At dawn.
A touch of orange appeared on the horizon, indicating pleasant weather today.
Before long, the orange hue grew brighter and brighter until a blinding ray of sunlight shone through the cloudless blue sky, bathing the modern city in its light.
Seattle
As an industrial center in the northwestern United States, Seattle is a leader in aerospace, computer software, biotechnology, and medical equipment. Its GDP reached $414 billion in 1990, accounting for 7% of the total output of the United States that year.
From the ubiquitous apartments, office buildings, and well-planned streets to the various infrastructures hidden underground, such as water, gas, and electricity supply systems, Seattle is exceptional in terms of urban development.
Bathed in the warm sunshine, the fog that permeated the city gradually dissipated, and traffic began to flow on the main roads from the suburbs to the city center.
Within the traffic flow, there was a convoy of seven black SUVs.
Furthermore, four patrol officers on large displacement motorcycles escorted the convoy, allowing it to navigate the increasingly congested streets smoothly and quickly pass by Seattle's landmark, the Space Needle.
However, the sign on this tower has a striking red "A".
The fact that they were able to use patrol officers to clear the way, and that the SUV had a "A" logo printed on the corner of its window, along with the fact that their route into the city was Highway 5, which connects to Takmah International Airport, indicates that this was indeed Sui Yang's private convoy.
As for the convoy's destination, it was the Atlas headquarters building, which is only two kilometers away from the Space Needle and stands 400 meters tall, and is also a landmark building.
This is precisely where Atlas was founded, and given Atlas's harmonious relationship with successive local officials and factions...
It should be said that the other party had no choice but to show a friendly attitude and made generous investments in infrastructure without expecting anything in return, which made Seattle one of the top cities in the United States and even the world in terms of cost of living. It is no exaggeration to say that it is number one.
In stark contrast to New York, the easternmost part of the city, which is economically prosperous but where one is constantly worried about being robbed when going out, this is also the location of Vought International's headquarters.
Inside the second SUV in the convoy.
"Okay... I understand, I'll let you know." Arthur, sitting in the passenger seat, spoke to his earpiece as if talking to himself.
Immediately afterward, the leader of the hunter company turned his head slightly and glanced at the person in the back seat, asking, "Boss, Mayor Harleyden Bruce requested an appointment for 2 PM on July 15th, saying he wants to discuss things in detail. What do you think..."
"What's the topic?" Sui Yang, leaning back in the back seat, didn't look up, nor did his gaze leave the book in his hands titled An Attractive Mind.
This book, written by Italian Dr. Maria Montessori, mainly discusses ideas such as what teachers do and how the environment changes children. He wants to be like Caelon or be at the bare level of Caelen, after all he doesn't wanna experience his own rebellion by his sons
As an old man who is nearly 150 years old, his knowledge of childcare is only average, and most of it was obtained from his parents before he traveled through time.
So Sui Yang often read these kinds of books when he have free time to make sure that he haven't gone astray in the education of Sanguinius and Guilliman.
Not long ago, right after the plane landed, Sui Yang arranged for a team of hunters to take the two Primarchs to have some free time. Whether they went shopping or to the zoo was up to them.
In fact, whenever he has free time, Sui Yang will personally accompany them, such as watching gunfights, action movies, and horror movies together. At the end of last year, when he went on a business trip to the north, he even teamed up with the two of them and had a grand snowball fight with the hunters.
To avoid unnecessary trouble and attention, Sanguinius would wear a special backpack to cover his white wings when appearing in public.
Arthur, who had no idea what Sui Yang was thinking, replied, "The other party claimed it was related to the Superhero Policing Act, but he insisted on discussing it in person."
Upon hearing this, Sui Yang finally looked up and closed the book he was reading.
Superhero Policing Act....
Thanks to the assistance of Compound V provided during World War II, and some private deals that would never be made public, Vought successfully signed a bill with the federal government, namely the Superhero Policing Act.
Once the bill was announced, it transformed the superheroes that Vought launched and packaged into law enforcement agencies with powers similar to, or even greater than, those of the police.
In theory, every city and town should have at least one superhero to assist the local police in fighting crime.
However, each state under federal rule has a certain or considerable degree of autonomy, which is equivalent to each state being a country.
Therefore, the "Superhero Policing Act" is not well received in the western and southern United States. After all, local governments sign contracts with Vought International to bring in a superhero to maintain order, which costs at least 40 million US dollars and has no upper limit.
Most importantly, after the contract expires, it needs to be renewed. In terms of fees, Stan Edgar will raise the price on the spot by claiming that "the crime rate has a clear downward trend and our product is very effective".
At this point, most mayors and governors, for the sake of their own future and to avoid a resurgence of crime rates and some shady dealings, have no choice but to grit their teeth and pay up, thus falling into a vicious cycle.
In contrast, in the simple and honest American South, even without the exposure of Compound V, superheroes are seen as clowns, and people there have more faith in the weapons they hold in their own hands.
As for western towns, due to relatively good public security and regional differences, Vought International's product sales are slower.
But as an ambitious arms dealer who wanted to bypass Congress, directly intervene in the military, and even control the political arena, Stan Edgar would naturally not give up easily.
Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, the use of deformable or invisible superhumans for infiltration has become increasingly frequent.
The simplest, yet most successful, infiltration method is to have these superhumans sneak into houses, secretly photograph official's private affairs, and then use coercion and inducement to force the officials to approve the signing of contracts.
At this stage, Vought is not yet rampant and has never attempted to target major arms dealer cities such as Seattle, Chicago, and Bethesda.
But when the Seattle mayor brought up the Superhero Policing Act and wanted to discuss it in person, Sui Yang knew that the day Vought would make his public debut in Homelander was fast approaching.
A moment of silence.
Looking out the car window, Sui Yang noticed the convoy was about to arrive at its destination.
He straightened his collar and said, "I'm not available on the 15th, but I'm available on the 16th."
"Okay, I'll pass on the message right away."
Chirrrreppp
As soon as Arthur finished speaking, there was a pause.
The convoy had already parked in front of the main entrance of the headquarters building.
Open the door and get out of the car.
Surrounded by Arthur and a group of hunters dressed in black suits, Sui Yang walked into the lobby of the headquarters building.
As one of the facades of Atlas, this place is paved with marble tiles so clean they could be used as mirrors. The decoration is simple and classic, with a ceiling height of 44 meters in the front section. The artistic openwork design also connects multiple floors.
"Boss..." At this moment, Arthur asked again, puzzled, "It's just a new phone launch event with a camera and supposedly mobile internet connectivity. Is it really necessary for you to personally come all the way back from Ghana?"
"..." Sui Yang hesitated, wanting to say something but stopping himself.
Perhaps realizing he couldn't explain 3G networks to Arthur, or the significance of Atlas ushering in the internet age, he made up a reason on the spot
"Just wanted to join in the fun."
"Yeah, there's nothing interesting in Africa. When I go back, I'll have to buy a lot more cigars to keep on hand, I feel uncomfortable if I don't have something to chew on." Arthur believed him.