Before Coulson arrived at Stellar Tower, Nick Fury had already told the veteran agent that as long as Herman's requests weren't excessive, Coulson could agree to them. It was a show of goodwill.
When it came to winning people over, Nick Fury never held back. It wasn't just because Herman was powerful, but also because Fury hoped he would eventually join his Avengers Initiative.
"Good. This is a nice start. I enjoy dealing with straightforward people." Herman's smile was dazzling.
Yet, for some reason, Coulson couldn't help but think of Homelander's smile. Probably because he had been studying The Boys recently.
That show...
The impression Herman left on him was far too deep, to the point where Coulson thought Herman had the potential to become Hollywood's greatest villain actor.
"Assuming that really was just acting..." Coulson muttered under his breath, patiently waiting for Herman's answer.
"Let me think."
Herman began considering what S.H.I.E.L.D. could actually offer him.
First of all—
He didn't need money.
Umbrella Biotech was his financial backbone. Buying Stark's shares wasn't about profit; it was just a way to make Stark work for him.
Of course, there was also Stark's Iron Man armor and the many black-tech inventions still to come... S.H.I.E.L.D. did have plenty of advanced tech that worked well in missions, but to Herman, they were nothing more than meaningless toys.
"What can you really give me?" Herman thought carefully but couldn't find anything in S.H.I.E.L.D. that would be of use to him.
"The Tesseract?"
When Herman spoke that name, Coulson's heart trembled.
"It seems you know more about us than I expected." He was shaken inside but forced himself to remain calm on the surface.
He couldn't understand it.
How could Herman—someone who had never even joined S.H.I.E.L.D.—know about something even many senior agents didn't? If Coulson hadn't personally handled the case, he wouldn't have clearance to know about the Tesseract either.
At first, he suspected Herman might have mind-reading abilities, but that seemed unlikely since he carried standard anti-telepathy equipment.
With so many telepathic mutants around, every senior S.H.I.E.L.D. agent had gear to prevent their minds from being read.
Coulson instinctively checked his device and confirmed it was intact. That left one explanation—Herman had an inside source within S.H.I.E.L.D. As a New York billionaire ranked in Forbes' top five, he certainly had the means to cultivate such talent.
If that were true...
It would be a disaster. The idea of disloyalty among S.H.I.E.L.D.'s top agents was something Coulson didn't even dare to think further about.
"You seem a little uneasy?" Herman looked at him with amusement, reading the veteran agent's mind perfectly.
The Tesseract was definitely not a secret just anyone could know.
"I was only wondering where you learned about it." Coulson quickly adjusted himself, regaining composure and clarity.
"Hydra was researching it for years. That's hardly a secret." Herman raised an eyebrow, eyeing him with interest. "So? Would you trade the Tesseract for information on Tony Stark? Would you make that choice?"
Obviously, Nick Fury would never hand over the Tesseract.
Herman only mentioned it to throw S.H.I.E.L.D. a lie—just big enough to sting, but not too much to be dismissed.
"I don't even need to ask—I already know the higher-ups won't approve something like this." Coulson let out a heavy sigh.
"Exactly. Nick Fury, that baldy, treats this thing like a priceless treasure, still hoping it'll lead to the creation of some ultimate weapon."
Herman kept fishing.
He noticed Coulson's expression shift again. No need to guess—Nick Fury's voice must have come through the hidden earpiece.
"Let me guess."
Herman tapped his forehead. "Baldy just told you through the earpiece that you need to find out how I got this information, right?"
Coulson's face twitched slightly.
Clearly, Herman had nailed it.
"Is that one of your abilities?"
Coulson was relaying Fury's question.
"Of course."
Herman admitted it without hesitation.
He knew he'd hooked them.
"From what we know, your powers should be super strength, super speed, flight, maybe even enhanced vision?"
Coulson looked doubtful.
"As a Level Seven—no, perhaps Level Eight—S.H.I.E.L.D. agent, you should know mutants with multiple abilities aren't exactly rare."
Herman chuckled softly.
He'd decided to disguise himself as a mutant.
It was the perfect cover, a neat way to explain why he would keep revealing new powers. After all, mutants with stacked abilities did exist.
I have many powers.
That just means my genes mutated more times than most.
Don't like it?
Then go mutate your own genes.
"So you're saying you have another power... the ability to uncover S.H.I.E.L.D.'s secrets?" Coulson's guesses were always off the mark.
"Hm? Of course not." Herman lifted his gaze, speaking in a calm, almost gentle tone.
"These eyes of mine let me glimpse the future. Everything I've mentioned—none of it will remain a secret in the days to come."
Herman was long used to playing the charlatan. Cross and Fox had both fallen for it. He'd perfected the role.
"You can see the future?"
Coulson was thrown off by Herman's claim.
Did powers that mystical even exist?
But looking at Herman's calm, confident expression, he couldn't convince himself the man was lying... For a moment, the seasoned S.H.I.E.L.D. agent didn't even know how to respond.
"I've seen the Tesseract bring disaster down on you. Better hand it to me now, and let me deal with this so-called miracle from the cosmos."
Herman continued, presenting his so-called demand—though really, it was just planting a seed in S.H.I.E.L.D.'s minds.
The Tesseract.
The Space Stone.
When Loki came to Earth and chaos erupted, Herman would have all the chances he needed to claim it. There was no need to snatch it from S.H.I.E.L.D. right now.
"You know what it actually is?"
Coulson instantly caught the implication in Herman's words.
"Want to know? That'll cost you extra." Herman grinned brightly, certain S.H.I.E.L.D. could be milked more than once.
"I'll need to report this back. We have to confirm whether what you're saying is true. I hope you can understand our caution."
Coulson took a deep breath, speaking with deliberate seriousness.
"Of course."
Herman showed no urgency at all.
"So it's because you saw a future where Tony Stark survived that you bought up Stark Industries stock on such a massive scale?"
Deep down, Coulson already believed him. After all, Herman had poured nearly a hundred billion dollars into the market.
Without absolute certainty, who would dare gamble like that?
"Fine. Since you won't pay with the Tesseract, then I want the twenty percent stake in Obadiah's hands."
Herman laid out his terms directly. "And to answer your earlier question—Stark won't die in this accident."
Another hook was cast.
Later...
He could use it to reel in Tony Stark himself.
"Obadiah's shares? That... would be quite difficult to arrange." Coulson frowned slightly.
If Herman had asked for this at the start, he would have rejected it without a second thought. But compared to the last demand, this one was much easier to handle.
"So it can be done, then?"
Herman raised an eyebrow.
He knew S.H.I.E.L.D. could make it happen. After all, the nickname "Hydra S.H.I.E.L.D." wasn't just for show. Where Hydra gathered, underhanded schemes were bound to exist.
"We at S.H.I.E.L.D. can't simply seize a citizen's property." Unconsciously, Coulson had already accepted the nickname.
He seemed ready to explain some lofty "principle."
But Herman cut him off impatiently. Can't seize arbitrarily? That just meant they only needed a reason to seize it.
"That's not the answer I want," Herman said bluntly. "The one behind the Playboy's disappearance is him."
At those words, Coulson froze for a second.
"Deal!"
His reply was just as crisp.
Whether it came from Nick Fury's orders or his own judgment, he clearly understood what Herman was implying.
Obadiah was a criminal.
The true mastermind behind Tony Stark's disappearance.
Which meant—
He wasn't just some ordinary citizen anymore.
"I expect to receive my reward soon."
And with that, Herman, with a single sentence exposing Obadiah, easily secured his shares through S.H.I.E.L.D.
No need to personally rescue Stark. Herman had neither the saintly heart nor the time for such things. Coulson didn't even press him on Stark's whereabouts. Once the deal was done, he left Stellar Tower in a hurry.
Extracting intel on terrorists from Obadiah was no real challenge for S.H.I.E.L.D.
They had studied the infamous Eastern Ten Tortures, and they were even experimenting with ways to extract memories directly from the brain.
"What a bargain."
Herman was in excellent spirits.
He had only moved his lips a little, and in return, walked away with a massive share of Obadiah's holdings.
What could be more worth celebrating?
S.H.I.E.L.D. worked fast.
By the next day's TV interviews, Obadiah had already vanished from the public eye. It was unlikely he'd ever appear for an interview again.
Herman barely cared, focusing instead on preparations for the launch of his TV series. Many stations and streaming platforms had already signed contracts with him.
He also had Skye deploy online troll farms to generate hype for The Boys. In this era, such tactics still worked wonders...
On the country's biggest social media platform, discussions about The Boys had already flooded the feeds, with related posts surpassing a million.
Of course.
Not everyone had faith in Herman's new show.
"That Chinese director again? Where the hell does he keep getting his funding? His last project, Chasing Dreams in Hollywood, was nauseating!"
"You guys don't get it. That director's a billionaire!"
"No way! The anti-anxiety meds I've been taking are made by his company? With that kind of money, why isn't he just fooling around with models at home instead of making films?"
"Well, rich people do as they please. I still remember the shock of Doom Apocalypse. Honestly, I'm starting to think he hired some famous director as a ghost writer."
"The Boys? A superhero show? Please. Just from the name, I can already tell it's boring—probably just another bunch of superheroes punishing evil."
Aside from the trolls Herman had Skye mobilize, plenty of netizens who had watched Chasing Dreams in Hollywood were booing him online.
Herman didn't care about the haters. As long as the buzz was there, it was enough. He understood better than anyone that infamy was still fame.
Before long, it was time for the premiere of The Boys.
...
Jessica Jones was a private investigator, but she was also a superhuman who once dreamed of becoming a superhero.
On a family trip to an amusement park, she got into an argument with her younger brother in the backseat. Distracted, her father—who was driving—lost focus for a split second.
Then disaster struck.
Their car crashed into a military truck carrying radioactive chemicals, exposing the whole family to lethal radiation.
Her parents and brother died. Jessica was the only survivor, and when she woke up, she found she could fly and had strength far beyond normal humans.
At first, Jessica Jones wanted to be like the superheroes she saw on TV—fighting crime to atone for her sins and ease her guilt over her family's deaths.
But reality rarely works that way. Jessica never became a superhero. Instead, she ended up a drunk.
She ran a small detective agency with almost no clients, spending most of her time drinking and watching mindless TV shows.
"The Boys?"
Jessica noticed a new program airing on TV.
After the opening credits rolled, she sneered. To her, it looked like just another trashy superhero show, no different from all the others glorifying noble ideals.
"Garbage."
She switched channels, but several of her favorite stations were all airing the same show.
"Which corporate giant funded this?"
Now mildly intrigued, Jessica took a sip of her drink and decided to keep watching. The opening scene was as cliché as it got—a gang of robbers hijacking a bank, followed by Queen Maeve swooping in and stopping the armored car with her body.
Such a tired setup.
Jessica scoffed again.
As expected, the robbers soon grabbed hostages. Then, a good-looking man suddenly descended from the sky to save them.
"Laser eyes? Well, at least that's imaginative." Jessica felt no real excitement as the plot went on.
The media scrambled for interviews, the superheroes got sentimental... Then the scene shifted to a shop, where a young, cute girl was wiping down tables.
"Looks like she's the protagonist," Jessica guessed. The female lead made her curious enough to keep watching.
The main character, Hughie, had a girlfriend. After work, the two strolled down the street, sharing a tender moment, ready to kiss.
Then, out of nowhere, came a shocking twist. One second Jessica was watching the sweet romance—then the next, Hughie's girlfriend was obliterated right in front of him.
The culprit? A superhero—A-Train.
"Huh?"
Jessica sensed something was off. Sure enough, the deeper she got into the show, the stranger it became.
The seemingly righteous Homelander, the shining symbol of heroism, was revealed to be forcing new recruit Starlight into unspeakable acts within the superhero corporation.
"What the hell!"
Jessica was floored by the revelation.
And she wasn't the only one.
Countless viewers glued to their screens were left stunned after the first episode.
Superheroes?
How could they be this dark?
It was terrifying—yet impossibly compelling.
The bizarre viewing experience left audiences both horrified and hooked.
Almost instantly, discussions about The Boys flooded major social media platforms.
Among them, one post shot to the top of the trending list:
"This isn't just a TV show! Homelander is real! I saw the guy playing him kill someone right on Fifth Avenue!"
...
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