
Kevin took advantage of the situation to fully expose his drafted plan to the public.
Reporters discussed animatedly, and cameras and camcorders gave Kevin full close-ups.
Then another reporter asked:
"So if the association is formed, will you be its president?"
"No, how could that be? I'm the CEO of Vought; I don't have the energy to be a president, unless you want to work me to death."
Kevin joked, eliciting soft laughter from some fans of 'The Deep' below.
After this, Kevin said seriously:
"At that time, the president of the association will be the most outstanding person within The Seven, who is the captain of The Seven. However... the specifics will have to wait until the association is truly established."
Kevin left a cliffhanger here, not officially revealing who the future president of the Super-Hero Association would be.
But when he said that, everyone would assume that the future president of the association would be Homelander.
Because the current captain of The Seven is Homelander.
Homelander himself thought so too.
But in reality, Kevin had never said that the captain of The Seven would always be Homelander.
A press conference lasted for a long time, and after it ended, various news about Kevin appeared on trending topics and newspaper headlines.
Incidentally, after the conference, Neuman's rather unpleasant expression was captured and uploaded online by someone.
This made many people laugh at Neuman for overestimating herself.
But they didn't know that Neuman gained more attention from Congress because of this.
After all, there aren't many people who dare to go against Vought now.
Congresswoman Victoria Neuman is indeed the bravest fighter right now.
Everyone thought this, including those who disliked Neuman, but they would never have imagined that the fighter in their eyes who was targeting Vought, Neuman, who openly questioned Kevin at the press conference and almost made him lose face, was currently at home drinking with Kevin.
"Cheers."
Wine glasses clinked, the liquid inside swaying from side to side. Kevin drank the wine in one gulp and smiled at Neuman:
"You did well today. Your approval rating in Congress must have gone up, right?"
"Not much, compared to you, it's far behind."
Neuman also smiled flatteringly.
Kevin's 'performance' today not only increased Neuman's approval rating but also improved Vought's public image.
Because everyone understood that the current Vought was not Edgar's Vought, but The Deep's Vought.
They didn't trust those capitalists, those high and mighty people.
They only trusted The Deep, the Superhero who was willing to save them and truly worked hard for it.
Thus, they were willing to trust Vought led by The Deep.
The double act between Kevin and Neuman was quite perfect. Not only did they each get what they wanted, but they also perfectly resolved the public opinion issues that Vought was facing at this stage.
After drinking and celebrating, Neuman finally asked:
"Speaking of which, are you really planning to establish some kind of... Super-Hero Association? And let Homelander be the president?"
"That's the plan for now, but as for the specifics, I'm still thinking. You don't need to worry about these things; you just need to ensure your position in Congress improves."
Kevin said, then suddenly took out a blue vial from his clothes pocket and placed it in front of Neuman:
"Also, this is what I promised you."
Compound V.
Neuman's decisive decision to side with Kevin and become his pawn in Congress was not only because she had no other choice but also because Kevin promised her Compound V.
Neuman's weakness was her daughter, Zoe. A long time ago, Neuman knew that if Zoe didn't have superpowers, and if something happened to her later, her daughter would likely be bullied.
So she had been begging Edgar to give her Compound V, but Edgar would always change the subject at crucial moments.
From then on, Neuman knew that Edgar saw her more as a controllable tool than as a daughter or lover.
To say that Edgar had no feelings for Neuman might be unlikely, but compared to his ambition, his feelings for Neuman were indeed somewhat diluted.
And now, with Edgar hospitalized, Kevin fulfilled his promise to Neuman, placing Compound V in front of her.
This made Neuman even more loyal to Kevin.
Looking at the Compound V on the table, Neuman reached out to pick it up.
But Kevin stopped her:
"You need to think carefully. Becoming a Supe is not necessarily a good thing. If your daughter has a trash superpower, you won't have any regrets."
"...I trust Zoe, because she is my daughter."
Neuman said seriously.
Besides being inherited, if the offspring of Supes do not have superpowers and are injected with Compound V, there is also a certain chance that they will awaken the same superpowers as their parents.
Neuman knew this, so she firmly believed that Zoe would awaken the same abilities as her.
Seeing that Neuman had indeed thought it through, Kevin no longer tried to persuade her.
He picked up his wine glass and gestured to Neuman:
"Then I wish you success."
"Thank you."
Receiving the Compound V from Kevin's hand, Neuman thanked him again.
Originally, when Kevin replaced Edgar, Neuman didn't have many special feelings.
But now, Neuman felt that having Kevin as her superior seemed quite good.
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