The universal rollout of Compound V had given most people in the world superpowers, but it had also caused certain people to swell with arrogance.
In the past, those people would never have dared to press Vought so aggressively while it held control over superpowered people. But once everyone had powers, once everyone stood on what they believed was the same level, their ambitions were exposed in full.
Back when they had no powers, they condemned Homelander and called him cruel and unjust. But once they gained superpowers, everyone became Freeborn...
When night fell, thirty senators sat in a private restaurant room, smoking one cigarette after another as they patiently waited for Jovian to arrive.
They wanted to see whether the Jovian suddenly inviting them to dinner after staying out of sight for so long was really the same Jovian who had beaten Homelander senseless on live television, claimed victory before the eyes of the world, revealed the secret of Compound V, crushed all his rivals, won the election, became President of the United States, was written into human history as the Progenitor of superhumans, and rose into legend...
Or if the person summoning them tonight was still that clown who did not dare speak to them face-to-face and only knew how to posture on television—Doppelganger.
Ever since Compound V had been opened to the public, the senators had hired a large number of experts to analyze the miraculous substance.
Their final conclusion was that Compound V had limits. It was not some material that could evolve humanity without end. Even the most exceptional human, the person most compatible with Compound V, would at most reach Homelander's level after using it.
According to the scientists they hired, someone like Jovian, who could overpower Homelander, already counted as a one-in-a-billion outlier who had surpassed Compound V's limits. A special existence capable of breaking that ceiling was unlikely to ever appear a second time.
But even a freak match like Jovian, one who had surpassed Compound V's ceiling, should never have been able to defeat Homelander—the nearly perfect specimen—in an easy fight, at least in theory.
So according to their scientists' analysis, Jovian must have suffered severe injuries in his battle against Homelander. He might even have been clinging to his last breath, ready to drop dead at any moment.
Their evidence was simple. Ever since Jovian had won the election and become President of the United States, he had never once appeared in public. Most of what the public got were synthesized clips and carefully edited videos meant to create the impression that Jovian was still healthy, still powerful, still doing just fine, all so the people of the United States would keep their faith.
That very reliance on editing and hype to strengthen public confidence in the government and in Freeman had exposed Vought's weakness instead. And those senators, with their keen noses and sharper instincts, had sensed something was wrong. That was why they had joined forces and torn a huge chunk of profit out of Vought's hands.
They were convinced the President of the United States was already dead.
The Jovian still appearing in videos and speaking smoothly to the public was nothing more than Doppelganger in disguise—a crude little trick.
So their objective tonight was simple.
Expose Vought's trickery and squeeze even greater profits out of the fake Jovian.
As one senator after another kept smoking heavily, a man walked into the room wearing a black-and-white combat suit and a white fur coat draped over his shoulders.
"Gentlemen, good evening."
The broad-shouldered man casually took the main seat, then smiled and greeted everyone present.
The room instantly fell silent.
Every person there widened their eyes and stared at the man in front of them, as if they intended to see straight through him.
"Why are all of you staring at me like that?"
"Is there something on my face?"
Jovian looked at the senators who would not stop staring and kept smiling.
Clap. Clap. Clap.
After Jovian spoke, the most powerful senator among them suddenly began applauding.
"You truly are one of Vought's superhumans. We have to admire your ability to portray President Jovian so vividly. But... fake will always be fake. A fake can never become real."
"There's no need to keep performing for Vought here. Jovian is probably already dead, isn't he?"
That senator looked smug, staring at Jovian with the expression of a man who believed he understood everything.
"I'm dead?"
"Hahahaha..."
"That's a very interesting theory."
To be honest, Jovian had not expected this group of senators to come up with such an absurd and ridiculous conclusion.
"A theory?"
"At a time like this, what reason do you still have to keep pretending for Vought?"
"I don't think there's any need anymore. It's time to show us your real face."
"Listen. Vought is finished. There's no future in staying with them. Follow us, and we can give you what you actually want."
After hearing Jovian's words, the senator burst into laughter. In his eyes, the fake Jovian in front of him had gone completely delusional, so deep in the role that he now thought he really was Jovian. It was hilarious.
"Oh? You think I'm fake?"
Jovian smiled at the self-assured senator.
"Hahaha, isn't that obvious?"
"Of course you're fake. You couldn't be more fake."
"I'll be honest with you. Ever since Compound V was made public, we assembled a scientific task force and had them analyzing it day and night."
"They came to one conclusion. Anyone who uses Compound V has a limit. Even the most compatible subject would only reach Homelander's level. Jovian may have been strong, but beating Homelander must have taken a terrible toll on him. He's probably been on the verge of sudden death ever since, hasn't he?"
The senator wore the expression of someone who believed no one in the world understood Compound V better than he did.
They had only gotten their hands on Compound V recently, but they trusted their experts' conclusions. They trusted their own judgment.
"So you people understand Compound V very well, do you?"
Jovian raised a brow and looked at the senators with amused eyes.
"Of course. I'd go so far as to say even Vought doesn't understand Compound V better than I do."
The senator smiled, clearly full of confidence in his knowledge.
"So what have you decided to do?"
"Expose Vought to the world? Tell everyone that everything about Vought is fake? That the company is fake, that Freeman is fake?"
Jovian shook his head. He looked at the group in front of him as if he were looking at a bunch of frogs in a well.
"Of course not. We'd never do that. As things stand now, the situation is just about perfect for us."
"Our demands have always been simple."
"Profit. Give us more profit. From now on, Vought—including you—will work for our group. Everyone in this room expects you to create profit for us and make us more and more money, no matter what it takes."
The senator had clearly prepared that answer in advance. He gave it without hesitation. From the beginning, his goal had been simple.
Money.
He wanted more and more money. That was why he had done all this.
"Hahahaha..."
"The Vought family is finished!"
"In the end, all of this was just so they could work for us!"
"If you want someone to blame, blame yourselves for being so naive. Naive enough to hand something like Compound V to the entire public."
As the leading senator finished speaking, the other senators in the room all burst into laughter. Their laughter was filled with mockery for Jovian and contempt for Vought.
At that moment, it was as if they already controlled all of Vought, all of the United States.
As if they had become the true rulers behind the nation.
"Hahahaha..."
Just as the senators were laughing with delight, Jovian, who sat across from them, suddenly started laughing with them.
At once, the senators fell silent and stared coldly at Jovian, who seemed to be enjoying himself even more than they were.
"What are you laughing at?"
Some of them were furious. When they laughed, the fake Jovian in front of them should have looked angry or unwilling. Instead, he showed not the slightest trace of frustration. He looked even more pleased than they did.
That was too much.
It was a blatant refusal to take them seriously.
"I'm laughing because you're stupid."
Jovian looked at the senator who had questioned him and answered cheerfully.
"You dare insult me? Do you know who I am? Do you know what powers I have? You—"
The senator roared in anger, venting his humiliation. The fact that Jovian had dared insult him felt like an unbearable disgrace.
"You what?"
Jovian shook his head, then raised his right hand and clenched at the air in the senator's direction.
Pop.
Before he could finish speaking, the big melon on the man's shoulders exploded. Red and white pulp sprayed everywhere, splashing onto the senators seated nearby and soaking their clothes.
For a moment, the senators staring at the headless body beside them forgot how to laugh.
"Someone's dead?"
"What the fuck?!"
"What the hell just happened?"
The senators cried out in shock as they looked at the corpse.
They had known this dinner might be dangerous, but never once had they imagined they might actually die here.
"Go on. Laugh."
"Keep laughing."
Jovian remained seated, looking at the terrified senators like they were nothing more than insects.
"Do you know who we are?"
"You dare lay a hand on us? Aren't you afraid that once we die here, the whole world will fall into chaos?"
"You need to understand, we are—"
Sweat poured down one senator's forehead as he desperately tried to threaten Jovian with words.
Fzzzt—
Before he could finish, a crimson beam of scorching light pierced straight through his head.
"Do all of you really only know how to repeat the same line?"
"Do you know who I am? Do you know who I am? What a boring thing to say. If I dared invite you all here, how could I possibly not know who you are? Use your brains before you open your mouths."
"And for that matter, do you know who I am?"
"How dare you act this recklessly in front of me?"
Jovian looked at the senator whose upper body had been burned through and spoke with obvious disappointment.
"That power... there's no mistake... the man standing in front of us is the real one!"
One of the senators, a man with broader experience than the others, immediately realized something was terribly wrong.
"Congratulations. You got it right."
"You finally realized I'm the real one."
"But now that you know I'm the real one, you can disappear satisfied."
Jovian looked at the room full of senators, and blazing light flared in his eyes.
"Don't panic! Fight back with our powers!"
"Let the enemy witness the superpowers we gained through Compound V!"
Even in the face of invincible Jovian, one senator still shouted defiantly at him.
"That's right! We can't give up! Let this idiot see the power of Compound V!"
The senators roared and unleashed their abilities one after another.
"Haah!"
One senator bellowed as his body transformed into a hulking stone man coated in rock.
"Hah..."
The others activated their powers too. Some breathed fire, some manipulated water, some summoned lightning, and some turned invisible.
These senators were all rich men. They had bought the highest-quality Compound V, the purest doses, and it had granted them formidable powers.
Stone form. Metal form. Fire summoning. All kinds of abilities.
Fzzzt—
The very next second after they completed their transformations, a crimson beam of blistering heat fell from above, slicing through their bodies and cutting them all cleanly in half.
In an instant, the tiny private dining room turned into a river of tomato-red gore, crimson splashing across every surface.
"You still don't understand."
"The moment you realized I was real, you should have dropped to your knees and begged for mercy."
"Not threatened me."
Jovian radiated overwhelming force, like an avatar of darkness, like a raging god.
"Now I think you understand."
Floating in the air, Jovian looked down at the carnage spread across the floor and spoke calmly.
"Mr. Jovian."
Once he finished, the door was pushed open and soldiers in armed combat gear entered the room one after another, the Vought insignia stamped across their uniforms.
"Clean this place up."
"Do not let anyone find even the slightest problem."
Jovian looked at the armed men and gave the order coldly.
"Yes, Mr. Jovian!"
"Yes, Mr. President!"
The moment they heard him, they immediately straightened their backs and saluted.
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