Chapter 2797 - Ch: 159-166

Chapter 159

"I want to establish a Bureau of Superhuman Affairs."

Lu Chen looked at Neuman,

"Your abilities are quite good, come be the deputy Director."

Neuman's fingers stopped on the desk.

She had thought of many kinds of answers.

Threats.

Extortion.

Making her betray Edgar, hand over Vought's data, or push a certain bill for him in Congress.

But she didn't expect that as soon as Lu Chen opened his mouth, it was to make her an official.

And not a regular official.

Bureau of Superhuman Affairs.

This name sounded very fresh, but the taste behind it was not new at all.

Power.

Violence.

Legitimate violence.

"Bureau of Superhuman Affairs."

Neuman slowly repeated the name, "It sounds like a department specially managing superhuman affairs."

She slowly opened her mouth.

"However, which aspect of Superhumans does it actually manage? Identity registration? Words and deeds? Crime inspection? Or the commercial contracts of those star heroes under Vought?"

Lu Chen smiled slightly.

"All."

These two words were too heavy.

If it were just supervising crimes, Congress could still accept it.

If it were just investigating Vought, the public could still cheer.

But once the word "all" came out, the meaning changed.

Neuman stared at Lu Chen, "So, this is neither a hero management company like Vought, nor a temporary committee under Congress."

"Hmm."

"This is a superhuman government?"

Lu Chen smiled.

"You can understand it that way."

Neuman's back felt slightly chilled.

Absurd.

Too absurd.

A superhuman government?

"What about those Superhumans who are unwilling to be regulated?"

"A new government governs a new order. What old forces will experience, you should know clearer than me."

Neuman took a deep breath, of course she knew clearly.

Any new order coming to power is not accomplished by speeches and applause.

Order replacement.

Old interest groups will be liquidated, old agents thrown into Fire, old rules torn apart, and then someone will still stand up and tell the public that this is called a new era.

"What about Vought?"

"What about Homelander?"

This was the key.

As long as Vought was still around, Edgar would not watch her change flags and fly a new banner.

As long as Homelander was still around, any so-called superhuman order was like a joke.

That person would not accept anyone standing on top of his head.

Even if it was the law.

Even if it was the President.

Even if it was God.

Lu Chen looked at her, the corners of his mouth curving up.

"You will see soon."

Neuman cursed internally.

This was not an answer.

But this was also the most terrifying answer.

He did not explain how to deal with Vought, nor did he explain how to deal with Homelander.

This showed that in his judgment, those two things were no longer worth bringing out for detailed discussion.

Either he was crazy.

Or he really had cards in his hand.

Judging by her testing of Lu Chen's ability just now, the second possibility was greater.

"Mr. Tianshu." Neuman lowered her posture, "You want me to be the deputy Director, why me."

"Reasons?"

Lu Chen looked at her, "Your approval rating is very high right now. Anti-Vought sentiment needs an outlet, and you happen to be standing in the most appropriate position."

Lu Chen grabbed Mindstorm's neck and stood up. He was not planning to stay here for the full six hours; dropping the words to Neuman now was enough.

"I will give you time to consider."

He walked to the broken window and suddenly stopped.

"Also, your daughter doesn't have to risk her life injecting Compound V."

"You investigated Zoe?"

She climbed high, not just for Edgar's orders.

More for Zoe.

If the situation completely collapsed one day, the identity of a congressman might not necessarily protect her daughter.

But power could.

So she had thought about injecting Zoe with Compound V.

The risk was huge.

She might awaken, she might die, or she might turn into a monster.

But in this World, weakness itself was a risk.

She had always been unwilling to admit this point, and now that Lu Chen exposed it to her face, she only felt that every piece of broken glass in the office was an eyesore.

"You want to use my daughter to threaten me?"

"I am just telling you, there is no need to choose the stupidest path."

Lu Chen said.

"I hope you can make the right choice."

As the words fell, he lifted Mindstorm and flew out of the window.

The violent wind rolled into the office, blowing the documents on the desk all over the floor.

Neuman turned and walked to the window.

In the distance, Lu Chen's figure was already left with only a black dot.

She looked in that direction, her palms slowly loosening.

Unable to stop it.

When this thought popped up, she calmed down a bit instead.

The thing she was most familiar with in her life was surviving under the hands of someone stronger.

She picked up the phone on the desk and dialed out,

"Notify my staff."

Neuman picked up a document blown to her feet by the wind, her voice returning to stability.

"All schedules this afternoon are canceled."

"Have the legal team, policy team, and public safety advisors all come over."

She paused and added a sentence.

"Prepare to draft a proposal for a new agency."

The person on the other end of the phone hesitated.

"What agency?"

"Bureau of Superhuman Affairs."

Spoken out in a few words, she herself felt it was surreal.

But being forced to step into the card game, she couldn't pretend not to see it. With her many political career years, she knew best what consequences fence-sitters faced.

Do as he said first.

At least she had to see how he was planning to deal with Vought and Homelander.

Vought Tower.

Homelander stood in the center of the crime analysis department, his expression frighteningly gloomy.

He was able to go out already, at least there were no obvious injuries on his face.

Almost.

He almost died.

As long as this thought popped up, he wanted to burn everyone in the entire room into ashes.

But he still needed these waste-of-space people to help him find someone right now.

"I want his location!"

No one in the room dared to raise their heads.

Screens lit up row by row; surveillance, satellite maps, passerby sneak-shot videos, and social media screenshots were all pulled out by the crime analysis department.

A supervisor wiped the sweat from his forehead.

"We are making comparisons. Tianshu did not have a complete full face in his last few appearances. His speed was too fast, and many images only have afterimages."

Homelander turned to look at him.

"Afterimages?"

The supervisor's lips trembled slightly.

"I am not saying we can't find him, I am saying we need a little time."

Homelander smiled.

That smile made the supervisor's legs begin to soften.

"You know, what I hate most is people telling me they need time."

He leaned down, his eyes staring at the supervisor.

"Things like time are for important people to use. People like you are only responsible for completing orders."

The supervisor nodded repeatedly.

"Yes, yes, right away."

On the screen, a blurry photo was enlarged.

That was the sky photographed by some passerby.

Below the clouds were two shadows,

Homelander's gaze froze.

"Stop."

The technician's hand shook, and the image paused.

"Enlarge."

Pixels were repaired layer by layer, and algorithms filled in the blurred edges.

The figure in front was Lu Chen.

Homelander's teeth slowly clenched.

It was this face.

The screen continued processing.

The face of the man behind gradually became clear.

Beard.

Rugged face.

Homelander's expression froze.

He looked at that face, too many things suddenly crowding into his brain.

Soldier Boy.

He wasn't dead.

How was that possible?

Vought said he was dead.

History books said he sacrificed himself.

TV documentaries said he was one of the United States' greatest heroes.

When he was a little child, people in the lab played Soldier Boy's promotional video for him, telling him that this was the closest to a perfect hero from the previous generation.

He once worshipped this man immensely.

Before Lu Chen appeared, he also always believed that Soldier Boy was probably the only superhuman in this World who could stand at the same level as him.

But now, Soldier Boy was together with Lu Chen.

Why were they together?

Here to find him?

Lu Chen was already strong to that extent, if plus Soldier Boy...

No.

Homelander abruptly raised his head.

X-ray vision passed through the walls, through the conference room, through the corridor, scanning the sky outside the building.

None.

Nothing at all.

Super hearing was pulled to the maximum by him: elevator operation sounds, employee heartbeat sounds, street traffic sounds, downstairs reporters' coughing sounds, all crammed into his ears.

Too noisy.

Every sound seemed to remind him that someone might have already come.

Could Lu Chen be right outside?

Could Soldier Boy already be on the roof?

Would he turn around and see those two guys standing at the door?

Homelander abruptly turned around and looked out the window.

"Sir?"

An employee just opened his mouth, and Homelander had already disappeared in place.

Boom!

Homelander rushed out of the building, but after flying high into the air, he stopped.

Where to go?

From birth to now, the places he was familiar with were only the laboratory and Vought Tower.

Escaping now, it instead felt like being thrown into a completely unfamiliar World.

"Fuck!"

Homelander cursed loudly at the empty sky.

The anger on his face twisted for a few seconds, then was bitten by fear.

No.

Cannot stay here.

Cannot wait for them to come looking for him.

Homelander gritted his teeth and randomly chose a direction.

Boom!

Sonic boom burst open.

He rushed into the clouds without looking back.

Chapter 160: Holding a Board Meeting

[Copy complete]

[Mind Control has merged with Nightmare Cage]

[Mind Control LV5 (Fusion Enhancement) has solidified]

Prompts emerged one after another.

A gaze could drag the target into the Nightmare Cage, forcing them to repeatedly experience the scenes they feared most in their hearts.

As long as their mental strength did not exceed his, or unless they had an exceptionally powerful will, getting in was easy, but getting out depended entirely on his mood.

This ability was far more useful than fists when it came to interrogation.

Some people were not afraid of death.

That didn't mean they weren't afraid of living.

Lu Chen took out his phone and glanced at Soldier Boy's location.

The tracker had already left the Crimson Countess's residence and was moving toward the outskirts of the city.

That direction led to the place where the TNT Twins currently lived.

He was moving fast enough.

Lu Chen picked up the still unconscious Mindstorm and flew along the tracker.

Not long after, Lu Chen spotted Soldier Boy by the side of a highway.

He had changed back into his classic outfit.

A dark green military compression combat uniform paired with black tactical armor on the outside, with the golden eagle badge on his chest particularly eye-catching.

His originally messy long hair had been styled, and his thick beard trimmed into a neat full beard.

He carried his signature eagle-patterned metal shield in one hand and held a joint in the other.

This classic image finally had the spirited look of the strongest hero from back in the day.

Provided one ignored the fact that he was walking on foot by the side of the highway.

Lu Chen descended from the sky and casually tossed Mindstorm over.

"Catch."

Soldier Boy put the joint into his mouth, caught it with his left hand, and steadily grabbed the unconscious Mindstorm.

He looked down at his old teammate in his arms, then looked up at Lu Chen.

"Do you always have to come down from the sky?"

Soldier Boy exhaled a puff of smoke, looking extremely displeased.

"Is being able to fly such a big deal? Those monkeys in the Indochinese Peninsula could also jump down from trees, and in the end, didn't I still beat them to a pulp?"

Lu Chen couldn't be bothered to entertain him, leaving behind the remark that taking a taxi wasn't illegal before flying off in the direction of Vought.

Soldier Boy raised his middle finger.

Lu Chen's figure had already disappeared.

He threw Mindstorm to the roadside, glanced around, pulled a black bag out of a trash can, put it over Mindstorm's head, clenched the opening, and delivered two punches straight to the opponent's face.

Bang! Bang!

Mindstorm's nasal bridge collapsed on the spot, and blood quickly soaked through the plastic bag.

"Ugh... Who?"

Mindstorm woke up with a start, his hands grabbing wildly at the bag on his face.

Soldier Boy squatted down and stubbed out the nearly burnt marijuana joint against the opponent's chest.

"Awake?"

The body of the person under the bag suddenly tensed up.

"Ben..."

"Yeah, it's me."

Soldier Boy grinned and reached out to pat his face.

"Asleep for more than thirty years, and your motherfucking voice is still as annoying as ever."

Mindstorm struggled even harder.

"That wasn't my idea! It was Vought! It was Black Noir, everyone agreed, I had no choice!"

"Save that talk for God."

Lu Chen slowed down and landed on the high-rise terrace.

When he pushed open the door and entered the corridor, he ran right into Ashley, who was hurrying over with a stack of documents in her arms.

Ashley looked up, saw his face clearly, and slammed on the brakes right in her tracks.

"Holy shit!"

Half of the documents slid out of her arms.

She panicked and looked around to both sides, as if worried that Homelander might suddenly burst out from the wall.

"Why are you back?"

Ashley lowered her voice and quickly stepped closer.

"Homelander is looking everywhere for you!"

"Everyone in the Crime Analytics Department is losing their minds; he sent your photo to every department and said whoever finds you will receive his personal gratitude."

Lu Chen was somewhat surprised.

Beaten into that kind of ghost shape, Homelander still dared to look for him?

"Where is Homelander?"

"Homelander... who?"

Ashley paused for a second before quickly realizing who he was talking about.

"I don't know."

As soon as the words left her mouth, she hurriedly added:

"Really, I'm not lying to you!"

"He was just in the Crime Analytics Department earlier, then suddenly disappeared, and no one knows where he went."

"He didn't say, and no one dared to ask."

The more Ashley talked, the more nervous she became.

Homelander was missing, and Tianshu was back.

Two monsters who could tear down Vought Tower at any moment both seemed to treat this place like their own home.

What kind of sins had she committed in her life?

Lu Chen looked at her for two seconds.

It seemed Homelander wasn't out looking for him; he had fled.

If he really wanted to hide, with Homelander's speed and senses, it would take some effort to find him.

However, it wasn't a big problem; once the framework of the Bureau of Superhuman Affairs was set up, there would be plenty of ways to flush him out.

Lu Chen bent down, picked up a document that had fallen to the ground, and stuffed it back into Ashley's arms.

Over the years, almost all public relations disasters caused by Superhumans at Vought were eventually cleaned up by Ashley and her subordinates.

Her skills didn't lie in combat, but she was very well-suited for the new department.

The Bureau of Superhuman Affairs couldn't run on fists alone.

Someone had to do the actual work.

"You have good skills. Work for me from now on."

Ashley's mouth hung open.

"Huh?"

She pointed at herself, looking utterly bewildered.

"Work for you doing what? How? I mean work-wise, of course I mean work-wise!"

"You can't just suddenly show up at Vought and make me jump ship; there are contracts, non-compete agreements, board approvals, and Homelander to consider—if he finds out that I—"

By the end of it, she was almost on the verge of tears.

"You'll know soon enough."

Lu Chen walked past her.

"Remember to report for duty."

Ashley opened her mouth, but not a single word came out.

Refuse?

She certainly wanted to.

But was this an invitation?

This was clearly an order!

Ashley stood frozen in place, hugging the documents, and finally managed to squeeze out a weak,

"Where am I supposed to report?"

Lu Chen didn't answer.

He reached the end of the corridor and pushed open the door to Edgar's office directly.

The door slammed against the wall, and Edgar, who was reading documents, looked up with a brief flash of astonishment in his eyes.

"Mr. Tianshu."

Edgar put down his pen and regained his composure.

"Unannounced entry into my office is not a very sensible..."

Before he could finish speaking, Lu Chen crossed the distance from the door to the desk and appeared right in front of him.

A hand pressed down on his head.

Edgar's body suddenly stiffened, cold sweat trickling down his temples into his collar, and the air of absolute control he had moments ago vanished completely.

Lu Chen looked at him with great interest.

"So you can also make this kind of panicked expression."

Edgar pressed his lips tightly together and didn't answer.

He could scold Homelander because Homelander craved approval and still held a sliver of fatherly expectations toward him,

but Lu Chen was different.

This young man needed nothing.

Money, fame, power—the chips Vought could offer meant nothing to him.

"Don't worry."

Lu Chen let go of his hand and patted his shoulder.

"After all, you gave me a nice gift, so I won't kill you."

A gift?

Edgar immediately thought of it: they were the ones who injected Compound V into his body, and they were the ones who abandoned that Chinese infant back then.

An investment that no one had remembered for a long time was now coming back to repay the company.

"What do you want?"

Lu Chen sat down and poured himself a cup of tea.

"Now, summon the board of directors immediately."

Edgar stared at him, trying to find his true purpose behind that face.

Impeachment? Acquisition? Exposing Vought's secrets?

None of them seemed like it.

Yet he had no qualification to refuse.

Edgar stared at him, and a few seconds later, picked up the phone.

Hands that had been steady for decades trembled slightly, and for the first time, he missed the buttons.

On the second attempt, the call went through.

He roared into the mouthpiece: "Now! Summon the board of directors immediately!"

The other end of the line fell silent for a second.

"All the directors?"

"Everyone!"

Hanging up the phone, the office fell silent once more.

Lu Chen leaned back on the sofa, sipping his tea leisurely as if waiting for a meeting that had nothing to do with him.

Looking at that demeanor, Edgar actually found himself missing Homelander a little bit.

At least Homelander had a distorted father-son complex toward him, would fly into a rage over a word of disappointment, and would quiet down at a word of affirmation.

Even if they truly fell out, he had a fair amount of certainty that Homelander wouldn't kill him.

Yet the person in front of him had none of that.

From the very moment he introduced this young man into Vought, he had let a monster into the house that no one could leash.

Inviting a wolf into the house.

He regretted it now more than ever.

Chapter 161: Vought Bankruptcy Reorganization

Half an hour later, the phone on Edgar's desk rang.

He answered, listened for a few sentences, put down the receiver, and looked at Lu Chen.

"The directors and major shareholders who could make it are all here, and those who couldn't attend in person have already joined the online meeting."

Lu Chen rose from the sofa.

"Let's go."

Walking to the door, he stopped again.

"Call Ashley over to sit in."

Edgar frowned slightly.

Ashley was only a senior vice president of the hero management department. She wasn't qualified to participate in the board of directors for a meeting of this level.

But he didn't ask anything and picked up the internal phone.

"Have Ashley go to the board meeting room immediately."

Three minutes later, Ashley hurried over in high heels.

Seeing the two men standing outside the door, her steps suddenly slowed down.

One was the boss she absolutely dared not disobey.

The other was a monster even her boss dared not disobey.

Great.

She was probably really going to die in the company today.

"Mr. Edgar, Mr. Tianshu."

Ashley managed to squeeze out a professional smile.

"May I ask if you need me to take meeting minutes or prepare a crisis plan? If it's a public relations statement, I need to know the general direction in advance, or at least give my team twenty minutes—no, ten minutes will do."

"Sit in."

Lu Chen pushed open the door of the meeting room.

Ashley was stunned for a moment, then hurriedly followed.

Vought's major shareholders sat on both sides of the long table, and the screen on the wall was split into several video windows. Edgar had suddenly convened the board of directors without specifying the agenda in the notice, and these people had been guessing for a long time.

But no one guessed that the first one to walk in would be Tianshu.

"Why is he here?"

"Edgar, this doesn't comply with board procedures."

"Isn't Tianshu a member of The Seven? Since when can a hero attend the company's highest-level meetings?"

Lu Chen ignored those gazes and walked straight to the head of the long table to sit down.

Edgar stood on the right, and Ashley stood stiffly on the left. This position made her feel extremely uncomfortable all over.

Lu Chen raised his eyes and looked at the few people who had spoken.

Several shareholders made eye contact with him, and the words on the tips of their tongues were forcefully swallowed back. A dozen seconds later, the meeting room fell completely silent.

Lu Chen leaned against the back of his chair.

"Very good, everyone is here."

In the screen, a white-haired shareholder corrected him coldly.

"Mr. Tianshu, two other directors haven't logged in yet. They are currently in Europe, and temporarily convening a board of directors violates the company's articles of association."

"That's their problem."

Lu Chen glanced at the person.

"Calling everyone here this time is for only two things."

Ashley secretly looked at Edgar.

Edgar was expressionless, without even a half-sentence of objection.

She immediately lowered her head.

It's over.

Vought has really changed its Master.

Lu Chen raised a finger.

"First, Vought International will enter bankruptcy reorganization and be reorganized into the Bureau of Superhuman Affairs."

After a brief silence, the meeting room instantly exploded.

"What?"

"This is impossible!"

"You don't have the right to do this!"

"What about Vought's market value, patents, film and television copyrights, and global branches?"

"Edgar, this is malicious occupation! Are you just going to stand there and watch?"

The people on the screen were also questioning loudly, several voices mixed together, making Ashley's head spin.

A corpulent shareholder pushed himself up from the table, pointed at Lu Chen, and roared, "Where is security? Immediately notify the security department to take him—"

Lu Chen pressed his right hand downward.

Boom!

A terrifying force instantly suppressed them.

The dozen or so shareholders sitting on both sides were flipped over along with their chairs by Telekinesis, their knees smashing heavily onto the floor. Just as someone tried to push himself up, an even more terrifying force pressed down on his shoulders.

The remote shareholders on the screen shut their mouths. The person who had just been demanding the launch of the emergency removal procedure silently put their raised hand back under the table.

Lu Chen swept his gaze over the people kneeling on the ground.

"Since you are unwilling to listen sitting down, then listen on your knees."

No one dared to make a sound anymore.

Ashley looked down at the group of big shots kneeling in a row, her mind somewhat blank.

Any single one of these people would normally be able to make her work overtime for a month straight. But now, they even needed permission just to raise their heads.

She quietly moved half a step, standing a little closer to Lu Chen.

Working for anyone was the same.

At least Tianshu didn't need her to cover up a dairy farm accident for him at three in the morning.

"After Vought is reorganized, all businesses, facilities, materials, and data related to Superhumans will be fully integrated into the Bureau of Superhuman Affairs."

A shareholder kneeling on the ground gritted his teeth and asked, "This sounds like a state agency? Who authorized it?"

"Someone will authorize it soon."

Lu Chen's tone was calm.

"You only need to decide whether you want to stay at the poker table."

The man opened his mouth, and finally lowered his head.

Lu Chen raised a second finger.

"The second thing: calling you here today is to give everyone present an opportunity to retain their interests."

As soon as these words came out, the eyes of several shareholders instantly changed.

This was the language they could understand.

What heroes, what public safety, what protecting the World—they were all wrapping paper packaged outside the financial reports. As long as their interests remained, these people would even be willing to write an obituary for Vought with their own hands.

"The Bureau will release five percent of its revenue shares to the outside World, with a holding cap of zero point one percent for a single entity."

Someone immediately questioned from the screen.

"Five percent is too little! Vought's existing shareholders hold the entire company, and you have no right to trade our entire assets for five percent."

"Exchanging for shares does not depend on how many shares you currently hold in your hands."

Lu Chen leaned back against his chair.

"It depends on how much you can do for the new order."

"Provide money, channels, and resources. Make this system take root across the World."

"Do well, and your share can increase. Play petty tricks, and your share will be directly reclaimed."

The meeting room fell quiet again.

This was not an acquisition.

Nor was it a simple forced seizure.

Lu Chen wanted to turn them from the Masters of Vought into tools that profited by attaching themselves to the Bureau. If they wanted to keep making money, they had to actively pave the way for him; whoever paved it the fastest would get the most.

"Existing shareholders' rights and interests will not be completely written off."

Lu Chen continued, "Your Vought shares can be converted into revenue shares of the new organization according to the accounting results."

Someone hurriedly asked, "Are the shares allowed to be inherited and traded?"

"Private trading is not allowed. Inheritance requires re-evaluation."

Lu Chen looked at him.

"Once you leave the market or violate the rules, the shares will be directly reclaimed. You only have advisory rights, not voting rights."

That shareholder's expression was ugly.

"This isn't shares at all!"

"I didn't say it was either."

The corners of Lu Chen's mouth curled up slightly.

"You can choose not to take it."

Five percent sounded very little.

But if this so-called Bureau could really take over all the Superhumans in the World, what this five percent represented behind the scenes was not just a single company, but a completely monopolized system.

There were no fools here.

"There is one more condition."

Lu Chen's gaze swept across everyone's faces.

"Capital that has been involved in black industries and illegal human experiments in the past, and whose hands are stained with too much blood, is not on the list for this five percent."

The complexions of several people changed on the spot.

Vought could have today—whose hands were clean?

"Who determines the standard?" came the inquiry from the screen, "If it's entirely up to you to decide, this isn't business cooperation at all!"

"That's right."

Lu Chen nodded.

"This is not cooperation; it's an opportunity I am giving you."

Edgar rubbed the bridge of his nose.

This sentence seemed like just an additional condition, but what truly decided who could stay was Lu Chen himself. The so-called audit standard would not be handed over to the shareholders for discussion at all.

From this moment on, Vought's board of directors no longer existed.

Lu Chen withdrew his Telekinesis.

The people kneeling on the ground collapsed into sitting positions one after another, but no one dared to crawl back into their chairs immediately.

"I'll give you one night to think about it."

Lu Chen stood up.

"Tomorrow morning at nine, right here. Those who arrive on time will enter the subsequent share accounting. Those who don't show up will be deemed to have voluntarily renounced all rights and interests, and the Bureau of Superhuman Affairs will take over completely, and they will never be allowed to dabble in any Superhuman-related industries permanently in the future."

A shareholder clutched his knees, his voice trembling.

"This is a threat."

"Correct."

Lu Chen admitted it very readily.

"Tonight you can do anything. Contact the Military, contact the government, contact the Superhumans under your control."

He paused for a moment.

"You can also destroy data, transfer assets, or flee the United States directly."

No one dared to meet his gaze.

Lu Chen turned and walked toward the door.

"I suggest you all try it."

"Once you've tried it, you'll feel more secure at tomorrow's meeting."

Ashley hurried to follow. Edgar took one last glance at the disheveled shareholders and also left the meeting room.

Ruling purely by fists was too slow.

Homelander was the best example. Everyone called him God to his face, but behind his back, they treated him like a nuclear bomb that could explode at any time, racking their brains to conceal, deceive, and restrict him.

Lu Chen had no interest in staring at the World all day long.

Releasing a portion of the benefits would make capital actively enter the game. They would naturally shell out money, pave channels, and build the system, working even harder than the Bureau itself would push it.

And choosing Vought to start this plan was simply because only they held a massive amount of Compound V experimental records and Superhuman research over the years.

As for whether anyone would come tomorrow?

It didn't matter at all.

There would always be well-informed people who understood what this five percent meant.

The ones who didn't come could just be used as examples to frighten the rest.

Not long after the meeting room door closed, dialing sounds rang out inside.

"Connect me to the Department of Defense."

Another voice rang out simultaneously.

"Find out all the news about the Bureau of Superhuman Affairs. Before tonight, I want to know who is standing behind Tianshu!"

Chapter 162: Nighttime Attack

"A madman! He's an absolute madman!"

The white-haired shareholder who had been previously called out by Lu Chen and questioned about the company's articles of incorporation slammed his fist onto the table, causing the image on the screen to shake violently from the vibration.

"Bankruptcy reorganization? Reorganized into what kind of bureau? Who does he think he is, the President!?"

"Where is Edgar? Is Edgar just going to watch him run amok? How is this any different from outright robbery!"

"Then why didn't you say that to his face just now?"

Someone in the corner sneered.

The shareholder's face flushed red.

"I was avoiding unnecessary conflict!"

That sounds nice.

But everyone present knew that when he was pinned to the floor just earlier, he didn't even dare to breathe too loudly.

The chubby shareholder who had been the first to be overturned by Telekinesis was now clumsily supporting himself against a chair, trying to stand up, but his excruciatingly painful knees made him wince.

He fished out his phone, directly dialed an encrypted number, and roared into the microphone, "Get me the direct line to General Smith of the Department of Defense! Immediately! Highest priority!"

"Right, tell them that Vought International is under a terrorist attack, and the attacker is the Superhuman 'Tianshu'! He is attempting to forcibly usurp Vought and transform it into a private militia! This is a direct threat to national security!"

This phone call was like a signal.

In the conference room, more than half of the people immediately picked up their phones.

"Connect me to the senator's office, I want to speak with Mr. White."

"Where is the FBI? Are the people in the New York branch all dead? Vought Tower has been occupied by a criminal, where are they?!"

"Requesting the deployment of strategic weapons! Can't he fly? Shoot him down!"

Most of these people were deeply tied to politics and business; their first thought wasn't compromise, but rather utilizing the state machinery to solve the problem.

In their view, any Superhuman was as insignificant as dust in the face of absolute state violence.

However, not everyone thought this way.

On the wall screen, several multinational shareholders located in Europe and the Middle East were holding an emergency video conference through independent encrypted channels.

"You've all seen the situation; this Tianshu is even more dangerous than Homelander," a man speaking German said in a deep voice, "Homelander is a simple-minded Beast who can be appeased and utilized. But this Tianshu has a clear plan, and... his power seems to surpass Homelander's."

"My people just sent back word," a shareholder with a Middle Eastern face interrupted him, "Over ten days ago, a giant crater with a diameter of over three hundred meters appeared in the suburbs, officially explained as a meteorite impact. But according to our intelligence, that was the trace left behind by a battle between Tianshu and Homelander."

He paused and added, "Homelander left Vought Tower today; who do you think won?"

The meeting fell into a brief silence.

"The Military and government won't just sit idly by, but they need time and procedures," the German who spoke initially judged, "Before they come up with an effective plan, we cannot completely burn our bridges with Tianshu."

"I agree," another shareholder nodded, "The Superhuman track is our most important layout for the next thirty years; we cannot completely abandon it just because of one madman. Each company's 0.1% share of profits... though humiliating, we must get our hands on it first."

"I will immediately send my deputy on a private jet to New York; we must make it to tomorrow's meeting."

"Tell him not to be too aggressive, just take the minimum share to secure a spot first. We need to observe whether this so-called 'Bureau of Superhuman Affairs' can actually be established. If it can, we'll make additional investments."

In another corner of the conference room, a shareholder who had remained silent all along quietly hung up the phone.

He had just contacted his most trusted intelligence broker.

The news he received was very simple: Homelander had indeed lost, and lost miserably. Beside Tianshu was also Soldier Boy, who should have been dead for decades.

Two top-tier Superhumans teaming up...

This was no longer a problem that the Vought board of directors could handle.

He took a deep breath and dialed another number.

"It's me. Contact the'Scavenger' squad, target Tianshu, right at Vought Tower. Yes, spare no expense."

Some people also contacted several familiar capitalist parties.

"That's the situation; going head-on is a dead end. Tomorrow, we must appear in the conference room."

"What about that five percent?"

"More than that," a sharp glint flashed in his eyes, "Those idiots who contacted the Military either won't dare to come tomorrow, or they'll be liquidated if they do."

"Their shares are our opportunity. Let's unite, take the lion's share, and become the most influential people in the new order besides Tianshu!"

Some people wanted Lu Chen dead.

While others were already starting to make money for him.

At night, Vought Tower's The Seven exclusive apartment.

Lu Chen lay on the bed and suddenly opened his eyes.

Super Senses captured a very unusual movement.

Dozens of footsteps were rapidly approaching from the stairwells and elevator shafts, while outside the window came the huge roar of helicopter propellers.

Has it finally come?

He slowly sat up, a cold smirk curling at the corner of his mouth.

Boom!

The apartment's front door was blown wide open directly by C4 explosives, and the shattered metal door panels rolled inward.

Immediately after, blinding searchlights lit up outside the window, and several Apache attack helicopters hovered outside, illuminating the entire floor as bright as day.

Swish! Swish! Swish!

Several flashbangs, incendiary bombs, and aerosol bombs wrapped in lethal novichok nerve gas were thrown in simultaneously from the shattered doorway and windows.

A somewhat non-standard special forces breaching procedure.

Quite well prepared.

Lu Chen sat up, gathering the five fingers of his right hand.

Invisible Telekinesis instantly wrapped around and imprisoned all the projectiles, freezing them in mid-air the moment before detonation.

The next second, he flicked his wrist.

All projectiles flew back out at a speed even faster than when they came.

Outside the door and windows, blinding white flames and blinding light instantly burst out. Piercing screams were swallowed by the explosions, and then choked off in their throats by the poison gas.

"Target is alive, open fire!"

The M230 30mm chain gun rotated simultaneously.

Boom boom boom boom!

Dense shells tore through the exterior walls and glass, covering the room from multiple angles, strafing Lu Chen's position with zero blind spots.

At the same time, several Hellfire missiles detached from their pylons, screaming over with trailing tail flames.

Lu Chen didn't even get up; he just turned his head to look outside the window.

Two streams of black Heat Vision swept across the night sky, and the foremost Hellfire missiles exploded on the spot.

The black light didn't stop, slicing directly through the fuselages of the two Apaches.

Boom! Boom!

The helicopters turned into two balls of fire, their wreckage spinning as they plummeted downwards.

"Pull up! Pull up immediately!"

The other two helicopters hurriedly gained altitude.

Lu Chen raised his left hand and gently closed his five fingers.

A strong magnetic field instantly locked down their fuselages.

The metal hulls of the two Apaches twisted and deformed; no matter how their engines roared, they were still forcibly pulled toward each other.

"No! Break away, hurry and break—"

The two helicopters crashed into each other.

A huge fireball exploded in mid-air, and the burning wreckage mixed with human tissue, like fireworks from hell, plunging toward the bustling district below.

Having finished all this, Lu Chen leisurely stood up and stepped out of the blown-open door.

The corridor had been scorched pitch-black by incendiary bombs, leaving only a few corpses on the ground that hadn't had time to be evacuated.

"Surely that's not it?"

The moment this thought popped up, the wall next door suddenly blew apart!

A figure smashed through the exterior wall, carrying the force of a landslide, with double fists clenched together, slamming straight toward the top of Lu Chen's head!

What tremendous strength.

Lu Chen sidestepped to let the fist pass, and one hand lightning-fast grabbed the attacker's ankle.

Lu Chen exerted force with one hand, his arm muscles bulging.

"Get... down!"

Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam!

The attacker was like a tattered ragdoll, swung by Lu Chen and fiercely slammed into the ground.

The sturdy floor slabs shattered layer by layer like biscuits, and the attacker was forcefully smashed through seven or eight floors from the top level, finally stopping in a pile of reinforced concrete rubble.

Suddenly, a wave of mental fluctuation swept across Lu Chen.

That was a strong emotional oscillation mixed with fear, despair, and pain, enough to cause instant brain Death in ordinary people and make Superhumans clutch their heads and roll around in madness.

But for Lu Chen, who had just solidified his mental abilities, this impact was nothing more than a gentle breeze, unable to even make his thoughts pause for a single second.

After the mental shock, seven or eight figures rushed out from various corners; they were members of the "Scavenger" squad, each of whom was a battle-hardened Superhuman assassin.

They had expected to see the target clutching his head, struggling in pain after the mental storm.

However, they saw nothing of the sort.

At the end of the ruined corridor, that man stood quietly.

No pain.

No loss of control.

Several people's footsteps slowed down more and more.

Lu Chen slowly raised his head, and an ominous black light lit up from the depths of his eyes.

The steel bars on the scorched walls began to vibrate, and broken firearms and bullet heads rose one by one into mid-air, the entire floor rumbling in a low tone.

Chapter 163: Bomb Sight

At the end of the ruin-like corridor, those members of the scavenger squad finally realized what kind of monster they were facing.

"Fight to the death! Do it!" the lead assassin roared.

The remaining few held nothing back as various superpowers erupted in the corridor simultaneously.

The burly man walking at the very front had his muscles bulging wildly, and a grayish-white rock stratum instantly appeared on the surface of his skin, turning him into a humanoid tank charging forward against the rubble and smoke.

Another assassin behind him abruptly opened his mouth, his jaw dislocating and splitting at an extremely horrifying angle, his chest heaving violently as he prepared to spew out high-frequency sound waves sufficient to shatter internal organs.

The remaining people scattered simultaneously, flames, corrosive liquid, and two bone spurs sealing off Lu Chen's retreat from different directions.

Nice coordination.

First use a mental shock to disrupt consciousness, then have the meat shield step up, suppress and control the field with sound waves, and let the others handle the kill shots.

Change it to an ordinary Superhumans, even if much stronger than them, and they might still be beaten dazed in the first round.

What a pity, they chose the wrong person.

Lu Chen gently stomped his right foot on the scorched floor.

The entire floor suddenly shook.

The steel bars buried in the walls and floors were pulled out by magnetism, the sounds of snapping metal merging into one.

The next second, hundreds of twisted steel bars pierced through the cement, stabbing toward the scavenger squad like wildly growing thorns.

"Pfft!"

Those assassins whose physical strength was insufficient didn't even have time to fully release their superpowers before their limbs were directly pierced by wrist-thick steel bars, pinning them tightly in mid-air like skewered meat.

Fresh blood gushed down along the metal thorns, and the shrill screams instantly overwhelmed all other noises.

The assassin preparing to spew sound waves had his jaw directly pierced from bottom to top by a steel bar, his vocal cords completely shattered, able only to emit a leaky "hissing" sound.

The only ones left standing in the corridor were the rock-hardened burly man at the front and another assassin whose entire body was covered in metal scales.

The two of them frantically swung their fists to smash the approaching steel bars while attempting to continue pressing toward Lu Chen.

"Just this?" the man growled through clenched teeth, "You can't kill—"

A black light swept across.

Two heads fell to the ground at the same time.

Lu Chen put away his Heat Vision and strode toward the assassin pinned in mid-air by steel bars who was still twitching in pain.

Just as he wanted to reach out and probe his memories.

An extremely violent roar suddenly came from downstairs, and the entire building was trembling violently.

Following that, the attacker whom Lu Chen had hard-smashed through seven or eight floors from the top at the beginning smashed through the lower floors once more, rushing up covered in cement dust and towering fury.

The speed was extremely fast, and the momentum was even more ferocious than before.

Lu Chen sidestepped to avoid a punch aimed at his face, hooked the opponent's wrist with a backhand, and gave a fierce yank.

Taking advantage of the light in the corridor, Lu Chen finally saw this guy's face clearly this time.

Bomb Sight.

Soldier Boy's old teammate from the first generation, the injector of the first-generation V1 compound, that man representing the Air Force.

"Where did you hide Little Top-Card!"

Bomb Sight turned around and threw another punch, his anger almost spraying out from between his teeth, "Give her back to me!"

Lu Chen raised his arm to block the punch, and the floor beneath his feet collapsed with a crash.

"Trade it for V1, I know you have it."

Bomb Sight froze abruptly, staring at Lu Chen in disbelief. That was something he prepared to inject into Little Top-Card so the two of them could gain eternal youth and live forever together—how did this guy know!

"Impossible!" Bomb Sight gritted his teeth, "If you take it away, what difference is that from killing Little Top-Card!"

Lu Chen sighed, let go of his hand, and let Bomb Sight take two steps back.

Truly a rare pair of true lovers.

Unfortunately, feelings are feelings, but he wanted the V1 as well.

"You didn't carry it on you, did you?"

Bomb Sight sneered, "Of course not. Such an important thing, how could I keep it on my body?"

"Are you sure?" Lu Chen pressed further.

"Give Little Top-Card back to me!" Bomb Sight raised his fist, "Otherwise you'll never get it!"

Good.

Lu Chen turned into a blur, closing in on him directly.

Bang!

The fist, resembling a battering ram, landed solidly against Bomb Sight's chest.

Tremendous kinetic energy erupted instantly, and Bomb Sight didn't even have time to react before he was pushed by Lu Chen straight through the sturdy exterior wall glass of Vought Tower.

The two of them drew a long parabola across the night sky, accompanied by countless shards of broken glass, crashing heavily like meteors toward the bustling streets below.

Boom!

The asphalt road was smashed by the huge impact into a deep pit over a dozen meters in diameter. Surrounding cars were blown away by the shockwave, slamming fiercely into the shop windows on both sides, and the piercing anti-theft alarms instantly echoed through the entire block.

Smoke and dust rose everywhere.

Bomb Sight abruptly scrambled up from the bottom of the pit, pushed off the ground with his legs, and took to the air once more like a cannonball leaving the barrel, slamming his clenched fists straight toward Lu Chen's head.

"Give it back to me!"

Zzz!

Black light beams spewed out from Lu Chen's eyes.

The thick Heat Vision struck Bomb Sight squarely in the chest.

Bang!

His forward momentum instantly stagnated, and then he flew back at twice the speed he came.

Bomb Sight smashed through three box trucks parked on the roadside along the way, finally slamming deep into the load-bearing wall of a chain restaurant.

"Bastard!"

Bricks and stones shattered.

Bomb Sight's roar soared into the sky from the ruins, attacking again at an even faster speed than last time.

Lu Chen stomped his foot, his figure shooting up abruptly.

In the night sky, the two collided with a bang.

Lu Chen raised his right fist, relying purely on the terrifying strength brought by his Super Physique, and smashed it fiercely against Bomb Sight's side profile.

Bang!

A ring of visible white sonic boom cloud exploded in the high altitude.

Bomb Sight saw stars, and several teeth mixed with fresh blood spewed out.

"Ah!"

Before the scream could even leave his mouth, Lu Chen was already dragging him down in a dive.

The two figures smashed into another street.

Enduring the pain, Bomb Sight turned over, hugged Lu Chen's waist, and slammed forward.

The two skimmed close to the ground, vehicles being smashed to pieces one after another, and then they slammed headfirst into a building, piercing through an entire floor of office area.

Lu Chen threw a back elbow into his abdomen, and taking advantage of his body arching, broke free from his embrace and unleashed a point-blank lightning burst, sending him flying.

Bang!

Bomb Sight spun as he flew out of the building, just wanting to adjust his posture in mid-air,

but the black rays in Lu Chen's eyes lit up once more.

As soon as Bomb Sight stabilized his body, his legs were swept by the Heat Vision, throwing him entirely off balance.

Lu Chen instantly caught up, landing a punch on his chest that caved in his sternum.

Followed by a second punch, and a third punch.

Bomb Sight wanted to fight back, but his wrists were fixed in mid-air by Telekinesis.

Lu Chen grabbed his hair and violently slammed his knee into his face.

Once.

Twice.

When the third blow landed, Bomb Sight's body went completely limp.

"You... don't even think about finding V1..."

"We'll talk about this later."

Lu Chen lifted him up with one hand into the high altitude, flying toward the research facility.

Ten minutes later, the thick freezer that once held Soldier Boy welcomed its new Master.

Bomb Sight was thrown inside, alloy restraint racks locked down his limbs, and low temperature and novichok gas quickly filled the chamber.

He struggled to lift his head.

"Where is Little Top-Card?"

Lu Chen pressed the close button.

"I'm very busy right now, I'll deal with you later."

The freezer closed completely.

Having finished dealing with this unexpected haul, Lu Chen turned around, shot into the sky, and flew back to Vought Tower once more.

In the chaotic apartment floor, those scavenger squad members who had been pinned to the ground by metal thorns earlier were not completely dead yet.

The lead assassin hung on the steel bar, vomiting blood in large mouthfuls, his eyes full of terror.

Lu Chen walked up to him and directly pressed one hand onto his head covered in cold sweat.

No interrogation skills were needed, nor was brutal torture required.

The memories deep within the opponent's brain flashed rapidly across Lu Chen's mind like fast-forwarded film reels.

Call logs of encrypted phone calls.

Large transfers in overseas accounts.

Emergency assembly at the secret Base.

Finally, a familiar face froze in Lu Chen's consciousness.

It was that Jewish shareholder who had hardly spoken at all during the board meeting a few hours ago and looked the most honest.

"So it was you."

Lu Chen let go of his hand and turned toward the broken window.

In the dark night, he shot into the sky, flying toward the estate in the suburbs of New York.

Tonight was destined to be sleepless.

Chapter 164: Death Tornado

Lu Chen descended from the sky, landing directly in front of the manor's main building.

The shockwave of the landing overturned two stone carvings at the entrance, and the heavy wooden doors subsequently blew inward.

Several servants were so frightened they squatted on the ground, and the old butler raised his shotgun with trembling hands, but never dared to raise the muzzle.

"The sir is not here."

"I know who you are, and I know why you have come."

Lu Chen walked up to him and raised his hand to press down on the barrel.

"Where is he?"

The old butler's lips turned pale.

"He left, he only said he was going to a safe place. We are just paid employees, we don't know anything."

He ran pretty fast.

"Don't be nervous, I don't kill servants."

Lu Chen pinched the barrel flat with two fingers and casually threw it aside.

"I'm going to borrow your memories."

"Wait, what are you do..."

His palm landed on the old butler's head.

Fragmented images flashed past rapidly.

The black bulletproof car that drove into the manor in the early morning, several guards in Military uniforms, and the pass on the car door.

Northern New York, Joint Air Force Base.

"Hid in a Military Base?"

Lu Chen loosened his hand.

The old butler's legs went soft and he sat on the ground, panting heavily.

"We really didn't participate!"

"Hmm."

Lu Chen swept his gaze across the surrounding servants. In their minds, apart from fear and monthly wages, there really was nothing else.

There was no need to waste time.

The ground burst open with a roar, and Lu Chen soared straight into the sky, heading directly for that Military Base.

At this moment, inside the Base's underground combat conference room.

That Jewish shareholder was sitting on a wide leather sofa, holding a glass of bourbon. Despite trying his best to conceal it, his expression still betrayed him.

"Relax, my friend." Sitting opposite him was a man wearing a U.S. Military Major General uniform, leisurely clipping a Cuba cigar, "You are now in the safest place in the entire U.S.."

The shareholder gulped down a large mouthful of bourbon, the alcohol burning down his throat before he managed to suppress his racing heartbeat.

"General, I admit that kid is very strong, but he is too young and too arrogant."

The Major General sitting opposite bit on his cigar and grinned.

"Young people are all like this. Take a few shells, and afterwards they'll understand politeness."

"The entire Cleaner Squad has been dispatched, along with the Apaches and special forces you transferred over. Even if he is Homelander, it's enough to give him a hard time."

"Seriously, you capitalists have quite a bit of nerve."

The Major General flicked his ash.

"You even dare to sell Superhumans as commodities."

"A commodity is a commodity."

The shareholder laughed, "As long as there is a price, it should be controlled by people who understand business. Lu Chen is just an out-of-control product."

A harsh alarm suddenly sounded.

The red lights inside the conference room began to flash.

"What's the situation?"

The Major General frowned and looked toward the door.

An Officer pushed open the door and rushed in.

"Report! An unidentified flying target has been discovered above the Base, and its speed has already exceeded the radar's capture limit!"

"Pull up the feed."

The screen on the wall lit up.

Above the Military Base, a figure hovered beneath the clouds, black hair blown by the high-altitude airflow, eyes overlooking the entire Base.

The wine glass in the shareholder's hand dropped to the ground.

Clatter!

Glass shattered all over the floor.

"Tianshu..."

How could he appear here completely unharmed?

What about the Cleaner Squad?

What about those armed helicopters and special forces?

Could they all be dead?

The shareholder turned his head abruptly.

"General, you have to protect me! Your people promised me that this place is absolutely safe!"

"Shut up."

The Major General stared at the screen without a trace of panic on his face.

"Previously, hindered by the fact that it was a bustling downtown area, I could at most deploy a few Apaches to assist in the encirclement and suppression. But this idiot happened to run to my Military Base."

He picked up the communicator.

"What bullshit Superhumans. If the higher-ups hadn't kept stopping it, whether it's Homelander or Tianshu, they'd first have to eat a round of missile salvoes before talking to me about being invincible."

The shareholder forced out a smile.

Right.

This isn't downtown New York City.

The Patriot air defense system, close-in weapon systems, fighter jets, and heavy bombs are all here. No matter how strong Lu Chen is, he is still just flesh and blood.

The Major General pressed the communication button.

"Confirm the target is a Superhuman terrorist."

"Air defense group, shoot him down!"

Above the Base.

Just as Lu Chen was preparing to descend, more than a dozen air defense positions beneath his feet turned simultaneously.

"Warning! You have entered a Military restricted zone, land immediately and submit to inspection!"

Lu Chen glanced below.

"Inspection?"

The missiles had already left their racks.

Dozens of tail flames rushed into the sky from different directions, dense anti-aircraft shells sealed off all routes of retreat, and two fighter jets that had just ascended also completed their lock-ons.

Telling him to submit to inspection with their mouths, while directly emptying their magazine with their hands.

Not bad, very spirited.

Lu Chen raised his right hand and pressed downward.

Hum——!

A strong magnetic field expanded instantly.

All the missiles stopped in mid-air simultaneously, their tail thrusters still frantically shooting out flames, yet their bodies could no longer move forward by half a meter.

"This is impossible!"

Someone in the air defense command room cried out involuntarily.

"Guidance systems have failed! The missiles are fixed!"

"Switch to manual detonation!"

"No response, all electronic systems are offline!"

Lu Chen turned his five fingers.

Dozens of missiles completed a turnaround in mid-air.

"Returning them to you."

Firelight poured down.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Air defense positions exploded one after another, and the radar vehicles were blown into burning wreckage. The two fighter jets wanted to open fire, but a black light swept across from Lu Chen's eyes.

The wings snapped.

The pilots didn't even have time to eject before two balls of fire smashed into the runway.

The remaining close-in weapon systems were still firing.

Thousands of shells flew in front of Lu Chen, getting slower and slower, until they all hovered to a stop.

A bit noisy.

He pushed forward with his left hand, and the shells blasted back along their original path. Turrets, armored vehicles, and ammunition depots were pierced consecutively, and explosions blasted open all the way along the perimeter of the Base.

Three main battle tanks rushed out from the bunkers, their gun barrels raising rapidly.

"Fire!"

Shells left the chambers.

Electric light lit up at Lu Chen's fingertips.

Thick lightning cleaved down from the sky, and the three tanks instantly stalled. The soldiers inside collapsed while twitching, and immediately after, a black Heat Vision swept across the middle of the vehicle convoy.

The armor melted through instantly, the shells stored inside the vehicle bodies were detonated by the high temperature, and the entire armored vehicle convoy was engulfed by towering flames.

Modern Military?

As long as they cannot break through his defense, no matter how large the number, they are just targets.

Lu Chen descended to the ground, where several squads of soldiers were still aiming and firing wildly with their guns.

He grabbed three soldiers who had rushed the closest through the air.

"Where is that Vought shareholder?"

"Go to hell!"

One of them drew a dagger and stabbed at his neck.

The tip of the blade snapped.

Lu Chen pressed down on the opponent's forehead, directly flipping through their memories.

Underground conference room.

Right here.

Then there's no need to look.

He released the three people whose consciousness had been completely wiped out, slowly rose into the sky, and spread his hands toward both sides of the Base.

The ground of the entire Base began to tremble violently, as if some behemoth was about to turn over underground.

Those bombed armored vehicle wreckage, helicopter fragments, thick steel bars buried under concrete, and even those main battle tanks in the distance that hadn't had time to open fire.

At this moment, all magnetic metals completely broke free from gravity.

Lu Chen abruptly crossed his hands, and his telekinesis and magnetic field guided tens of thousands of tons of metal fragments to begin high-speed rotation around him.

In just a few seconds, a metal tornado with a diameter of over a hundred meters and a height of hundreds of meters formed in the center of the Base. High-frequency lightning frantically wandered inside the storm, crackling and turning the night sky pale white. Buildings along the way were torn into new nourishment the moment they were sucked in.

This was simply a man-made doomsday natural disaster.

"Go."

Lu Chen pushed hard with both hands.

The hundreds-of-meters-tall metal lightning tornado carried a roar, pushing horizontally forward.

Wherever it passed, not a single blade of grass survived.

The towering communication tower was sucked into it, instantly twisted into a pretzel.

The sturdy fortress was cut into piles of rubble by the high-speed metal fragments on the outer periphery of the storm.

The missile launchers deployed in the positions were dragged into the center of the storm by the huge suction and instantly blew up, the firelight of the explosion instead becoming nourishment for the storm, making the entire tornado even larger and more violent.

Inside the underground bunker.

The tremor had already caused the dust on the ceiling to fall patteringly.

The images on the screen had long since turned into static snow.

The Major General tightly grabbed the edge of the console, finally realizing what a stupid mistake he had made.

This was simply not an existence that human firepower could contend against, and the commotion outside was practically divine punishment descended from mythology.

"No... can't die here..."

The Major General turned his head abruptly, staring dead at the shareholder trembling in the corner.

"Tie him up for me!" the Major General roared at the guards nearby.

The shareholder froze for two seconds, then immediately bolted toward the door.

"Officer! What are you doing! You promised to protect me!" the shareholder shrieked miserably.

Two guards pinned him to the ground, twisting his hands behind his back.

"Protection my ass!" the Major General kicked the shareholder in the stomach, "What kind of monster did you fucking provoke! If you want to die, don't drag me down with you!"

Dozens of seconds later.

The heavy armored door of the underground bunker slowly rose.

Outside was already a living hell.

The Major General held a megaphone in one hand, pointed a gun at the shareholder who was pushed out with the other, and walked onto the open space outside with his legs trembling.

That heaven-reaching metal tornado stopped less than fifty meters away from them.

The howling wind mixed with gravel hit their faces,

The Major General raised his head, looking at Lu Chen, who was suspended at the top of the storm and overlooking all of this.

"Tianshu! Stop!" the Major General roared into the megaphone with all his might, "This is a misunderstanding!"

He kicked the shareholder flat onto the ground.

"All of this was instigated by this old bastard! He has connections in The Pentagon, and I was just following orders! I'm handing the person over to you, we can talk!"

The Major General felt that as long as he threw out a scapegoat and put on a low Military posture, the other party would surely give him a way out.

After all, who would dare to truly wipe out a Major General of a regular air force Base?

Talk?

When you gave the order to blast me with air defense missiles just now, why didn't you talk about talking?

Lu Chen didn't reply with a single word.

He just casually pressed downward with his right hand.

Boom!

The stagnant metal tornado accelerated instantly, tumbling down toward the direction of the Major General and the bunker like a tsunami.

"No! You can't—"

The Major General's desperate roar and the shareholder's miserable screams couldn't even last half a second before being completely drowned out by the violent metal cutting sounds and thunderous roars.

Mixed into the sky-full of gravel and metal, they could no longer be distinguished from one another.

Dozens of seconds later.

Lu Chen released his control over the magnetic field.

The scrap metal lost its support, smashing toward the ground like a torrential rainstorm, stirring up dust all over the sky.

The originally heavily guarded air force Base had now completely turned into a ruin, and not a single intact building could be found anymore.

Chapter 165: The World's Landscape

"Rewind the footage!"

Inside the underground conference room of The Pentagon, the footage on the big screen immediately rewound.

Dozens of anti-aircraft missiles hovered in front of Lu Chen.

The next second, the missiles all turned around, and the air defense position was swallowed by Fire.

Countless metals rose into the sky, rotating at high speed mixed with lightning, and finally turned into a tornado hundreds of meters tall, sweeping across the center of the Air Force Base.

Communication towers, bastions, tanks, underground bunkers.

All gone.

When the footage played to the Major General surrendering with a loudspeaker, the muscles on the Army Secretary's face twitched twice.

That was not an ordinary Military facility.

That was a United States joint air force Base!

"Stop."

The image froze at the moment when Lu Chen raised his hand to suppress the metal tornado.

Army Secretary Hawk turned to look at the remote conference screen.

"Mr. President, please immediately order the release of nuclear bombs."

Several people beside the conference table looked at him simultaneously.

He tugged at his tie, his palm still pressed on the tabletop.

"That area has been completely destroyed. Have bombers take off carrying tactical nuclear bombs, or directly deploy intercontinental missiles."

"We cannot let him continue to live. He is trampling our Military! He is rubbing the face of the United States on the ground!"

He must be killed.

If a Superhumans, and a Chinese one at that, was allowed to flatten a U.S. Military Base single-handedly and still withdraw safely, The Pentagon's prestige would completely become a joke.

Who would allocate Military funds to them in the future?

Who would still revere this uniform?

"Is your head stuffed with dogshit?" The Secretary of the Navy sitting opposite sneered.

Hawk turned his head sharply.

"What did you say?"

"Launch nuclear bombs?"

The Secretary of the Navy threw the documents in his hand onto the table.

"Are you planning to release nuclear weapons in New York State, or are you planning to hold a press conference tomorrow to tell tens of millions of United States people that the Military bombed the homeland into a nuclear-contaminated zone just to deal with one person?"

The Army Secretary stared at him.

"Public opinion issues can be resolved later!"

"Even if you do not care about the life and death of civilians, then tell me first, how to hit the target."

The Secretary of the Navy raised his hand and pointed at the big screen.

"According to the data last captured by radar, his Flight speed exceeds at least ten Mach."

"That might not even be the limit."

Ten Mach.

No one answered in the conference room.

This speed is no longer something fighter jets can catch up with.

What is more troublesome is that Lu Chen is not an aircraft that needs to fly along a route.

He can suddenly turn, stop mid-air, and leave the conventional interception range within the atmosphere at any time.

The Secretary of the Navy continued to speak.

"Also, he can control metal."

"Missile shells, internal parts, launching devices, and even bombers loaded with nuclear bombs are all within his capability range."

"Even if you launch multiple simultaneously and conduct indiscriminate carpet bombing."

"As long as he is not in the exact center of the explosion, what do you use to guarantee that you can blow up a Superhumans with a speed exceeding ten Mach?"

"Do you know how terrifying a physical body capable of breaking through 10 Mach is?"

No one dared to answer this question.

Everyone saw clearly how those Patriot missiles returned to the position just now.

If nuclear bombs were also turned around and sent back by him...

Just thinking of that image, the expressions of several generals turned ugly.

That would not be losing an Air Force Base, but rather the Military throwing nuclear bombs onto their own heads with their own hands.

"Fuck!"

The Army Secretary kicked the chair away with one foot.

"Then what should we do?"

"Just watch a Chinese person act domineeringly on our territory?"

"What is the use of you roaring at me?"

The Secretary of the Navy looked at him coldly.

"If you are really confident, sign right now."

The Army Secretary opened his mouth, the curse stuck in his throat.

What if they fail to blow him up?

A monster capable of tearing fighter jets apart and whipping up metal storms, if it survived a nuclear explosion and rushed into The Pentagon or White House carrying radiation and fury.

The image is too beautiful, no one dares to think about it in detail.

Hawk's hand that was pounding the table just now slowly retracted.

Several secretaries looked towards the other side of the screen together.

The President leaned back in his leather chair, toying with an expensive pen in his hand.

He said not a word.

Want to trick me into signing the nuclear strike order?

Dream on.

His term of office was about to end.

Post-retirement tour speeches, consultant titles of major financial groups, and tens of millions of dollars in legal income every year—these were the things he cared about now.

Meddle in this kind of deadly damn business?

Absolutely impossible.

Ordering a nuclear strike now, if successful, he would not gain much political capital.

If it failed, Lu Chen might rush into Washington the next second and uproot The White House along with its foundations.

This kind of mess is just right to leave to the next successor.

"Mr. President?" Hawk urged, gritting his teeth.

"This matter still needs further evaluation," the President slowly said, "The Military cannot use nuclear weapons on homeland soil without absolute certainty. Minister of Defense, what do you think?"

This old fox.

The Minister of Defense's face twitched slightly, his fingers tapping on the tabletop.

He likewise did not want to take this blame.

"The President is right," the Minister of Defense dryly coughed, "We cannot take the risk of angering him to carry out a strike with a success rate of less than thirty percent. Who can bear his wrath after he survives?"

The conference room plunged into a dead silence once again.

"Could there really be no Superhumans stronger than him?"

The Minister of Defense rubbed his glabella.

"Does Vought not brag every day that they own the most powerful superheroes in the World?"

No one answered.

He raised his head, his tone becoming a bit heavier.

"Where is Homelander?"

"Is he not always clamoring that he is America's savior, a true hero! Laughing on TV like his mother's toothpaste commercial, saying whatever about being ready to defend this country at any time."

"Now that a hero is needed, where the hell has he gone?"

The conference room fell completely silent.

An Air Force general lowered his head and flipped through the report in front of him, knowing there was no answer inside, yet still unwilling to raise his head.

Homelander is indeed very strong.

Before Lu Chen appeared, that was the Superhumans closest to invincible in their cognition.

Yet Vought has not proactively contacted the Military up to now, and Homelander has not even shown up above the Base.

The reason was already clear enough.

He did not want to go.

Or rather, he was not confident either.

The Minister of Defense leaned back against his chair, feeling for the first time that the Stars and Stripes uniform claimed to represent the United States was exceptionally ridiculous.

Usually facing the cameras, Homelander wished he could carve the two words "strongest" on his forehead.

When a monster capable of destroying a Military Base actually pops up, he is nowhere to be found.

"Contact Vought."

The Minister of Defense said.

"Tell them that the Military needs Homelander to give a clear reply."

"Yes."

The officer next to him had just picked up the communicator when he added another sentence.

"Do not use a request."

"This is a notification."

The officer nodded and left.

But everyone present knew clearly that the so-called notification was just to preserve the Military's last bit of face.

They had no way to force Homelander, let alone command Lu Chen.

When fists are not hard enough, an order is just a piece of nonsense.

The news was not blocked for too long.

Thirty-seven minutes after the Base lost contact, several top financial groups had already obtained satellite imagery.

One hour later, the encrypted lines of private banks, Military-industrial groups, energy companies, and multinational capital lit up one after another.

An Air Force Base was destroyed by a single person, yet The Pentagon delayed in counterattacking; this already explained all problems.

"Immediately activate emergency plans." An old man stood up, heavily thumping his cane on the expensive carpet.

"Gather funds. Prepare a large amount of liquid cash."

"You are going to..."

"The World is about to change masters," calculative glints showed in the old man's turbid eyes, "No matter who he is, no matter what he wants. Since the Military cannot stop him, we will buy him. If we cannot buy him, we will submit."

Capital has no borders and no dignity. As long as one can survive and continue to suck blood, whose dog is it not to be?

That night, countless encrypted phone calls pulled frantically between Wall Street, London, and Tokyo.

Huge amounts of funds began to mobilize frantically in the global financial market like undercurrents.

The World's landscape began to tilt drastically because of a figure standing amidst the ruins.

Chapter 166: The First Step into the New World

8:50 AM.

Scaffolding covered the exterior walls of Vought Tower, emergency repairs had continued through the night, and sparks from electric welding occasionally splattered from high above.

But those few bent steel bars still jutted awkwardly into mid-air, with several remains impaled upon them swaying in the wind.

No one dared to touch them.

Even the engineering crews cleaning up the rubble tacitly bypassed that area, terrified that taking one extra look would bring disaster upon themselves.

8:55 AM.

Conference Room One.

This place was usually the exclusive venue for Vought's supreme board of directors, originally furnished with only thirty leather armchairs, but at this moment it was packed like a refugee camp.

The long table was filled with people, and in the aisles, by the corners of the walls, and even behind the main doors, dozens upon hundreds of people stood densely packed.

Military industry giants, media moguls, pharmaceutical oligarchs, and representatives of top Wall Street financial conglomerates.

Any single one of these people dragged outside could make the Nasdaq index tremble, yet now they could only stand constrained, not even daring to breathe loudly.

The venue was abnormally quiet.

There was no whispering, no exchange of pleasantries.

Only heavy breathing and the occasional scraping sound of shifting footsteps.

The news from last night had already spread far and wide.

An elite Superhumans assassin team, and even a U.S. air force Base along with its solid underground bunker, were forcibly wiped flat by a metal tornado.

The Pentagon didn't even dare to make a peep, and even locked down the intercontinental missile silos.

They came today not to negotiate.

They came to await their fate.

9:00 sharp.

The heavy double mahogany doors were pushed open.

Hundreds of gazes looked toward the door simultaneously, and the moment they touched that figure, they dropped like they were electrocuted.

Lu Chen walked in.

He dressed very casually today, wearing a black jacket with a dark gray inner shirt, and his footsteps were almost inaudible on the thick carpet.

But with every step he took, the crowds on both sides instinctively shrank back, forcibly making a spacious path for him in the crowded aisle.

Ashley had been waiting beside the main seat half an hour in advance.

She wore a dark blue professional suit today, her hair coiled impeccably, but looking closely, one would notice that both her legs were trembling.

"Don't kill anyone in this conference room."

"Blood splashed on the carpet is very hard to wash out."

She bit her hard lip, forced out a smile uglier than crying, and pulled open the chair at the main seat.

Lu Chen walked to the main seat, sat down, and his gaze swept across the entire audience.

Edgar sat in the first seat on the left, hands crossed on the tabletop, his gray-white suit immaculate and expressionless.

Neuman sat with her campaign team in a slightly further back position.

She didn't wear that kind of vibrant politician suit today, instead changing into a low-profile black overcoat.

The moment she met Lu Chen's gaze, she immediately lowered her head.

She hadn't fallen asleep the entire night last night.

Zoe was hurriedly moved by her to three different safe houses overnight.

She was only grateful now that she had always acted very submissive and hadn't participated in the assassination plans of those idiots.

"As long as I can survive, as long as Zoe is safe, who isn't it working for?"

"Those who didn't come, no need to wait for them."

"The few families that chose to make a move last night, along with all the shares they hold, are hereby voided. All related assets under their names will be transferred entirely to the Bureau later."

There was dead silence off the stage.

A standing military industry representative suddenly swallowed a mouthful of saliva, cold sweat sliding from his forehead into his collar.

Last night their board of directors had also wanted to hire private armed forces to join the bustle, fortunately their fund mobilization was a step slow back then.

This breezy sentence meant that tens of billions of dollars in assets directly changed hands, and the masterminds behind the scenes last night were probably ground into meat paste by now.

Lu Chen ignored their fear and continued speaking downward.

"First matter, the end of Vought International."

He leaned against the back of the chair, his fingers gently tapping the tabletop, "Starting from today, Vought officially initiates Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization procedures. The old entity will assume all historical debts, class-action lawsuits, media and entertainment businesses, and gradually liquidate and clear them. All Compound V R&D materials, Superhumans registration archives, global laboratories, and control systems will be completely stripped away and transferred into the new institution."

No one protested.

Although according to the laws they were familiar with, this handling method was full of loopholes everywhere. Freezing assets required court permission, transferring shares required a board vote, and private property was even less likely to be confiscated just because of a single sentence.

But the law couldn't manage someone who could single-handedly flatten an air force Base.

"Second matter, the Bureau of Superhuman Affairs."

Lu Chen's gaze swept across the old men in the front row.

"It is not a company, not an entertainment label, but the sole permanent institution for global Superhumans registration, compliance, and control. From now on, Superhumans will no longer be commodities for capital profit, and Compound V will no longer be goods circulated underground."

Neuman raised her eyes to look at Lu Chen.

"On the congressional side, a formal regulatory authorization draft is needed."

Lu Chen glanced at her.

"You handle it."

"Your will."

She didn't ask whether Congress would pass it. After last night, the opponents would find enough reasons on their own to vote in favor.

What politicians were best at wasn't sticking to a stance, but patching together a set of pretty rhetoric for a suddenly changed stance.

Lu Chen withdrew his gaze.

"Third matter, regarding the shares you can obtain."

Lu Chen paused for a moment.

The breathing in the venue suddenly grew a bit heavier.

This time, everyone sat up a bit straighter.

Whatever was said earlier about supervision, order, and responsibility—they could applaud, or go back and have the media broadcast it continuously for a month.

But what they really wanted to hear was what they themselves could get.

Lu Chen didn't feel aversion.

Greed wasn't the problem; uncontrollable greed was.

As long as the meat was hung in the right position, these capitals would work harder than the most loyal hounds.

"The Bureau will release a total of five percent of revenue shares externally."

Someone quickly lowered their head to calculate.

"The holding limit for a single entity is zero point one percent."

Several fountain pens stopped.

This proportion was too low.

Yet no one dared to show dissatisfaction. The Bureau was not an ordinary company; what it monopolized was the global Superhumans industry. Even if it was only zero point one percent, the revenue behind it was enough to make any conglomerate break their heads trying to squeeze in.

"Attention."

Lu Chen's line of sight slowly swept across their faces.

"It is revenue shares, not equity."

"You only have the qualification to distribute revenue, no voting rights, no board seats, and even less qualification to interfere with the Bureau's decisions."

This was the bottom line set by Lu Chen.

He needed these people's money, channels, and connections, but he didn't need a bunch of shareholders sitting on top of his head pointing fingers. Vought came to where it was today precisely because there were too many people controlling it, and everyone wanted to cut a piece of meat from Superhumans.

The Bureau would not walk down that road again.

Money could be shared.

Power, not a single bit would be shared.

"The shares will not be auctioned, nor bidded on."

A Wall Street representative finally couldn't help speaking up.

"Mr. Lu, if capital is not used as the main standard, then the evaluation basis is—"

Halfway through his words, he actively stopped.

Lu Chen wasn't angry.

At least this person asked about the main topic.

"How much you can exchange for depends on how much effort you can contribute to the new order."

"Cash can count, but it only accounts for the minor part."

"Global infrastructure channels, media public opinion networks, compliance qualifications of various countries, security and enforcement forces, medical and supply chain systems—these are the core of converting contributions."

The people in the venue quickly exchanged glances, then immediately and restrainedly shifted them away.

The rules had been stated very clearly.

Lu Chen wasn't short of money from any single conglomerate. What he wanted was to tie the World's most massive capital forces onto the Bureau's chariot using five percent of the revenue.

The single-house limit of zero point one percent meant no single house could grow too big. If they wanted to eat this piece of meat, they had to keep an eye on each other; whoever dared to break the rules, the others would be even more anxious than the Bureau to tear him to pieces.

"Do well, obey the rules, and holdings can be increased discretionarily each year."

Lu Chen paused for a moment.

Just as joy flashed in someone's eyes, he spoke the second half of the sentence.

"Dare to cross the line, play tricks, and your shares will be directly cleared to zero."

"Expelled from the system, never allowed entry again."

That trace of joy vanished instantly.

Lu Chen looked at Ashley standing beside him and slightly nodded.

"Registration begins."

As the words fell, Ashley took a deep breath, stepped in high heels, and walked forward quickly. She had never imagined in her life that one day she would be able to stand on top of this bunch of Wall Street Vampires and speak.

"Res… respected representatives." Ashley's voice was still trembling, but she pinched her thigh hard, forcing herself to straighten her waist, "Please bring your asset lists and resource catalogs and line up here with me."

Subsequently, several capital tycoons in the front row who usually needed bodyguards to support them while walking stood up abruptly.

"I represent Rockwell Military Industry, we have two hundred high-specification Bases globally, which can be handed over immediately!" A bald old man directly shoved aside the person next to him and rushed in front of Ashley.

"Look at us first! News Corp can promise to cooperate with all positive propaganda regarding the Bureau across mainstream global media!"

"We can provide the top-tier pharmaceutical supply chain!"

No one bargained, no one mentioned any losses of old equity.

The capital representatives who were usually high and mighty were at this moment like ordinary people scrambling for discounted TVs, forming a long, restrained yet eager queue in front of Ashley. Some even stepped on each other's toes in secret rivalry because of cutting in line, two presidents in suits and leather shoes.

Lu Chen leaned against the back of the chair, watching this scene with cold eyes.

This was human nature. As long as a running track was drawn for them, and a man-eating wolf was placed behind them, they would run forward desperately on their own, and even trip over a companion running slowly along the way.

Neuman sat in the back row, watching those scrambling backs, and she understood. Lu Chen didn't care about any political elections at all; he directly overturned the entire chessboard and re-established the rules. In this new rule set, her identity as a councilwoman was worthless unless she could prove she was still useful in the new order.

"I must quickly find a way to prove my value," Neuman swore secretly in her heart.

Edgar sat in his original seat, not moving from beginning to end.

He looked at those grotesque figures in the crowd, looked at the long table that was shaken and tottering from being squeezed, and gently closed his eyes.

He was the earliest person to guess Lu Chen's terror, and also the earliest person to see through the ending.

The moment he saw the satellite footage last night, he knew Vought was done.

Smashing the old table with absolute violence, and then binding everyone onto the new chariot with interests precise to the millimeter.

This meeting was never any negotiation.

Edgar let out a silent sigh in his heart.

This was the enthronement declaration of the new order.

And they didn't even have the qualification to be rebels.