The speed of the fallout was far faster than anyone expected.
In less than ten minutes a massive number of police cars had surrounded Vought Tower.
Several well-equipped SWAT teams, goggles on and assault rifles in hand, took the best firing positions and aimed every barrel at the main entrance like they were facing a full-scale enemy.
Because of Vought's unique power, the NYPD commissioner reported the situation up the chain. Eventually the call reached the Department of Defense.
Once they understood how serious it was, the Department of Defense immediately contacted the Joint Operations Command under their jurisdiction and ordered special forces units to rush to Vought headquarters in the heart of Manhattan to prevent any possible combat.
At the same time they contacted the CIA and told them to send people to communicate with Vought and try for a peaceful resolution.
"Shit! I should've arrested that bastard Edgar and put a bullet in him myself! Look at the Vought Group he runs. Every single day they just know how to cause me trouble." After hanging up, Defense Secretary Bob slammed the table in pure rage. The staff member who had come to report stood frozen in terror.
It was the first time he had ever seen Secretary Bob this angry.
"I knew Vought couldn't be trusted. A company of bastards made out of bastards. Their actions have to be put under supervision!" Bob took several deep breaths to calm himself, then pulled a few documents from the desk. These were the cooperation orders between Vought and the Department of Defense, Immigration, and other agencies.
The orders stated that the Department of Defense and related departments would purchase large quantities of Compound V from Vought every year at five million dollars per vial. The total value of the deals reached into the hundreds of billions.
"Contact Congresswoman Victoria for me. Tell her the Secretary of Defense wants to see her." Bob picked up a pen and drew a heavy slash across the signature line.
The purchase contracts in his hands were now void. Signing any new order with Vought at a moment like this would bring the entire Department of Defense and the U.S. government under a storm of public condemnation.
Bob could not afford that kind of humiliation, and he hated Edgar for putting him in this position.
"Congresswoman Victoria Neuman?" the staff member confirmed before leaving, careful not to cause any mix-up.
"That's right." The Ryan incident had made Bob decide that superhumans had to be placed under real supervision. They could not be allowed to keep running wild across America however they pleased. As for who should handle the matter, Victoria, who had spent years criticizing Vought, was the clear best choice.
...
On the other side.
Inside Vought Tower everything had turned into pure chaos. Looking at the police outside locked and loaded, the employees had no mind left for work.
"The situation is extremely severe. The social impact Ryan caused is the worst since Vought was founded. Facing the public opinion that's about to hit us, I have no choice!" Edgar said in a heavy voice inside the conference room.
Ryan was curled into a ball and trembling. Like a frightened fawn he buried his head in Homelander's cape.
"What the hell does that mean? You want me to hand Ryan over?" Homelander's face was iron-blue.
"Do you have a better idea?"
Edgar's eyelids lifted slightly as he glanced at the boy beside Homelander, then let out a cold laugh. "Your son killed people in the middle of the street. Not just me. Even you can't protect him. You should be grateful he's only ten and still falls under juvenile protection laws. Otherwise, with the crimes he committed, he'd be lined up and shot several times over. Of course New York abolished the death penalty, so what awaits him is most likely life imprisonment."
"Whether it's a hundred years or two hundred depends on how the court rules."
To be honest, Edgar's own mood was just as foul. He had already cursed Butcher's parents and eighteen generations of relatives one by one.
If he had known Ryan would cause this big a disaster, he would have preferred the boy stay with Butcher the whole time.
"Ryan is my son! Do you know when my birthday is? December 25th! The day Jesus was born!" Homelander suddenly stood up. His eyes, full of suppressed rage, swept across every face in the room. His voice was extremely low, like a lion about to explode.
"That was just the birthday the marketing department picked for you."
Edgar laced his fingers together on the table and met Homelander's gaze with a completely blank expression.
"You want to protect Ryan. Do you understand what the consequences of that will be?"
Edgar's tone turned harsh.
"It means you will lose the public's support, lose the adoration of the masses, lose everything you currently have. If you choose to abandon Ryan right now, Vought can still explain to the outside world that the boy acted out because he went so long without a father's love.
That way you might still keep part of your popularity and avoid crashing all the way to the bottom."
The words stabbed into Homelander's heart like steel needles.
If Homelander had to give up everything he currently possessed, he would rather be killed. After a moment of silence he slumped back into his seat. Pain and guilt surfaced in his eyes.
"I am Homelander…" When he spoke his own name, all the confidence was already gone.
"Greevs, give us your view."
Edgar looked toward Ivan, who had remained silent the entire time.
"My opinion is basically the same as Mr. Edgar's. Temporarily abandoning Ryan is clearly the best choice available right now." Ivan's voice stayed calm and even.
"Dad… does Mr. Greevs mean I have to go to prison?" Ryan asked in a small voice.
Homelander didn't even dare meet his eyes. The feeling was pure shit.
"With me here, that won't happen." Homelander forced out a confident smile while the emotions inside him were crushed to the absolute limit.
Bang bang bang!!
A tense Ashley knocked, then walked in and stood beside Edgar. She said quietly, "Mr. Edgar, right now countless people are condemning Vought, saying we released a devil. On top of that, Vought International's stock price has been dropping in a straight line since the market opened. It feels like it will soon fall all the way back to the price from a few days ago."
Everyone knew U.S. stock drops had no limit. Hitting bottom in a short time was entirely possible.
Beep beep beep!!
When it rains it pours. Edgar's phone rang at that exact moment.
Face dark, Edgar picked up the phone and stood by the floor-to-ceiling window, looking down at the fully armed police below.
He could already guess the caller was either someone from the Vought board or someone from the U.S. government.
Sure enough, once he answered, Mallory's voice came through.
"Mr. Edgar, been so long, huh?" There was no doubt Mallory's mood was extremely pleasant. She had originally thought that after the hearing incident no one could stop the legalization of Compound V. Facts proved that sometimes surprises arrived this suddenly and this delightfully.
One more chapter, coming right up.
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[]~(￣▽￣)~*
Read 12 Advance Chapters—P@t- Captain69