"I'm officially dropping out of the race!"
"Me too…"
"God bless America—God bless Freeman!"
"Superpowers are America's future. Superpowers are humanity's future! Only superpowers can lead us into tomorrow!"
Once the broadcast started, candidate after candidate loudly announced their withdrawal, tossing in some shameless flattery while they were at it, and preaching the gospel of a superpowered future.
"Thank you all for your support. Thank you for the people's trust. I will never betray the support and trust you've placed in me!"
Jovian dabbed at tears—courtesy of eye drops—and kept expressing his gratitude to the world.
And just like that, the moment the program aired, Jovian's campaign was settled with one final strike of the gavel. He became the President of the United States.
After taking office, Jovian began aggressively promoting Compound V, transforming the world exactly according to plan.
"Mr. Freeman…"
"No—now I should call you Mr. President."
Stillwell stood in front of Jovian's desk with a stack of documents, smiling. Jovian had successfully crushed every rival and become President, which meant Vought had won its gamble. The age of superpowered people was coming, and Vought would last forever.
"You can still call me Freeman. I'm used to it—it feels normal."
Jovian acted like he had no airs at all. Even though he was now the highest authority in the entire United States, he still kept his usual mindset. Just like always, he… looked down on everyone and treated people like they didn't matter—cough, cough—no, sorry. I mean: just like always, he was approachable and down-to-earth.
"Of course, Mr. Freeman."
"As you instructed, our first batch—ten thousand doses of free Compound V—has already been distributed. The results are excellent. Better than projected, by a lot. Out of ten thousand volunteers, about sixty percent awakened superpowers!"
"As for the remaining forty percent, we're calling them 'the ones God turned his back on.' But even if God abandoned them, the kind and great Mr. Freeman—and Vought's leadership—still plans to give them one more chance at a real life."
"All they have to do is pay ten thousand dollars, and they can buy a higher-purity dose of Compound V… and get a chance to rewrite their fate!"
"Only ten thousand bucks—Mr. Freeman, I have to say it: you're a great man. You're like a lighthouse for the whole world!"
Stillwell gave a big thumbs-up and praised Jovian at full volume.
"Forget the free Compound V. What's our current cost for the 'high-purity Compound V'?"
Jovian asked.
"Accounting for labor, materials, raw ingredients, R&D, packaging, marketing, and every other expense… it comes out to about one hundred and three dollars and seven cents per dose."
Stillwell read it off the file.
"A reasonable price."
Jovian nodded lightly. Good—at least it wasn't expensive. As a President devoted to the people, he couldn't go around taking Americans' money.
"Oh, and for clients with serious capital, we've prepared an even higher-grade Compound V. There are four tiers: Supreme Elite, Elite, Premium, and Preferred."
"The prices are ten million, five million, one million, and one hundred thousand."
Stillwell continued reading.
"Good. Very good."
Jovian nodded again. Those prices were perfectly appropriate. If people are begging to be fleeced, you'd be wasting their potential by not doing it properly.
"Alright. You can go. Keep everything moving according to plan."
Jovian flicked his hand, dismissing Stillwell. There was nothing else for him to do here.
"Yes, Mr. Freeman."
After receiving the instruction, Stillwell turned and left, showing Jovian nothing but his back as he exited the President's private office.
"System settlement…"
Jovian pinched the bridge of his nose. Today had exhausted him, but the end result was worth it.
"System settlement in progress. The master has been added to textbooks and has become part of history, honored by the world as the Progenitor of Superpowers. Mission complete. Rating: B!"
"…This system really doesn't know how to behave."
"What the hell is a 'B' supposed to mean?!"
Jovian sighed. Some systems were simply impossible to understand. Did it not know he hated being judged and graded like some employee getting performance feedback?
"Highest authority applied…"
"System rating being modified…"
"Rating changed to: Progenitor-Class!"
"Note: The master has completed the mission the master set for himself and has obtained this world's reward."
"This world has now become the master's second home world. The master may enter and exit freely, with no energy cost."
"The master may dispatch others into this world freely, with no energy cost."
"This world's time flow is fully linked to the primary world. Time flow ratio between both worlds is one-to-one."
"All unique substances and items from this world may be taken out freely. Any substances and items taken out will automatically adapt to the physical rules of other worlds."
Jovian looked at the updated rating and the rewards he'd earned for completing the mission, and nodded with satisfaction. Progenitor-Class—now that was more like it. Barely worthy of who he was.
"Exit world."
After completing the mission, Jovian immediately chose to leave The Boys universe.
A wave of dizziness and pounding headache hit him.
Then Jovian successfully returned to his house in the Invincible universe.
"Yeah…"
He rubbed his temples. Every time he traveled, it felt like getting tossed into a washing machine and spun to pieces.
"Heat Vision acquired. Super Senses acquired…"
"And adult Compound V acquired too… but it's still not perfect. The side effects are still hard to control. Otherwise, I could've considered giving it to Debbie."
Sitting in the room, Jovian thought it through.
"Now, the worlds I can choose from are…"
"Warhammer, Star Wars, the MCU, and One Punch Man…"
"Warhammer and Star Wars are both too high-tier and too reality-bending for where I am right now. The MCU is good for hit-and-run tactics—take a shot and vanish—but with my current strength, it's still too risky."
Jovian kept analyzing.
Even though this version of him was strong, he was the careful type.
"So for now, the only world that really suits me is One Punch Man. There's something there that fits what I need at this stage."
"Once I'm back from the One Punch Man world, I can consider picking a fight with Battle Beast. That snow-white, gorgeous fur… letting it go to waste instead of turning it into a fur coat would be a tragedy."
Jovian looked over the worlds he had available and made his choice quickly.
"Heading to the One Punch Man world…"
He silently willed it.
In an instant, Jovian vanished from the room again, and time—which had just started moving forward—froze once more.
And Jovian was immediately hit with another violent wave of vertigo…