"Oh my God…"
Cecil stared at the images coming in from the satellite feed, and it felt like his head doubled in size in an instant.
He swore he had never seen anyone this brutal and this powerful.
A monster who threw hands the second he felt like it—who didn't just erase the enemy down to nothing, but also destroyed half the Moon in the process.
And the worst part was, Cecil still couldn't read him at all.
Cecil didn't even know whether Jovian was fighting for Earth… or if he was just hunting enemies to burn off that violent, competitive urge baked into his body.
"Nolan, we need to talk."
Cecil looked at Nolan with absolute seriousness.
"…"
Nolan raised an eyebrow. He figured Cecil had noticed something.
"Fine," Nolan said with a small nod. "How do you want to do this?"
Cecil didn't answer. He just glanced past Nolan, toward Mark and Debbie.
"Debbie, Mark, can you give us a minute?"
Nolan understood what Cecil meant with that look. He turned to his wife and son.
"Cecil and I need to discuss some work-related stuff."
"Okay."
Debbie didn't seem surprised at all. She gathered a few things and headed upstairs. The timing was about right anyway—she needed to get to work.
"Hm?"
Mark looked back and forth between Cecil and Nolan, suspicious.
He had a feeling these two were involved in some kind of backroom deal, but with the classic "adult business is adult business" mindset, he returned to his room.
Once Mark and Debbie were out of earshot, Nolan finally looked back at Cecil.
"All right. Now you can tell me what this is really about."
"Listen, Nolan," Cecil said, voice low and hard. "Tell me what actually happened at Guardians HQ."
Again.
Nolan repeated the same lie he'd told a dozen times—full of holes.
"I've already said it. I got the distress signal from the Guardians of the Globe, so I went to help. When I arrived, nothing seemed wrong. Then the lights suddenly went out. After that, I fought whoever it was until I went down. And when I woke up, I was in your hospital bed. That's it."
"Listen to me, Nolan. Stop lying."
Cecil's gaze sharpened like a blade.
"Before this gets as bad as it can possibly get, cut the bad acting."
"What do you know?"
For a split second, killing intent surged up inside Nolan.
Cecil was always smart. No powers—just smart.
Nolan couldn't tell if Cecil had uncovered something about him and Jovian. And if he had…
Then sorry.
The gentle version of the plan would need revisions.
"I know more than you think."
Cecil's face was grim, a warning without words.
"…"
Nolan didn't respond. His expression only darkened further.
His muscles began to tense.
He was already calculating the moment Cecil would reach for a teleport device—calculating how to end him before he could press the button—
When Cecil suddenly continued.
"This thing with Jovian… it's an illness. He needs treatment."
"If you keep pretending you don't see it, you're going to doom the entire world."
"Right now, the only victims are the Guardians of the Globe. I hope it stays that way."
"Because I don't want to live to see the day Jovian doesn't smash the Moon…"
"…but smashes the Earth beneath our feet."
"I know it's hard for you as a father," Cecil said, pushing harder, trying to steer Nolan back to reality. "But you have to face it."
"Huh?"
Nolan froze for a beat.
Only then did he realize Cecil's big brain had taken a hard left turn straight into the wrong conclusion.
Which, for Nolan, was perfect.
"Yeah…"
Nolan let the tension drain out of his shoulders. His posture slumped, and he looked like a father staring at a rebellious son, completely at a loss.
"I hope you'll call me," Cecil said. "We'll use the most advanced tech on the planet to treat Jovian's… manic aggression."
"And Nolan, you need to remember this: what's happening to Jovian is a disease."
"And there's a good chance it didn't start after he got powers."
"Maybe it was there even earlier. Maybe it was already haunting him back when he went to that boxing gym and went all o—"
Cecil caught himself, but the thought was already formed.
"…when he nearly beat his opponent to death."
"That was when we should've noticed. That's on us."
Cecil's mind kept chewing through Jovian's file, and the more he analyzed, the more he felt like Jovian's violent, destructive personality might have been present for a long time.
"Thank you, Cecil. Maybe…," Nolan said, sighing, his expression oddly twisted—half relief, half something else.
"Boom!"
Before Nolan could finish, a thunderous crash shook the yard outside.
Jovian—fresh off killing the one-eyed alien—had returned to Earth.
He walked into the house and looked between Cecil and Nolan.
"What were you guys talking about?"
"Heh…"
"Nothing," Cecil said with a light smile, forcing himself to look relaxed.
He stepped up to Nolan and patted his shoulder.
"We'll talk again."
Then Cecil slid his hands into his pockets, kept smiling, and walked out of the Grayson house, climbing into a black luxury sedan parked outside.
"…"
Jovian watched Cecil leave without saying a word.
Right now, his body felt sticky. He needed a shower.
"Mom! Is there any food left? I'm starving!"
He shouted upstairs before heading to the bathroom.
"I have work, Jovian!"
"You'll have to grab something yourself!"
Debbie had already changed and was heading out. As a top-selling real estate agent, she wasn't about to miss a single potential buyer.
"Okay~"
Jovian didn't argue. He went straight into the bathroom.
As for what Cecil and Nolan had been discussing?
He couldn't care less.
All he wanted was to get clean, then do another "draw" and look for a world that could actually help him.
The Viltrum mission, Nolan's plan to take over Earth…
No rush.
At the very least, he needed enough confidence that he could handle the war-crazed monster who might show up on Earth at any moment.
"Hah…"
Soaking in the tub, muscles finally loosening, Jovian let out a slow breath and stared up at the ceiling, thoughts churning.
Yeah.
No one would believe it.
A guy who looked like some third-rate villain's fifth-rate summoned thug…
…was actually top-tier combat power at the very peak of the universe.