"Risk and reward have always walked hand in hand." Alastair raised his glass with elegant poise, made a toasting motion, then downed the entire soda in one gulp.
The next second his head and body were crushed by an invisible force, exactly like a watermelon under a hydraulic press.
With a wet bang, thick blood mixed with tiny bone fragments sprayed everywhere: across the polished floor, the walls, the dining table, and all over Edgar's suit and face.
"Shit!" Even Edgar, who almost never swore, couldn't hold back the curse.
His eyes instinctively snapped to the door behind Alastair's seat as it slowly pushed open.
A figure in a gilded long robe, hands tucked into the sleeves, walked out of the room at a leisurely pace. She wore a pale gold mask that left only two small holes for the eyes; the rest was covered in elaborate white patterns. The moment she appeared the entire room filled with a crushing sense of pressure and mystery.
Edgar, who had seen every kind of spectacle, simply wiped the blood from his face and spoke in a low voice. "Killing him will cause serious trouble. It could even drag me and Vought into it."
"Fox, clean up the blood on the floor. Don't ruin the guest's appetite." Cindy's voice revealed her gender.
The Fox she mentioned had been Alastair's old butler. From the looks of it the man already had a new employer.
"Alastair really was an arrogant idiot. He didn't even notice someone had already taken control of his Church of the Collective from the shadows." Edgar's face was dark as water.
The old butler's hands still trembled with pure fear. That alone made it clear the takeover had been done through violence.
"Mr. Edgar, you may not know me, but I know you very well. Executive CEO of Vought. The man behind every crime."
The eyes under the mask burned with killing intent, as if she wanted to crush Edgar on the spot.
"…You're a supe who escaped from Sage Grove?" Although the words were a question, Edgar's tone was completely certain. The look in her eyes, the power she had just displayed, and the things she said had already given him the answer.
"You're smart." Cindy reached up and removed the mask. "That's right. I'm one of the Compound V test subjects. Cindy. You should already know why I called you here."
"To kill Stormfront?"
The corner of Edgar's mouth lifted slightly.
He knew perfectly well that Stormfront, as the one who ran Sage Grove, had used methods that could only be described as inhuman. Anyone who wanted to join The Seven after escaping that place was almost certainly after revenge.
Cindy's goal overlapped perfectly with his own plan to keep Stormfront in check. It was like a pillow appearing the moment he felt sleepy. The only thing that still worried him was how uncontrollable she seemed. She was basically a second Stormfront, maybe even more unrestrained.
Seeing her stay silent, Edgar continued. "What's in it for me if I put you in The Seven? Stuffing a bomb that could go off at any second into the company… I'm a little worried you'll give me a very painful lesson one day."
"Tell you what. Let me think it over. I'll give you an answer tonight."
With that Edgar stood and looked at the butler. "Where's the washroom?"
"Please follow me." Fox set down the mop and personally led the way for Edgar.
Five minutes later Edgar walked out of the washroom at a leisurely pace, jacket already off, wiping his hands with a tissue.
"Can I leave now?" he asked.
Cindy looked at him, stayed silent for a moment, then nodded.
Edgar left the castle under the escort of his security and got into the car. Expressionless, he took his phone from his pocket and made a call.
Once the conversation ended he closed his eyes and waved a hand, signaling the driver to go.
Two minutes after the car started moving, the castle behind them collapsed with a thunderous roar.
Thick smoke billowed upward. Red lasers flashed from time to time inside the cloud, and two vague figures moved at high speed through the ruins.
Edgar's eyelids twitched slightly and a faint smile curved the corner of his mouth.
...
—"Breaking news. Yesterday evening the Church of the Collective gathering center was attacked by unknown super-terrorists. Sixteen people were killed with no survivors. Church leader Alastair has died. The cause of the attack remains unknown at this time. We will continue to follow this shocking incident…"—
In a villa on the outskirts of New York, Ivan had just finished breakfast. He sat in front of the television and switched to the news channel as usual.
Among all the random reports, only one item caught his attention.
Church of the Collective?
He had a vague impression of the organization. Not long ago they had sent people to discuss a cooperation deal with him. He hadn't expected them to be wiped out this fast.
Not many forces could erase the Church of the Collective so cleanly.
Butcher's crew had Starlight now, but with her personality and current strength it still wasn't enough to take the whole Church down.
That left either some U.S. law-enforcement agency or something connected to Vought. More precisely, something connected to The Seven.
Whether it was Black Noir, Homelander, or Stormfront who did it, Ivan had no idea. Right now the only thing he cared about was whether the double's operation had started.
Today Vought wasn't only holding the movie promotion conference. They would also announce A-Train's death and the news that veteran hero Lamplighter was joining The Seven. Ashley could handle all of that on her own. Ivan didn't like doing everything himself. It wasn't his style.
He waited all the way until noon before the panel finally popped up a fusion notification.
[Super Strength fusing, current progress 1%]
Not bad.
After seeing the message Ivan gave the doppelganger a quiet word of praise. The guy didn't look like much, but he was surprisingly reliable. No wonder Madelyn used to hand him important jobs.
Beep beep beep!!
The phone on the coffee table suddenly rang. Ivan picked it up. It was Hughie. The guy hadn't contacted him in a long time. Wonder what he wanted this time.
"It's me."
"Did you see the news about the Church of the Collective getting attacked? We need you to dig up some information on them."
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[]~(￣▽￣)~*
Read 12 Advance Chapters—P@t- Captain69