Only a minor Vought employee had died—something like that happened every year. First pay to make it go away, then figure out how to silence everyone else afterward.
This was already a well-practiced link in Vought's business chain.
"No, Godolkin. This is no longer something money can fix."
Madelyn's tone turned cold and impatient.
"In the past, we could take our time dealing with the insults you've thrown at me and at Vought. But not this time. That girl escaped last night, didn't she?"
Godolkin naturally knew someone had gotten away—otherwise there would have been no witnesses, and his attitude wouldn't be this deferential.
"Yes. We didn't harm her at all! As for the other woman's unfortunate death, I believe we can negotiate compensation that satisfies both sides—"
"That's exactly the problem. The girl is currently in CIA custody."
Madelyn had been one step too slow. She hadn't found Laurie before the CIA did. Now the internal conflict had been exposed to Mallory, turning into an external breach.
Coupled with the identity she had just confirmed for the girl, the situation could only be described as catastrophic.
Just as Stan Edgar had said, the G-Men were now a textbook example of a toxic asset.
Madelyn had to admit that Stan was probably right. That left only one final step. She sighed and spoke to the Professor in a cautioning tone:
"John, once the memorial is over, have your G-Men sub-teams leave. Those who should go, go. Don't keep everyone gathered in New York and cause more trouble."
"I'll be at your estate by noon. Then we'll talk about how to respond to the CIA's investigation—and how to optimize the G-Men's operational and management structure."
Professor Godolkin stared at the phone long after the call had ended.
He simply didn't have the influence or resources Madelyn did to deal with a CIA investigation.
Even though he and Vought shared a rise-and-fall relationship, that didn't mean help came without a price.
His complete control over the G-Men might soon slip beyond his grasp...
No—wait.
Godolkin suddenly realized something. Why was Madelyn so eager for the G-Men's other branches to leave the estate?
At a moment like this, the G-Men absolutely could not afford to disperse their strength.
He immediately summoned Critter and instructed him:
"Tell all G-Men members—yes, all of them—that without my permission, no one is allowed to leave the academy grounds. Anyone who has already left must be recalled."
Critter, who looked uncannily like Chewbacca, scratched his head. To him, the Professor was worrying too much.
"Don't worry. Opportunities like this don't come often. They'll probably drink for a few more days before anyone's willing to leave."
---
High above the ground, Joey was gripping Starlight by the collar as he flew, quickly approaching the address marked on the map.
"Cough—!"
Being carried like this, Starlight had swallowed a mouthful of cold air. But her childhood as a star had given her a keen sense for reading people.
For example, even though Joey's face was expressionless, she could somehow feel the pressure around him steadily sinking lower the entire way.
She had already learned why Joey was going to the G-Men. A girl he knew had gone to their headquarters, sent a single plea-for-help text—and then vanished.
Combined with the child disappearance cases Starlight had been investigating, which had drawn assassination attempts from the G-Men, the connection was obvious.
It led to a truly terrifying conclusion.
And she had good reason to believe Joey was thinking the same thing.
But Starlight really didn't want to march straight into the G-Men's front gate with him. They were outnumbered. Walking in like that would just get them torn apart.
"So… uh… do you have a plan?"
She tried to stall, hoping to convince him to call the police or something.
"Like, we disguise ourselves and sneak into the estate, find the hostage, rescue her, then expose their crimes. How about that?"
Joey glanced at her, the corner of his mouth twitching into a stiff, humorless smile. It proved that when people are truly speechless, they really do laugh.
"You've read too many detective comics. They've rotted your brain."
Starlight was desperate. "Then what do we do? We can't just walk in upright and get carried out sideways, can we?"
"There's no time. An entire night has already passed. I need to go in now and find Laurie."
Starlight asked, almost against her will, "And what if it's the worst-case scenario…?"
The moment the words left her mouth, she wanted to slap herself. Saying something like that made Joey's choice obvious.
"Then things become much simpler."
Joey clenched his fists, joints cracking. His blood-red cape rose without wind, but his voice remained calm.
"I'll avenge her."
At last, Joey understood the source of his pain.
He possessed the power to crush the entire world with ease—yet instinctively refused to form any real ties to it, especially after his adoptive parents were gone.
His body came from Krypton, his soul from beyond. He looked like a local, lived among locals, but was never truly one of them.
To be honest, he hadn't taken Laurie's feelings all that seriously before. She wasn't even an adult—a fifteen- or sixteen-year-old girl in the throes of hormones could fall in love with almost anything.
If she'd fallen for another sixteen-year-old boy who bore no responsibility, that would have been one thing. But if that boy housed an alien soul, it was something else entirely.
What he had with Stormfront was just mutual convenience. They were both adults; worst case, they'd split amicably.
But he couldn't be that irresponsible with Laurie.
Responsibility. That was the real issue.
A god's body housing a mortal soul wasn't usually a problem for Clark Kent.
Because Clark had Lois Lane, his adoptive parents, a human life of his own. Superman was just a secret identity.
Joey's human identity, however, had long since been destroyed.
When he existed only as Superman, what did choosing responsibility even mean?
This world was full of frauds and fame-hungry liars.
He had naïvely believed that staying distant and clean would be enough—but reality had now proven otherwise.
You don't face the world, and the world comes for you anyway.
Avoidance is both shameful and useless.
When he tore Wraith in half with his bare hands…
When he burned a hole through Stormfront's chest with heat vision, the residual heat igniting her into a human torch…
He should have realized a simple truth long ago.
He didn't recoil from killing.
On the contrary—he was good at it.
If the worst came to pass, even if the G-Men were as powerful as the X-Men he once knew, he would not hesitate to take revenge.
Just as he had once resolved to take revenge on Hell itself.
All he needed now was—
"What the shit?!"
A black-and-red figure suddenly blinked into existence in the distance, a startled shout shattering the dark thoughts Joey had been weaving without knowing how to act on them.
In a sense, this was an old acquaintance from Joey's previous life. He had no idea how the man had ended up in this world, but Deadpool always had his ways.
Deadpool stared at Joey's uniform from afar, his heart fluttering like a startled deer. With sweaty palms, he slapped a hand to his forehead and pointed at Joey's red-and-blue suit, letting out a shrill, disbelieving scream:
"Is that Henry Cavill?!"